Steven Cook's (stcook) Blog

Marte  has written a very concise blog about the health issues regarding the unintended consequences of banning of plastic grocery bags that many of towns and cities are rushing to implement.  See her comments on how to avoid this making you sick. The past few years have seen a whole lot of unint...

Micheal has brought up a very important point that is not getting much coverage.  I know I read the local newspaper pretty much from cover to cover, and I don't remember seeing anything in there about this recently.  Maybe they printed something back when USPS first announced it, and assumed we w...

  Tacoma Buffalo Soldiers Museum Holds Open House The Tacoma Buffalo Soldiers Museum will be holding a free Open House this Saturday, January 26th from Noon to 4 p.m.  This is one of only two museums in the country to record the work of the Buffalo Soldiers (the other is in Houston, TX).  During ...

George Souto, in Connecticutt, has written a very good explanation of what is included in the Debt-to-Income calculations for loans.  This can be a bit confusing, as some types of loans have different items included, but George has set it out very clearly. I wrote a blog  "Not Everything In Debt-...

Tacoma Home and Garden Show When: January 23-27, 2013 Hours: Wed - Fri  11am-8pm, Sat. 10am-8pm, Sun. 10am-5pm Where: Tacoma Dome - 2727 E. D St Tacoma Who: Everyone and Anyone Tickets: Adults - $10,  Seniors (62+)  $8, Children 16 & under - Free,  2-day pass $16 for adults, $12 for Seniors. For ...

  26th Washington Sportmen's Show® When: January 23-27, 2013 Hours: Wed - Fri  Noon-8pm, Sat. 10am-8pm, Sun. 10am-4pm Where: Puyallup Fair and Events Center Who: Everyone and Anyone Tickets: Adults - $12,  2-day pass $18, Exchange $10, Juniors (6-16) $5,  Children 5 & under 5  Free,  Discount Tic...

Donald Hestor, a great housing inspector in Central Washington, has shared some important information regarding the differen types of smoke detectors and which is preferable.  Don't miss the news clip that he has provided to make the point even more clear. Smoking Gun on Smoke Detectors There is ...

Joe Petrosky, in Connecticutt, has provided a good post summarizing the new rules on "Qualified Mortgages" and what some of the impacts may be going forward, as we look at full implementation next January.   “Here is What Mortgage Lending Will Look Like Going Forward”   Here is what we know so fa...

Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage Standards Under the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z)   The CFPB (Consumer Finance Protection Bureau) amended Regulation Z and released their revised rules at 4:30 pm ET today (Jan 10, 2013) regarding the Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage Standards....

Greg Nino from the Houston, TX area has posted a good blog about the problems we could run into in getting rid of old printers/copiers.  Please watch the CBS clip below.  Then if you want information on how to fix that problem, when you are ready to get rid of that old piece of machinery, you can...