Interesting thoughts -- we could all improve on paperwork storage in our homes. Two things I think I'm doing well that differ from the above mentioned Script, and someone else might find some ideas in my methods: Taxes. Yes, like Script, I am scrupulous about maintaining records for my taxes. About a dozen years ago I went to the office supply and bought two big boxes of BRIGHT GREEN folders (green like money). I labeled them Taxes 2000 ... Taxes 2001 ... Taxes 2002 ... Taxes 2003 ... and so on. Given my family's typical lifespan, I made enough green folders to take me to age 110 -- probably more than I'll need, but I'm ready! They're all stored in my file cabinet, taking up very little space. Now when I receive anything tax-related -- a charitable receipt, an end-of-the-year bank statement, whatever -- I have a place to file it. In April, I have a place to file a copy of my taxes, and I can go back and see previous tax years. For the rest of my life, this system is in place. Death folder. Ours is a notebook. Two identical notebooks, actually, since we have two children. Our girls are young adults now, but they've never dealt with an estate -- even if they don't open it 'til they're old, it'll be useful to them. It contains a lot of stuff: - A personal letter to the two of them - A list of our wishes about funeral and items we'd like donated to various family members or charities - A list of things they must do immediately; it starts with going to our house and taking possession of the dog, but it also includes small details like canceling our voting registration and destroying any medicines in the house. At every turn this list includes addresses and phone numbers, including the lawyer we suggest for probate, the funeral home our family's always used, and family members who should be contacted. - A copy our will; they know what's in it -- everything split between the two of them - A list of our financial assets -- bank accounts, investments, insurance, deeds/maps of real estate ... when our youngest became a legal adult, we made the two girls co-beneficiaries of every account; note that this was done before either was married, so our two kids -- not future son-in-laws -- will own these items. - A list of the bills we pay each month -- electricity, phone, even the guy who cuts our grass. - Official copies of our birth certificates, our marriage certificates, and the girls' birth certificates -- they might not be needed, but the girls won't have to scramble to find them - A flashdrive with all of the above in digital format plus photographs that might be useful in putting together the funeral Our rule: We keep two years of tax returns in the notebooks ... the reason being that someday an accountant will file our final estate tax return, and he or she will want our last two years of returns -- so every April we pull out the notebook, discard one old return and insert the newest ... so our rule is that every April we look over the notebook and update anything that's changed. For example, last year we changed bank accounts, and someday we hope to add items concerning grandchildren to the book. Our girls know that the notebooks are stored in the safe, and they know where the key to the safe is hidden, and they know it's labeled with a misleading name so that a thief wouldn't look at it twice. Last thought on this notebook: Though this project took us the better part of a year --- we kept remembering one more thing, one more thing that really should be included -- we didn't find it difficult emotionally. I suspect that if we were older and/or one of us were in poor health, it might've been different.

It never ceases to amaze me when people leave GPSs, purses, cell phones, computers and any other valuables in plain sight, then act surprised when someone breaks in and steals it! I just don't have sympathy for that anymore. However there's other things that people that are intelligent often don't consider. Just taking the GPS off and leaving the bracket tells the thief you have one so it could be under the seat, in the glovebox, or in the trunk. So might as well break in and play the odds. It doesn't take long and could be other gain. Other telltale signs? How about that big ring on the windshield from the suction cup when people did at least remove the bracket. And don't forget the chargers left plugged in or out in plain sight. Antenna on the roof or trunk? Getting a text for a PIN number and sending it? Yeah right. There's another stupidity penalty if it's true, but I don't believe it. And anyone that truly would send sensitive info via text would deserve what they get. It's a "stoopid penalty" and if they don't wise up they can keep paying it and give us something to laugh at. I never give my entire keyring when at a service shop or something and if I'm leaving the vehicle the garage door opener is taken with me too. Got in the habit to use it to get back in. I don't use valet parking so that's not an issue either. Again, common sense is rare. These email stories that always end in SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!! really irritate me. Often people are at home while some are at the game. There's too many holes in this story to believe it. Spammers enjoy this stuff. They take theory and conjecture, add a lot of BS and people just must believe it because it came in an email. I don't believe things unless there's some links to check out in it. "a friend told me" it happened to someone they know doesn't cut it with me. Just like the $250 cookie recipe, the Bill Gates will pay you to email and all the other hoaxes. There is some value to a couple of the points but please don't just pass things on because it says to. I don't care if an email comes from "god@god.god" and has a burning bush graphic, I'll question it and look for substantiation. Seems to me a diety would use something other than email to warn me about armageddon anyway. These hoaxes (or is it hoaxi?) do have some value for discussion and getting people to think and share ideas. The insurance card is a good point. But don't overlook the owner's papers that might be in the glovebox or service records too. Do you have a registration card, cab card or license plate receipt in there? How about some bills, mail or even a magazine with name and address on it? But all this aside, if you don't make your vehicle attractive for theft in the first place, a lot of this is moot anyway.

A large part of the problem has arien frm the 'electronic recording' of note. Instead of actually shuffling paper, an electronic database is used to 'record' ownership of the notes. This was done to speed yup sale of the notes, and avoid the recording fees jurisdictions require to actually record the ownership of the note at the court house. There have been hints of problems dating back a couple years. Dutsche Bank created a shell company to securitize notes and issue bonds backed by the notes. They then wanted to save even more money and rolled the shell company into Dutsche Bank. When they then tried to foreclose on some defaulted notes, the court required them to prove they actually owned the notes. All they had was ownership of the bonds, the notes were still in the name of the dissolved shell company. It would be like you purchasing a Fannie Bond, and then claiming the right to foreclose a note 'included' in the bond. You own a bond from Fannie, NOT the underlying notes. Fannie owns the notes, and they are the one who must foreclose. The electronic recording database is a private company, set up just to make buying and selling of the notes faster and less expensive. Some courts have allowed the company status as the 'owner' of the notes, others have taken issue. For may years the whole thing was handled on paper. Each seller added a transfer of the note ownership to the paper file, and then had the new ownership recorded at the appropriate court. This 'hampered' the secondary market, so the recording database was created. At least some of the title insurance companies have had some heartburn with the lack of public record. Only the actual owner of a note can release the note (or someone they directly designate like a settlement company for sales). With ownership of the note not clearly and publicly recorded, how is anyone to judge if the release on full payment is valid? Just as with a quit claim deed, you can only convey your actual interest in a property. A quit claim for the Empire State building I might give you conveys nothing, since I have no interest in the Empire State building. In the name of faster they have managed to cause clouds on titles that may take some time to unwind, and in the meantime owners who have defaulted will escape foreclosure until the courts are satisfied with clear ownership of the notes (and not simply a bond backed by the note).

"I think Sir Tim Berners-Lee gets some of the credit for the internet" No, not at all. The internet, which began life as a US Dept of Defense project known as ARPANET, then DARPANET, had been in existence for over 20 years before his WWW proposal which is nothing more than a system of addressing and accessing content. The essential breakthrough feature of the ARPANET system in the late 60s was the use of TCP/IP protocols, which automatically reroutes messages through a variety of links (none of which needs to expect a message to arrive) to its intended destination in case any of the nodes became isolated because of broken connections. The motivation of the Defense Department for such a system was to provide a means for unbreakable and continuously operating communications in the event of an attack on the US destroying one of the "lines". TCP/IP remains the backbone technology of the internet today, able to reroute traffic around breaks and bottlenecks. It's also used in home and business networks. I've tried to be accommodating and engage in polite conversation with you but you seem committed to arguing and criticizing things American. Enough of that, I won't engage with you again other than to call you on future insults. I see your fellow countryman has joined in with an insult, easy enough to similarly ignore. Bye.