While on vacation, I ran across a business location in Spencer, New York, where one can get an unusual combination of personal services – a massage, a hair cut and get hypnotized. I wasn’t in the mood for this combo this go round, but if I were I’d know where to go. 

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I love this app… working out is hard work! So, I'm for anything you can do to make it more fun = B.iCycle app. Not only does this iPhone app tell you how fast you were going, how many feet you climbed and of course the all important how many calories you burned, it also provides you with code that Google Earth uses to create a visual map of your path. 

Results – Emailed from my iPhone 

Your Performance on the trip started on: Jul 4, 2010 2:10 PM

With best regards,
Your B.iCycle App

Today I discovered a cool Google Earth feature that plots out the elevation of your trip… how cool is that? If it weren't 90 degrees and I weren't so out of shape, I'd be out there creating more data with the B.iCycle app. 

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$838 million in losses to the FDIC in May 

The bank failure crisis continues. During the month of May, the U.S. lost 14 more banking institutions at an estimate cost to the FDIC $808 million. The nearly 4 times as many banks failed during May 2010 when compared to the May 2009 May failure numbers. The following is a listing of bank failures for the month of May sorted by largest estimated loss to the smallest. 

The year-to-date bank failure losses are staggering. So far for the year, estimated losses to the FDIC are just over $ billion. Florida is winning the race in terms of total number of failed banks, but Washington state takes the top failure by a state prize with more than $2.7 billion in estimated losses. The common wealth of Puerto Rico has the distinction of being the top loser with more then $5 billion in losses. 

Year-to-date loses 

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The phrase, “in like a lamb — and out like a lion” usually refers to the weather during the month of March. But the storm of US bank failures continue to roar its way through April like a lion on the rampage bringing the total of failed banks to 64 for the year. 

Twenty-three more US banks found their way to failure during the month of April and the FDIC estimates its losses to be nearly $10 billion for the month.   With  2010 in the record books, the total estimated loss to the FDIC and its member banks is estimated at nearly $18 billion. The April results represent nearly a 40% increase over the same month a year ago. The bank failure storm shows few signs of coming to an end. 

The following is a list of the banks that failed during the month.

This next chart provides a year-to-date listing of the failed banks by state so far for the year. 

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Nineteen more U.S. banks failed during the month of March bringing the year-to-date total to 41. The estimated losses for the month were estimated to be more than $3.1 billion. The FDIC is estimating the losses for 2010 at more than $7.8 million. In 2009, only nine banks failed during March – making the 211% increase ever more alarming.

Failed banks — March, 2010

The following is a list of banks that failed during the month of March in no particular order.

Failed banks by state

Through the end of March, Georgia leads the way with seven failed banks followed by Florida with six and Washington state and Minnesota tied for third with four each.

The Failed Bank Leader Board by State for 2010

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Having run out of coffee this morning, I was “forced” to walk to the coffee shop on 5th Street for my cup of joe.  Here are a few snapshots from my walk. Lucky for me –  I ran out of coffee beans or otherwise I might have missed the flowers of spring…

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Many recent reports about the US economy seem to suggest things are getting better. However, through the end of February, the US saw a 28% increase in bank failures when compared to the same period a year ago. During February 2009, 10 US banks failed while during February 2010, only seven banks failed.

According to the FDIC.com website, the expected losses for the failed banks total more than $1.1 billion.

Number of failed banks by state through February 28, 2010.

• WA 4
• FL 3
• MN 3
• CA 2
• GA 2
• IL 2
• MO 1
• NM 1
• NV 1
• OR 1
• TX 1
• UT 1
• 2010 Total 22

Source: FDIC.com

Failed banks in February 2010 – sorted by estimated losses.

• $882 La Jolla Bank, FSB La Jolla CA
• $141 George Washington Savings Bank Orland Park IL
• $95 Rainier Pacific Bank Tacoma WA
• $38 Marco Community Bank Marco Island FL
• $8 Carson River Community Bank Carson City NV
• $4 The La Coste National Bank La Coste TX
• $3 1st American State Bank of Minnesota Hancock MN

Source: FDIC.com

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Rather than stick with the tried-and-true, I ventured into the lounge lizard experimental mode and came up with a Ruby Tonic. I’m sure this isn’t totally original, but hey, I came up with this without looking at a recipe so I get to name it right?

Take a rocks glass and fill it about half to three quarters full of crushed ice.
At about 3 ounces of CHARBAY Ruby Red Vodka. Add generous splash of grenadine. Finally — top with tonic water — stir and enjoy.

Garnish with a grapefruit slice… I didn’t have one at the ready, but if I did that’s what I’d be using.

You may want to add a little extra grenadine to soften the bite of a grapefruit flavored vodka.

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Since the gym was closed, I thought my workout tonight would be shoveling snow. Other than a few chirping birds and a stumbling drunk who remarked, “damn… those are some mighty clean walks bro,” the neighborhood was pretty quiet. Taking advantage of the magic hour lighting, I snapped a few photos around the neighborhood.

It was interesting to find a downspout, shaped like a fish, that was about as full of winter as I am.

Here are a few photos I took while walking in the neighborhood.

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Sadly, 2010 looks to be another banner year for bank failures. During the month of January, 15 banks failed in 10 states. The FDIC, entered into loss sharing arrangements or estimates its losses to the insurance fund to be more than $4.2 billion. While the loan sharing arrangements are not direct losses these values represent the potential loss to the partners and the insurance fund.

The following is a list of failed banks for January.

Source: FDIC.gov website – Accessed January 30, 2010.

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