bla bla bla: Kiva

Today, on my way home (it was my day off but I was at work all afternoon getting ready for our V.I.P. visit tomorrow) I was thinking about volunteering. Some young nut whipped by me on a bicycle and I thought that was something I would have done, too, when I was young. (These handicap curbs are going to handicap someone run down by a bicycalist).

So I was thinking of something to make up for the nasty things I did when I was young (like riding my bicycle on the sidewalk, or hitting old indian women in the face with a snowball, or that time I burned down the Great Library of Alexandria.

It happend that I got an email from my old bloodbank. I've donated gallons to them, but do they even send me an xmas card? Screw them. I'm keeping my A- in jars in the back of the fridge.

But then I happend on a PBS show about Kiva, a micro loan organization. I'm interested in micro loans -- where $100 can change someones life in the third world -- and this seemed even better because you can pick, on your computer, which business it goes to and track the progress.

What's more, it's a LOAN. You get your money back (without interest)! Very, very low default rate and a secondary level of "loan officers" who make sure it's not a con and manage the loan.

I donated, er, I mean loaned $50 each to these two. I like that they're in retail (poor fools) and that their shelves look well organized; faced and flushed.