rmd | interesting business model, plus an update on my stalker

prosper.com seems to have an interesting business model. it's like dutch auctions meet consumer lending.

lenders team up to collectively fund a given borrower's loan at some interest rate, so for a $1000 loan you might have 10 people funding it for $50 and 5 covering the rest at $100 each. prosper tacks a bit of interest on and handles income and payments. i've signed up as a lender to look around but haven't given them back info yet. so far it looks on the up and up. i figure i may hook them up with the same bank account i use for paypal and other online cruft (which never has very much money in it) and try funding a few small loan amounts. (i think the minimum amount you can fund a given loan is $50.)

meanwhile, in boring stalker info, the cat is back. (it went away for a few days)

i think it's female, because it's got that droopy belly i associate with neutered female cats. she's definitely not feral -- she was nuzzling my hand yesterday and purring. she's old and kind of bony but not starving, and she's got some nicks on her ears, so she's definitely done some fighting over the years. she's got some congestion, coughing and sneezing, maybe with a hint of a shiver.

being my mother's daughter, i finally gave in and put a bit of food out to see how she'd react -- she was hungry but not starving, i'd guess, since she immediately ate a bit but didn't wolf the whole thing right away. also, since it was damp and the porch floor isn't comfortable by any means, i put some rags in a box and put it out for her to lay on. she's hanging out there this morning.

i'm still not convinced she's a stray rather than just an opportunist. and there's no way i can bring her inside (it took years for the foundling cat i do have (she's the one in the userpic for this entry) to really fully become part of the previous pack-of-two). at least it's summer so i don't have to think "oh, what if it freezes to death!!"