It didn't follow the book faithfully

Last night my youngest and I had a great dinner and movie date. We went and saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I had not read the book so had no expectations but knew my youngest had read the book so I warned him the reviews said it did not follow the book but was still a great movie.

I have to say it was pretty damn good; the animation was reminiscent of the Rankin & Bass type Christmas specials but much better detail. The story line was pretty good and funny. Apparently the only part other than the names of the three farmers was Mr. Fox getting his tail shot off. Other than that it was completely different according to my youngest. He loved it though.

Of course dinner afterwards was his choice and he choose good old authentic Italian food, a.k.a Olive Garden. I had no choice but to suffer through the "cuisine."

When we got back we played a game of farkle. It was a pretty close game and my youngest won on the very last roll beating out his grandfather but more importantly rubbing it in his brother's face. Gotta love brothers...

This morning we went off to the mall- all five of us. Mom and dad are due for phone upgrades on their cell phones. The actually still have crappy flip phones. So my oldest convinced them they need phones with full keyboards- probably sliders. First though we exchanged my oldest son's jeans he got from grandma for Christmas. We went to Holister and found the right size and exchanged them. While there a hot Marine in full dress uniform came in with some friends and I had to focus on not staring in front of my son, lol. Then it was off to Gap to exchange pants for my youngest that he got from grandma for Christmas. They did not have his size so instead he got a fully lined sip hoodie.

Then grandma and grandpa took their grandsons to see Avatar in 3D. I went home and read the local paper, watched some tv and just vegged out.

When the rest of the family got back from the movie I suggested a game of farkle- of course it was no. I went and took a nap. when I got up I found them playing farkle- those farklers!

Dinner was pizza and wings. Then of course- you guessed if- a game of farkle. this time my oldest beat his younger brother and of course was rubbing it in and my youngest got all pouty and mad. I told him he should have thought of that last night.

We then watched Something, Something, Something Darkside. It was the Family Guy sequel to Blue Harvest. I thought it was good, my oldest loved it and my youngest did not like it as much as Blue Harvest- there was way more adult humor. The uncomfortable part was it was uncensored and mom sat through part of it with us, lol.

Tomorrow the rest of the family gets here and we are all pretty excited. We'll have another Christmas dinner and open some more presents.

So the Fed is changing the rules again. They are amending Regulation D and establishing a term deposit facility. One has to wonder why they are doing all they can to force banks to lend and banks still won't lend. Maybe it's because the banks aren't healthy enough to have not been totally forthright about their health.

The pother rule change is in tax law that will allow a bunch of banks to make themselves seem profitable when they are actually losing boat fulls of money.

Let's just keep kicking that can down the road hoping something magical will happen to fix it all instead of being adults about it and taking our bitter medicine now.

Farkle

Farkle is an interesting game.

Yesterday the boys went with their grandparents to BKS and got a game for all of us to play after dinner. They came back with farkle. It is similar to Yahtzee. We played after dinner and I have to say it was pretty fun.

This morning mom made eggs benedict for breakfast- yum. The funny thing was after breakfast my oldest asked when the rest of the family was getting here. I asked why and he said it was because he likes to be entertained by more than just his new mysterious iPod Touch and South Park dvds, lol. I told him they get here Tuesday.

Today we are going to go ice skating at a local rink. I suck at it and the boys are willing to try it so why not.

Tonight I have a dinner date with my youngest. He and I are going to go see The Fantastic Mr. Fox and then dinner. I told him he could chose the restaurant and of course he went with Olive Garden- oh joy.

I will have a dinner date with my oldest Wednesday evening. He wants to go see Sherlock Holmes which I am psyched to see. I am almost certain he will choose Olive Garden as well.

So, according to some reports China has now overtaken Japan as the world's second largest economy. I still don't get how we accept the data from the Chinese government at face value. I can't find much argument with assuming China will become the world's second largest economy but I am not sure when. Hell, they will over take us in time.

Glitter is evil- I am not talking about Mariah's movie (but that is evill too)

Glitter: indestructible, omnipresent and evil. The husband got more wrapping paper and of course all of it had glitter- he's Latin and anything sparkley, red, gold or silver instantly catches his eye. The rolls of wrapping paper he got fit the bill on all of those counts. The thing is though is the glitter comes off those wrapping papers and gets everywhere. The dogs had it on the, the dining room table, the couches, the floor, my coats, my hair, my mug.

This past week was a bit busy and actually nice. Wednesday night we had the in-laws, my sister-in-law and her best friend over for an early Christmas dinner since we would not be seeing any of them for Christmas. My sister-in-law finished up her finals at college Tuesday night and her best friend picked her up. They went to Boston and spent the night there, then drove down to our place Wednesday afternoon. Dinner was great,the husband made an awesome meal of lamb with shallots, prunes and olives (yeah, I was hesitant about the prunes but they tasted really good when roasted with the lamb and everything else), asparagus and roasted red potatoes. The fudge I made was a huge hit too.

Christmas Eve the husband drove down to ST and PJ's farm earlier in the the day with the kids and a box of presents. I got out of work, loaded up the truck with the rest of the presents and drove to my brother's house in central Jersey to drop off gifts for his twin sons. Mom and dad were there too. I walked in and my brother asked what's with all the sparkles on my coat and face, he wanted to know if I stopped by some bar with go-go boys on the way there. Ha-ha, so frackin' funny.

Then I was off to the ex' house to drop off all the boys gifts because I was not all about schlepping them up to mom and dad's house for the week and then back down to the boys' primary residence. Then off to the farm for Christmas Eve dinner. We then all opened our gifts. The husband loved all of his. My oldest got him a fountain pen, my youngest got him cuff links in the shape of beetles and I got him the nook. He was psyched.

Christmas morning we slept in kind of late, had some breakfast and just vegged out. I started reading an awesome book the husband got me for Christmas- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. How could I not be psyched about a book with the word zombies in the title. He also got me Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters- that one looks good too. Some chick Jane Austen and one Seth Graham-Smith wrote both of them.

Yesterday afternoon the husband, our hosts and their other Christmas guest went to the movies and I hit the road. I stopped by the ex' best friend's house to pick up the boys. Everyone asked if I had the kids because the best friend used to have a Scottie as well and she and her entire family loved the kids the last time they met them. I told them nope, not this year as I did not have room for them in the truck. The boys got in and they found new dvds for their big Christmas gifts from me and the husband- portable dvd players. My oldest got season 1 and 2 of South Park. My youngest got the entire Filmation series of Flash Gordon. They were psyched. Everyone also notice I had glitter on my coat, in my hair and on my mug, commenting on it. The ex told me to thank my mom for her Christmas gift and said she really liked it. Big praise coming form her so I asked what she got and it was the blouse she was wearing. I commented wow,she actually got you something for Christmas you like and she laughed and said yeah, it only took her almost 20 years, lol.

The dive up was basically pouring rain once we got near Scranton. By the time I pulled into mom and dad's driveway it was freezing rain. I told dad he needed to salt his driveway- which he did.

Here is the big mystery and makes me wonder if there is a secret Santa in the family. There was a bag on the handle of mom and dad's front door. My youngest grabbed it on his way in. I started unpacking the truck- the husband gave me and the boys a huge gift that consisted of three large boxes stored in the bed of the truck. Mom thought maybe it was something from a neighbor and opened it when there were two small things addressed to the boys. They each opened the boxes to find iTouches. I have no idea who they are from as I know mom and dad are too cheap,um I mean frugal, to spend that kind of money. I called the husband and asked but I know he thinks the boys are somewhat spoiled and he did not do it. My oldest called his mom and asked if she or her dad did it and she said no. I am kind of pissed as I have been telling the no,they are not getting them- sometimes the husband is right about them being a bit spoiled-and someone did an end run on me. They were concerned I'd make them return them but I have no idea who they are from.

I got the rest of the truck unpacked and mom commented I still had glitter on my coat and in my hair. I kindly told her I knew and gave her my best STFU about the god damn glitter look.

We had an awesome Christmas dinner and my oldest ate everything including the squash. We then opened the presents. The husband got us a telescope which is way cool and the boys were really excited because they said we can use it to check out the city from the apartment.

I then set up the boys new, mysterious iTouches. they immediately started downloading as many free apps as they could, lol.

Today will be a lazy Saturday. The only thing we need to do is the oldest and I have to go to the mall to get his cell phone checked out as it is not really functioning at all. I will probably have to end up getting him a new one.

Christmas Eve in the markets is funny. It seems to be a recent tradition of some company trying to sneak through bad news of some sorts after the close on Christmas Eve. There were a few news items that might have qualified for that but I think the biggest thing was the government basically admitting housing is not getting better at all and so taking off the caps they had imposed on FNM and FRE. This is not good and very underhanded of the government to do it after the close.

I am on vacation with the boys this week.

Ok, I am almost fracking Christmas-ed out

So the husband was doing the grocery shopping for dinner tomorrow night when he sent me a text mentioning we had no dessert. I quickly responded that I could make fudge since that is a big Christmas treat. He requested with walnuts. I forgot how much of a pain in the ass making fudge is. Thankfully I still had my recipe box from the first marriage and the secret recipe for fudge from the ex' mother. I have to say this fudge is an artery clogger- so looking forward to it for dessert tomorrow night.

I still have to get two more Christmas gifts- I think the husband will do that tomorrow for me while he is in the city.

I was busy as shit today at work and wasn't really expecting it. The most agita came from a trade error. The error was not mine but it still sucks for someone to have to take an error at the end of the year. It was not a small one either and I felt bad for the broker but there was no doubt as to whose fault it was.

Shockingly the revision for GDP was down more than expected- not. One co-worker tried to pull the trickle down theory of economics and how the rich people will turn things around. At that point I realized I was talking to someone who drank the Kool-Aid a long time ago.

The winter solstice, a.k.a the end of shaggy season for me

I was up this morning at 4:45 because I could not wait to get rid of my '70s pornstache. I used the clippers to shave it down and then shaved twice to make sure the fucker was gone. It felt good to get rid of it. I then found out he barber shop in the Port Authority opens before 7 AM and got the fracking mop on my head cut. #3 on the back and sides, no sideburns, square back, take a bunch of the top and hen hot foam and a straight razor on the my nape. The barber was this older gentleman of Italian descent who was very proud of his two grandchildren and did comment I had a lot of hair to cut. All for less than $20- woo hoo!

I expect this week to be slow in the markets. The only wrench that got thrown into my expectations was I forgot we are playing down two men on the desk this week. Thankfully it is a short trading week and Thursday is an early close. After that I will not be in the office until the new year. I really don't expect much in negativity for the rest of the year as everyone is generally in a holiday mood and happy the year is over.

Tonight I actually finished all the damn wrapping of gifts only to realize the husband and I forgot to get two gifts for family members. I really can;t wait for the fracking Christmas season to be over, lol.

The husband actually had dinner waiting for me when I got home which was awesome. This week will only get a bit busier.

Sunday night

The past week was fairly busy. Monday through Wednesday night I was finishing up all of the Christmas stuff- wrapping gifts and last minute Christmas cards we did not have addresses for.

Wednesday night I had drinks with PF. He was in town for dinner with his girlfriends. We met and had drinks and I gave him the Christmas gift the husband and I had picked up for him and his bf DR. It wasn't anything big or expensive but when the husband and I saw it we both immediately said we should get it for them. He is doing well and getting ready for his sabbatical when he and DR go off on a three month trip to Asia.

Thursday night was the company Christmas party. It was fun but I did not feel like staying out real late getting totally bombed. It also may have been the fact that one of the PMs and I went out to a local bar right at the close and had some pitchers of beer- pregaming- and then hit the office party. I was on the bus by 8:45 and home by 9:15.

Friday night was Ragnar's annual Christmas party. It was a nice time as always and of course I had the glogg. There is supposed to be an umlat (two little dots) over the O in that word but I have no clue how to type in Swedish.

The snow storm started yesterday afternoon and it was pretty great. I am not exactly sure how much snow we actually received but it was blowing a lot and drifting everywhere. We actually walked over to Hoboken and had breakfast at the little dinner next to the PATH station.

Last night we went into the city and had dinner with TK and then hit a movie. We saw Up In The Air and I have to say the movie was really good. I wouldn't say it was great but just really good. The theater was packed and we all did not sit together.

Today was a great lazy Sunday. We really did nothing. The husband is coming down with a cold so I made him relax all day on the couch in front of the t.v. under a blanket. We caught up on our Scifi and watched Caprica on dvd. I think the Caprica series is actually going to be pretty good and I'm psyched for it to start.

I am surprised Bernake got man of the year from Time but it is usually a contra indicator; such luminaries as Hitler, the Ayatollah, Stalin and other greats have also received it.

The whole idea of Shitigroup paying back TARP is laughable to me. The bank is screwed. BAC broke the deal price, WFC will and C will too. I think the thing that pisses me off the most about the whole thing is no one in the government is actually looking out for our interests- don't forget we all own 34% of C- well now it is about 27% thanks to the government allowing them to dilute the shit out of us by issuing a bit over 5 BILLION more shares- thanks Turbo Tax Timmy and Dr. Bernake...

This week will be another whirlwind of activity. We are having the in-laws over for Christmas-like dinner Wednesday night. Thursday the husband will go down to PJ and ST's farm in central Jersey with the kids, I have to work. The markets close early though so I will drive down there after. We are having Christmas Eve dinner with them at their home and spending Christmas morning there. Christmas afternoon I will pick up the boys and head north for the week at mom and dad's house. The boys are excited to be there for the week. The best thing I think is my oldest texted his grandmother and asked if he could sleep on the recliner in the family room. Of course grandma said yes.

Of course the star on top is not straight...

I had a nice surprise yesterday. The ex called to let me know that the boys had a half day and she and he beau were coming into the city so she said she'd drop them off at the apartment. That made for an unusually nice Friday where I did not have to put a little over 100 miles on the truck.

The boys got dropped off and we went and got the Christmas tree. The husband insisted we do it this weekend after the debacle of last year. Last year we never got around to doing it so we just put all the gifts under the palm plant we have- and no the palm plant was not decorated.

I got to sleep in late this morning- 8:30 qualifying as late. We all then got in the car and hit TGT and HD. The husband had to return something at HD. Then we went to TGT because the boys wanted to do some Christmas shopping for their cousins that they are going to see on Christmas break. they were bragging that they had brought their money so I said good you can use your own money for the gifts you buy for your cousins. My oldest was shocked I'd make him spend his own money. He did it anyways. The boys did well on their gift choices which I of course was asked to wrap for them.

We got home, ate some lunch then decorated the tree. Of course some of the freakin' lights don't blink like they are supposed to but at this point I and the husband don't care as we at least actually got a tree and decorated it. Then we had a debate on to have a tree skirt or not. We ended up deciding to get one but of course at this point you can't find one. So I hit the CVS on the slim chance they would have on and of course I scored. We now have a Buffalo snow with ice crystals tree skirt. Then I put all the presents under the tree. The funny thing is our older dog stood there for a while looking up and I know he was thinking what the fuck, the candy canes are too high for me to get.

We went out for dinner and then hit the movies. The only one that we could see at 8 PM that was acceptable for all four of us was 2012. The husband was psyched as he has wanted to see it since it came out. I did not and the boys were indifferent. I have to say it was actually not that bad of a flick. The boys said the same thing.

Tomorrow (technically later today as I write this) we have no set plans except for the husband and I are going for a run. I was considering taking the boys ice skating at the rink in front the building but it looks like it is going to rain.

Canary in a coalmine

So last Thursday I saw the hot blond on the PATH again. I wonder if he noticed I was in a suit- yes a suit. I had a business diner and I have to admit wearing a suit is so much easier as you don't have to put any thought into the process- just pick a tie and you are done. I also decided that since I am actually walking over to the Hoboken Terminal to grab the PATH what the fuck I might as well just take the bus as it drops me off right across the street from the office. I also think the bus has much better eye candy anyways. To that point Friday morning there was a majorly hot scruffy guy who sat across from me. I missed the bus...

The only bad thing was the ex sent me a text at 11:30 informing me that my youngest son had his Winter Concert that night at 7 PM. What the fuck?! She said she had told me verbally several weeks earlier. Not a chance. I was not going to get into a a fight with her about it. I said there was no way I could make it as I had business plans and could not get out of them. I then need to be reassured so I asked the woman who sits next to me and is also divorced her opinion. She said I was in the right. I called my youngest after the close and explained there was a miscommunication and I could not make it but would make it up to him some how.

The weekend was real busy. Saturday morning we went out to the in-laws to drop off the last box and pick up our Christmas tree stand and decorations and see the in-laws. The mother in law is actually going to be sewing throw pillows for us for the couches. So the husband had to discuss that with her how to make them and what fabric to use (we bought it and shipped it to her ahead of time). We got back did a bunch of errands and then went out to brunch at the local taqueria. then the husband forced me into doing a 5+ mile run; he did say I could set the pace and I was surprised when we finished that I had set a pace of basically 8 minute miles.

Saturday night we attended a Christmas party hosted by friends in the suburbs of Jersey. It was a murder mystery Christmas party which was a blast. The oddest part though was I was sitting there having a dip when this chick asked me what I was dipping. I was a bit taken aback. I told her Skoal longcut. She asked what kind and I told her mint (that was all I had left in the apartment and we did not have time to stop on the way to the party). She stated it was her favorite and could she have some. At this point I figured sure what the fuck. I of course asked how she came to acquire such an un-ladylike habit. She worked in Texas for about 6 years and since she is a Jersey girl she figured it would help the Texans accept her. She also pointed out that Jersey and Texas have the same mentality except Texas is a lot more relaxed and slower about it.

The next day the husband was relating a story about how he poured some champagne and it overflowed a bit. The woman standing next to him pointed out that champagne should not have too much head and head is what women give to men. Ok whatever. He was texting with our hostess from the night before about it. Our hostess replied she could not stand the woman (she was the fiance of another guest) and that the lady kept trying to tell her she had Prada boots on. Our hostess stated they were not Prada boots and everyone knew it and with that red dress she looked like a prostitute. Of course the red dress, fake Prada boot wearing chick was the one who bummed a dip off me.

Every once in a while the WSJ has something interesting of a non-business nature. For example they have a section called What's The Workout. Yesterday they featured one Nathan Gunn. He is an opera singer and they had a pic of him shirtless and WOOF! The guy is freakin' hot and jacked. I may need to reconsider my resistance to the opera. I have not goggled images of him yet, ideally there will be more shirtless ones.

So there is so much to talk about when it comes to the economy and TARP.

I think the best comment I heard about the jobs summit was that all the business types there knew that whenever a manager calls for a shindig like it it means said manager is really ineffective and has no clue what to do. So the manager wraps him or herself in the illusion of being open to input, etc.

One of the funniest (in a wrong way) comments made regarding the stimulus bill was that apparently the only truly shovel ready program was Ted Kennedy.

Double dip recession here we come! The ISM dipped below 50 again. I don't care what your political leanings are an ISM below 50 is a sign of contraction.

BAC did an end run around the board. They needed board approval to issue a huge number of shares to pay back TARP. They could not get it quick enough so the issued common equity equivalents with the idea the board would approve the conversion after the deal was done. why the rush to pay back TARP? Well real simple- they want to pay some huge amount of money to a new CEO. Can't do that under TARP. My concern is they really can't afford to pay TARP back and they are- to quote dad- cutting their nose off to spite their face. It is a very short sighted move. Once CRE blows up they are screwed as they will have to raise more money by selling shares and further diluting current share holders. Again it reminds me that equity is nothing more than a perpetual call option.

TARP got extended and changed today in case you missed it. In a nutshell the law allowing TARP states when it is paid back the money is to go to pay down the deficit. Well today Turbo Tax Timmy extended it and said bow it will be used to aid American families in need too. Hello stealth stimulus plan two. Gee maybe that is why the government came out yesterday and said hey TARP is gonna cost us $200 billion less, now we can spend it. It also got extended to October of 2010- gee how convenient it now goes to the midterm elections.

Dubai is blowing up and I keep hearing don't worry, it's contained or it is so small relative to the rest of the global economy it isn't a big deal. Yeah right just like sub prime was contained and was not a big part of the mortgage market, etc. The scary part of Dubai though is it is the first domino in the CRE shoe about to drop on our heads. I have to say though that creating islands shaped like palm trees in the ocean seemd like a really good idea at the time- seriously what could go wrong with it? CRE- which Dubai is the current proxy for- is not contained.

Maybe I am just a prick- well ok I am at times- but I was taught phone etiquette as when you call someone you introduce yourself and ask to speak to whoever you need to. You do not call someone and say "Who's this?" That happened to me yesterday so of course I replied "who's this, you called me."

The walk from the apartment to the bus this morning along the river was interesting. By the time I got on the bus my pants from the knees down were soaked through. My gloves were soaked through as well. I would rather have had snow.

Last night I finished most of the Christmas cards. I also wrapped all but two of the husband's gifts. Tonight I wrapped all the boys gifts. Tomorrow I have another business dinner so I am going with the suit again out of ease. The husband has a fund raiser he is attending with TK.

Ahh the book club

Seriously, who gives a shit about Tiger Woods? Or should we call him by his new name-Cheetah Woods? What is the difference between an SUV and a golf ball? Tiger, um I mean Cheetah, can drive a golf ball 300 yards.

One thing I forgot about Thanksgiving was the boys and their mom and grandmother went out for dinner at a restaurant. I asked them how much they ate and my oldest said a lot. My youngest of course had chicken fingers to which my oldest said he should have at least ordered turkey fingers in the spirit of Thanksgiving.

Speaking of the boys, my youngest has chicken pox. He is psyched as he gets to extend his Thanksgiving break by a week. I can't recall if his older brother had them (I know I am such a bad father) but when I asked if he thought he'd get them he informed me he was immune to them.

There was a hot blond guy on the PATH yesterday morning. I kinda couldn't keep from checking him out but pretty sure I was not caught.

The book club was a big success. The husband made his meatloaf and then made me live up to my joke of being the hired help and had me make the rest of the meal. I was referred to as hypermasculine and told I looked very Breaking Bad. That is what shagginess, a sick '70s pornstache and a Kiwanis hat can do for you...

At one point I heard one of the book club members mention he thought we should always host the book club. My thought- unvoiced- was No fucking way! LOL. It is a lot of work. Everyone loved the new home and the views of the NYC skyline.

The husband left this morning for a much needed vacation after having been worked like a dog for the past three and a half years. He went of to Miami with ST and PJ. He gets back Friday afternoon.

Home improvements as a source of new job creation? I am a bit incredulous that that is the best the President can come up with for his jobs summit. I did not watch his address about Afghanistan as once I saw the term limited surge used I knew it was going to be a half assed measure. I really do think we are living through the second Carter Administration.

In our ongoing debate about health care reform Ragnar and I have agreed that we, as a civil society, do have an obligation to attempt to make sure the citizens are healthy but it is not necessarily a citizen's right to have health insurance; at least I think we agreed on that.

Can't really hit the gym in the mornings this week as the husband walks the kids in the morning and with him on vacation I am filling in.

Kiwanis is coined from a Native American term "Nunc Kee-wanis"

So yesterday afternoon the husband and I went back to the county park and did the lake loop as a run. Funny- the husband enticed me with the line we won't do a hard pace. He is lucky I love him because he totally fucking lied! He led the run and even though it was only three miles it felt like 5 and I was dying by the en of the run. I asked him what the pace was and he said 7:45. I was more like 8:00 as I did not keep to his pace. I have to say though it was a great run through the woods and I can see how my older brother enjoyed cross country running. The husband ran cross country too and admitted when we got back in the car that that was one of the harder runs he had done due to all the hills.

Last night we made dinner for the parents. The husband was in charge of the main course, MP had the sides and I had the dessert. The husband crushed it on the roast pork tenderloin and salad, MP made mashed cauliflower with bleu cheese and sauteed leeks and I made a simple French peasant dessert- Black Mission fig and raspberry galette. Mom and dad were seriously impressed.

This morning there was a heavy frost when we got up. I and MP were hoping we would have had some snow as up north there usually is some by Thanksgiving. The husband was glad there was not as he was driving back with the kids while MP and I took the train back.

The train ride was ok although ten minutes behind schedule. I of course had a baseball cap on. It was from the Kiwanis Club in the hometown. Dad had helped out at the annual Turkey Trot race and I stole it from him. MP and I basically played cards the entire time and then I read the GQ issue with hot Chris Pine on the cover. My favorite article was the one about Ayn Rand and how her true ardent believers are assholes akin to fundamentalist Christians.

Tonight we had dinner with PS and SP. The great news from them is they are expecting their first child come May.

Tomorrow night we are hosting the husband's book club. I will be assuming my usual role of hired help- keeping wine glasses full, setting the table, serving food, etc. So tonight I had to make the dessert for them. I fell back on my usual old stand by- which is seasonally appropriate- apple pie.

I have had an interesting, ongoing email discussion with Ragnar and JW over the past week or so about the whole health care debate and some good points have been brought up. Ragnar- and I have to agree- made the point that it is for the common good of society as a whole to have a healthy populace. He also commented in a round about way that any good capitalist would want a healthy populace as a source of labor and a source of buyers of their goods and services. Very Vulcan in the logic. The sticking point was when I asked what makes health care more of a right than housing or a job. That set him off and I felt like I- and anyone who disagreed with the current plan or the idea health care is a right- was getting painted as a person of low or no morals and possibly limited intellect. I responded as such and then was off to mom and dad's for Thanksgiving. Ragnar responded but I prefer reading and replying on something other than my crackberry. It got me thinking though that that seems to be a big problem with the Democrats and liberals- if you ask why you get attacked; the old if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. It also sort of came across as condescending in the manner of don't question me, I know what is best for you and everyone else, just do as I say. I can see how most of the middle of America can get pissed off at that seeming attitude. It can appear elitist.

JW had some great points as well. I had commented that capitalism has never been about the fair allocation of resources but the most efficient allocation of resources. He is of the view that the current system for health care is neither fair nor efficient. I really can't argue with that either.

I guess I just don't think the current proposal will address either fairness nor efficiency. I feel like there is a rush to change it because it is neither right now but replacing it with something that does not address both issues just leaves us in the same spot we are in now. Instead of profit seekers making decisions we will have the government making them for us. I also wonder if there is not a large portion of the populace who does not want to have to make a choice. If you don't make a choice that means someone else will and when something goes wrong you have someone else to blame. Whereas if you had to make the choice yourself and made a bad choice you couldn't blame anyone other than yourself. Pass the buck- don't accept responsibility.

No pool tomorrow morning or dojo. Tuesday morning the husband is off to Miami with ST and PJ for four days. He needs a vacation and some me time so I hope he has fun and relaxes. Even with him gone it is shaping up to be a busy week. I imagine tomorrow we'll also see the real reaction to the whole Dubai World fiasco since Friday was a half day for the markets. Oh joy...

Luxembourg is not part of central Europe

The past week has been fun and busy. Work was relatively slow Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was slow but I was leaving early to catch the train upstate with MP. Of course then Dubai decides to try and get a standstill on its debt payments- that is a big whoops.

MP and I had a blast on the train ride up to mom and dad's house. We had a compartment which was real cool. It was very European like and we got to watch the Hudson go by as we rode up to Albany. We also had dinner included so we got to go to the dining car. The man in charge suggested we sit next to each other as we'd be sharing the table with other guests. We decided against that and sat across from each other. Thankfully we were joined by another couple who felt the same way and brought their own wine. We had a great time chatting and dining with them and we drank A LOT of wine. By the time we pulled into to Syracuse we were bombed, lol.

Thanksgiving was awesome. Mom made a real simple meal but it was amazing. We had dinner at 3 PM and it was very nice.

Yesterday MP, the husband and I went to the little county park and did the three mile loop around the lake there. MP was like a little girl as she was back in her home town. I could not believe the number of Canadian geese that were on the lake and they were loud.

Last night we took mom and dad out to dinner at the local restaurant they choose. We had a blast and met up with some of MP's friends from high school who were home for Thanksgiving as well. AB- my best friend since we were 4- also met up with us for some beers as he too was in town for Thanksgiving.

We ended up back in mom and dad's kitchen for some night caps. AB was recounting how he and his wife had just been in Italy for their 15th anniversary. That led to a discussion about Europe in general when MP made the comment Luxembourg was in central Europe. Of course out came the laptop and wiki to prove her wrong.

Today the husband and I are going to go for a run and then we are making dinner for mom and dad.

MP and I are taking the train back tomorrow morning but we will keep it sober this time.

It's polite to engage dinner guests in conversation

This was a pretty great birthday weekend.

Yesterday we spent the day getting ready for our dinner guests. I and the boys went to the grocery store and did the grocery shopping. I also then finished hanging the art as ST had stopped by Thursday and given the husband his professional opinion (he is a former museum curator so knows what he is taking about) about the placement of the art we had in the home. I also got to take a nap as Friday night I let the boys stay up until midnight so we were all a bit tired.

The husband made one of his best meals ever for dinner. He did a leg of lamb, this great onion gratin, couscous and salad. The best part was he made the boys look at and touch the leg of lamb and the hip joint on it. They were kind of freaked out about it but they are still boys and thought it was cool, lol.

PF and DR came over for dinner. I had prepped everyone involved- PF because he can and often does use colorful language and the boys that they would have to actually talk with our dinner guests.

The irony is that DR was actually the one who used colorful language first and the boys were complete chatter boxes the entire dinner. It helped that our dinner guests and the boys both love South Park so they were talking about it all night and PF told my oldest which episode he thought was the funniest and had to watch- which he promptly did on the laptop.

I knew the dinner was a complete success when my oldest told the husband the meal was great and told our dinner guests they were by far the best dinner guests we have ever had over.

Dessert was awesome as the husband went and gotten a cake from this old school Italian bakery in Hoboken. I had known about it for years and always thought it was great. Come to find out the place actually has a reality t.v. show based on it. The cake was a big hit too.

The boys again stayed up until midnight because everyone was having fun.

Today we all went into the city and had lunch with MP at her apartment. She made us meatloaf, mashed sweet potatoes and broccoli. My oldest loved the mashed sweet potatoes and when MP offered the left overs to take home he jumped at it. The boys also loved her cats and thought they were great.

We then headed on over to the Met and took in the Art of the Samurai. It was pretty damn cool and the boys thought it was really neat. My youngest got a little replica samurai helmet and the oldest decided he wanted something else. So of course he picked a musical snow globe? I was a bit taken aback but thought what the hell, if that is what he liked at the Met so be it.

Both of them slept the entire ride to their mom's house- that's what happens when you stay up until midnight two nights in a row I guess.

I was stunned at how much the Joint Congressional Finance Committee beat up on Turbo Tax Timmy last week. He seriously got abused and on television. Don't get me wrong I think the guy should be fired as he is the one who signed off on AIG's counter parties getting paid one hundred cents on the dollar.

This week is shaping up to be a bit busy in front of Thanksgiving. Speaking of Thanksgiving I of course hit it up on wiki and one the things that made me laugh is apparently big, fat Rush Limbaugh says the real reason we need to celebrate it is because it was the turning point from whence the Pilgrims, who were dying because of their communal living system, gave up and decided to turn to a free market system and that is what turned the Massachusetts Bay colony around.

Subtrefuge

So The Equalizer died this week. I loved that show. I also saw that Ken Ober died too. I have fond memories of watching Remote Control in college and thought that show was awesome.

I had forgotten about Sugar Babies but the candy bowl on the desk had a bunch of them and I came close to overdosing on them.

I am actually almost done with my Christmas shopping which is pretty damn close to a record for me. One of the things I got was a family game for us t play. I just thought the name of the game sounded too good to not buy-Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot.

I had the day off today as I had a parent-teacher conference for my youngest son. It went as expected- very well. The boys had a half day due to the conferences so I picked them up right after the conference and brought them home. My oldest showed me his report card and it was awesome. He missed honor roll by two points and was so proud of his grades that he felt emboldened enough to ask for picture messaging for his phone, lol.

Last night I got totally blindsided. Earlier in the week the boss asked me to set up drinks with my brother and his boss as we will be doing business with their firm due to an acquisition they made recently. So we get to the restaurant to meet my bro and his boss and go into the room there and bam!- a surprise birthday party for me. It was organized by one of my oldest friends who came in from Chicago. It seems he had been planning this for two months and I was impressed with the number of people involved and that it was kept quiet for two months. I paid for it today and the parent-teacher conference was painful.

The husband went into the city for dinner and a movie with Ragnar. I promised the boys they could stay up until midnight tonight and tomorrow we are having PF and DR over for dinner. Sunday we are having lunch with MP and taking the boys to the Met to see The Art of the Samurai.

Test

So I saw last night I can post via email and thought I'd give it a try.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

He strayed off topic alot

Sunday we took the boys to Grand Central Terminal. We took the PATH in from Hoboken and holy crap there was a serious hottie the husband and I both noticed. He looked like an older, much bigger version of Taylor Lautner.

I may have incorrectly called it Grand Central Station earlier but am too lazy to look at my earlier posts. It is a terminal because it is the end of the Central Line. A station is only a stop along the line.

Grand Central started out as a depot and trains were not allowed below 42nd Street because of the steam engines.

The tour guide had a lot more usless information. We were more interested in going to the Whispering Gallery, seeing the building and asking about the history of the building not about the Vanderbilts and Washington Irving. He was not good with dates, names or reasons why certain things were done the way they were. Both boys were visibly bored- at least the husband I knew they were.

The Whispering Gallery was very cool and we all had fun in it. Of course though the guide could not explain the acoustics and what made it work.

As soon as we finished the tour my youngest blurted out "That guy strayed off topic a lot." My oldest then added "And he had a pony tail!" We then walked back tot he PATH, the husband went off to the gym and the boys and I went home. They both napped the entire drive back to their mom's house.

I am seriously concerned the proponents of radical Islam are winning. I say tht when I read that the guys who made the movie 2012 had no problems showing the Vatican, images of Christ, Tibetan monasteries, and other significantly religious symbols getting destroyed but they were afraid to show The Kabba getting demolished for fear they would be put under a fatwa similar to Salman Rushdie.

The whole thing with the Fort Hood shooting. The government is completely afraid to suggest or even intimate that Major Hasan's religion may have played a role in his shooting spree. Funny how when an abortion clinic is bombed the media and government have no problems pointing out the criminal's Christianity.

I have been walking over to the Hoboken Terminal and ting the PATH from there because the eye candy is just so much better. Barclays boy I have seen a often and he is pretty damn cute.

Speaking of Barclays they had a research piece out informing people that there will be some FASB changes to rules 166 and 167; said changes could cause some serious issues for the banks yet again.

I have been watching The Prisoner on AMC and have to say it is pretty good and totally whacked out.

The city disappeared

The past week was fairly busy. As of Monday the husband became a man of leisure. He worked for a large hedge fund that was well known and has now become a bit infamous. I told him to enjoy the rest of the year and the holidays as no one in the business is hiring right now anyways. The good thing is he does not have to go through the whole COBRA bullshit. I already have the employee and family plan for my insurance at work so I can just add him on and it costs me nothing. I checked with HR too and there is no additional tax cost or penalty since we are civilly unionized in New Jersey and the company supports all families who work for them no matter how they are made up.

I cannot believe Thanksgiving has not even happened yet and every frackin' store and mall has got their Christmas stuff up already.

The remnants of Ida have completely blanketed the city today in clouds and normally we have an amazing night time view of the entire skyline from the GWB to Battery Park. Not tonight.

Tomorrow the four of us are off to NC to take our guided tour of Grand Central Terminal. It should be fun and I know the boys are looking forward to seeing as many of the places as possible from The Night Tourist.

Seth Macfarlane is kind of cute

So yesterday we went into the city for the wedding reception. It was a lot of fun and we got to see some friends from the beach we have not seen since early in the summer. My '70s porn stache was a big hit. We drank a lot of champagne too and had fun.

Today we had brunch with one of the husband's girlfriends at the Short Hills Mall. I new what was going to happen afterwards and it ended up me suffering through a day of window shopping. Actually the husband did buy some new dress shirts and dress socks. We also got my oldest a Family Guy daily desk calendar and an origami daily desk calendar for my youngest as Christmas gifts.

We got home and I took a bunch of stuff to the storage space and then hit the grocery store as we are having JD and JW over for the husband's awesome meatloaf. Nap time after that.

It looks like JD and JW are moving into our building. We are psyched for having them as our neighbors.

This week should be interesting as I see the health plan got passed. I was surprised as I read somewhere that the Dems made a last minute concession on the abortion issue.

George Eads is so fucking hot, lol. We have been watching CSI all day. I remember him from the t.v. show Savannah. The husband has officially put him on our it doesn't count as adultery list. I approve and hope I get him first.

Psyched for the live Family Guy comedy show tonight.

A quiet Saturday

So the boss was out sick for the end of the week and I got stuck doing some of his management crap- I am soo glad I am not management. The one good thing is I finished one of the tickets he was working and he is gonna be bummed- it is an illiquid piece of crap that he had for two weeks.

I am totally psyched for the Droid. I have the wireless network that has no bars in more places currently and am fed up with it. Once my contract is up in the spring I am switching. I am most psyched about the Droid because I see it can support Outlook Corporate Exchange which means I can stay with one phone and have the IT guys at work overlay my corporate email on my own cell. The oldest son wants to move to the can you hear me now network so it will all work out well. He also wants to get an ENV Touch but I looked at the Samsung Rogue and think he may actually like that one better. Who knows.

Last night I actually went to the dojo- Kobra Kai never die!- to make up for some classes I had missed. Kick boxing was ok, I did do well against a black belt but I had height and reach on her so she really couldn't get close enough to me. The green belt though was fast as shit and could kick high enough to tag the back of my head- which is illegal. The second class kicked my ass. It was just a core class but it was stations and there were 5 of them and you spent 4 minutes at each one and you had to cycle through the stations twice. Let's just say my shoulders and legs are killing me and I forgot how much jumping rope makes my caves sore.

Tonight the husband and I are going into the city for a cocktail reception for friends of the husband. They got married I guess this afternoon and the reception is this evening. We are probably going to grab dinner afterwards but no clue as to where yet.

Tomorrow we'll go for a run and we have brunch plans with one of the husband's girlfriends.

We were all excited because we thought JD and JW were going to be our neighbors. They looked at apartments in our building, found one and decided to take it. They signed the lease and then got to the pet rider only to find out their dog is not allowed. That totally harshed our gig. We are having them over for dinner tomorrow night though- the husband is making his meatloaf again.

Ashley is such a bitch

I haven't written all week because I wanted finish reading the latest installment of The Wheel of Time. I have to say even at close to 800 pages it was a great book and an improvement over the last three books in the series. The best part though is I was bringing the book into the office with me (I was reading on the PATH) and left it on my desk. My secret man crush noticed the book and commented about the 12th book finally being out. I was taken aback and he informed me he had read the series up to book 6 because his brother recommended it to him. He then told me about another series I might like and should check out. He secretly wants me...

Halloween was busy for us. I went down to central Jersey for my youngest son's bowling birthday party. I was not expecting to have to participate but I got shanghaied into it. I crushed them all and won three games! I rock at bowling. I had fun too. Meanwhile the husband was driving out to his mom's house to drop more stuff off in her crawl space. We both got home around the same time. We had no plans for the night other than watching The Exorcist, ordering in pizza and relaxing. We did end up going out though to meet up with CC for drinks at a bar. We had fun and we all agreed that there are certain Halloween costumes that should be outlawed for gay men: Peter Pan, devils, vampires and priests just to name some. We also agreed that any form of drag is acceptable especially Cher.

On the way home on the PATH we ended up sitting next to these two girls who did nothing but reinforce Jersey stereotypes. One was dressed as a cowgirl and the other as a policewoman. Apparently they were not happy with their friend Ashley as she punched one of them in the back of the head and used all the cocaine the other bought. These two were going on and on and very loud. I finally had to interject myself into the conversation agreeing that Ashley is a total bitch and she should have her ass kicked. The husband of course was horrified at what I did.

Sunday was a nice lazy day. the husband decided to make meatloaf, I made mashed potatoes and we invited Ragnar over for dinner. It was a nice evening and an awesome dinner.

Monday I got my ass kicked at the dojo and came home with a few abrasions. It was interesting at work the next day as I got questioned about it and told them the husband forgot the rule about using an open hand when hitting.

Funny how the truth about the supposed economic recovery is now coming out. The whole notion of "jobs saved is now being shown to be complete bullshit. the best line in the article I read was the whole point is to create jobs not count them; the government is failing on both as they are not creating any and then not counting them properly either.

The OMB chief Orszag is finally now admitting that deficits are dangerous and unsustainable. Well duh! I guess better late than never is a start.

This weekend we don't have the boys and we are actually going to a wedding reception in the city.

Does size matter?

So this morning the husband and I went down to central Jersey to my youngest son's school to help celebrate Halloween. We got to his classroom and apparently one of the other parents had bailed so the husband got shanghaied into helping out.

So we ran some science experiments involving pumpkins and other assorted vegetables. The experiment consisted of seeing which ones floated and which ones sank. Oh and we used a penny as well. Essentially we conducted an Archimedes in the bathtub scenario. Water displacement. At the end there were two questions they kids had to answer. It was all I could do not to laugh because the first question was "does size matter? Explain." That and the husband was wearing low riding jeans and I told him after we left the other adults must have thought he was a crack dealer as every time he bent over to take the vegetables out of the tub of water.

Got home, read some of the latest book on The Wheel of Time series (totally psyched it arrived yesterday), took a nap. The husband made dinner and that was the extant of our day off.

Tomorrow I am off to central Jersey again for a bowling birthday party for my youngest son. His birthday is actually Sunday.

I thought political correctness was dead?

SO the bad chest/head cold I had a few weeks ago pretty much knocked me out of my workout groove. I lost my discipline. This week I started to get it back. A bit of background here; I foolishly and stupidly agreed to do another fucking tri with the husband. The boys have spring break with their mom this coming April. So the husband and I are going to go to Miami and do the South Beach Tri- just the sprint race. So now my workouts will consist of swim on Mondays and Wednesdays, lifting and biking on Tuesdays, lifting on Thursdays, biking on Fridays and the running on Saturdays and Sundays. I will also be attempting to hit the dojo Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. This may kill me.

I have tomorrow off. I am going down to central Jersey to attend my youngest son's 4th grade Halloween party, um let me correct that- Pumpkin Day. What the fuck is that all about? Since when did Halloween start getting called Pumpkin Day in public schools? The cool thing is the husband is taking the day off as well and going down with me. He is concerned the ex might be there also but I am fairly certain she will be at the barn riding her horse and is attending the parade of costumes in the afternoon instead. The husband and the ex have issues between them that are not worth getting into her, suffice to say he does not have any desire to see her. That means we need to be on the road by 7:15 AM to get there in time. It should be fun.

Last night I had dinner with my bond friend. He finally freaking got divorced after years of going through that horror show. He thanked for being there through the entire time and I told him there was no need for it as he had been there for me as well. I told him he now has to start getting laid and that paying for a high class call girl counts and he makes enough he can afford it. We then got talking about the economy and market and he admitted he thinks I may be right that we are entering a Japanese like lost decade which seriously depresses him.

I noticed VZ finally wised up and has not combined their FiOS, internet, land line and cell phone service together. Granted it is their basic cell plan- only 450 minutes- but it is pretty damn smart. They may actually start taking subscribers from cable companies now without having to shell out $150 per sub.

Funny how yesterday- on the anniversary of the Volstead Act- the California Assembly has decided to consider and discuss the possibility of legalizing marijuana and taxing the shit out of it like they do alcohol.

I really have issues with Barney Frank and his complete lack of memory and two faced actions regarding the causes of the housing implosion. Four years ago he is touting how it is the government's job to help low income people achieve home ownership. We know how that ended. Today he was applauding he establishment of a trust fund to help low income people afford renting homes since not all people can afford nor should they buy a house. Of course said fund has to to be given any money by the government...

Turbo Tax Timmy got raked over the coals today by House members. I loved it. Seriously- how the fuck is he still the Treasury Secretary when it was he who signed off on paying off AIG's CDS counter parties one hundred cents on the dollar? And he has the balls to assign blame to his predecessor.

Tonight I had dinner with the boss and the head of another desk who I have known for fifteen years and is a great guy and friend of mine. We just exchanged notes on trends int he business and whatnot.

When I got home I had a text from the boss. He and his wife have a costume party to go to tomorrow. The theme is musical performers. He texts me saying costumes done, wife is Joan Jett, he is Snoop Dog. I asked him how he intends to pull of Snoop Dog as he ia mick like me.

VCA Antech

So yesterday afternoon I dropped the boys off at their mom's house and drove back- as opposed to walking or running I guess. I had on my SIRI and I heard an ad fr one of their stations and they mentioned someone who is supposedly an psychic intuitive. What the fuck is a psychic intuitive? I mean is that basically admitting you are a fake and just make really good guesses based on reading a person's mannerisms and body language?

Last night we had JD and JW over for dinner. They had not seen our new home and we always enjoy spending time with them. We ordered in Chinese food and had a very nice evening topped off with left over pumpkin pie (and the awesome creamy, artificial goodness of Cool Whip).

So apparently over the weekend there was a decathlon of sorts held to determine the best athlete on Wall Street. I saw the article on BBRG on Friday and sent it to the boss and asked how we missed getting the nod? Anyhow, so this morning BBRG had the winner on and all I could say was VCA Antech!!! (That is a geeky Wall Street type joke, go look up the ticker for the company.) One Kyle Peterson one it. So of course I checked him out on BBRG- not quite google staling but close enough. Honestly he had a very inspiring back story and that helped his hotness even more.

I read a great article from Scientific American about how the problem with economics and economists not predicting the current crisis is that economics don't adhere to the laws of physics. The best line was "Neoclassical economics is inconsistent with the laws of thermodynamics." It was totally the kind of work I was taught to do at college. I forwarded it to JW as he is actually in grad school for economics (which I tried to warn him away from doing) and he and I agreed the problem with most economists is they really think they are scientists. They are not. They all seem to forget economics is a social science and they have completely turned their back on the social aspect. JW's comment is they based all of their scientific processes on 19th century physics and science and the whole notion of equilibria, etc. Well hello you guys- the 20th century saw a completely new paradigm for science. These guys never updated their scientific basis. So not only did they fail on the social aspect, they failed on the science aspect too.

Today's action speaks volumes of how fragile this 65% run the equity market had really is. I am also willing to bet that with Capmark filing for bankruptcy protection and the mainstream press starting to focus on Stuyvesant Town's owners about to default that everyone will now start getting worried about the CRE bomb that is about to explode on the bank balance sheets. I also find it telling that you are starting to see the feds lay the ground work for seizing failed financial institutes. Something tells me they are getting ready for a worst case scenario.

We got a new floor lamp. It is pretty cool and the husband mentioned to my youngest he likes it because it looks like a giant snake that has eaten someone and the body is still in it. We are almost done with furnishing the new place. We are getting delivery of a new sideboard this Friday- and lamps for it. After that all we have left are some shades for the master bedroom but that is going to have to wait until the spring.

It will be a busy week.

Beware the sleestak

Thursday I actually wore a suit and tie to work, mainly because I was too lazy to figure out an actual outfit and I also had a business dinner. So before dinner the boss,I and one of our favorite portfolio managers (who is also a great guy and friend) went to an Italian restaurant that had outdoor dining. Thursday was such an awesome day weather wise we decided to sit outside, have some wine and antipasto. I then went to dinner and after met the husband and DR for drinks at the Strip House. The best part of that was our former hot neighbor was there and remembered us.

You have to love that Mexicans love their tequila so much that two of them discovered you can use it to create synthetic diamonds. Apparently it can be used in PLI-CVD to form them. The only better thing would be if the Irish found a way to do it with Guinness or whiskey...

Friday was looking like crappy weather so I figured my oldest son's last fall baseball game would get canceled. It did. So I picked them up and we stopped at TGT to pick up a movie to watch. We decided on Land Of The Lost. I remember watching the t.v show as a kid and I loved it. The movie was pretty damn funny. I laughed a lot and there were some really good scenes.

Today I got up and made my first pumpkin pie of the season- from scratch. I kind of screwed up though and used whole wheat flour for the crust. I told the husband it was more authentic that way because the Pilgrims did not have bleached white flour.

MP and her bf canceled on us to a miscommunication between themselves about their schedule. No big deal. I went ahead and made the lamb stew I had planned anyway. The funny thing is my oldest does not like lamb. My youngest went with me to do the grocery shopping and knew I bought lamb. I had to make him pinky swear not to tell his older brother. The lamb stew was a big hit and half way through dinner my oldest asked what kind of meat it was. I couldn't lie to him and told him it was lamb. He finished it anyways which surprised me.

This afternoon we went and saw The Vampire's Assistant. It was a pretty good flick. The boys liked it and so did I and the husband but the husband thought it was edited poorly. The good thing is we found out it is based on a book series. So now I have some gifts for my youngest for Christmas.

My oldest was supposed to have a make up game tomorrow afternoon but thanks to the massive amount of rain that hit the east coast today that game got canceled as well. So it looks like tomorrow we will have a nice lazy day.

Pre-emption

There are times I hate how efficient our Nazi maid is at her job. I had notes from yesterday and did not get to write so left them on the counter. Of course she threw them out.

Hedge funds. I worked at one for five years. You are always trying to find that bit of information can give you an edge over everyone else. Hedge funds do talk with each other and exchange information. Material, non-public information is not easy to come by and if you do get it but don't trade with the intent of making money you are in the clear.The problem is what exactly qualifies as material, non-public information. I am saying that every hedge fund at one point or another comes close to that line and often crosses it. Catching and proving intent are difficult because hedge funds have such high turnover (trade a lot in the same names very frequently) that it can be attributed to that turnover. What can be the silver bullet though is if someone is paid money in exchange for information that may be material and non-public. Hell, even now I am trying to find information others don't have so I can have an edge.

So currently the Federal government has oversight of banks in all situations if and when need be, it is called pre-emption. Each state also has their own regulatory body for banks within their jurisdictions. The current debate is when there is a financial reform bill passed who gets final say. States say they should have it as they did not sleep on the job like the Feds did. I can't disagree with them on that point. However, unintended consequences could be the big banks leave states that more onerous regulations than others. Then what? How do you get credit flowing when certain states don't have the banks that can lend. Do we want banks having to have 50 different regulators?

The next thing this leads me to is the whole TBTF (Too Big To Fail) issue and its corollary about banking capacity in the United States. Quite honestly this country probably still has way too many banks. So getting rid of some of the banking capacity is not a bad thing. But that could lead to a smaller number of larger banks. We then run into the issue of TBTF. Which leads me to think heavier regulation would be needed if we cut banking capacity.

So this weekend we have the boys again- just part of the horse trading that goes on between the ex and me. It is also the last weekend of fall baseball- thank God. I think Saturday in the afternoon we are going to go see Cirque de Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. We are also having MP and her bf over for dinner so I will have to make dessert in the morning.

I keep seeing ambulance chasing lawyer ads advertising a phone line called 1-800-BAD-DRUG. I am thinking of calling to see if there are any drugs I have used recently that can get me lots of money from a lawsuit. Speaking of lawsuits, I can't believe people are suing MCD for knowingly selling cancer causing chicken. Apparently when you grill chicken a naturally occurring chemical gets changed into PHiP. Well then why the hell does anyone eat grilled chicken let alone order it?

Recompense without injury

So I finished my latest book on the PATH ride in to work this morning, The Magicians. I really enjoyed it because I am a huge fantasy/sci-fi geek and it had a lot of references to The Chronicles of Narnia and some classic D&D references as well.

So this morning before I got into the shower I was of course reading emails, checking out the top stories on BBRG, etc. I was thrown a bit when I read about the terrorist attacks in Iran by some Sunni group. I immediately thought about the story I read on zerohedge about the unusual options activity in crude. Something is going on but I don't really know what as of yet.

The other thing that caught me by surprise was the CME now accepting gold as collateral for trades. That made me immediately realize all the protesting of the USD not being replaced as the reserve currency any time soon is wrong. It is going to happen a lot sooner than we all believe.

Last night after I got home from dropping the boys off at their mom's house the husband and I caught up on our dvr shows. Supernatural was good. We then went to watch Fringe when we found out we screwed up somehow (not we really- the husband) and canceled the recording. No big deal, missing one episode won't matter and I am sure we'll be able to catch it in reruns.

I am not a Fox News fan but I have to say I think the President and his Administration are making a big mistake of overtly singling them out and casting aspersions about it not being a news channel. Yes Fox has an agenda but so does every other news organization. MSNBC could be viewed by many as the policy arm of the DNC. So calling Fox the policy arm of the RNC is really like throwing stones in a glass house. By publicly ostracizing Fox it will just draw even more viewers to them in the middle of the country. To also say Fox is only in the business of selling advertising- well DUH. Does anyone really think MSNBC or the NY Times is not trying to sell advertising? All large media corporations are trying to sell ads. The holier than thou attitude is not going to play well with a lot of people who don't live on either coast. It makes me realize even more that The X-Files was right- the truth is out there. You just need to actually seek it out instead of waiting for it to be fed to you by some large corporation with an agenda.

What the fuck is wrong with Massachusetts? Today a judge in Mass said that cancer free smokers can sue tobacco companies. That is where the title today comes from. When did it get tot he point in this country that cancer free smokers can sue the companies that make cigarettes. I would like to sue the cell phone makers because I am sure 50 years from now I may get brain cancer and it will be their fault. So let me get this straight- you are cancer free, a long time smoker and worried that the warnings on your Marlboros may be right that smoking can cause lung cancer? So instead of quitting smoking, you are just going to sue pre-emptively? And this is allowed why?

That is the definition of irony

Thursday night's concert was awesome. I had never been to Webster Hall before Thursday night. It's was a great space for the concert.

The PM I work with and I stopped by his apartment and had a drink before we met the rest of the crew at a restaurant. His dog loved me and of course tried to hump my leg.

One of his friend's who joined us is ostensibly straight. He is married- not that that means anything- but I don't know of any straight guy, married or single, who gets his eyebrows done. I asked the woman who works with us what she thought and her comment was there is definitely a vibe about him and she could not figure it out until I pointed out he gets his eyebrows done.

Airborne Toxic Event was an amazing live show. The band is from Los Angeles and they rock. I would definitely see them again if they are back in town any time.

Friday brought the dreaded nor'easter. I have to say I was sorely disappointed. I remember the Storm of The Century- that was the 1993 nor'easter. I was living in a basement apartment in Hoboken that when I got home I found flooded because it had rained so much.

The good thing is my oldest son's fall baseball games for the weekend got canceled. I picked the boys up Friday night and we got home at a reasonable hour. I still let them stay up kind of late.

Saturday was just cold and not all that nice so I and the husband decided to make sauce and meatballs for dinner. It simmered all day and around 5 when I realized how much food we had we decided to invite PS and SP (our friends who live across the street and told us about our new building) for dinner. They showed up at 7 PM. We sat down to candle light rigatoni and meatballs with garlic bread. PS told us it was very nice of us to remember Diwali (she and SP are Indian).

Last night the four of us stayed up to watch Trick 'R Treat- the second time for us and the first time for the boys. I was a bit concerned that the usual would happen- around 3 AM in the morning I would be woken up by my oldest because he couldn't sleep and didn't know why (i.e had a nightmare). On cue there he was- but it was my youngest this time! He was in tears so I took him back to bed and he asked me to sleep with him. I laid down holding my little guy. I told him nothing would happen to him in my house and he had nothing to be scared of. He and I fell asleep and I woke up about a hour later and went back to bed. On the way home I explained to my oldest that was an example of irony.

The cool thing today was seeing whitecaps on the Hudson River.

Awesome

So I caught up with Supernatural. It was great because Paris Hilton was in it as the villain. She was great and used all her known lines.

Sunday we finished moving the art and cleaning the place up. There is nothing like the imminent arrival of company to make you finish unpacking. Mr. Clifford and Mr. Barrett arrived around 6 PM on Sunday. We ordered in pizza and actually used the dining room table for the first time in the new home. We have no lighting in the dining room though so it was pizza by candle light with a lot of wine. Then it was time to watch a movie. We watched Trick 'R Treat which was excellent. I highly recommend it especially during the 31 Days of Halloween.

Monday night the husband had a business dinner. The rest of us went to Gym Bar and had drinks pre-concert where we met up with PF and DR. It was good to see them as we had not seen them since the weekend out at the beach. We then cabbed it up to the Hammerstein for the Kylie concert.

We met up with the husband and took in the show. I am not really a fan of Kylie. I have to say though she puts on a great show and can actually sing. It was an excellent concert and very entertaining. I have to say I was impressed and I commented to PF (who is a HUGE Madonna fan) that I thought Kylie put on a hell of a better show than that old hag Madonna.

So now I have seen Kylie, Madonna and Bette Midler. If I can see Beyonce, Brittney and Cher (assuming she doesn't retire yet again) before I die then I will be totally gay.

The husband is now sick with the virus/cold I had.

I am starting back at the gym tomorrow morning.

I don't have anything to say about the tape mostly due to the fact I have been so dead wrong since the bottom. I will say though that any bank who has a cost of zero for capital that cannot make money is run by morons. Once all the government support is removed I wonder what will happen to all these companies.

Tomorrow night I am going to another concert. I am going to see Airborne Toxic Event. One of the PMs I am friends with likes the band as well and found out about the concert. He, I and several others are going, I believe they are playing at The Bowery.

Chinatown

Mucinex rocks! I used that Thursday and it totally helped with the sore throat and hacking cough. I also kept gargling with warm salt water and used the netti pot again before I went to bed.

Last night we went down to the farm to celebrate ST's birthday. I had baked, frosted and decorated a birthday cake for the dinner Thursday night before I went to bed. The husband and I also moved some artwork that we don't have wall space for down to the farm.

We got there at 8 and moved the art work into the storage area of ST and PJ's gallery. We then had drinks and ate an amazing dinner. Dessert was a hit. The husband and I spent the night at the farm. This morning we got back up and brought back two pieces of art that will fit on the walls of our new home. We dropped them off, walked the kids, showered up and then went into the city to meet the sister-in-law and some of her friends from college. The girls wanted to see Chinatown so we met them there, had a really good lunch at Joe's Shanghai and then walked around Chinatown. The girls wanted to find knock off bags. We were walking along when an older Chinese man walked up to us asked if we were interested in purses and handbags. The girls said yes so he motioned for us to follow him. He led us through the crowds and to a seemingly closed store, unlocked the door and ushered us in. It felt like we were part of some vast, international crime conspiracy. Tons of fake Gucci, Prada, Coach and every other label you could think of sitting on the walls. The girls actually bought wallets. I told the kind Chinese gentleman I had enough hand bags so was good. I did tell the husband though that we should come back and get something for my mom for Christmas at one of these scurrilous places as she would love it and the whole story of how we got it.

Tonight we have no plans other than hanging the rest of the art and catching up on Supernatural, Fringe and Fast Forward on the dvr.

Tomorrow is going to be a bit busy. We are actually taking the rest of the art work we don't have room for back down to the farm. Then we have to get back here and make sure the place is clean as we have guests arriving in the late afternoon/early evening. Mr. Barrett and Mr. Clifford are coming up form D.C. Monday night we are all going to the Kylie Minogue concert (along with PF and DR). I really only know her from her cover of Do The Locomotion back when I was in high school. Mr. Barrett tells me she is much more than that and much more fabulous. I'll have a better sense after the show if I agree. I am doing pretty well when it comes to the gays' icons; I've seen Bette Midler and Madonna (Bette was great Madonna SUCKED). I ideally hope to see Cher before she retires yet again. That will leave Brittney and Beyonce.

I was a bit shocked that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. It would seem I was not the only one as the President himself seemed stunned. I would have to say plain and simple this was one last kick in the ass for the previous Administration as opposed to anything President Obama has done. Speaking of what he has done I was laughing at the fact that one news services took it upon themselves to actually fact check the SNL skit that lampooned the President. It is a bit scary that some media people think that comedy poking fun at the President deserves fact checking. Seems almost cult of personality like.

Golf is now an Olympic sport? Seriously? What the fuck is the IOC thinking? I think rugby is a great pick to add. Golf though? I believe I heard that Rio does not even have a golf course long enough for professional play.

Catching up on a sick day

Last week was pretty damn busy and I did not have much time to post, so I am going to try and catch up with all my notes.

Mr. Clifford again is right. He made the comment years ago that it seems all construction guys are either fat and ugly or smokin' hot. I was walking back from picking up lunch I passed a construction site and there was this hot young guy- just my type, dark eyed and dark haired. He definitely checked me out too.

BBRG was running a story all day about UFC. Apparently they are coming out with action figures- since they are for guys they can't be called dolls. I want the Ryan Jensen action figure- ideally life sized.

I am kind of annoyed the government will no longer issue revisions and final figures for GDP. That is such a disingenuous way to manipulate the economy.

Apparently one of my favorite movies- Kickin' It Old Skool- made it on to the Rotten Tomatoes top 100 worst movies for the past decade. I think it is totally unjustified. I also went through the list and noticed a lot of movies I, the husband and the boys have watched and enjoyed made the list.

I am impressed with the tax code reform California has on the table. The only thing I can say is I hope it passes as is and that the rest of the States will follow. Although Maine is already ahead of everyone on tax code reform.

I have heard the song Fireflies a lot on AltNation lately. It's by Owl City. It's a catchy little tune but after the second time I am over it and am thinking it will go the way of John Mayer- actually more hoping.

Friday night the husband and I went and saw Zombieland. It was awesome. Let's pretend the husband and I are Men on Film (I am not the one wearing the little top hat, that would be the husband), we would give it the secret Zorro snap. There was a great extended cameo by one of my favorite comedians but that is all I can say.

Saturday I drove down to central Jersey to pick up the boys and take my oldest to his fall baseball game. They won and he did well. He got beaned his first pitch and took it like a man- I was very proud of him.

We then drove up to the in-laws house. We spent the rest of the day there and stayed over. The husband and I were going out to the beach house to close it down and move all of our stuff back over into his mom's crawl space. We did not re-sign the lease because the realtor and owner felt no increase was fair. We told them no we are thinking a 15% discount as the place is kind of falling apart. They declined, we walked. The coda to this is about two weeks ago the realtor called and asked if we were still interested in the house at our stated price. We said no. So next year we are just going to find a half share. I and the husband are a bit tired of always being the hosts for friends and family and having to run a house. It will be nice to meet new people and not be responsible for the house, gas, maid, pool, etc.

Saturday night my oldest and I stayed up and watched Wrong Turn 2, Dead End. It was sucha a cheesy flick but very gory. Of course I left the bathroom light on when we went to bed and my oldest came into the room around 2:30 AM to say he couldn't sleep.

On the way home I had a tire blow out in Staten Island right as I was exiting for the Outer Bridge Crossing. I called Mr. Buffet's company and they were excellent at getting someone to come repair my flat. I also now know how to get the spare down from under the truck. The guy who fixed everything told me I am about 3/4 done with my current tires and should get new ones. So I am doing that today later this afternoon since I am home sick.

I am in agreement with Paul Krugman that all the people who are busting President Obama's balls for going to Copenhagen to try and get the Olympics. One article I read put it in such a good context: Obama did not really have a normal college experience. So this was a road trip for him. Good for him. I can tell you though from experience that doing a road trip to support your team only to have the team lose makes for a shitty ride home.

A pretty well know hedge fund manager made a great comment about what I do for a living- trading. HE basically said PMs hire traders so they can shift the blame if they are wrong and that is what makes trading such a "treacherous job."

So don't call it stimulus but stimulative. The White House is probably going to do a stimulus 2.0. They are playing semantics though and saying that it is not a new stimulus package but an extension of the current one. They fail to mention that there will be new programs in the "extension" though so that to me makes it a new stimulus bill.

I took the PATH from Hoboken the other morning just because I was up kind of early and thought I might see some good morning eye candy. It was not worth it sadly. Yesterday afternoon I took it home as I was fairly certain- because I was drinking water all day yesterday- I would have to pee once I got off the PATH and Hoboken Station has bathrooms whereas Pavonia does not. I was right.

Have some kind of viral infection after consulting with my brother the doctor. Very sore throat, runny/stuffy nose, no headache. Mucus was clear. When I got home I used the netti pot, gargled with warm salt water, took my temperature (100.1) and went to sleep. The husband got home with chicken noodle soup for me. We had dinner, caught up on Fringe, took Nyquil and went to bed. I got up this morning and still had a slight fever so I called in sick. Have been sleeping all day with the kids on the bed- they are in Heaven. Got up, had the rest of the soup, more grapefruit juice and water and am no caught up on my posts.

It only took me 40 years

I skipped the dojo tonight. I am 41 now and I have finally realized there are times you need to listen to your body. I was sore and tired so decided to blow it off. I took a nap with the kids and when I woke up I straightened up the apartment since our Nazi maid is coming tomorrow and for some reason the husband thinks the place needs to be tidy before she comes- go figure. The husband is at his book club tonight. He will be surprised that I actually tidied up.

I won't be going to the dojo tomorrow either as I have my oldest son's back to school night. Thursday night I have a business dinner. Friday night I believe we are going to go see Zombieland. Saturday we are closing the beach house. But first I have to go to central Jersey for a baseball game. Then we will drive straight to the beach. We have a lot to pack up so we will be spending the night there.

SGU premieres Friday night. We will have to set the dvr to record that.

I am finally getting back into the pool tomorrow. The husband is going to start back at the dojo I believe next week. We are thinking of dong a triathlon somewhere warm come spring. The boys will be with their mom for spring break so we are looking for a sprint.

Quarter end is always fun in the market. I am not looking forward to Q4. The move the FDIC pulled today is just furthering the shell game that is going on in our economy.

I am a bit disheartened with how the mainstream media swept under the rug the police state tactics that went on at the G-20 in Pittsburgh. I saw some YouTube videos of what occurred to college students who were just observing a confrontation between police and demonstrators. The ended up getting surrounded by police and tear gassed in their dorm. Seriously- what the fuck is up with that and how can a free press not report it?

It would appear that health care reform is dead. Nuff said.

Hmmm- the slap chop

I have had this debate with the husband in the past. Thumb rings. On men. He says no it does not automatically mean they are fellow church goers. He says it is a grunge thing. I disagree and PF comes down on my side of the debate. Which is a good intro into the guy I saw on the PATH this morning. He was very hot, tight graphic tee, tight jeans, Puma sneaker and really nice guns too. His mug was pretty easy on the eyes as well. None of those things in and of themselves indicate he kneels in the pews at my church. Then I saw the thumb ring. Silver. I thought oh yeah, he drinks the wine at Mass.

The whole Iran situation makes me very nervous and it seems to me like someone has asked the mainstream media to keep the coverage/stories/comments to a minimum. Seriously, these guys test fired a bunch of missiles. It seems to me that what is going on is pretty much like this: The new kid at school who everyone thinks is way cool (President Obama) has become the target of the bully (Iran). So he decides to confront the bully with two of the more experienced guys he has become friends with when he arrived (France and the U.K.). The bully looks at them and laughs and knocks their books out of the new kid's hands (test fires a bunch of missiles) and says what are you gonna do now? As a op-ed in the WSJ stated he really doesn't have many choices.

JW made an excellent point about Malthus in one of our email exchanges today. The guy was right about a population explosion causing all kinds of economic and social distress but he was a bit narrow in his argument. However, as JW pointed out, if one were to take his theory and apply it to finite resources as a whole and not just arable land it is pretty spot on. I am going to bet you see a resurgence of interest in good old Tommy-boy and his theories.

Another point JW made was that everyone believes science will save us but no one knows what kind of science and when and how and the cost. So we all go along doing what we are doing expecting some great discovery to help us out of a jam. That by the way was a large undercurrent of the plot for Pandorum.

The other possibility- which ties in with Iran- is there are constantly externalities that occur throughout history that most of the population does not foresee coming. Things like the Black Plague, the Spanish flu, a meteorite striking the earth, nuclear war, etc. I have often wondered if those are not some kind of Malthusian relief valve built into us and the whole ecosystem. It is all moot anyways as the Mayans say we are all dead come 2012. I wonder what that externality will look like.

Vince from Shamwow is now selling the Slap Chop. He is a good sales guy even though he beats up hookers. He told me my life could be exciting if I had a Slap Chop. I gotta admit it looks pretty cool for the kitchen.

Ben Foster- no clue who he is but he was good (and hot) in Pandorum

Thursday I met up with CC and had coffee with him. He is doing well other than he just got over a staph infection and I found out he is now legally domestic partners with his bf of 3 years. I told him if he moved to Jersey he could get the separate but equal civil union if he wanted.

I then had to run down to Union Square for drinks with a friend in the business. It was funny because I had my iPod on and was walking like a typical New Yorker near Union Square when I saw RK and just yelled out to him and waved but kept walking- I did not have time to stop as I was almost 30 minutes late for drinks with JG.

JG is doing well and is at a new firm helping build out the U.S. operations. He is a very bad man; I finished my last beer and told hi it was my last, went to take a leek and came back to say good bye when he pointed out we weren't done with our beers- the fucker had ordered two more for each of us. I really was in no position to decline as he waited 30 minutes for me to show.

Friday the ex called to discuss the weekend- I had the boys this weekend. My oldest is playing fall baseball- Babe Ruth league- and had an away game that night. He also had a game Saturday morning. She thought it made more sense for me to just pick up the boys Saturday morning and go to the game and then go home. I am always wary when she makes suggestions like this because I wonder what her real agenda is. I told her no but we can ask the boys their thoughts about it. The boys both thought it made sense as we would not get home until around 11 PM and then have to drive right back down at 7:30 in the morning. I said fine.

I got to the ex' house Saturday morning a half hour before my oldest had to be at the field and the only person up and about was my youngest. I told him to go wake his brother up as we had to get moving. We finally got out of their mom's house and off we went. The coach likes the kids there a hour before the game to get some practice. We dropped my oldest off and then my youngest and I went to grab some breakfast. We came back about 5 minutes before the first pitch. I was supposed to work the snack bar but it was closed and locked up so I got to watch the entire game. My oldest had three at bats. First one he got walked. Second one he hit a single, got and RBI but also got thrown out at first. I sent his mom a text telling her we need to work on his running speed and she agreed. His third he hit a single and was safe. He ended up being the last RBI for his team. They won handily.

We got home and I baked a cake for Ragnar's birthday. The plan was for the four of us to go into the city to Ragnar's and celebrate his birthday with JW, JD and Umberto. The husband picked up a sandwich platter, I made the cake, we brought champagne and JW and JD brought some appetizers. We ate,sang Happy Birthday, had cake and champagne (the boys had Sprite) and went to the movies. We saw Pandrum. Yes, I know it is rated R but it was for gore and violence. They boys play freakin' Halo and Call of Duty and a host of other games that have just as much gore and violence so I did not think it would be a big idea. Just to be safe though I made both of them pinkie swear they would not tell their mom.

The movie was pretty good. My oldest was totally psyched when I told them they were going to see it and my youngest thought it looked very similar to Aliens. I wasn't sure what to expect but it looked cool and scary. At several points during the movie I noticed my youngest (he will be 10 November 1st) covering his eyes. After the movie I asked him if he was scared and he said not he just thought maybe the monsters would be scary looking so he was doing it just in case. My oldest said aliens don't scare him; neither do vampires or werewolves. Ghosts however do. I told him the true test if he was scared by the movie would be if he got up in the middle of the night and came into our room saying he couldn't sleep and didn't know why. He was not scared by the movie as he slept through the night.

The husband and the rest of the crowd went out for after movie drinks. I took the boys home.

The weather today sucked so we all slept in later than usual. We went to a diner recommended by PS. It was good but packed. We had to wait twenty minutes to be seated. by the time we finished and got home I got the boys showered up, helped clean up a bit and then got in the truck and took them back to their mom's house.

My younger brother is in my line of work but on the other side of the Force. He had interesting plans for the weekend. He was taking an account to a Blackwater- yes that Blackwater- training facility. There they would undergo small fire arms training and defensive/evasive driving classes. I told him it was good for when the upcoming revolution occurs and the masses rise up against the Wall Street machine.

A lot of interesting economic data out last week. I think they all point to we are so not done with this "recession." This week should be fun too.

The one thing that made me laugh was King saing the British financial system was hours away form collapsing last year. The thing that made me laugh was BBRG title describing it as a "bombshell." Seriously, how could that be a bombshell to any person who has read a newspaper or the Internet over the past year.

Triscuts with cheddar and carrot sticks with veggie crudite

So tonight I did not go to the dojo as I had Back To School Night for my youngest. I got to meet all three of his teachers. Yes three because he is in advanced level reading and advanced level math so he leaves his regular classroom for those two subjects. His main teacher seemed really nice. The ex and I both thought the math teacher was a bit weird but liked his reading teacher. I signed up for the pumpkin day- apparently these days the schools can't call it the Halloween party.

I left right after work so did not have time to grab dinner. You have to love the PTA though; they had kindly provided a table of snacks and lemonade. So I ate half the plate of the Triscuits with cheddar on them then moved to the fresh veggies with crudite. The principal caught me almost finishing the Triscuits. I must have looked guilty because she told me to keep eating.

The husband is having dinner in the city with TK and the couple who hosted us out in Park City this past Christmas. I would have liked to been able to dine with them but my sons come first.

The Fed did nothing and said nothing- whoop dee fucking dooh. The tape did not like it apparently though. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Slow train wreck- hot tranny mess; you say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to

So the weekend up at the alma mater was fun. I got to BB's lake house Friday around 5 PM. I did not leave until after I put together our new bed and got the new box spring delivered so I was on the road at noon. I was the first to arrive and got to spend some time with BB. He is a pledge brother- that is we pledged the fraternity at the same time- and ended up as the president of the house our senior year, living across the hall from me in the house. He has recently changed jobs due to office politics and I find out is getting divorced (no he is not gay like me). I was a bit shocked as he had married his high school sweetheart and has three kids. I expressed my regret he was going through it and sympathy for him. I asked who all else knows and was told other than you, no one currently but they will be told this weekend.

Friday not was not a big crowd but we did the usual wings and beer. We ended up playing a dice game and breaking into the really good wine BB had removed from the marital residence.

Saturday we headed up to the alma mater for a noon game and of course roadies were involved so were drinking at 11 AM. The game was fun and we met up with more brothers. The school now has freakin' cheerleaders! That was a big shock. I also don't remember the football team being as hot. After the game (we won) we hit the school store and bought some paraphernalia. Just what I needed- more baseball hats. I called the husband and asked if he wanted any and he said gym shorts (like we need more of those too) and a thong. So I asked the queen running the cash register if they sold thongs. JN almost died laughing as he did not believe I would do it. They do but I was directed to the flip flop type of thongs as opposed to the underwear kind.

We then headed up to the house and met the brothers. They are a really great group of kids. We of course started drinking with them and we all pointed out the rooms we had and the changes i the house. We got asked a lot of questions regarding when we were pledges and brothers for which we had most of the answers. Then we sent some of the brothers out to get more beer. They came back with a case at which point we said that was not going to work. I took one of them out and bought some kegs. Kegs are apparently a big no no at this point in time at the alma mater. Whatever...

No dinner and drinking until 1 AM at my age is not what it used to be when I was in college and I foolishly tried to keep up with the younger brothers. I was a complete horror show, lol. Security did show up at which point we alumni decided it was time to leave.

The drive home Sunday morning was painful and long.

Last night my oldest was texting me harassing me about getting a new cell phone still. He used one line that I almost died laughing about and showed to the husband. The husband said that is such a you line, he is your son. He even offered to help pay for it. I told him it is not a conversation to have over text messages.

Heroes two hour premiere last night was pretty damn good. I am dying to know what the compass is used for and how. Some of the new characters I am not quite sure f they are villains or heroes.

So apparently railroad traffic is down huge. I don't see how that can bode well for any recovery and how it confirms the start of growth Turbo Tax Timmy was talking about today but I have been so wrong and fighting the tape since the low that who cares what I say.

Nemazee- not sure his first name- is indicted for running a Ponzi scheme. Ok, no big deal. He also happened to be a huge fund raiser for the Democrats forthe past six or so years. It happens. I imagine that is where the government has gotten the idea of how to save the FDIC. The Treasury lends dollars to the banks, ostensibly making them healthy. Then the FDIC borrows money from said healthy banks to deal with the unhealthy banks. Wouldn't that then make the healthy banks unhealthy now that they no longer have the money from the Treasury? I am thinking huge circle jerk/daisy chain. Wait, now the FDIC won't borrow the money, it will just make the healthy banks re-pay their assessments. WTF? Isn't that essentially the same thing?