Sometimes a lot of dots are just dots...

I figured out how to transfer my iTunes library from my old laptop to my new one using the external hard drive Friday night. That done, I then updated my new iPod Touch. My oldest has been harassing the crap out of me and his mom to get an iPod Touch. I am reticent because of it's abilities to get on the internets without any parental oversight. So call it research. I got the 16 GB one. Lo and behold there are parental controls on it. SO if he can stop bugging the shit out of me for it he may be in line to get one for Christmas.

So the boys were with me and the husband this weekend. Friday the husband and my oldest watched Moonlight on SciFi then it was bed time. Saturday morning the husband had to take the oldest kid into the city for a vet appointment. All is well, he is just getting old- the older kid that is not the husband. The boys and I took a long walk with our younger kid. We walked down the entire waterfront in Hoboken and then back. It was probably a good 2 - 1 1/2 miles. The weather was awesome. Our little girl was panting like she was about to pass out from heat exhaustion. When we got back I told the boys they had to have at least a hour of quiet time- no t.v., no iPods, no DS Lites, no Wii. I told them they could read or draw but no electronics allowed.

When the husband got back we went for lunch and dines al fresco at a local place right around the corner. We saw JP across the street going into a different restaurant. We then got back and I took a nap while the husband and the boys watched Stay Alive on SciFi. It was a movie with the star of Malcolm In The Middle about a video game that kills the players. They loved it. We then went and saw Transformers 2. It was ok. The action scenes were great, the story was a definitely convoluted, it was a bit too long and it did not have quite the same magic as the original. The boys loved it though. We got home, I put the boys to bed and told the husband I would guarantee my oldest got up at least once in the night because of Stay Alive. I was wrong; he got up four times. When I got up Sunday morning, he was asleep on the couch in the living room with the lights on and the t.v. on. Needless to say Sunday was a long day for me.

Last weekend when we were at the beach friends asked if we were taking the boys to the Pride parade. I said no as I was certain that would prompt the ex to drag me back into court. I did say that the Pier Dance was a different matter, lol.

Sunday night the husband and I watched the fireworks from the roof deck of our building. We sent JP a text asking if he wanted to join us but he had a front row seat because he was at the Pier Dance.

Ok, so the mass lay-offs index is at an all time high as of last week. A firm that lets go of or fires fifty or more at once qualifies as a mass lay-off. If people are losing their jobs or are afraid they may lose their jobs, they don't spend money. So consumption is predicated on jobs and job security. We cannot have a recovery of any meaning without consumption increasing. It aint gonna happen with the jobless rate heading north of ten percent by the President's own admission.

Speaking of the President, I thought he was doing a brilliant, lawyerly job handling the whole Iran situation until he caved into the neo-cons and commented on it. Now they can say see, the U.S. is meddling in our affairs. Now that he has committed though I think he needs to find more ways to support what the opposition is doing and keep it at arm's length. He is definitely smart enough to figure out how to do that.

Let's move onto the whole health care debate, lol. It aint gonna work. The reason is one the President has cited in his favor and that is profit motive. Plain and simple when the government takes over they have no profit motive so things just get big and bloated and bureaucratic. Maybe the co-op idea will but I don't see how a national, single payer system will succeed and especially at a cost of over $1 trillion (why do I always think of Dr. Evil when that amount is used?). The argument that doing nothing will cost more is a specious one as no one has figured out how to truly measure opportunity cost and that is what the President is talking about when he says it will cost more by doing nothing.

Seriously, I am all for the right to bear arms and own personal firearms but fuck the NRA when their lobbying allows ~800 people who are on the terror watch list to get licensed to own and carry firearms.

The savings rate jumped hugely again last week. That is good because it shows people are starting to live within their means and pay off debt. However it is also bad as it takes away from consumption which the government is doing everything it can to stimulate. I read one story last week saying that the savings rate is good as it helps us achieve independence from the Chinese. WTF, so now the spin is going to go the other way and soon you will be hearing frugality touted as patriotic and your duty as an American. Which is it going to be? I vote for frugality because it is the responsible thing to do- live within your means.

Totally psyched for the new SciFi series coming up- Warehouse 13. The hero in it reminds me of David Boreanaz.

Last week the boys went to kid classes at the local community college. They spent the week in robotics class. When I picked them up Friday night at their mom's I asked if at the end of class did they get to have robot wars. They did! I asked how far they made it with their robot (they were their own team and spent the week building it) and they said they made it ti the finals. I told them how cool that was and how proud I was of them. My oldest was all shucks about it and actually blushed.

Last night I ran and lifted then met the husband and JP at our semi-regular restaurant for dinner. Black Socks was at the gym and now I know why I think he is so freakin' hot. He looks almost exactly like Jason Stackhouse on Tru Blood and as Lafayette said that boy is walking sex on a stick.

It was great catching up with JP, he has had a busy summer so far travelling and playing host to guest from out of town. We told him we need to have him out tot he beach again this summer.

My new laptop has facial recognition software which is totally cool as I just turn it on and I don't need to use a password as long as the lighting is good and I don't have too big of a dip in, lol. Very futuristic and I wonder how long before our ATMs have it as well.

I swam this morning, the hot boxer was in the locker room when I got there- woof. Then I ran after work in the gym in our building. meeting the husband downtown for dinner.

The VIX- everyone is talking about how it is at it's pre-LEH lows again and proof that fear is gone. I disagree. I think the rally has made people lazy and complacency has set in and they are in for a rude awakening.

Apparently if you disagree with the porcine Rep. Waxmen on the cap and trade you are unpatriotic and anti-human. So having a different opinion now is bad? That is news to me. And the President saying it will not put any undue stress on the country is almost a bald faced lie because no one knows what the unintended consequences are going to be; so how can one say there will be no undue stress?

Professor Shiller was on BBRG tv today. The guy has been right on the whole housing issue. So to hear him start chanting the less bad is good mantra made me wonder WTF was going on. Get to the end of the segment and bam! He is selling a new ETF that allows you to play the housing market- the UMM. Well gee, if I want people to trade my new housing ETF of course I will tone down the negative aspects of the housing market. So how do you explain deliquincies i the prime mortgage market hitting new highs Professor? And tell me why the housing inventory only counts homes being sold thru a broker and not the ones banks have foreclosed on and are trying to sell? Whatever...

So I had to go buy the Rolling Stone issue with the Jonas Brothers on the front cover. It was kind of embarrassing but I wanted a hard copy of the scathing diatribe against GS. Plus there is a Gatorade ad with a smokin' hot kick-boxer, lol. (As an aside, my guess is give those Jonas Brothers a few years and one of them is gay and they will all grow up to be very good looking men too.)

I have always admired GS. They are brilliant. I have always thought of conspiracy theories as a fun parlor game. Yet after reading the article I have to try and distance myself and be objective. Maybe there is something to a GS led cabal running the world. If so they have done a good job so far but I am not sure they can continue doing it.

Speaking of conspiracy theories, I like to red the fringe- not the Weekly World News, etc. but the outliers in economic and political economy theory. There is a rumor going around in those circles that the government is going to impose a bank holiday in AUG or SEP. They will do it to allow the insolvent banks to disappear and make the rest healthy buy massively, officially devaluing the USD. The rumor says all US embassies have been to told to hoard/stockpile local currencies of the countries they are in. Whatever. In and of itself, not an issue.

But then you have the drop dead date for California- July 24th. after that the municipal market will implode supposedly. Unless the federal government backstops their debt. Not a big deal if a few weeks later you devalue.

FEMA is running their National Level Exercise starting July 24th. It will deal with coordinating all the military and law enforcement and intelligence in a mock terrorist attack, see how things run.

Now, I don't know if tin foil hats actually work and maybe these are all just coincidences and like the title says, sometimes dots are just dots; they don't always connect and make a picture but it is a fun parlor game.

I am glad to know that Levon Helm is an American music treasure and sorry this was so long but I had a few days to make up in my writing.

Ugh

I actually have about three days of notes and jottings that I will write down in a coherent piece but I got a new laptop and am currently struggling on how to transfer my iTunes library from my old laptop on to the new one. I bought an external hard drive and tried to follow the directions on iTunes but they suck and are not user friendly. As soon as I actually do the deed I will write a proper posting.

Mixed results

So Friday MP asked if we were ready for the race. I told her to call us Saturday around 11 AM and we would let her know the answer.

The race went well. The weather actually held for us, it did not rain at all. I was not all that happy with my swim, it was slower than last year but my bike was better. The run just sucked and not in the good way I like. At one point in the run I was saying fuck it, this is the last time I do this damn race. Then I thought no, when I am dead and gone no one will remember the times of these races just that I actually did them. I mentioned that to the husband afterwards as we were walking back to the car and he said not true, he'd make sure my times were on my tombstone. My final time was worse and I did not get close to breaking the two hour mark. Something to shoot for next year.

The husband did not do as well as he thought he would after all his training. He blamed his bike for mechanical problems. Apparently he hit a bump that jarred his front wheel and end up rubbing on his brakes. I told him excuses are like assholes- everyone has one and the stink. Yes I plagiarized one of my high school lacrosse coaches.

I think the best part of the race though was about the last mile and a half I seriously had to take a dump. As soon as I crossed the finish line I sprinted to the port-a-potty and did my biz. Apparently during this time the husband was chatting with my boss and a fellow co-worker. The other co-worker asked how the husband was related to our group. He told him I was his husband. Apparently that threw the guy for a serious loop. This morning the boss was laughing about that. He said it was all he could do not to burst out laughing because, as he put it, he could see the guy's train of thought immediately derail in a big, flaming crash.

After the race we rushed home to beat the rain on our drive to the beach. Our friend MM and her cousin were our guests for the weekend. We beat the rain. I love MM. She and her cousin met us at the ferry with the cart for our bags. The first thing she said is I looked totally jacked! I high fived her as the husband harrumphed. The funny thing is the summer intern on the desk (who sits next to me, God help him) on Friday was telling us that he wants to start lifting and get jacked like me! SO that was two unrelated people telling me I look jacked- that made up for the shitty run I had.

The weather at the beach sucked but it was a good thing. We were both so out of it, we didn't need to go out. We played cards with the girls and then made dinner and drank probably too much wine. we then attempted to watch a movie to no avail as I was soon snoring on the couch.

Sunday we were both a bit sorer, had a great breakfast and then actually watched the movie. It was a recent vampire flick titled Let The Right One In. IT was pretty good for a foreign flick (Swedish) but at times verged a bit into art house movie for me.

I was going to take two weeks off from any kind of training but decided against it as there are only fifty two weeks until the next race. So I hit the pool and swam 1800 yards. Believe it or not I actually felt pretty good in the pool. My goal now is to do a half hour each day in the morning, rotating through swimming, biking and running. In two weeks I will go back to the dojo, hopefully getting the black belt by the end of the year. Then I am planning on joining the masters swim team at the local college here in the 'boken. As my friend KM in Hotlanta said, very sneaky and highly recommends the stealth training program. He and his wife (like me he has one in the error account) do races all the time.

I am starting to think MSFT is really not the evil empire a lot of people think. My belief is that GOOG is much like Chancellor Palpatine. They are seducing everyone to the Dark Side and the Android OS is much like the Clone Army. I am sure any tech person reading this will get seriously pissed at that comment but whatever.

Ok, the "news" from the World Bank today was not really news. They stated that last month but apparently our shadowy overlords, i.e. GSCO, needed a reason for what was going to hit the markets today. What it really is I think is that many are realizing N. Korea is a serious problem, Iran is having a major power struggle, there is huge amounts of USTs coming to market this week and the consumer is ignoring everything thrown at them and repairing their balance sheets.

I have to wonder if JFK were alive today would he be a Democrat? I say that because I read some of his quotes and they don't seem to jibe well with what the Dems are doing. "The belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state.." and of course "...ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country." Apparently over the last forty years, many in our society have come to view the state as the source of their rights and as their nanny for life. What got me on this was my dad sent a note thanking us for a donation to his campaign. I told him I did not do it as I don't give money to any political party because I think they are both utterly corrupt. He said he did not understand my belief. My dad is a huge JFK fan and admirer. Yet he is running on a ticket that espouses the government can cure all, enabling people in out society to stop being responsible and leading them to believe their rights are given to them by the government. Sorry, but if you don't understand why I don't believe in that then I can't help you out. I also do not believe that there should be no help for those who fall through the cracks of society. But helping someone who has fallen down does not mean you become their parent. I also have a problem with the GOP and their beliefs on who counts and who doesn't.

Tomorrow I am biking in the morning then going to a party. My girlfriend I have known since 1st grade is hosting party in the city with her husband. I am a bit uncomfortable with it as her husband's cousin is running for public office- as a Democrat- and I will probably be hit up for money. Well at least there will be free booze and food and she personally asked me to come as her twin sister will be in town and is looking forward to seeing me again as well.

The best part of the last week of training

Tuesday night I biked about 9 miles and lifted. The usual hot guys were there. Yesterday morning was the last swim I did for at least two and a half weeks from a training perspective. Tonight it was a bike ride and a short run. My training for the race Saturday is officially over. The best part of this week though is I get to carb load. That means Italian food basically for any meal I want.

So here is kind of a funny thing. Tuesday night after the gym I had to run to TGT to get the last of the stuff we might need at the beach house. The husband said we need glass candle holders. So I go to the candle aisle and there is this cute guy there seriously checking out all the candles. About a hour before hand he was on the elliptical machine in front of me at the gym. I checked- no wedding ring. Did not see Candle guy at the gym tonight when I finished my training.

I am a bit perturbed at the White House is continuing so many of the policies of the previous Administration. President Obama's White House has blocked access to their visitor logs. WTF? Thought he was elected to change things? That policy is right out of President Bush's White House. But wait he did extend benefits to same sex couples who are employed by the Federal government. So, aren't the Armed Forces employed by the Federal government? Does that mean as long as you don't tell the military you are gay you can get benefits for your partner? Seems like a Catch-22 to me.

I get really annoyed at the ETF ads that tell you don't let the idea get away. Hello? An ETF was specifically designed so you don't have to come up with an idea. It just mimics an index. Someone has already created the idea- the index- and you are just copying it. I also am starting to wonder if ETFs are the 21st century equivalent of investment trusts that were so prevalent in the early 20th century.

I think it may be a sign of how lame our entertainment industry has become that they are now going to remake Footloose. Seriously, I am not sure that movie needs to be remade. I did not think it was that good of a flick the first time around. What could they do to actually make it entertaining this time around? I do have to say though that the argument against this is they are remaking Melrose Place. That was my guilty pleasure in the early '90s. I loved that show and will probably watch the new premiere.

DBKS says the prices for housing in the greater New York metropolitan area will fall another 40%. I am ok with that as I currently am a renter and am not ready to be long real estate again yet.

Today marked two years of separate but equal civilized unionization with the husband. We did not go out for a big dinner or anything as we figured we need to get extra rest before the race Saturday morning. This will be only the third time I have used my road bike. Then we are off to the beach. Our friend MM and her cousin will be joining us out there for the weekend. MM used to work with the husband but has decided to go back to school and get her MBA. We have not seen her in a few months and she is always a pip and fun to hang with.

So the boys have email through their school. So I sent them an email the other morning. My oldest asked if I could keep it cool like when we text. Ahh the joys of having a son who is going into 7th grade soon.

Freedom is freedom

So I got on the bus this morning in the rain to finish my last week of training. The bus I took usually has this one hot married younger guy who I think is in my line of work. Anyhow, apparently he did not check the weather forecast last night and was soaked through his white button up shirt and it was clinging to him and I admit I stole several glances. The shirt was clinging in all the right places and I wonder what gym he goes to in Hoboken.

I swam about 1,000 yards and it went fairly quick.

So much to talk about. First thing that gets me nervous is North Korea stating they will now weaponise all of the plutonium they have. Well isn't that something to help me sleep better at night. They also have apparently achieved a nearly 4 kiloton detonation in their latest test. That is sufficient enough to cause serious damage and small enough to be deployed by a long range missile.

Swine flu is now officially a pandemic. Funny, about a week after it first surfaced Mr. Barrett told me look, it's out there, expect to get sick. One of my co-workers children actually has it now. If it follows the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 it could calm down over the summer, mutate and mix with other viruses and then come back in the autumn even more virulent and dangerous. So now I am thinking maybe it would be better to catch it now, I don't think I'd die from it, so that if it resurfaces in the autumn I will have some antibodies.

Of course Turbo Tax Timmy says PPIP is not dead. This is also the guy who can't do his taxes and ran the NY Fed when all the shit was hitting the fan and never saw it coming and claims he was never a regulator. The rumors of it's death are not greatly exaggerated.

Ohio got downgraded by Moodys I think. It doesn't really matter who did the deed the fact is now we have California and Ohio screwed. California has less than fifty days before it goes into debt. I am trying to figure out if it does and the Treasury back stops them will the markets rally on that or sell off big? Thank God the president of the Dallas Fed says they will not be monetizing the deficits.

Cash for clunkers is not a great idea from an economic prospective. It has been done in Germany and all it does is pull forward any demand that may exist in the future. There is also no guarantee the people who take advantage of the program will go and buy a GM or Chrysler product anyway.

Russia's finance minister says it is too early to talk about replacing the USD as the global reserve currency. Well I say actions speak louder than words and the BRICs all reduced their holdings of USTs so who cares what he said.

The law of unintended consequences keeps coming to mind when President Obama discusses his plan to move us to a single payer health care plan like Europe. I just cant get my head wrapped around how he can possibly say doing nothing will cost us more than $1 trillion. No one- except for Jeanne Dixon- can predict the future. I also have questions about how he can seriously believe that we will not end up in a single payer plan if the government gets into the business and has no profit motive so they will not care about costs or anything else. I am fully for some sort of social safety net for those unfortunate in our society but not for a cradle to grave nanny state.

Saturday night my oldest asked if he was adopted. That kind of threw me for one and I know a lot of kids wonder that at some point in their lives but usually when they go to a family reunion and realize some of the branches on the family tree should have been pruned. I asked why he was wondering if he was adopted. He said well my hair color is different than either yours or mom's. I explained to him when I was his age my hair was the same color as his and we both have blue eyes and assured him there is no way he was adopted as I was there when the doctor delivered him.

Last night we attended DS and JK's annual roof deck party. The weather actually held for them and we had a blast as usual. It was all I could do to point out to the many who voted for President Obama solely because he was not a Republican and would help the gays out that not only has he done squat for our cause but that Dick Cheney- who many view as evil and akin to Darth Vader (which I cannot disagree with in many respects) came out saying the re is nothing wrong with gay marriage and freedom is freedom. Ever the Republican he said it is a state issue not a Federal and the federal government should not be involved in the process. I agree. Yet, President Obama's Justice department is the one that cited (as one of the offensive reasons) that it would be bad economically to allow it now. God forbid gays get married and then companies and the government will have to extend benefits to their spouses and that is too great an economic burden at this time. Well gee Mr. President, please let me know when it would be economically ok to be treated as a human? I also would like to point out that many of the arguments for slavery were based on economic reasons as well and yet those didn't seem to hold up to well, did they now? For someone who espouses equality for all and that the American Dream is possible it seems very hypocritical to deny and actively disenfranchise a segment of the population because they are different. And please do no t give me that bullshit argument that I am falling prey to exceptionalism.

McLovin and White Castle

So the ex was going to some event in the city last night and offered to drop the boys off in Hoboken on the way in. I of course said sure but there was a catch. My youngest had a sleep over birthday party and it was his best friend. So he went to that and just my oldest came last night. It was actually a great time. He and I went out for dinner to a sushi place with a patio in the back. He loves eel sushi so of course that is what he got. I had the plain type of rolls. We had a great conversation. He has had some issues with his grades this year- that is why he lost his texting on his cell- and he actually told me he got an F on a quiz this past week but has yet to tell his mom. I told him he better tell her before she finds out otherwise she will get mad. This led to a discussion of her temper and yelling. He had a lot of negative things to say about her in that light. I quickly put a stop to that and told him just because I am not married to his mom anymore does not mean he can talk in that manner about her. I told him I understand she has a temper, she gets it from her dad. My oldest was stunned at that as he has never seen his grandfather lose his temper. I also explained that his mom's temper is quick and the best thing to do is let her yell and scream, stay calm and when it seems appropriate ask if she is done yelling and would she like to talk. he laughed and said that was a good idea and I told him it works too, I've used it before. I told him he needs to tell his mom by the this coming Friday about the quiz and I would ask him each night if he has and if he has not I will tell her. He is afraid she will get really mad. I explained it is because she cares about him and loves him and knows he is smart enough to do the work. I also explained if she finds out some other way she will get even more mad because he tried to hide it from her and she thinks that is akin to lying, which for her is a mortal sin.

So since it was just the two of us last night (the husband went out to a movie and dinner with Ragnar and Umberto) we walked to BBI and got Super Bad. I know a lot of people thought this was a great, funny movie but I have to say I thought it was only ok. Don't get me wrong, the character of McLovin was genius and funny but the whole movie I found not as funny as I expected and a bit disjointed. My oldest however had seen parts of it before with several of his friends and found it thoroughly hilarious.

This morning I got up, cleaned the apartment and then showered up and drove down to central Jersey to pick up my youngest from his best friend's sleep over birthday party. I got to the house and found out that the seven 9 year old boys had slept in the back yard in a tent in sleeping bags. I asked the dad (who was kinda cute in a geek way) if it had rained and he laughed and said a bit. The mom was very nice and I complimented her on her two Mies Van De Roe chairs. I was in like Flynn after that. My youngest was psyched because he got to sit in the front seat of the truck- normally that is his older brother's spot. I told him I think his older brother missed him. He said highly unlikely and asked why I thought that. It was simple for me as when the boys are with us on the weekends they share a room and once they are in bed that is it. However, last night my oldest had the room to himself and was up no less than 4 times in the middle of the night, in our room standing next to the bed and asking me for a drink, would I walk him to the bathroom (directly across from his room in the opposite direction of our room), can I turn the music on for him, etc.

While I was driving down there I got stuck in a huge traffic jam due to an accident. When I passed it I saw two objects covered by white sheets which I took to be bodies. It was odd because I had to look- I think that is called rubbernecking. I of course told my youngest when I picked him up and he thought it was cool and asked if I ran either of them over.

Meanwhile, back at the Batcave- the husband and my oldest were grocery shopping for our brunch we hosted today.

My younger brother and his wife and twin one year old sons came over for brunch. So as soon as we walked in the door I was right in the kitchen. The good thing about inviting people with really young kids is you no they are always late by at least 10 minutes. My brother and his wife and kids were and that was a positive since we were not quite ready yet.

Brunch was a success and the kids were psyched to have one year old children around as that means lots of food dropped or thrown on the floor. My sister-in-law was trying to clean up a bunch of Cheerios and he husband and I both told her to stop, the dogs are living vacuum cleaners and will get everything- which they did.

When they left the boys and I went to the local BKS. My oldest had said he wanted to get some mythology books. So we went and found a young readers collection of ancient Greek myths (I had to buy two copies as both of them wanted their own), The Iliad, The Odyssey, Gilgamesh, a book about Norse mythological heroes and gods and a collection of Norse myths. After that we met the husband (who ran into JP) on the corner and went to Joseph A. Banks since they are having yet again another buy one get two free sale. I got some new dress pants for work making the husband happy since that means I will be getting rid of the remaining khakis I have.

The husband went down to PJ's and ST's farm in central Jersey for the evening. The boys and I had dinner, played Godzilla on the Wii- my youngest kicked my ass in the brawl mode- and then watched Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. Ok, that was very funny and I unwittingly bought the uncut version so my youngest saw a lot of boobs and heard the F-bomb a lot. His brother pulled me aside and said he is concerned his little bro would spill the beans to the ex. I told him act like nothing is wrong and he will stop watching. He did. I will still tell him he shouldn't tell his mom about it.

Tomorrow we are celebrating Fathers Day. I know it is next week but I screwed up the calendar when fixing it with the ex, have our race next weekend, the beach and guests at the beach. I am not driving back down to central Jersey again after doing it the past two years- and last year with a stress fracture in my ankle. I told the boys all I wanted was for them to stop acting like typical brothers and be nice to each other and not name calling, punching, pushing or physical contact of any sort. They both promised they would try their best. We'll see...

Ooops I did it again

I can't remember who sang that- Brittney? Madonna? Kylie? Cher? They are all the same. Anyhow, this morning I swam, a little over 2150 yards. Afterwards I was done showering and getting dressed when this kind of cute and scruffy hipster type walked into the locker room. You know the type- designer jeans with embroidered back pockets, zip-up hoodie and Von Dutch type baseball cap. He got undressed and I looked up and noticed he had his shirt off, slim but muscled and nicely. So I kept stealing furtive glances, next the pants came off and he had a nice bum (yes I am a bum-looker). He is putting on a speedo- of course I am done in the pool- and I happen to espy his junk and it was NICE. I look up and he is staring at me. Thankfully I am a bigger guy and pretended it didn't happen. Busted!

Mr. Clifford and his cadre left the beach house today. The weather sucked for them but he said they had a good, relaxing time. The husband said they reminded him of the cast of The Big Bang Theory which made me laugh as I could see the physical similarities.

BBRG has been running ads for TRV. All I can say is the guy who is Saturday is freakin' hot and I would jumop into a convertible with him as well.

My business drinks got cancelled so I decided to do my long bike tonight instead of tomorrow before work. I was rather impressed with myself for getting a little over 20 miles done in 62 minutes.

The husband and I are going to see MGMT at Prospect Park on JUL 1. He is the one who discovered the concert but I get a corporate discount on StubHub so I bought the tickets.

We had dinner tonight at our semi-regular place. There is a new bartender there and he is really cute. I of course asked "So are you new here?" to which he said yes. He introduced himself. The bad thing about hot bartenders wearing black pants is in low light you can't really tell if the have nice asses.

I have the boys this weekend. The ex is actually dropping my oldest off here in Hoboken. She is going into the city for something. My youngest though has a sleep over birthday party so I will be driving down to central Jersey Saturday morning to pick him up. My oldest is 12. He asked if he could watch Pineapple Express tomorrow night. I told him no. I am not comfortable with him watching a drug movie at his age. I told him why and said I will talk about drugs with you but I don't think it is an appropriate movie for you. I got the "All my friends saw it" line to which I used Dad's reply "If all your friends jumped off a bridge would you?" Kill me now as I never thought I would use Dad's lines...

That sounds like an S&M term

I did not train this morning as the book club went a bit late and I actually helped the husband clean up after they left. So I slept in a bit.

No hot guys on the bus that I noticed and I am usually pretty good about catching sight of them.

The Beige Book was released this afternoon and it had some interesting things to say about the economy. First was the economy deteriorated further. No surprise but of course the spin was that 5 of the districts reported pace of deterioration seemed to be slowing. Well there are 12 districts so by y calculation 5 would be less than half of all districts- not a great sign.

The thing I found most telling though- and scary- was wages were flat to falling. Wages and wage growth are what create consumption and growth in consumption. Consumption accounts for roughly 70% of GDP. So, if wages are flat or falling that would lead me to believe that consumption is flat or falling and hence GDP is flat or falling. A recession ends when GDP ticks up, not when it is flat or falling.

Which leads me to the recent jobs number. If the jobs lost was not as bad as expected what does that mean for wages and wage growth? It is real simple. A skilled laborer at a GM plant could demand and get higher wages than a cashier at WMT or MCD. So even if job losses stop, what people are earning in the new jobs they found will not necessarily translate into wage growth, etc., etc., etc.

Two of the BRICs have fired shots across the bow of the USD hegemony as the current reserve currency of the world. Both have said they are going to use part of their reserves to buy IMF bonds- basically diversify away from the USD and their exposure to the huge implicit devaluation the Fed is doing to it. I think they are trying to get ahead of China doing it but who knows.

The government has appointed someone to oversee compensation at financial institutions that have accepted significant aid from them. As a taxpayer I have no problem with this action being taken. The only thing I have an issue with is the title they have given to this new position: special master. It conjures up images of some S&M dominant for some reason. I mean I am thinking the CEOs and executives will be like that scene in Pulp Fiction with red ball gags and the special master will be attired in some black leather suit that has a mask with a zipper for a mouth. Hell they might as well have given the job the title the gimp.

Tomorrow I am doing a kind of long swim for training. I have drinks after with two business associates. One of them I actually did a lot of business with his father when I was a young, snot-nosed punk in my line of work which is kind of surreal for me.

I can't find my seven veils

So this morning I got up and hit the pool to make up for missing my swim yesterday. I knew it was going to be a good swim when I got to the locker room. The hot guy who I have totally mind-raped when he was in boxing class and I was biking was actually getting into his swimsuit. He swam the same time I did, sadly he was in a different lane. I did share a lane with a cute, muscly Irish guy though. He was not a good swimmer however and it made it a bit difficult but it was better than the one armed 90 something lady I got stuck with once.

I am still wondering why with all the hoopla about TARP getting repaid no one has asked about the two glaring omissions- namely Shitigroup and BAC. The two largest banks have not said word one about applying to repay or being allowed to repay TARP. Add to that the fact the House issued subpoenas to the Federal Reserve in regards to the BAC/MER merger and one has to wonder what is going on? Shitigroup is simple- the government owns it and they will get broken up over the next few years. BAC however has a lot more to the story. With BAC all we are missing so far is murder because I am sure there was blackmail, drugs, sex and the threat of violence involved.

My cousin works in my line of work but on the other side. He is the one who got me in the business and introduced me to the ex-wife years ago. I still talk with him daily. he asked if I was still a bear this morning and I said yeah but doesn't matter, you have been more right than I have lately. He's thought process is the crowd is set up for a pull back so it never happens. I usually am not part of the crowd but it would seem I am now. I understand the crowd is usually wrong but sometimes the crowd is right- not real often but when it is watch out.

The husband is hosting his book club tonight. The book they read for this meeting was The Persian Boy. Never heard of it and too lazy to wiki it. He sent out an email telling everyone in keeping with the theme of the book we'd be serving Middle Eastern food. There is a great Middle Eastern restaurant in Hoboken. He also added that I would be providing dancing- belly dancing to be specific, lol. When everyone got here and asked I told them I could not find my veils so would not be performing for the night. Several of them also commented on how in shape I am- they are gays after all- and asked how I did it. So I explained to them we were training for the triathlon. Today two of the guys in the office who are also doing the race wrote up a list of the expected placing of everyone in the race. Those bitches had me in the middle, lol.

Have a short run to do tomorrow and then one of the ops people who supports the desk is leaving so everyone is going out for drinks after.

We aren't a banana republic just yet

I was supposed to swim this morning for training but did not pack my stuff last night so I blew it off and will do it tomorrow.

Summer Mondays in my line of work can really be slow and boring. Today was one of those Mondays in terms of volume and activity. However there was tons of interesting tidbits out.

Two things stand out in my mind as important. The first is of course the Supreme Court staying the sale of Chrysler assets to Fiat right at the close. that is what gave me the title of this post. I am glad to see we have an independent judiciary that is willing to stand up for the rule of law and property rights. I think the other thing that made me chuckle was (I read this on ZeroHedge) the Administration in writing said that the courts in general and the Supreme Court in particular, were stepping out of bounds if they tried to rule on the use of TARP funds- not in those exact words. Funny how when an Administration dares the Supreme Court the Supreme Court takes the dare and usually wins. President Obama and his subordinates all but guaranteed the Supreme Court would take up the case of the Indiana State Pension funds and every other secured debt holder who was getting screwed in this rushed sale. I did notice how the media, and in particular BBRG, was trying to make light of the fact that the state pension funds held such a small amount of the debt that they were doing something wrong in standing up to the Federal government. That seems to be missing the whole point of the rule of law: Everyone, regardless of how wealthy, famous, or important (or self-important as may be the case) is equal in front of the law- well in theory at least and our history has shown otherwise often enough.

It also got me wondering who got to BBRG? They had been doing a good job of giving you the unvarnished, ugly truth of what is going on in the markets. Lately they seem to have joined the side that thinks if we all clap hard enough we can save Tinkerbell, aka the economy, from the poison. Speaking of drinking the Kool Aid, what is up with Paul Krugman? He has been a vocal critic of all that is going on, deriding the government for not really tyring to save us but instead save the system and their friends. Today in the last half hour it is all over the news wires how he is now saying the economy will exit recession in this summer most likely. WTF? He has been one of the most vocal "This is not your father's recession but your grandfather's Depression" and "It really is different this time" voices out there. Now all the sudden he is doing a 180 and preaching all is well, everyone back into the pool.

The second thing that made me sit up and take notice was the Governator issuing an executive order basically cancelling any contracts with the state after March 1st I believe. He went even further prohibiting any new contracts or purchases going forward and told all the state departments to present budgets cutting 15% of their expenses once the new state budget is approved. Not a big deal one would think right? Wrong! California, if it were an independent country, would be the sixth largest economy in the world. How can we be bottoming let alone exiting the recession if the sixth largest economy in the world is cutting it's budget by 15% and not entering into any new contracts or completing any new purchases?

So the Supreme Court won't hear a challenge to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I thought the President as Commander In Chief could just issue his own executive order and kill that? To me it appears that President Obama is just another politician who said whatever the crowd he was in front of wanted to hear to get elected. It is kind of sad that former VP Cheney came out saying "Freedom is freedom." when he was discussing gay marriage and the President is completely silent on the issue.

I actually did train today. I switched things around on the schedule for the week and will swim tomorrow morning. I hit the gym after work and biked 12 miles then ran 4. I will pay for that tomorrow.

Tomorrow night the husband is hosting his book club/wine drinking club. I will again have to politely decline their attempts to get me to join the club. I am glad the boys room has a tv.

That was a great weekend

So Wednesday morning I slept in late and happened to get lucky enough to ride he same bus in as Black Socks from the gym. I have only ogled him from afar in the gym but I ended up standing right next to him and all I can say is wow. He is seriously hot and cute and has really nice guns.

Lots of crap happened last week and I was lax in writing. I think the thing that struck me most was the SEC finally going after Angelo Mozillo. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is out; the horse was taking a huge steaming shit on the neighbor's yard! The SEC has proven how scared it is about losing it's mandate. They are going to have a very tough time winning that case I think because even though Mr. Mozillo is a bit of a dirtbag for knowing all along how this would end he is no dummy. I am sure he did everything by the book when he sold his stock and reaped somewhere in the neighborhood of $140 million. If the regulatory authorities had been doing their jobs all along they wouldn't need to go after him now with, what appears to my non-lawyer mind, very flimsy charges.

Last week the Fed dropped a little bomb on the banks. They changed the rules of paying back TARP yet again. The Fed said banks need more equity. What did I miss if the stress tests gave everyone a passing grade? So, no only did the banks have to pass the stress test (they all did), they also have to raise debt not guaranteed by the FDIC (some did) and raise new equity (above and beyond what the stress test told them they needed, which some did). The goal line keeps getting moved which tells me the Fed doesn't want any banks repaying the TARP because the ones that can't will be screwed. I keep thinking that Shitigroup has been real quiet the entire time and thinking about how they are basically nationalized already and if other banks are allowed to repay TARP it will prove Shitigroup is effectively nationalized.

I think it is safe to say that many on the street view Mr. Dimon as the smartest guy in the room. He has done a good job of avoiding many of the pitfalls that others got into during this crisis. On that assumption, what does it say when he has decided his bank will no longer have internal hedge funds and prop trading? Add to that that several very well known hedge funds are closing as well (Pallotta's Raptor, Pequot and one other I did not write down on my notes so can't remember) and I have to question if the markets are really healing and thawing.

Retail sales basically sucked last week. Then we had consumer credit drop approximately $17 billion. That tells me the consumer (who accounts for close to 70% of GDP) is still reining in everything and attempting to repair their own balance sheets. I don't see how the economy can bottom and actually grow with the consumer cutting their credit by that much of a number- which I think was a record drop or the second largest drop.

Seriously, what happens if GM and Chrysler emerge and start making crappy green cars no one wants to buy? There is a lot of hype about how the government is going to do this surgically and quickly. Sorry, but I think to reorganize both GM and Chrysler the old adage "Haste makes waste" is going to prove expensively correct for all of us who are footing the bill with increased taxes. I would also caution this has been tried before- by the Brits in the '70s when they took over British Leyland. If I read the history correctly that did not end well.

I had drinks Thursday night with a girl friend I have known since 1st grade. The husband and I will be attending a party she is having in a few weeks. She and I have been getting together regularly for about a year now.

Friday I drove out to the in-laws house after work. They live right across the bay from Fire Island and right around the corner from the ferry. I stopped by to pick up some slip covers my mother-in-law sewed for us for the beach house. (Three white couches with two kids and two dogs all ;last summer got a bit dirty.) She had dinner waiting for me which was nice. The husband was attending a college reunion function in the city and taking the train out later. As dinner was winding down we somehow ended up discussing politics. I am a firm believer that the government's job, other than national defense and what not, is to only make sure that everyone has the opportunity to succeed. I think a lot of Democrats believe the government's job is to guarantee everyone achieves success. For the record I am not registered with either party. I think they are both corrupt and just the opposite sides of the same coin. I also have voted for more Democrats, starting with Dukkakis, for President that Republicans. I am definitely a libertarian- less government is good for everyone.

The weather this weekend at the beach was really great. Saturday we planned on lounging by the pool the entire day. Our plans changed however when we realized the house across the way was hosting a huge party/benefit. It went form 1 PM to 5PM. The sound checks started at 11:30 AM.

We were at the house by ourselves. We had a great dinner then TK, WP and their new housemate for part of the season came over. We had a nice card game and then right to bed.

Today was just as good weather wise. We spent most of the day on the beach playing Scrabble with TK- the husband won, which seems to be the norm when we do play on the beach.

Mr. Clifford, his bf and some of his friends from DC are using the house this week. They got there when we were cleaning up and getting ready to leave. I think tomorrow is supposed to be nice but eh rest of the week may suck in the weather department.

I am so over training

Sunday I took the boys to see Up- in 3D of course. It was a good movie. Afterwards I asked the boys if they liked it. My oldest said yes but it was kind of sad because Russell's (the kid in the movie) dad was not the re for him at the end. I asked him if he felt that way about me and he said no immediately. I asked him if he did would he ever tell me to which he also replied no. His little brother interjected he thought his older brother was lying. I worry about that especially as he is almost a teenager and the teenage years are tough for anyone. I told him I want him to if he does feel that way and that is also why he has a cell phone and I talk with every day even when he answers the phone "I don't feel like talking." (Like he did last night.)

I really could have throttled both of the boys at one point this weekend. One day the youngest looked at me and asked if they could just choose which weekends they go out to the beach instead of every weekend like the past two summers. I said no because we sold the weekends they are with us. He was stunned that we could get money for them and wanted to know how much and what we were doing with the money. I had to explain to him how we had fronted all of the money and were just recouping some of our costs.

Later my oldest- who does not have the closest and warmest relationship with his step-father asked where the husband was. I looked at him and asked if he heard anything I had said Friday night? He admitted he doesn't always and asked seriously, will I be seeing him this weekend? And where are the dogs? At times like this I understand why some animals eat their young...

Sunday when we walked into brunch I saw Hot Married Guy from the old apartment. He stared at me for a few seconds. He was with a bunch of friends and I of course noticed he was not wearing a wedding ring anymore. All of his pals were wearing theirs. He then left with a Keanau Reeves type guy but more muscular than Keanau. So no I am wondering if he is Hot Divorced Guy?

Yesterday morning I swam 1400 yards. I was also supposed to bike for forty-six minutes but skipped that. As I was walking to the office I passed Full Lower Lip on 8th. I told the husband he winked at me- which he sadly did not. He was wearing a suit with out a tie which I really can't stand the look as I had discussed with PF last week. It just seems half-assed or indecisive.

Last night we had our friend EW over for dinner. I had gotten the husband a pizza stone and pizza cook book for his birthday. Somehow though I got stuck doing all the cooking- most likely because I had foolishly volunteered that I had a pizza stone in the first marriage and had used it often. It was fun except I did not flour the first time and the damn thing stuck, burned a bit and the apartment smelled like smoke.

I biked and ran today after work, my first brick. I biked 15 1/2 miles and ran 3 1/2.

I had a bit of a panic today. The legal department sent out an email today discussing the compliance issues with blogs. I wondered if I was targeted but after reading through it it was more about using company resources for blogging, naming the company, the usual no dissing co-workers, etc. I believe I posted from the office once or twice so that will not happen anymore and I am not going to go through all of my posts to see if I had ever dissed any co-workers.

I am still surprised the general public has not realized the markets are being played like a violin but they are more concerned about their employment prospects. I am looking forward to jobless claims this week and how it will get spun with the usual "as expected" "less worse" and sundry other trite phrases.

What happens if after nationalizing GM- which is what we have done, don't kid yourself- the company still makes cars no one wants to buy? IT could never happen right? HA! The Brits went through this in the late '60s/early '70s and it ended terribly. What stopped it was Lady Thatcher becoming Prime Minister and getting the government out of the business of trying to run businesses. We'll see though.