Sweet may have been right

The weekend was a blast out at the beach even though the husband was not there. Mr. Barrett, Mr. Clifford, CS, PF and DR were very good company. The boys from DC got there ahead of myself, PF and DR. I actually picked them up off the street corner on my way to the midtown tunnel- it was kind of ghetto. We caught the boat and stopped at the liquor store as I had received a text informing me the house needed more booze. The proprietor was giving away free shots of tequila- just what I needed.

We pre-gamed at the house and then all changed into clean underwear,met up with TK at the bar and hit the underwear party. It was a blast! The term that comes to mind is hot tranny mess- actually make that plural- messes.

Saturday night we went over to the Grove and hit Summer Snaxx. It was fun and TK introduced us to a famous writer's son. The funny thing was we all later were commenting how he was checking everyone out. Mr. Barrett had it right when he said he looked like a miniature Wolverine.

So DIS bought MVL. I am so bummed MVL sold out. I liked them as an independent company but that is how markets work. The husband was nearly put into the penalty box when he asked me "Captain America is DC right?" I called him a heretic and said he may have to sleep in the boys room for the rest of the week.

I heard this voice on BBRG that sounded like what I imagine a Thai lady-boy to sound like. I looked up and it was a rather well followed analyst for a major i-bank who is all Asia all the time. I almost burst out laughing.

So the thing I noticed fro the overnight session was a story out of China. apparently some state controlled businesses are going to unilaterally invalidate many contracts they have to hedge commodity exposure because the financial losses are too great. That is the problem with a state controlled economy. The state can and does always change the rules. It really gets to the heart of what constitutes a free market. The basis of free markets is property rights plain and simple. If the government can and does ignore them or even outlaw them then how can you say it is a free market? I still don't get why everyone seems to believe that the Chinese Communists are "good" Communists and yet the Soviets were "bad?"

I checked out some of the coming soon movies on the web. Daybreakers looks interesting and so does House of the Devil. What I was floored to see is that Let The Right One In is already slated to get an American make-over next year. Seriously- we can't do our own vampire flicks anymore? Doesn't anyone recall Thirty Days of Night?

Hit the dojo tonight. When I got home it was right in the shower to prevent any more ringworm and then a lot of Icy Hot on certain sore areas as a preventative.

Back to the gym tomorrow morning as I skipped swimming this morning; I was resting up from the weekend at the beach with friends. Dinner tomorrow night too with MP.

I read on wiki today how there actually is a condition called oxygen toxicity. It made me think of the song Love Is Like Oxygen and the band Sweet- no clue why, just a random closing.

There's a sequel

So I finished reading the summer reading assignment this morning on the PATH ride in to the office. It was a pretty good book. I sent my oldest a text telling him I had and he then told me that there is a sequel. He asked if I could get it for him. I said sure, found on BKS website and ordered it. It of course is only out in hardcover right now. No clue how but it qualified for expedited shipping.

A few things on the health front- not my health but the ex. First off tomorrow her mom is going in for surgery to get the tumor caused by her ovarian cancer removed. She, her bf and the boys went into the city tonight and are staying at a hotel. Surgery is tomorrow some time. I told my oldest to text or call me when his grandmother gets out of surgery. The ex however called me and told me she has to go in for a biopsy. I asked if she had told the boys and she said no. I was glad for that because they have enough on the plate with their grandmother. I debated telling the husband as there is no love lost between the two but I did tell him tonight and I was surprised at his reaction. He showed real, serious and true compassion. Makes me even more sure I did right by making a honest man of him a couple of years ago.

I read the Madonna got booed in Europe. Woo-hoo! She is overrated I think and I just never got that into her. I am most assuredly in the minority on that opinion but whatever.

Tomorrow I am of to the beach with friends. Tropical Storm Danny is most likely going to make the weekend a wash weather wise but that is fine. We have cards out there and I asked several of the guest to bring board games. We are however going to the underwear party no matter what the weather is like.

The markets were dead today and I expect them to stay that way until Thursday of next week into the three day weekend for Labor Day.

The study of the blatantly obvious

Maybe I am just too used to always having something easy on the eyes to look at in my morning commute but I have to say the PATH has not come close to the bus in terms of morning eye candy. Granted it has not even been a full week but I had three years of fun staring.

I was listening to some PhD economist blabber on o BBRG TV this morning and he made a comment about behavioral economics. It made me think of a discussion JW and I have had going on for some time about economics in general. Full disclosure here: I majored in economics. It really isn't as dismal as some make it out to be. I also got one piece of advice from my dad when I left for college that I actually heeded: Don't take any sociology courses- they are the study of the blatantly obvious. As an econ major I used to make fun of sociology majors. There was one course though that I thought sounded interesting- the sociology of money and finances. Now that I am almost upon my twenty year reunion for college I have to say I think dad dissed me on that advice. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I have come to realize and understand that sociology really is something one should study in relation to their major; majoring in it is still wrong though- hell you might as well major in religious studies but I digress. Where am I going with this? I think behavioral economics and behavioral economists are really just closeted sociologists who focus on money and finance. JW is getting a PhD in political economy I believe and I strongly counselled him to take any course that had to do with the sociology of money and finance as they are much more important than economagics or some arcane economic theory.

Funny how when you are in front of the U.S. Senate for confirmation hearings as the Secretary of the United States Treasury you can use as a valid defense that Turbo Tax screwed up and you are not at fault. But if you are in front of a judge in Ohio that defense is not valid. I bet also if you as an individual tried to tell a judge that giving a full accounting of what you did with money you were responsible for in a fiduciary manner that it would be problematic that would not fly. Yet if you are the U.S. Treasury Secretary- hey, no problem.

The chimes on the grandfather clock are not working properly. I need to find someone to come take a look at it and ideally fix it. tonight the husband had drinks with his old assistant. Then we order some really good Chinese food (something Hoboken is seriously lacking in) and unpacked a lot more and hung a few more pieces of art.

Having drinks tomorrow night after work with a co-worker. Other than that not much else to say.

Free forming it- kinda like free-balling it- sort of but not really

I didn't write any notes today so just going to try something new for my writing.

Reading The Night Tourist. My oldest son's summer reading assignment. Read the one he read last year so doing it again this year. Big print, short chapters. Halfway through it. Only on the PATH.

Came up with a solution to the drill issue from last night. Four shelf, chrome finished, heavy gauge wire shelving- the kind you find in a restaurant kitchen. Three feet by two feet. Fits well. NFS rated for food storage- according to the box. No clue what NFS is but sounds cool.

Slow day in the markets. Had only two orders, both less than 25k shares- woo hoo!

Had a good conversation with new PM I am trading for. Constructive is the operative phrase.

Younger brother in Ongonquit. Went to a gay bar with his wife. Got made fun of by stand up comic. Pulled up on stage. Sister-in-law too. Bro took pictures to prove it. Called stand up comic "mean."

Youngest son now wants iTouch too- WTF? Asked him why. No sound, logical reason other than older bro asking for one too.

Had a dream about kick-boxing. Husband told me I was thrashing around at 4 AM. Yelled out a guy's name supposedly- not the husband's though. Can't tell me what the name was though. How do you know it was a guy's name then? Miss the dojo.

Miss the gym, can't wait for the damn unpacking to get done.

Hung up towel hooks on back of bathroom door. Very proud of myself. Then got out of bathroom and saw screws sticking out other side- No more drilling. Glue/adhesive type things from now on.

Husband had business dinner.

Got in late this morning as in 8 AM. Reprimanded husband via text. No leaving the home before me unless I am out of bed and moving around.

Becoming more convinced President Obama is a one-termer. No clue who though will replace him. Will have a better sense after the mid-term elections.

Fouad Ajami (spelling?) had an interesting editorial in the WSJ today.

Chiller late night has REALLY bad, cheesy, C-flicks.

The Instyler is very tempting...

I bent my 3/8" drill bit

Our new building has a hot doorman in the mornings. It made for an enjoyable start to the work day. The commute is now a bit longer too but that is okay- I've had longer commutes and in the big picture it really isn't something to carp about.

The first thing I noticed when I got back to work was that all the t.v.s had Fox News on. I asked a co-worker what the deal was and was told last week something went wrong with the DirecTV and that was all that was coming through. We got to see all the car chases and I loved it as the office has a decidedly leftist bent so it annoyed everyone, lol. All the t.v.s had the volume turned down.

The next thing that totally took me by surprise was a friend IMing me with the title of my blog. I almost fell out of my chair. I told him there are only two places he could have found the link to it but he dismissed that and explained to me how he found it. The funny thing is I had drinks with him and a co-worker of his several weeks ago and he told me about his blog. I did not mention mine as I did not think it would be his cup of tea. So a big shout out to BW.

I know my older brother reads this blog from time to time and works for a large communications company that also happens to be my wireless provider so I hesitate to write the following but the 3G I have right now totally sucks. I mean I live in the NYC metro area and it goes out on me all the time- WTF??? I am seriously considering switching providers once my contract is up.

This past Thursday I had drinks with a friend who used to work in the business and now has his own newsletter. Apparently he is also pursuing a dream of becoming a dj. He gave me a CD he had burned that was a mix. It was titled Stochastic which I found truly humorous. I put it on my iTouch and listened to the CD on the drive down to central Jersey Friday afternoon when I went to pick up my sons. It was pretty good and like he said is definitely something to listen to at the gym.

I think the PATH will offer more eye candy than the bus as it just has more volume. did not notice any this morning and none this afternoon but it is only the first day of the new commute.

This past weekend was a blast. I picked up the boys Friday and Saturday we went out to the in-laws. The mother-in-law made paella. My oldest is adventurous when it comes to trying new foods and he had two plates of it. Obviously he liked it.

We then spent the day on the small beach they have- they live on the bay. My oldest had a blast clamming albeit he did it in an unconventional manner. He swam out into the bay and just dove down, grabbed clams, put them in his pockets and brought them to shore. He got over forty of the buggers. His younger brother is still getting over his recent ear infection so he was neither allowed int he water nor did he want to go in as he was having fun collecting sea glass and checking the father-in-law's crab trap.

We watched Phantom Racer on SciFi Saturday night. It was pretty cheesy and good.

Sunday we took out the father-in-law's boat. We motored around the bay then my oldest and I jumped off near the clam beds in front of the in-laws house and tried to match his feat from the day before. We failed miserably.

The boys had a blast and told me they think we should go to the in-laws more often.

More unpacking tonight. The husband wanted to put some shelving up in the storage closet. So I got out my trusty drill and laid out where it would go. Funny thing about a new building- most walls are backed by concrete. On the final try of drilling to put some dry wall anchors my drill bit bent, flew out of the drill and almost took my eye out. I was not wearing safety glasses and all I could think of was it is all fun and games until someone loses an eye.

This weekend the husband is taking his sister up to college. I am going to the beach solo. Well not really. Mr. Barrett, Mr' Clifford and his bf CS and PF and Dr will be joining me out there. Several of us will be going to the underwear party. Other than that I imagine we will just hang by the pool. I know TK will be out there too so I may play Scrabble with him on the beach.

I noticed the White house increased their projection for the deficit. They increased it by almost one third. How do you miscalculate that number?

I think the idea of chaos theory and the whole butterfly flapping it's wings int he Sahara causing a hurricane on the east coast of North America is cool. I thought of it today when after the close Taylor Bean filed for bankruptcy. They were the 12th or 17th ( I can't recall and did not write it down) mortgage originator. I believe they had accounted for roughly 1.7-2.5% of all new recent mortgages. I really don't see how the government or any talking head on CNBC can honestly say with a straight face the housing market has bottomed and all is well.

Do I have to change my title?

So Friday we spent all day moving. The movers showed up at 8 AM. The art movers showed up at 11 AM. We finished everything around 10 PM and then I drove like a bat out of hell and we caught the midnight ferry to the beach. TK got there ahead of us and was already asleep.

The weather this weekend at the beach was great. Sunny the whole time but the humidity sucked. We played Scrabble on the beach with TK which is a regular thing we do when we are out there the same weekends as him.

Sunday we went to Ascension- the nation's #1 gay beach party!- with a bunch of friends. Kelly Rowland was the special guest. She only did two songs and the second one was lip-synched! I still don't get how she won American Idol- I mean Breakaway was a good album but still...

We stayed out at the beach Monday and Tuesday. My sister-in-law and her best friend came out Monday night, had dinner with us and they went out and we went to bed. Tuesday we spent he morning at the beach again. We caught a late afternoon ferry back.

Wednesday was spent unpacking. Thursday the husband went back to work and I spent the day unpacking. Today was something new and different- me unpacking. The one good thing was we had the painters in Monday and Tuesday and they got most of it done. They finished up Wednesday.

Today I also had the dog walker over, showed her where the dog run was and gave her keys. I also had to make sure the boys' room was ready. I did it all except for hook up the Wii and the dvd player.

The boys were surprised their room was ready. They asked if the beds were new and I told them no they are not. They are psyched with it thankfully. Before I put them to bed I took them out on the balcony to take a gander at the killer views of the NYC skyline at night. They thought it was awesome and then my youngest spit off the balcony- he is definitely my son. I told him he should not do that. When he was brushing his teeth he mentioned he thought it would be neat to try an pee of the balcony. I quickly dissuaded him of that notion.

My oldest is psyched to have DirecTV. He asked if we had on demand and I told him I have no idea. They do love Boomerang though. The husband is psyched we have Chiller now.

Tomorrow is more unpacking in the morning then we are going out to the in-laws. We are taking a bunch of stuff that won't fit in our new home as we lost about 250 square feet. It will all go int he in-laws basement. It means we'll have to take the truck and the husband's car. We will be dining on my mother-in-law's paella. My oldest is psyched to try it and I love it. We are sleeping over there and the boys love the little beach they have. I think we'll see if we can go clamming and do them up on the grill Sunday. I also hope to convince the father-in-law to take us out on the boat if the weather cooperates.

Back to work Monday. Also back to the pool, gym and dojo. I have noticed that the emails and BBRG message were very light this week so it seems like I picked a good week to take off.

Almost done

The board meeting went well today I believe. I did my spiel and asked with a bit of authority "Any questions?" I was answered by silence which was just what I wanted. The two PMs both said I did a good job. I sent the boss an email and asked him to not make a habit of having me sub for him on these any more.

Of course we were busy as shit in the afternoon. To top it all off after the close the head of ops yells out to me "We have an error." Fucking great! The PM dupes a small order so tomorrow morning it will get rectified and he (the PM) is writing up the error memo. Honestly, I was on vacation at 4:00:01 but I did take care of it all.

So tonight when I got home I walked and fed the kids and then put on my electrician hat and switched out all the dimmers we had bought and installed in the apartment. I then took down the light fixture we had installed in the boys room and put up one of those basic porcelain ones and the bare bulb. Done with the electrician's hat I then put on my handy man hat and took down the drapes, the rods holding them up and the roller shades- and with out breaking anything!

Packed up my bathroom which was easy as all I had to do was throw everything into a box and tape it up, lol.

Slices for dinner tonight and a bit of red wine. Pretty much done except for the light fixture in the living room and a few more things to bubble-wrap and box up.

Looking forward to the time out at the beach. Not looking forward to unpacking.

One day left

So I had a physical this morning. It really wasn't planned.

Last week I had these itches on my forearm. I just assumed they were bug bites. I started putting hydro cortisone on them. Come Sunday no change. I have been involved in sports since 3rd grade so I knew then they were not bug bites and I had picked something up form the mats of the dojo. My thoughts were possibly impetigo or maybe ringworm. Monday I asked our friend FR 9who is a physician's assistant) if his office was taking patients and could I get an appointment explaining to him the situation. He said sure. I had the appointment this morning and when I finished filling out the paperwork the admin told me I had to have a physical as part of the examination. No big deal. All is well and as soon as the doctor walked in he told me ringworm. Classic example. He asked how long and where I had been that was new to me. I told him I knew exactly where I picked it up. He said yep, gyms and other places such as dojos are the most common places to get it, hell you can even apparently get it from a dirty towel. Consider yourself warned.

As part of the physical he asked if I wanted to be tested for HIV. I have life insurance and changed it three years ago so knew I did not have it. I also have been with the husband for three years and know he does not and we are monogamous. I said sure. I sort of had regrets thinking it was a sign of distrust of the husband and our relationship but I thought as well intentioned as everyone is we are still human and I have two sons I need to think about too.

The test was the quick one that you get results from in twenty minutes. It was negative.

It was busy today as we were down two men on the desk today. The Fed did o nothing as expected so of course everyone took that as a sign to buy. Apparently the belief that the economy can't get worse and is leveling off means things are great. I guess I am of the belie that we need growth not stagnation. I keep thinking back to my drinks and dinner with my bond friend recently where he told me I am right but early.

tomorrow is the big day. I am doing a board meeting as the stand in for the boss. Totally nervous, lol. I think I will do ok. The boss called and left me a voicemail busting my chops about it and signed off with "I'm going to catch lobsters with my kids now."

After work the husband and I went to the new apartment and had another painter give us an estimate. We know this guy as he has done work for us in our current place. We like his work and he likes us. I am happy to say we agreed to a price and he will be painting it Monday and Tuesday when we are out at the beach.

We are both so done with the packing. We have almost all of it done and will be ready Friday morning for when the movers show up. I can't wait for Saturday morning.

Crazy peole somtimes freak me out

This morning the bus's A/C was blasting cylinder bore. It was very nice on the bus as it is pretty damn muggy outside. The funny thing though was when I stepped off the bus the heat and humidity hitting my cool glasses caused them to fog up.

I went across the street in the morning to get some Skoal as I had none at the desk. I walked into the bodega and behind the counter (the owner knows me well enough now that I can get it myself, lol) and got two tins. I got in line and the guy in front of me kept asking which were the cheapest cigarettes. The owner gave them to him. The guy then turned around and looked me right in the eyes and said the following: "Know the rules of Puerto Rico. Those who don't create oxygen get nuclear fire." My response was "Sure, yeah, ok." It was weird and I imagine Stephen King used that line in one of his books- Trashcan Man comes to mind,lol.

I was planning on leaving early today to get even more packing done. Thankfully it was slow enough that I could do it. The husband met me and we took the bus back. We did some more packing and then the husband met with a painter to see about getting an estimate for the new apartment. The guy is nuts. He wanted to charge us $5400 to paint a two bedroom apartment! And he wanted cash! you've got to be fucking kidding me. Seriously, I'll paint it myself even though after painting the current place I swore never again.

We packed and then caught up on Warehouse 13. The lead is pretty cute and the husband kept asking if he was on Buffy. I don't answer him when he asks that anymore since I have explained to him several times David Boreanez was Angel and is currently on Bones.

The whole health care reform issue I believe can really be boiled down to one question: Is health care a right or not? I personally do not believe it is a right. The pursuit of life, liberty and happiness are rights. Access o government subsidized and mandated health care is not. I read an ok essay about it and the guy made a great point. He argued if health care is a right then why isn't it your right to travel faster than the speed of light? Yes a bit extreme but you get the point. You can claim something as a right but that does not make it a right. I claim it is my right to win the Mega Millions but that does not mean it is a right.

President Obama is correct about scare tactics. He said people involved in the debate should not be resorting to them. I agree. I find it despicable that some are using the Holocaust as an analogy to health care reform. But I also find it flawed, hollow and a scare tactic as well to claim those who use that analogy are in the Holocaust denial camp. Seriously. Why don't we get down to the facts of what will change and what will not. I imagine if it is laid out in simple terms for Americans to understand both sides will not be happy with the outcome. The White House because they will not get their stated goal of fully socialized medicine and the parties arrayed against them because then the really bad things the insurance companies do to people who actually need the insurance. God forbid the people are ever given all the facts- it's all about spin and sound bites.

Funny how certain analysts who are well regarded on bank names were saying a month ago you have to own them. Today the same people come out and say the banks are running on fumes.

Timba arms wide

The weekend was very busy. I really hate packing up for a move. Friday Ragnar did a photo shoot in our current apartment. It went all day. I got home and they were still shooting. The model was very cute too, lol. I made sure I changed clothes into shorts, sandals and a tight tee, lol. He introduced himself. Lives in Hoboken but at he other end of town. I then got in the truck and was off to central Jersey to pick up the boys.

Saturday morning I went to the dojo and took the boys with me while the husband went and got the moving supplies. Classes were good and I got two hours in. I told sensei I would not be coming for two weeks as this week I am packing for the move and the week after I have vacation. The boys mentioned all the helicopters they saw during class. I did not make much of their observations until we go to the pizza place (we were picking up lunch on the way home) and one of the other customers mentioned that a helicopter had crashed. I know that the local college has a landing pad for helicopters as when I lived here before I could here it landing all the time. I finally got the whole story when I got home.

Saturday afternoon was spent packing- honestly though the husband did most of it. I helped and so did the boys then I had to take a nap, lol. We then did some more. We grabbed dinner at a local place the boys enjoy but is mixed at best. The Yankees game was on and there was this totally cute guy at the bar wearing a straw hat and showing nice guns. The husband kept staring so I told him to take a picture. He whipped out his cell phone and snapped one. The flash went off and I thought we were busted for sure, lol.

The good thing about packing for a move is it makes you edit your wardrobe. I got rid of a lot of tee shirts and jeans- how I ended up owning so many pairs of jeans I haven't a clue. I was psyched that I fit all my shoes, sneakers, and boots into one box. I even had room for some of the husband's shoes too. I have no idea how many boxes he needed but it was definitely more than two.

Saturday night we went and saw G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Funny, my oldest was of the mindset before going it seemed kind of childish and did not think he'd enjoy it. The husband was all excited for it. By the end of the movie their positions had completely reversed. I thought it was fun but I used to watch the animated series growing up an dread the Marvel comic book. The best part was Channing Tatum's extended shirtless scene when he was lifting...woof.

Sunday was more packing- something completely different. We did take a break to go to brunch- our usual spot and most likely our last time. The husband mentioned after seeing several of the waiters why I enjoyed it, lol. There is a real cute blond guy who has to be from the midwest/west because he has the same haircut as JP. When we went to the buffet there was this totally smoking hot guy getting some of the beef tenderloin ad I though I'll give you mine and the au jus too...

The reason I say it will be the last time is because when my youngest went to go get dessert he came back and then realized there were ants all over his plate. I showed it to the maitre de and then my youngest took me to get more. There were still ants and the cute guy in charge of the carving station asked what the problem was so I showed him.

After brunch we went to the new apartment to get some more measurements to make sure we could fit every thing we wanted to move. The boys loved the place, the view is fracking amazing. They both did mention that their new room is smaller than the one they have now and I told them so is ours. It did not help ease their disgruntlement.

We then hit Homo Depot to get some stuff and then TGT. Then it was time for me to do some more packing, the husband went and did his bike training. I then got dinner for the boys which they ate in the truck on the way back to their mom's house.

I am pretty much not training at all this week. Too much work to do to get this place all packed up for the movers. Plus the boss is out on vacation this week. funny thing about the boss- he told me oh by the way, you have to do a board meeting for me. don't worry, I'll walk you and the PM you are doing it with through everything. That means I have to be clean shaven and all suited up for the meeting. The killer is that the day of the board meeting everyone else gets to wear jeans. I'll just tell everyone I'm interviewing and at least half will believe me, lol.

Can't wait to see District 9. Not sure when.

So Friday is the move. We are then taking somethings out to the in-laws house that night and sleeping there. Then we are off to the beach for several days. TK and JM will be oour guests at the house this weekend. We are going to Ascension- the nation's #1 gay beach party! We'll come back Tuesday afternoon and I have the rest of the week off to start all the unpacking.

Work has been busy. Everyone was talking about a BBRG article talking about how the VIX/SPUs spread is indicating one or the other is going to have to give and it could be the market. The woman who works with me (and is pretty damn smart) pointed out she doesn't get it as that spread has been higher back in July and we all know what July was like.

I think GE is going to come to a conclusion. Just seeing a lot of press about how they are getting special treatment for the GECC arm- not only is that closing the barn door after the horse got out but the horse is taking a huge steaming dump on the front yard. I still think the government will force it to separate and then basically inject a lot of our tax dollars into it. Again I don't see how the President can't end up raising taxes on the middle class but we'll see.

CARS- not the Pixar flick

I totally blew off the distance training this morning, lol. I am thinking that going forward I will just do the Monday and Friday swim workouts. Wednesday mornings are just way too much after getting home around 10:30 on Tuesday nights.

Ok, maybe it is just me but if I was President Obama I'd be seriously pissed off that former President Clinton got all the credit for bringing those two journalists home. I am sure the whole idea of face played a large part in the situation on both North Korea's side and ours. I briefly read headlines somewhere that the whole event was much messier than the press reported and Al Gore got totally shut out by North Korea- ha. That sanctimonious fool, I love it.

Ok, the CARS program. That is just a transfer payment system. It does not add $1 billion to GDP in any way whatsoever. $1 billion dollars also is relatively small to the total GDP of our nation. The idea that adding another $1-2 billion is going to lit us out of this downturn is absurd. All it will do is add to the further debt burden we are foisting upon future generations.

The whole furor of HFT just brings to mind the concept of unintended consequences. I agree that flash orders are wrong but I think killing off HFT will have serious unintended consequences. Let's assume HFT accounts for somewhere between 25-50% of volume. If you kill off volume, you also end up killing off liquidity. Once volume and liquidity get killed off they take a long time to come back. Once those two things disappear, brokerages start to die off again. I am not saying HFT needs to be stopped but I just look back to when we had specialists on the floor and they essentially had the equivalent of flash orders because they controlled the book. It comes down to who do you want giving you the reach around- an anonymous, diffuse crowd of quants or a person you can physically go to the floor and question?

The husband and I had dinner tonight. I could not make my classes at the dojo as we took our summer intern out for drinks after the close. It was his last day and I have to say this kid set the bar very high. He did an amazing job as an intern. He will go far in whatever career he chooses.

Dad, do you have chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream and a sharp knife?

So last night when I called the ex' house to speak with my youngest the first questions out of his mouth were the title of the post. I said no I don't have chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream but we can get that and yes I have a sharp knife. I asked as to why he was inquiring? I had a good idea but wanted him to say why. He is a lot like his mom- he has issues taking medicine especially pills. Of course the antibiotics he is on are pills. So I will have to cut them up and mix them in with his chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream this weekend. He also told me his regimen for the medicines. He has to take them every 8 hours which entails waking him up at 3 AM and dosing him. Oh joy.

I was pissed as shit yesterday morning. I go up all ready to swim and for some reason the 126 line was all fucked up and I had to wait thirty minutes for a bus! By the time I got in I had not time to go swim. I hit the NYSC next to the office and biked instead for thirty minutes. I happened to end up next to a guy I work with on the desk. Later in the day he told me he was impressed with the workout I did on the bike.

I had dinner with JP last night before he left for two weeks out west for a wedding and to spend time with his family. I was glad I got to see him before he let on his jaunt. We had a good time catching up as usual.

My oldest is having fun at his family reunion on his mother's side. Yesterday they had a friendly tennis tournament which is right up his alley. He won the singles but did not win the doubles. He was a good sport and did not blame his partner and would not even give up the name of his partner.

I slept in late this morning. I just did not fell all that peppy for hitting the gym- probably due to not great nights of sleep this past weekend.

The husband used his anniversary gift tonight and went to the Depeche Mode concert at MSG. He took a friend of his he has known for over twenty years who got the pass from his wife. They had a blast.

I on the other hand hit the dojo and it was further proof how much I have lost in my flexibility. In the second class I had to tell the guy to keep the mu thai pads low for my round kicks. I could not even do round kicks to the body I was soo sore.

I have to say one of the parts of my friendship with JW that I truly value the most is when he bitch slaps me and tells me I am listening to all the conservative, right-wing Kool-Aid that is drunk on Wall Street. He did it very kindly but vociferously in an email exchange we had late last week. One of the points he brought up on our discussion about health care reform is why do I think the profit motive is soo much purer than a government run plan. Maybe it is not but I guess what it comes down to is I have come to realize that most of us are selfish and not all that altruistic when it comes to bettering humanity. I really don't think most doctors today entered into the field because of their strong, deeply held belief they want to help their fellow humans. Call me cynical. I think a lot of them are very smart, driven and challenged by their work. They also view it as a means to better their own lives and provide for those they love and care about. I am not judging that- hell it is why I got into my field and probably why most people go into the line of work they are in. So profit may not be pure but I think it incents a lot more people to get into the field. Also if the government could do such a great job administering a medical plan why is Medicaid/Medicare in such disarray?

The tape just can't be kept down. I still don't get it and am thinking that once the term quality of earnings really start showing up in the financial press that is a sign to get ready for the ride down.

I am swimming tomorrow morning. Wednesdays are supposed to be distance training days- oh joy. After work we are taking the summer intern out for drinks; it is his last day with us. The kid did a great job and he will definitely find a job once he graduates. I need to get to bed.

That was a fun weekend- sorta

I did not swim Wednesday morning as it is kind of tough to get up after being at the dojo until 10 PM on Tuesday nights. I did hit my classes Wednesday night though and have to say I got my ass seriously kicked in the grappling class. The last guy I went up against was wearing these freaky red contact lenses. No clue why but he had serious chokes and was good at them, I tapped out twice. Thursday was Friday for me as I had taken Friday off. Mom and dad were coming down to the beach so I thought I could get out there early Friday afternoon and meet them and have dinner all ready to go.

Thursday night I met up with my bond friend in the 'boken. It was good to see him. As I walked home I got a call from the ex. Apparently she was taking my youngest to the emergency room. His swimmer's ear had gotten very bad and the doctor though it might be mastoiditis. He had to get a cat scan. The concern was it had infected the mastoid bone and abscessed. I did not sleep well as the ex sent me several texts through the night. I got up at 5 AM, hopped in the truck and drove down to central Jersey. Overnight- at 2:30 AM specifically- my youngest had been admitted and they wanted to keep him there 24 hours. I got there around 6:15. He was asleep and the ex was sleeping on the pull-out bed. He woke up and was very happy to see me. The ex went home to shower up and get some clean clothes for our youngest and some of his things like his DS Lite. I spent the next 6 hours with him. He was miserable and kept saying he wanted to go home. I had to explain to him that he could not yet and if he went home too early he would most likely be back in the hospital and have to stay even longer. The ex got back and we had some in depth discussions with the attending physician. The attending physician seemed to be jumping the gun a bit to me and the ex wanting to send our youngest to CHOP then. I suggested we wait for an ENT to look at him and that was only an approximately 6 hour wait. If the ENT felt he needed to go to CHOP then we would take him. The doctors then changed the antibiotics he was on and it seemed to work.

I had to rush back to pick up the kids and get out to the beach to meet my parents. I was also supposed to have the boys this weekend to spend out at the beach with their grandparents. However the ex and I switched weekends as she mixed up dates for her family reunion. They- she, the boys, her bf and her father were supposed to fly out Saturday morning to the place in Virginia for it. She spoke with her dad and we all agreed our oldest would go with his grandfather to the family reunion. The ex and our youngest would stay home. I stuck with my plans and met my parents.

I did not sleep well Friday night and had a lot on my mind. I got up early and exchanged texts with the ex. She and my youngest would be going home that afternoon. That was a big relief for me and then when I got a text from my oldest saying he and his grandfather had arrived safely at their destination that took another weight off my shoulders. Saturday the weather was amazing at the beach. We hung out by the pool all day with my parents and the husband's younger sister (she came out to the beach with me Friday afternoon). The husband's parents got out to the beach early in the afternoon. We did all the prep work for the meal then took everyone to tea. It was fun.

We made dinner- I grilled clams which I had never done before and they came out great- and then had birthday cake (which I made in the morning ) for my mother-in-law. I was pretty exhausted so after the in-laws went home we all went to bed.

My parents got up at he crack of dawn and were gone before we woke- which is the usual m.o. for them. The husband and I lazed around and then I went to get breakfast makings at the pantry. I ran into the friends we had had over for dinner a few weeks prior. I told them where the house was and to stop by and join us for breakfast. They did so we had a very nice relaxing breakfast after which we finished off the birthday cake from the night before. The left and then we took naps. We then watched Chiller and the station was playing the entire series called Point Pleasant. IT was pretty good and we did not know why it never got picked up for more than one season. The best part was Grant Show is in it- I have always thought he was smokin' since his days on Melrose Place.

I am swimming tomorrow morning and then classes at the dojo again. The husband has his book club in the city. This week is actually going to be kind of jammed as we are starting to get ready for our move to Newport.