It didn't follow the book faithfully

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Farkle

Farkle is an interesting game.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am on vacation with the boys this week.

Ok, I am almost fracking Christmas-ed out

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday night

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Canary in a coalmine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ahh the book club

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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