Thomas? Um, yeah sure, you can call me Tom

This week went by rather fast.

I got all my training done, total running for the week was fifteen miles.

The dojo- sweep the leg!- was good this week as well.

Tuesday night I had drinks with a guy I grew up with. It was interesting. he and I weren't really friends and definitely did not run in the same circles but our parents are very good friends- actually more our moms (they play in a bridge group/gossip circle every week). He has been in the city since graduating from high school, the whole theater scene, spent a long time over in Europe then moved back here and decided he was going to get his MBA. Funny guy, in a sailing club i the city, has a boat of his own as well. We'll probably have him over for dinner some time.

Thursday was sort of busy too. Met with an Aussie broker who was in town for a short period of time, then met the husband down in Chelsea for a drink. To explain why we were meeting there: The husband owns a piece of art that hangs in the den above the couch. It's by an artist In Sook Kim. She works mainly in photography. It's a great scene of a hotel at night with all of the windows showing a scene by itself. In Sook was in town and having a party. She invited us to it. She is this sweet, tiny Korean woman. Really nice but if you have ever seen any of her work you know she is one twisted person, lol.

After the party we met up with one of the husband's oldest girlfriends and her husband, children and brother. The best part of that is apparently she is friends with this famous (in some circles) designer who has the same name as me. So when the husband introduced me to her it was quite amusing. It gets better. Said designer who share my name was meeting us there later as well. He got there, we introduces ourselves and he did not believe me so I had to show him my license. And for the record he looks just like Heat Miser. I was quietly singing the song to the husband and he was kicking me under the table.

We took the PATH home and had dinner in Hoboken. The husband found this new place right near the gym called the Taco Truck. It is excellent food and anyone in Hoboken who has a yen for Mexican food should try it.

I picked up the boys last night. The ex told me our oldest has decided he wants to get fit and in shape. My oldest then told me he'd like to start running with me. I told him I had to run five miles today and he could join. He balked at that. So the compromise was we will do a mile and a half run tomorrow.

The Euroibor (that would be the inter bank overnight rate in euros) is showing some serious signs of stress. Spain got downgraded. The yield on the ten year bond here is below 3%. Yet stocks don't seem to care and are ignoring all the sings that we are in a deflationary environment. This is setting up for an ugly autumn. Throw in a dollar crisis- which is highly likely- and we could see a repeat of '87.

Tonight we are off to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

I met up with a fraternity brother Friday morning for a quick coffee. The guy was a year behind me and very smart guy. Applied for a job with the CIA. Did not make the cut- so he says. I was thinking it would be a brilliant ploy to say you get declined, take a job with a software company, travel the world. I sent him a text as well saying it would be brilliant. He never replied. So maybe I'm onto something here.

I got my hair cut Friday morning before coffee with my friend Smiley. I have been going to the barber in the Port Authority for close to a year now- monthly. Old Sicilian guy, Joe. This time he seemed to think my name was Tom or Thomas. He called me Tom and Thomas the entire time. I did nothing to correct him as he does a great job, trims my eyebrows and uses the hot foam and a straight razor on the back of my neck. He also is cheap.

I would have prepped differently

So last week as was the first week of training for the half marathon. I apparently ran thirteen miles for the week.

Friday night the husband and I ended up in Williamsburg for a friend's birthday party. Seriously once I got off the subway I felt like it was The Sixth Sense but instead of dead people I saw affected hipsters. Thankfully we were going to a beer garden. The beer garden was really cool and a lot of fun- definitely recommend anyone who is going to Williamsburg check it out.

Saturday morning was too hot to actually run outside so we did our running on the treadmills in the gym. Of course the husband has to find a much more aggressive training regimen. he had eight miles to run while I only had 4.

We then got home and cleaned up as we were off to Governors Island for what we thought would be a concert- MIA with Sleigh Bells opening for them. However when we made the hike from the ferry to the concert area we realized it was more a music festival. Thank god they served booze and we got creative. They were also serving fresh squeezed lemonade. I got one of the big bottles and took it to the bar and had them add vodka.

We were definitely early. We got serenaded by the dj Destructo who has some serious issues with Los Angeles it seems. There were then a bunch of rappers RyeRye, Skream +Benga, no clue who else joined in. Finally Sleigh Bells came on they totally kicked ass and tore it up. It was frackin' great. We immediately left after they finished.

Sunday was down to the cottage. We did not have much to do other than take care of some rain spout drainage issues.

Ran my three miles this morning. Saw Eric Northman in the locker room again- he is hot.

The dojo- sweep the leg!- tonight. Was ok, had my turn being both the bug and the windshield.

I love roaming wikipedia. Friday I started of on some page- don't recall which and ended up on a page for quantum mysticism. I also had a sidetrack to the page of psychophsyical correlation. Oh and some Popper was thrown in there as well.

The Eu stress tests are a complete joke and the banks are still totally screwed. They all gamed it and at least some German banks admitted it on Dow Jones today.

So let me get this right. We the people take over GM. Then by proxy- as we are the wonders of GM- we take over ACF. ACF is finance company that helps people with poor credit buy cars. Haven't we seen this movie before? If this is not another bail out then what is? So much for no more bail outs.

eSpinners- spin class instructors you are warned...

Got up this morning and biked 7 miles then ran 3. The run was part of my training regimen for the half marathon in September. The bike just because one can never do too much cardio. There also was a hot blond guy on the bike next to me. Speaking of the bike- the gym has these new eSpinners. Really cool as it is like a spin class for one without crappy music someone else choose and it has a tv.

I read on BBRG that New Jersey bears are getting brazen in their behavior. A big duh to that- just go to Star Bar and you'll see how brazen Jersey bears are especially on Sundays when the nachos are getting served. I am all for thinning the population...

I am not a fan of wearing a short sleeve button down to the office and especially if it is tucked in. I dunno- just a tacky look I think for the office. It's ok for the beach or on a summer weekend but not for the office.

So, Germany had another under subscribed bond auction. I'm sorry, I keep forgetting when you are the government if you cannot sell all your bonds offered you retain the portion unsold and then issue a press release saying the auction was a success. LIAR! An under subscribed bond auction in the Common Tongue of AD&D would be called a failed auction. What does it tell you when Germany can't successfully auction off 30 year bonds?

Ok, for the record the bill President Obama signed into law today is in no way financial reform. A more appropriate phrase would be financial re-regulation.

Addenda

I forgot one of the funnier things that occurred today. The boss and I stepped out to pick up some lunch. We are outside the building when a couple comes up to us and points to the building across the street and asks "Is that Yankee Stadium?" The boss bursts out laughing. I politely tell them no it is the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I tell them Yankee Stadium is much further north and in the Bronx. "The Bronch?" Yes, the Bronx. "We can walk there?" I start laughing the boss politely tells them no, you should take a cab.

On the walk home from the dojo- Kobra Kai never die!- tonight I ran into a possum. It was standing there staring at me as I fumbled to get my phone out and take its picture. I did not succeed as two people came up and startled it.

David Foster Wallace

Catching up on posts, have been kinda busy lately with the cottage and the job.

So last Friday morning I saw the Eric Northman look alike in the gym again. Dude is smokin'! The bus ride in was easy on the eyes as well.

Last week I had a bit of a surreal moment. One of the brokers we work with in Asia was in town. I and a co-worker met up with her for drinks. It dawned on me that she was let go from my firm several years ago so I could be hired. I downed the drinks quickly and actually sat next to one of the traders she brought with her as it was a tad too weird for me.

I am psyched as a friend in the business told me he will be restarting his blog. It is definitely humor aimed at people in our line of work and used to have it linked on here and will have a link to it back once he starts writing again.

I was checking out the state fair website. I am taking the last week of August off and taking the boys up north to go see mom and dad. The state fair will be starting at the end of the week and I am taking the boys. I saw the En Vogue will be playing there in the free concert area. I was shocked- no not that En Vogue is doing a free concert but that the group is still around. The only song I recall from them is Free Your Mind.

I also noticed one Justin Moore will be playing there. Hot cowboy singers always do it for me. I am not a fan and won't be there for his show but I may have to check him out.

This weekend we were busy. Friday night we had dinner with the kid who used to work with me back in my hedge fund days. Great guy, his wife is a pisser too. The husband forgot how tall both of them were, lol. We had a nice dinner and the husband was in heaven when the wife told him she really liked and approved of all the changes the husband has made to my style. I kindly pointed out to all at the table that the shirt and pants I was wearing were chosen solely by me and the husband had nothing to do with my ensemble.

Saturday we painted the bathroom. Seriously, I am so not good at picking colors. We looked at so many frackin' paint chips I almost got to the point of uttering the dreaded ""I don't care, you just pick one, they all look the same to me" line. Once the husband starts using words like tonality, shades, hues, etc. my eyes start to glaze over and i find myself looking for my happy place.

Sunday I cleaned out the gutters as the husband was not brave enough to climb up onto the roof and do it. He took care of removing some more shrubbery. We then went and saw Despicable Me. The movie is definitely geared toward the under 8 crowd. There were some funny scenes but I should have listened to my sons who saw it Saturday with their mom and skipped it.

Last night we were on the UES for a surprise party. MP's bf moved over here from London. He did not have a going away party there so MP decided she would host a Welcome To America party. It was fun even though I was completely soaked thru my shirt because of the humidity when I got to the restaurant. I can also understand why a lot of people think New Yorkers are doosh bags. there was a sign posted on the door of the restaurant clearly stating it was closed for the evening for a private party. That did not stop no less than five different couples coming in to get a quick drink. Apparently they thought the sign did not apply to them or was not real.

The bartender was totally hot and a magician. I told MP he could wave my wand around any time.

Going to the dojo- sweep the leg!- tonight as I skipped it last night for the party. The husband has one of his two book clubs tonight in the city0 of course back up on the UES.

I am getting seriously disturbed with the direction the government is (and has been for the past fifty years) taking us in. The financial/military/political elites are in collusion and act like Russian oligarchs. I think everyone needs to re-read or read for the first time V For Vendetta. I have also come tot eh conclusion that JW is right and those same elites seem hell bent upon destroying the social safety net that has been in place since the '30s. To whit- there was an article about how the current Administration told Rep. Obey that they should just cut food stamps funding to pay for teachers. Doesn't anyone in the White House realize that there are a record number of food stamp recipients in the country right now?

Kind of caught up with JP via email yesterday. He seems to be doing very well and in a good spot.

So JW last week sent me a link to a website that analyzes your writing and tells you which famous author you write like. My writing is like David Foster Wallace's. I had no clue who the guy is so I googled him and he wrote Infinite Jest and then killed himself- great, got that and total consciousness on my deathbed going for me I guess.

The guy with the big nose

So last Friday I hit the gym in Hoboken. I got done working out and was shaving when OMG there was this guy who looked just like Eric Northman. It was all I could do not to stare as he drank his protein shake and checked himself out in the mirror.

The weekend was a blast. We had the boys again and we went out to the in-laws. I got out there before the husband and the boys (the husband had kindly offered to pick them up since he was down there at the cottage). I and my sister-in-law got picked up at the train station by the mother-in-law, we got to the house and had Chinese food for dinner and a bit too much wine, lol.

Saturday was a fun day. We were in the bay for a good length of time. We did not do any clamming. I think my sister -in-law really enjoys having nephews. She has a blast hanging out with them and swimming in the bay. She also enjoys playing dominoes with them. Speaking of dominoes, apparently my youngest is some kind of domino prodigy as he crushed everyone Saturday night. The mother-in-law got mad at her daughter for not helping out to beat him I am told.

Late Saturday afternoon we went and saw Predators. It was actually a pretty good flick. Everyone enjoyed it. I was surprised at how ripped and jacked Adrien Brody was. My youngest referred to him as the guy with the big nose. We got home and I made dinner, everything was done on the grill and it was well received.

Monday morning I swam for a half hour. I felt good but was kinda annoyed at how I smelled like chlorine for the rest of the day. That annoyance was replaced by the end of the night but the pain I was feeling from the dojo- sweep the leg! I came home with a serious charlie horse- not sure if it came from ground fighting or stand up fighting, just know it hurt.

I find it somewhat confusing that the federal government is suing the state of Arizona over the rights of possibly illegal immigrants and yet at the same time are arguing for the supposed Constitutional basis of DOMA? I am biased for immigrants as all of us here, if you go back far enough (two generations in my case) are immigrants, both legal and illegal (the latter in my case). The confusion is why would the government argue for those rights but against the rights of their own citizens? I guess if you are a gay illegal immigrant you are screwed.

I posed this question to Ragnar and JW. JW- as always- had the most lucid, intelligent answer. He argued that the Justice Department is not as independent as one would think and its job is to protect federal power. Arizona trying to take immiration law into its own hands is an encroachment on federal power. DOMA is a furthering of federal power. The Obama Justice Department is not really arguing the Constitutional basis of DOMA but that once the federal government has a certain power it is very loathe to give it up. I am surprised the Obama Administration is willing to trample the rights of the people who helped elect him.

Alan Blinder has a seriously freaky eye twitch.

I am definitely losing my sanity as it looks like I may be doing a frackin' half marathon in September. I at least found a ten week training program for rookie marathoners.

I am a bit jealous of TK. He spent the 4th up on Martha's Vineyard. He had fun but what makes me jealous is he got to hang out with and have ice cream cones with Jake- yes that Jake and if you have to ask who then the point is lost on you. I asked if Jake was shirtless at all and he said no but was wearing a scoop neck tee and has really nice guns. I of course asked if he took any pictures. He did not as Jake was there with good friends and in a relaxed state and it would not seem right to be taking pictures.

Short tonight

Pretty mentally exhausted from work these days, so not a long post.

I biked a little over 9 miles this morning. I got home late and blew off the dojo- Kobra Kai never die!- and took a nap instead. The husband got home and we walked over to Hoboken and had dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. The husband commented again on how much serious talent there is in Hoboken. Go Jersey!

Today was totally a dead cat bounce in the tape. Don't get fooled by it. The real economy still sucks.

Joey Votto- WTF is with him not getting a spot in the All Star Game??? No I am not outraged that the guy who is leading the NL in home runs, has the third best batting average and is number four i RBIs did not get the nod; I am pissed because the guy is hot and the All Star Game needs all the hot guys it can get if they want to widen the audience.

That's all.

Cardinal rules for films

So my youngest told me tonight when I was talking with him on the phone that my '70s porn stache looks like caramel on the top and whipped cream on the tips. His older brother agreed when he got on the phone. It almost made me think I need to use Just For Men on the stache...

I have some cardinal rules for choosing which movies to see: 1) Absolutely NO Ben Afflack 2) Absolutely NO Nicholas Cage 3)Absolutely NO Leonardo DiCaprio 4) NO subtitles ever again after suffering through Cache and The House of Flying Daggers within one week of each other. I have not broken rule 1. Rule 2 has been broken because the boys like the National Treasure movies. Rule 3 is evolving since DiCaprio did an amazing job in The Departed and I am liking the previews for Inception. Rule 4 will not be broken. I am also thinking I Rule 2 will evolve because of the upcoming The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

I hit the gym this morning and Black Tank Top was there again and I actually had to share the pec deck with him.

The tape was a bit whacky today. I find it really suspicious that even the responsible media- that's be BBRG- has been gotten to; I say this because of their embrace of the phrase dark cross. First off, it has always been known as the death cross, not the frackin' dark cross. The death cross is when the 50 day moving average of a chart crosses the 200 day moving average on the way down- not good, usually indicates bad times. Yet it seems like the media has been told to not be so negative and not use terms that could induce fear or panic. I imagine they had a session on what to name it. The cross part had to be kept but the death part had to go. The phrase still had to evoke a certain direness but not the said fear and panic. I bet some of the suggestions were the gloomy cross, the not good cross, the oh my god not that cross, the uh-oh cross, the remain calm, all is well cross; the possibilities are endless. They went with dark because it is a d-word like death.

Last week I saw some strategist talk about how when looking at equities over the past two hundred years they have clearly outperformed and are a good investment. Seriously? What the fuck was she smoking because that is some seriously good shit. I don't know of anyone who has a two hundred year time horizon on with their investments. Hell, I would be hard pressed to name a publicly traded company that is two hundred years old.

Warehouse 13 season premiere is tonight. Haven on SciFi looks pretty good too. It is apparently based on a Stephen King short story- The Colorado Kid; never read it.

Sir not ma'am

So last week was quite interesting, amusing, annoying and fun.

First off I re-joined my old gym as the one I had been a member of for the past year was a good gym but highly inconvenient. I took advantage of the corporate discount I get from work as well. The gym next to the office has not changed and there is actually a new hottie who is named Black Tank Top as that is what he wore three of the four days I was there. So my new schedule is to swim Monday mornings (the pool is at a different branch of the chain) and the bike Wednesdays, run Fridays, lifting Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will also still be going to the dojo- sweep the leg!- Monday and Wednesday nights. I am thinking I could also run Tuesday nights and maybe one day on the weekend.

Last Tuesday we met up with TK and saw a movie and had dinner afterwards. We saw Knight & Day and I have to say it was pretty good. Not a great movie but a fun movie and Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz actually made a good team in the flick.

The weekend was awesome. The husband was down at the cottage Thursday so he offered to pick up the boys and bring them home that night then Friday morning he and they and the kids would all drive out to his mom's house. Since it was a three day weekend we were going out there to relax. I said sure. Thursday night they got home and we had some dinner and relaxed. Friday morning they all got up and drove out, I took the train after work.

Friday night we grilled and had a nice dinner. Saturday the weather was amazing. The boys were in the bay swimming as the husband and I sat on the beach and read. I am actually currently reading The Passage. I have to say I am totally into the book and finding it difficult to put down. I did not think I was going to be out on the beach that long so I did not put on any sunscreen and got a bit of a burn Saturday.

Saturday night we went and saw The Last Airbender. Holy shit that movie sucked! The animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender is actually very good but M. Night Shamalamdingdong has proven he peaked real early- like with The Sixth Sense- and could not direct his way out of a paper bag. My youngest was going on and on that he will not go see the sequel. My oldest we decided is a serious Airbender as he can fart like there is no tomorrow; he decided he is not an Airbender but a Firebender.

Yesterday my oldest and I went clamming to catch lunch. I told him we did not need fifty clams this time. We had a lot of fun and he definitely caught many more than I did. I cooked them up with some spicy sausage, tomatoes, shallots, garlic, crushed red pepper and basil- they were a huge hit with everyone.

The in-laws have the perfect place on Long Island to view all the fireworks along the south shore. We sat on the back porch drinking wine and making s'mores watching all of them.

Last night we watched District 9 again and it is still a great movie.

So last week the ECB's Term Deposit Operations (TDO, the ECB's attempt at "sterilising" their monetizations ops) failed miserably. The bid to cover was a 0.6. Taking into account of the Swiss Franc/Euro rates hitting new lows and it would seem many in Europe are getting rid of their euros and moving into Swiss francs. I pointed that out to a certain PM I trade for and stressed agian said PM may want to reevaluate the Spanish banks they own. The response was the PM was acting rational- the implication I was being irrational. I took that the wrong way and started to write a response when the boss told me to simmer down. I then asked two former PM I have worked with if I was irrational. Both answered opinionated yes, irrational no. I really hope the Spanish banks blow up hugely just to prove my point yet that would not be good for the entire global economy so I may have to just go with the self-satisfaction that I am not irrational.

What the fuck is a golden share and where can I get one? Apparently the Portuguese government has one and used it to prevent a deal going through involving Portugal Telecom. Is it just one share? It is actually golden? I immediately thought of Willy Wonka and the Golden Ticket...

This will be a busy week as I have business drinks tomorrow night after work, the dojo Wednesday nights, business drinks again Thursday night and we have the boys again this weekend. The husband has offered to again pick them up if he is down at the cottage Friday. I could get used to this occurring.

Thursday night when the husband and the boys were enroute home I called to order dinner. The person who answered had a somewhat androgynous voice and I placed my order and when said person read it back I confirmed it with a yes ma'am. The reply was sir not ma'am. I was so fracking embarrassed. I apologized profusely but I am pretty sure that is why it took over a hour for delivery....