A little proof that I am still breathing

All right, it’s been over a week and it’s time to start writing again. The economy is still tanking on a week-by-week basis and my investment account is shrinking almost daily. The election ads are still running though the McCain camp wants the world to believe they have abandoned Michigan as a lost cause. Seems like yet another political chess move that backfired on the republicans because for every “red” ad there is a “blue” one that both precedes and follows it in all forms of media with most of them funded by non-partisan groups like the UAW.


Work is, well, work. We have finally hired a new PC Technician to fill in the huge gaps created close to three years ago when our company made major staffing reductions. Woo hoo! Finally, somebody else can start answering the “I forgot my password” calls while I concentrate on larger projects that have been collecting dust for the past three years. Unfortunately, this also means that we have to train the newB, he’s right out of college and has little to no “real world” experience so this will take a while. I remember being young and green, though I began working in the field while still in college, and I’m trying to give the kid the same kind of chance I had when I was in his shoes. I was fortunate enough to have a boss that trusted me, was patient with me, and encouraged me to step outside of my shell and do things I was totally uncomfortable with almost daily. He challenged me to do phone support within weeks of joining the company and against my better judgment, I agreed to give it a shot. Anyone who knew me right out of high school knows how shy I was back then but somehow the security of not being face to face with the person allowed me to excel at my new duties and eventually I moved into a role of face-to-face support. Almost fifteen years later and I now find myself in the position to groom a new generation of tech support and will gladly hand over the reigns of day-to-day user support as soon as the newB is ready to take them.

The book, well it’s finished and awaiting a decision on who should publish it for the masses. I have three offers on the table from three different subsidy publishers at the moment. I am not certain subsidy is the way to go, so they sit there while I consider other options. I like the idea of 50% royalties on every sale, but that will only help recoup the initial out of pocket expense of $500-$600 if the book actually sells. As an unknown author, there are no guarantees and I would be relying heavily on the publisher’s marketing machine to get it out there for me. Since I can’t seem to find much on either of the companies out there, good or bad, I am taking my time in making this decision. In the mean time, I have updated the version available through the lulu.com storefront with the new chapters, tweaks to existing ones, and the current cover. I hope to see Jack next weekend and drop of his copy, Stacey is next on my list, and by Christmas it should be in the hands of all those I have promised final versions to.

Speaking of next weekend, the bike, sadly, has gone north for the winter and I will be pulling it out of the trailer and parking it in the back of the barn at Mom and Dad’s next weekend. I am hopeful that the weather will hold out for me at least one day and I can take a final ride, burn a little more gas out of the half-full tank, and clean the remainder of thousands of dead insects from the chrome before parking it for the next five months. It will signal my official end of summer and may induce a state of depression for a few days, but have no fear, I’ll just write to make it all go away instead of climbing on my bike and letting my sadness blow in the wind. I have a new story to tell, one that will require my attention in the coming months while I wait for spring to arrive and can once again use my motorcycle as therapy. Maybe by then I’ll have a sailboat to use instead and the motorcycle will just be a fun form of transportation with excellent gas mileage.

It is slightly past mid-October, the holidays are looming in the near future, and the leaves are finally falling from the trees everywhere I look. School is puttering along nicely and except for this weeks assignments has come and gone without much real head scratching on my part. Given a little time at home over the next two days I should manage this weeks assignment as well and can concentrate on finishing up this final project once and for all. Then it’s on to the next six weeks of Java where we will complete the book and I may need to spend more time writing code than I currently do. I have a backup plan, Eric has taken Java and should be able to assist if I get in a bind. I haven’t had to call yet, but he’s been warned. Provided Jen cooks dinner he says he’s willing to do a little java tutoring if need be.

And now you are up to speed


Three strikes and we’re on to try number four in a few weeks

New market lows, new financial definitions

These terms have been redefined to fit current circumstances:

CEO - Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO - Corporate Fraud Officer.

BULL MARKET - A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET - A six to eighteen month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex!

VALUE INVESTING - The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO - The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

BROKER - What my broker has made me.

(S&P) STANDARD & POOR - Your life in a nutshell.

STOCK ANALYST - Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves.

MARKET CORRECTION - The day after you buy stocks.

CASH FLOW - The movement your money makes as it disappears down the Toilet.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR - Past year investor who's now locked up in a Nuthouse.

MOMENTUM INVESTING - The fine art of buying high and selling low.

'BUY, BUY' - A flight attendant making market recommendations as you step off the plane.

FINANCIAL PLANNER - A guy who actually remembers his wallet when he runs to the 7-Eleven for toilet paper and cigarettes.

CALL OPTION - Something people used to do with a telephone in ancient times before e-mail.

YA HOO - What you yell after selling all you owned to some poor sucker for $240 per share.

WINDOWS - What you jump out of when you're the sucker that bought Yahoo for $240 per share.

PROFIT - DEAD, no longer in use

I see a pattern forming here!

The chairs are arranged, the band has vacated, yet here we sit still on board this sinking ship!

Chairs arranged, now I'm joining the band

So the down right tragic events on Wall Street, and in financial markets around the world for that matter, have me wondering how much longer this ship can stay afloat. Every time I see a stock chart, or see the Dow Jones Industrial(DIJ) making historic moves I just can't seem to get this picture out of my head.
To go along with this visual, I thought I would also share the lyrics to two songs I remember from my camp days about the most memorable sunken ship in history. I've finished aranging all the deck chairs and will now join the band, now what did I do with my drum sticks?

Join me in the band

Dance Band on the Titanic
Artist:Harry Chapin

(chorus)
Dance band on the Titanic
Sing "Nearer, my God, to Thee
"The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me

Mama stood cryin' at the dockside
Sayin' "Please son, don't take this trip
"I said "Mama, sweet Mama, don't you worry none"
"Even God couldn't sink this ship"

Well, the whistle blew and they turned the screws
It turned the water into foam
Destination sweet salvation
Goodbye home sweet home

I'm in the
(chorus)

There was a trombone and a saxophone
The bass and drums were cookin' up the bandstand
And I was strummin' in the middle with this dude on the fiddle
And we were three days out from land

And now the foghorn's jammed and moanin
'Hear it groanin' through the misty night
I heard the lookout shout down "There's icebergs around"
"But still everything's all right"

(chorus)

They were burnin' all the flares for candles
In the banquet they were throwin' in first class
And we were blowin' waltzes in the barroom
When the universe went CRASH!

"There's no way that this could happen"
I could hear the old captain curse
He ordered lifeboats away, that's when I heard the chaplain say
"Women and children and chaplains first"

Well, they soon used up all of the lifeboats
But there were a lot of us left on board
I heard the drummer sayin' "Boys, just keep playin'"
"Now we're doin' this gig for the Lord"

I heard the (chorus)

There's a wild-eyed boy in the radio shack
He's the last remaining guest
He was tappin' in a Morse code frenzy
Tappin' "Please God, S.O.S."

Jesus Christ can walk on the water
But a music man will drown
They say that Nero fiddled while Rome burned up
Well, I was strummin' as the ship go down

(chorus)

Didn't I see this in the movies?

The Titanic

It was on one Monday morning
Just about one o'clock
When that great ship Titanic
Began to reel and rock
People began to scream and cry
Saying Lord I'm a-gonna die
It was sad when that great ship went down.

(chorus)
It was sad, it was sad, it was sad
When that great ship went down
Husbands and wives
Little children lost their lives
It was sad when that great ship went down.

When that ship left England
It was making for the shore
The rich refused to associate
With the poor
So they put the poor below
They were the first to go
It was sad when that great ship went down.

(chorus)

When they were a-building
They said what they would do
We will build a ship
That the water can't go through
But God with power in hand
Showed the world that it could not stand
It was sad when that great ship went down.

(chorus)

The people on that ship
Were a long way from home
With friends all around
They didn't know that the time had come
Death came riding by
Fifteen hundred had to die
It was sad when that great ship went down.

(chorus)

When Paul was sailing
His men all around
God told him
That not a man should drown
If you trust in me and obey
I will save you all the day
It was sad when that great ship went down.

(chorus)

You know it must have been awful
With those people on the sea
It's said that they were singing
Nearer My God to Thee
While some were homeward bound
Fifteen hundred had to drown
It was sad when that great ship went down.

(chorus)

By William and Versey Smith

It's DOWN, it's UP, it's EVEN ... awe it's DOWN again!

Sound like a roller coaster to you?

Yeah, no it's the DOW Jones Industrial ticker for the last week. Down 777, UP 338, down 48 (or just about even) and now down a little over 300 so far for the day! So much for retiring on that profit sharing plan my employer gives me, I think it's now worth less than what they have contributed to it in the last four years.

Grab those Buckets, Scoops, and old Milk Jugs!

Time to BAIL THAT BOAT!

While we meager citizens of the US of A wait patiently for those on Capitol Hill to make decisions I think it only appropriate to post this image. Notice that even the children of the world get in on bailing out these boats ... these were included because it will undoubtedly be your children, grand children, and great grand children who save this sinking ship! Meanwhile, I'll go arrange some deck chairs while the band plays on.

Breaking Economy, er I mean NEWS!

Smoke 'Em if you got 'Em!

That's right Ladies and Gents, you might as well roll a little something in that dollar bill and enjoy it while it burns, cause it's about to be worthless. Banks are failing at a rate of one a day, Wall Street can't seem to hold their heads above water, and the Feds don't know how to fix the problem. Of course the Feds are the ones who created the problem. Thank you once again Mr. Bush for your failures you will certainly be making appearances in economics text books now as well as those history chapters on failed presidencies. Congratulations!

More news here