Man, I really wish that I had a huge lump of free cash to invest in the stock market right now! Congress just passed the legislation that should help free up the credit markets (although with an extra $150B of pork fat thrown in -- unlike actual pork fat, this pork fat does NOT "rule"), and fear seems to be quite rampant. But this looks to me like something near a bottom, and a great time to be buying.
Pretty good weekend for sports, with both the Cowboys and Longhorns winning, although both were pretty heavily favored. Texas' big test comes next weekend against #1 Oklahoma. If we could beat the sooners next weekend, that would be one of the greatest wins I've ever seen, right up there with beating Ohio State in Columbus in 2005.
We're into full day #3 of no NBC / KXAN on our cable, Time Warner. KXAN pulled their signal off the air just on Time Warner because TW wouldn't pay KXAN a fee. I really hope this gets resolved soon, or I'm going to probably have to start looking at satellite or other options. So far, I've really only missed "Sunday Night Football", but by later this week when I miss episodes of "The Office", things will get more serious!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Lauren achieves higher plane
My daughter Lauren was laying in my bed two nights ago (in my spot, see previous blog entry here and pictures here). We had prayed with her and she was ready to go to sleep, and my wife and I were laying down next to her. She then says in kind of a sing-song, I-know-I'm-cute-kind-of-way, "I'm perfect."
My wife and I just shook our heads and kissed her goodnight (and I headed to Lauren's bed to tuck myself into the pink blanket). I guess we don't need to work on her self-esteem...
My wife and I just shook our heads and kissed her goodnight (and I headed to Lauren's bed to tuck myself into the pink blanket). I guess we don't need to work on her self-esteem...
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Special diet
You might ask, "OK, Eric, if you're working out this much, what's with the little mini-gut you're sporting?" Well, that's because of my "special diet." Like Mater from the movie Cars says, "I'm on one of them there 'special diets' ... I'm a precision instrument of speed and aromatics." Key components of said diet include:
- Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream (Half Baked and Dublin Mudslide are my favorites)
- Bacon (Emeril is correct that pork fat rules...)
- Steak
- Margaritas / Gin-and-tonics / etc.
- Belgian Ale (Duvel Golden Ale, Chimay Trippel / White, and Orval are faves)
- Pillsbury ready-to-bake chocolate chip cookies
This is a bit of an exaggeration (I eat pretty healthy lunches and eat some good fruits and veggies along with the above), but I do really like good food and don't really do anything special to control much of what I eat. I figure that's what the exercise is for!
Torn on bailout
I have to admit, I'm not sure what to make of the recent bailout / financial crisis. There are many folks whose opinions I have read and respected in the past that are disagreeing on this. On one side are traditional conservatives like Rush Limbaugh (link here) and local Libertarian radio talk show host Jeff Ward that feel that this government intervention is socialistic and should be avoided, and they praise House Republicans and Democrats who did not support the measure.
On the other side, there are folks like Adam Bold, who I rely on for advice with mutual fund selections in my 401k. I've learned quite a bit from his radio show, and he typically does a good job of explaining difficult financial concepts with good analogies. Link here for a segment from his radio show talking about the issue. His take is that we're at risk of a major financial shutdown in credit (which many businesses need to operate daily) that will hurt all Americans, not just companies who made too many risky / bad bets on subprime mortgages / CDOs / etc.
On the other side, there are folks like Adam Bold, who I rely on for advice with mutual fund selections in my 401k. I've learned quite a bit from his radio show, and he typically does a good job of explaining difficult financial concepts with good analogies. Link here for a segment from his radio show talking about the issue. His take is that we're at risk of a major financial shutdown in credit (which many businesses need to operate daily) that will hurt all Americans, not just companies who made too many risky / bad bets on subprime mortgages / CDOs / etc.
Even the biggest of birds!
I was looking at the Drudge Report a little earlier today, and his page linked to a new Levi's ad campaign that may be considered somewhat controversial / edgy (link here: http://www.unbuttonyourbeast.com/ ).
However, this ad campaign is not as original as it seems. Similar to how current US TV show hits American Idol and The Office were originally British shows on BBC, this ad campaign seems similar to ads I saw while on an overseas business trip to Taiwan last year.
I could not believe it the first time I saw one of these ads ... see link to example here. See example below from another blogspot user (taiwandreamin.blogspot.com). Caption on photo reads "even the biggest of birds can fit in our pants"!
2000 workouts in 10 years
That's kind of a rough long-term goal I have for fitness / working out. Because we have this nice little gym on site at my job, it makes it much easier to fit in a workout than if I had to go to a 24-hr Fitness or some other commercial gym before or after work. We do a little log in each time we go in, so I'm able to keep track of how many times a year I go in. I've been able to go 200 times or more every year since 2002 (I re-started regular exercising in summer of 2001), and have about 33 more workouts to reach that for 2008 (7 years running). I think it sounds really cool to be able to do that for 10 straight years -- a nice, round number.
I cycle between 3 standard workouts that I just cycle through (1-2-3-1-2-3, etc.). I probably should add more variety in to this, but this is working for now and seems to provide a good balance between weights/strength and cardio. I don't feel like I have time to do cardio and weights on the same day.
I cycle between 3 standard workouts that I just cycle through (1-2-3-1-2-3, etc.). I probably should add more variety in to this, but this is working for now and seems to provide a good balance between weights/strength and cardio. I don't feel like I have time to do cardio and weights on the same day.
- Workout 1: 4-5 mile run with hills (my standard run right now is 4.8-4.9 miles outdoors with vertical uphill gain of about 200 ft).
- Workout 2: Weights / strength: chest / back / shoulders
- Workout 3: Weights / strength: stomach / core, legs, arms
Feeling a little better, but 401k is not
Well, I still have a little bit of the migraine left, but should be good to go by the time I go for a lunchtime run later today. Yesterday afternoon I tried to do my normal workout but had to stop about 2/3 of the way through when my head started hurting more and more with each rep ... didn't seem to matter which exercise I did.
After the last few months in the stock market, I'm just glad I don't need to retire anytime soon. I think my 401k at work is probably down about 25%-30% since the highs of last year (link here for chart of S&P 500 last 2 years). But since retirement is likely 25+ years away, I just consider this a good time to be "buying low". Really low.
After the last few months in the stock market, I'm just glad I don't need to retire anytime soon. I think my 401k at work is probably down about 25%-30% since the highs of last year (link here for chart of S&P 500 last 2 years). But since retirement is likely 25+ years away, I just consider this a good time to be "buying low". Really low.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
