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From the much improved (weather wise) city, Good morning all:
“OCTOBER: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The other are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.” — Mark Twain
A loud ‘booya’ shout-out to Twain, I lift my morning mug-o-Java to him. Just think, he wrote that ages before people had heard of electronic trades, block trades, or even the soon to be banned ‘flash orders.’
I am starting the weekend pretty upbeat. Yesterday I was declared the winner of the latest of my friend Dave P’s occasional trivia quizzes. See, there are ways to stave off dementia during this retirement thing. Since there are people still working on the solution I won’t divulge my answer or the quiz itself. But, here is an earlier one he sent out: “A little question for you lovers of trivia. No fair Googling for the answer. You’ll have a ball with this question: With blinding speed Boston resident Justin Kittredge set a new world record with sixteen in sixty seconds. Was it the Boston beans? As far as I know, Justin was not silent, but something was deadly. What did Justin break, or, better said, what record did Justin break?”
I believe it was due to me wearing a mystical turban (as pictured) that had me win.
This week it was the research week for my monthly printed article. My research normally starts by reading everything in sight and then ‘spider legging’ out on subjects I believe have value. Initially I read a lot of general news looking for trends prior to moving into the specifics of the industry I write for. With all the news whizzing by, this week I felt as if I were hanging out mid-court in a fronton. Just a short partial listing of what I spotted:
- Washington is setting salary caps on private businesses – just a year ago we regularly said that the freedom to earn was a major difference between America and places like Russia and China. Now we have apparently reversed roles with these countries.
- The public health business. “No public option”, wait a minute, that is in the Senate. Pelosi has it back on the table in the House—we think—we’re not certain since the meetings are all behind closed doors. Didn’t Pelosi tout a new era of governmental transparency would be her legacy?
- The White House has stopped talking to the most watched 24-hour news channel; “we don’t want to play anymore so we’re taking our ball and bat and going home”.
- Through Thursday we heard that a health system would mean no new taxes; yesterday it apparently became a $1 trillion program.
- We threw the Taliban out of Afghanistan. Then moved over to Iraq. After voting that it was a proper thing to do, Iraq quickly became the “bad” war and Afghanistan had been the “good” war. Now the “good” war is “bad” and warring about in Waziristan is “good” (especially if we do it with drones). Meantime, hand-picked General McCrystal is crawling on his knees from room to room begging for more troops—very difficult since all the doors are closed due to meetings and discussions.
We had a wonderful visit from Kirstin. Marcia cranked the heat up a bit beyond, but hey, I survived. It was good to see the family room filled as everyone was here for dinner and then more dinner. The grill finally ran out of propane as the final batch of Salmon grilled to perfection—it was a honey glazed walnut coated spectacle.
Today, at our open air fresh veggie market – Findlay Market – is a celebration of the city’s “Sister City Program”. Representatives from 7 sister cities are here along with details about their towns including their foods (now we’re talking). So in a while we’ll head out and explore a bit further. Maybe we’ll happen to do so right around lunch time. This afternoon will be the University of Cincinnati Home Coming Parade. For years this part of the state has tolerated Ohio State football. Well, UC has come of age, so says the Wall Street Journal in . I know that Marin will be going; maybe I’ll also get invited.
This weekend will be the, now annual, family apple picking event. So Sunday it’s off to the orchard we go.
Make it a great week everyone.
Cheers,
Dirk
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