crash or business as usual

Today was certainly exciting. I go to lunch and see AG Edwards, er, Wachovia's handy dandy Dow sign down around 11160. Then at lunch Julie's talking about the Merrill buyout. Then I check Yahoo Finance before dinner and the Dow's down 500 points. And oil's under $100.

At times like this it's good to take a second and remember, short term volatility does not affect your investment goals. Odds are, the vast majority of your wealth is tied up in your wages. If you're lucky enough that equities represent a large sum for you, congratulations, you're one of the winners in our economy!

And for those of us that are younger-ish, this is a huge opportunity. With most of our earnings ahead of us, the cheaper assets like stocks and real estate are in the present, the better long-term value they represent.

And PS older folks, we'd be happy to buy your assets from you at prices you find amenable. All you gotta do is pay us wages so we can afford them. At the end of the day, that's what this is all about. It's not a housing crash or a credit crunch that's the root problem. The root problem is your average worker doesn't make as much money as she should.

But just remember, no matter your age, don't bet your lunch money in the stock market. Even iconic companies fail.

Au revoir Lehman and Merrill.

caught up

Mostly. Email replied to. Laundry done, more or less. Laptop back in the living room. All pictures on the computer. Friends seen, in person, no less.

Woohoo, now this coming week hopefully I will get to actually organizing everything from traveling. Naming pictures, sending things out, cleaning up the room, and figuring out what the rest of the summer has in store. Ooh, and figuring out what Julie wants for her birthday. Not a lot of time until then.

clean sweep

While not quite the miraculous finish of a Liberty sweep, basketball turned out pretty well this weekend. The Liberty girls took first while Julie's school, McCluer North, took the boys title. Even got her German and math teacher parents watching the local news at the cabin late to catch the scores!

Yes, I said the cabin. Apparently her parents have this fabulous place south of Warrenton. Cabin doesn't do it justice, though. It's really a two bedroom house nestled in a hilly area which is a development of a couple hundred such structures on a couple woody acres each. Yay stars. These and these.

jump for joy

Or jump for survival. Take your pick. Either way, it's freezing. I'm not sure I've totally thawed out yet. But I have had several cups of hot chocolate. Mmmm.

Well worth it to see Julie go crazy.

they might be giants

So we're going Saturday to see They Might Be Giants. I think it's in Soulard. You're welcome to come join us. Andrew, if you and Anna are in town, you're welcome to stay here.

We're actually having a winter this year. I hardly remember what those are like. It is white out right now!

I ask my roommates this evening if they want to cook dinner with Julie and me tomorrow. They're both like, uh, we're not eating dinner with you tomorrow. What are we, a couple? Your third AND fourth wheels?

So, uh, it'll just be me and Julie.

one week

I don’t know if I’ve been putting off writing this, but certainly I haven’t had the energy for it.

Not sure whether to build up with lots of drama, or just say it. So, I’m pretty much just gonna say it.

So last week I was robbed. At gunpoint, semi-automatic handgun. My wallet and phone were stolen.

It happened pretty fast, but it’s amazing how many times you replay that over and over and over. And over.

I’m fine, although still short two replacement credit cards and an ATM card. My Wash U ID and Wal-Mart gift card probably are gone for good. I know, serves me right for having a Wal-Mart gift card.

I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s a little difficult to talk about. Something just so raw and vulnerable about it. You know it’s dumb, but nonetheless, it is. Julie was asking how I was feeling, and this is what I wrote back to her: I'm annoyed. frustrated. saddened. embarrassed. alone. It's really lonely between a wall and a gun.

I can describe the scene pretty well, what we did that evening and what happened during those couple minutes. But making it personal is hard.

Fortunately I’m ok and they ditched most of the wallet, which a security guard at the arch found. Julie and I had gone to dinner, and while she was upset that she wasn’t with me at the time, I’m really glad she wasn’t. Things could have potentially turned out much worse.