Yaay let’s try the iPhone app for wordpress.

I blogged a long time ago that Microsoft has discontinued making MS Money. Here are 16 alternatives.

“Get Rich Slowly” is an awesome blog, by the way, for anybody interested in personal finance (and who shouldn’t be)?

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/07/01/good-bye-microsoft-money-16-powerful-personal-finance-programs/

In 1997, I took an “Engineering Economics” course. This was one of the best courses I ever took, because what it REALLY taught had nothing to do with Engineering; it had to do with MONEY and INVESTING. During this class, we had a project in which we would pick $5,000 worth of company stocks and see how they went.

If I had actually invested $5,000 in those stocks, they would now be worth (You ready for this?) $9436. That’s nearly double!

Now, before I tell you what companies I had pretended to invest in, let me say that two of them are now out of business, the third has lost Two-Thirds of its original value. So what were they?

American Trans-Air (Gone)
Gateway Computers (Gone)
Advanced Micro Devices (Lost 2/3 value)
Apple Computers (Yep! The Winner!)

Apple was $22.19/share in 1997. Now it’s $209.79. I would have made about $4,436 over 12 years, or a 188% increase. I think.

…But, given my previous history of ACTUALLY buying stocks, going from $1,000 to Zero, I’d say my genius is still in question.

Why is the apostrophe necessary? Diff’rent Strokes used it! Why didn’t What’s Happening use it? bah. i’m getting off track. the purpose of this blog entry was to update my adoring fans as to what I’ve been up to. Well, fans, let’s see. first off, today, I just FAILED my 70-643 Microsoft exam. Egads! Oh well, it happens. I could blame everybody else, but would that be the right thing to do? Yes, yes it would be. It is everybody else’s fault except mine. However I forgive you all, and fully plan to re-schedule the exam within a week or two’s time. I shall probably order some ancillary study materials. Just don’t let it happen again, OK, world?

Mia’s hitting the stage where her cognitive skills and personality are beginning to develop rapidly. Her vocabulary increases at breakneck speed, and she’s starting to get a little bit of the terrible two syndrome. Yes… soon, the supernanny in me will have to start coming out. The Brat Whisperererer. Only, I probably won’t whisper. It’ll be more like, the Brat Yellererer. It is 25% her fault I did not pass my exam.

I got a bag of sun chips here, and guess what: There is still a surmountable bunch of caloric intake with sodium and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil that is going to be consumed during the crafting of this missive.

Speaking of writing, I have discovered a wonderful new world of fiction. The author is Terry Pratchett, and he writes fantasy novels. “Whoah, whoah, whoah! I don’t like elves & shit!” well, too bad. you’re reading MY BLOG. so GTFO if you don’t like it. The “Series”, I suppose you might call it, is the “Discworld” universe. But, let me tell you: Beyond that, it bears less resembalance to a tradititional Tolkein-like fantasy, than to say, Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s guide” series. If you like Douglas Adams, you will like Terry Pratchett. But, don’t start with the first book. from what I’ve heard, the fist couple books sucked. I was recommended “Guards! Guards!” but I have not read it. I HAVE read “Going Postal” and “Making Money” and they are pretty good. It is 12% Terry Pratchett’s fault I did not pass my exam.

Sigh, I must prepare a sippy cup of milk for said brat. An additional 2%.

BACK! so i’ve been getting a lot of cd’s from the library and ripping them. I’ve got like nine George Carlin CD’s, and I also just got about five Richard Pryor CD’s. Rodney Dangerfield, Lenny Bruce, Stephen Wright. Also, music. A co worker has turned me on to the Kinks, so I’m exploring that vast musical ROOT of ROCK now. I had no IDEA the Kinks went back to the 60’s! I just don’t understand how they stayed under my rock & roll Radar for so long!! George, Richard, et. al, plus the kinks, are 5% to blame.

MMmmmm. Sun Chips. 2%.

We continue to be debt free, build up the nest egg, and look to the future through the scope of a high-powered .38 caliber rifle. The Future is TOAST! I will PWN the future!! I will forgive the Future its blame for my failing the MS exam, as it is never really here.

We will be in CHina for the better part of February. Actually Jan 30 through about Feb 20th or so. THREE WEEKS! The People’s Republic of China is also 6% to blame for my certification debacle.

We of course had a great thanks giving up in Hebron/South Haven/Portage/The Dunes. We had a full house, and I saw my grandpa, my parents, my mom’s sisters and their spouses, and my cousin erin and her spouse, my sister and her friend. Collectively, you all hold the greatest responsibility for distracting me away from my studies, and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves for tempting me with such good food, heartfelt family love, and awesomely fun game playing in Origins and Outburst! God, I love family game holidays!! They are so much FUN!!!  30% of your Daily Allowance of Why I failed my Exam.

my Comcast rebates are finally in, so… I guess it’s time to cancel the cable. *sniff* it was fun while we had it. But I cannot justify an extra $60/month just to get DVR recordings of a few shows, the most important of which, are available streaming online. Hoarders, Survivor, Barney, Thomas the Tank Engine, those three shows constitute about 80% of my TV watching. Survivor alone is probably 5% to blame.

Speaking of which, Hoarders is now half over… so, if I start watching now, I can >> through ALL the commercials! HA HA Ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

me

Mia got sick lately.

We’re going to the McGregor’s Halloween extravaganza, where distemper will once again rock.

My friend Jody is gonna move to maryland.

Max’s birthday was yesterday. need to call him.

It was great to see everybody that was at fauxtoberfest, and meet the banjo guy. The irish chicks were pretty lame, though.

started watching sharpe’s rifles. good show.

We’re going to China in february. assuming we get the visas in order up in chicago beforehand. Mia’s passport has been ordered and should be on the way in a few weeks.

I wanna build a dresser made out of wood, with my grandpa. why is fall season so damn busy all the time? My google to do list is never getting done. I am supposed to be investigating an ESA for Mia.

I also started reading some Terry Pratchet , as recommended by some guys down the hall. it’s good stuff. I recommend it.

Trying to recover from a recent starcraft binge.

I hate designing web sites with visual studio and asp. HATE. H A T E.

People who do not get vaccinated (in general) are stupid. If you are my friend or family member and you’re reading this, and are offended, then let me know! Why not get vaccinated?

1. Wife forgets car key. Has to take mine, to drive the car to the parking lot, which is near her office, after dropping me off at my office.

2. At 5:02 pm, I call wife to see if she’s coming to pick me up, or if I need to walk to car. She tells me that she’s running an experiment, and I need to either take the bus immediately or go walk to the parking lot and get the car to pick up the kid. The kid must be picked up by 5:45 pm. I opt to walk to the car.

3. Upon arriving at the car, I realize that I do not have my car key. Also, Cell Phone battery has died because I forgot to charge phone last night. I walk to wife’s office to get my key.

4. Wife’s office door is closed and locked. I walk back to the car.

5. The car is gone. It is now 5:30. I walk back to my office.

6. I plug in my phone and call wife, who decided NOT to do her experiment, and go pick up the kid. “What’s wrong with your phone?” she asks. I stew in frustration, trying not to blame anybody.

7. Wife offers to pick me up. I accept the offer. I log into blog and post this message.

I was woken up by my daughter crying at 4:30 am a couple nights ago. I was in the middle of a vivid dream; so I decided to record it.

First, Moondog, his brother, and I were all walking east on a two-lane, hilly and wooded road. It was like a state road; well-paved and heavily trafficked by semi trucks. The trucks were coming dangerously close to the side of the road; and though we were on the north side of the road, one semi was in the north lane and nearly hit Moondog. It turns out that the truckers were frequently picking up hitchhikers and prostitutes in the area, and for some reason the thought occurred to take advantage of their risky attitudes. Thus was born the plan to hijack semis. We decided to lure the truckers to our isolated area, get them out of the truck, into this pole barn, and subdue them by throwing bricks at them. They would then be tied up, and put in a nearby wooded ravine, until the job was complete.
So, suddenly, I was at a place just a bit further down the road, that was presumably a semi-truck repair company. The weather was dark and overcast, and it was impossible to tell the time of day. I was with an older, related male, like an uncle, but not a person who actually exists, and I never actually saw his face. The area consisted of a wide, gravel driveway that came from the main road to the south, down about a 50-foot hill, and continued on to the north. Ravines were on both sides of the driveway, and two large pole-barn type structures were on both sides of the wide gravel area. The wide gravel road proceeded up to the north, and abandoned junk and piles of rubbish dotted that area.

Map of the truck repair facility

Soon, our first victim arrived.

The truck driver got out of the semi and came into the dusty barn. I remember that his truck was red. He was tall, slim, and wearing a t-shirt that was tucked into his jeans. I do not remember his face, except that he was blond and had a mustache. There was no light in the barn except what came in through the sliding door, and some other opening behind me. I picked up a piece of a brick, and threw it at the driver. My older male relative, the mastermind of our plot, also began to hurl rocks or brick pieces at the driver. The trucker attempted to retaliate by picking up a whole, solid brick, but it was too heavy for him to throw with any effect. Soon, he was subdued.

Then my mind fast-forwards to the next scene. We had captured six semis, all of which were parked side-by-side nearby. The drivers had all been tied up and taken to the ravine just west of the complex and thrown down to the ground there. It was not far enough to kill them; we just wanted to keep them from coming back up at us. At the top of the ravine, we’d hired a Mexican thug to guard the truckers. He did not speak English. He wielded an assault rifle that looked like a stormtrooper gun from Star Wars. However, the thug did not speak English, and my companion had instructed him only to keep the truckers from coming back up the ravine; not to hold them there. Thus, they had all run away. I also noticed that there was a stone walkway that led up to the top of the ravine and the thug had not been guarding it, either! Clearly, our plot was foiled.

I made my way back to the main compound, and started to walk out. The truckers showed up with friends and some family members in all their personal vehicles. They had returned for vengeance! I ran toward their mob of cars & trucks, and jumped up over one of the pickup trucks and continued running. For some reason, none of them immediately pursued me. I surmised that they were after the ringleader, and the thug. I kept running, though, and found myself in a countryside farm area. It was now winter, and about a foot of snow was on the ground. I came upon a farmhouse, and a young child, a girl, was playing in the snow in the ditch across the street from her house. I jumped down into the ditch next to her and laid down. I supposed that if the truckers drove by, they would assume that I was somebody playing with the girl, and would not recognize me, because I was now dressed in winter garb. That is when I woke up to Mia’s cries.

Hey fans, have not posted a blog post in about 1000 years. that is because of Facebook. everybody is on there… well ALMOST everybody… so it’s easier to keep in touch that way. So this is getting neglected. And forget about snail mail: I don’t think I’ve written an actual letter in about 15 years.

We went out to Vegas for my friend Jody’s wedding to a guy named Mark. He’s a great guy. We had a wonderful time in Vegas. We stayed in the Monte Carlo Casino & Resort, and we stayed for 3 nights. it only cost us about $85 dollars to stay sunday through wednesday. we flew southwest out of Indy. Indy has a completely new airport now. You have to do gown I-70 west about a mile to get there now.

Mia was great on the plane. she only fussed about the minimum you might expect a kid to fuss; just when she got bored & tired. When we got there, we met the gang for a dinner at Diablo’s bar in the Monte Carlo. I ended up trying to talk too loud, and then after getting drunk and hitting the strip with the gang, my voice was totally ruined the next day. Unfortunately it ended up escalating into a full congestion type thing where my throat is still a bit sore. In fact, the whole trip wore me out so much that it made me have a “moment of clarity” regarding my health. I am really out of shape. Will this be the big bad thing that motivates me to get my body back into a reasonable facsimile of health? We’ll see. I did go running a couple days ago and it was a good run, but since I haven’t ran in so long, the legs are super sore and I have to wait a bit before going again.

So back to vegas. The next day was the weddin’. we got up very late, ate, and went to the Leddy Suite. there we all hopped on a shuttle that drove us to the small chapel where the ceremony was. The bus had a problem in which the AC above the back row of seats dripped water on the seats. and I don’t mean just a drip now and then. When the bus driver, after sitting for about 30 min in the parking lot, took off, probably about a half a quart of water spilled all over the back seats. Mia said, “Waboo!” (That means “Water” to those of you that don’t speak Mia.)

Speaking of Waboo, so the biggest highlight I guess was taking Mia SWIMMING! she loved it!! she thought it was so fun to be pulled through the water ! 

Hongmei got a chance to play slots, but I didn’t. She lost $2.60!!! We ate some good food, and bad food. The idea that food is cheap in Vegas is NO LONGER TRUE. FOOD IS NOT CHEAP IN VEGAS.

I did collect a menagerie of “Call Girl” cards that people hand you on the street. These are the small business cards advertising the practitioners of Mankind’s Oldest Profession. As far as the pr0n goes, they’re pretty boring; but as a social thing, somewhat interesting I suppose. Sorry, no scans of those. Go find your own.

We also visited an aquarium and got some interesting pics.