Monday, September 29, 2008

I'm Glad I Don't Plan to Retire

I don't plan to ever "retire" - I can't see the point of not doing anything. And I already travel and see the world now on an expense account, so I'll have gotten that out of the way. I figure I'll do consulting or something similar to keep my hand in something until the very end.

Bit if I WERE planning to retire my plans would be changing now. Today I cried uncle and pulled my retirement assets out of the market. I had turned everything else to cash at 14,000 figuring that was the peak, and I'm glad I did.

And I'm not throwing good money after bad - I've turned off contributions to my 401K as well as my daughter's college fund. These are funds that allow "tax-free growth", but if there is no growth, why not just take the cash? I'll turn them back on when the market turns around, but that might be a while.

In the mean time politicians (of both stripes) are fiddling in Washington while Rome burns.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

You Won't See This on the Discovery Channel

This "documentary" about spiders is laugh out loud hillarious...

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Answer to This Question: Yes

Heard on the radio: Does your 401K feel like a point 01K (.01K)?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Management Tip of the Day

"Give someone the Why, they'll come up with the How."

- Unknown

Monday, September 15, 2008

Financial Word of the Day: Tharn

Tharn - verb - In Richard Adams' novel "Watership Down" the term is used when the main characters, which are rabbits, see the headlights of oncoming cars and are frozen in place.


Tharn. Frozen in place. This is a good description of what a lot of people are doing about the financial mess right now. Do you invest now while stocks are down? They could go lower. Go to bonds? You could take a bath if interest rates are raised because of inflation. Stick to cash? Inflation could eat it alive. So everyone - at least me - is stuck in the headlights wondering what to do.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

He Did Write About Irony

David Foster Wallace died. The interesting thing is that he wrote in criticism of terrorist defensive measures like the Patriot Act and wiretapping:

Have we become so selfish and scared that we don't even want to consider whether some things trump safety?"

He committed suicide. The guy wasn't even safe from himself.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Existential Movie Moment of the Day

Today's entry: Bladerunner:

Roy: I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those ... moments will be lost ... in time ... like tears ... in rain. Time ... to die.

Deckard (voiceover): I watched him die all night. It was a long, slow thing and he fought it all the way. He never whimpered and he never quit. He took all the time he had ... as though he loved life very much ... every second of it ... even the pain. Then he was dead. I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before. Not just his life ... anybody's life ... my life. All he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where do I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got? All I could do was sit there and watch him die.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Sales Meetings and Success

Me: I had a great meeting with SuperGlobalTek.

Boss: Did they give you money?

Me: No

Boss: Then it wasn't a good meeting.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

I Must of Gotten on the Wrong Plane

So I asked the gate agent in Seoul if I was getting on a 12 hour flight, and she said yes. But I didn't specify the direction. So after three years I am back in Israel.

Since it is the weekend I went to the mall:

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Alex, I'll Take Obscure Country Facts for $200

Alex: The answer: Besides the United States, this is the only country with a statue honoring Harry Truman.

WM: What is South Korea?

Alex: Correct! You still have the board.

WM: I'll take Existential Mid-Life Crisis for $400

Alex: You got a Daily Double! WM, you have the option to bet it all on this question. What will it be?

And while WM ponders this, we'll take a commercial break...