Boxer Day

I hope y’all had a good Christmas. John and I were up at the crack of dawn and managed a respectable 9 hours in the water. Most of that 9 hours was spent sitting on the water, trying to navigate the crowds that were down at the jetty. Since the waves were a good chest to head high on the sets and nicely formed, everyone in the closest three counties was on it. Still, we caught a lot of waves, and my arms were totally beaten up after paddling around for 9 hours. John kept calling me a wuss, as I prefer to stay on the outside and catch the nuggets, and leave the guys on the inside the scraps. Johns hyper-aggressive attitude forces him to catch as many waves as possible, and he always gets three times as many waves as I do. He brought a waterproof instant camera, and I will try to post some pictures when they come back from CVS.

We had a good dinner of ravioli and sauce, salad and bread. We bought everything premixed and boiled the ravioli, nuked the sauce, grated the cheese, took the salad out of the bag, and ate.

Since then, I’ve been chilling on the couch, trying to conserve energy. John passed out by 7PM, and I expect him to sleep through the night.

I will try to post some pics tomorrow. I will write in my blog early, as I need to check out the overnight and my attention will be diverted.

Have a good day,

Jeff

Christmas 2009

What a great day. John and I woke up at 5:30 and had a quick exchange of gifts. Both of our gifts were of a private nature, and if I told you…..you know the rest. We ran over to the 24 hour Starbucks and grabbed some coffee and were back home by 6:30. By the time it was light, we were all suited up and in the water at the jetty. The waves were waist high nuggets, and we got a good 3 hour surf, sharing the break with all the kids who got new surfboards for Christmas. Christmas was pretty good in the surf industry, and a group of local shops here had a 28.8% increase in business over last year, with a higher gross due to fewer markdowns and smaller labor costs.

After our surf, we came home, picked up poinsettias, and went over to the cemetery to decorate the grave. We trimmed some grass, polished the headstone, and pulled a couple of weeds. We managed to squeeze 18 poinsettias on the plot for decoration. It was a very touching experience and we both shed many a tear. Still, the grave must be kept up, and we shouldn’t be so neglectful in our maintenance.

Afterward, we went over to my folks for dinner, which I ended up cooking. Don’t ask why, but everyone went on strike and demanded that I cooked…..I acquiesced. My mom and sister were both in strange moods, and I just decided to be the peacemaker and did the cooking. The roast turned out A+, and everything else was great…..but then again, I’m an excellent cook. I had to be a good cook because Denise couldn’t boil water.

We got home by 5 and John left to run with some local friends. I called him about 8 to ask where he was, and he told me to look at the picture he sent, and guess the house. Honestly, I don’t have a clue, just some tacky bathroom.

John in some tacky bathroom.

I stayed home all afternoon and evening, listening to music and catching up on my reading. I watched a surf flick while I was listening to tunes, and was stoked. Later on, a good buddy of mine who works for the intelligence services called me to wish me a Merry Christmas. We talked for a half hour, but when he called he told me it was already the 26th. Whenever we talk, I can never ask him where he is, and he’s usually in places like Pakistan etc. If he calls me from home, he always tells me where he is in his first 2 words. I always pray for my old buddy, a guy who’s given up a personal life in defense of freedom. He’s given up everything he has to the service, where we can feel free to live our lives in ease and are able to have political differences without getting killed. My hats off to my friend who’s done 31 years in the field. He’s a grizzled old man now and ready for retirement, but they don’t want to let him go. Jimmie has my total respect, and whenever we get together, I get to hear stories from 10 years ago….he won’t tell me anything that could or would compromise anything current.

All throughout the day, I made many phone calls to loved ones all over the globe. I probably spent 2.5 hours on the phone, with many short conversations and a couple of 15 minute marathons. I’m worried about my father in law (I still call Denise’s parents in laws), who’s starting to slip on the slope of dementia. My mother in law is putting up a valiant effort for them to remain independent, but she has macular degeneration and is 1/2 blind. I am paying for them to have lawn keeping services and a housekeeper 5 half days a week, so maybe the problem can be put off another year. I respect seniors that wish to remain independent, thinking of what Rand and Nock would say about the independence of seniors. Somehow, I think that dignity would be at the top of the list.

Now, it’s 10:30 and I’m ready for bed. It’s been a real long day, and I even forgot that Christmas was on a Friday. I’m so out of sorts, I turned on my quote system to see if the overnight had opened. Good night y’all.

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas for you and yours. On my front, John and I are going to put 18 poinsettias on Denise’s grave and clean things up on that front. We stopped by her grave today and made our plan for fixing things up……..somehow, I feel so guilty about all of this, even living.

Tomorrow will be a free day until the overnights open, and I hope there’s not a lot of news, but I’m being selfish as I want to spend the most time surfing and with John. It’s bugging me a bit that John is preferring his friends to me, and I have to catch my tongue when I talk to him. Kids today are so different, even my 81 year old mother agrees. Still, if John is an example, these kids are the best, brightest kids the planet has ever produced…..and I’ve been spreading the word of Nock, Rand, and Hayek. Maybe my role in life to be the “Johnny Appleseed” of these ideas, and to just spread them to the new bourgeois. I’ll be able to answer this in about 20 years:)

1/2 Off day

Today was my half off day, as I more than cut my losses on my Chicago/KC wheat spread in half. I spent most of the day in the zone, and trading grains well. I managed a nice scalp on beans selling near the top and covering them by the close. Decided to make a proposition bet on a very small long position of oats. I kept an eye on another small position I have had for a few days in the ES. Right now, I like the ES a lot, and it’s going up. Hopefully the Santa Claus Rally will continue. I felt good about not making one mistake trading today.

John and I are going to catch some waves now, and the weather here is been very foggy. I love marine layers, as they’re really mellow. I love to get out with the guys and surf in the fog. Sometimes you lose yourself out there both physically and mentally, and it’s nice to get lost once in awhile.

Christmas is coming tomorrow and we have family obligations to take care of, plus hit the cemetery. We’ll also have a nice dinner with my folks and sister.

Tonight looks like a dinner over at Casey Key Barr and Grill.

Up at night

John woke up and started cranking out Zappa from “Overnight Sensation.” I put my headphones on and am listening to something a bit more sublime while I trade the overnight.

Home for the Holidays

We arrived home this afternoon and John went over to Publix to pick up some deli stuff and sweet tea. We had a little dinner and are keeping it pretty low key. John has been passed out since 6:30 and I’m kind of on the nod myself. Looks like we’ll see some swell tomorrow afternoon, probably during the 1:30 low tide. I’ve been sitting around trying to ascertain the origin of a strange, rotten smell in the house. Since I have spent little time here for the past 10 months, it could be anything.

My trading has been pretty crappy all week long. I seem able to make enough to cover my horrible wheat spread, but I’m living off the laurels of my Dubai trade.

El Salvador surfing next week for 5 days 4 nights, and New York on the 2nd with John. Should be a good time. Hopefully I will have a yea or nay on the coop by then. Otherwise it’s plan B.

Jeff

greetings

It’s nice to be able to post from airplanes at 37,000 feet. Technology may be improving, but my trading seems to be in the toilet. My wheat spread is like the tail of a dog trying to shake me off, with me hanging on for life. It came in the other night to 2 cents intraday, but is way out from there. I have a couple of small trades on right now in the 30 year and the S&P. Both of those aren’t to bad and I might live to play another day. I really like Virgin Airlines, and they always treat me nice. Food isn’t great, but then again what airline food is these days.

I wish that airlines wouldn’t block skype.

It’s so nice to hit my server at home and access any file in the system. So far, it hasn’t blocked any mp3’s I’ve pulled, and youtube seems to work slow but OK if you hit stop and let it load. Not fast like home, but faster than at Starbucks.

Time to do some work and trading. Been doing a lot of number crunching on the grains. My sleep patterns are so messed up, and it will be good to sleep in my bed.

Jeff

Ayn Rand Revisited

John Galt said,
The symbol of all relationships among such men, the moral symbol of respect for human beings, is the trader. We, who live by values, not by loot are traders, both in manner and spirit. A trader is a man who earns what he gets and does not give or take the undeserved. A trader does not ask to be paid for his failures, nor does he ask to be loved for his flaws. A trader does not squander his body as fodder, or his soul as alms. Just as he does not give his work except in trade for material values, so he does not give the values of his spirit—his love, his friendship, his esteem—except in payment and in trade for human virtue, in payment for his own selfish pleasure, which he receives from men he can respect. The mystic parasites who have, throughout the ages, reviled the trader and held him in contempt, while honoring the beggars and the looters, have known the secret motive of the sneers: a trader is the entity they dread—a man of justice.

Atlas Shrugged

12/21/09

I’m happy with the performance of my wheat spread. I had a small position in the S&P over the weekend and I took my small profit today(tonight here). I’m kicking myself that I missed the move in gold. I saw it, but I didn’t see it. Like waves, there’s always another trade.

Things here have been going well. This is a really nice hotel, with full facilities, which I have been using a lot. The beds are comfortable and yesterday I took the day off and just chilled all day. Feel much better today as I was kind of under the weather all day yesterday.. I’m bringing John and his date to a place called Bodeans BBQ which is as close as American BBQ as you can get in London. We’ll be there probably around 9:15, which should give us plenty of time to eat before the place closes. John is out with a couple of friends right now and I expect him shortly. He has developed a taste for beer (something I’m not a big fan of), and I suspect he is at a pub right now. Well, he’ll probably show up in a few minutes in a quite jolly mood.

I’ve been running all kinds of numbers on my home system on the grains. Did you ever realize that, despite numerous spikes, the wheat and corn cash markets have gone down an average of 2.8%/year for the last 60 years after being adjusted for inflation? At least that’s what my number crunching is telling me. I’ve been running a lot of cash market vs. futures market data as of late and am finding some very interesting stuff. Interesting, indeed.

I got all our travel arrangements made, and we have a few more social obligations to meet while we’re here. We’ll be home in Florida by Christmas, so all will be well. I just hope we get some waves Christmas morning as that would be the greatest gift one could ask for.

Jeff

Blah

Having been going at a breakneck pace for the past couple of weeks….things have caught up with me. I’m kind of feeling under the weather and am trying to book flights to get us to Fl by Christmas. I don’t know where John is or what he’s up to, nor do I really care at this time. This bug just won’t quit.

I just need to be awake at the overnight open so I can see if i can keep from living under a bridge another day.