Back Up In New York
I went to the doctor to get checked out today. What a waste of money, as the visit had no value whatsoever and just made him $380 richer. That being said, after my visit, I immediately booked a ticket back to NY and leave SRQ at 6:40 and get in LGA at 11:18 tonight.
It will be nice to see my friend, that’s for sure.
Jeff
Pics of John
Our club had one of those innumerable parties that I find very boring. Since I was able to beg out of the affair due to health issues, I sent John in my place. He said that he had a good time, and a bevy of women were inquiring as to my health. Much to their chagrin, he assured them that I’m taken.
John and his Harvard Buddy Erik
John and a gold digger who missed me.
John and a big developer who's worth a negative 200 million
I’m so glad I don’t have to go to those boring club parties filled with people from Ohio and Indiana. I prefer my redneck friends at the beach.
Jeff
The Next 24 hours
Within the next 24 hours or so, I will be back in New York, spending time with my new friend. When I’m there with her, I feel like a whole person, not a guy who’s just biding time at the beach. I must be an anomaly, a Florida boy trying to get to NY while there’s 10 million New Yorkers all having Florida dreams. Believe me, Florida isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Before I met my new friend, I had thought of leaving Florida anyways, but had a different destination in mind, I had thought of San Diego, or Oahu as a possibility. Never, in a million years did I think of NY.
They say that Helen of Troy launched a thousand ships. My friend, who’s much prettier than depictions of Helen, has launched me into a new life. That’s a good thing.
Jeff
The pitfalls of public education
Laurel Kenner has a great post on education. This hit home, as I was always one of those square pegs the system tried to fit into a round hole. When they couldn’t succeed, they literally tried to destroy me.
Brazil is closer than you think, especially if the incompetents in power have their way.
Jeff
7/2/09
I had to go to get a CT scan on my ankle today, and was in and out in 45 minutes. Now, I’m waiting for my MD to call me to tell me what’s up. Last night, I went over to an 80 year old French lady’s house, who I refer to as my mistress, to teach her how to make coq au vin. Imagine that, an American boy teaching a French lady how to cook a French national dish. We shared more than a little wine, and I went home quite buzzed. I called my friend in New York very late, and she was watching a trade she had going on the e-minis. I looked at my screen, saw what I liked, and sold the crap out of the e-minis. I stayed up all night, except for when I passed out in front of my screen for a couple of hours and got up late. I felt absolutely no pain on the trade and have been moving my stops down all morning. I’ve needed a good trade to get me out of my funk, and this seems to be the trade.
Although I’m pretty confused with the grain markets, I might have the dollar figured out….Stay tuned for further details.
Jeff
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet(1694-1778), better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire is one of my favorite writers of all time. I revisit his works constantly, and find many trading lessons throughout his writings. Here’s a few of his notable quotes.
1. Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels.
2. What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous.
3. What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy
4. Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors
5. When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, that is metaphysics
6. When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion
7. To hold a pen is to be at war
8. To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered
9. To the wicked, everything serves as pretext
10. Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them
11. Very often, say what you will, a knave is only a fool
12. Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy
13. To the wicked, everything serves as pretext
14. We are rarely proud when we are alone
15. We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly
16. We cannot wish for that we know not
17. We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man was not born to rest
18. We must distinguish between speaking to deceive and being silent to be reserved
19. We never live; we are always in the expectation of living
20. The infinitely little have a pride infinitely great
21. The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.
22. The secret of being a bore… is to tell everything
23. The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it
24. There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times
25. Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too
26. Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time
27. Prejudices are what fools use for reason
28. The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third
29. The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out
30. Man is free at the moment he wishes to be
31. Men hate the individual whom they call avaricious only because nothing can be gained from him
32. Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts
33. No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking
34. One great use of words is to hide our thoughts
35. Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes
36. Originality is nothing by judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another
37. Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable
38. Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?
39. It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong
40. It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce
41. It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love
42. It is said that the present is pregnant with the future
43. Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers
44. I hate women because they always know where things are
45. Ice-cream is exquisite – what a pity it isn’t illegal
46. Illusion is the first of all pleasures
47. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another
48. Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do
49. God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.
50. He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked
Funny from Rocky Humbert
You need to see this funny thing from Rocky Humbert’s blog. One of the funnier things I’ve seen in awhile.
I was down and out all yesterday. I had my ankle scoped out where I sprained it twice in 2,5 weeks. The operation was a success, and they got all of the flotsam and jetsam out of my joint and cleaned it up nicely. Although it was an easy gig, it hurt like hell, and I slept all day long afterward. Today, I’m up and around, and am taking it easy on my feet, ie:no 10K’s for me.
I missed some nice moves in the market yesterday, but the market is like surfing in that there will always be another wave.
Jeff
Billy Mays RIP
Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson all died this week. This morning, my son told me that my favorite TV pitchman, Billy Mays was found dead at his home in Tampa. Obnoxious as hell, his infomercials quickly reached cult status, and he became a cultural icon. Billy had a certain plucky confidence, a sense of showmanship, and a strong desire to sell. He was very good at what he did.
Billy Mays was free enterprise and his shoes will be hard to fill.
Jeff
Is Poker Gambling?
I’m curious what y’all think about poker. Is it gambling or not?
I’d love to see some discussion regarding whether poker is gambling or not. I’ll leave it to you to define what “Gambling” is. For the record, I don’t think it is gambling although you are creating risk whenever you play. Poker like trading, to me is a sport, with the chips as the way of keeping score.
Jeff
Rats, Risk and other things
Check out Rocky Humbert’s excellent post on the ability of rats to gamble. The link to the paper is a must read.
We went to the Columbia Restaurant which bills itself as a Spanish restaurant, but is really good Cuban food in disguise. It was a good night, and we ate good food and I drank good wine, too much wine in fact. The Columbia is one of the two good restaurants in Sarasota, the other being Cafe L’Europe. Seriously, there are no other fine dining places in Sarasota other than those two places. All the other food is just seafood places like Pelican Alley,. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pelican Alley, but it’s just a laid back seafood place that’s real close to my house and I can walk home in case of emergency.
Here’s an old picture of the Columbia’s bar, which is a masterpiece. I took this picture about a year ago, but nothing has changed….nothing ever changes at the Columbia, which is a good thing.
John and I are going to have a Hal Ashby film festival today, and will watch Harold and Maude, Shampoo,The Last Detail,Coming Home, Being There, and Looking to get Out. I’m also going to fire up the grill at around 3PM and have a big, fat, juicy Porterhouse steak with all of the trimmings. I bought extra steaks for whoever shows up at my house. Perhaps I can entice my friend and neighbor, Nicole to come over.
All of that being said, tomorrow I have to have a minor surgical procedure done to my ankle. I sprained it last week in a surfing mishap, and the sports doctor I saw on Friday told me that it would be best if I had my ankle scoped out and a bunch of stuff cleaned out from the joint. I’ve sprained this ankle many times over the years, and a lot of junk has accumulated. The procedure is very minor, and I will be back on my feet by Tuesday. Still, they’re making me fast with no food after 5PM. I don’t understand why the “no food” as I won’t have a general anesthetic, just a local.
Anyways, that’s this weekend in a nutshell.
