Learning to Invest

Topic for a whole other blog, but I feel it is important for our
generation to learn how to manage money, as well as invest in the stock
market.
Learning to invest is a process. While I track every gain
and loss to the penny, it is far more important to make sure I learn
how to invest so that I can make better decisions in the future.
So far I have learned how to identify when I am getting in my own way and how
to be patient when I really want to panic. Sometimes I have found the
best thing for me to do for my investments is log out and walk away
from the computer to prevent me from overreacting.

Here is an example of a recent lesson:

#1 Dave buys a stock at $.07 thinking it will go up. The stock is previously owned so this is not a day trade.

#2 After slipping a bit, the stock begins to climb late in the day.

#3 Seeing the stock jump to $.09 (22% return), Dave decides to sell and
take the gain. He places a limit order for $.11 thinking he could sell
for a bit more if the stock continues to climb.

#4 Dave quickly realizes he placed a limit order to BUY not SELL and manages to double his shares and move the stock price to $.11.

The stock quickly falls back to $.05 the next day before I have a chance to sell any.

It has taken over a month, but I have finally sold all the shares of stock.

Lesson: The confirmation screen is there to be read, not ignored.
Cost $393 (amazing considering where I was the day after).

Herbie The Dentist

I went to the dentist this week and am happy to report no cavities or issues (actually no problems since I have been in Ohio).
I don't like going to the dentist for a few reasons. One of the main
reasons is that I still have my wisdom teeth, and despite not having
any problems dentists have been telling me to get them out for over 10
years ("you're not the boss of me, bosser"). It also takes like 4 months to get in after you remind yourself you are overdue (I made this appt in Sept).

So I went to the dentist this week. I was overdue by a couple years meaning:
As long as I have been with Rachel overdue.
His office moved (closer to work) overdue.

Things that go against me at the dentist:
I had some cavities as a kid.
I had braces for over 5 years before I knew of redox reactions.
I still drink regular non-diet soda (I guess they expect adults to switch to diet at a certain age?).
I'm still a fan of candy (spree, nerds, sour patch kids, not so much chocolate).
I have my impacted wisdom teeth.

Things that go for me at the dentist:
I'm a flosser, at night which means I don't when I am too tired. But I still figure that has to put me in the top 10-15% of the general population.
I use listerine twice a day religiously, like top 5% of the population (it doesn't burn after you use it for a while).
I'm a meticulous brusher who visualizes the areas I am cleaning. Rachel says it looks like I am making love to my toothbrush.
I recently found out I probably use twice as much toothpaste as normal. The directions say a pea sized portion, but those old Aquafresh commercials show them covering the entire brush.
I used to use a spin brush (spiderman, actually when Rachel and I started dating) but have converted to an ultra soft normal brush. That loud motor isn't a good idea when you are sneaking into bed at 2am.

Going to the dentist in Mass for a cleaning went like this:
Scheduled for 20 mins tops.
Cleaned by a hygienist with a 2 sec visit from the dentist, probably so they can sign off on some paperwork.

My dentist in Ohio is great (*****). It is a small business run by 2
brothers. One handles the finances and the other does all the dental
work. He is close to work so I like to do the lunch time getaway for a
cleaning. They used to only charge the same amount as my work insurance
would cover, but now they are $12 over.
The average amount of time it takes for a cleaning is 1 hour, and he explains everything he is doing and his opinion on the science which is good for an engineer. I said I was top 5% forListerine use because he says he uses it at least
5 times a day and if it could kill you he'd be dead. I also asked him
to settle mine and Rachel's debate about floss before or after
brushing. He said he was no help since he was a brush-floss-brush-Listerine guy.

So my successful track record so far won't change any of my candy/soda habits anytime soon. I seriously can't drink diet soda. I have also done research into soda alternatives and there really aren't any. People think Coke is one of the worst things for your teeth because of that demo where you soak a tooth in soda all night. You'd think going to juice would be an option, but most juices have as much sugar. AND anything that contains citric acid is 12 times worse for your teeth than sugar, with sweetened iced tea (Brisk etc) being one of the worst things you can drink for your teeth. So that leaves the low pH of Coke left to deal with which I think Listerine is very effective at handling every 12 hours (see their new cap sticker).

Just like The Ring 2

At 12:30am we had a new household record: 7 deer in our front yard at one time.

Rachel had already gone to bed and I was walking out to the kitchen when I saw something move by the driveway. I froze and saw a deer walking right up our driveway. I ran upstairs into the bedroom to wakeup Rachel. We started to look out the front window and 7 deer were just milling around. There was one small one but no fawns? (babies). Two came so close to the front door I thought they might ring the doorbell.
We still have our tree up in the front room, so I was able to hide behind it and watch one of them eat our bushes right in front of the window. I felt uncomfortably close thinking about the deer scene from The Ring 2. I did try to get some video but it is far too dark despite having the front light on.

No wonder Lucy likes to go out and sniff the bushes for hours on end. We sometimes call her Sniffy Snifferson.

UFO in Chicago

Seriously, I would blog more if it was possible to login in less than 5 screens.

Alright, there has been talk of this UFO in chicago, so I did some research on You Tube.
This is the best thing I have found so far in 2007.
(Turn ON volume, the voice over is 90% of the effect).
*Mild use of F word for those at work...