June 27, 2008

One of my biggest fears in life is that I'll end up with less money by investing in equities for retirement than if I had just put everything in a savings account. I really, really, REALLY don't want to spend the rest of my life working. Another thing that scares me is that if *I* don't do well (a person who has diligently saved for retirement since graduating from college), then that does not fare well for people who either chose not to or could not afford to save. We'll all be in the poor house together in thirty years.

So far, investing in equities for retirement appears to be a bad choice. My assets are down an estimated 15-20% this year. Including the value of my house. Will my generation will enjoy any of the good fortune that has befallen my parent's generation? Perhaps this is another 1970s and things will look better again in another ten or fifteen years.

If anyone thinks the Democrats are going to fix this, I think that is an incorrect assumption. But I also think that the Republicans aren't going to fix anything, either. I've invested more in international stocks in the past few years because I think the U.S. is no longer going to be the world's economic superpower; we're already on our way out. I wouldn't know where to place blame other than the fact that businesses and consumers in this country have had too much access to cheap credit, and it could take years to get ourselves out of this mess.

I have some equity holdings that were severely under water, and after this week, you could say my portfolio looks like the midwest does right now.

I'm moving most of my investments to Merrill Lynch this month since I am too stupid to manage my accounts without making some very painful mistakes. (Mutual funds, index funds and ETFs can still lose 25%-30%. I'm good at picking those.)

P.S. I thought this article, which presents a different perspective on America's prosperity, was interesting.

Posted by megabeth at 12:25 PM | Comments (3)

June 26, 2008

Coosa County, Alabama is one of the least populated counties in Alabama, yet it is just two counties away from the most populated county in the state. Its county seat is Rockford, which had a population of 405 in the year 2005. Rockford used to have a little downtown area but it's now deserted, and its main intersection is a four-way stop. Coosa County was once inhabited by agricultural Indians as late as the 1800s. The terrain is not mountainous because it is a bit south of the foot of the Appalachians, but it has a lot of rolling hills.

We go to the lakehouse several times a year and it's located in the middle of nowhere in Coosa County. The closest town, a 20-25 minute drive, is Wetumpka. The lake itself is privately managed to be a trophy bass fishing lake, which is why we find it somewhat easier than usual to catch a 5+ lb bass (and I have no idea what the heck I am doing out there with a fishing pole).

There are a few fields nearby which are plowed annually and grass is planted that attract deer. I've found several white quartz arrowheads in the field, and again, I have no experience with looking for Indian artifacts. There are numerous random piles of rocks which we can't figure out why they were put there; either to have the area cleared for planting, or as a burial marker. A lot of Coosa County appears to have been logged and then trees were replanted, so some of the forest areas are immature.

I like Coosa County because it is a wonderful place to ride a bike. It is truly in the boonies so traffic volumes are low. And when people do pass, they will slow down and take a good look at the weird people in spandex, then wave hello and continue. Many of the roads on the map don't even have a name or a number assigned to them. We can ride for long stretches without having to stop, and there are farms and other scenery to look at while passing by. During one ride we passed by Equality, then Richville. Both of these towns seem to be non-existant, other than their signs (and a deserted fire department in Richville).

I'll be back in Coosa County for the holiday weekend, looking forward to some more exploration by bike. This time we plan to ride by Weogufka State Forest, which seems to be a very large tract of trees and a mountain, but not much else. I will enjoy the silence.

Posted by megabeth at 10:05 AM | Comments (2)

June 23, 2008

On February 17, 2009 I will be completely emancipated from sending money to Charter Communications. That's the day that all television stations on analog are required to broadcast solely on digital. The TV converter box that will be required for older tv sets will allow people to view network tv channels and other free stations in a very clear picture with no fuzz or static. I have been paying Charter to get the network stations ("basic cable") because rabbit ears are not sufficient in my house to pick up much of anything. I will no longer need Charter to provide me with clear reception, which they do intermittently anyway, because they suck.

Posted by megabeth at 02:19 PM | Comments (2)

June 19, 2008

Maybe I am a Democrat. I don't agree with McCain/Bush on opening up drilling in currently restricted areas right now. I think that is a knee-jerk reaction to high fuel prices. I am not entirely against it, but I think it should be part of a long term plan AFTER the government has enacted various measures to increase conservation. They've already increased CAFE standards, but those don't go into effect for a while. Why were tax breaks for energy-efficient home installations and hybrid vehicle purchases allowed to expire? It's possible the only way to encourage conservation habits is to suffer through high fuel prices. I don't think people are conserving that much energy at current prices, so I don't see what the big fracas is about energy costs. If you are REALLY hurting, then you would do something about it immediately. Like change your habits. Seems like we should hit the low hanging fruit first (sorry about the silly overused corporate lingo.)

Posted by megabeth at 10:04 AM | Comments (4)

Barack Obama gets harangued by bloggers for wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle. This is not a political endorsement from me for Obama. However, wearing a helmet ensures that he WILL get to run for President of the United States. When I was in Florida last week, I was amazed at how many people were NOT wearing helmets, especially those who were out riding on Highway 98, which has a speed limit which varies between 45 and 65 mph. Besides, if you are riding your bike at 5 mph and crash and hit your head, you could be either (a) severely mentally disabled or (b) dead. I like my odds better when wearing a helmet.

Posted by megabeth at 08:07 AM | Comments (1)

June 17, 2008

Little Ruby has been in my life for seven years. She was a pretty hyperactive young dog but always has been a very good girl and now that she is getting into middle age, she is becoming sweeter every day. My sister kept her last week while I was on vacation and decided that she wants to get a dog if it's just like Ruby. I explained to her that puppies aren't like that, that they have to be potty trained and taught to have manners and then most of them won't calm down for five years anyway.

Ruby usually doesn't act like she is interested in me, she won't snuggle with me but likes men better, especially those who have goatees. I guess because I am her 'mom', that familiarity breeds contempt. I've been told this is what it's like to have a teenage child, being underappreciated all the time. However, when I get home from work, she is very excited to see me and lets me give her a belly rub. Sometimes I scoop her up and hold her like a little baby and talk to her in baby talk. She lets me do this for a minute or two before getting annoyed with me.

The love I have for that little dog strengthens every year. When she passes, I'll probably be devastated.

Every morning when I back my car out of the driveway on the way to work, she stands at the fence and watches me intently. It breaks my heart every single day. I don't want to leave her alone, she is too sweet and good.

Posted by megabeth at 03:57 PM | Comments (5)

June 16, 2008

I dug up some old photos of Ruby right after Christmas when we went to the lake (in Coosa County, AL) and it snowed. If I made a snowball and threw it, Ruby chased it and then tried to eat it. She also did not like the stuffed Santa Claus doll. Silly girl.

You know you love Christmas in (almost) July. ;) Do you feel cooler already?

Posted by megabeth at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)

I forget that this blog becomes blank if I don't post for a long time. I was on vacation at the beach all of last week and am now catching up on things at work. Of course I didn't want to come back and wish I could retire now.

We didn't take any photos this time because the camera wasn't working and I won't get all up on Facebook and say inane stuff like "OMG This vacation was SO FABULOUS, too bad you weren't there!!!"

The vacation was one week long, from Friday to Friday, and then I had the weekend at home to catch up and recover. That was planned well.

Posted by megabeth at 08:16 AM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2008

Los Angeles sues Time Warner Cable for providing crappy customer service, being dishonest to customers, and billing for intermittent service. Hello. Charter Communications is doing this right here in Homewood, Alabama. I figure that someone on the Homewood city council must be getting some major kickbacks, and the citizens who that person is supposedly representing are going through the same issues affecting Los Angeles residents.

Posted by megabeth at 09:39 AM | Comments (1)

June 05, 2008

Yesterday I saw a SUV that was entirely in its own lane. I clapped. Someone should give that driver a little gold star sticker!

Posted by megabeth at 07:57 AM | Comments (1)

June 02, 2008

I never thought I'd say this, but my next laptop purchase will probably be a Mac. I've been a PC holdout because I needed some Windows-based software like MS Office and other IT-related apps when I was working in the IT world. I no longer need to use those apps and I can get Microsoft Office for the mac. My current laptop is a Dell. I bought a 3 year warranty and used the heck out of it. It expires in two weeks and my hard drive went bad last week. I installed a new one gratis since I had the warranty. I figure this hard drive could last another couple of years and by then I'll be ready to purchase a new laptop. Like most people I am sick of (a) viruses and trojans (b) my computer has 'new updates' every three minutes and wants to restart itself all the time (c) it takes 5-10 minutes for my Windows desktop to load up once I've powered the computer on. I just want everything to be easy and most of all, I am sick of some random process locking up my computer while I am trying to use it. Also, firewall software that asks me every 2 seconds if an application is okay to run when I've already told it ten times that the application is okay to run. So if it takes me ten minutes to check email, nine of those minutes were wasted thanks to Windows. I'm ready to jump off this train.

Posted by megabeth at 03:44 PM | Comments (5)