More than a few.. but they finally credited us back after they over billed us. But I'm real glad I don't own stock in the company right now!

 

Ok, a couple of things. Are you retiring in the next few months to a year or so? And if so, will you need that money to live on? If yes, then draw out just what you need as you're selling low. If you aren't, then what difference does it make what's happening today? You don't need the money today. Historically, even including the Great Depression years, the stock market is a great place to make money, as long as you do it wisely.

I can't remember ever reading anywhere where a financial expert has said "pick out a stock or two and buy it up." That's why I mentioned mutual funds and more specifically something like a S&P 500 index fund. The 500 biggest companies in this country are NOT all going to go out of business before you retire. Even if you retire next year, odds are slim that even 10 to 20 of the 500 largest will go bankrupt either. Which ones will, and which ones won't? Who knows, maybe it will be GM or AIG or Citibank, or something smaller like SiriusXM. So if you bought shares in one of them, then yeah, you lose big time, and I wouldn't feel bad for you at all because why would you buy shares of one company if you aren't a financial expert? But you don't need to be a financial expert to realize that nowhere close to half of the 500 largest companies in the US will close. I really doubt that even 25 of them will. So if I could buy into something that invests in all 500 of them, like a mutual fund index, knowing that 475 of them will be in better shape in 20 or 30 years when I retire, then you can bet I would. Especially now when everything is "on sale."

 

The concern I have with mutual funds right now, is with the companies that manage them... but I did find a great article on how to choose a mutual fund wisely. Might be helpful.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/05/mut...ual-funds.html

 

Yeah, I am not a fan of a whole lot of actively-managed funds. That's the nice thing about indexed funds: the managers don't matter. I found this article which explains things better than I can.

 

That's a really great article! Really nicely and succinctly written and it does seem way less complicated than having to research a fund manager and pray you've got the right guy.

 

I've been toying with the idea of making a wind-up key to go on the back of my MINI.

Y'all think I should do that for MOTD?

 

Hey Hal- I've been thinking the same thing!

As for investing, well... I'm going "old school"... buying spices and salt!

FEAR is an ugly thing... but it happens to everyone. Panic sets in as well... whether it is you or masses of other people that you have no control over. At what point do you cut your losses? There are SO many variables to investing and people need to do what makes them feel most comfortable. Yeah, "buy low sell high" has a nice ring but it isn't always feasible. (Same goes for housing- fire sales/short sales/foreclosures/bankruptcy... at some point it's just a personal financial decision that has to be made.) If only we all had the discretionary coin that Warren Buffet has!

Consumers have lost confidence in financial gurus and the ability for them to tell the truth... that is if THEY (the gurus) even understand what is truly going on. Personally, I'm not convinced yet. There have already been many entities deemed "too big to fail"... we're not done yet. Remember that we were told for a very long time that we were NOT in a "recession"... then lo and behold... guess what... "BTW we've been in a recession for x number of months now... but hey, don't worry... since most recessions only last for this number of months... well, we're almost through it now." YAY! Comforting, 'eh?

Haven't stayed in a Holiday Inn Express for awhile... so don't quote me!

And OMG TNMM- I can't stop looking at those disgusting kitty litter cakes! I think the worst part is that they use an actual litter box AND a litter scoop! Who's to say that those items weren't ever used and returned to the store! BARF! Cab- I need your pukey guy.

Have I told you lately how much I LOVE my MINI?

 

ROFLMAO- Ola, I DID scour everything before I used it. But along the same lines, for YEARS I wouldn't use plastic utensils, especially the ones at fast food places that came wrapped in plastic sleeves. I had a cousin who managed a factory where those things were made. Turns out this factory employed the disabled- it was a feel good thing and seemed to work. Except my cousin said a lot of the disabled people that were putting the knives, forks, spoons in the plastic sleeves had drooling issues and most of the utensils were severly drooled on.

Then again, I worked in restaurants during college. The 5 second rule exists and is in use in most restaurants. NBC even did an experiment to see how many germs were picked up by food dropped on the floor for 5 seconds and the conclusion was that MOST food didn't pick up any germs. Exceptions would be things like Peanut Butter or other soft, sticky foods (mashed potatoes). But drop a steak on teh floor, pick it up within 5 seconds (actually even 10) and your still safe...

Kitty litter pans no longer bother me! But now that you've said this, I'll go phobic!

 

HOLY JESUS TNMM!!!! You MADE one?!?!? THAT would explain why you'd know where to find a recipe for litter cakes! Now for the bad news... I think we've actually returned a "scoop" before because it didn't work well.... I'm sure we wiped it clean with a couple of spritzes of Windex and a paper towel and all... but still... ugh... using it to serve cake?!?!? Or maybe it was a litter box that we returned because George was too big for the box? (We had to get a Rubbermaid Bin instead) Either way... there's NO WAY I could eat a cake out of a litter box. This reminds me... has anyone seen the SNL skit for "Edible Diapers"?

One time we had a litter emergency... the scoop broke and the only scoopy thing I could find was this wide metal slotted spoon... we'd used it when I was growing up each time we made macaroni. Although I never used it to make macaroni again... I still get flashbacks when I make it and I'm looking for something to mix it up with. At one point I was going to throw it away and my mom saw it (while she was over)... she said, "Oh you have that? I always wondered where that went.". She was going to take it and I had to tell her what it had been used for. Oh... I am going to have bad dreams!

Good night.

 

I love this kitty litter line of conversation,,, 'Ola, I truly believe that you are REALLY skeeved out,,, and I'm sorry but it makes me laugh..... out loud!
I debated making one of those a couple years back for a Halloween party but just couldn't make myself do it.. wasn't even thinking about the products I bought maybe being,, uhm,, "soiled"
Gem how are you doing?? Are you recovering yet? That bug is brutal and I am sorry you now have it. I can't believe that you went out while still sick,,you are braver than I was.... I overheard my husband telling our neighbor that he felt like he needed to put a mirro under my nose at times to make sure I was still breathing! The sad part is the cough just hangs on like an unwelcome in law-- I literally have had to leave the room (and client) to have a coughing attack... thank goodness my people understand

McWill, Just remember, when you can get off your high horse, that my husband hasn"t held a full time job for over a year. And since his resume has the following words: finance/ MBA/ mortgage/ GM/ and age over 55 kindof makes it hard to find a new position...Maybe that puts me back in the catgory of not so dumb after all????????? And don't worry about us losing, I invested that money years ago so I bought fairly low back then too.

You all hit it on the head, we don't have the luxury at this time to try to decide what and who we can believe. I hope to hell I am wrong but I believe we have'nt seen the bottm just yet. and people are still getting laid off in extremely high numbers...

Now maybe it was my mistake for bringing up the fact that we put the account into cash, but maybe we should stay off politics and money management??

Hey,, how about religion????

 

My wife has made the "litter box" cake and "dirt" cake several times. She uses new materials with the labels still attached to insure they are new. She would also sterilize the pan and scoop using a bleach water solution, just to make sure.

Its fun to see the reaction though when serving and somebody finds a Tootsie roll shaped like you know what amongst the litter cake.

 

Cab- yeah not the smartest thing i have ever done, and paid for it the remaining of the week. I woke this morning feeling better then i had all week, and yeah how do I get rid of this cough???? What a rough week...

I choose to NOT participate in the conversations of politics, money management, and religion!!! My choice...

 

I think you probably wouldn't be the only one doing it! I vote yes!

 

G'mornin Freebies! Don't forget to "spring ahead" this weekend. I almost forgot - but fortunately, somebody was smart and sent out an email on wide distro yesterday. Gotta go to a Transformers Bowling Birthday party today. The things we do for friends kids...

 

transformers birthday party!!! HAVE FUN!!!
yes I have been to every kind of party for my godkids!! you name it i've done it, but not transformers...

 

my vote - yes, but don't forget the photos for us!!

 

FREEBIES!!!! (Still love that!- Thanks TNMM)

I'll have to go back and check the rules... but I don't remember "money management" being on "the naughty list". Politics, religion- yes... and I think KITTY LITTER CAKES should be added too!!!! Hal- you have experience with these too???? WOW! What kind of sheltered life have I been living?
Oh yeah, I guess CLEANING out the real thing does it for me. Images and not so fond memories of way too soft poo poo forever stuck in the grates of the slotted scoop is just too much. No amount of sterilizing can fix that.

Gem- I think we must be passing the cooties around on here. (Insert little cootie bug). Thinking back... hmmm... who started all of this??? Oh yeah- it was the so-called "Sweet Pete"! Cab- is Pete feeling better now?

UhOh- So do you get to do the "Robot Dance" at your party? WOOT! Maybe your neighbor can take some pics for us???

Hal- How are you thinking you'd make the wind up part? You thinking BIG? I think I'd like to make a smaller one and permanently attach somehow... kind of like the "pull to inflate" thingy. I just thought of an idea... maybe works better with a convertible but... when I was a kid there was something called a "Penny Racer". I'll try to find a pic of one and post later. But the way it worked is that there was a slot in the back of these teeny little cars... you'd put a penny in... drag the car backwards on the floor a bit and then let it go. It would do a wheelie!

I'm going to try and get some stuff done today.

 

Penny Racer




Another one

 

Aww, that is too bad, and I found a way to help with the cough, if you want to try it. My cough kindof comes and goes,,,I literally have had to step out of a treatment room to cough and it ain't pretty! One day out of desperation I drove to my favorite CVS and bought an inhaler, Primatine Mist? And it really helped, it was like one treatment and instant cessation of coughing..... and it lasts for a while too!!

 

'Ola-- Pete is one hundred percent!! He and his sidekick, Lacey, had their spa day and are sporting their spring hairdo!! We just returned from a nice long run at a nice open area with trees, creeks, hills, ponds-very nice

Pete is abouts 4 pounds thinner and is one lean mean dog machine. And I don't think he feels one bit guilty for contaminating us all!

 

 

I was just thinking of putting on the key portion without any mechanics. It would be hard to weather-proof, plus when the key would be turned 90 degrees to the direction of travel there would be a lot of wind loading. That would make it hard to keep it on the car.

Mine would use a lever type suction cup like glass workers use. Then I would find a piece of PVC tubing or something similar that would fit over top of the suction cup. On top of the stem/tube I'd mount the wings of the key. Probably paint it gold or bright silver.

 

That... is SOO FREAKING AWESOME!

Sorry... my Optimus Prime fangirl came out for just a second. We now return you to our regularly scheduled thread.

 

Dirt cake is awesome! One of my ex-coworkers brought in some kitty litter cake and some people wouldn't even try it. I did and thought it was OK but would rather eat dirt...cake that is! LOL

As for the wind up key, use the tow hook. I have seen this done before. Make the key portion and have someone weld it to the tow hook, then insert into the rear bumper and you are good to go. Don't forget to get out and "wind up" occasionally!! Granted I would buy an extra tow hook, just in case.

 

I plan on using a suction cup on the rear panoramic window. I think it will be a bit more visible. But thanks for the suggestion.