Sunny and 61 degrees. Windy. Clear skies. Wow.
Jackie keeps walking to the front window and looking out wistfully. There's no balcony there, so her interest is unrewarded. She still hasn't been eating, but David's fraidy-cats have been enjoying her food lying in a dish on the kitchen floor.
We're going to run to the Container Store today, and to the office, so I can retrieve my teakettle.
DJHJD
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
a few things you won't read in your local paper..
Paul Krugman's columns today, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin and below; also, Salon's revelation that international grain shipments have come to a standstill http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/10/10/real_economy_paralysis/index.html?source=rss&aim=/tech/htww
Faustian bargains
I’ve lately become a reader of Across the Curve, the blog of the bond trader John Jansen. It’s jargon-heavy — sometimes even I have to look up the terms he uses — but in a time of disordered markets (does anyone actually manage to borrow at Libor these days) it’s really helpful to have reports from a “tone and feel of the markets” guy who can tell you what the numbers can’t.
And his opening comment this morning is a shocker. After describing some of the weird action in Treasuries, he says:
Is this the beginning of the end for the dollar and the Treasury market? Is this the first sign of the bursting of the bubble in Treasury securities? That market, in a sense, represents the ultimate bubble as it exists at the whim and caprice of foreign investors, who have as participants in a Faustian bargain, financed our war(s) and our lifestyle so generously over the last decade. Maybe even that bizarre construct is crashing about us as we speak.
Maybe I should be drinking something a bit more … calming .. than coffee right now.
Faustian bargains
I’ve lately become a reader of Across the Curve, the blog of the bond trader John Jansen. It’s jargon-heavy — sometimes even I have to look up the terms he uses — but in a time of disordered markets (does anyone actually manage to borrow at Libor these days) it’s really helpful to have reports from a “tone and feel of the markets” guy who can tell you what the numbers can’t.
And his opening comment this morning is a shocker. After describing some of the weird action in Treasuries, he says:
Is this the beginning of the end for the dollar and the Treasury market? Is this the first sign of the bursting of the bubble in Treasury securities? That market, in a sense, represents the ultimate bubble as it exists at the whim and caprice of foreign investors, who have as participants in a Faustian bargain, financed our war(s) and our lifestyle so generously over the last decade. Maybe even that bizarre construct is crashing about us as we speak.
Maybe I should be drinking something a bit more … calming .. than coffee right now.
City by the Bay
After a consultation with Kay Bailey's office, I decided that trying to enter Canada before next year was a bust, so I spoke to David (my best friend from college,) and asked him if he had any work he needed done at his company.
Interestingly, I'd been wanting to help him in his business for months and months, but couldn't really do anything when I was in Houston and not there to see what I was working on. Working remotely can be really challenging when you're just starting out, unless it's a simple matter. He invited me to come down for a month, and I got here last night after driving two days through beautiful Oregon and Washington landscapes. I drove past signs for Mount Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Shasta and wanted to stop, but felt impelled to keep going.
Coming through Redding, I missed the 505 bypass that would have had me go around Sacramento. There was a huge grass fire just south of Redding, and I was paying so much attention to it that I missed the 505. I ended up driving through downtown Sacramento (twice) because I was looking for said 505.
Came down through Oakland and Contra Costa county and then across the Bay Bridge, through seriously heavy 5:30 p.m. traffic. It was about 70 degrees, and sunny. Arrived at David's business, and he helped me unload the car (the stuff that didn't need to come to his house,) and then we came back to his place which has a floor to ceiling view of the financial district. Jackie is enlivened by the new environment, and David's three cats are hiding out.
He took me to an amazing Chinese restaurant two blocks up the hill/street, and we chatted a while. I have filled his media room with bags of clothing, and have to work on organizing all of that today. Jackie also needs a bath, which she's about to get.
Interestingly, I'd been wanting to help him in his business for months and months, but couldn't really do anything when I was in Houston and not there to see what I was working on. Working remotely can be really challenging when you're just starting out, unless it's a simple matter. He invited me to come down for a month, and I got here last night after driving two days through beautiful Oregon and Washington landscapes. I drove past signs for Mount Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Shasta and wanted to stop, but felt impelled to keep going.
Coming through Redding, I missed the 505 bypass that would have had me go around Sacramento. There was a huge grass fire just south of Redding, and I was paying so much attention to it that I missed the 505. I ended up driving through downtown Sacramento (twice) because I was looking for said 505.
Came down through Oakland and Contra Costa county and then across the Bay Bridge, through seriously heavy 5:30 p.m. traffic. It was about 70 degrees, and sunny. Arrived at David's business, and he helped me unload the car (the stuff that didn't need to come to his house,) and then we came back to his place which has a floor to ceiling view of the financial district. Jackie is enlivened by the new environment, and David's three cats are hiding out.
He took me to an amazing Chinese restaurant two blocks up the hill/street, and we chatted a while. I have filled his media room with bags of clothing, and have to work on organizing all of that today. Jackie also needs a bath, which she's about to get.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Vancouver bound and gagged
I began to think I had the only red car in the reddest of all of the states.
I don't mean dark red, or maroon, or claret, or merlot - I mean "push me down and do me" red. Blood red. Screaming for attention red. Red like my car, my phone (that matches the paint on my car, thank you very much. Like the bags things are packed in that ride in the car. Like Jackie the dog.)
I drove straight up US 287 from Ennis (south of Dallas) through Waxahachie, Wichita Falls (failing to stop in Anarene for lunch), Amarillo, Dumas, and then through endless, nameless towns in the Oklahoma panhandle, and through southeastern Colorado until I connected with the interstate system near Denver.
From there, I took I-25 to Cheyenne, then west on I-80 through all of Wyoming, into Utah, skipped Salt Lake City, clipped the edge of Ogden, and headed for the Oregon border.
Oregon started off very high, and almost as curvy as Utah. Oregon is amazing and beautiful. It was in eastern Oregon that I saw the first red car on the road since leaving Texas.
As I was trying to negotiate sharp curves and transiting from 6% uphill grades to 6% downhill grades in the rain, I had someone in a bright red Pontiac G6 chase up my bumper moments after developing the thought "I haven't seen a red car in three days."
They were at least polite - no tailgating, and they moved along quickly.
Only a few minutes later, a young woman in a bright red Chevy Cobalt came running up behind me. I was passing a truck, something that one does a lot of in the mountains, and had the cruise control set for the state speed limit of 65.
Apparently, I was causing her some difficulty, because she ran right up behind my rear bumper such that I couldn't see her headlights. Once I finished passing the truck, I moved into the right lane. She gunned her little motor and went past me.
Her car was equipped with a "fart pipe". That's one of those large diameter exhaust pipes that one usually sees on more ethnically connected and older Japanese cars, which makes a loud noise akin to a very long fart.
I still haven't seen very many red cars.
I've seen some amazing things, though. An early 80's Plymouth Reliant that still runs. A Datsun (By Nissan) B210 (second generation) that isn't completely rusted out. A Chevy Celebrity wagon that still runs.
Lots of older cars in use here in the Pacific Northwest.
Some notes:
* Wyoming has some of the best pavement I've ever driven on. Oklahoma, hands down, the worst.
* Construction zones on Interstate freeways should be much better marked than they are.
* Wyoming saves money on signage and uses it on freeways - meaning, their signs SUCK, and there aren't enough of them.
* Oregon has the best speed limit signs. HUGE, with ENORMOUS letters "65". No uncertainty.
* Utah didn't post a speed limit sign for nearly seven miles into the state.
* Texas excels in small towns with lower speed limits without any prior warning.
* Oklahoma is the gold medal standard in such speed traps. Fortunately, they have no people living in the panhandle, therefore no police officers to nab anyone.
* Colorado's rustic visual imagery seems engineered and a facade. Wyoming's is because that's how they live.
* Oregon smells great
* Mountain roads, twisty curves, steady rain, falling temperatures nearing freezing, heavy traffic, summer performance tires, at night on roads you've never driven is a great recipe for paying close attention through adrenaline.
* Canada customs officers are mostly movie-star handsome.
* US customs officers look like country sheriff charactures, with consistent personalities
* Motel 6 quality is widely varied from property to property. The towels are all the same, as is the decor.
* A dog, laying on the floor of the car for three days, produces an astonishing amount of particulate trash and a noisome odor.
* How did I live so long without XM radio? The sheer reliability and clarity of non-stop signal for the stations which you wish to listen to is a blessing.
I haven't really seen all that much of Washington state. Seattle (which I passed through at night and in the rain) looks awesome. Washington roads are beautifully built, well signed, clear, and much like riding a wooden roller coaster.
I don't mean dark red, or maroon, or claret, or merlot - I mean "push me down and do me" red. Blood red. Screaming for attention red. Red like my car, my phone (that matches the paint on my car, thank you very much. Like the bags things are packed in that ride in the car. Like Jackie the dog.)
I drove straight up US 287 from Ennis (south of Dallas) through Waxahachie, Wichita Falls (failing to stop in Anarene for lunch), Amarillo, Dumas, and then through endless, nameless towns in the Oklahoma panhandle, and through southeastern Colorado until I connected with the interstate system near Denver.
From there, I took I-25 to Cheyenne, then west on I-80 through all of Wyoming, into Utah, skipped Salt Lake City, clipped the edge of Ogden, and headed for the Oregon border.
Oregon started off very high, and almost as curvy as Utah. Oregon is amazing and beautiful. It was in eastern Oregon that I saw the first red car on the road since leaving Texas.
As I was trying to negotiate sharp curves and transiting from 6% uphill grades to 6% downhill grades in the rain, I had someone in a bright red Pontiac G6 chase up my bumper moments after developing the thought "I haven't seen a red car in three days."
They were at least polite - no tailgating, and they moved along quickly.
Only a few minutes later, a young woman in a bright red Chevy Cobalt came running up behind me. I was passing a truck, something that one does a lot of in the mountains, and had the cruise control set for the state speed limit of 65.
Apparently, I was causing her some difficulty, because she ran right up behind my rear bumper such that I couldn't see her headlights. Once I finished passing the truck, I moved into the right lane. She gunned her little motor and went past me.
Her car was equipped with a "fart pipe". That's one of those large diameter exhaust pipes that one usually sees on more ethnically connected and older Japanese cars, which makes a loud noise akin to a very long fart.
I still haven't seen very many red cars.
I've seen some amazing things, though. An early 80's Plymouth Reliant that still runs. A Datsun (By Nissan) B210 (second generation) that isn't completely rusted out. A Chevy Celebrity wagon that still runs.
Lots of older cars in use here in the Pacific Northwest.
Some notes:
* Wyoming has some of the best pavement I've ever driven on. Oklahoma, hands down, the worst.
* Construction zones on Interstate freeways should be much better marked than they are.
* Wyoming saves money on signage and uses it on freeways - meaning, their signs SUCK, and there aren't enough of them.
* Oregon has the best speed limit signs. HUGE, with ENORMOUS letters "65". No uncertainty.
* Utah didn't post a speed limit sign for nearly seven miles into the state.
* Texas excels in small towns with lower speed limits without any prior warning.
* Oklahoma is the gold medal standard in such speed traps. Fortunately, they have no people living in the panhandle, therefore no police officers to nab anyone.
* Colorado's rustic visual imagery seems engineered and a facade. Wyoming's is because that's how they live.
* Oregon smells great
* Mountain roads, twisty curves, steady rain, falling temperatures nearing freezing, heavy traffic, summer performance tires, at night on roads you've never driven is a great recipe for paying close attention through adrenaline.
* Canada customs officers are mostly movie-star handsome.
* US customs officers look like country sheriff charactures, with consistent personalities
* Motel 6 quality is widely varied from property to property. The towels are all the same, as is the decor.
* A dog, laying on the floor of the car for three days, produces an astonishing amount of particulate trash and a noisome odor.
* How did I live so long without XM radio? The sheer reliability and clarity of non-stop signal for the stations which you wish to listen to is a blessing.
I haven't really seen all that much of Washington state. Seattle (which I passed through at night and in the rain) looks awesome. Washington roads are beautifully built, well signed, clear, and much like riding a wooden roller coaster.
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