Archive for June, 2007

Investing 101

Thursday, June 14th, 2007

The time is here to check and see how the first half of June was investing wise. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later and for the first time since I started reporting on my investments the numbers are negative. Not by that much but negative nonetheless. So, lets check them numbers out, shall we.

403-B

Started                $259.81

My Contribution    $  25.00

Up/Down            -$     .61

Balance                $284.20 Rate of return 14.8%

DCP

Started                $451.75

My Contribution    $    0.00

Up/Down            -$    1.86

Balance                $449.89 Rate of return 3.0%

Total                    $734.09

Down                   $   2.47 

Feeling Better

Monday, June 11th, 2007

The weekend was very nice and sunny. Did not do a whole lot, don’t know if I have been working too much or whatever it was but I was real tired this past weekend. So I did as little as possible and rested as much as I could. I am feeling better and ready to tackle this week. I did watch a few games during the weekend but the most important game was between the D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls, final score 4-2 in my favor. It was a very good game. Have I ever mentioned that United is a four time champion?

I also did some brainstorming on what to write in the future and finished some posts along the way. Things have been moving along nicely in the writing department and I am very pleased with that. See you in a few.

In The News

Friday, June 8th, 2007

Friday is finally here. Don’t know why but this week felt like it would never end. It is time to get ready for another edition of In the news, brought to you by absolutely nobody.

  1. Did you read about the hot do eating contest? It seems that a California man  Joey Chestnut, 22 set a new world record for hot dog eating with 59 hot dogs in 12 minutes. He won a free trip to New York, a year’s supply of hot dogs and a $250 gift card to the mall.   
  2. Did you read about the T. Rex? According to new research the feared T. Rex was a slowpoke. The T. rex was able to run at about 25 mph but not any faster because its leg muscles were not big enough. Good to know, you never know when you are going to run into one of those. 
  3. Did you read about the Toyota hybrids? It seems that global sales for Toyota hybrid vehicles which include gas and electric powered totaled 1.047 million as of the end of may. Of those nearly 345,000 were sold in Japan and 702,000 abroad.

Blogging School

Thursday, June 7th, 2007

Blogging, you’ve read about it, you’ve heard about it and you’ve probably been told about it. Today I am starting a new series called Blogging School. In part one I am going to concentrate on what I think is the number one and most important thing about Blogging. Time, can you make the time to blog?, remember that most of us have a job, kids, and a life that takes up whatever time we have left. Why is time the most important thing about Blogging?, because a blog is going to take some of that time out of your busy schedule and in order to be successful you have to be consistent, that is what I have found out. You can start your blog but if you only post once in a million years because of time constraints your readers will notice and nobody will stick around to grow with you. I have said it before and I will say it again, this is my de facto second job. It takes me about 4 hours a day to keep it going, two hours in the morning and two hours at night and that is just for this one blog.

When I first started Blogging I remember saying to myself, “30 minutes a day to blog, piece of cake”. Reality check, a lot more than 30 minutes a day, so I had to make the time to blog. I learned the hard way because I didn’t know better. Looking back I can see where I made mistakes and now I can pass on what I have learned so things won’t be as hard for you as they were for me at the beginning. If you can make the time then you are on your way. Set your schedule and stick to it, in the long run that will only make you more productive and cause you less problems. Blogging is a lot of fun, believe me I know. It is also hard and that is ok, what it doesn’t have to become is harder and we can avoid that by working smarter.    

What?!!

Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

That is exactly what I said on Tuesday. I got up but did not check the blog like I usually do, at about 2 PM I did and to my surprise Mondays’ post “The Weekend That Was” and Tuesdays’ post “Going Up, Up, Up” were nowhere to be found. The thing is, I clearly remember posting them. The only answer I can come up with is that it was either something technical with the blog or it was a problem with the new blog editor I am using. Whatever it was I am going to make sure from now on to always check the blog to make sure that the post  is there. I posted the 2 articles at about 2:18 PM but if I had only checked the blog earlier the problem could have been resolved a lot earlier.

What?!!, part 2

Has this ever happened to you? My friend who shall remain nameless for the time being was supposed to pick me up and give me a ride. Somehow he forgot so I am stuck at 1:55 AM in L.A. with only my bus pass and 7 dollars. Luckily I got hold of another friend and got a ride home, otherwise I would’ve been home at about 4 AM or later because I would’ve had to take the bus. Friends huh.