This is Good and That is Good

Good, Good!

Lately work has been really good. I've had some low stress and low expense jobs that have been very profitable. Drywall repair is low stress and profitable. Fence repairs, the same. The smaller jobs have a higher percentage of profitability with lower labor costs. Cool! I am also training another person to do some of these jobs and it seems like he will work out doing some of the things. I'm also getting return business from many of my customers. That's cool too!

The other "Good" has been the stock market. Several of the stocks we have invested in are up over 50% over the past 6-7 months. That's nothing to sneeze at. Goldman Sachs is especially profitable. Since November of last year Goldman Sachs (GS) has grown from $47 at it's low point to $164.00 where it closed today. I know, I know, a lot of people don't like GS because they are a big brokerage bank. But the market has been, in a large part, held together because of the strength of this company. GS has helped your 401K and your IRA whether you owned the stock or not.

Seattle's Best is also good. Found at all Border's Book Stores. Speaking of Seattle. I'm off to Seattle tomorrow. Yes, Seattle, the city of coffee shops. Aaahhh!

Quite a Day

Yesterday was quite a day! It began with at 7:00 AM appointment in Golden that took place at 6:50.  From there I repaired garage rafters and installed sheetrock at the ceiling in Arvada. After that I installed a garage service door in Westminster. Then it was up into the foothills in Genesee to move heavy furniture from a basement to the upstairs. I wanted to go home then, but there was more to do. I headed back to Thornton to buy stain for a deck we are doing in Golden. After that I had to go check out a ladies leaking plumbing in Thornton. It was 9:00 PM by the time I warpped things up.

When I was in Genesee, I mentioned to my client that I hoped that Goldman Sachs went up in the stock market. It did! I made 23% on my investment yesterday.

I was rewarded by being able to watch the news, weather, and spo........ I guess I don't remember watching the sports. Sorry Drew. It was off to bed at 10:35 and awake again at 3:00 AM. That's the usual time my legs start aching.

The Starbucks coffee this morning is really good. I'm in Golden delivering the stain. Then it is off to Arvada and Westminster for two drywall repair jobs. At one job it looks like someone got mad. At the other job the dog chewed about 10 holes in the drywall. (I still don't know why people own dogs!)

Ya, dogs! You gotta walk them, pick up their poop, give them shots, take them to the vet, vacuum up their hair, feed them and deworm them. All this so you can pet them. Then they reward you by pooping on your lawn and chewing holes in your drywall. Is their something in drywall that they like?

Our dog doesn't poop, eat, shed hair, or chew my walls. His name is Spot. He just sits on our soffit and stares at us. I love Spot. Thank you Spot for being such a good dog.

Coffee With Tori

Tori made my coffee several times and did a respectable job, too. I had coffee with her and Amber once. Mine was black and theirs was milk (coffee flavored). But it was fun.

Tori will be leaving us soon, and that saddens me. I really enjoyed having her around. She was well behaved and a lot of fun to be with. I wish her the best as she goes home to Michigan. Who knows when I will see her next. I guess that's the problem when we live so far apart. 

Good luck, and God bless you. I love you. Unconditionally.

Cap and Trade

A new market is being created on Wall Street. Wall Street traders will love it. This is being born out of congress and the Senate at the desire of the most economic irresponsible president since FDR, our very own president.... Obama.

Obama is trying to control how much CEO's can make. He effectively fired the CEO of General Motors. And now, through the false premiss of global warming he is forcing American industries to reduce their carbon footprint. Of course, if any corporation is unable to do so it can buy emission credits from other industries that do not need all it's credits. Thus, a new Wall Street security is born. There will be carbon emission brokers who will bundle these credits, selling them for profit. Investors will invest. 

But not only has Obama created a new market for securities, he is also effectively forcing corporations to move manufacturing over seas, thus eroding more American jobs. This will only drive up the cost of products while reducing American production. Then he think we should be happy about paying more and earning less. After all, we're saving the earth! I hope my readers realize that I said this in irony.

For example, let's say that there is a big corporation that manufactures widgets here in the United States. But under these new carbon cafe guidelines it is now exceeding it's limit of carbon emissions. This corporation has choices to make. One choice is to install expensive equipment that reduces carbon emissions. But this will drive the price of their product up so that they cannot compete with overseas widget makers. A second choice is to cut production so they do not exceed carbon emissions standards. But this also will drive the cost per unit up. A third choice is to buy emissions credits from a broker or some company who has extra. This also will drive the cost of each widget upward. A fourth choice is to shut down it's American plants, make it's widgets overseas, sell it's excess credits for a profit. The Widget Corporation will enjoy better profits, investors will love it, and Obama will be happy. But the guy in the American widget factory has no job. Therefore he will pay no taxes and the IRS will collect less revenue. But that's okay because we have printing presses to print more.

Of course, China is already debating whether to drop the dollar as an acceptable currency because of Obama's recent bail outs. China sees the dollar as some day being worthless. Say hello to international currency. Also, say hello to the mark of the beast. Do you think I'm full of bologna? read the New Testament. 

Phony environmental issues will lead to the extinction of American free enterprise. More and more is falling under governmental control. The government is trying to tell auto makers how to make autos, builders how to build, Oil and gas companies how and where to drill, and there is much more. But tell me what the government has ever done successfully other than spend more than they take in. Government wants more of your hard earned money because they want to spend more. They want to bail out the irresponsible while penalizing those who are responsible. Government wants you to work your butt off so they it can confiscate what you have earned only to give it to those who sit on their butts. 

The Grandkids

We have two of our grandkids staying with us for a while, Tori and Amber. Tori is with us for about five weeks and her time with us is over half over. Amber has been with us for nearly a week and she goes home tomorrow. It has been a real joy having them with us. Tori is 13 and Amber is 10, but they get along like sisters..... er..... a.... better than sisters. 

Has this been totally convenient for us, well, dahhhh! No. But it has been great having them stay with us. They have totally behaved! Well, almost totally. They make their bed, keep their room clean, and mind their grandparents almost without incident. 

They swim together, read together, watch videos together, bike together, scooter together, play computer games together, and other things together. They also go shopping with Grandma. They go to Mc Donald's, Sonic, Starbuck's, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Sam's, and other places with Grandpa and Grandma. 

Ya, they even go to coffee with us so long as they can look at books while we are there. Cool. We can handle that. This experience has been totally positive. We're hoping that they will take care of us in our old age and decrepit years. We hope they have just as much fun then.

Well, I gotta finish my coffee now. I'll visit with you later.

July 4th

The July 4th celebration has become the same as most other holidays. It's a chance to get away. Only this time we get away with fireworks. This blogger won't be getting away. Boo Hoo! Have we forgotten the significance of the holidays? Are we too far removed from the events that spurred the holidays.

I remember when Memorial Day was a big event. We had the large parades and the speakers in the park and the 21 gun salutes. It was a very patriotic day and we did remember those who had sacrifices their lives for our freedom. Today, most don't even hang their flags.... or.... or event know why we celebrate the holiday. It has become a chance to get out of work and go to the mountains.

The 4th of July, or Independence Day, is going down the same path, only a little slower. Every year the greatest nation in the world is becoming less great. We have a bunch of Liberals that want us to apologize to everybody for everything we ever did. That's because they think that everything we ever did is bad. They forget that we did what we had to do to be who we are today. For some reason they are ashamed of their nation. Liberals that get into office try to legislate our freedoms away while raising our taxes. They tell us openly that it is good for us to pay more for an automobile. They don't really connect very well to the segment of the population that earns less than $40,000 per year. Their idea of Free Enterprise, is government controlled enterprise. They want to tax to hell those who work their asses of, only to give to the lazy who's idea of free enterprise is to live off those who actually work. 

I'm predicting that the 4th of July will be better celebrated four years from now when we have a president who is actually proud of America and who understands that it is small and large business alike that makes it work.

Fishing With the Grand Kids

As I am sitting here at Billy D's Coffee Shop enjoying a delicious cinnamon roll and cup of coffee, I was thinking about yesterday's fishing trip with two of my grandkids. I actually bought a fishing license for myself to do this.

The first thing we had to do was to pry them out of bed so we could get ready to go. A half hour later,  we pried them out of bed again. 

While they were eating breakfast and getting ready, I got the rods ready, rewound a reel, talked to the neighbor for a good long while, packed some beverages and snacks. Then I prodded them to finish getting ready.

Then we loaded up and headed for the Georgetown Reservoir. This was an hour on the road through one of the prettiest parts of the world. They had their nose in books all the way. 

We arrived, and I prepared two lines for the kids. I started them out with worms, a weight, but no bobbers as the fish were on the bottom. Well, the kids got bored watching their line just disappear into the water, so I put bobbers on for them to watch. The bobbers kept drifting to the right with the current, so they had to keep re-casting their lines. I'm sure they scared every fish away, but they were having fun watching their bobbers. They equate bobber watching with fishing as neither one of them has ever caught a fish. 

They lost their bait a couple of times so I told them they must have had a bite. They said no, "See, it is over there floating in the water." So after about forty-five minutes of bobber watching we loaded up and headed for Burger King. I ordered fish. They ordered the usual. Each of us had a 50% chance of winning a prize. None of us won. After Burger King, we headed for home. We drove through some of the most beautiful country in the world. They had their noses in books. 

It was a great fishing trip. I wonder when I can take them bobber watching again.