Day - 1794

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Visited George in his new home this afternoon.  Such a pleasant visit!  He'd had a wine tasting party the night before, so we had samples of six different wines while nibbling on bread, cheese and prosciutto.  He also made us a wonderful impromptu pasta dish.  He used to be the sous chef at a Michelin star restaurant.

Later in the afternoon, I took a two-hour nap.  It must have been the wine!

Day - 1795

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Played racquetball this morning with Alice's neighbor Pete for 90 minutes.  Lots of running around a good fun!  Alice has an event in San Leandro today, a birthday party for her meditation master, so I'm in Oakland for the day. 

At 6, the gang gathered at Richard & Lisa's for dinner to visit with Judge Bason, who's in town for the weekend.  We talked politics most of the time and caught up.  What a wonderful evening!  Came home at 11 and zipped through the Warriors Celtics game.  Close most of the way, but the Warriors prevailed.  They're now 4-0 since Boggie started playing.

Day - 1796

Friday, January 25, 2019

Up at 3:50 to watch a little Morning Joe before racquetball when a journalist reported breaking news on her phone:

Along with Air Traffic Controllers calling in sick and bringing major airports to a grounding halt, the day was being setup as one of the worst for Compromised Asset in Chief.

And it was.  A few hours later, the Asset reopened the government, getting nothing in ready. 

He'd never looked so weak and small as he had today.  And it was wonderful. 

What an amazing fraud and con.  His incompetence is no surprise.  Nothing about the past two years has been a surprise.  I don't want impeachment though.  No, make those who voted for him live with him for his full term.  That's what they deserve.  America needs to own the second worst mistake it has made in the 21st century. 

At work we went out for celebratory coffee drinks.  Mocha never tasted so good.

Day - 1797

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Helped put together a matrix at work outlining work-at-home schedules and who'd like shared offices and desks for the new office format beginning in a few months.  I'm hoping to work from home Tuesday-Thursday and work in SF Mondays and Fridays.  I think I'll love that schedule.

Day - 1798

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Good racquetball session this morning.  Rehearsal tonight.  We're sounding good.  I have most of the measures in my fingers and the concert's still a month away.  I like that.  The Coleridge-Taylor is so much fun to play.

Day - 1799

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

I have a meeting with my Fidelity adviser next Wednesday and still have assets to shift into different sectors.  Surprisingly, the market continues to be bullish, even though there are so many reasons to be concerned about the direction of the economy.  This phony shutdown is ridiculous.  I wonder how long it will last.  Not much longer, it sounds like.  

Day - 1800

Monday, January 21, 2019

A relaxing, wonderful day at home with Alice.

Day - 1801

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Practiced, read, and stayed in doors all day with Alice.  Cold outside as another storm swooped in.  The days fly by when I read read read.

Day - 1802

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Another bicycle ride up Irving St. and into Golden Gate park.  We bought lunch at the dumpling shop on 23rd and Irving, then ate at a bench in the botanical garden.  So nice.  Alice loves her e-bike and I pedal along on her old but functional folding bike.  We biked from the garden to the ocean, then back home, a really nice 6-mile loop and a sunny San Francisco day.  Good thing because tomorrow and Monday are supposed to be rainy.

Spent the rest of the day reading my investment books.

Day - 1803

Friday, January 18, 2019

Surprised stocks were up today.  Not sure why, since the shutdown continues.  What a banana republic joke this country has become.  2020 can't come soon enough.  I hope every GOP candidate loses.  That party deserves annihilation.  Cowards.  Shame on them for caving so blatantly to Compromised Asset in Chief. 

Looking forward to the three-day weekend.

Day - 1804

Thursday, January 17, 2019

The news is unrelenting with Compromised Asset in Chief rattling his play pen.  What an embarrassing buffoon.  The idiots who elected him deserve him.  Those who didn't do not.  I cannot cannot wait until he is gone.  What a distraction from meaningful living.

My NY Times notification seems to chime every hour.  No surprise there.  The wheels come off this year.    

Day - 1805

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Storm's blowing into the Bay today.  Rehearsal is canceled.  Sophie's birthday tonight!  Off to the Young for the second of three January birthdays.

It was a joyous occasion at the Youngs tonight, celebrating Sophie's 17th birthday.  With the storm so strong and traffic so precarious, Alice decided to stay in SF, so wasn't able to join us.  It was a delightful evening hanging out with the best of the best in Oakland.

Day - 1806

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Today at work we had a town hall meeting about our Dynamic Work Initiative, which involves giving up one of our floors and allowing people to work from home a few days a week.  I can see myself working from home most of the time and maybe coming into the city Mondays and Fridays.  It will be a win-win because the new office design looks great and the desks elevate up and down so you can sit or stand.  Each desk is equipped with two monitor stands connected to horizontal bars that allow for easy adjustments.  The whole thing looks really good.  I'm lucky to work for such a forward-thinking company.

Tomorrow is Sophie's 17th birthday, so no orchestra rehearsal for me.   

Day - 1807

Monday, January 14, 2019

Quiet at work today, so another full day full of portfolio management.  I'm selling a lot of the mutual funds I have and switching to ETFs and index funds for the lower fees.  My portfolio is becoming its own mutual fund in a way.  Wish I'd known what I know now back in my 20s.

Day - 1808

Sunday, January 13, 2019

We took a very nice bicycle ride around Golden Gate Park today, forming a big loop from 19th Ave to the ocean.  Alice really loves her Swagtron e-bike.  She can pedal and get a little help up hills.  She prefers riding to walking.  It's really been wonderful getting out of the house and exercising with her.

Day - 1809

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Met Alice at Starbuck's on Irving, got Arizmendi muffins, and hung out for an hour or so, reading our iphones and enjoying the morning.  I love coming here where we first met so many years ago.  The range of personalities coming in and/or camping out on the streets is always a sight to behold.

I read the rest of the day.  Reading a lot these days and spending a lot of time reviewing and modifying my 401k.  The market has gone up since the new year, surprisingly, considering all the unforced errors compromised asset in chief has created.  

Day - 1810

Friday, January 11, 2019

Picked my car up from the shop and it drives well.  It better.  The rain's coming down hard, so I'm in Oakland tonight.  

Day - 1811

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Traveling to mom's in February, Las Vegas with Alice in March, then Japan in May.  That's our schedule for the first half of the year.  Got our tickets, all good prices.  It pays to take care of travel arrangements in December/January.  

Day - 1812

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Mom's birthday today!  I got her the new Sally Fields bio, which is supposed to be terrific.  Dropped my car off today and it the power steering pump needs replacing.  Damn, that's a $1,200 expense I wasn't anticipating.  With so much money socked away through my 401k, I may need to supplement my income with a part-time gig online.  I've noticed a bunch of sites that connect freelancers with folks in need of digital document assistance.  I'm sure I could do many of the jobs needed.  I want to pay off the cruise and our upcoming honeymoon to Japan by November, 2019.  I don't mind working around the clock to make that happen this year.  

Day - 1813

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Updating all my finances, creating a budget for the year, socking 25% of my income away, and figuring out a way to max out my Roth IRA.  I don't bring in enough money to do that, so I might need a side gig to generate more savings power.  My expenses are about as low as they're going to get.  There aren't many corners left to cut.  I could probably raise $1,000 or so in a big garage sale.  I have too much junk I no longer need.

Day - 1814

Monday, January 7, 2019

Slow at work, so I worked through my holdings, deciding what to keep and what to sell.  Walked to Trader Joe's for lunch and groceries for the evening.  This can be a new default option (salad, chicken, dressing for lunch for three days or so, plus ingredients for stew). 

Came home, made stew, then practiced for an hour or so before watching Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell.  Mueller's coming, Con in Chief!

Day - 1815

Sunday, January 6, 2019

With my MINI still in the shop, I stayed home in Oakland today and tidied up, practiced, went through old pictures, and continued research on my retirement portfolio.  That took nearly all day.  

Day - 1816

Saturday, January 5, 2019

We had our club doubles tourney this morning.  I was partnered with Glenn.  We lost our first three games, then won our final three games, going 3-3 but failing to make the playoffs.  At least we had fun.

Later in the afternoon, we had a small dedication ceremony at Rockwall Winery for Kent Rosenblum.  Dorian gathered funds for a plaque similar to the one we made for Cliff.  Unfortunately, Dorian forgot today was the dedication and headed over to Rockwall around the time I had to leave, so I missed the dedication.  At least I got to hang out at Rockwall for an hour or so.

I met Alice at my place and we headed to Star Pizza at 6:30 for Ari's birthday.  She's 28 today (wow, how did that happen?).  Ari & Conner, Lisa & Richard, Sophie, Miles, Rossana, Nassim, Ann, Carrie, Alice & I were present and accounted for.  We ate all the pizza we could eat, with salad and Alice and I got a Coke in bottles.  Yum!

I sat close to Alice, Conner and Rossana.  Lively, great conversation!  Conner and Ari has just come back from Maine and a string of performances with Dustbowl Revival.  Conner loves the life of a performer in a band, but does acknowledge the grind involved. When the members are in synch, it’s exhilarating, but after a year of doing it, it's sometimes tough to get motivated for each performance.

We had ice cream for dessert at the Youngs and hung out for the evening.  We watched The Abominable Dr. Phibbs, the campy Vincent Prince film, as a special bday treat for Ari.  Campy silly fun!

Seahawks lost to the Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs.  Sadness.  

Day - 1817

Friday, January 4, 2019

Aside from work, spent most of the day continuing research on my portfolio, breaking it all down into diversified percentages and reading blogs that have been very helpful.  I need a much larger stake in international index funds compared to what I currently have. 

Home tonight with no functional car.  No racquetball this morning.

Day - 1818

Thursday, January 3, 2019

So I'm reading two books on my iPhone right now:

and

Oh, dear.  Oh, boy.  The Color of Law....wow.  Make America Great Again?  You mean go back to the days when local, state and federal governments went out of their way to segregate the country?  The housing laws of the past were un...be...lievable.  And the present?  I wonder how much better things really are.  Look at con in chief.  He's perhaps the greatest reflection of what this country is all about. 

Maybe that's why I welcome this...

CNN

and this!

Win McNamee

Day - 1819

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

At work, which was slow again and probably will be the rest of the week.  I organized a few files, continued work on my budget for 2019 and Fidelity accounts.  Once I rebalance the portfolio, I won't have to think about my accounts for a while.

After work I met Howard and his son Josh at Star pizza for a rousing political conversation, then off to the Grand Lake Theater to see...

Howard said the reviews have been lukewarm.  Yeah, only from those who thought the Iraq War was a good idea.  I wholeheartedly, enthusiastically support this brilliant, inventive film, and Christian Bale...wow.  Seriously, wow.  What a performance.  He just nails the nuances, the cadences, the grim reaper smirk, the shady, underhanded, quiet evil genius glare of the Veep that was Dick.  The Iraq War was such a colossal, egregious, stupid, insane, monumental and obvious error in judgment, and this film wonderfully positions these idiot fools as the numskulls they will forever be for the rest of time.  I welcome this rendering of their place in history.  I love Vice, loved its inventiveness and playful, weird use of narrative, loved its amazing performances across the board and its outrageous but oh-so-accurate story of a period in time I actually lived through.  American exceptionalism?  Ha!  Only when it comes to exceptional errors in judgment.  I remember when I first heard about the Bush Administration's desire to invade Iraq.  I thought, invade Iraq how?  Invade Iraq why?  Invade Iraq, oh hell no...No no no.  Don't do it fools.  Do not do this foolish moronic insane thing.  I joined peace rallies along with millions of other citizens.  But they didn't listen.  And so they are captured in this film as the foolish idiots they truly are.  That's their legacy and Vice does their legacy a great great great great great service!  Bravo, artists!

Howard loved it, too!  Came home at 10, watched a little news, then called it a night.

Day - 1820

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

The morning began with cleaning the Airbnb for 90 minutes, then in the afternoon with the sun out and the temperature reasonable, Alice and I got on our bicycles and rode up and down the Sunset.  So nice!  We had lasagna for dinner and watched a great documentary:

Very good.  Ahead of her time.  Frequency-hopping.

Day - 1821

Monday, December 31, 2018

Work was dead, no surprise there.  I continued work on my finances.  We were able to leave early at 2:30, so I took the NL home to Lakeshore.  Alice met me there.  We ate at Mijori for an early dinner...

...then met up with Richard, Lisa, Trey and Sophia for New Year's Eve at Rhonda and Biff's in Montclair. 

We took Lyft up to the top of Montclair and had trouble getting one to take us back to Oakland.  Too far from the beaten path, apparently.  After our third attempt, Alice and I got our lift to our car, then we drove back to SF for the night.  Traffic was a breeze.  We ended up going to bed at 2 a.m.  That's late for both of us!  2019 will be a very nice but strange year.  I do hope Trump is kicked out of office in 2019 for, among other things, betraying the United States of America with his Russia connections.  If anyone in the U.S. deserves to go down, he does.

Day - 1822

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Spent the day going over finances, Fidelity accounts, stock research, while Alice and Cecilia spent the afternoon with their meditation master.  They picked me up at 5 and we headed to SF for the evening.  I set up Alice's Echo Dot and her new iPad.  Both are up and going now.  I work tomorrow, so I went to bed by 9.