Averting Glasses Disaster

Today is a very special day.

It's the day I picked up my updated glasses with the new prescription for the bionic eye. Just over $100 and I have practically a brand new pair of spectacles in the fancy Eyephorics frames that would have cost way too much to replace.

After finally picking up guidebooks for Iceland and London, I thought I'd grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks and check emails. This almost turned into a situation with disastrous consequences in regards to my glasses.

Starbucks has a deal going where if you register and use one of their declining balance cards, you can have 2 hours of free Wifi every day. I had a Starbucks card from Sydney, Australia that my friend Stuart gave me as a gift a few years ago. Unfortunately, attempting to register and use this card didn't work all that well here in a U.S. Starbucks.

Instead, after having secured a comfy chair, I fumbled around with my laptop, drink, and miscellaneous possessions in an effort to get comfortable and get online. Upon realizing that purchasing a new U.S. Starbucks card and loading it at the register was probably the best option, I quickly learned that my glasses were not hanging from my shirt, where I thought I had put them.

I was looking around on the floor and on the chair, when some guy looked at me and asked if I was looking for a pair of glasses.

"In fact, I was. Did you see them?"

"Actually, I was thisclose to stepping on them by accident. I gave them to the folks behind the counter," he replied.

I thanked him and quickly retrieved my new-old glasses that almost became new-old-shattered glasses and wondered how I managed to dodge that bullet.

Side note - this might be the safest Starbucks I have visited, as in the hour I have been sitting here in Starbucks, I have seen four separate pairs of police officers grab cups of joe, each pair with a different uniform from the others. One appeared to be in SWAT team garb, the two here now have bright blue shirtsleeves, and the other two had more traditional Boston police uniforms but were not identical. Lots of patrols in this neighborhood, it seems!

Yes, I am Superstitious

I freely admit that I am superstitious.

I don't walk under ladders. (bad luck)

I ALWAYS put my right shoe on first (bad luck otherwise)

I put cash into my wallet all facing the same direction in order of denomination, low in the front, high toward the back. (probably just OCD)

I say "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit" as the first words out of my mouth on the first day of each month - either right after midnight or right when I wake up...either counts. I get angry with myself if I forget and say something else first. (good luck for the month)

I NEVER kill spiders intentionally. (bad luck)

And I am a big proponent of heads-up coins. For example:

All of the change in my car's change holder is heads-up. Guaranteed. Honestly, I didn't even realize I did this until a friend of mine years ago bet that it was all heads up. Sure enough, it was. (definite OCD)

When I see a coin on the ground, if I choose to pick it up, it must be heads-up. If it's not, I'll flip it over first, ensuring that one edge is always touching the ground, then pick it up. (good luck)

I was lucky enough to find two legit heads-up pennies yesterday, and another two today. (very good luck!)

Buena Suerte!

Yes, I realize this behavior is odd.

Please Click on Google AdWords

Now I remember why investing in stocks was always so unnerving to me....days like yesterday, walking past the TV into the kitchen at work to learn that (at that point), the DOW was down 200 points again, and Google was down $50 a share.

When I had no money in stocks individually, and my security investments were limited to my 401k, I wouldn't pay it any attention. I would diligently record my 401k contributions in Microsoft Money, and make adjustments to my allocations once or twice each year.

During my previous experience with online trading, I remember doing well with XM Satellite Radio early on, and losing 95% of the money I invested in Starnet (an Internet gaming and porn company, I believe). This was 1998-2000 - Internet gambling was nothing compared to where it is today.

Finally this year, I decided to re-enter the market as an individual investor. I transferred some money from a high-yield saving account into an online brokerage account, and bought a few stocks whose products I believed in - Apple, Google, and Starbucks. I went with one more, PetroChina, on a whim - I figured oil and China were a good mix.

Fast forward five months. My portfolio is up almost 60%. Starbucks is the only loser. If I had doubled up on Apple with the Starbucks money, the whole portfolio would be up over 80%. In five months. I'm digging this once again!

PetroChina becomes the largest company in the world, market capitalization-wise. My shares were up about 115% at one point.

Then things take a slight turn. World markets freak out, sub-prime lending crisis, US dollar weakens, consumer confidence drops, oil is $100 a barrel, US gas prices are nuts....

DOW ping pongs a couple hundred points each day. Down 200, closes up 15. Huh? Down 150 at 3pm, closes down 300 an hour later. Next-day rally, it's up 250 again.

I put a Stop limit on PetroChina at $200 per share for insurance, and the trade is executed (I kind of wish it hadn't). In six months, this one stock went from $128 to $266, back down to $200 (where it is currently). I jumped off, took my earnings, and went to BJ's Wholesale.

This is worse than the swings on a poker table. My life was more harmonious when I didn't watch the market multiple times each day.

So, I encourage you to do your part.

Please note...iPods make lovely holiday presents. The Christmas blend and associated holiday products are in Starbucks stores now...go buy lots of them. And click on lots of Google AdWords when searching online....screw the natural search results. Make them pay for your attention!

More clicks, more coffee, more clicks, more coffee.

Ambiguously content

My mood today is content, for a specific reason.

I would prefer not to articulate why, but my state of being content has nothing to do with anyone who reads Platinum Elite.

Perhaps I'm loading up on good fortune, since I have found two heads-up pennies this week already.

But, we'll just leave it at that. Have a great day, readers!