Update

...or lack thereof, as it were. One word sums up my life in the last couple of weeks: triage. Some things get critical attention, others are deferred, and some get blown off completely. This blog has been in that last category for awhile now. Not that there's not stuff to write about. Lot's of topics rattling around in that half-empty block atop my shoulders. How about a quick shotgun blast of verbiage on a couple topics, just to keep this blog rolling along...

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San Dimas Stage Race:
An impressive weekend for Cody with a 2nd place in the Pro RR and a 4th in the crit, and that's against many of the best domestic riders in the US. But do you remember another SB rider to snag the silver in that San Dimas Pro RR not too long ago, getting pipped just barely by Chris Horner?

The Masters races looked interesting to this observer and I'm sure there are some stories below the surface of the results pages. In the 35+, the change from the Day-1 TT to the final g.c. results show how important time bonuses can be, and also how crucial it is to have a solid cohesive team. Chris DeMarchi won in large part because he scooped up nearly 50 seconds of bonuses. Congrats to Chris and his Amgen/Giant brethren:


Greg Leibert used a great TT and help from a solid Cynergy team to claim a well-deserved 45+ win.

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Training
Uhhhhhh.. next topic.

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Home Remodel Update
This is starting to get very real. The architect is done and we really enjoyed working with him. It cost around $12,000 but was extremely useful. He was equal parts interior designer, lighting expert, ergonomic consultant, structural whiz, and bureaucracy expediter. He will continue to consult when we start construction. We have two teams bidding for us, and we really like both of them. Unless their numbers are vastly different, we will struggle to decide which to use.

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Gardening Update
In this triage process of my life, I must admit that gardening is ranking above training on the importance scale. There are certain times of the year when stuff just needs to get done in the garden, and this is one of them. Seasons change and don't wait for you to get your act together.

Some pictures (apologies to those who've seen them already on Facebook):

A while back I bought a Raspberry plant in a 3-gallon pot and it was extremely root-bound and overgrown. I divided the root ball into seven parts and planted them all, figuring maybe half would take. Now, six weeks later, they're all growing and looking really healthy. Across the walkway from these, however, I planted six Asparagus crowns and unfortunately only one has survived. You win some, you lose some... but there's always next year.


I mulched my Strawberries with straw. Novel concept, eh?! Well it turns out that straw is full of wheat seeds, so now I also have a crop of wheat growing in the Strawberry patch!


I just picked seven artichokes yesterday from these thriving plants. I have a recipe for using Artichokes, Fava beans, Garlic greens, Lemon, and Thyme, all of which I can harvest from my backyard right now. By the way, I've also picked a huge crop of slugs from these same Artichoke plants, but I haven't found a recipe for those yet.


First-time potato farmer, and so far they're doing well. Companion planted with Garlic and Rosemary (not shown here because I planted after the picture). By summer I'll harvest them all together and make Mondo's famous potatoes!


Who knew greens could be so colorful?!? See the happy Fava beans along the side of these two beds.


Thinking ahead toward summer... tomato plants started inside. Roma and Brandywine.

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Lots more to blog about but now I think a training ride is bubbling up on the importance scale.

Random topics I'd like to pursue at some point...

1. "Retirement" is a thing of the past. Why? Prevalence of "defined contribution" plans and the woeful shortfall in people's savings. Those people with "defined benefit" plans will suffer their limited cost-of-living-adjustments in the coming era of much higher inflation. But anyway, why shouldn't people continue working at some level into their later years???

2. Paths kids choose, such as my daughter being baptized and confirmed Catholic despite no religious influence from her family. Lots to cogitate about that one.

3. Commitment-phobia -- What do you do when you see somebody who has an incredible, smart, funny, attractive, fit, and all-around awesome girlfriend, but he seems a bit frightened to take the obvious next step, as in getting married?

That is all. Time to ride.

Oh Cry Me a River!

Wall Street bonuses under fire...

I about barfed a couple years ago when I first heard about the size of the average bonus paid to people working in finance. And when I say average, I mean across everyone in the business, from mail-room clerks all the way up to CEOs and top rain-makers. Nearly $200,000! And you just know that it's top heavy. I think that's disgusting, and way out of whack with their contribution to society, no matter how you define it.

Time to push the reset button on those folks!

Historical data from the NY Comptroller's office:

Are you...

...foregoing the leather interior and postponing that winter ski trip to Aspen?

...brown-bagging a PB&J and brewing your own cuppa joe?

...patching your tubes?


Are you battening down the hatches in preparation for a bumpy ride?

Do you believe we're on the cusp of another Great Depression?

Insanity?

Uhhh, yeah... Is this a good time to undertake a quarter-million+ dollar house remodel? ...while embarking on a career change that very well might have negative income? ...after buying a car for your newly-licensed teenage daughter? ...because of whom our insurance nearly tripled?

Hmmmm....

Impeccable timing.





(PS. Can I still get a TT bike and a CX bike?)


[add/edit] OK, I wrote the above before the news broke that the House didn't approve the bail-out package. This is getting even more interesting, albeit in a perverse watching-the-train-wreck sort of way. Maybe I am on the train while watching... Moving to the forward car ...I bought more stocks today, including a bank.

I consider myself a social liberal, and a radical on the environment, but I confess to being somewhat conservative financially. It's time to pay for the gross excesses and push the reset button. I'm glad the House rejected the bill.

[Note: I reserve the right to change my mind...]

Serious Inflation News!

Yeah, we've been paying more at the pump and in the grocery stores, but this tidbit from today's WSJ has got me really worried now...

Dangerous Economic Times, or Irrational Hysteria?

What is going on these days?!?

Stock markets up 3% one day and down 3% the next... Home foreclosures at record levels... Recession all but certain... Unemployment rising... Dollar plunging... Oil north of $100/bbl and gold above $1,000 per oz... Inflation IS heating up...

I don't remember a time with as much bad economic news as we're currently getting. And it seems as though people are reacting--panicking in fact--like the sky is falling. Check out the current yield curve for US Treasuries; that's the interest rate people are getting on bills, notes, and bonds, i.e., the rate Uncle Sam will pay you to loan him money. It's low because A LOT of people are willing to take those rates.

But here's what's crazy... Inflation (WITH FOOD AND ENERGY INCLUDED!) is peaking over 4% annually, in other words, at this rate something you buy for $1.00 today will cost at least $1.04 a year from now. So why are people willing to take a dollar, and give it to Uncle Sam knowing he'll give you back only $1.01 in a year? You're losing buying power... it's a negative real return!!

It's a rhetorical question, and there are (at least) two answers as to why. First, people are freaking out and afraid to invest in anything with risk. Even rock-solid municipal bonds are yielding more than treasuries, by a couple percentage points in some cases. And they're federal- and state-tax free! Are people really worried that, say, the State of California or City of Los Angeles might go bankrupt?! Crazy.

Secondly, a big fraction of treasuries are bought by foreigners who view the US as a safe haven for money, and of course they're not worried about our domestic inflation rate or US tax issues. BUT, they should be worried about our free-falling dollar, which is the currency in which they'll be paid back. If you lived in a Euro-zone country and bought a five-year bond in 2002, then you'd have lost a big chunk of your money by the time your bond came due last year. Why do foreign investors continue to buy treasuries?? Perhaps because our economy will drag down the rest of the developed world and they have no other options... dunno.

What I do know is that I'm confused about what to do. Normally, I'd look at this kind of panicky scenario and be salivating at the buying opportunities in the stock market. Blue-light specials all around.

But what scares me right now is inflation, not this "Core Inflation" BS but REAL inflation, of things I buy. It's insane to exclude food and energy costs, those are the fundamental products we need to survive! And prices are on the rise faster than I ever remember (well, at least since I've been an adult and worrying about savings and retirement).

Here's the some national-average price increases over the last year...

Price of bananas per pound.


Price of roasted coffee per pound.


Price of unleaded gasoline per gallon.



Of course, all three of these items are more expensive here in California for some reason. Lucky us.

So we're probably in a recession, yet prices are rising. Is that "stag-flation"? And what if all this cheap money that the Fed is pumping into the economy does nothing more than goose inflation even higher? People like me who don't work a lot will be hosed, that's what! Makes me think twice about taking chances in the stock market... but then again, as an investor, you have to realize the best opportunities arise when the masses panic and become convinced the sky is falling.

Is this one of those times?

(pardon me for writing about topics other than bike racing, but this is my blog and this is what's on my mind currently. By about Tuesday of next week, I'll be so obsessed with the upcoming San Dimas Stage Race that I'll barely have awareness of anything else...)