Life

Going for the Gold

Lately I’ve been thinking more and more about the whole gold market. I don’t have a reliable gold bullion resource or anything, but I have been thinking hard about investing in gold as a savings platform. Sure I’ve got 401k and IRA stuff kicking around, but the way the markets are sucking like a baby on a bottle with no real end in site, I sometimes wonder if gold isn’t a way to go.

Ultimately, if we get hit with a zombie apocalypse, gold isn’t much more useful than a stock portfolio or paper money. Well, I guess you can melt the gold down and make bullets or a really shiny dagger or something, but that’s about all. Still, it sounds cool to have a bunch of gold, right? Then again, with my fortune I could probably buy a quarter-sized gold coin. While it may be worth a few bucks, it’s way pathetic compared to those big ass bricks in bank robbery movies.

I need me some gold bricks. Maybe it’s time to plan a heist.

Life

Back to the Pack

You know, a while ago I was writing about my new found excitement with the outdoors. Camping, hiking, etc. I’ve been building up a real gear jones lately, and that isn’t dissipating. I don’t necessarily want to be the perfectly tailored sportsman or anything, but kitting myself out right sounds… well, it sounds pretty alright. It always cracks me up when you see the hard core wannabe guys with expensive rain slickers and $500 boots that give them blisters. That’s not for me. But I like the really functional stuff that looks good functioning.

Can you dig it?

Or more to the point, can you dig WITH it. If not, I’m probably going to be leaving it home in favor of a more useful tool.

Life

Making the Connection 3

So the wet and hot reality is that I was looking at one of my better acoustic guitars acorss the room in its case and thinking that I probably have to check its humidity. Yup. That’s it.

You did know that humidity is incredibly important to the health of a guitar, right? Particularly old acoustics stored in a basement that slowly goes from Summer heat to Winter chill. Well, being in the closet under the stairs helps protect all of my instruments from abrupt temperature change, but still… these things are made out of wood and wood needs some care to keep behaving over time.

Sorry if you thought Louisville real estate was going to play into this whole round of nonsense. I just couldn’t help myself.

Life

Making the Connection 2

So you see my Durham law and raise me real estate highlands NC. Really? That’s the best you can come up with? Another hot spot located due south of little ol’ me? Well, to each his own I guess, but really… I expected more. What else can I say?

And anyway, I told you it wasn’t THAT sort of humidity that I’d been talking about. Actually, the cigar thing made me think of humidors. Humidors. Does that make more sense? Humidity being key to the longevity and general health of the big old brown roll of tobacco.

Life

Making the Connection

So you want to know what my personal connection between humidity and cigars is? Seriously? You don’t have anything better to worry about?

Maybe it’s a southern heat thing. You have a Durham business lawyer? You might need one before we’re done here.

Not really, though. It really has nothing to do with the weather. Well… not directly. I think. Actually, I guess humidity has everything to do with the weather. Even in this case, though this is really a microclimate issue more than overall “Weather” with quotes and capitals. But now I’m just rambling.

PS Blog

The night was…

The night was hot. The night was wet. Hot and wet. That’s humid. The night was humid.

Remember that movie? Oh man, I loved that little gem. The “what was that other movie she was in?” I got asked a dozen times by parents at a recent sleep over for 10 year olds where they screened The Goonies. Yeah, they were talking about the scary old Mom with the thick tongue and the terrible attitude.

Of course, you might ask what that has to do with cigars. Well, what the hell do you think?

Life

Indie Printing

As the king of indie nonsense, I am a huge fan of cheap business card printing. I have musician cards to hand out to baooking agents and club owners, I have Mad Science The Card Game Cards for distributors and retailers, I have Skateboard Heroes cards for comic book industry folks and readers. I should probably get into the printing business myself. Then I could have business cards for my business card printing business. Makes perfect sense, right? I bet you wish you’d thought of it.

PS Blog

Lookin’ Good

You know what I need to go with my kickin’ hard core camping gear? Customized sunglasses. They’ll go good with my speeding too, even if we all know that speed may be a factor… implying that it “might” be a factor but is not “definitely” a factor. Is the combination of style and car accident humor wrong? Maybe this is a path I should avoid. But really, shouldn’t we address the truth here? I mean, stylish sunglasses could be as responsible for a serious accident as a lot of other things.

Life

Scouting

I want to get a kickin’ backpack for hiking and camping. I was never into hiking and camping before, but now that my kids are so involved in scouting, I kind of want to get some decent equipment. Yeah, we have some tents that are pretty alright, and foam pads and fairly standard sleeping bags, but… I don’t know, some part of me wants to be the mega-trekker I never was in my youth. You know, zero degree mummy bag, dehydrated peanut butter, water backpack, magnesium fire starter. The hard core. I’m all about the hard core.

Just not sure my 7 and 10 years olds are ready for the ride.

PS Blog

Speed May Have Been A Factor

A couple days ago there was a fatal accident a couple miles from our house. A young woman went off the road, flipped her car and was “partially” ejected from the car. No seat belt so no seat belt cutter necessary, and multiple speed “may have been a factor” quotes from the powers that be. Yes, officer, I agree that she “might have been speeding” when she rounded the curve, rolled her car and ended up upside down in a swamp.

The dissembling is what bothers me. See, we all know she was driving like a bat out of hell. It’s really hard to flip a sedan if you’re not driving at a decent rate of speed. And the curvy part of the road where she crashed… yeah, it’s like a 30mph zone. So yeah, speed was most definitely a factor. Conjecture about cell phone use or intoxication might require careful speech, but really? Speed. Uh… duh! But, of course, everyone is afraid of the almighty libel suit. Who wants to take a chance that the survivors won’t start the good old litigation machine, right?