O Canada! Just What an Investor Needs -- Seeking Alpha

O Canada! Just What an Investor Needs -- Seeking Alpha

2010

One week ago we euthanized Einstein. It was very sad. I loved that dog. Today I saw another Wheaton Terrier while I was playing tennis and asked the owner to walk it over to me. I was very greatful.

Joshua is out of the house and into his new diggs in Fort Lauderdale. He will begin studies to become an air traffic controller. He was very kind to his sister who visited him over the Christmas break. His love is deep.

Danielle broke up with her boyfriend, Marshall, who lived with her for a year and one half in Chicago.

Sandy and I put a deposit on a new puppy who is a standard black poodle. I want to call her Newton... nickname "New" or "Newt." She is new because she represents a new beginning, a new breed, a new start, a new year. Sandy likes everything new while I prefer the old and familiar. The puppy is part of a litter of ten breeded by the Blitzer family. Amy Blitzer, Danielle's best friend in high school is the middle child in the family. She was a saint when Danielle was recovering from illness last February. Eleanor Blitzer was very kind to me when Danielle became critical of our parenting and reminded me and Sandy of what good parents we were.

My tennis team lost all four positions yesterday. Four of us were suffering from the gastroenteritis that we contracted after celebrating the New Years together in a hotel in Boca Raton. I am going to ask the members of the team to point out weaknesses to each other. Also I will ask them to share what they have learned from our clinics with Patrick, our tennis pro.

We visited Dad at Arden Court today. I had asked his doctor to evaluate him because he has lost about 7 pounds in the last month. We brought him some clam chowder which he usually likes. However, he did not seem to relish it as he usually does. Sandy had insited that we bring him two orders, one of which was wasted. Dad immediately recognized me and was very happy to see me. He was somewhat preoccupied with some kind of problem relating to long dead Uncle Lester. He appeared clean, well groomed and well cared for. I will call Dr. Collier tomorrow.

My right achilles tendon is sore. It seems to become worse after tennis. Asprin helps. I should probably do more stretching.

I am becoming more active with my investing. I am taking different positions in commodities which I believe are of value now that the government is printing so much paper.

Dore

Dore is my mother in law. She is facing hard times. She sold her ballroom gown business two years ago to a saleswomen who worked in her firm. The new owner has reneged on making rent payments and loan payments to Dore. As a result, cash flow problems have caused Dore to move out of the home that she remodeled two years ago.
Dore has been offered refuge in our house which by the way is quiet empty after the kids moved out and the dog was put to sleep.
Dore likes to paint and cook. I will write more about her as time goes on.

Brandy-Einstein

Today we put Einstein to sleep. She would have been seven years old on new years day. She suffered from a neurological disorder manifested by seizures, listing to the left, somnolence, and depression. She was a beautiful dog. It was very sad. Today we suspended all exercise and took her to the veternarian, who was very sympathetic. He administered an intramuscular tranquilizer and then potassium chloride. Sandy kept a lock of hair.
This is a picture of Joshua holding Einstein in better days.

Key West With Dave and Barbara

We took the high speed catamaran from Fort Myers Beach to Key West with friends David and Barbara Peirson. It was cloudy and cold and the trip down to Key West was rough. David had motion sickness which improved with dramamine and sea bands on the return. We road our bikes on Key West. The beach was nice but cold. The hotel on the atlantic beach side was very comfortable. The circus performers on the sunset pier were entertaining as was the latin band playing dance music that Sandy and I could dance to.

Sandy is hard to please. I will do the best that I can.

Old Dogs

Einstein is suffering from a neurological disorder which has caused her to have seizures and abnormalites in gait. Sierra sits in front of her crate and cries because she knows that there is something wrong with Einstein.

We can't bare to euthenize Einstein because we love her so much.

Pittsburgh December 2009

We are Visiting Janice Ted and Abby. We have been to the gym. It has snowed. We watched a movie with Sandra Bullock called Blindside. I posted two pictures taken in the snow flurries. This has been a healing visit. We have been through much with Dad's, Mom's, Jake's and Danielle's problems. Abby is a joy. Sandy and Janice are going up the mountain to have a fortune teller answer their questions.

The Mirra home is filled with old photos of our family. It is painful looking at some of them. I can't look at some of them without hearing old quotes from my father which seem so hollow now. "About 15 months ago my mother left my father after 55 years of marriage." I picked my Dad up and when he became suicidal my sister and I took him to a neurologist's office where he was committed to a lock down psychiatric unit.
My mother is feeling guilty and is taking it out on me. I don't spend enough time thinking about her. She is beginning to have medical problems of her own. She does not wish to get help from me and my doctor colleagues in Fort Myers, Florida. She has spinal stenosis and buldging spinal discs.

I have posted two photos taken of my mother and me when she had her welcome party at Lakehouse West. (This is the assisted living facility where she has elected to spend her last years.)

Today I plan to watch the Florida Gators take on the Crimson Tide of Alabama. I will drink Guiness and enjoy my niece, Abby.

It continues to snow and the temperature is hovering around 32 degrees. I dropped the camera in the snow today but it continues to work well. I will post more pictures to the blog.