The fall is stunning. New York sings. Central Park is teaming with bikers, runners, dog walkers and lovers hand-in-hand.
They’re preparing the park for the 40,000+ upcoming New York Marathon.
How can I not be positive?
I sold NetFlix too early. Dumb me. My Tesla is falling. Should I dump it? Most everything else looks wonderful — see list on right.
I’m intrigued with Veeva. Will do some work on it this morning.
My son bought a TV set. But he doesn’t subscribe to a cable provider, like Time Warner or Comcast. He’s eying services like NetFlix, Roku, Apple TV, daddy’s Slingbox or Amazon’s TV box when it appears. It’s a new world out there.
He bought a Samsung 55″ LED smart TV for $1200 from Best Buy and is having them come by and hang it on his wall.
Citibank Visa is starting to listen. I now have a AAdvantage Visa and a AAdvantage MasterCard from them. Both of them now have a zero cash advance balance — meaning I (or anyone else) cannot get a nickel out of an ATM machine on the cards. I got hacked big-time on that a few months ago. I use the Visa for online stuff and the MasterCard for shopping. I have scratched off the three digit security code on the back of both cards. This will (I hope) limit a crook’s chance of using my card — if, for example, a crooked waiter steals my numbers.
I’m trying to convince Citibank to let me have “virtual” credit cards with no expiration date. This way I could give one card to FedEx, one to Amazon, one to DirecTV, etc. So far, I can have virtual credit cards — but only with a one year expiration. Which is useless, since I’d have to go through the whole pain of telling my vendors of new credit card numbers every 12 months.
I’m trying to avoid that. As you know, after getting $4,000 removed from an ATM machine, my new Visa then got hacked for $6.40. Citibank changed its number — and that messed up the 25 or so vendors I have tied into the card. Yesterday I was still updating accounts – a month or so after I got hacked. Pain.
The new venture biz is roaring back. Everybody and their uncle is raising money for their shiny new company. Be very wary. The first question I always ask is “Why me, a total stranger?” Why not their friends, their local business partners, their family? Why me?
The second question I ask, “What is the business?” I’m constantly amazed at how many money-raise proposals tell me how big their market is, but omit to explain exactly what they do. If I have to ask “What is the business?” they got a problem and I don’t have the time. Which leads to my main mantra, “When in doubt, stay out.”
Closing your account on LinkedIn. Here’s how you do it. Good luck. Click here.
Is Wal-mart heading for disaster? I know they’re trying to improve their presently-miserable web site. But Amazon will eat their lunch, or more precisely eat their growth. Is Wal-Mart headed for disaster? from The Motley Fool. Read here. Today’s New York Times business section has a piece on “Sales are Colossal, shares are soaring. All Amazon.com is missing is a profit.” For that article, click here.
You must see Captain Phillips. The movie isn’t 100% accurate. But who cares. It’s a great movie. Tom Hanks is superb. I destroyed two fingernails with the tension.
Irish Sausages
Shamus and Murphy fancied a pint or two but didn’t have a lot of money between them; they could only raise the staggering sum of one Euro..
Murphy said “Hang on, I have an idea.”
He went next door to the butcher’s shop and came out with one large sausage.
Shamus said “Are you crazy? Now we don’t have any money at all!”
Murphy replied, “Don’t worry – just follow me.”
He went into the pub where he immediately ordered two pints of Guinness and two glasses of Jamieson Whisky.
Shamus said “Now you’ve lost it. Do you know how much trouble we will be in? We haven’t got any money!!”
Murphy replied, with a smile. “Don’t worry; I have a plan, Cheers!”
They downed their Drinks. Murphy said, “OK, I’ll stick the sausage through my zipper and you go on your knees and put it in your mouth.”
The barman noticed them, went berserk, and threw them out.
They continued this, pub after pub, getting more and more drunk, all for free.
At the tenth pub Shamus said “Murphy – I don’t think I can do any more of this. I’m drunk and me knees are killing me!”
Murphy said, “How do you think I feel? I can’t even remember which pub I lost the sausage in.”
Harry Newton who finds his “perfect balance” seems to be up at 6 AM, write this column to 9 AM, then an hour’s sleep at lunch time, 90 minutes of aggressive tennis at 3 PM, 30 minutes sleep at 5 PM, then dinner, watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert from 11 PM to midnight, two hours work and then to sleep.
The key is avoid stress. Too many of my friends have it in spades and it’s hurt them badly over the years. Many have horrible auto-immune diseases. Maybe I should write a book, “The Art of Living Stress-Free. How to avoid jobs, investments and pressures you can’t control.” The stockmarket’s big plus is you can sell your stressors (new word) and move on. You can’t do that with most other investments or jobs. Control is the key.
Cramer’s right about Apple. The buzz is back. The stock is headed much higher. I love my iPhone 5S. Everyone of my friends loves theirs. All I see on the subway these days is the iPhone 5S. Even my poverty-stricken tennis hitter bought himself an iPhone 5S and loves it. He’s a brand freak. He loves two brands — Apple and Nike. He won’t wear anyone else’s tennis sneaks.
Great help with Linkedin