a99kitten's Musings

So I can’t wear high heels for probably another 4-6 weeks. Ugh. My sports doc said “I’ll give you the same test that I give my basketball players when they ask me when they can play again.” (he is the team doc for the Golden State Warriors.) He said “When you can hop 50 times on the formerly broken ankle/foot with no pain and then go up and down on your tip toes with no pain, you are ready.” Hmm. He said “let’s try it now.” Ok…OW!!! “”He said I guess not today.” Thanks Dr. Obvious. He also said high heels are bad for me so what does he know anyway…

SO…since it is my birthday on Saturday AND since I WILL wear high heels again…soon! I bought a cute pair :) And look – they are platform-ey espadrilles so they have to be better for me than regular high heels so a good gateway heel back to my normal ones :) Plus very summery! I was actually inspired to buy a cute new summery espadrille by a pair Jennifer Aniston wore in “Just Go With It”.

Since they were not on sale and a bit costly for sandals in my opinion (although 7.5% back for going through ebates), I was almost hoping I wouldn’t like them IRL as much as in the picture. No such luck. Thanks to the wonderfulness of Endless.com, I ordered them yesterday afternoon and they arrived this AM. I just tried on the right foot one (non-broken side) and OMG they are so cute!!! Just imagine with tan, cutely-pedicured feet! Sigh….keepers.

So now I just have to work on my jumping and tippy-toe exercises :)

Happy Birthday to me! :)

Stuart Weitzman Women's Alex Espadrille

OMG Update! Jen A actually has these same shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I knew they looked like something she’d wear! Now if I can only get my legs that tan :)

http://www.vivafashionblog.com/2011/03/look-for-less-stuart-weitzman-alex.html

He came in and stared at me. This meant “give me dinner!” So I went and made the huskies their dinners and gave them to them. Angelus started eating his right away. Storm sniffed his. I told him that he had to eat it or no after dinner treat and I walked away.

I went back and checked on them and Angelus had finished his. Storm still had not touched his. So I gave Angelus his after dinner cookie as Storm watched.

About 5 minutes later, Storm ran up the family room where I was watching TV. He stared at me again. I asked him if he ate his dinner yet. He didn’t answer so I went and checked. He ran down and followed me. Nope – dinner still untouched. I looked at him and told you need to eat your dinner or no cookie. Then I went back upstairs.

About 2 minutes later Storm ran back upstairs and started at me again. This time standing closer to me so I could really see his stare up close and personal. I asked him if he ate his dinner yet. Still no answer from him so down I went to check…and he ran right behind me. Yay – this time about 2/3 of his dinner was done (most importantly the part with his medicine in it.) So I told Storm to follow me. And he ran right behind me to the kitchen. And then grabbed his cookie and ran outside.

That’s how cute he is. :)

…when you think about it, he just walked away leaving Anakin there burning up alive in volcano lava AFTER cutting his legs off. No mercy saber to the heart, nothing….

Guess Mace L. Jedi isn’t the only bad motherf***** in the galaxy.

Blurb about John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, from “Too Big To Fail”…

“In his junior year at MIT, when he interned at Proctor and Gamble, he made a simple but highly significant observation of an assembly line he was supervising. The workers were making Ivory soap, and whenever technical problems forced the line to come to a halt, they would wait for it to start up again before getting back to work. The college boy persuaded the workers that there was no reason to stop – they could keep making soap and stack the boxes on the side until the line came back on. That way their bonuses, which were based on production, would not be affected.”

Ok. So…after re-reading this and having a “fist of fury” moment (as my husband calls them as I really do shake my fist in the air in fury) at the pure unbelievableness of it, I asked myself so it took this boy genius from MIT to convince these workers, whose bonuses were based ON PRODUCTION, to keep making soap and simply stack the boxes to the side until the assembly line was working again so they could load them up? Really? THIS is what the heck people do when left to their own devices? And there was clearly no better supervisor previously to instill this little nugget of wisdom.

This is the type of thing that infuriates me. Mind-boggles me. And makes me NOT sympathetic to the (typically but not always) union worker bee who feels entitled to corporate profits, lifetime pensions and health benefits and whatever else they can get. I guess businesses really do need those highly paid MBA types…that way work can still get done, and workers can make their bonuses, when the assembly line stalls.

Filing under #unfrackingbelievable

Been reading “Too Big To Fail” and the biggest nugget I have personally garnered so far (besides that Paulson TOTALLY allowed Lehman to go down in flames much like I always assumed) is that you can not ever trust anything said by the government or media. Now, I already knew that but wow – this really pushes that home. Yikes. It’s not like I ever felt the banks were 100% responsible because everyone had their hands in the cheap money pie, and I have about 4 blog posts in my head about mortgages, and banks and F the government AND idiot and unethical borrowers but we’ll see if I blast those out anytime soon or just let it simmer down inside. But grrrrrr. People that blame the banks and mortgage brokers solely for all the problems in their world need to get a fn clue (after looking in the mirror.)

Ok, cleansing deep breath….turning on my Zen music and finding my Chi (or is that Chew…bacca?! :) )

Another thing the book has done is make me re-evaluate my stock portfolio a bit. I have a 401k account that I check in on monthly but my stock account I watch daily. Not that I am a day trader because I am not. Do not have the time or energy to do that anymore. And most of what I own are companies that I know of due to personally liking them or brand recognition or some such thing. I did take a flyer on 2 small positions at the beginning of the year on companies that were not in the above categories and so far they are doing well. My intention is to keep them for the year though and not long term investing like the rest. I consider myself an investor and not a trader, even though that’s the way more fun side of it :)

I made a couple of small day (really several days) trades earlier this year and did well. But then I bought a teeny 100 shs of Pandora hoping for a quick pop and missed. Lost just over a point before I quickly flushed it but that annoyed me. I knew better. I know Pandora is crap (from an investment perspective – have never tried the service) but I thought it would be fun…like the old days! Was hoping for a 3-5 point in 15-20 minute turnaround to put in my Jimmy Choo fund :) Oh well. Wasn’t a big loss in cash but VERY annoyed by the fact that I did it even knowing 100% in my gut that it was a bad call. Like – totally knew it. Grr. Dummy. So I nicknamed my stock account DUMMY (online you can have a nickname) until I feel less dumb. And I hate feeling dumb.

No, this current market is making me keep my money in the safer stocks for the time being. Not that they can’t go down, but I have a fair degree of certainly they will all come back just fine short of Armageddon…and then I guess I will just need my gold and guns. Companies like MCD, YUM, TIF, AXP, BRK (B), AMZN, AAPL, SBUX, BP, VLO and some others. I also bought some fairly distressed GE and MS a short while back which hasn’t done too much but I think long-term they will also be fine and might even buy more under 20 and 24 respectively.

I do own some BAC and C which both stress me out a bit since they are technically too big to fail and yet totally can. But that’s the gambling side of my account I guess. I’m flat on both of them right now so we will see how I feel if I see much red. Although, I do tend to think they will go up somewhat at least, it will just take some time. That feeling thing. BUT, by the time I finish “Too Big To Fail”, I might change my mind and scream SELL MORTIMER as I can’t push the button fast enough!

I recently bought a healthcare stock – which I normally stay away far away from and also have a couple AG and commodity play stocks. I got rid of my ETF’s (except SLV) as I really prefer to own the underlying securities. ETFs are boring an way too many layers of even more people involved that you can’t trust. Though I do pat myself on my back for selling my USL at almost the very top of WTI prices. Genius oil speculator without even knowing it! I prefer to own the underlying asset in SLV too (and do) but I bought my shares at 17 so I’ll just keep it for now. Plus hoarding physical silver takes up a lot more space than gold so its OK to have both real and paper in that :) unless of course you believe all the conspiracy theories about silver (like the gold conspiracy theories) which honestly, after you read about the banks, are harder to just pushaw away. A good conspiracy theory keeps you on your toes anyway.

Yes, this investor went more Scrooge McDuck than Gordon Gekko during May and now June. Getting kinda ugly out there…and part of me says well, the fastest way to get Obama out of office is to keep it rather ugly out there so who knows….

The one I saw at ILM was an original. Those go for $1075 and I opted not to consider buying that. If it was a Han/Chewie…maybe….

Although, it was quite gorgeous. No – this one is good for my office. Love the look and the colors. AND Number #11 of 195!!!! YAY for low numbered collectibles!! :)

Now I *really* have to stop buying any prints/artwork until I take what I have in for framing.

I saw X-Men: First Class last weekend. GO SEE IT! I loved it!!! Now, I am a lover of the X-Men comics. But they did a really great job with this movie so even people who know nothing of the X-Men can enjoy it.

They concentrated on the story and acting much more than most comic book movies. Obviously there were a lot of special effects but I never felt that they were the center piece of the movie. They were merely part of it like any other actor.

The Hellfire Club storyline is my 2nd favorite after the Dark Phoenix saga so I was very wary of them doing it well. They didn’t really fully flesh out the Hellfire Club as it is done in the comics. I can only hope they take it further if they do a sequel and not just jump into another storyline – that would be cooler I think. I was also very suspicious of Kevin Bacon being cast as Sebastian Shaw. I like Kevin Bacon. But this character is a certain way and his physical attributes kinda help make him. And Kevin Bacon doesn’t have those. But he was GREAT.

All of the casting was fantastic. James MacAvoy was a great young Charles Xavier. Hilarious that they showed him being a bit of playboy in college :) Michael Fassbender, who plays Eric (Magneto) was, in my opinion, perfect. He plays the dark, handsome, super strong man who has his demons. Also = hot :) If Daniel Craig ever wants to stop playing James Bond, the producers needs to look no further than this guy.

All the younger mutants (the “First Class” were good. They do veer from, or “re-imagine”, the X-universe. But that’s OK. They did it really well much like the new Star Trek movie did. There a couple surprise cameos in the movie which are fun. Yes, I do think they could have found a much better White Queen than January Jones but she looked the part and didn’t have to emote too much. Although if they did expand on the Hellfire Club storyline and needed the White Queen to do more – they might consider replacing her. Or getting her acting lessons.

The bulk of the movie is set in the early 60s which is a gorgeous time period for costumes. Mad Men (and James Bond before it) shows us how cool they are dressed back then! They set this around the drama with Cuba, Russia and JFK. It works as a good backdrop and a useful story.

I highly recommend the movie!

Also…Michael Fassbender = HOT :)

Guy in turtleneck = yum :)

So my pinched nerve is still around and killing me. I get my (hopefully) final x-ray for my ankle on Wednesday, and while it gets sore after walking or doing my physical therapy, it’s nothing compared to the “I want to saw my shoulder and arm off to stop the pain” from the pinched nerve. 24/7 pain can wear you out. My husband seems to think it’s no big deal. CANNOT wait until he hurts himself and needs sympathy or understanding…

So far, I’ve been to a medical doctor (2), a chiropractor, physical therapist and an acupuncturist. They all agree I have textbook symptoms of a pinched nerve. Yeah, thanks – I got that by reading webmd. But there is no “cure” for that other than your body healing itself. Great. But the chiro and acupuncture did help to a certain degree. Next, I believe I will be trying a Wiccan spell…maybe some voodoo?

My regular doctor sent me to a “Physical Medicine” doctor yesterday who deals with sports and back/shoulder injuries and pain management. He prescribed me a home traction machine (think The Rack for your neck and head) and Prednisone for a week. I like the traction machine at my physical therapist’s so hopefully that gets delivered Monday or Tuesday. It literally stretches your head/neck/spine to relieve the pressure on the nerve. I’m also hoping it will make me a couple millimeters taller :) He also prescribed a drug used for nerve pain. I grilled him on what the drug was, side effects, what else it is prescribed for, etc and he assured me it’s one of the safest drugs out there. Uh-huh (I have a natural distrust of doctors…will never change my mind about that.) I read up on it before I took it because I’ve pretty much decided 90% of drugs pushed nowadays contain some form of psych drug which I want no part of. Get away.

I read the info sheet but then went online. First, most people who put their experiences up online seem to have bad ones. I learned that when researching Storm’s illnesses but man…people…we need positive stuff up online too! Sheesh. Anyway, a lot of psych drugs are pushed for pain nowadays because you are likely to be depressed if the pain is long-lasting. Of course I’m depressed you numnutz – I AM IN PAIN. And can’t do anything fun! But giving me something to F my brain up is NOT the solution. Stopping the pain and curing why I have the pain is. But the drug he gave me is not a psych drug. At least there is no place I could find online that it is prescribed for any type of mental crap and, in fact, people on message boards talk about how they take this for the nerves and something else for their depression. Nice. So I might try it tonight. I really hate taking anything for any reason.

I was watching TV and there was a Cymbalta commercial on. But before you know it’s for Cymbalta they show you people who are experiencing regular daily pain from back injuries, arthritis, etc. so you would assume it is for a pain reliever. Then they say “Cymbalta Can Help” (their wonderful tag line.) F.U. Eli Lilly. F.U. They now basically prescribe anti-depressants for anything: for pain, to quit smoking, weight loss. Frackin’ gross.

Yes, I get how being in pain for a long time can depress you. Of course it can. I haven’t been able to do anything fun for weeks. And just sitting and reading or watching TV hurts. And yeah, I get bummed about it. But I *will* get better. I refuse to stay in a mopey state of mind for very long. And when I get mopey, I know it’s because I’m tired. Tired of hurting and being tired. I don’t sleep much or well. And haven’t since I broke my ankle which then led to the pinched nerve. Plus being in pain simply wears you out. But there is not 1 part of me that would EVER consider taking an anti-depressant to “deal” with that. What is wrong with society that this is the only way you know how to deal with things. By not dealing and just drugging. Bah.

I also read the info sheet that they gave me with my Prednisone. Every side effect in the world is possible – excellent! But I like how weight loss AND weight gain were included. Huh? I’ll take the weight loss please…thanks!

But here is hoping with my ankle x-ray is good and the brace comes off this Wednesday, which will then allow me to walk more normally and not aggravate my pinched nerve so that heals and it all gets better. I need to be in good walking/running shape by Comic Con!!! And I need my husky walks again. THAT is a natural anti-depressant :)