a99kitten's Musings

I’ve been doing my best at staying upbeat and positive. No good comes of getting sad or depressed but sometimes it does squeeze through.

Storm’s blood work showed very, very elevated liver enzymes after his annual vet visit and blood work on Thursday. So on Friday he got an ultrasound. I was in there with him to keep him calm and got to see all of his insides! Pretty crazy really. And the good news is, besides his liver, the rest of his insides look good. But his liver does not. Four of his 6 nodes look “irregular”. Now, as a non-doctor, a lot of his ultrasound looks like black and white squiggles. But once the doctor points things out, you can see the difference between normal and not.

So he has an ultrasound-guided biopsy scheduled with a specialist tomorrow (Monday) at 10am. And I am very stressed. It can be a list of things that are wrong. Most of them treatable. But of course malignant tumor and cancer are also part of that list.

On Friday I was broken. I cried. I was sad all night. But the boys can sense sadness so I knocked that crap off and Saturday we had a great morning beach walk and Sunday too. Much skooshing and treats too. But now that Sunday is coming to a close, and I have to remember not to feed him anything after 10pm pre-op/biopsy for Monday AM, I am getting sad again. I should probably just go to sleep early. So that I can avoid the sadness.

Hopefully tomorrow goes OK. Storm is tough little guy. He is asymptomatic for any kind of liver disease, so that is good. And I will be there to do whatever we need to do to make sure he is OK. I remember when he crawled into my lap when we went to see him with his Mom, when he was 7.5 weeks old. It’s why I took him home. He chose me. And I’m glad he did. He chose a family that had the ability, time/money/willingness, to take care of him. He deserves that. He is a sweet little guy who loves his Momma.

But I don’t see a good night’s sleep in my horizon. But I’m glad he doesn’t know. He will sleep just fine, feet in the air and snoring :)

…because I love gold AND only in the will-never-be-repeated-ultra-cool early-to-mid 60s could you get away with a movie character named Pussy Galore that’s NOT in a porn movie…

Gold spot closed at $1269.20 today. December’s contracts closed even higher ($1271.70). That puts it well over it’s previous high. Silver closed over $20. Gold closing above it’s previous resistance is a big deal if you are chart/technical trader. I am not. I used to love to trade commodities but it will give you gray hair and an ulcer. This is what makes it both fun and unhealthy long term :)

I have been buying gold and silver as an investment for years now. I don’t buy the ETFs, I buy the physical coins. I do buy mining stocks too but for the metals – I want something I can hold. I’m not a crazed goldbug (although I love a good government conspiracy theory!) but I’m a firm believer in wanting the physical metal in my possession (well..at least in my safe deposit box’s possession) and not in the form of a piece of paper. Plus then you can take it out and play in it like Scrooge McDuck

I started buying gold and silver coins a long time ago. A few a year – not like I own Fort Knox or anything (THAT would be cool!) I like the reality of it. I can hold it in my hand. And I can sell it anytime. Stocks are fun, and I am a huge believer in the capital markets, but they don’t have this exact quality. I do not buy coins for their numismatic qualities – I know less than nothing about coin collecting. I buy for the pure commodity of it. But I stick with gold and silver. No platinum (except jewelry!!), copper, palladium, etc.

For sure, gold has had a HUGE run up. Many nay-sayers believe it will come back down and point you to the run-ups of the past. “It’s topped out, will crash, blah, blah.” But this is a different world and economy that we live in than 10 years ago. Than in the 70s. China and India are fast becoming very large economies with a growing upper and middle class that has disposable income and culturally they both love owning gold.

At sushi lunch a few months back, a retired lawyer was talking to my husband and me about the economy. He scoffed at gold buyers because he said the only reason the price went up is because of the paranoia of goldbugs over the economy. When I pointed out that the fact that China also just started allowing, and even advocating, its citizens to buy and own gold, all he had to say was “oh…really?” Yeah. Not just for the Mulders or Lone Gunmen out there anymore…

But yes, I’m sure plenty of people bought into gold for economic fear reasons. It has been the safe haven hedge for a long time now. And also to ride the wave up as retail buyers tend to do after fund managers take huge positions in anything. You can tell from all the ads for gold on TV, the radio, online that it’s aimed at the little guy now. I’m also sure there was a lot of short covering today after it blew through previous resistance of $1260. But it’s simply a different market (and world) now too. More buyers equals more demand.

Might it go back down from today’s newly-minted (see what I did there?!=geek on multiple levels!) high – likely. Funds take profits. Fact of life. Might it create new highs after that? Probably. (see…I can totally be a money-honey on CNBC too – never say it WILL, only it MIGHT or COULD!) So far the overseas markets are flat – keeping spot as it’s high. Of course, in commodities this changes fast so who knows where it will be when I wake up.

Oh, but please do not liquidate your portfolio or take out a loan to buy it (actual questions I get asked as our company’s 401k administrator…) It’s still speculative. This isn’t the California gold rush people (see why I like my 49ers!) But if you want to hedge your stocks or other investments, I personally have always felt it was a good one. I’m like Yukon Cornelius – always looking :) (totally love the song Silver and Gold too!)

And what will happen if the Republicans don’t get the little known detail that was “slipped” into Obama’s HEALTHCARE (?) bill that will require brokers to file 1099s for gold and silver bullion/coins purchases over $600 scratched? Who knows? But I don’t see it slowing down any demand. Just might create a shadow market.

I don’t trade my gold like my stock account (so usually only check open and close prices but today was a hot day.) I buy it and hold it like my 401k. And someday, I might sell it. So I watch these daily ups and downs and listen to the analysts dissect it and just smile and think to myself that I am happy I started buying it before it was “the rage” with a little “well done” pat on my back. Husband used to think my “little hobby” was silly and likely a waste of money that could be invested elsewhere. Then recently a very successful investment banker friend of his told him he does the same thing. Now I’m not so silly after all. Pfft. Men…

Now if I could just build my panic/safe room, I could move it from my bank’s safety deposit box to my house and play it in…just like Scrooge McDuck… ;)

My father used to read me those Disney stories as a kid and Scrooge McDuck was always one of my favorite Disney characters – maybe we are formed from a young age :)

These are now mine. Will be here tomorrow. Hopefully they fit well because I do LOVE the look of them! And the best part?! NOT made in China!! HA! Supporting other economies one purchase at a time…

I was snagged by the email ad I got showing these boots along with a cute outfit. Frankly, I probably would have hit delete without even looking if the picture of the outfit wasn’t included…

I actually bought them from endless even though the email/ad was from piperlime as endless is having 20% off boots right now. Plus I went through ebates and got another 7.5% cashback. Piperlime has 15% cashback from ebates right now but no sale on site. Both offer free shipping plus endless has NO sales tax – ha!

I have been hesitant on OTK boots since it’s not like I will wear them all *that* much and they are pretty trendy so spending loads of dollars on something that might stay in rotation for a year or 2 at best seemed silly. Plus a lot of them are either flat (no fun) or stripper-like (no thanks.) These are the right amount of casual for skinny jeans or with a cute mini.

We’ll see how cute they are in real life when they arrive tomorrow!

This tote is the perfect pink for me….but seems over-priced to me for a canvas bag….although undeniably adorable and well…Chanel.

If I could just find my quilted shoulder bag in THIS shade of pink with silver hardware – INSTANT purchase!

Also loving this jacket. A lot. LOVE houndstooth….

I am liking these high-heeled Oxford from J Crew. Mixing the conservative banker with a little naughty…

They could totally go badly with the wrong outfit/attitude. Like a little wicked witch-ish. But the right outfit? I’m thinking hot. Plus, I love wing-tips…

These however….J Crew….elf shoes?

I totally want this coat…in the “warm taupe” pictureD here which appears pinky to me…

I would look soooo cute in it :)

J Crew silk multi-color tank top
J Crew light green spring-weight cashmere cardigan
Michael Kors mustard yellow 5″ heels
Kate Spade Kelly green Opus

All tie in color-wise to my True Religion “butterfly” Joeys.

I totally win today’s color coordination contest :)

I just finished watching the (DVRed) MTV VMAs. Here is what I learned…

1. I like Justin Bieber. Is he Paul McCartney? No. But no one is. Can he actually sing unlike 99% of the shitbirds pumped out into pop music? Yes. His YouTube videos sound better than most of crap MTV “professionally” puts out (when they bother with music at all.) Might that change when he hits puberty and his voice changes? Sure. So you can’t really blame him (and Usher) for cashing in now. Plus he reminds me of my little brother. When my brother was actually little.

2. I like Taylor Swift. I’ve liked her since her first song was put out on the internet. I’ve seen her live and know she can sing live and sound good. Does she have the range of Carrie Underwood? No. Does she have the best voice in the whole wide world? No. So. She has a pretty voice for the songs she does. Did you hear Rihanna with Eminem? She sounded like the cat whose tail is slammed in the door. Actually almost all of the singers on the show sounded like that. Plus Taylor actually comes across sweet and nice. So weird in the music industry. And frankly, I think country artists are the only ones left with real voices. Well, them and gospel singers.

3. I still like Eminem. I know he is very likely a freakazoid. But I don’t want to marry him, so I don’t care. He does have good stage presence.

4. No one cares, or will pay good money to see, “The Social Network” except desperate Justin Timberlake fans. Mark Zuckerburg simply doesn’t have that many groupies.

5. The majority of “pop” music created today is just that – created. Without the help of the studio most of these guys sound like crap. Pretty sure the Monkees could at least hit their notes.

6. I was really, really hoping a light fixture would have fallen in the hot tub set they had the Jersey Shore cast in…

All of this was learned while fast forwarding thru the 2+ hour show. It took 23 minutes from start to finish. Booyah.

p.s. I wish I could have 15 of those minutes back.

They arrived last week and I finally brought them home from work yesterday and just now unboxed and “put them together” (put the pilows in the shams – very technical.)

Now where to put them….