Ridgeway, SC

I'm sitting on a load of racks that I brought up from our drop yard in Channelview, TX. When they get ready to take them, they'll re-load me with something else destined for Garland, TX. I'll drop that at HQ in Little Rock, probably tomorrow, because it's over 700 miles away and I probably won't excape til afternoon.

When I drop that load, I'll have almost 3,000 miles for the week, and my pay period won't expire until tuesday. (Tomorrow is friday). A very good week!

While sitting here waiting, I checked my DeepInsight trading program, scribbled down it's trading recommendations, hit my broker's site, and checked stuff out. I wound up dumping some LMRXF, bought a couple july puts in something else, and bought SSRI (A silver mine. LMRXF is uranium--I think. I took some profits there.)

I've become much better than I used to be at this stuff. Selling off some of the LMRXF is one of the things I learned. You take the sure profit and don't get too greedy, (by holding onto it waiting for bigger gains)--that's where something bad happens and you get slaughtered (like a pig--get it?)

Jim Kramer taught me that. It's why I got the DeepInsight market analysis and trading program. It gave me the sell signal on one of the stocks which I had recommended to me by Jim Dines in his Dines newsletter. Both LMRXF and SSRI are actually long-term, growth stocks for me. I hate selling any of those, because I believe that in the longer-term they will continue to grow.

But I sold about 40% of my LMRXF to lock up the cash--and free it up for the SSRI. In a few weeks, probably, I'll buy those shares of LMRXF back, and maybe more of them.

Another thing I'm now more careful about is balance. Where I see that I have a lot of this and not so much of that, I target the latter for buying more and, of appropriate, the former for reduction. But I patiently wait until a signal is triggered by the program to do this.

Of course, all but one of the options I've bought took nose-dives. Several have already expired worthless. In real terms, I haven't really made any gains. But my portfolio is way up...on paper. So I'm doing ok, and expect to get better with the options.

That wasn't just a malicious attempt to bore everybody (hi Juan) to tears, but a way of telling you that I'm smarter than I used to be--in some ways. Still a slob, still lazy, and still dumb in other ways, but at least I'm taking care of myself.

You know the country singer Montgomery Gentry? When I was a kid, I sent some lyrics to this place, and they said "We like your stuff and want to hook you up with this struggling artist named Montgomery Gentry". I would have had to go to Nashville to work with him. I was suspicious, and scared, and I didn't.

There you go. Anyway, he either got good at lyrics himself, or found somebody like me, because he's real big now. One of his songs is "Something to be Proud Of". I like it. (Also "Daddy Won't Sell the Farm", by the way.)

That's right. I like some country music. I'm out of the closet. Go ahead, make your snide comments and jump me and beat me down outside the country music hang-out. I gotta be me!

It's not because I'm a trucker either. I still think NASCAR is dumb. But I always secretly liked country music. It was tough, growing up in Cleveland, hiding my true nature from my friends. But now that I'm "out", I feel liberated.

Of course, it's not the stigma it used to be. Shaniah Twain did a lot for us. You saw a video, and while you were gawking and drooling, the music sank in and hooked you. Then came 911, and Toby Kieth "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue". COOL!

Let's start this battle over, Juan: Patriotism is not "jingoism". "Jingoism" was a word invented by people who hate patriotism. During Viet Nam, it became unfashionable to say anything good about this country.

Like Toby's father, who indeed lost his right eye. (By the way, that probably meant that a round exploded in his chamber and blew his rifle up). He was a big JINGOIST, because he flew a flag in his yard. Shame on him! Under that flag we screwed the natives, stole Mexico and California, enslaved a whole race of people!

All that is true. It's also true that before the Spanish came to South America, conquering and enslaving it, the native civilizations conquered and enslaved eachother. Rome. The Syrians. Egypt. Everybody conquering and enlsaving everybody, usually at the whim of one individual.

This is where we came from. Conquest, slavery, blood, torture, palagues and famine. MOST of us, of any complexion, are descended from the dispossessed, and the enlaved.

What is important is NOW. Millions died to FREE the slaves. The native americans now have their own "nations" (hey the intentions were good--everything gets abused and exploited. And to this day a lot of people are trying to fix every problem.)

Did you know that most of the Mexicans in Texas and New Mexico allied themselves with the europeans against Santa Anna and a corrupt Mexico? Why is all you hear that we "stole" their land? Texas intitially wanted nothing to do with the US government, and only several years later did they join the Union. It was the PEOPLE of Texas who kicked Mexico out, because they were being OPPRESSED.

And Toby's father: Japan had conquered most of Asia, and was eyeballing New Zealand and Australia. Germany had conquered most of Europe, and was bombing the crap out of England. We were ignoring mutual defense agreements, betraying allies and allowing this to happen.

Everybody in government knew it was urgent. They wouldn't stop with Europe and Asia--Hitler had already made deals with Argentina and some other countries. Actual attack could be over a decade away, but they'd cut off our trade and isolate us shortly, once they'd conquered everybody else and started in on the Americas.

But people were marching in the streets, opposing involvement. Juan--you would probably have been among them. "What have they ever done to US?"

I hate to say this, and would hope the families of those lost would understand, but thank God for Pearl Harbor. The children who wanted to preserve their childhoods were silenced, and the government was free to do as it should have done several years earlier.

Toby's father and a few million others went over there and put a stop to the mayhem. They saved the freaking world. Nobody else could do it. It cost us dearly, but a whole lot MORE dearly than it would have, had we simply enforced some portion of the treaty of Versailles, and dismantled the German war machine before it became the monster it later became.

Korea: South Korea is free, because of us. And they hate us for it. Viet Nam: Now a communist country because of us. We abandoned them.

The peace marchers, and not the soldiers they hate, have caused more murder and conquest than can be calculated. We should have stopped the Axis sooner. Millions died in camps while you marched! Freedom fighters found, tortured, and executed. Our allies partly despise us because they know they can't TRUST us, as you'll hit the streets with your signs and stop us from doing as promised.

Pol Pot murdered millions we left defenseless and running for their lives. A day after Tet they were contemplating surrender--til they saw how it was reported, and realized they had friends over here.

One joke goes that democracy is two wolves and a sheep arguing about what's for dinner. Well, let me add to that: A couple weeks later, the wolves starve to death.

Get it?