Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon 3/28/09

I'd not done this half marathon before and, as usual, was apprehensive. First, there was the matter of getting there on time. Up at 5:30 and with a very cooperative dog I managed to get on the road by 6:30 and at the event in plenty of time to get my chip. I met a gentleman who said he'd trained for the two hills that occur behind the Raleigh Art Museum and was hoping to do a PR this day. (He told me later he had missed by just 12 seconds. He did get second in his very populated age group.)

It had rained all Friday night and was still overcast as we were between storms. A heavy thunderstorm was anticipated for the afternoon. However, it was warm. The provided tech shirt was more than sufficient. This being my 3rd half, I was doing it a bit differently. I had a modified fuel belt (as opposed to carrying a tiny bottle of Hammer Sustained Energy mix in my pocket.) which had a small pouch into which I had some energy jelly beans and threaded though the belt portion, one fuel bottle with the mix. I felt a bit dumb walking around with it, feeling like I was imitating someone who knew what they were doing or was just starting out. (Do you ever see big time runners with fuel belts? Usually you see them on runners doing the ultras etc. or on beginners who fear dropping from thirst.) I had used the mix one time before (in the tiny bottle) and it did not hurt, so why not? Maybe it helped. One nice lady in the hotel lobby helped me get the belt tight enough so it wouldn't bounce around. She was running with a bronchial cold that she was just starting to get over and planned to take it easy. Another wanted to know if there was a porta potty along the route (yep - at mile 6.)

One other change was that I planned to jog 15 minutes, then walk two and continue that trend as long as I could.

People lined up for the start on two separate blocks, haphazardly. No pace related sections. Some were on Davie street (and would turn onto Wilmingon for the start) and some on Wilmington. I think most on Davie had crossed the Start mat before I got to it. (In the end, I found I had been 2.5 minutes behind those who were right at the Start line. It took me that long after the starting horn to get to the Start mat. )

The race went up Wilmington, left onto Edenton, where a live band -- one of five or six along the route --helped us along, and then left onto I think Cabarrus, over to Wilmington again and back up to Edenton and left again. The race continued on Edenton to the merge with Hillsborough and on up to Blue Ridge Road to the Art Museum, back around the back portion and alongside or behind Meredith College before eventually returning back onto Hillsborough and down to the right jog onto Salisbury and left onto Fayetteville Street and the Finish near the Sheraton.

I did okay through the first loop but noticed that my Nike Sport Band was off in terms of distance recorded. It was short. (In the end, it was off by over a mile and half - short.) At mile one, it seemed my time was around a 10:56 pace. My 15 minutes elapsed somewhere after we had crossed Davie street again and before mile 2. I didn't feel as if I needed to walk but did so anyway. A plan is a plan until it is time to break it. One lady I encountered was doing a five minute jog with a one minute walk between. She said this was about a 13 minute pace.

I was still adhering to my plan when we turned onto Hillsborough and I skipped water stop one. By the time we got to stop two, I was already out of synch in terms of 15 jog/2 walk. I was about 3 or 4 minutes into the run part but decided to start the walk so I could imbibe some of my mix and chase it down with the water. Broke the plan and from that point on, it was about half and half as to sticking to it.

I did not find Hillsborough as challenging as in the past (maybe because I was running slower and not trying to finish a 5K!) At around mile 6, near NCSU Vet School fields, the porta potty awaited at least two women lined up outside. Fortunately, I did not need it and kept on going (I have yet to use one during an event.) By Blue Ridge Rd I could feel tightness in my hips. I slogged along. I met one young lady who asked if there were any races in Raleigh without hills. (No.) She was looking forward to seeing her children at the Finish line so they could see what Mommy had done. (I saw her afterwards and she was lined up with her kids for a photo, Happy as could be.)

When we hit the path behind the Art Museum I was in the jog mode. We passed a reclining stone statue of a pair of legs (butt to path) that some were debating as to whether it was a cow's legs or something else. Surely, the man was jesting. No doubt it was the rear view of a reclining woman's lower half. Shortly after came the hills the runner had told me about earlier. I decided to walk up them. It did not take much convincing of myself to do so. I knew I would grab some water at mile 10, and just kept that in mind. It probably was nearing 70 degrees by then, still overcast, but with an occasional peek of sun.

By the time I was on Hillsborough again, it became a mental thing, especially before the bridge where Edenton merged. I decided to try to keep jogging regardless of the 15 minute rule. It became harder to do so after passing Second Empire Restaurant. I could see the Capital aways ahead and knew I still had a jog around it and then the trek down Fayetteville still to go. I managed to slow jog my way until about a block and a half from the finish, where I increased my pace and by the Finish was in a full out sprint - well, as much of a sprint that I could do at that point.

What was great was that my breathing all along was fine and my legs did not hurt at the end. (A modified ice bath after walking the dog two miles upon return home helped keep it mostly that way. Epson salts the next day and the best of all: horse liniment starting on day 2 and ending day 3, erased any residual ache.)

As for results: essentially, I had the same time as the two preceding City of Oaks Rex Healthcare Half Marathons: gun time 2.31.56 and chip time 2.29.29. So, though the course is a bit different, I don't know if 15/2 made too much of a difference. Though, I was able to sprint end, which I had not done in any preceding Half. As far as age group: next to last.

I shall do it again next year if still around and no conflict. The bands were great and people too.

3/19 5K fun cross country run #2

Same course as last week, only muddier. 6P.M. or so. Lots of rain in the preceding days, with one nice day before the run. Rain threatened, and it was a bit warmer than last week. 41 people came out and all of us were skirting or hopping over the muddy areas. I found that I was not as fast, er, rather, I was slower than slow. I did not seem to have the same energy as last week and I attribute it to maybe having been at the gym the day before. It couldn't be the pseudo softball game earlier in the day.

Even though not as energetic, I still enjoyed the outing. At the end, coming up the muddy trail and then eventually onto the field for the semi circle trot around to the end, the wind really picked up and a few rain drops fell, preceding the forthcoming storm. It's hard enough going up the hill for me -- and that field -- ugh. Add the wind and it was a drag oneself to the end event. My time was about 33 minutes.

And the folks are great. Real runners that they are, nonetheless they tolerate and encourage the old crone.

It looks like rain is forecast for this coming Thursday. If so, I may not do run #3 because Saturday brings the Half Marathon for which I need all my energy. I have run a Half after running a 5K the day before, but for crones, that is not smart. So an excuse not to do the XC, even though I really enjoy it, will keep me home.

One buck a year for the worst job in the world

Edward Liddy took the job of CEO of AIG in September 2008, at the behest of the government. He is taking one dollar a year as his salary. No bonus, no stock options, no stock. And all the grief in the world as well as a situation that can only lead to sevcre stress. He will be lucky if his health survives this ordeal.

On top of the mess to be resolved (dissolution of AIG), he, and his family, is receiving death threats as a result of the AIGFP bonus news.

Who would want such a job?

AIG March 2009 bonuses to AIGFP unit

AIG: Another potential infusion of thirty billion (within next five years) to a company that has absolutely no regard for the people holding the safety net.

It is absolute nonsense to say that AIG had to honor May 2008 contracts with certain AIGFP employees that apparently guaranteed them bonuses. This is the very unit that was instrumental in the $99 billion 2008 loss.

Okay, so these bonuses are "retention" not performance bonuses. According to Mr. Liddy, gov. appointed CEO, these were for the task of closing the "books" on the business of AIGFP. 74 individuals received greater than $1 million in bonuses, 11 of whom have left. He says they completed the task they were assigned and therefore got the contracted bonus. He also says that it was the Credit Default Swap section of AIGFP that brought the company to its knees. Get this: it was a total of 20 to 25 people responsible for the huge loss! (they cost AIG a $15 Billion loss.) There are other units in AIGFP, such as Derivatives, that were not at fault. (AIGFP had 435 employees, now 360.) He maintains that the $165 million in bonus money is for the Derivative folk. (Another $200 Million in retention bonus is due these folks in 2010. Liddy does not anticipate this will be given out as he expects these people will have left by then.

Please! If the government had not loaned / bailed out AIG in 2008 and now 2009, these people would not have a job. Forget a bonus. It is ridiculous to say a contract must be honored when the company that issued the contract would no longer exist if not for a bailout.

They are lucky to have a job (at probably tidy salaries.)

AIG says these employees are needed to undo the mess they made. Well then, we are all in serious trouble because how can Congress modernize regulations for something they do not understand? Liddy says that the potential loss if these people leave and AIGFP fails is $1.6 TRILLION.

AIG needs to rescind those bonuses if the public is to have any faith in how the US Congress and Senate are overseeing this situation.

It's tough not to get sick over the continuing "in your face" antics of these bailed out companies. And, the government that is kowtowing to them.

Run for the Oaks

Many races, all gone by without comment. Why? Just did not get to it in time. A quick summary of a few that stick in my mind:

City of Oaks Marathon Rex Healthcare half marathon November 2008. 6 a.m. Early morning. Cold, barely light. Me in my black plastic bag, shed before the uphill race start. I tried to maintain a slow steady pace. Slow, because that is how I must jog if I want to keep breathing! I noticed right at the start people shedding clothes. This year, the course differed in its start location and maybe that is why when I reached Hillsborough near the I-64 overpass, I wasn't dying to the extent I was the year before. Nonetheless, I was mighty happy to reach the turn around on Blue Ridge Road. I dragged myself to the end in spurts. Happy to finish.

Frozen 5K Cross Country January 2009. 11 degrees. In two shirts (one tech and one cotton) and a vest, plus gloves, hat, and a cloth thing to cover mouth and nose, I almost became a frozen figure while waiting for the start of the race. I pitied the Panther Creek HS volunteers who were out manning the course. How much worse it would be for them. We ran and they stood. Ugh. Cruel. Once the race got started, the thing around the mouth and nose came down to my neck (the breath fogged my sunglasses) and I was oblivious to the cold. Only my huffing and puffing mattered. Keeping an eye out for roots, I followed the course which just about mirrored the December Jolly Elf 5K. This was good because I had an idea of how much longer the torture would last. On the last bit, with the finish in sight, I actually slowed so that a young boy would cross the line before me. Youth before Crone. This was the first year of this race and the students at Panther Creek had presciently named it, despite the fact that under 20 degrees here is unusual!

Wake Med Distance 5k (as opposed to the 10K) March 7, 2009. I dreaded this run. It starts uphill (for a short distance) then winds around downtown before returning for a long uphill stretch and the final downhill. Previous years it has been a killer for me. The weather was decent: somewhere around 65 (prior years it has been much colder). I managed to hang onto a slow jog without slowing to a walk for about half way. But, just like in prior years, I died on that last uphill. Right after the beginning of the incline and at least two or more times I dropped down to a leaning walk. Still, the whole race did not seem as bad to me as in prior years.

St Patty's Green Run 8K, March 8, 2009. Originally, I had wanted to run this one instead of the Wake Med Distance 5K , but I had a conflict. The conflict went away, so I signed up for this Sunday run, despite having done the 5K the day before. I am glad I did. There were about 800-1000 who participated, of those, 676 who had signed up for a timed (competitive) run finished. At the Start line, there were two women in green and white striped leggings and huge Moppet type hats running with a fellow who had the hat but not the leggings. It was hot, 84 degrees or so, so the hats came off pretty quickly! That is one thing about some of these races: the costumes! Such fun to observe. The race took off up Person St, eventually winding around Oakwood Cemetery and back to a finish on Blount St. I had just enough left at the end to sprint in a race with a young woman to the Finish line. Many runners and fans ate and drank at tables outside of Tir Na Nog after the race. This added to the party atmosphere. I have added this to the list of races I might do next year if still alive and stirring the pot.

On Thursday, March 12, I ran a fun non competitive Cross Country.5K Afraid of getting lost, I made sure this old crone kept a faster runner in sight. We passed an old hulk of a car in the woods which reminded me of when I was eleven and in Connecticut. Out in the woods was an old car, once belonging to some member of the family, that I would oft go and visit and look over. A friend now tells me I was lucky not to encounter any snakes there. She is right, for, once when riding a horse in those woods we did encounter a snake. Being slow in a cross country is certainly an advantage: any snakes will have long been frightened away by the time I get to where they were.

And finally, Race for the Oaks, March 14, 2009. 40 degrees. Dreary. Wet. This usually well attended race had fewer participants this year, the weather probably the primary factor. A few folks had St Patrick's Day regalia on, but most had jackets and hats, though I did spot two young guys at the award presentation who were still in their skimpy shorts, bare, muscled, legs shaking in the cold, and by now, heaver rain. The race took off up Person St (again) and followed much of the route the preceding Sunday's 8K had, except there was no circling of the cemetery. I managed to jog the entire way, a first for me, I think, and so was happy with my results. At least three or four times the temptation to drop to a walk was almost overwhelming, especially on the uphill inclines. But I forced myself to jog, no matter how slowly. I decided to stay near two guys just in front of me, one wearing a jacket with Raleigh Fire Dept. embroidered on the back. At the finish, I wasn't up to a full out sprint, but the half sprint turned out to be just the thing to edge out another competitor. One nice thing about the event is that the City of Raleigh gives out oak saplings to attendees to perpetrate the Oak heritage of the area.

ACORN

ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) pays people to solicit new voters. They are paid by the hour. According to news reports, some hound people to fill out registration forms, even if they are already registered! Some take names and addresses from the phone book and forge a signature, or just make up names and addresses. How can anyone be surprised? They have flooded the Board of Elections in inner cities with piles of voter registrations. Some percentage of which are invalid.

What does ACORN say? Only a few of their workers turned in phony forms. Yeah?

The first problem is paying people to solicit registrations. What can you expect? These folks are not driven by passion for the political process. Why work hard when it is easier to make up the data.

What's the harm ACORN asks. The phony voter forms will be caught by the BOEs of the city. The harm is the time taken by the BOE workers to process this crap. Time they could better spend processing legitimate registration forms. It is an insult to the system. And, this is not the first time this has happened with ACORN registration cards. Seattle 2007 is a prior instance.

If ACORN were at all concerned with the election process they would have changed their policies and procedures a long time ago. They haven't and they are hurting their image and their mission.

The Lunar Trainers

With the accumulated gift cards I had, I bought a pair of NIKE LUNAR TRAINER shoes. These are much lighter than the New Balance shoes I have been running in. In my case "running" when talking more than 400m, means jogging interspersed with walking. I have tried them twice and so far, so good. Going to a good running store sure helps in making sure one gets the correct sized shoe. It turns out that I have been running in some that were a bit short in toe, but not enough to cause any problems. Now that I have run about 4 miles in them, I shall go back to my NB shoes for all normal runs and reserve the Lunars for events.

So - will I run the next 5K any faster? Not likely, but I might feel less effort in my snail's pace. And it will sure help in the half marathon coming up in a few weeks. For which I am not prepared. That's not bragging, it is a statement about lacking the stamina to do any serious distance training. I just am not a distance runner. I'm a sprinter. Some year soon, I shall forego these distance events and probably this second half marathon will be my last.

PORTFOLIO.COM

I have found an excellent online financial news and commentary magazine, named PORTFOLIO.COM. Great stuff. Good explanations for simpletons like this NC Crone as well as in depth articles for the more financially sophisticated.

For some entry level explanations of "leverage" and "collateralized debt obligations" here is a link to PORTFOLIO.COM's graphical description of terms, as well as articles on how we got into the mess.

credit crunched

One article on the origin of these derivatives, "The $58 Trillion Elephant in the Room". by Jesse Eisinger, is at:

the elephant

Whether you like finance or not, these are enlightening and entertaining columns and articles. One could spend hours just browsing.

Bah Humbug to both parties.

Think about it. You are eaking out a living, paying rent and just making it. Maybe you a have one or two children. Maybe more. You want a bigger place. You want a home of your own. You want equity. But you have no or very little savings. How on earth are you ever going to reach the goal of your own home, part of the "American Dream"?

The operative word is DREAM. Not "right".

This current financial mess had its origins in the concept that regardless of income, you should not be denied a home loan. Pushed by the Democrats of the more liberal persuasion, the idea was to help lower income folks and minorities obtain their own home. The Democratic administrations encouraged high risk loans and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought these loans and sold as mortgage backed securities. Much of the pressure on banks to make loans with a higher risk of default, came from the threat of discriminatory lending practices lawsuits.

Let's be truthful, here. The threat and cry of racism has been used to circumvent common sense. Realism is that due to various social factors, minorities, mostly represented in the past by African Americans , live in low income areas. Decent paying jobs are hard to come by, again for myriad reasons. Bottom line is they can just afford the rental homes they are in. It's a struggle. In this situation: low income jobs, high rents, they are not good candidates for a home mortgage loan. That's reality.

But the Dems said Not Fair! These folks deserve a home as much as anyone else. Stop your unfair lending practices. Make these risky loans. Sure, a certain percentage will default, but that's okay.

So, the "Trillion Dollar Commitment" to sell to ten million low income families was made by Fannie Mae in 1994. Loans were made, bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Lenders on the make for large commissions wrote mortgages for little or no money down. And, oh, by the way, some of the lenders wrote the mortgage for more than the home was worth and may have whispered, maybe, that your payments might escalate substantially if the rates changed. Everyone left the loan office happy: the lender with a nice commission, the buyer with a feeling of pride and security. Let's not forget that during this time the Fannie Mae execs and their Congressional lobbyists made a fine pile of money. Subprime reigns.

Home Equity loans taken by mddle income homeowners flourished. Homes were used as banks, with the belief that eventually the loan would be paid off, perhaps by selling the asset at a higher value. No fear and too much optimism reigned here. Or, it was a "cover the current crisis and worry about paying later" mentality.

Loans were bundled into securities and sold to investors. The Republicans, not to be outdone, urged less regulation. A free market operates better; good stuff will trickle down to everyone.

Institutions and investors who bought the mortgage backed securities also bought credit default swaps as insurance against possible loan defaults.

Then rates went up, real estate values went down, the defaults escalated, and eventually Fannie and Freddie went belly up. Failures up the gazoo followed and the market is now down, oh about 3000 points and continuing its fall. And Europe is taking the big slide down as well.

Pity some of the suckers now being foreclosed. They are worse off than before they walked into the lender's office.

So, who to vote for? The Democrats with a sometimes too socialistic agenda or the Republicans with the too optimistic "all business is good--trust them" outlook?

Bah Humbug on all!

Emergency Stabilization ... and Pork!

Even now, they can't resist. Tacked onto the Senate version of the Emergency Stabilization Act (bailout) are gobs of tax relief, energy incentives, and other miscellaneous acts or modifications and extensions to existing acts.

The added sections include:

DIVISION B--ENERGY IMPROVEMENT AND EXTENSION ACT OF 2008
DIVISION C--TAX EXTENDERS AND ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX RELIEF

one example within this section:
SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY CHILDREN.

This item, well touted in the media, is the wooden arrow excise tax exemption, inserted by the Oregon Senators, to the tune of $2 million over ten years. This $200,000 oer year exemption is said to benefit Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, Oregon.

What does this have to do with stabilizing the financial situation?

I doubt Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith of Oregon will feel any shame regarding this piece of pork. No, they are bringing home the bacon to at least one grateful Oregon constituent.

What's another $200,000 loss of government revenue a year? Whether you think pork is okay when it comes home to your state, or not, it is outrageous to add it to this bill. A prime example of how the legislature works. And why there is such disgust with the way of government.

This is how the Federal Legislature works. In order to garner votes, such crap is allowed into all sorts of bills. This is why line item veto would be a welcome addition to the Executive. (The argument against line item veto is the power the Executive would then have to keep a legislator in line.)

If the Emergency Financial Stabilization Act is that critical, why could they not restrict this legislation to that crisis alone? Obviously, it was not that important to those legislators who had to be wooed by the addition of extraneous items, including some pork.

The colonials used to use tar and feathers in protest,. Maybe the time has come for slathering lard on the most egregious offenders?

Is the sky falling?

The House version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization (HR3997) bill (BAILOUT!) failed to pass today. The DOW is currently down 683 points.

This version included:

(1) New "Golden Parachute" contracts from firms taking bailout would not be allowed. Existing golden parachute contracts will still be in effect. Betcha most of these execs already have such contracts in place!

(2)Corporations selling bad mortgage debts to the government, who pay their CEOs and other execs more than $500,000, will no longer to be able to deduct the compensation over $500,000 from their taxes. (Does this include stock optins and bonus pay from that calculation?)

(3)Supposedly, though I have only seen this in one report, there is a "clawback" provision. If a bailed out corporation had to restate prior earnings (based on these devalued assets) to a lower number, the executives would have to return (to whom?) the bonuses and incentives that had been based on bloated earnings reports. Indeed, those moneys would have to be ripped out of their hands.

(4) If in five years, the return on these government acquired bailout assets does not equal what the government paid, the President will have to propose to Congress legislation which would require the Financial Industry to make up the difference. Yeah? The whole industry, even the good guys? And if the bad ones no longer exist (for any number of reasons) what then? Believe it when you see it.

How about the cost of administering this bailout program? Valuing the assets, managing the assets (what about foreclosures and deterioration of said property, and selling the assets over time.

Speaking of foreclosures, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (remember him?) said that the Fed cannot change the terms of an assumed mortgage (such as making the interest and/or payoff rate more reasonable)unless it has the majority ownership of the mortgtage backed security (direct loan purchases from a bank is a different case.)

If you are tempted to vote for this legislation because you think it will keep people in their homes, think again: in fact, Treasury will not be able to change the terms of bad mortgages because the Act does not require Treasury to purchase a controlling share in the underlying mortgage backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. The Secretary will be powerless to make any real and substantive change in the terms of mortgage. The Secretary will have NO power to avoid foreclosures and keep families in their homes.

Economists and financial gurus are all over the place on this bailout. Most want the bailout but others say it is not needed. Real helpful. Three days ago, on Friday, Cramer said that the big money folks were already making a run on money markets etc and were moving their money to Treasury Bills. He was very negative about the consequences if the bailout bill was not passed this past weekend. More banks and investment institutions failures. Huge numbers of banks.

And yet. And yet I read about the money made by the folks in the firms that came up with and traded the financial exotics that led to the inflated balloon that has now burst making huge amounts of money, even in 2007.

According to Bloomberg News, the five largest Wall Street firms, including Bear Stearns (bailed out by the government) and Lehman, made $66 billion, which included $39 billion in bonuses. This brought the average4 pay of each employee to $353,089, including $211,849 in bonuses. Great money for screwing the taxpayer.

Politicians and Wall Street keep saying that this is really a bailout for Main Street because with credit currently frozen no one gets lines of creditor loans.

From CNN MONEY:

Most businesses don't keep much cash on hand. They rely on banks' lines of credit to cover them until they get paid by their customers

For each business that can't get funding, the impact is felt by many, experts said. The company may curtail credit to its customers, forcing them to pay more cash up front. It won't buy as much from suppliers or invest in upgrading its operations. And it may have to cut its workforce, or at least postpone expanding it.

Other experts, however, say that most companies can get by for the time being. Credit lines, they point out, usually last for at least a year so banks can't start pulling them willy-nilly unless the terms are broken. And business can better survive a credit squeeze than a major downturn in consumer spending, which has yet to materialize.

How about thinking about getting back to running a business or home finances with mostly cash on hand? Okay, initially a business could really use a line of credit, but to end up in a position years down the road where you can not meet your payroll without drawing money from a line of credit .. that is not good.

I'm still not for this bill, despite the dire predictions, unless the bonus money is riped away from the greedy fingers of thise who brought this on. Say two years' woth of bonus money. Since spent money can't be returned. then maybe the future profits of these companies should be be highly taxed. Okay, I know this won't happen.

Bring back the Puritan stockade!

Place a whole line of stocks near the beautiful Bull sculpture. Three days for each CEO, President, COO, and myriad VPs. A new tourist attraction bringing more bucks to the City of New York.

Market ended up down 777 points. Would have been interesting if it had been 666 points.

One politician said that someone who needs a new washing machine now can't get a loan. Who gets loans for an appliance? Most people charge it (building more credit card debt). As for a new washing machine, a laundromat suffices. Now, if it were a refrigerator that stopped working .....

Joy of sprinting, ah, winning.

Yesterday I ran the 100 meter, 400 meter, and 200 meter races, in that order. I happened to win all three, which was not a given. I was asked why I participate in these events. I mentioned that it is such a great feeling when you can run at your best, with no pain and no gasping. By pain, I mean burning quads. And by gasping I mean a severe oxygen deficit. Gasping after crossing the finish line is okay, but not while trying to get to that line!

Yesterday my breathing was so much better. I ran the 400m at an even pace until the last curve when I picked it up and went all out to the end. No pain. And though breathing hard, the oxygen was getting where it needed. Zounds. What a feeling! I hardly recognized it.

I ran a 400m in April and not only did the quads burn but the breathing was the pits.(Exercise induced asthma is the problem.) I just edged out the man I was competing against, after being about 55 meters behind as I rounded the last turn. Great joy.

Did I say I wanted to stop running after rounding the first curve? I was out of gas even then!

Back to yesterday. What I did not mention to the reporter was the absolute joy of overtaking and passing someone (maybe winning, maybe not. In this case, winning.) Or the joy of getting out in front at the git go and keeping the lead to the end. Who doesn't like to win? But when you can surpass your own expectations and beat someone you had no expectation of coming near (because the last time you raced with them, they were totally out of reach), well that's exhilarating.

Down right joyous making. Maybe it is all about meeting or exceeding your own expectations.

Say what? 700 Billion?

The Crone barfs!

Say what? $700 billion, right now, please. What's the hurry? The "market" has to run to the John? It took a few years for the financial investment banks to come up with the schemes that got us into this mess. Let them wait while the government comes up with a reasonable, not a hurried plan. Secretary Paulson keeps saying we must hurry. The banks need liquidity so the average consumer and small business person can get loans. Yeah, right.

The assumption is the government will take over these debts, which they admit are so complex they need multiple experts to try to evaluate them. The same experts who helped get us here?

In private industry when a company loans another money, it usually gets good rates and/or equity in the firm. Why should the US Government (taxpayer) not be treated the same?

I listened to part of today's Hearing and am disturbed by some things I heard.

(1) Credit Card and student load default debt coverage? Absolutely not! Banks and others have encouraged credit card debt. Both the consumer who lacks fiscal responsibility and the banks that inundate us with credit card offers are responsible. Let them pay thee price. (I am not as hard on student loan debt. However, let's stick to the main problem.) We do need some moral leadership to reduce personal debt. (Encouraging spend, spend, spend to boost the economy has its price.)

(2)The taxpayer will not abide golden parachute exits from bailed out companies. Not that these folks have not already gotten huge profits from these illiquid schemes (AIG's Fuld, $490 million in stock options and bonuses). Let them walk away with full pockets and the taxpayer will be throwing virtual teabags in the harbor.

(3) No possibility of future review of the Treasury Secretary's actions in this matter by a court of law or review is not acceptable. There should be some liability, even if limited.

(4) What's the doggone rush? This situation has been coming on for some time and now all of a sudden the "market" has lost faith? The "market" is what brought this on! (As well as consumer's lack of knowledge about the equity and mortgages.) Take the time to get it right. My IRA, pension, etc has already lost value. And so it goes.

(5) No to $700 billion! Absolutely not. Where does this figure come from? Is it every asset class that is in default? Infusing some money into the banking system , not taking over the entire consumer debt problem, should be the goal. Secretary Paulson says we need to get liquidity back into the "market". How about a 100 or 200 billion infusion? (I get sick just thinking about it.)

I am not real savvy on credit-debt swaps or the other esoteric financial instruments. I am just someone who has no debt. Why? Because debt is damn scary. Too bad that is not the case for the US Government or the "market"!

Absolutely disgusted. Arrrrgh!