Gunny Walker

  I've got stuff I've got to do, but I have one thing to write down before I forget it. We were talking at work about all this Kabalah stuff that Madonna Ester has gotten into. They brought up the fact that these people were buying 60 dollar red strings to wear around their wrist. I said that I thought it was twenty, but maybe the price varies. Maybe I'm wrong. That's not important. The thing said that was so funny was "And I hear they buy this special water that's supposed to be blessed or something. Isn't that just silly?"
  Yeah, red strings and special kosher water are much sillier than buying tons of WWJD crap and taking holy water. Of course, I didn't say that. I just smiled and agreed. I guess they saw the same show that The Hippy did.

  Hey dere. You're ole pal Gunny is purty tarred tuh-dee. My ole fren, the teach, sez thet when ah git tarred my ax-sent gits much worse. I figgered thet since I'm chewin gum, which duh-n help eny, I my es well type is way, too.
  A fella at work was talkin recently about how much money e's makin at spread tradin. I eard a quote of $3,500 dollars. I axed the persun e was talkin to about if dis fer da munth. Lil D said e thought is was for the year. Ov course, if somebody sez that they made $3,500 a munth wou-n you lissen up? Gawl durn it, I lissen when I her the number. I doan like the fella and paid attention. I figgerd ow thet e was spread tradin. Lil D wazzen sure ov duh time. I guess not airy one'z not az enterested ez I wuz about it.
  A $3,500 dollars a year, thas three hunnert a month. I can git three hunnert a month now. I think I'm gonna avoi dis spread tradin stuff. It dozen seem worth mah time. I'm dewin ah-eye.
  I've try to tell sevral fokes about this technichal analysis stuff, buh iz ussually when ahm tarred. Mebbe thas why dey doe-nt take mah advice.
  If you've enjoyed this pos then go check out thuh Wandrin Hillbilly's site.
  Laider fokes.

  Look folks. If you're going on vacation, you need to use Orbitz. I still check Southwest, but since my parents are going to the Grand Canyon with only two weeks notice, then Orbitz was cheaper. They are going to fly into and stay at Vegas a thousand dollars. They get a car, room and plane tickets for that price.
  I guess I'm just a cheapskate, but it shocks me what a lot of people say. They say things like, "Oh yeah, Vegas is nice. We got to stay at the MGM for eighty dollars a night. Then they told us that if stayed for four days we'd get a fifth night free."
  Well you dang well ought to. My parents are planning to stay for forty seven a night just two blocks away from Las Vegas Boulevard. They are right at the corner of Freemont and Las Vegas Boulevard.
  Of course as I've been told stuff like "Oh, that's at the wrong end of the strip" or "I want to be where the shows are."
  Hey for half the price, I can walk or ride the bus. Heck, for the price difference, I can drive. Yes, I am a cheapskate. Except for the fact that I want to go see Penn and Teller.
  The thing is that I only go on vacations with MeMa, because she is the only person that will go on vacations with me. Everybody else, doesn't have the money or the time. Not that MeMa has the money. I was talking to a coworker about this whole problem. They said, "But I wouldn't go to Vegas to ride coasters." I can do that here.
  I tried to get a group up to go ride the Stratosphere last year. (Of course, that's wasn't all I planned to do, but it was something I was definitely going to do, or chicken out.) I asked if he was serious. I can plan a weekend trip to a Six Flags somewhere. The truth is that he will back out as soon as I start discussing dates.
  In other news, I've shorted Wal-mart stock. I shorted 200 shares at 53.86. It's sitting at 53.56. That means that it's 30 cents below where I shorted it, and the 5 day is just above the 20 day. I'm just guessing the program again, just like what got me in trouble before, but I'm still going to try it. After all, Wal-mart announced that they will have half the earnings growth of what they expected for August, the Feds look like they are going to rise rates next month, and oil's through the roof. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that the this things going south. After all, the economy's bad isn't it? That's what the Democrats keep telling me. So I'm going to take their words for it and hedge my bets for it.

  Sorry about the lack of posting guys. I've been pretty busy. I had the family reunion and there has been a big rush to get ready at work to for some big wig coming in. It's crazy. We spend all this time getting ready. We literally wash the corners and then he/she only spends an hour or two looking around. Don't you think that this guy has a real job? He's got to get back to whatever it is that he's supposed to do? I'm pretty sure that his job isn't visiting every once in while to scare the bejeebus out of us? If it is then I want his job. Cause I can do that pretty easily. Just so long as the place isn't crawling with rats, the floors are clean, and it isn't raining that day (the roof leaks quite a bit at BTCA) then we are okay. I'd like to think that he an average guy who can shrug his shoulders and say, "Aw well, it could be better, but nothing's perfect. You haven't had anybody die lately have you? Good."
  Of course, he wants folks to die cause the economy is bad and we need to cut back on the insurance costs. Of course, there is the problem of firing them before they hit the ground. I'm sure that management at BTCA can handle that.
  There is an interesting story in the DNJ today. No need to see it actually. It's about a fashion show at The Country Club at Stones River. It's to create awareness about MTMC as a non-for-profit center for medical care.
  Attendees will be served "mimosas" (Whatever the heck those are), will be served some fashionable food, and at 12:30 will be able to sip "coffee" as they watch models show off the latest fashions while a fall fashion forecast is given.
  I say "coffee" because coffee should be like I want my women, "hot and black" not like I usually have them, "pale and cold." While I don't know for sure, I bet the latter is the way it will be.
  Yecch, this stuff makes me sick. It's just silly. Tickets are 25 dollars per person and reservations must be made by September 3. You want a fall fashion forecast? This year I'll be wearing black t-shirts and blue jeans cause if I am going to tear the heck out of my clothes than they aren't going to be over priced. I assure you reader, barring some crippling accident or disease, I will be tearing the heck out of my clothes.
  Of course, none of this is why I read this article. Usually, I detest this kind of stuff. The date struck me as odd. It's taking place on September 11. That's right a hospital is raising money on the third anniversary of this country's greatest disaster by holding a fashion show.
  Granted I understand that they had to pick a Saturday when nothing else was going on, but what happened to the cries to make this a day of mourning? Or a national holiday? It's just been three years ago. This is an organization that deals with tragedy raising funds on tragic day by holding a fashion show.
  It puts me in the mind of one thing I saw after 9/11. It was the main headline on The Onion. It said, "A shattered nation longs to care about stupid bulls--- again."
  We're back folks. It's good to be Americans again. It took a couple of wars and at least five Adam Sandler movies to get us there, but here we are. We're Americans and we don't give a hoot about the rest of the world.
  It's not that I ever read The Onion. I read it on The Gaping Maw. (Adults only) Unfortunately, the Gaping Maw doesn't update anymore. The internet was designed for those with ADD. That means nothing ever seems to stick around here long.
  Anyway, that's all I got for today. Later folks.

  I was going to go to the Wilson County Fair last night to watch the demolition derby, but I figured I better rest. After all, today is the day of the big family reunion. That's right folks are coming in from all over the country, Santa Fe, Detroit, etc. Well, no one's sure of the Michiganders, but Santa Fe folks are certain. Well, be having it a large park nearby that shares MeMa's maiden name. Well, maybe it's not so nearby. Actually, it a ways away, but MeMa insists so...
  Of course, It's not our family reunion. MeMa's sister's family has been having it for a while. We just kind of latched on. Most of MeMa's descendents aren't very good about getting together, but the few of us are making the effort. I'll get to spend the day with about forty people I hardly know. I'll also get to eat hamburgers. I'm making a special occasion out of this. It will be the fourth time this year I've knowingly eat beef. (I don't want to be any trouble. Or cause any strange looks.)
  So hopefully, everything will go well without any major problems. I hope we will not have any major fights either.
  I've been thinking about this blog. Has anybody been reading the stock and tax deed posts? That's the main reason I started this stuff. Sure, it's nice to have people interested in family reunions and stuff, but that wasn't the idea behind all this stuff.
  A lot of folks just seem skip right over it. It would be nice to know that some folks are genuinely intrigued by this stuff. I've only had a couple of people approach me about it. While I get many comments about the pic of the fish.
  Later folks.

  Okay, I closed out my position on HPQ. It had gone up some since I had shorted it. I shorted it at $19.55 and bought it back at $17.66. It seems to be back on it's way up, so I figured it best to go ahead and get out. Now I'll have to find another stock to invest in. On that first day it went down to $16.14. I didn't make as much money as I could have , but I still did well. That makes $1.89 a share. That's a 9.6 percent gain. Still pretty good considering how many years it would take to make that much in a certificate of deposit.
  What the heck happened to the adwords at the top of the blog? How's blogger going to make any money? If it's not making money, how will it stay in service? I think that it may be time to consider moving it over to the main site. Crap, that means I'll have to learn how to transfer all my posts.
  I saw a new blog. It's called Prison Pete. It's a guy in jail, who writes letters to the outside. His friend on the outside scans the letters and then puts them on the blog. If you read the first post it explains all of this.
  The auction yesterday was a bust. There were only two properties. One of them had a demolition lien. They didn't say what it was at the auction, but those demo liens are in the neighborhood of $10k. Eventually the buyer would have to pay it. No, you probably can't tear it down yourself. The less properties there are, the higher the prices. With only one, I'd hate to think what it would be. It was well over $50k. That's out of my price range. That's all that matters to me.
  Besides, I just made 9.6 percent in less than a month. If this continues, I'm getting out of the tax deeds.

  There's not much going on today. Those last couple of posts were pretty long so I thought I'd cool it for a while. There's a tax auction in Nashville today. I'm not going unless the Metro Planning Commision's website doesn't start working. I've been through this before. I should look up my properties sooner, but I'm lazy. I want to wait until the last possible minute to look them up. That way I won't be looking up properties that won't be there later.
  Anyway, it's acted up like this before. It started working properly last time at about 9 a.m.
  There's been a lot of talk about this Google IPO. Basically an IPO is an "initial profit offerng." It means that they are going to become a publicly traded stock and this is your first chance to get in. They stated that they were going to hold an auction to determine the price. They said that they were going to offer 3.5 billion. Now they are only offering 1.9 billion dollars worth. They might have violated the SEC's rules in some interview to Playboy. They've had one bank back out. It's like it's the tech boom all over again.
  The problem is that it isn't. It's the tech bust. Negative news seem to be affecting tech stocks more than positive news. These Google guys need to be careful. they are going to wind up kicking themselves in the butt. It will be very interesting to see if their stock shoots up or down in trading. I think it will do one or the other, I'm just not sure which.
  Basically, all this boils down to one thing. Don't screw up the deal. Keep your mouth shut. Try to make everyhting as smooth as possible or else your stock will crash.
  Eventually, they will crash. The truth is that back in the nineties, anybody with a tek, dot com, or an e in their name could expect to soar. Not because they were making good money, but because we were all crazy back then.
  Just ask TheStreet.Com. They opened at 40 dollars a share back in '99. Today, they trade at around three dollars a share. They are a website that advises on stocks. Surely they could pull their company out of the muck. I'd like to show you some of the worse companies (DrKoop.Com, Snowball.Com, Pets.Com), but they don't exist anymore.
  Google is just doing this at the wrong time, and when I say wrong time, I mean the wrong decade. Try the next one guys cause you aren't going to do well in this one.
  They were all going to be millionaires. They were never going to work again. Then the market crashed, and they were afraid that they were never going to work again.
  There are several great books about the tech bubble such as...
dot.bomb: My Days and Nights at an Internet Goliath
Dot.con : How America Lost Its Mind and Money in the Internet Era
All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster
  Market's open. Later dudes.

  Okay, I've had a great week. Let's hope that it doesn't turn sour next week. I'll assume that you know about bar charts. I'll also assume that you have read about moving averages. If you haven't read them or understand them, then don't even try to understand this post. I really would appreciate if you would at least try. The pay off is worth it.
  Now let me explain something to you. It's called a short sale. Basically, let's say that Bob and I have the same broker. I call my broker and say, "Sell Bob's hundred shares and I'll buy them back in a little while." Now, The broker sells Bob's stock at 20 dollars a share, and (hopefully) the price drops by two dollars. I buy the stock back at 18 and keep the two dollar difference. Bob gets screwed in the process, but I get to keep two dollars of his money. If I sold a hundred of his shares, then I have made a tidy 200 dollars minus brokerage fees.
  Of course, Bob could have prevented losing that 200 dollars. If he had placed a stop order, he could have prevented his loss. A stop order is where he could have told his broker that if the share price loses fifty cents, then the broker should sell it for him. Granted this order costs more than regular commissions, but it also prevents him from losing an additional 150 dollars.
  Go all that? I hope so. Behold the power of technical analysis.
  Tuesday, August 3
  I buy 100 shares of Hewlett Packard. Share price, $20.27. You don't need to click over to Yahoo. If you do, it might spoil the good news. The link's there if you want it. I place a stop order at $17.75.
  Monday August 9th
  Actually, I'm not sure of when it happened. After a slight rise in HPQ, the stock plummets downward. The low for the day is 17.77, two cents shot of my stop. Eventually it does rise back up about 20 cents, but it's still below my purchase price.
  Wednesday, August 11th
  Another drop in HPQ. My stop does execute this time. Not including fees, total loss adds up to 52 dollars. Truthfully, by following the program I would have made 110 dollars by this time, so losing the 52 doesn't kill me. I shrug and say, "Hey, it's still working. It all boils down to percentages. YOu win some. You lose some." (You'll note that I said "would have" a couple of sentences ago. The truth is that I have tried to guess the system and screwed it up every time. I've lost money before and after reading about technical analysis.)
  I saw it coming. Remember. You buy when the 5d MA moves above the 20D MA. You sell when the 20d MA moves above the 5d MA. The 5d MA had been heading south for a while. Ironically, it crosses as my stop kicks in.
  Now I reason like this. If I'm supposed to sell, what happens if I short it. The program tells me to sell, and I am. I'm just selling some one elses as well. See I'm following the program. I'm just following it to another conclusion. If the 5d MA is on top it's on it's way up, and if it's not going up, then it's going down right?
  The price has dropped more while I consider this. I figure at 19.55, I can buy 140 shares. So I short 140 shares. I guess I could do more, but I want to keep the math simple.
  The stock drops all the way to 19.14. I continue to watch it rise. I say "This is crazy. If I sit here watch this stock, I'll make myself nuts. I've got errands to run and I need to work on my faith in the system."
  I go to the bank. I'm putting some more money in my Brokerage account. I've just been waiting on the checks from the new bank. I get certified funds from old bank and a voided check from new bank. I drive to Brentwood and leave both. Now I can just deposit funds over the internet from new bank.
  While I am at the bank, some one overhears me say my broker. He wishes me better luck than he's had. He's placed 64,000 dollars in his account and has nothing but problems, federal mantenance calls, delayed confirms on his trades, et cetera. I know what he means, but don't worry about it. Basically, he's day trading. I ask him if he's ever heard of technical analysis. I tell him I have tried day trading and blow it up every time. I've tried guess technical analysis and screw it up every time. I try to make him understand what I have learned. I do better trading from week to week. Follow the program. Don't guess it. Slow and steady wins the race. I really am still nervous about it, but I still preach the good word.
  After a day of running errands, I'm tired. I get online. I check HPQ. It's dropped 3 cents overall. The words that I gave to the man at the bank echo in my head. Faith in the system. Slow and Steady. Follow the program.
  The next morning, I log on. I notice that the bottom has dropped out of HPQ. I check the news stories. After the bell, HPQ announces that they aren't going to make their projected profits. The next quarter isn't looking good either.
  There is much rejoicing when I learn that the stock closes out $2.67 lower.
Friday August 13
  I fear that HPQ may rise costing me some profit. I don't fear much though. How likely is it that a company will rise $2.67 in a day? The bear may go out the window, but the bull goes up the stairs. It drops another 45 cents by the end of Friday.
Here comes the science
  My total take so far: $3.05 per share.
  Subtracting the 52 cents I lost when I owned it makes my profit $2.53
  $2.53 times 140 shares equals $354.20, not including fees.
  Total amount that I am down in my brokerage account since opening it: $200 (roughly)
  Number of trades I've done: 50 (roughly)
  Total cost of fees: $350 (roughly)
  If I've $200 dollars away, and I've paid out $350 then I have made up for all my losses and a good chunk of my fees.
  According to the IRS, I'm in positive territory.
  According to the math I am going to do, I've still got two hundred dollars to go.
  Now I had $3000 (roughly) in my account. If I've made $354.20, then I have had an eleven percent return on one trade. I have not closed my position (bought the stock back) so I may still make more money of off this stock.
  That's some pretty good luck.
  And to think I was excited when I learned that I can get a ten percent return in a YEAR off of Tax Deeds.
  Now you know what I've been so geeked out about for the past few days. I hope you are as well. Gunny tired. Gunny must work tonight. Gunny sleep now.

  Hold on I got one thing to do first...

Dear Lord,
  It's me, Gunny. Oh yeah, I know it's not my real name, but you're all knowing. I shouldn't have to introduce myself. I was just wanting to ask a few questions. I don't really expect answers. What would we amount to if you answered all our questions? You know because you're all knowing, but I would like to think that we'd be pretty weak as a species.
  Of course, I'm getting off the subject. I saw some stuff on the Olympics today and wanted to ask that you prevent any punks from starting any trouble during the games. We really don't need any suicide bombers at the games. Sure, we Americans really dropped the ball a few years ago, but hey we're allowed to make mistakes right? Please forgive anyone that has criticized the way the Greeks are handling things. You do know that one of own caused some trouble on native soil a few years ago. Of course you remember. You're God.
  Please don't let any of Muslims get any crazy ideas, like that this would be the perfect time to advance their Jihad. After all, here we are the good old U.S. of A., a nation that (mostly) worships you. Heck, we compete with each other as to who is the better worshipper. That's why there are so many Baptists, and those Muslims don't even know who you are. They worship their false idol. They even give it a goofy name like Allah.
  Okay, that last paragraph was joke. You do know that don't you? Of course, you're all knowing.
  Thank you for not smiting the whole race after the first Olympic games, which as I hear were held in the nude. Naked track can not be a good sight in anyone's eyes, especially yours.
  I would also like to ask you why I had to go through the ordeal that I went through this morning. I understand that my car is old and worn out, but I'm trying to be a good steward by using it to it's full potential. I understand the fact that sometimes starters wear out. That wasn't the big problem.
  I did not know that however. I had two people kind enough to try to jump me off. Try to remember that they performed good deeds even if they didn't have much faith in the results, and also remember Ken did the same last week. Forgive my foolishness then in thinking that my battery was just "dead" from leaving a light on somewhere. However, it was embarrassing having to wait in BTCA's parking lot with my hood up so that the tow truck driver would know which car it was. There are not many of mine left. Of course you know this because when I needed a part for my window a couple of years ago they only found six in the nation. But of course, that wasn't the big problem.
  While it turned out that I did not need that window part, please never let that part break as in doing so, it would severely reduce the number of Probe parts in the universe. I've been good and haven't locked my keys in my car in a while. It has been a long time since I've had to break into my own car by sliding my arm between the window and the frame.
  Please punish those, who four years back, beat my windows with a rock because they didn't know that they could simply slide their arm in and unlock the door. Also, I hope that you made them feel badly when they realized that my portable CD player didn't work anyway. I also hope that they got at least a poor price when they tried to fence my socket set.
  Of course, I had a good day in the stock market yesterday. Thank you. The hour that I sat in the repair shop was a bit nerve racking. You know well that I hadn't closed my position yesterday, so there was an extremely slight chance that I might be losing money today. But of course, that wasn't the big problem. I understand that the love of money is the root of all evil. This was just a way of reminding me of that.
  I don't mind the fact that it cost me 400 dollars to have my car fixed. But of course, that wasn't the big problem. I even appreciate the fact it only took an hour and a half. I remember many days that I would just bring a book when my old truck was worked on.
  As I watched the Today show, I saw several different segments. They showed Katie Couric shopping in Greece and that she got to eat an authentic Greek meal with Nia Vardalos, star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I also saw where our athletes had matching uniforms for the parade during the opening ceremony and different matching outfits for when they won awards. Of course the original Olympic games were played in the nude. I was upset that each of these segments lasted much longer than they spent on stories of the two robberies in Nashville last night. Or even what terrible hardships the athletes endured to attend the games. Those "fluff stories" took up more airtime than what I'd call "real news."
  Basically, what I'm asking God is "Could you do something about daytime television?" I know that the unemployed need something to do while they are waiting on work. Or even those that can't work need something to do all day, but Lord, if you aren't going to work their bodies, couldn't you work their minds a little?
  Also, could you get them to stop informing me that the original Olympic games were played in the nude? I must have been informed of that little tidbit eight or nine times. I really don't think I am exaggerating here, but you know the real number because you are all knowing.
  If you see fit in your infinite wisdom to do nothing about this daytime television, then know that it is serving some purpose. It has brought me and others like me, closer to you in prayer. I would really like to be granted that peace I asked for during the games though. That is a very serious request.
  I guess that's all I've got for now. So until next time.
  Amen

  I'd really like for the market to close today before I write about my great week that I've had. I would like to get another day behind me and to watch my stock. So either later tonight or tomorrow morning, I'll have a really exciting post. Now I sleep however. Goodnight day, folks.

  I would like to restate the fact that terrorism is bad. Very bad. I do not wish it upon anyone. I don't want to get flamed for yesterday's post. .Hippy's got a great comment on it. The sarcasm there at the end is wonderful.
  I also had a stellar day in the stock market today. I had something like a 10 percent return. I haven't closed my position on the stock yet and would like to see what it does tomorrow before I post what happens. Let me say that I think tomorrow's post will be one of those stock related posts because I was EXTREMELY lucky today. If you wish to keep up, then read the investment posts on the sidebar. It is important that you understand bar charts and moving averages. I hope next year to start posting my rate of return on this page, but if I have a couple of more days like this then I might just do it this year.
  I have positive gains for this year and am about to make up for all that money I lost on WorldCom a few years back. That's right, I bought WorldCom. And K-Mart. And a couple of airline stocks. But the big loser was WorldCom

  This is what I can't figure out about the terrorists. They like to hit things that are symbolic. We've been warned that something might happen during the Democratic and Republican National conventions. We've also been informed they might wish to cause a problem during this years election. They've also thought about hitting major financial institutions or symbols of American culture. They've considered the port of New Orleans, our busiest port, O'Hare Airport, busiest airport in the world, or Seattle's Space Needle. None of that stuff means much to me here in Tennessee.
  All of these attempts show just how much terrorists know of American culture. What should they blow up? Britney Spears would make a good candidate. I know Michael Jordan has been out work for while, but he'd do. They could try to kill Barry Bonds, but if they want to strike American culture at it's heart, they need to hit a Wal-Mart.
  That's right. I said a Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world. It does more business than a couple of our states, and nearly everybody in America shops there.
  Remember how many people were afraid to fly after 9/11? Many people still are. Imagine if Wal-Mart had a drastic drop in business that lasted for three years after the attack. It would hurt the whole economy much worse than a couple of skyscrapers would.
  Don't get me wrong. The whole skyscraper falling down thing was impressive, and it hurt all of us a lot. But there is a Wal-Mart in every county here in the south. Imagine if you hit just three or four buildings and it hurt business in every state.
  Now don't get me wrong. I don't wish this sort of stuff on anyone. Terrorism is bad. Okay people? But if these guys were something to fear, wouldn't they know this stuff already? These are guys living in holes in the ground. They don't know the pleasures of being able to get a warm fleece comforter and a strawberry yogurt at three in the morning. It's great.
  And that's the reason that they hate us so much. Because we feel that we are so important that we need to keep stores open 24 hours a day so that I can get a warm blanket and a strawberry yogurt at three in the morning.
  Well, probably that and that we idolize that decadent Britney Spears too much.

  What ever happened to Fay Wray,
  That delicate satin-draped frame?
  As it clung to her thigh,
  How I started to cry,
  'Cause I wanted to be dressed just the same. -- RHPS

Well, she died. I read the headline and thought instantly of Rocky Horror. If you've never seen that version of King Kong (no DVD) or RHPS then you should, But see RHPS in the theater. Then you may watch it at home. Of course, the movie is actually offensive to everyone. Straight, gay, liberal, conservative, everyone. If it isn't then you're either to laid back not to care, or you really don't understand what's going on.
  I was going to write a post about our heightened state of terror, but that can wait until tomorrow. I've got to go look up some plane ticket prices for a coworker.

(I usually try to keep the posts G rated, but I think that this one has slipped into PG-13. Maybe past it. Sorry folks. I'll be back to G-gollies tomorrow.)
  You know, maybe Jake's got it right. The Hippy's has had some problems with some little troll trying to get a rise out of folks there. He's tried to crack on Evil Hippy and threatened to mess with Tommy's site. At worst, that'll only make them delete the comment option. It won't shut them up. That'll interrupt the whole discussion on those sites. Many of which are just as entertaining as the posts. I don't mind people being a-holes, just don't do on other people's sites. I've thought about setting up my own site so that I can be one every now and then, but never would I ever mess with anyone else's site. The problem is that the discussion shows that it got under all three of our skins. This only encourages it to happen more. Man, a couple of pricks spoil the whole party. Sometimes I wonder if Al Gore ever envisioned this stuff when he invented the internet. If he had, I don't think he would have invented it.
  Of course, this thing sort of applies to what's been going on at BTCA. There's this new guy. Honestly, he's pretty worthless, but we've all been there. He's 18 years old. Young, dumb, and full of, well, something that rhymes with dumb. The guys found out his middle name is Galen. Big deal. When I see him, some one says, "Hey Gunny, do you know what (MR. McX)'s name is?"
  "Yeah, it's Galen." I pronounce it like I heard it. I pronounce it Gay-len. I think nothing of it. After all, that's how I've always heard it. "How did you get the name Galen? (Gay-len)"
  He smirks.
  "He got it from his grandfather."
  "That's a pretty unusual name, Galen. (Gay-len) Was your grandfather an immigrant?" After all, his name is McX. I would think that's a fine Scottish name, Galen McX.
  He smirks.
  I respond with, "Look dude, if someone asks you a question answer it. If you just smirk, they'll think you're lying or up to something."
  "I think Gunny's being serious"
  "Of course, he's being serious."
  McX responds with, "It's not Galen. (Gay-len)"
  A little annoyed, I say, "Then what is it?"
  "It's Galen. (Gal-en)"
  Then some argument ensues about why that's not a proper pronunciation. I think, "Whatever, It's his name. He can pronounce it with a Q, an R, and a T for all I care. That kids got to learn how to not let people under his skin."
  Reminded me of a story in high school. (I mean other than The Scarlet Letter. Where the eff is the book?)
  I haven't always been Gunny. One day when I was just a freshman in study hall, a junior was complaining about the dogs in her neighborhood. I asked her if she said dogs? She said that these dogs just run around in her neighborhood as if there wasn't a leash law. I thought, "Gee whiz, what would she think if she saw my street. We've got almost everything there." Always think before you open your mouth.
  I said, "well, on my street we've got dogs, cats, horses, cattle, pigs, ducks, turkeys, rabbits and chickens."
  One of the seniors said, "You've got chickens?"
  "Yeah"
  "Chickens?"
  "Yeah"
  "Chickenman!" From then till the day I graduated, I was known as Chickenman Walker. No joke. Oh, I quickly informed people, that I did not own chickens. Eventually, I gave up and let them call me Chickenman. It worked to my advantage though. It changed me for the better. When I was a freshman I was a dork. (Hell, sometimes I am STILL a dork.) The seniors would cluck as I walked down the hall. No joke. Cluck and holler out "Chickenman." Eventually it was shortened to Chicken.
  One day, a teacher said to me, "I can always tell when you're coming down the hall. I can hear the clucking."
  I smiled and said "Yeah, It's nice to know that people think I'm important enough that they have to announce my arrival." He just smiled and patted me on the back.
  You see that's the point. If you can turn it around, then it's powerless. It some how makes you cooler. Even if people think you're chicken.
  A few years back at Don Pablo's a waitress approached me. She said, "I know you. You're Chicken aren't you?" I'd been out of school for six or seven years, but I made that much of an impression. I didn't play ball, or run for an office, or was even that social. I was just Chicken. I still think back on that and smile. That's the whole point of The Scarlet Letter. It says that no matter what stupid thing you've done, you can still manage to turn out to be a pretty great person. Every one has problems, the trick is to learn how to get past them.
  Sorry for the long post, but I love telling that story. Good night folks. (If you've never seen or read The Scarlet Letter then you should do it. It's great.)

  So what's the big news in the Boro today? Election turn out was much lower than expected. Only 12 percent of registered voters showed up. Of course, they were expecting 15-17 percent. That's right folks. They expected, at the most, one out of every six people to show up. Aim high folks. How about having all the primaries at once and then having all the elections at once? Isn't that a bit crazy?
  Why doesn't Rutherford County's Website work on Internet Explorer? It works fine on AOL's browser which is based on IE. That's just nuts. Especially considering they use Microsoft Frontpage to create it.
  My sister-in-law is supposed to be setting up an online store, but I have yet to see anything up. I told her some stuff that I knew about having an online site, but I'm not sure if she listened to it. She just sent me a reply of "Thanks a lot,(childhood nickname that will not be stated here)!" When/if she does get this site going it will be everybody's responsibility to go and buy one thing from her. You will do it or I WILL KILL YOU. Besides it's probably been far too long since you bought your mother something nice anyway.
  Also, I'll list it here because she could use the reference to get better rankings on search engines. You really don't have to buy anything.

  Hey folks. Not much going on here today. I voted in the primaries. I looked like a total idiot by trying to vote for someone I can't. Why give me a choice when there is only guy running? I said that one of the buttons wasn't working. I could vote for the other guy, but not for the one that I wanted. I was informed that I can't vote across party lines in the primaries. Crap. That's right. I forgot. Stupid me. Then why the heck am I being asked to vote when there is only one guy running? Just go ahead and check that one off for me. This is why a lot of people don't vote. I can't vote for whomever I want in the primaries without costing the vote to some one else in another party in another area. Gosh darned it! This kind of stuff makes me sick.
  I don't have much more going on. I've just been popping in and out. Watching the stock market and the stock that I bought Tuesday. It's been up about a percent since then. (Individual results may vary.)
  I got the checks from my new checking account yesterday. That means that next week, I'll be making a trek to Brentwood to give them a voided check to start depositing money directly into my account there. I decided to leave Bank Of Murfreesboro after they got bought out. I wanted a local bank, and I'm going to stick with a local bank. I should have known it was going to happen when it was run by the same people who ran First City. First City sold out to First American who was bought out by Amsouth. It gets aggravating when you go into the branch you started with and they check your account number every payday because "that's a very unusual number."
  I want to respond with, "Hey, I've been here longer than you have."
  I guess that's all that's happening right now in my world. Later folks.

  The most frustrating thing about this Technical Analysis stuff is that I can't seem to get it to work on a daily basis. I don't have much in my brokerage account. I thing that if I were to multiply my account by say 4 or 5 times as much, then I might be able to day trade. I'd like to try it, but I can't get it to work. Anyway, I'm still making money. It would be nice if were a little more exciting, but it isn't. That's the whole idea of Technical Analysis. If you get to emotional about it, then you turn into an emotional roller coaster.
  It's amazing how many people try to sell their e-books on that Google adwords on the top of this page. It's powered by words that I use such as MACD, Stochastic, Moving Averages, RSI, Stocks, and such. Some of them sell in for as much as 200 dollars. I've dealt with this before. When I went to that free conference a few months back. People are willing to pay 2,000 dollars for a class on this stuff, but when it comes to a 25 dollar book (Or me giving it away for free on this site.), people think it's useless. I don't think my appearance helps much. I guess I don't have enough "glitter" on me. Black t-shirt and denim shorts doesn't do it for some folks, I guess. I'm not joking about the prices. Look   here. $149 a year for Technical Analysis.
Or here. Can't find a price.
Or forty dollars a year.
All of this info you can get from a good broker for free. As long as you are willing to buy a seventeen dollar book. Methods that have gotten me a 2 percent return in a couple of months. It doesn't seem like much, but I really haven't been using it much either. As a matter of fact. I keep trying to adjust it, and when I do, it screws me up. I guess I'll just have to follow the system. Actually, I'm screwing it up and getting a better return than the Tax Deeds.
  I just heard on the radio that "Weird Al" Yankovic is coming to Nashville. I wouldn't mind seeing if I could drum up some folks to go, but the truth is that no one seems to be as excited about seeing Weird Al in concert as I am.
  And finally, the Astral Master Of Death has a site that is very well hidden. Don't let his or it's name scare you off. It's right here. Um, A.M.O.D. is it safe to say that you're still pretty crispy after getting burned in a relationship. Of course according to Weslee, I've been holding a grudge for 9 years. I just won't believe in equal rights until I can knock some of that %#*@)'s teeth out and still be a nice guy.

  Standard Rubber Inc. has a new CEO and decides to tour all the factories. She is greatly pleased with the factory that turns out galoshes. She is bored to tears to visit the plant that makes all the little feet that fit on the bottom of consumer electronics. She even visits the plant that makes small rubber figures that come out of gumball machines even if she doesn't know the popular kids shows that the resemble.
  One day she visits a plant in Ohio where they make condoms and baby nipples. She notices something disturbing during the tour. The baby nipple seems perfectly normal. Being a mother herself she understands the little nipples that have to go on baby bottles and just how many that you go through when you are a parent. It's a very lucrative business even if it isn't very exciting.
  The thing she notices is a problem with the condom line. They have red, blue, flavored, glow-in-the-dark, every condom variety that she could think of. She notices how ever that every tenth condom goes into a stamping machine. A closer inspection reveals that there is a small needle on the machine. It pierces a hole in the condom.
  She pulls the plant manager aside and asks, "What's this machine doing? Is this some sort of quality assurance testing?"
  The plant manager drops his head and sheepishly responds, "Well, we don't want the nipple business to suffer. Do we?"

  Hey Everybody! Thursday's a voting day. Get out there and do something. I've got to get on the website for the Daily Newsless Urinal and figure out whom to vote for. Heck, I don't even know who's running. This may wind up being another time where all I get to elect is a dog catcher. Why can't we hold all these elctions on the same day?

  Did you ever wonder about the fact that you spend a lot of time online, but never run into anyone that you know online. You never chance on the website of a co-worker or friend that you didn't know that they had. Or see a picture of someone that you know. I've spent a lot of time online. I mean a lot. It just amazes me how much stuff is on the net. I guess it's just my small town mentality. I say small town but really the Boro is a pretty big town. I can remember a time though when I used to work at Taco Bell in high school. I'd drive home at 2 a.m on a friday night and not see another soul on Broad Street. Back in the old days. Probably before your time.
  Just reminiscing is all.