Some More Tai Chi

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Health, Tai Chi

Investing in Gold and Other Thoughts

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Economy, Investing, The Earth, Thoughts

Quantitative easing, that I don’t really understand, is a reflating tool. I had to look up “reflating” this morning since Bill Gross used it in his latest Tweet. I’m sorry, Bill, I didn’t see how you “got it wrong” on the Barron’s Roundtable, but I forgive you, since I always felt anything I took away from watching one of those sessions was a worthless investing idea. Different opinions on relating/inflating/deflating are floating through the economic ether and no one can know for sure NOW which is right. Will reflating be inflationary in the bad sense of the word? It might be but who can be sure whether it will be good for the price of gold?

When I sit back and look up this is getting really complicated. Near term the United States and the dollar are riding high. Reflating is not likely to bring down either one. Long term the period of US ascendancy on the world stage is coming to an end. The buying power of the emerging world-wide middle class is likely to be inflationary with bumps and starts. There will be buying pressure on basic commodities, food, water and energy, but not necessarily on gold.

My conclusion from this thinking is that both near term and long term gold is not a “sure bet.” Until today my thinking was short, medium and even long term gold was not a good investment, but VERY long term it might be. Has this opinion changed? I’m not sure. Long term for sure basic commodities, food, water and energy would be good investments. They may also be good near term investments as smart money begins to seek them out.

Gold is likely to have a good “reflexive rebound.” Will this be a good time to get permanently out?

Trees Are Blooming Again in Balboa Park

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Health, The Earth, United States, Wisdom I Have Learned

The title says it all.

Wouldn’t you prefer to be sitting here?

 

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Or standing here?

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(if you like one click on it for a bigger view)

This shows how it’s done:

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And then there’s these:

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TO SEE LOTS MORE

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First Tai Chi I’ve Tried

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Health, Tai Chi

Good Tai Chi Warm Up

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Health, Tai Chi

Lemon Cures Callous

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Health, Heavy Lifting, Wisdom I Have Learned

For 30+ years, no make it 40 or 50, I’ve had a callous on the bottom of my left foot. I think it’s there because that foot stopped growing after I had polio as a child. That foot is about a size smaller than the right foot, yet I always buy shoes to fit both feet, so it’s sliding around inside a shoe that’s too big for it. Needless to say this callous has become the bane of my life, and it’s probably too late to start buying shoes to fit the foot. Over the years, especially the past twenty or so, I’ve tried everything I heard about to try to cure the callous. Doctors have made attempts… sometimes. Generally they look at me with that “well he’s gonna die soon enough from something so why spend a lot of money and effort on this?” look.

Somewhere recently – I don’t recall whether I was doing an active search or just stumbled into it – I ran into a suggestion (I think it was somewhere in www.ehow.com) that a slice of lemon can reduce the pain in a corn. Callouses are like corns, I thought; so, why not give the lemon a try? The past week or so I’ve gone to bed with a slice of lemon, ensconced in a gauze pad held on with copious adhesive tape and sheltered in a plastic sandwich bag, by all of that firmly attached to the callous on the bottom of my foot. In the morning when I remove it, sometimes some old skin wants to come off – I know “TMI – sometimes not, but all in all the callous is less bothersome. It’s still there, and it still hurts a bit, but it’s better than it has been IN YEARS.

Pointers for Packing

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Wisdom I Have Learned
Me: Before a trip I make a list of what I want to have with me 12:42 PM
Me: Albert Einstein said he got E=MCsquared By riding a light beam I do the same by 12:49 PM
Me: :-) imagining what I will be doing each day 12:50 PM
Me: and what I will be using TO DO IT – my “light beam” 12:54 PM
Me: imagining where i’m going each day what i’m wearing n whether i’m planning to pack it… 12:56 PM

NYC Lights – Only Lights… Maybe a L’il Musik

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Entertainment

Used to be on Vimeo. Click over to Vimeo; they’ve got great stuff:

 

Click between “HD” and “Vimeo” for FULL SCREEN.

OK, here’s another one I just found:

L from Daniele Manoli on Vimeo.

This is also…

Dynamics of the Subway / Haisuinonasa (Official Video) from Keita Onishi on Vimeo.

 

 

Thoughts on Turkey

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bio, Trips, Turkey

Except for the women wearing some kind of veil and the frequent loud calls to prayers Istanbul seems like just another European city.

I do wish they would set up crosswalks and traffic signals to give visitors a feeling they have a fighting chance to make it across the street. One feeling related to this is my feeling that everything here turns into a mess: people aren’t quietly talking to a driver as they board a bus – they are yelling and he is yelling back! The intercity bus I boarded for Istanbul’s main bus terminal scheduled to leave at 9 actually left at 8:20. Instead of the main terminal at 8 AM I found myself at some little bus yard in the boonies at 7:15.

I’ve seen the Blue Mosque, toured the Hagia Sophia (must see), walked through the Grand Bazaar and survived crossing the street at Taksim Square so what more must I do to prove to myself and others that I’ve been to Istanbul?

So now I’m on a ferry from Kalabatas to the Princess Islands (Asian side). Will this be enough?

I made it back from the ferry ride that was pleasanter than I anticipated.

Istanbul is very clean. The streets are being swept constantly by vehicles or persons. One of the workers in a cafe is frequently sweeping the floor.

Today I took a ferry up the Bosporus almost to the Black Sea.  I had a delicious whole sea bass. The buildings and residences along the Bosporus remind me of Venice (Italy). One restaurant reminded me of the Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey.

10/5/2012: One thing I forgot/blocked out – whatever – that was different was being insulted by the guys who stand outside restaurants in the tourist areas trying to entice one in. If you aren’t interested and if for some reason they don’t like the way you say so, they will insult you, saying such things as they would never want such a person as you in their restaurant! Different!