The view from the top

 
 

New World Order

This article will likely not be here long, so take a look because it is a great example of the astuteness of this publication's perspective on finance and economics.

Transforming the Bailout.

And here is an interesting article that, behind the narrative, gives a good summary of the process of injecting capital into banks.

There's a lot of doubt and questions raised in the article, as I presume is being done by most medias. But there is no precedent for this unraveling of the global economy and so there is no plan of reaction. Everything that would be done at a time like this will be full of questions. I think, at the very least, its good the US is willing to reconsider its plan of action and probably mimic the European tactic. Its about time we considered more than just our own opinion.

Economy

Here is a good 4 minute summary of what the bailout hopes to accomplish.

As with every huge financial endeavor involving public markets, its largely a psychological gambit. There is no way a government could save all its banks. What they are basically doing is buying the debts (like your home mortgage)which are most likely to not get paid back from the banks in the worst shape. This makes the bank look stronger financially so that other banks are willing to led it money. This is necessary because no bank has enough money at any one time, they are all tied together with short-term loans (often as short as overnight); so if a bank can't take out more loans it'll default on previous loans its taken which are due. The bank then goes bankrupt.
So if money isn't in the banks, where is it?
[taps temple with concentrating look on face]

Mush in my Room

Here is the hike I took from Old Barnesville Road. My most-knowledgeable roommate gave me directions which I almost followed properly except for finding the trailhead. So I ended up bushwacking up a large hill across this stream.
 

To get to this view.
 
 
 
 

In about two weeks the colors here are going to make rainbows frown, oh wait, they already do frown.



Then I followed this rabbit and when I lost his trail this was sitting at my feet:

 
Not seeing any caterpillars nearby, I ganked it and ran.




What better place to bring a mushroom than my new room?! Those are Kiers alongside me, they are sentries for One Second Time Travelers
 


Crash course on Shark Riding!
 

Wait, what was it the caterpillar said again about taking sides?
 


Not remembering which side was which, I could just go for it...
 



Or take the middle road...
 

For El Capitan

So I have been working with two main styles, the Headband and the Do-Rag.  They both start here:

The Do-Rag then gets folded anywhere between here

(Shorter tail over neck)

And here

(Longer tail over neck)

From there it is as simple as placing the folded corner to your forehead

And let the tail droop down and away to make it easier to tie without tangling the tail

One knot

Two knot

Cool

The Headband style just takes a couple more folds...

Try and keep it pretty symmetrical at this stage

Then double one side over

And again.  

Its in the above fold and this one where you really determine the width of the Headband, the more folds before getting here, the thinner it will be.

Then take the bottom-left portion and fold it over everything.  It is integral to the process you don't end up with a symmetrical fold on the last one.  The little lip folding over gives you stability and integrity (of shape) throughout a day's wear.

Lift it directly to your forehead so the lip is on the inside.

I generally lean over because I want as much of my hair to stand out in as many weird directions as I can coerce from it; hair gel helps.

One knot

Two knot

Cool!

Autumn

Autumn means Apples!!!

The estimates of what we picked ranged from 1,300 to 1,600 in the early afternoon.

Once we hauled them all back in a truck to the house I am unpacking into the four of us got an assembly line that was more like a hypercolor zigzag around the kitchen in order to juice the apples.  We had three juicers in the rotation, multiple chopping stations and an intimate understanding of why people invented the apple press.  

I finally got a handle on the Beast of a juicer, a commercial juicer that has an engine so strong the entire thing waddles around the contertop and sometimes roars like a jet.  Hence the ear and eye protection and why they had me outside on the porch.

So I finally got into a routine with the Beast, feeding it apple slices as fast as I could manage while the three folks in the kitchen are outchopping and over-supplying me with apple pieces.  Finally the juicer's engine winds up to a loud scream and the shaking stresses the nuts holding the cover on, which cracks one of the support metal pieces. 

I can tell something is wrong!

But it works out because we switch over to the other juicers that had a rest during that time and finish up 11 gallons, half of which we pasteurize and add yeast to and half of which we will ferment raw into ciders.

Detour

The work in Athens is almost completed.  I have met a few awesome rockers and we've had good times.  Also I met a fellow into Green Energy venture capital (for lack of a better paraphrase) and we have talked extensively about some synergistic ideas.  This alwasy gets me in a mood of talking ownership percentages and ROIs.  

With the economy becoming real and not dreamt up by the Fed's last fifty years of creating money out of nothing and lending it to banks it could be the perfect time to be invigorating companies, helping them bloom and working without Wall Street ('s banks).  

(PS don't worry about China owning the US Treasury, they're selling their children to Marlboro they won't last long)

Ashevillin'

So I have packed my little 'Rolla full to the lid and even strapped Shifty on the trunk.  Its probably a third of what I own, but the cream of the crop.  It took most of the day because I had to unpack everything to find the things I needed, juggle some of them, try some of it on, launder some of it, then repack it all and finally tetris it into the car.  

I didn't mind hanging around my folks place for the day because, well, because my folks are great, I got to watch a couple of good soccer matches and I was hoping to catch my 'little' brother who is in town because his girlfriend's mother passed away.  I don't know the details but what I can piece together seems to be something like they took her off life support...not unexpected.  I wanted to sit and talk with him.  I have never been through such a close death before and hope he is well with it, and wonder what he is feeling.

No real breakthroughs with the musculature, but lifting things all day integrated the changes i've been making into a position of strength as I was able to move from my loose hips and manage heavy boxes at all angles using my new-found abdominal muscles.