GE: Is $6.66 the Low Like 666 was the 2009 low for the S&P 500?

The market gods have a strange sense of humor.  Note how GE's low today was $6.66, the number of the beast.

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Those who don't believe in market gods will say the market makers like to show their power in "devilish" ways.... 

Note how they used 666 to turn the very large S&P 500 market back in 2009 to make the bottom of the financial collapse.

Mythology has "666" as "The Number of the Beast" so it makes an attractive target for those with a sense of humor.  

From Wikipedia

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are down double digits in "correction territory while the Dow is down 9.2% from its all-time high.  

So, 

1. does GE have a devil's chance of avoiding bankruptcy
   or is it dead man walking? 
2. did "666" mark the "stealth bear market" bottom again?

February 18, 2019 Update:  It turns out $6.66 was the low last year!

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I bought GE (and some other stocks like AMAT) near that low last December which has helped my Explore Portfolio continue its great outperformance with "only" two thirds in the market so I have plenty of cash for buying opportunities such as GE last December.

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Robin Williams Jokes - The 150 Greatest

These "150 Greatest Robin Williams Jokes" were posted on Silicon Investor.

150.Never pick a fight with an ugly person, they've got nothing to lose.

149. I walked into my son's room the other day, and he's got four screens going at the same time. He's watching a movie on one screen, playing a game on another, downloading something on this one, texting on that one, people say "He's got ADD." Fuck that, he's multitasking.

148.You know the difference between a tornado and divorce in the south? Nothing! Someone is losing a trailer.

This was my August 12 tribute on Facebook:

Text and working link to movie at end of joke list

147.Is it rude to Twitter during sex? To go "omg, omg, wtf, zzz"? Is that rude?

146.Beer commercials usually show big men, manly men, doing manly things: "You've just killed a small animal. It's time for a light beer." Why not have a realistic beer commercial, with a realistic thing about beer, where someone goes, "It's five o'clock in the morning. You've just pissed on a dumpster. It's Miller time."

145.We were talking briefly about cocaine...yeah. Anything that makes you paranoid and impotent, give me more of that!

144.Reality: What a concept!

143.The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying, 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'

142.If women ran the world we wouldn't have wars, just intense negotiations every 28 days.

141. Comedy is acting out optimism.

140.When in doubt, go for the dick joke.

139.We Americans, we're a simple people . . . but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities.

138. Cricket is basically baseball on valium.

137.Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"

136. The Second Amendment says we have the right to bear arms, not to bear artillery.

135.Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?

134. Do you get the feeling with Sarah Palin, in high school, she was voted least likely to write a book and most likely to burn one?

133.People say satire is dead. It's not dead; it's alive and living in the White House.

132.And the French! The French have a bomb too! Maybe they have the Michelin Bomb- ah! Only destroys restaurants under four stars! They are the one of the only people that still test their bombs! Where do they do it? In the Sahara, in the total wasteland? No, fuck off! In Tahiti! In paradise. Why? Because we're French. Oh, look, a Greenpeace boat coming to protest- fuck off, I sink you.

131. Having George W. Bush giving a lecture on business ethics is like having a leper give you a facial - it just doesn't work!

130.We're a heavily medicated society. All the drugs we take: Prozac, Effexor, Valium. I thought for the last ten years, we've been on some weird fucking drug - the whole country - called "Fukitol."

129.Do you think God gets stoned? I think so . . . look at the platypus.

128. I remember was the economy was working and there was a budget surplus. Yeah! "Where's Clinton?" We impeached him. "Fuck! For what?" A blowjob. "Wow! Who did he blow, Putin?"

127.Thank you for the standing ovations! We had the orgasm up front. Let's have a cigarette, let's relax.

126.And if you want a linguistic adventure, go drinking with a Scotsman. Cause you can't fucking understand them before.

125.Ah, yes, divorce ... from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man's genitals through his wallet.

124.The moment the Pope dies, they take him through St. Peter's Basilica, and fifty thousand cell phones are like [pantomimes the clicking sounds of camera phones] And I'm sure that was his last wish. "When I die, I want to be a screensaver."

123. Being a father, you can't drink any more. You can't come home drunk, going.. [ drunkenly ] "Daddy wants to play! Here's a little switch - I'm gonna throw up on you!"

122. If you can remember the '60s, you weren't there.

121.And what's George W. Bush doing now? He's a motivational speaker. It's kind of cool. It's kind of like having Lindsay Lohan as a guidance counselor.

120. Freud: If it's not one thing, it's your mother.

119. [Imitating a Frenchman] Fuck you Americans! Uncultured, crass Americans! We hate all of you! Fu- the Germans are here! Hello Americans! We love you!

118.When the media ask George W. Bush a question, he answers, 'Can I use a lifeline?'

117.I went to rehab [for alcoholism] in wine country, just to keep my options open.

116.Texting and driving at the same time is like jerking off and juggling at the same time. Too many balls in the air, if you catch my drift.

115.Politicians are a lot like diapers. They should be changed frequently, and for the same reasons.

114.On stage you're free. You can say and do things that if you said and did any place else, you'd be arrested.

113.The first time I tried organic wheat bread, I thought I was chewing on roofing material.

112. It's nice to be in Washington, where the buck stops here. Way to go. And then it's handed out to AIG and many other people.

111.I have my morning coffee for two reasons. One, to kick start my brain, but number two, and more importantly, to jump start my colon.

110. I wonder what chairs think about all day: "Oh, here comes another asshole."

109. Politics: “Poli” a Latin word meaning “many”; and "tics" meaning “bloodsucking creatures”.

108. When I was growing up they used to say, "Robin, drugs can kill you." Now that I'm 58 my doctor's telling me, "Robin, you need drugs to live." I realize now that my doctor is also my dealer...

107. And some people say Jesus wasn't Jewish. Of COURSE he was Jewish! 30 years old, single, lives with his parents, come on! He works in his father's business, his mom thought he was God's gift, he's Jewish! Give it up!

106.What's right is what's left if you do everything else wrong.

105. I was once on a German talk show, and this woman said to me, "Mr. Williams, why do you think there is not so much comedy in Germany?" And I said, "Did you ever think you killed all the funny people?"

104.In England, if you commit a crime, the police don't have a gun and you don't have a gun. If you commit a crime, the police will say "Stop, or I'll say stop again."

103.Obviously this is not gonna be a normal night of theater! This will be Shakespeare with a strap on!

102.People like to great New Yorkers: "Have a nice day, asshole!" "Fuck you, my friend! Enjoy your day!"

101. I live in California. I live on God's Etch-A-Sketch. It's crazy.

100. I know many of you have been looking for Sarah Palin's book; it is a bitch to find. Good luck. I found it somewhere between fiction and non-fiction in the fantasy aisle.

99.I thought lacrosse was what you find in la church.

98. If you go to South West Airlines: "You're not fat, you're horizontally challenged" Big people at South West Airlines have buy two seats. The problem is that they are not together.

97. The Canadians won the gold medal in hockey. God bless you Canadian people. You're so fucking nice eh. It's your only fucking sport, come on! That and a mutant form of football. "We've got men, we have a longer field." You have fun, enjoy! Canada's like a loft apartment over a really great party. Keep it down, eh!

96. I can see it now: Osama bin Laden goes up to the pearly gates where George Washington comes out, starts beating him and is then joined by 70 other members of the Continental Congress. Osama will say, "Hey, wait! Where are my 71 virgins?" And George will reply, "It's 71 Virginians, you asshole!"

95. Male cats have an amazing thing, kinda walk around going: "That's mine!" "Mine!" "I like that too." Thank God men aren't like that! "Nice car, Bob. Mine now!"

94. If I could light my own farts I could fly to the moon or at least Uranus.

93. The main thing - the main thing about the kid - the midget, as we call him, the special one - he gives me a great sense. I feel good about him, because I always have this dream - I have this dream.. well, like, I guess, every father - but you have a dream that maybe one day.. one day, it'll be my son accepting the Nobel Prize. I also have this other dream where it's my son going.. [ in redneck twang ] "You want fries with this?"

92.Men wearing pants so tight that you can tell what religion they are.

91.There's a syndrome called "restless leg syndrome". What the fuck is that, a tendency to break out into Riverdance?

90.Inside of you, there's a fashion model just waiting to throw up.

89. Before the lethal injection, they do an alcohol swab. Which is so nice! What the fuck are you doing? We don't want you to get that last second infection!

88. When I find out a hotel doesn't have a DSL, it's like "What? There's no toilet?" Once you get used to high speed you ain’t going back.

87. My God. We’ve had cloning in the South for years. It’s called cousins.

86.I know there's a cure for bio terrorism or whatever it is. And it lies within Keith Richards, I know that. He is the only man on the planet who can go: "Anthrax? All right..." 

85.Everybody's worried about people playing baseball on steroids. Here's one quick way you tell: on steroids, your balls shrink and your head grows.
So if someone steps up to the plate with a Mardi Gras head and Raisinettes, you're out!

84. When a woman has to go to the gynaecologist, you don't want a doctor who has a hobby. You don't want a gynaecologist who's also a magician. You don't want: "How are we today? Uh, a dove!" "What's this?!" "Is this your card?"

83.How can you tell if Congress was sick? It's night of the living dead anyway. All those old senators going: "The confederate flag is just the symbol of states' rights." Yeah, and the swastika is just a good luck charm.

82.No, being a father, you feel incredible. It's outrageous. The best thing for me is, well.. watching my baby breastfeed. It's something very special. I know he's only ten months old, but that's enough! Because I have this incredible fear, I have this fear that, during the night, a midget came in and took his place. So while my wife's breastfeeding, there's this midget going, "Hey, nice tomatoes! How are ya'!"

81.There was a guy in the South who said "They should have NASCAR in the Olympics." And it was like "mmm hmm." At that moment, even Darwin was going "Come with me. This is the ascent of Man. You stand here."

80. Canadian money is also called "the Looney". How can you take an economic crisis seriously? - The Looney is down! - Oh, how sad for you!

79.They said that marijuana was a "performance-enhancing drug". Marijuana enhances many things, colors, tastes, sensations, but you are certainly not fucking empowered. When you're stoned, you're lucky if you can find your own goddamn feet. The only way it's a performance-enhancing drug is if there's a big fucking Hershey bar at the end of the run.

78. They say there's no global warming. But right now the North Pole is a pool. It is beyond global warming. At this point it's cooking.

77.I can't even get a condom on when I want to! "Hey, baby. Yeah, I got a love glove. Hold on." "I'll be right with you, honey." "Don't go away on me now." You're playing "Beat the cock". "I got it, I got it!" There's your penis like a midget in a diving suit... "I don't think we're going in today, Pete. We didn't make the deadline."

76.Taking Viagra after open heart surgery is like a Civil War re-enactment with live ammo. Not good.

75. Okra is the closest thing to nylon I`ve ever eaten. It`s like they bred cotton with a green bean. Okra, tastes like snot. The more you cook it, the more it turns into string.

74. Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. Some get it as a graduation gift.

73.If you're basically having Frosted Flakes, and you're older than ten years old and it's after ten o'clock in the morning... I'm gonna guess: weed may be involved.

72. People go "now, Robin, how do I know if I'm an alcoholic?" Well as one, let me give you some warning signs. Number one, after a night of heavy drinking, you wake up fully clothed going "Hey! Somebody shit in my pants!"

71. Number two, you have a couple of cocktails, you find yourself on the freeway going, "What are these fuckers doing going the wrong way?"

70.Number three, you get drunk, you go out for Indian food, you wake up in Bombay with a camel licking your balls.

69.Ta da! You are an alcoholic! And some people say "Robin, I'm a *functioning* alcoholic!" Which is, you can be one. It's like being a paraplegic lap dancer. You can do it, just not as well as the others, really.

68. You don't need cocaine! There's another way to get real high, and really mess your mind up, it's called marathon running!

67.Blackouts, I joke, are like sleepwalking with activities.

66.If it’s the Psychic Network why do they need a phone number?

65. Keith Richards is the only man who can make the Osbornes look fucking Amish. I've seen him going to a drug dealer who said: "I'm out, man!" "I have nothing left."

64.Every so often, Rumsfeld comes out and goes, "I don't know where. I don't know when. But something awful's going to happen. Thank you, that's all for today, no further questions." Excuse me, can you give me a clue? What is it, the Central "Intuitive" Agency now?

63. The drug they gave me for the surgery was a drug called Propofol. Which, it's nickname is milk of amnesia. Fucking insane drug. I had that in a surgical situation. Michael Jackson was taking Propofol at home to sleep. Fuck off. A doctor said taking Propofol to sleep is like doing chemotherapy because you're tired of shaving your fucking head.

62.You’ll notice that Bush never speaks when Cheney is drinking water.

61. The definition of insanity is repeating the same action expecting a different outcome. And we elected him the second time, the whole world went "What the fuck is going on with you people?"

60. The definition of pornography is quite simple. Erotic is using a feather, pornography is using the entire chicken.

59. If there was a pill that allowed you to drink and not get drunk, an alcoholic would go "What happens if you take two?

58. When they named a hurricane "Hurricane Ike", I went "finally, they have the balls to name a hurricane after a crack-smoking, wife-beating motherfucker."

57. Some things you may want to stay away from while drinking heavily. Ebay, not a good idea. Ebay and alcoholism, perfect storm of addiction. You'll find yourself up to your ass in George Foreman grills and Sham Wows.

56. I love the guys who say "I watch NASCAR for the racing." Yeah, and I watch porn for the acting. You LIAR!

55. I think that after you get married a third time you have to give up a body part. Larry King would just be a head on a fucking stick.

54. We may all be dead and gone, Keith Richards will still be there with five cockroaches. He'll be going, "I smoked your uncle, did you know that?

53. You could talk about same-sex marriage, but people who have been married (say) ‘It’s the same sex all the time.'

52. Being a famous print journalist is like being the best-dressed woman on radio.

51.A woman would never make a nuclear bomb. They would never make a weapon that kills, no, no. They’d make a weapon that makes you feel bad for a while.

50. The Chinese had accused the Tibetans of being terrorists, which is weird. A Tibetan terrorist is like an Amish hacker. It just doesn't fit.

49. Now the airport security is tight. You go through the metal detector and if you are heavily pierced, like some of my friends: "Take out your keys, sir." "Tip of the iceberg." For those playing the home game, this is called a Prince Albert. I'm sure that was his last wish. I'm sure Albert said, "Victoria, I'm dying. I want you to name a museum, a performance hall and a bolt through the cock after me." "That will be Victoria's Secret. Go, my darling."

48. I've been watching a little bit of porn since I've been on the road. [raises his hand and "speaks" through it, a la a ventriloquist dummy] "A little?" [pushes his hand down] Shut up.

47. It's interesting when you see a girl with a bolt through her tongue. Why did you do that? To enahthe the thekthual thtimulathon. "Nothing drives my boyfriend crazy like the feel of cold steel on his hot rock."

46. Death – to blink for an exceptionally long period of time.

45.We're dealing with fundamentalists... the Amish are fundamentalists, but they don't try and hijack a carriage at needlepoint. And, if you're ever in Amish country and you see a man with his hand buried in a horse's ass, that's a mechanic. Remember that.

44.It doesn't scare me that George W. Bush waved at Stevie Wonder. That's OK. Stevie's only been blind since birth! And there's W. going: "Stevie!" Even Stevie Wonder's going, "Is that mother fucker waving at me? Does he think I'm looking for him? Goddamn!"

43.They say the platypus was an animal designed by committee. Was the human body designed by committee? Was there a group of guys who designed it? Was a guy going "Tom, do you have those designs for the human reproductive system?" I do, Ted. Let's show you what we came up with. Normally, with the mammal penis, we have the retractable. We decided to do something different from the mammal... the male penis, the human. We call it the collapsible."

42.Whenever a big white man picks up a banjo, my cheeks tighten.

41.I had my back waxed once by two women... and at one point they said, "Do you mind if we take a break?"

40.When you create you get a little endorphin rush. Why do you think Einstein looked like that?

39.We're now under the offices of Homeland Security. Tom Ridge ever so often goes: "Today is a blue day." "No, orange" "Red". They had to be very careful picking that name: "Homeland Security". They couldn't say Fatherland because a lot of the old Germans are going: "That's a good one!"

38. As an alcoholic, you will violate your standards quicker than you can lower them. You will do shit that even the Devil would go "dude..."

37. I'm a very tolerant man, except when it comes to holding a grudge.

36. And it's not bad enough that they make porn movies, they make porn movies of MY movies. They made "Good Will Humping." It's okay. "Wet Dreams May Cum," all right. "Snatch Adams"? That was scary. A clown with a strap-on. Fuck off! You know, "Popeye", I would watch.

35.Death is nature's way of saying, "Your table's ready."

34.George W Bush almost died from a fucking pretzel. We have billions of dollars in national defense. They want billions more for national security.
And he almost fucking goes down from snack food! Secret Service is going: "Game over, man!" "Gilligan's down. Gilligan's down." "Step away from the chip, sir!" We have to have people go: "Hydrate, you bastard!" His own dogs didn't give a shit. They were licking him for the salt.

33.I'd like to start the show by showing you something I'm very proud of. You'll have to step back, though.

32.They call it freebasing. It's not free, it costs you your house! It should be called homebasing! Three signs you're addicted to cocaine: First of all, if you come home to your house and you have no furniture and your cat's going "I'm outta here, prick!," Warning! Number two: If you have this dream where you're doing cocaine in your sleep and you can't fall asleep, and you wake up and you're doing cocaine, BINGO! Number three: if on your tax form it says, "$50,000 for snacks," MAYDAY!

31.When you look at Prince Charles, don't you think that someone in the Royal family knew someone in the Royal family?

30.My God, what am I doing here? It's weird. How do you get to the Met? Money! Lots and lots of money! I can imagine Pavarotti next door at the improv going "Two Jews walk into a bar..."

29. What kind of food did we drop on Afghanistan? Pop-Tarts, peanut butter...just add a Honey Baked Ham and you've got a redneck Christmas. Why are we dropping this food on Afghanistan? Tastes a hell of a lot better than dirt, number one. Number two, difficult to have a call to jihad with a mouth full of peanut butter. Thirdly, Afghanistan is a hashish-smoking culture, and anyone who's ever been a friend of the hookah will go, (intense, stoned stare) "Pop-Tarts!"

28.Shakespeare said, "Kill all the lawyers." There were no agents then.

27. Carpe per diem - seize the check.

26. After I quit drinking, I realized I am the same asshole I always was; I just have fewer dents in my car.

25.The Swiss, ya! The Geneva Convention. If there's ever a nuclear war, they will be the only people going: "Vhat was that noise?" In their big hollowed up country, with their chocolate and their watches. Ya! The nice Germans. Ya! Or, as they like to say, "the other white race." I have only one question: How can you trust an army, that has a wine opener on its knife?

24.I had sex with a prostitute when I was 21, I was so bad, she gave me a refund.

23. The manly sport of golf, where you can dress like a pimp and no one will care.

22.I love running cross country... On a track, I feel like a hamster.

21.Jesus was an only child. Thank God! Who would want to be Jerry, the brother of Christ? That's a tough gig. "Come on, Jerry, we're going to the beach." Jesus's gonna walk on the water, feed everybody, heal them and get a whole bunch of disciples. I'll sit there with a rash and sand in my ass. Great day for me!

20. To be honest, I’m kind of challenged in terms of new music. I listen to a lot of Jazz, specifically Keith Jarrett piano solos. And for me, if you want just wonderful ballads and love songs, Tom Waits. I might also have to throw in Radiohead, but I can’t quote specific lyrics. AND PRINCE! For those special nights.

19. Jack Nicholson was with me at a benefit and leaned over and said ‘even oysters have enemies.’ In a very intense voice. I responded with ‘Increase your dosage.'

18. I don't play (golf). I was once at a driving range with my son, I hit 2 balls, and he said "Dad, that's enough."

17.Pot is not like alcohol. Alcohol changes your moods. Go to a bar at happy hour and see some happy motherfuckers there. Guys going: "Hey, fuck you, my man!" "Hey, listen to me." "Listen to me, you piece of shit." "You do not know shit about fuck, my man." "You want a piece of yourself?" "Step outside, I'll kick my ass". "I've already shit myself. I'm half way there".

16.I'm still waiting for the next Call of Duty. It's been very unusual for me because I've done trips overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan, and I would see guys who had just come back from patrol playing Call of Duty, and I would say "you're living this stuff! And yet you're still playing this game..."

15. And I love to ride my bike, which is great aerobics, but also just a great time for me to think, so it's like this terrific double bill.

14. My Irish accent transitions into two or three others. It slips into Welsh, Scottish, and then it just starts to break down.

13.Baseball players have to go in front of a grand jury and say, "Yeah, I did cocaine. Can you blame me? It's a slow goddamn game! Come on Jack! Standing out in left field for seven innings, and there's a long white line going down to home plate! I see the guy putting it out going "Heh heh heh heh!!!!" And that damn organ music too, the whole [does intro to "Charge!"]! Third base coach is always doing this...[wiping nose, fidgeting around]. When he's doing that, I don't know whether to slide or do a line! People sliding into home plate head first, umpire goes, "You're out!" "No, baby, I'm up now! Ha ha ha!"

12.Time is the best teacher, but unfortunately, it kills all of its students.

11.We're not laughing at you - we're laughing near you.

10. A woman in the Dallas airport came up to me and literally said "Be zany." Like she had walked up to Baryshnikov and said "dance." I didn't know how to respond. I just went "Thank you! And Lincoln freed everyone."

9. My children give me a great sense of wonder. Just to see them develop into these extraordinary human beings. And a favourite book as a child? Growing up, it was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – I would read the whole C.S. Lewis series out loud to my kids. I was once reading to Zelda, and she said “don’t do any voices. Just read it as yourself.” So I did, I just read it straight, and she said ‘that’s better.'

8. [On the flying scenes in Hook] I felt bad for the five guys who had to haul my fat ass up. At that time there were very few mechanical devices so it was literally guys on pulleys flying me across - I think it was 2 guys to pull me across. They would say "we're doing another take" and they would say "oh, not again."

7.For me, the one big question is: how do you get Crucifixion, Resurrection and then chocolate bunnies, colored eggs? How do you do that one? Even kids are going: "Rabbits don't lay eggs. What is this?" And you don't want a kid biting the head off a chocolate Jesus. You don't want a cream filled cross... You don't wanna put raspberry jam in the grass going: "We're looking for Jesus, kids, come on!"

6. I've actually gone to the zoo and had monkeys shout to me from their cages, "I'm in here when you're walking around like that?"

5. Sometimes you've got to specifically go out of your way to get into trouble. It's called fun.

4.One time in makeup as Mrs. Doubtfire, I walked into a sex shop in San Francisco and tried to buy a double-headed dildo. Just because. Why not? And the guy was about to sell it to me until he realised it was me – Robin Williams – not an older Scottish woman coming in to look for a very large dildo and a jar of lube. He just laughed and said, ‘What are you doing here?’ and I left. Did I make the purchase? No. Did I walk away with a really good story? Yes.

3. I think I am sometimes a poster child for arrested development in terms of I'm fascinated with toys and games. And I'm spontaneous. But no food fights. I'm gluten free.

2. I'm looking forward to the next Xbox. I can't imagine the graphics being any better. It will be like these characters are living in your house. I'll have to be doing duck and cover just to get to the bathroom!

1.There was an old, crazy dude who used to live a long time ago. His name was Lord Buckley. And he said, a long time ago, he said, "People - they're kinda like flowers, and it's been a privilege walking in your garden." My love goes with you. 

Did I miss your favourite Robin Williams joke? Post them in the comments.

Text of my tribute:

So sad to see yet another sucumb to the link between depression and substance abuse. This movie was one of my favorites, perhaps because it was released months after I quit drinking for good in 1987.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093105/ He gave so much to so many in the Bay Area... he will be greatly missed.
RIP Robin Williams... — feeling bummed.

Growing Up Without A Cell Phone - A Look at Change

I found some of these ideas on a forum I participate in. I've added and updated a few to make it more personal. If you are 40, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up during the Great Depression they had to make their toys; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways... No TV, had to go to movie theater to see moving pictures... yadda, yadda, yadda.

When I was a kid, my grandmother still had a "party line" where others could hear your calls.  If they were on the phone, you had to hang up and use the phone later when they were finished.  They didn't have dial phones in the early days and they had to wind the one clock they had for the whole house. 

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on the younger generation about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

Well, that is not true... I remember wondering how much things would change because a man just walked on the moon and I saw it live on a black and white TV...

Like the generation before me, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today do have it easy compared to my childhood. Just like my generation, you don't know how good you've got it!

Keeping Time:  We knew how to wind a watch and tell time using a clock with dials.  We didn't have digital clocks.

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! That meant hanging around after school to use the "school library" or a bus trip to an adult library with more books.

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk blocks to put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! You had to stand in line at the post office to buy stamps, none of this ordering stamps online or in bulk at Costco.

Punishment:  Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe! We had to treat adults with respect.

Music: There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Way before CDs, we listened to records. Every time you played them the "needle" in the stereo record player would slowly wear the record out. If you lent your favorite record to a friend, it usually came back scratched with fingerprints and never sounded the same again.

Recording Music: You had to wait around all day to tape a favorite song off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning to ruin it! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Leave the tape in the sun on the dashboard and forget about it sounding good ever again.

Phones:  We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting and voice mail. If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it! We had to DIAL a phone too. You had to wait for the dial to return before dialing the next number. It was agony to keep redialing a friend that was on the phone or out since you could not leave a voice mail message. I thought my first phone with push buttons for each number was a gift from heaven and my first phone that stored three phone numbers a miracle of technology for the time it saved!

Keeping in Touch: There weren't any cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!!

TEXTING: During a summer job at Hewlett-Packard in 1978 I figured out how to text other workers in different computer rooms (yeah, we actually had to go to another room or area to use a computer terminal!) using the computer to save me calling them on the phone. I was told the computer was a tool and not a toy so I should keep this game playing to a minimum.

"Who's There?" And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent, the police ... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances. Of course, sometimes we took advantage of this and played games with people using the phone.

Video Games: We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had pinball at one friend's house whose parents were nice enough to let him have such a big, noisy game. Otherwise we had to play at the pizza parlor or bowling alley with our hard earned money that didn't last long. In highschool I remember the invention of "Pong" then came the Atari 2600 with games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen.. Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

My senior lab project in college at UC Berkeley was a pong game made with LEDs and discrete digital chips! I used a counter chip and had it keep score with new HP LEDs I got from my summer job for extra credit. I wish I had a digital camera to take pictures of the mass of wires of this cool project.

Digital Cameras:  Pictures to remember things were expensive.  You had to buy "film" you put in a camera.  It was expensive and came in rolls of 12, 24 and 36 pictures.  As I kid I could only afford a 12 picture roll of film a year to take a few black and white pictures.  Oh yeah, you also had to pay for developing which was more than the film until mail order developing came along.   12 pictures cost about a weeks allowance so I didn't take many.

TV:  You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! The only remotes were on very expensive COLOR TVs like the one at my grandparents. When I was very young, our TV was black-and white!

Forget about watching your own shows on your own iPad or laptop.  We had one TV to share with the whole family.  If you father wanted to watch a silly, old movie in black and white when your favorite show was on, you were out of luck, you missed your show.  There were no DVRs and VCRs to record one show and watch another and no internet to stream the show later at any price.

Cartoons:  There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. No VCRs or DVD players to park kids in front of TVs watching cartoons either if you had little brothers or sisters to take care of. You actually had to entertain them or get them to read a book.

Cooking:  And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that! I paid about a weeks take home salary from my first engineering job to buy my first microwave!

Entertainment: Our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores, reading books or doing homework!

Car seats. You're kidding? You wore a seat belt. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if your mother had to stop suddenly. If your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "I GET THE FRONT SEAT" in the first place and making your little brothers ride in the back.  The only "air bag" in a car was a loud, fat relative or little brother who never shut their mouth.

Facebook Friends:  I started out this article writing, "I found some of these ideas on a forum I participate in." Back in high school and after college, if I wanted to communicate with friends about a common interest, we had to all get in the same room at the same time and actually look at each other! We called it a silly name like "science club" or "Shelby Mustang Club" or "Corvette Club" or .... you get the picture.

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1960s and 1970s or any time before!

Regards,

The Over 40 Crowd

Please feel free to add your own changes in the comments section.

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The Financial Crisis & Bailout Explained in Drinking Terms

A friend sent me this via email.

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers - most of whom are unemployed alcoholics - to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans). [Kirk: In the US we call this running a tab at the bar. Bartenders allow this as long as their alcoholic customers pay the tab on payday before they buy their groceries.]

Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar.

Taking advantage of her customers' freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most-consumed beverages. Her sales volume increases massively. [Kirk: The start of the "Alcohol Bubble."]

A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit.

He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.

One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager (subsequently of course fired due his negativity) of the bank decides that slowly the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar.

However they cannot pay back the debts.

Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations and claims bankruptcy.

DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95%. PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by 80%.

The suppliers of Heidi's bar, having granted her generous payment due dates and having invested in the securities are faced with a new situation. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.

The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties.

The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the non-drinkers.

Finally an explanation I understand ......

That story almost makes me want to take up drinking again!

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I got humor this in the mail from my long time reader "Tony from Glendale."

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Major World Market Graphs at a Glance

US Treasury Rates at a Glance

Sub-prime Meltdown Crisis Explained

In the "funny but true" category, this is an exceptional (and most hilarious) explanation of the sub-prime financial crisis.

"Rewarding the Ingenuity of the Markets"

Question: "Isn't that rewarding greed and stupidity?"

Answer: "No, no. It is rewarding.... the ingenuity of the markets."

"We want this money to .... so we can continue to lend money as if nothing happened without thinking too much about it."

Request Invitation to FREE facebook discussion group "Investing for the Long Term."


Q: "If you don't get this money, what then?"

A: "Well then there would be another market crash. Then we would say what we always say. It is not us that will suffer, it is your pension fund."

CD Rate Survey

The best rate is 5.45% at Countrywide Bank for 3 months

1 and 2 yrs: 5.21% at Apple Bank for Savings

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