Parker's Blog

So, PJ has something going on with his gum, near where his bottom left molar would be

but not sure if it's a molar coming in - or if he got a cut on the gum

So, I went to the pharmacy in the hopes of buying some Orajel. Of course they don't have anything like it at all.

Bizarre.

Why do so many people pirate software – when there are so many great programs out there which are FREE ….

CDBurnerXP: Free CD and DVD burning software

I’ve used CDBurner for years … and love it.

Really, there is no catch.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost (1916)

The Road Not Taken

Lunchtime Thoughts

I needed a reminder of how lucky I am to be here – not to mention how I hope that the brainiacs at MIT are right about the Multiverse.

Have you ever thought about the fact that great sci-fi tends to push the scientists towards doing things?

Geisha girls, and the Beijing opera guys dressed as girls –> Thai ladyboys ?

So many things from Orson Wells and War of the Worlds –> Laser beams, search for extra-terrestrials

Star Trek and Captain Kirk’s “Put it on Screen” —> Flat screens

More impressive though, in my mind is Arthur C. Clark. Especially his book which could be used by anyone wanting to go on long space voyages – without all of the problems of lack of gravity (which makes you loose calcium in your bones … and affects every other major system of your body. In his Rama series, he teaches us how those issues could be handled in a straight-forward way.

So, here we are (maybe, according to MIT), and yet, in other multiverses, we might have brothers, sisters, children, dogs, or even parents that we don’t have here.

The Geeks' View of Multiple Quasi-Synchronous Universes

And on those other levels – perhaps it’s more like what the Buddhists call the 18 multiple layers of Hell? Or is one of them the fabled Heaven?

I read this page today – from University of Medicine School of Medicine … Sleep Hygiene

Awesome details on the page – some of the things I’ve heard before, some of them I’ve never heard of.

Here are the one’s I like – read them all on their page.

Your Personal Habits

• Fix a bedtime and an awakening time. Do not be one of those people who allows bedtime and awakening time to drift. The body “gets used” to falling asleep at a certain time, but only if this is relatively fixed. Even if you are retired or not working, this is an essential component of good sleeping habits.
• Avoid napping during the day.
• Avoid alcohol 4-6 hours before bedtime. Many people believe that alcohol helps them sleep. While alcohol has an immediate sleep-inducing effect, a few hours later as the alcohol levels in your blood start to fall, there is a stimulant or wake-up effect.
• Avoid caffeine 4-6 hours before bedtime. This includes caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea and many sodas, as well as chocolate, so be careful.
• Avoid heavy, spicy, or sugary foods 4-6 hours before bedtime. These can affect your ability to stay asleep.
• Exercise regularly, but not right before bed. Regular exercise, particularly in the afternoon, can help deepen sleep. Strenuous exercise within the 2 hours before bedtime, however, can decrease your ability to fall asleep.

When I read this, there are many kinds of ‘exercise’ – some of which are really nice.

Your Sleeping Environment

• Use comfortable bedding. Uncomfortable bedding can prevent good sleep. Evaluate whether or not this is a source of your problem, and make appropriate changes.
• Find a comfortable temperature setting for sleeping and keep the room well ventilated. If your bedroom is too cold or too hot, it can keep you awake. A cool (not cold) bedroom is often the most conducive to sleep.
• Block out all distracting noise, and eliminate as much light as possible.
• Reserve the bed for sleep and sex. Don’t use the bed as an office, workroom or recreation room. Let your body “know” that the bed is associated with sleeping.

Getting Ready For Bed

• Try a light snack before bed. Warm milk and foods high in the amino acid tryptophan, such as bananas, may help you to sleep.
• Practice relaxation techniques before bed. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, deep breathing and others may help relieve anxiety and reduce muscle tension.
• Don’t take your worries to bed. Leave your worries about job, school, daily life, etc., behind when you go to bed. Some people find it useful to assign a “worry period” during the evening or late afternoon to deal with these issues.
• Establish a pre-sleep ritual. Pre-sleep rituals, such as a warm bath or a few minutes of reading, can help you sleep.
• Get into your favorite sleeping position. If you don’t fall asleep within 15-30 minutes, get up, go into another room, and read until sleepy.

Other Factors

• Several physical factors are known to upset sleep. These include arthritis, acid reflux with heartburn, menstruation, headaches and hot flashes.
• Psychological and mental health problems like depression, anxiety and stress are often associated with sleeping difficulty. In many cases, difficulty staying asleep may be the only presenting sign of depression. A physician should be consulted about these issues to help determine the problem and the best treatment.

It doesn’t mention meletonin.

Jim Rogers Interview – Part Two

Jim Rogers discusses his extremely bearish view for the USA’s future (with which I whole heartedly agree).

Garrett Baldwin: Aside from the massive debts, do you see any other risks …?

Jim Rogers: Oh, sure. We’re overextended geopolitically around the world. We’re overextended militarily. We’ve got troops in 120 different countries. It’s not doing us any good. We’re making enemies around the world. We have a huge education problem, huge healthcare problem. Our kids wind up like 23 or 24 on the international education exams. Our life expectancy is not even in the top 20 in the world.

We have many, many, many serious problems going forward

Garrett Baldwin: We spoke briefly about Canada [editor's note: See Part One]. Are there any other countries that look like winners?

Jim Rogers: Well the obvious commodity countries are Canada and Australia. They’ve demonstrated a reasonable rule of law over the decades. New Zealand, likewise. Brazil has [many] commodities and is reasonably well managed, although the new government looks more and more like the old Brazilian governments that everyone needs to worry about. Anybody who’s got a lot of natural resources, [but only] if they’re well managed.

PAF

One of the things I’m worried about is the relationship between the RMB and the USD when the USD drops during the busting of the Rogers’ predicted bubble-burst.

The hedge into silver and gold looks okay on its surface – but one would need to have the gold on hand … as if there is such a financial armageddon … then having receipts of your gold holdings won’t help.

If you don’t know Jim Rogers – the investor genius – you should.

Not only has he earned millions and millions for himself, he really seems to enjoy talking about how he sees the future unraveling – or shaping up as the case may be.

Found in Jim Rogers Interview – Part One were lots of interesting comments.

Garrett Baldwin: You state that the more ridiculous the investment idea, the better it is for the contrarian investor. So what seems ridiculous but also high potential on your radar?

Jim Rogers: Well, U.S. government bonds are awfully ridiculous. They have been for a while. It takes a while for a bubble to blow up. But [U.S. bonds seem] to be a bubble. Imagine lending money to the United States government in U.S. dollars for three or four or five or six percent. You pick the number because when a country goes bankrupt, eventually the interest rate goes to staggeringly high levels. And that’s going to happen in the United States.

Another bubble I see is American tertiary education, but I don’t know any way to short either Harvard or Stanford. English and European football teams are a bubble, but I don’t really know any way to short those, either. There are always bubbles in the world, but the one that I’m planning to short next is the U.S. government bond market. The long-bond market.

Garrett Baldwin: Do you believe that QE3 and QE4 are inevitable?

Jim Rogers: I do think that they will stop QE2 just because they have so much publicity on the fact that they’re going to stop it. But something will come back. They may call it something else. They may try to disguise it, but something is going to come back.

You’re not going to see American politicians, especially in an election year, saying, “Well guys, we made horrible mistakes over the past 40 years. Now we have to pay the price and suffer.” No, no. They’re not going to have that kind of platform in 2012. So something will come along to replace QE2.

What I wonder is when Jim Roger’s predictions will come to pass.

It’s not like the USA is actually trying to keep its economy robust, with a strong currency. We’re not.

Jim Rogers says we should invest in YUAN (he allegedly keeps lots of his money in RMB)… and not to mention silver.