Bankruptcy of our Nation

I just finished Jerry Robinson's Bankruptcy of our Nation. It is really an introductory book into the history and current state of the American economy. It was perfect for me and probably would be a good read for even more experienced economists (Ryan!) as it plainly and simply lays out the myth of American wealth as well as impending catastrophes. He also give key (albeit vague) financial advice that can be applied to any budget.

UPDATE: The dreaded diet

In fairness, the diet is not nearly as dreadful as it was the first few days of last week. I guess when you go from pizza, brownies and ice cream one night to absolutely no sugar the next day, there is bound to be a small revolution in your body. The revolution has subsided and I'm not shaking anymore. I weighed in yesterday at 205 lbs, meaning that I dropped 6 lbs last week.

We only have one more week of this phase and then we can start introducing some wheat carbs again which is good because I'm a little short on energy and struggling with another or my resolutions which is to add 20 lbs to my bench press.

Unrelated good news: we've had normal water service for the past 36 hours. Hopefully the stoppages are over.

Great moments in socialism

We awoke this morning to find that we had no running water. It turns out that the Dublin City Council is currently rationing water! That's right...water rationing in Ireland.

There is a reason behind it (supposedly). With the "extreme" cold over the past few weeks (in the teens and 20's) the water lines below ground froze and burst and are now leaking water into the ground depleting the city's water supply. In order to conserve those reserves until the unknown number of pipes is fixed they have begun a "rolling blackout," if you will, of water service. The council has no time table for fixing the pipes but suggests that it could be 6 months before service is back to normal.

I'm no expert on water pipes but I would think that if the pipes were even 1' in the ground it would have protected them from that level of cold. Apparently they aren't even that deep. Just another example of the Irish ethic and ingenuity.

We gotta get out of here!

Maybe not so funny

I'm pretty sure this was written by the same people that write Obama's speeches.


Treasury Department Issues Emergency Recall Of All U.S. Dollars

Resolution #1

As many of you have already heard we are embarking on the South Beach diet...again. Our success the first time around is encouraging but I really struggle with dieting will power. This is one of those no carb, low fat diets which really takes everything I love off my plate...(sad lip extended!) However, I've decided that to increase the likelihood of success I'll be weighing myself every Monday and reporting the losses (I hope) on my blog.

Now for the most embarrassing part...my starting weight - 211 lbs.

IT'S GO TIME!!!

New Year's Day

The New Year has arrived and although I really don't partake in the tradition of resolutions I do like to start out on a good foot. In this case that foot looked like a snake that swallowed a large rat...mmm appetizing. I smoked my Drew Estate The Egg that Ryan sent me for Christmas as my first cigar of 2010 and it was actually quite good. I was expecting it to be average at best and nothing more than a gimmick but in reality the Drew Estate did what they are known for and combined quality with their cigar revolution. It took just under 2 hours to finish. I think I'll have to take a week off now.