How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad, Fourth Edition by William J. O'Neil


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This updates instructions for how to use the new format of the Investor's Business Daily newspaper and its investors.com website. There are some subtle changes between the 3rd edition and this edition so it is worth reading this edition too.

View all my reviews >>

Notorious Victoria: The Life of Victoria Woodhull, Uncensored by Mary Gabriel


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I found myself wishing the author would summarize more 1870-era news items and her speeches. Members of my book club often prefer books with strong narratives that pull them along into the story. I anticipate they will find this book too easy to put down and not pick up again.
Victoria Woodhull had an interesting life that might make a good Lifetime movie or mini-series. She and her sister were used by their family to earn money as spiritual healers at an early age. She married at the age of 14 years old to a man twice her age and he was an alcoholic and morphine abuser. She was the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She was the first woman to testify before a Congressional committee. She ran for president against U.S. Grant. She was jailed on obscenity charges under the Comstock law. There was a second husband, another lover and finally a third husband. She tried to modernize an English village and conflicts with officials left the village without a school.

View all my reviews >>

That Explains A Lot

Wall Street Bailout Hustle is "a brief history of the best 18 months of grifting this country has ever seen:"

I could not understand why Goldman Sachs and other banks who received TARP funds from the taxpayers could give themselves such obscene bonuses.
I could not understand why AIG handed over assets to Goldman Sachs instead of being required to distribute them among all its creditors.
I did not understand why Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley received federal permission to become bank holding companies.
I did not understand why a relative had to have 25% down to qualify for a property mortgage.I could not understand why some small businesses had to become self-funded when denied previously approved cash-flow/seasonal inventory loans. Taibbi's translation of the situation: "You can lower interest rates all you want, but we're (bailout-funded banks) still not f****ing lending the bailout money to anyone in this economy."

Seven cons were perpetrated and they hurt all of us.

Sights in Town

I had not been to town for nearly two weeks, since the first snowfall of Feb 5. News reports had this county under Level 1 and Level 2 snow emergencies during that time. I parked in the municipal parking lot and noticed an obstacle between the lot and the sidewalk. I can always walk around it. I chuckled at the sight of the bike rack by the library; I guess it is for mountain bikes and snowboards. I welcome this sign of Spring.

Continuous Chest compressions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5huVSebZpM is the link to a video of Mayo Clinic's new procedure for continuous chest compresstions form of CPR.

Snowfall from Winter Storm of Feb. 5, 2010

Front yard from office
Originally uploaded by hikerdee

Same view phtographed after Feb 5 snowstorm. There was a lot more wet snow and then it drifted with the help of higher speed winds.

The backyard from kitchen window
Our daughter's tree droops under the weight of the snow.
Thanks to husband and a neighbor our driveway is clear to the street which is plowed by the township.
Five weeks and 3 days until Spring

Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir by Lawrence Block


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Three stars from me means I enjoyed the book, but I don't know to whom I would recommend it,which is how it might earn its fourth star. My friends and family don't have much interest in my own tales of training and race day stories.

View all my reviews >>

Hiking Big Bend National Park, 2nd by Laurence Parent


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Yes, it gets 5 stars because I will recommend it to others and I'm likely to use it again for hikes on future vacations. This book has been on the recommended reading list in most other books for Big Bend National Park.

View all my reviews >>