therapy car noise

i'm back. christmas is over. had a good one. got to spend time with family and friends, which is what i look forward to; that and eating a lot, which i did that as well. i seriously put on 30 pounds in two weeks. never been done. i am now larger than a desk. in fact, i know eat desk-sized portions.

niall ferguson has a six part series called "the ascent of money." i watched part one last night and loved it. each episode is about 45 minutes. you got to check it out. good back history on how banking was created and where and why. it's great.

here are some scenarios for 2009's economic outlook. i am no expert, but i'm banking on the double dip scenario.

here is a video detailing iceland's situation.

7 winning industries for 2009. video games are included as one. i don't quite understand that since video games are crazy expensive and so is their gear. the rational thought is, well spend money once on a video game console and save money by playing at home and not going out. that makes sense, but the up-front cost is large enough to be put off in harsh times. that's my thinking. it also includes education institutions like devry, which is lame. when hard times hit, people enroll in schools, in institutions of learning, like universities. they get master's degrees and law degrees. they don't learn how to weld two bits of metal together and then sell mattresses out of the back of the van in the early evening when mattress selling is at its peak. they just don't.

by the way, how great is it that the cowboys got rolled by philly and missed playoffs. i made a bold prediction before the season started. i said the cowboys and the patriots would not make it to the super bowl. it's amazing that i could have said that neither one would make the playoffs and i would have been right. wow.