Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Zach won't be getting any candy this year, but he did get this very cool Elmo couch. He also received a new Ohio State jersey from his Aunt Sally - a very important gift since football season is quickly approaching.

RIP Bear Stearns

Yep...it finally happened today. A major player on Wall Street went under. Bear Stearns, one of the most well-respected names on the Street sold out to JP Morgan for $2 per share. It was at $160 per share less than a year ago and $100 per share in December. I almost fell out of my chair this morning when I found out.

Now...no matter how you feel about the company(or whether you have ever even heard of them), there is one sad thing about the demise...7,000 people are going to lose their jobs. I think JP Morgan was planning on keeping half of the estimated 14,000 employees of Bear, but the other half is going to be shortly out of a job. I feel for these people. In addition, there are some stories I heard today about Bear employees who had their entire retirement plan tied up in Bear Stearns stock. While I feel bad for someone who is ready to retire and only has $50,000 to their name, I feel even worse if that account was worth $1 Million a few weeks ago. This brings me to today's lesson, fellow readers....DIVERSIFY!!!!

Most of these people at Bear are very smart people so they should have diversified their retirement accounts. But I know there are lots that didn't. Take my advice....don't be stupid...DO NOT HAVE ALL OF YOUR MONEY INVESTED IN ONE STOCK!!!!. I can preach this over and over to people but there is always someone who thinks they are smarter than everyone else. Ask the people at Bear Stearns...Ask the people at Enron. Don't have more than 10% of your portfolio in one stock and you will live to fight another day if the company blows up. You won't be happy when you lose 10% of your money, but it sure beats losing your entire life savings. It's just not worth it....

More Pix of Zach

At the request of Aunt Sally, here are a couple more pictures of Zach from the past week. This picture shows Zach in normal 7am spot....rummaging through the cabinets. Please note that he is getting ready to throw around some very loud kitchen utensils.



Zach wearing his new shades on the fire truck. This was taken about half a second before he threw them off . He doesn't really like the shades, but we keep putting them on hoping he will change his mind. No luck so far....

Client #9

Caption: "This is about how much of my penis is going to be left after my wife chops it off tonight".

So there I was, having a rather terrible day at work. The market is getting hammered AGAIN, oil prices are at completely irrational numbers, and it is cloudy outside. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, along comes the Eliot Spitzer story and all is good with the world again.

As anyone who works on Wall Street can tell you, this guy is a scumbag. He has always hid behind the "crusader" label and did it all for political gain. I have been trying to find my post from a year or two ago where I ripped into him about this, but just can't seem to find it. No matter...old "Client #9" showed his true colors today.

Finally...after all of the scandals involving Republicans like Larry Craig and Mark Foley, I get to see a Democrat fry a little bit! I did find it rather funny that the NBC Nightly News only spent 4 minutes on the story tonight...the same amount of time they spent on the Obama/Clinton race. I seem to remember at least half of the newscast devoted to Larry Craig when he got busted trying to get some action in the airport bathroom stall last year. I even saw old James Carville on CNN tonight defending Spitzer and saying how this wasn't a big deal. Keep diggin that hole, Jimmy...I will even hand you the shovel....

A cure for my bad mood

I am so grateful for this little man. It doesn't matter how bad my day is or how much I have on my mind.....this guy's smile washes it all away. Can't help but smile when you look at it, huh?

The Happy Man

I think Cheryl said it best above. We all have tough days, tough weeks, and even tough months. But when you come home and get a big smile from a handsome man like Zach, all the troubles seem to melt away. Since I haven't posted many pictures of him recently, here is another great one we took within the past week.

Two out of Three Days....

I know that my regular readers (all two of you) are probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I have now posted two out of last three days. It just seems like it's so hard to get to the Margarita Lounge, but I will continue to try and keep everyone updated on whats going on.

Speaking of whats going on...I actually got a response today from "The Senator"! It has been a very long time Mark. Actually, I assume it was the Senator and not MT as it was just signed as "Mark". Normally, I can keep them straight but the comment had a "Go Obama" note on it, so I was quite confused as to which liberal was posting it. Plus I am drinking some wine tonight, so I am easily confused....

In any case, at least it didn't say "Go Hilary" because then I would have to vomit. And I don't like to vomit wine...it is messy. In my opinion, both Hilary and Obama are equally worthless, but I don't think there is a chance in hell of Hilary winning at this point, and that REALLY makes me happy.

Daddy's New Ride

Here is a picture of my new ride. After almost 6 years in the Ford Explorer, it is finally time to move on. Cheryl and I have done our research over the past month and decided on the GMC Acadia. I even found a picture on the internet with my color...Deep Blue Metallic. Although you can't tell by the picture, it has more interior room than my Explorer and also gets better gas mileage. AND, instead of a bench for the second row, it has two Captain's Chairs! Talk about sweet, huh?

I am scheduled to go pick it up on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the buying process was the typical car buying pain-in-the-ass. We got a quote from a dealer on the internet and then they didn't want to honor the number when I showed up. Three hours later they finally agreed to it, but only after I had to act like a prick and threaten to leave the dealership two or three times. It was such a difference from Cheryl's Accord a few years ago. That time, everything ran smoothly and they guy we dealt with was really cool.

Politics and Vacation

There are no two subjects on such opposite ends of the spectrum as these. Politics is the big deal today as the Florida Primary is wrapping up. It looks like McCain will be the winner here in the Sunshine State. Not a big surprise, but kind of disappointing for me as I voted for Romney and don't really care for McCain. I always liked Rudy, but since he has basically shit the bed the last month or two, I figured I would go with someone who had a chance of getting the nomination.

As for vacation, that is coming up on Friday. John and Pattymelt are flying into West Palm tomorrow at noon and I am in charge of pickup. They are going to be spending a few days with their wonderful (and unfortunately sick) grandson Z before we all head off on a big family vacation to Sanibel Island on Friday morning. It's Pattymelt's 60th birthday on Sunday and the whole Soderberg clan is getting together for a big party. I think the final number is 14 so it should be quite a little shin-dig.

Congrats to the Engaged Couple!

Congratulations go out from the Margarita Lounge to Tracy and Jeff on their engagement yesterday. Cheryl and I were at Casa de Hickman last night enjoying a few (too many) glasses of wine when we got the call from an obviously excited T. We both wish them all the best in their life together and we look forward to a trip to Cali later this year for the wedding.

The BIG Birthday

I know it is hard to believe, but Zach is one today! Cheryl and I had my family over last night for a small celebration. Zach was a little piggy and ate almost an entire cupcake with strawberry icing by himself. It was a rather messy situation, but it was hilarious. Both Cheryl and I are very thankful to have little Zach in our lives. While his first year has been tough at times, it is all worth it in the end to have a healthy smiling baby.

Zach's New Fire Truck

Zach received his first ride-on toy this Christmas from his Mimi & Papa. I'm not sure who has more fun with it - Todd or the Z-man.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to All....

Since I have been so incredibly busy the last few months, I figured that I had better wish everyone a Merry Christmas while I had a few extra seconds of free time. It just seems like all of our extra time is gone with big Z man now tearing around the house. No..he's not walking yet, but that isn't far away now and all I do is chase him and try to keep him from hurting himself. His big 1st birthday is coming up on January 13th! I can't believe how big he is getting....

In any case, Merry Christmas to everyone. If you are Jewish, Happy Hanukkah (which I guess is already over, so let's call it a belated Happy Hanukkah). Like many other people, Cheryl and I are giving thanks this year for all that we have. With everyone's crazy lives, it is often hard to sit down, relax, and think about how good we all have it. Gifts are great, but they are really not the basis of the holiday season...love is. So....take a few extra minutes out of your day and hug your wife and kids...hug your parents...hug grandma...hug your neighbor (not you Kris out there in the acreage...I'm sure that Charlie Daniels stinks). It is indeed a special time of year and the New Year (and more responsibilities and stuff to do) is just around the corner.....

FINALLY....A WIN!!!

I know it wasn't the Super Bowl, but it sure felt like it this afternoon at the Margarita Lounge. The Miami Dolphins finally won a football game today! It wasn't the prettiest win and they didn't beat a great team, but I will take it. Just the thought of going 0-16 and forever being known as the worst team in NFL history was really making me sick this week. I had nightmares about it on Wednesday Night (no kidding). I got so excited this afternoon after the winning touchdown that I scared the crap out of Zach. The poor guy started crying because I was so fired up. Sorry buddy...

While there is no hope of playoffs, at least one win looks like it will keep Cam Cameron in his job...at least for another year. If they are still this bad next year he will be gone. But even if the team ends up going 1-15 this year, I am comforted to know that there were lots of good teams that went 1-15. The Cowboys in the late 80s were 1-15 in Jimmy Johnson's first year and went on to win three Super Bowls. The Carolina Panthers were 1-15 and went to the Super Bowl a few years later. I just feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders....

On a related note, congrats to Mr. Hickman and his Browns. They are now tied with the Steelers and look like a lock to make the playoffs. I will definitely be rooting for Cleveland this postseason.

Glenn Beck

As some of you know, I am a fan of Glenn Beck. I wouldn't consider myself a raving crazy fan, but I think he brings up some good points on his TV show and he is entertaining. I think the main draw for me is the sarcasm he uses on a nightly basis...sarcasm is so under-appreciated these days. He must be doing something right because he just signed a new $50 Million contact for his radio show and there are three billboards with his face on them within 15 minutes of my house. And I live in a "blue" county surrounded by liberals! Gotta love it. Here are two pictures from Glenn's book signing in Jupiter on Friday. Kris and I drove up and stood in line for an hour, but it was a fun outing in general.

Back from the Dead

I apologize. I just realized that it has been over two weeks since I posted anything at all at the Margarita Lounge. I guess I have been too busy playing with Zach, watching the stock market get killed all day, and watching the Dolphins find new ways to lose games. Yes, it is quite a sad time to be a Dolphins fan in South Florida. 0-11 and only five games left to get a "W". While I'm not nervous yet, I will be if we lose to the Jets this coming weekend as they represent the best victim. Wish us luck.

Cheryl and I took a few pictures of Zach the other day for Christmas on the beach down in Delray. Here is one that made the final cut.....

The Happy Couple

For any of you that didn't know, Cheryl Zach and I went to Pittsburgh this past weekend for the wedding of the great K-Delish. Sorry ladies, he is now off the market. We had a great time. Here is a picture of Mr and Mrs Douglas at the reception.

Anyone want a shot?

Craig and I getting ready to dish out the shots at the reception.

Pre-Wedding

Kris and I in front of the hotel before the wedding. Does it look cold? Hell yes it was cold! It was between 35 and 40 degrees all weekend. Pretty cold for a Floridian...

Havin' a beer with the Boys

Zach hangin' out with Kris and I on Friday afternoon at Buffalo Wild Wings in Pittsburgh.