Lucy Arrives at the Lounge

Here she is. I would say how cute she is but I think the picture says it all.

A Busy Weekend

We just took Scottie to the airport in Lauderdale and are going to be slowly winding down the weekend at the Margarita Lounge. I am so surprised to not be hungover today or yesterday morning after the partying we did the last two nights. I had about 6 beers on Friday Night followed by 2 beers and a bottle of wine last night with no ill-effects. I guess I'm beginning to re-establish the long-lost tolerance that I used to have.

I was sad to see Scott leave today, but I think he had a good time. Besides partying he got to do a little shopping, some bowling (yes, we went bowling on Saturday Night), and plenty of Playstation 2 over the weekend. I realized last night that I really suck at bowling. We played two games and I was dead last out of five people in game #1...even Cheryl whooped my ass. I think I rolled about a 60. The good news was that for game #2 I was third out of five and rolled a 130. I guess it took a few beers to warm me up.

Also yesterday, Cheryl and I fell in love with a very cute puppy that we have adopted named Lucy. Cheryl is picking her up tomorrow morning and I am sure there will be some pictures posted tomorrow. She is absolutely adorable, is about 8 weeks old and is a Hound/Lab mix. Stay tuned!

Opinions Wanted

I have been reflecting on the Margarita Lounge recently as I approach my one-year anniversary and I am looking for some opinions from you, my readers. I have noticed that more of my writings recently have become political. I am by no means an expert in politics and I never have claimed to be...I am just another peron out there with his own opinion on things. I also realize that there is much more to life than just politics.

That being said, I was considering reducing my political rantings and ravings. I was hoping to become a little more creative and a little less serious at the Margarita Lounge in the next year. Lets face it, there are lots of problems in the world. But there are also good things out there and people don't need to constantly read about negative things and complaints I have.

Please let me know everyone's opinion on this new direction. If you think things are good as they are, tell me. If you think I should lighten up a little, let me know that as well. Everyone's opinion is welcome. Thanks.

Hell Freezes Over

In what can only be described as "unbeleivable", Hamas won the Palestinian elections held yesterday. I can't say it was a surprise to me that they had a good showing, but to actually win a majority of the parliamentary seats is obsolutely terrifying. Above you can see the great roll models these people are to the local kids. I can see the conversation here...you too can grow up to be a suicide bomber and kill innocent civilians. What a great goal to have in life.

Needless to say, leaders throughout the world are just as terrified as I am right about now. If you are Israel, it's gonna be tough to work on a peace plan with a group of people who want to kill you. Could you imagine how good relations would be with your next-door neighbor if his goal was to kill you? Not exactly what I would call "healthy". Obviously there are lots of problems in the Middle East (with both sides to blame in many cases), but this just seems to add fuel to the fire that seemed to be dying down a little.

Another out-of-towner

The Margarita Lounge is currently in full preparation mode for the impending arrival of the great Scottie G on Friday afternoon. Actually, I have never called Scott by that name and probably never will, but it sounds alot better that just "Scott". It's been about a year and many things have changed since then, but I am really looking forward to seeing him. I'm sure that there will be some time spent in front of the TV playing "Resident Evil 4" and probably a few drinks consumed over his two days and nights at the Margarita Lounge. I think I am more excited about no longer being the only man in the house. With Cheryl and Princess T running around here in addition to Bear and Onyx (both ladies) , I am hopelessly outnumbered.

Blood Pressure Alert

Normally, Sunday mornings at the Margarita Lounge are reserved for quiet relaxation and recovery from hangovers. Today is a little different in that my blood is already boiling over some more stupid comments from the once respected Harry Bellefonte. I guess Mr. Bellefonte is now comparing the Department of Homeland Security to the Nazi Gestapo. The scary thing is that he was applauded during a speech he gave yesterday. I'll admit that the government doesn't always get things right and often has to re-do things a few times to get it correct. But to compare the Dept of Homeland Security to the Gestapo really pisses me off.

Now, for those of you in need of a history lesson, the Gestapo was a branch of the German police under Hitler. The Gestapo was essentially in charge of rounding up Jews and other peoples considered "undesirable" by the Nazis. Once these "undesirables" were found, they were either killed immediately or sent to concentration camps.

The people at the Department of Homeland Security protect US Citizens like you and me (and yes you, Mr. Bellefonte) from threats to the country, be it domestic or foreign. To compare the two is a real insult to those employees of the DHS, people like me who are educated and actually use our brains to think, and to anyone Jewish living in the United States. Just because you don't like the President or his policies, don't insult an entire department of the government and compare them to monsters. That department is made up of normal people like you and me who work hard every day to put food on the table and protect you. By spitting in their faces, you show your true colors Mr. Bellefonte. You also show how little class you have, you prick.

Stop the Pain

We got killed today in the market. No simple way around that one...there was red all over the board today. Those damn oil prices are going to be the death of me. $68 a barrel for oil is not only too high, but absolutely insane. Why does oil keep climbing? Because of Iran? No...the United States doesn't import one drop of oil from Iran. I guess it's the old fear-mongers raging about a recession and how everything sucks. I prefer to look at things in the positive. Oil will eventually come down to a more reasonable level. It may not be today, but it will happen. Maybe I was just a month or two early to the party in calling the mid $50s. Go short oil again here...words to the wise. As for me, I will be having some beverages tonight.

A Slight Over-Reaction

It seems that my post from last night was a little off-base. Oh, don't get me wrong...we are still getting the shaft. The good news is that the shaft isn't that big and my ass will eventually heal. One of the small pieces of information I got last night was a little off base. Due to that little tidbit of info, I went off. It appears I was a little over-dramatic and I apologize. Oh well..we all make our mistakes and have to accept responsibility for them.

On an unrelated note, I was fortunate enough to have a few colbeers with Mr Golden tonight after work and even got to see the long lost Timmy. Timmy is an old friend of the catfisherman from my long-lost single days about five years ago. Actually, I think K-Daddy is the only one that even knows who he is. In any case..we got to catch up for a while before he had to take off and it was good to see him.

Congrats to K-Daddy

Big congrats to Mr. Douglas today on joining us working class, tax-paying stiffs. As of Monday, K-Daddy will be gainfully employed in the great city of Picksburgh. We at the Margarita Lounge send our luck and love to you chief. Daddy is going to have lots of diapers to buy soon.

Gettin the Shaft

I have been sitting here for about 15 minutes debating on whether to write about this subject...yes....no...yes...no. I finally settled on yes. Not because I want to complain, but because I try to be as honest as possible and like to call it like I see it. That being said, it appears that us working class stiffs at AG Edwards are scheduled to get the shaft soon from our employer. I have always loved working for Edwards and have never really had a bad thing to say about them. For being a large Wall Street firm, they have always gone out of their way to make the company feel like one big family. Unfortunately, things seem to have been changing the last two years. Gone is the big family company and it's replacement is the money hungry, bottom-line focused company I see today. It seems that the company that once prided itself on being different and open to all investors and any size account is heading down the same road as the others out there. Just chase those big accounts and don't worry about the "small stuff".

From what I understand, the meeting we have scheduled tomorrow morning is to break the news to us. I would hate to be in my branch manager's shoes tonight having to sleep on this one. He is only the messenger here, but I know that things will not be pretty at about 9am tomorrow. According to my "sources", he has to tell all of us tomorrow that a) our pay is getting cut and b) the clients are going to pay more to do business with us. Now, that is a simplification, but I am sure nobody cares to hear all the small details. Sounds like the new policy is: "We are going to charge the clients more and going to stick it in the employees asses all at the same time." It really is sad. All I know is this isn't the same company that Ben Edwards ran six years ago.

Dumbass

I am indeed a dumbass. While moving two of my sprinklers on Monday afternoon, I cut right through the cable line coming into the house. Thus, I was unable to post an entry last night about what a knucklehead Ray Nagin is. I am sure this is old news now, but his comments yesterday about New Orleans returning to a "chocolate" town was really bullshit. Even though 60% of the residents of the Big Easy are black, that doesn't mean you insult or exclude the other 40% of people living there. Good thing he isn't a white guy or he would be getting all kinds of shit in the media.

Speaking of white guys, I see that fat Teddy Kennedy is quiting the all-male club that he is a member of. Typical politician. When election time comes they are all "resolute" and "stand strong", but when someone challenges them on something, they cave in and run and try to distance themselves from it. If you want to hang out with the boys and talk about women, drink scotch and smoke stogies, you have that right in this country. It's called having a backbone, Teddy and you ought to get one. Stand up for what you beleive in, man!

Better than working

Usually around this time on a Monday I am heading out the door to work. Since I have the day off, I decided to get my ass out of bed and actually get some things done around the house. I have to say that I much prefer going to Home Depot at 8:30 am versus going into work. I can go to Home Depot with shorts and a t-shirt on, which I don't think my boss (or my clients) would really think is very professional. Unfortunately I can't pay the bills working at Home Depot, so AG Edwards wins in the long run.

I suck

Good thing I pick stocks and not footall games. If I were a professional gambler, I would be broke right now. I end the weekend 1-3 with the Pittsburgh and Carolina upsets today. K-Daddy(the former K-Delish) was glad that his beloved Stilers pulled it out after The Bus pulled an Earnest Byner-type move at the end of the game. Hopefully I will do better next week. At least I can't lose three games next week since there are only two.

For all of those interested, Cheryl has survived her hangover and is back amongst the living. All it took was some TBS movies in bed, McDonalds and some Chocolate Ice Cream. Thanks to Pimpbling and Gunther for your concern.

Hangover free (for me that is)

I was very well behaved last night at Pimpbling's little party. I had two glasses of wine, maybe two and a half, but who's counting right? It also looks like I am 1-1 on the football games with the Denver win last night. Hopefully I can pull out the weekend 3-1 with Indy and Da Bears today. I was actually happy to see the Patriots lose last night...it's time to give another team a chance to win it all. I mean, Belicheck is a great coach and Brady is a great quarterback, but you can't say that either is REALLY exciting to watch. Looks like new blood this year, which is good in my book.

As I mentioned, I am hangover free today, but Cheryl is far from it. It appears that she went a little overboard last night with her new favorite drink, the beyatch. For those of you not aware of it, the beyatch is vodka, grapefruit juice, and a little Sprite. I'm sure it has a different name in reality, but beyatch is pretty fun to say. I see her in bed most of the day, which means I can sit around and watch football, drink a few beers, and play some Resident Evil 4 on the ol' Playstation. It doesn't get any better than that.

Another Long Weekend

Another three-day weekend is upon us. I know that most people don't get off for MLK Day on Monday, but I am one of those fortunate few. Cheryl and I are getting ready to run out the door for lunch at Brus with Scott and Robin. Follow that up with some housework this afternoon and a little party at Mr. Pimpbling's place tonight and that amounts to a busy day in my book. Hopefully there will be some good stories from tonight and I hope I don't get drunk and make an ass out of myself. Four big games this weekend in the NFL. My picks are Seattle, Tom Brady, Peyton and Da Bears.

Iran (Part 2)

On August 10th, I posted a little ditty about Iran and how those greasy little weasels can't be trusted. And you thought Slick Willy Clinton was a liar? These guys make Willy look like a saint. The Iranians have been yanking the world's chain for the last two years, delaying and trying to buy time. They continue to say that their intentions are to develop nuclear reactors for energy, not for bombs. Are we really expected to beleive this? Iran sits on top of one of the largest oil deposits on earth, and they need energy? Bullshit. Iran is run by a guy who recently said that Israel should be "wiped off the map" and said that he hoped for Ariel Sharon's death after his recent stroke. And we shouldn't be concerned about this? Even our friends the British, along with our now long-lost friends the French and Germans did their collective best over the last two years to find a "diplomatic" way around this little nuclear problem. Now they look like a bunch of jackasses for making the effort.

I originally thought that the Israelis might have to do the dirty work here, but with the international community lining up behind each other on this one, it looks like the support is there for some type of action. It seems as though the time for talk is behind us on this one. If I'm an "evil war-mongering Republican" for that one, so be it. Let the missles and bombs fly.

I love it when I'm right

Just a little gloating. As you know, the Dow went over 11,000 on Monday and closed over 11,000 the last three days. Good news for you stock market watchers. All we need to do is get oil back down and we'll be rollin'. I'd love to see one of those pre-bubble 20% pops in 2006. Hoping everyone is doing well...I have had a few crazy stressful days at work and haven't had the energy to post the last few nights.

It's looking like a pretty busy weekend coming up. Scott and Robin are going to be in town on Friday for the weekend. With Robin at 6 months it will probably be their last trip until post-baby. I'm loking forward to catching up with them. Also, rumor has it that Pimpbling is having another little soiree at his place on Saturday Night, which I am sure will be fun.

We hit 11,000 next week!

It looks like the Dow closed the week only about 40 points off the psychological barrier of 11,000. With the Nasdaq and S&P already breaking thier multi-year highs, it is just a matter of time before the Dow follows suit and goes over 11,000 for good. 2006 is shaping up to be a good year in the market so go buy those large cap growth stocks. With oil prices coming back down into the 50s (which is going to happen soon), the Fed about done raising interest rates, and a cooling housing market...all that money has to go somewhere. The stock market is going to be that place in 2006.

On a completely unrelated note, it's cold at the Margarita Lounge this morning! I think the overnight low was 41 degrees and tonight is expected to be in the upper 30s. I actually turned the heat on this morning when the teperature in the house fell to 71. I know that you northerners out there are laughing you asses off at me right now, but for someone who is used to weather between 50 and 90 degrees all year, 40 is cold!

My Perfect World

Farbeit for me to gloat about things, but my "perfect world" came to fruition last night just after midnight. In one of the best football games I have EVER seen, Vince Young and the Longhorns beat the mighty USC Trojans in a high scoring, close game that was decided in the last 30 seconds. So much for Mack Brown who just can't win that "big game". It was also good to see Vince Young get the credit he deserves for being the best college quarterback in the country.

The only negative I saw last night was the lack of class that Matt Leinart showed after he got beat in his own back yard. I thought his opinion that USC was still "the best team" was completely inappropriate. It reminded me of Larry Coker refusing an interview after Ohio State beat the Canes in the Fiesta Bowl a few years ago. And I'm a huge Canes fan! In any case, the game is one that I will never forget. I even got Cheryl to stay up late and watch the end with me. Now that's an accomplishment.

Big Game Wednesday

I apologize for my slack-ness the last few days. I have been caught up in the end of the college bowl season. I was real glad to see JoePa pull one out last night and I sure hope that tonight's game is as good as advertised. A big USC blowout would really suck. In my perfect world, it would be a real close, high scoring game that was decided late in the 4th quarter with Texas pulling the upset. I've kind of got that "upset is in the air" feeling tonight...maybe I should have taken Texas and the points. Lots of similarities between tonight and the Ohio State/Miami game a few years ago when the Buckeyes pulled the upset. Well...gotta run...it's kickoff time. I promise I will be better the closer the weekend gets.

Ringing in the New Year

As you can tell from the state of Pimpbling and Cheryl, there was some drinkin' done at the Margarita Lounge New Years Party last night. No, Pimpbling didn't run off with my wife. Our problem last night was that all of the "definites" showed up and none of the "maybes" did. Thus, we had enough food and booze for about 15 people and there were only 7. I tried my best to drink as much beer as possible, but Pimpbling and I couldn't drink all the beer in the cooler ourselves! Then Chad showed up with another 18 pack. So I now have over a case of cold beer sitting in my cooler and tons of appetizers in the fridge. Good thing that football is on all day today.