I've been AWOL

No excuses, Sir! 

We are in the middle of a storm here in the desert.  It's coming in over California then coming to see us.  Most of the precipitation is already out of the clouds but we have these marvelous streams of clouds rolling overhead with cloud and fog up in the mountains.  The sight is fantastic but the photographic opportunities are beyond me.  I need a 120 degree wide angle lens with the ability to distinguish about 50 levels of gray and another 50 levels of beautiful sunlight on the mountain sides.  Hmmm, guess I need a camera with a human eye for a lens!

We did make another trip to Las Vegas; it's almost Christmas so I'm not saying what we bought but we helped the local economy with another grand or so.  I would like to buy things here in Pahrump but if it's not here, it's not here.  Bought a bunch of scotch though so I can last through the holiday.  The lines for checkout at Wal-Mart were exceptional today so I'm hoping the local economy will be ok.  There was no local collection for the food bank; I've no idea why but apparently no one set one up.  Here's hoping that those folks who needed help on Thanksgiving will be getting it again for this holiday.

We were watching 'The Thin Man' the other day; I love those old films.  Someone was asking Nora Charles if her husband, the detective Nick Charles, was working on a case.  She replied "Yes, a case of scotch!"  (My kind of guy!)  Boy, we just don't get lines like that any more.  And you have to remember that there wasn't a knee-cap in the movie much less a crotch or breast!  I appreciate the freedom we have today but I must admit I miss the way we've replaced a rules based society with one which sees no value in rules.  (Getting old, huh?)

In another sign of incipient old age, I'm moving more of our portfolio into dividend paying stocks.  I'm not abandoning 'growth' entirely but we need some income in the mix.  I bought some Cisco (CSCO) the other day; it just isn't a p/e 15 stock.  On the other hand, Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) isn't a p/e 13 stock.  The thought that they are in the same p/e area is fantastic to me.  Doesn't it bother anyone else?  Oh, and my old employer Paccar (PCAR) is at a p/e of 63!  Please let me disclose that I own all three of these stocks!

We are talking about our next phone plan.  It won't be for a while but are talking about smartphones.  Today I found this article about traditional cell phones:  http://www.appolicious.com/finance/articles/4344-which-dumbphones-are-still-worth-buying  - I have to recommend watching at least part of the vid about the Motorola Tundra; it's got guts!

I'm going to try to post more but if I don't - Happy Holidays!