Just got back from our walk; I'm late with the blog because I overslept to 6:30.
I've been continuing my lifelong project of clear-out/clean-up. Yesterday, I got still more out of my closet, including a big box of Mike memorabilia. Here were his report cards from elementary school (I had forgotten he was such a good student), his baseball and bowling team items, his drawings from second grade. I was enchanted to find even the 43-year-old cards--"Congratulations On Your New Baby Boy!" I received back then. Of course, this stuff is just worthless junk, utterly meaningless, and a big waste of space, so I just threw it all out...
Ha! If I ever tried that--and the three other big boxes dedicated to his brother and sisters--my hand would wither and fall off at the wrist. I tucked the box away again where it'll stay until--who knows?
Wider: I just finished an enthralling and horrifying book, The Madoff Chronicles, subtitled Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth. If you wonder how the crook could get away with his scam for not just years, but DECADES, read this book. It didn't take a genius to recognize that, almost surely, Bernie could not possibly have succeeded in bringing in such huge returns when everybody else was losing money for their clients There were any number of warning signals, some so obvious that even I, a finance illiterate, could have picked up on them. In fact, one researcher gave the SEC chapter and verse about Bernie's dealings--only to be ignored and told to go away. Just in case anybody thinks our high-level finance is carefully monitored by the SEC--read this book. The commission's sloppy operations and complete incompetence are made crystal clear. Now, are any being fired, fined, or prosecuted from that agency? I'll find out and report back.