Gordon Gekko was Wrong

I don't know much about finance, but the little bit I do know would probably have gone a long way with the CEOs and CFOs and all the other lettered people on Wall Street. I know how to budget my net income to cover my expenses, I don't buy stuff that I cannot afford, no matter how much I like or want it, and I make sure I have enough money stashed for a rainy day. So what happened up there? People were lending money that they didn't have to people who didn't make enough money to pay them back, and then the whole thing went up in smoke because Congress fell asleep at the wheel. Sure, there were those who said this will happen--but as usual, no one was listening. Now we're all staring at shrunken 401Ks and 403Bs, we can't get mortgages or loans, and our children will pay the heaviest price. All because of greed, which is not good.

Oh, Deer

I was driving home Friday night when a deer ran into my car. Yes, it ran into the back door, passenger side. When it first struck, I thought someone pushed my car--logic escapes one in moments of shock. When I hit the brakes, the buck ran across the front of my car, fully illuminated. He was huge, with antlers that seemed to be as wide as my car. He then ran into the woods.

My house was just 3 doors away, so when I pulled into the driveway, I got out of the car. I held my breath, first because I can't seem to catch a break these days with cars (my son's car was stolen 9 months ago, and my daughter was hit by a drunk driver 4 months ago). When I saw just how damaged the door was, I thought about how much worse things could have been, just like with my daughter. We both could have been killed. So after my foot-stomping and mini pity party, I got on with the business of notifying police and my insurance company. The what-could-have-happened still stops me in my tracks.