Evaluation of 1st Month of Bailout

End of the first month of the New Year. A brief evaluation of my “bailout plan” against the actuality. 

My prediction on the economy and the news cycle has been extremely accurate, no prize there, the news on the economy has been universally terrible. Job losses topping the news on a daily basis, actual GDP numbers dismal, with no good news in any direction. Perhaps one of the worst signs was when the respected Banking analyst Meredith Whitney proclamated in the FT, that her current forecast for the banking industry had been too optimistic. Yikes! 

There was one positive sign for the US, in “a its all relative segment”, the rest of the developed world’s economies ( based on GDP) will shrink around 3% whereas we in the US will only shrink 1.9% in 2009. So I guess we could Say it’s almost “twice as bad everywhere else!” 

I managed to obtain and get fired from 2 “low or no skill jobs”. Total hours worked, approx. 35 hours. Fired may be a strong word but I did have 2 jobs, now I have none.

My business surprisingly, did better numbers than I anticipated. I had very low expectations, but this was good news. 

I also managed to overly aggressively pursue some new business opportunities in what I would consider the consultancy arena. One was with the AIG subsidiary that operates the ski mountain, and one was with the Trapp Operation. While I know I may have come across aggressively I believe in the value of my concepts and ideas, I couldn’t sell them in these cases. AND that is always my fault! However the 2 individuals I dealt with I would characterize that one was incompetent and a product of large a corporate culture and the other a product of nepotism with no intellect. You can figure it out from there. 

News cycle and internet use. 

I’d give myself an F or a c-. Uh? Well it was still too much, but definitely not having access except when I had to make a physical effort did reduce my use. Improvement needed. 

The Stowe Derby.

 Training has begun in earnest. My V1 and V2 are improving, my time on skis needs to increase. I need to spend more time on x-country skis to increase my comfort level on the skinny skis. I’m also getting a decent jog in 4 or 5 times a week, some outdoors. So my physical fitness should be good for my “attack” on the Derby. 

Romance & The Alaskan.

 Managed to meet a few fabulous girls, K especially, a couple taken, had a brief interaction with the Alaskan, to what end I’m not sure, but I don’t have any control of that situation. 

Housing

The GCH ( Gingerbread Crack House) has been an eye opener. The landlord did ZERO to clean out the place, the tools and building materials that I moved to the mud room are all where I left them. The ladders for the roof are still where they left them, leaning against the front of the house.  80% of the time multiple pipes are frozen, and I have now experienced frozen broken pipes. The roof leaks through the walls in any sort of thaw. On top of that at any time the landlord may just show up. This is unacceptable.

Unexpected Joys

The folks around Stowe are interesting and refreshing. My morning coffee group are a stellar group, interesting and quirky. The other folk I’ve had the pleasure to interact with from the unskilled work folk, from the jobs I got fired from, have all contributed a new and refreshing change on my perspective.

The true prize on folks go to the various political operatives, from selectman, to state senators, to JP’s. And of course my newly found goal of becoming a fence viewer! I can also understand how they can get quite frustrated with interlopers who come up for the weekend.

 The Valley

 The Valley around Stowe is quite beautiful. I can understand how people do fall in love with the area. The vistas that open up from the surrounding hills show that large swath of snow covered fields, that give Stowe the real valley field. And yes you do feel insulated from the travails of the outside world.

 

Merrill and BofA - doesn't this smell funny?

I think someone’s getting robbed Blind.

 Merrill loses $15b in a quarter.

Merrill Pays out $15 b in Compensation down only 5.7% from the year earlier. ( uh? the company went broke and  total compensation is down only 5.7%???)

Merrill distributes Bonus’ 2 months earlier than normal and 3 days prior to closing with BofA

Because of Merrill the US Gov puts in $20 b additional into BofA for a $45b total since October 2008.

Not including guarantees on loans etc.

 WTF???? Surely even a moron finds this “troubling” What other industries pay any form of bonus in a prepackaged bankruptcy, let alone the early payout, let alone 3 days prior to close....etc etc...

 From Multiple Sources.

 According to a securities filing last week, Merrill's overall compensation and benefit expenses were down by 5.7%, to $15 billion in the year ended Dec. 26, from $15.9 billion a year earlier. The average Merrill employee got $247,423 in compensation and benefits in 2008, down just slightly from 2007.

Merrill had decided to pay bonuses in December ahead of their usual payout time in February, and just three days before the merger with Bank of America closed. What is more troubling is that the shell of a company had allocated a total comp pool for distribution that was $15 billion or just 6% lower than 2007. 

Merrill Lynch reported a $15.31 billion fourth-quarter loss, and Bank of America has warned its shareholders to brace for even bigger losses in coming quarters.

The government plans to transfer the $20 billion to Bank of America by the end of the day in exchange for preferred stock shares with an 8% dividend. That will bring the government’s total investment in BofA up to $45 billion dollars. The company received $15 billion in government funds in October and another $10 billion last Friday to assist with its takeover of Merrill Lynch.

The government will also guarantee $118 billion of Bank of America assets, including commercial and real estate holdings and credit default swaps. Bank of America will be required to absorb the first $10 billion of losses from its pool of assets, the “large majority” of which were assumed with the purchase of Merrill Lynch. BofA will cover just 10% of any losses incurred beyond that point, and the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Co. will split what’s left of the tab.

Aussie Open 2009- Murray Out

The good news, Andy Murray knocked out of the Aussie Open. I’m not a fan of his, and I’m sick of the English papers touting him as the next bug thing. The weight of expectation is just too much, and frankly, Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and a slew of other players are just better…I like del Porto…big, tall guy with talent and a bunch of these other guys…Murray won’t ever win a Grand Slam!

Solstice bar watching Aussie Open

K, her mom and dad. 

So what is it that I’m meeting fabulous woman with there parents? Is this the new trend? You can just see the question posed…”so how did you two meet?” …”thru her folks”

 At Stowe Mountain Lodge sitting at the Solstice Bar Sunday afternoon, watching the Aussie open,( Federer down 2 sets to Byrdych comes back to pull out the victory) I’m enjoying a pleasant afternoon talking with a couple of interesting people from Mass, they got married at The Green Mountain Inn 2 years back almost to the day. They had to get on the road as they were driving back to Boston, we said our goodbyes and I was left with a European gentleman in his 70’s and a quite attractive blonde, 30’s, it happened to be Father and daughter. They were joined by her Mom. The 3 of us soon started conversation. He was Austrian, immigrated to Montreal in the 70’s and his ex- wife, ( 28 years ex) were entertaining their daughter up visiting from her home, lower East Side of NYC! She K, was blonde, attractive, funny & smart. Had lived in LA, NY and Montreal and was well traveled, and a graduate of Columbia Journalism. She was an on screen TV talent for A&E and had hosted a show a few years back that my ex-x-x was involved with. The xxxx ( yes, a while back but the 6 year relationship) had arranged a “Breakfast with the Arts” in the SVG back a few years and she was the on screen talent! She currently was working at Reuters but I got the impression that this is a temporary sojourn while she gets back into an on screen vehicle of her choosing. 

We talked tennis, the lack of sexiness in skiing, all lamenting the lack of après ski. Mr & mrs all thought skiing back in there day (the 70’s) was so much more fun  and exciting. We discussed Euro après ski, Austrian of course, and I found out in passing K’s skied Zeramtt among other places, proud of her après ski exploits till 5am. Her Mom asked if I was a good skier, I thought with intent to fix-up her daughter. I though K was single, her behavior, laughter, flirting and conversation led me along that path, she…in fact we were all having a great time… a BF apparently exists, but not in Stowe. Whoever he is, he’s not here in Stowe, and I don’t know if the folks would mind if she traded him in! I don’t think the absent BF skis.  

We arranged to meet for coffee at Jamies’ Monday at 9am. Lets see if that occurs, and if it does she and I are going skiing Tuesday, the forecast is pretty good …that’s my plan. Maybe head to Jay Peak. My expectation is that she’s a great skier…and if we get to the slopes, we’ll end up in the hot tub. 

They had to leave, and I ended up in  a brief conversation with Josh, who was sitting next to me. He thought that the K and I were out with her folks. He’d been listening to our conversation and he definitely confirmed all the signals I’d received from K.

 

 

NFL at the Whip

Next to me at the bar this late afternoon…kevin, who I soon find out is a NE patriots Defensive tackle, ( or something like that) he and his girlfriend were up here for the weekend, staying at the Spruce lodge, snowboarding today, spa-ing later, and sleeping by 10pm. he’s a great guy, funny, intelligent and a great listener. I suggested watching some rugby youtube moments, Jonah Lomu specifically, and I know he’ll watch them. His girlfriend was equally funny, quite gorgeous and beautifully dressed. Vermonters take note. I wish him the best in his career and life, I believe he’s sort of earned it. I think he’ll contribute to life in a bunch of ways.

 

We talked about Cardio workouts and athleticism.,  

Disgusting Abuse by Merrill Lynch exec John Thain

Memo to the banking/ Brokerage industry you are in a prepackaged bankruptcy. Collectively you are broke. The only reason that you are still in existence is because the US Government will not allow you to go under. The US Financial system can not be allowed to go bankrupt, is the edict from the US Government. Respected analyst Meredith Whitney’s view in the FT on Tuesday summed it up eloquently and succinctly when she said the only reason that US bank stocks are not at ZERO is because the US government will bail them out all the way. 

She wrote “I am more bearish today than I have been in the past 18 months. In so far as the market has impacted on the economy, capital destruction has been so intense that multi-trillions in capital raised by institutions through both private and public capital has gone to plug holes and not stabilise the effects of shrinking liquidity to corporations and consumers. More than $3,000bn (€2,365bn, £1,955bn) of available credit has been expunged from the markets and therefore corporate and consumer borrowers so far this year.”

This makes the actions of this past week at Merrill Lynch even more distasteful. The Merrill lynch bonus’s  paid out, CEO Thain’s ridiculous $ 1.2m decorating binge, and then his drivers $230,000 expense just shows the lunacy & misplaced sense of self that revolves around wall Street. As CEO he is responsible for managing revenues and Expenses. Surely even as big an idiot as this should realize that means counting paperclips, managing the Telephone expenses, T&E, and more importantly absolutely spurious expenses like office décor.

Any fool should know that these actions are just plain wrong. Where is this guy’s sense of the simplest idea of right and wrong? You don’t need to learn this in business school, its something that’s ingrained in every well adjusted adult. Isn’t it? What exactly does a Wall St CEO do at the moment? Surely “strategic direction” is surviving? Does he and his team look every day at cost containment? Doesn’t a bunch of smart people figure out every day how to cut expenses? Doesn’t he sit there and figure out how to make his company profitable every day by getting rid of the “fat” and making the organization “leaner”? Or is it just too difficult? Isn’t a “simple matter” of going thru every piece of crappie paper asset you have and figuring out what exactly its worth? I mean every piece? Every underlying toxic mortgage has some value, every CDS has some risk or reward? Every obligation on the books have some associated monetary value? 

Where do is accurate and timely accounting? If the latest information is true it would appear BofA was defrauded into the purchase of Merrill by parties that overstated the position of the company. Are accountants unable to un-fathom the complexity of the banks accounting systems. Off balance sheet companies, enron-esque entities all over the place. What is wrong? Lack of transparency? How can this be? (Well I was an auditor for a big 8 ( when there was 8) and I didn’t know anything. When you’ve got some big experienced CPA CFO telling you this is how we do it, don’t you think a greenhorn just minted CPA is going to cave?) 

The justification for this daupinesque lifestyles and the supposed immunity from the realities are insane. All Thain needs for an office is a friggn sheet of plywood for his Bloomberg, a high speed internet connection and a Herman Miller chair. Total a couple of grand. Anything other than that does not justify what should be a period of total austerity and complete cost control. 

The bonus, surely comes out of the bonus pool. Pool means we share. Total availability for pool is LESS than ZERO. It is unconscionable to pay bonus’ at all. If the company can’t afford to pay them & employees feel unappreciated let the guys walk. That’s free enterprise. The fact that Merrill paid bonus prior to the completion of the merger is surely malfeasance. Merrill should be bigger than anyone individual, or several. Shareholders and stake holders, that means the taxpayers and the Government as stewards of “OUR” stake should revolt. 

It is absolutely unconscionable for Thain to spend this money. It is unconscionable for him to approve these bonus’. The compensation committee should be hauled in front of congress and the court of public opinion. Who is on the compensation committee. And how was this decision made? I want to know. 

These bonus should be pulled back, the compensation committee fired, and if possible charges of conspiracy, larceny, RICO statutes whatever can be bought should be. And no manner of slap on the wrists should be acceptable. 

Fence Viewer

Today at the suggestion of Charlie the Justice of the Peace I went to the Municipal hall to apply to become a Fence Viewer, speak to Susan he said.

What pray tell is a fence viewer? According to wikipedia or some other internet site…

“A Fence Viewer is a town or city official who administers fence laws by inspecting new fence and settlement of disputes arising from trespass by livestock that have escaped enclosure. The office of Fence Viewer is one of the oldest appointments in Vermont.”

Perfect it’s all about livestock! I am eminently qualified.

I meet with Susan and much to my disappointment there’s no official form to fill in. There is no stipend. Then I find out that Susan is a fence Viewer so I wonder if she’s holding out on me to protect her position?

The Fence Viewers are appointed by the towns selectmen, therefore a strategy of serious sucking up is in order. The appointment is at the end of April. I must start my campaign. 

 

New development..... gorgeous female

This morning L walked in. And incidentally her sister and mom. 

L is exactly my type. Slim athletic, 5’6”, long dark hair,  great smile and surprisingly a great manicure. There was no wedding band, nor engagement ring. I’d guess she’s late 30’s. She has that outdoorsy, athletic look, her skin has seen sun, with some fine lines, dark eyes, the perfectly manicured fingers presented the perfect contradiction.  She has city and country to her. 

She was wearing boy-cut, low rise, faded jeans, a wide black leather belt and a beige woolen cap that itched. Her mom’s going to sew an anti-itch band in it, she likes to sew in front of the nightly news!  She had a fabulous look, well at the least a look I’m into. 

I sat down at a table with her sister and mom, almost at the instant she turned up. She sat next to me. The 4 of us discussed the inauguration, what we liked and disliked. Her sister was negative and kept quoting her husband. “he didn’t like the speech…” blah blah her sister I could take or leave…she had a wedding ring on. Her mom liked the invocation…and Rick Warren…I said that’s just not my speed. I did say I went straight back to work at Obama’s insistence. 

L did the intros.… I’m not sure if she’s in a relationship, in fact I know little about her, she’s a great light conversationalist, smart and quite gorgeous. She has a figure that would look great in a bikini, and to that end I will pursue! In fact that’s my goal to get her in a bikini on my sailboat this summer! But prior to that a bikini in any hot tub in Stowe. 

She is exactly the girl that would get me over the Alaskan. I can see it now, the Alaskan, who? 

In fact I feel that this was all meant to happen today. The fact that she arrived at the table 15 seconds after me and sat next to me, that she has no ring, she did the introductions, and the even more intriguing L turned up the DAY that the Alaskan and I started a brief email correspondence. Serendipity? I think maybe. 

The beauty of a small town, I know I’ll run into her again. 

The next day, …As  I said the beauty of a small town…L crosses my path…serendipity? 

I’m running across Main St in really the worst spot…a danger to me and all vehicular traffic…and who is driving the car that almost hits me? L. And more to the point she notices me before I even recognize her, as she turns the street corner with a big smile and greeting. Temporarily blocking traffic. 

Her clothing choices today? Skin tight ski pants or x-country tights, a touch of red and white piping.....confirming she has an amazing figure, long slim legs and a gorgeously cute butt. This clearly confirms her athlete status. We exchanged a few brief words, along the lines of “were you skiing” “ No I was meant to be with a girlfriend, but we ended up just drinking coffee all day”  I think she’s interested in something. How do I pursue this one? 

I restate my goal of getting her in my preferred attire a bikini at the hot tub! 

Again I question why was she dumped in front of me again today…and clearly she was pleased to see me. She gave me great smile and banter.

AIG & Man United

I always have found the AIG shirt sponsorship deal weird especially when your company is BROKE. Watching TV and all you see on all 11 Man United players is AIG is just, well uncomfortable!

AIG has confirmed it will not renew its sponsorship deal with Manchester United, however the club remain confident of securing an improved deal elsewhere when their current contract ends in May 2010.

Despite the news United say they have already opened discussions with a number of global companies, who they feel, could offer United an improvement on their current deal. Sahara, the Indian financial services corporation, has already confirmed United have made contact to gauge its interest in sponsoring the club, while Saudi Telecom have also been sounded out about replacing the AIG deal.

The Old Trafford club also have strong links in both Malaysia and South Korea, so even at a time of financial prudence around the world, United are still optimistic of bettering their current contract, worth £19million including various financial packages

Inauguration Day

Good luck President Obama. 

And another Suicide this morning

Irish police believe a well-known Dublin businessman, with extensive property interests in Britain, has killed himself.

The body of property tycoon Patrick Rocca was found at his home at Porterstown, Castleknock, in west Dublin, yesterday morning.

He was found with a single gunshot wound to the head and a firearm nearby has been taken away by forensic investigators, but Gardai have said they are satisfied nobody else was involved.

Mr Rocca, 41, had a fortune which was put at €500million (£462.9m) in 2007 and he is thought to have completed 20 property deals in the UK during the last few years, worth about €300million in total, including €100 million for a distribution centre for retailer Argos in Bedford.

Financial Crisis Toll- lost to suicide.

Unnecessary- its only money. A sample of suicides in the financial industry that have been linked to the credit crunch.

 Germany's fifth richest man, the billionaire industrialist Adolf Merckle, threw himself under a train in an act blamed by his family on the "desperate situation" of his business empire, compounded with a sense of uncertainty and powerlessness.

 French fund manager Thierry de la Villehuchet was found dead at his desk in New York with slits on his arms. His firm, Access International Advisors, had lost more than $1.4bn of clients' money at the hands of Bernard Madoff, Villehuchet's brother described his death as an "act of honour" after "catastrophic" losses

 A Bear Stearns analyst, Barry Fox, jumped from the balcony of his 29th floor apartment last year within days of learning that he had lost his job at the bankrupt bank. His partner, Fred Philippi, said that after several personal setbacks, the bank's collapse had been the "last straw" in breaking Fox's spirit

 Steven Good, chairman of Sheldon Good & Co a leading US property brokerage was found with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound inside his car at a wildlife preserve near Chicago. he left no note and his reasons are as yet unexplained.

 London based Fund management boss Kirk Stephenson jumped in front of an inter-city train after struggling with pressure over the financial crisis's impact on his firm, Olivant Advisers. His wife, told an inquest jury that when the banking system seized up, he had become "very tense and worried about a lot of things he had worked hard for". He left an 8 yo son. 

A San Francisco hedge fund manager, Eric Von der Porten, took his own life when his fund had dropped by more than 40% on the year. His family told the San Francisco Chronicle that he had struggled with bouts of deep depression in the past, but that the market had finally proven to be a "big trigger".

Walter Buczynski was a top executive at a Maryland mortgage lender before he killed his wife and jumped off a bridge. 

K. Upender was a distraught stock speculator in India who suffered steep losses in the Indian stock market this fall, according to the police, just before he chose to open the gas line in his house, light a match and kill himself, his wife and his 2-year-old son.

 An HSBC banker hanged himself in a 5-star hotel room in West London Christen Schnor was the head of insurance for Europe's biggest bank, responsible for Britain and the Middle East, and made a comfortable living.

 At 82, Edwin Rachleff was nearing the end of his long career as a broker, most recently running A. G. Edwards's New London branch in Connecticut. He was a pillar of his local community and had been married to his wife of 60 years. One of his main clients, the $12 million New London Security Federal Credit Union, was declared insolvent by regulators and shut down. That day, he leapt to his death from the 11th floor of a building.

Scott Coles, the 48 year old chief executive of Mortgages Inc., an aggressive lender to some of Arizona's largest commercial development projects, a business strategy that resulted ultimately in the collapse of his company. The police ruled his death in June a suicide and his company filed for bankruptcy later that month.

Karthik Rajaram, 45, an out of work investor living in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood, was a co-founder of an Internet business incubator and a former executive at PricewaterhouseCoopers. His decision to take a gun to his three children, wife and mother-in-law has not only been the most devastating act of violence committed by a former executive.

Frozen Pipes

3:15pm Sunday, 3 or my 6 faucets have been frozen for the past few days in spite of my best efforts to follow the house instructions left by my landlords. These include but are not limited to leaving the taps flowing gently when the temperature falls below 0. Following these instructions the pipes still froze. Without any warning I hear water flowing form the shower, hey greta I think, then the other hot water tap in the bathroom. Fantastic! Good its getting warmer…then in the mud room a gusher…the pipes give out. Water is just everywhere, a geyser from a couple of spots in the pipes….good thing I’m here as I manage to contact the landlord and get the main closed within minutes. Boy…that could’ve been a disaster. 

Sunday at Jamie's ....again.

The Sunday morning routine, coffee, the regulars. The state representative, the radio station owner, the retired school principal, the EMT’s, I’ve managed to “infiltrate” the local scene, well, sort of. A cheerful upbeat group, discussing old and well worn stories. Mink farming in the latter stages of the “depression” ( the last one), the moving of the old Baptist church stuck over on Mayo farm in a number of large pieces. It’s destination somewhere near the town library. Farmers night at the State Capitol sometime this week. Farmers night is a traditional part of Vermont legislative life, traditionally an agricultural state, the “farmers” tradition continues. Entertainment is put on, this week it’s the Vermont State Orchestra. I presume it’s free and open to all. 

The EMT’s always fill me in on the victim count, locals tend to drive themselves to the local hospital as opposed to avail themselves of the kind services of the EMT provided transportation.

A new trend I’m noticing a few more out of towners, as evidenced by the more fashion forward attire. Today a mini skirted, leg warming ensemble on a overly bleached blonde caught my eye, mainly because it looked so out of place in Stowe. It’s debatable if it was attractive or not, ut it certainly was an original. She may even get the prize for first spotting of anything resembling a ski bunny! 

The weather has turned decidedly warmer, with a temperature in the teens to start the day you’d think people had seen daffodils poking through. People are positively giddy with warm weather thoughts!

Eye lash Pharmaceuticals & Emailing The Alaskan

I emailed the Alaskan for the first time since beginning of December. First off I sent an  innocuous message regarding some form of eye lash prescription that they hope will turn into the next Botox. At $120 per month to make your eyelashes grow 33% thicker and longer. I of course am laughing at the cosmetic angle of this, and the side effects which may include a change in iris color, a reddening of the eyes and the usual dry mouth blindness and of course in rare cases eye brows ending up looking like Andy Rooney’s! 

Then quite by accident I sent a follow up. I meant to save it as a draft but I accidentally pushed the send key. I wonder how often that happens? (Much more than we realize)Both emails were just light amusing emails. Nothing really of any great import. As they were so light there is absolutely nothing you could construe or read into either. Other than they were friendly and upbeat, and if I may say so pretty darn funny! 

Our break-up was drama free…and I mean absolutely no drama at all. She contacted me a couple of times to start with, and wanted to spend the weekend with me early on, which did confuse me, as it would anyone. As I have written elsewhere I have zero idea why we ended it.  I think it goes back to my current obsession with the harmful long term effects anti-depressants have on people, coupled with the expectations of “perfection” manhattan-ites strive for in everything.

 Interestingly the completely innocuous message was deemed not worthy of a response from my Alaskan friend. Ummm I wonder what that means? Ha! I guess that means that I do still have feelings for her and I’m trying to figure out how to proceed. The generally accepted universal truth is there’s nothing I can do. Only time will tell, the ball is in the Alaskan’s court. Judging by my previous experiences to date, another interesting gorgeous smart female will turn up, probably blonde!. I think I’d just like to make something stick for a long, long time. While the Alaskan had lots of amazing attributes, apart from her beauty, she may be just too difficult. She is the one who probably needs to realize that in order to move forward you accept faults of others, idiosyncrasies. She is only too quick to expect others to put up with her foibles and yet refuse to accept even the most minor infraction in others. I still believe that her long term use of anti-depressants has something to do with it. But then again I’m not a shrink.

Cold, I mean really Cold.

This morning the GCH ( Gingerbread Crack House) has the following problems: bathroom hot sink tap frozen, Shower both hold and cold water pipes frozen. The trusty Saab refused to start, not the battery but the car just wouldn’t turn. It is freezing.

 The temperature according to the thermometer behind the hardware store a bone chilling 30 below! Photographic evidence for the non believers.

V1 & V2 Ski Technique

Apparently these aren’t left over doodle bombs that threatened London in WW2, but the critical ski “strokes” in skate skiing. I’m not even sure if stroke is the correct term! Apparently I’m a natural V2’er, I skate off both skis, like one would in downhill. The V1 thing is a little more obtuse, at least to me. Its about skating one ski and sort of pushing, somehow, off the other foot. Yep, that sounds about as accurate as I can describe V1’ing. There’s also a right and left V1.

So my instructor Brigitte from Sweden, ( Ok Dan from Cleveland, I’d even prefer Sven from Norway, but hey you work with the material you’re given!) had me skating around and why I’m not sure they insist on lots of hill work, not little uphill sections but they seem to me giant non stop up hills.  I think Brigitte, err…Dan, was just trying to both intimidate me and impress upon me how far I have to go to get good at the skate ski thing.

Today I managed by my estimate maybe 7k’s of skiing. That included hills, that had me running up, and sucking down the air. I expected the terrain to be undulating, small upslopes and mainly flat sections. I was wrong. Most of the terrain seems more like the upper reached of Central park with those big hills up in Harlem. Not what I was expecting.

Still I have a goal and I am working on it.

X country skiing SEXY! ( & sexier than downhillers!)

Triathletes are definitely sexier than marathoners, AND now I add X-country skiers, & by that I mean Skaters, are sexier than downhill skiers or boarders!

Skaters are to cross country what tri-athletes are to marathoners! 

Tri-athletes, include the model Jenny Fletcher, Feb 09 Outside Magazine, Jen Perez from the EAS energy supplement TV commercial. These girls are gorgeous and healthy and incredibly fit…Now I’d chuck X-country skiers into that group… 

OK the comparison with downhill skiers? 

When I got smoked by some lycra clad blonde girl the other day, she was without question the most athletic fit woman I’ve seen in Stowe. Of course she went by me so fast I have no idea what she really looks like. But she definitely had the mystique of a greek goddess! ( the unattainable? Because she was faster than me? )  Now comparing that to the almost universally badly dressed and somewhat, dare I say generally mousey looking girls at the downhill field, well you get my point!

It would appear that the downhill skiers are trying to emulate there male companions or boarders. Badly dressed, baggy, and generally a low skill level. ( ouch…I hear you all say, and there maybe some nasty generalizations, unfortunately there mostly true!  

My credentials for these sweeping statements? I’ve skied around…and from now on I’m looking at the x-country, skater girls as the ideal! ( of course the truth being told there’s probably only a few that meet this ideal…but I’m telling you…these girls are like the tri-athletes, fit, athletic healthy and great role models!

1st day X-country skiing- skate skiing

First time today for my x-country skiing quest. My goal, if you recall, (or care) is the Stowe Derby, Feb 22^nd and 15k as quickly as possible…I had the idea 45minutes or so. Is that possible? I have no idea…but will work on ascertaining if that time is even vaguely realistic. 

Firstly putting on skate skis is not as simple as you would think. It took a bit of figuring out, well 5 minutes max, and within 12 seconds I fell down. That I put down to, well not being on skis of any sort in a while! Then interestingly I found out it was tougher to get back on my feet than I would normally have expected. (Of course what expectations I had were based on my own self belief, my own athleticism, and what other pre-conceived notions that exist in my addled mind. 

Once I got those 2 bugs figured out, off I skated. I would rate my initial few hundred yards, as a little unsteady, and certainly there were no elements of grace or fluidity! I also found out that my poor technique, was absolutely exhausting me. If you’re even a tad “nervous” and by that I mean unsteady, unsure, or generally uncomfortable you tend to burn more energy I guess its all that adrenalin, and certainly I have no “efficiencies”. I was less than optimal! I was over muscling and brutal, in my own critique. 

I’d ski a couple of hundred yards and then stop. Gasping for air! I can run 7 miles effortlessly in 50-55 minutes pretty comfortably, so this was a shock. Now I understand why Olympic x-country skiers are probably the fittest athletes in the world. At one point today I got smoked by some blonde girl, wearing multi colored spandex! She just flew past me without breaking a sweat! I was impressed and in awe, I mean this girl made x-country skiing sexier than downhill! In fact I have seen infinitely fitter healthier, and this girl in particular, sexier than anyone I’ve seen at the downhill skiing at Stowe! These people are super fit!

 I teamed up and got some impromptu lessons from Phil of Burlington, That was helpful, and the observations he made I tried to put into practice. The pole planting aspect is more “technical” than I thought and my downhill skiing, skating, double pole plant took over naturally. I’m meant to do a sort of modified single pole plant/ push thingy…yep that’s exactly how my brain processed the instructions Phil gave me! 

The trails we took eventually led us to the “cabin”, that’s a lot of uphill! Honestly it was the most exhausted physical activity I’d done in a while! The downhill back was worth it…one spill, and a couple of reasonable parallel turns. In all I skied for the better part of 2 hours. The uphill was unrelenting, and maybe not quite what I had in mind. I must find a bit more of a “flat” trail for skating, or at least undulating. 

I was told the snow conditions today were not optimal for skating, a little soft. I’m in for the challenge now. I’m signed up for a skate lesson tomorrow. I want to nail this skill set. 

I become a Trappist!

Today I became a Trappist. A person who hangs out at the Trapp Family Lodge, Ye olde piece of Austria tucked away in the hills around Stowe. 

First off the Trapp lodge is 2400 acres of land up a hill about 4 miles or so from “downtown” Stowe. And as I wrote previously, the place is pulled straight out of the Tyrol, and spectacularly sited, great views of the valley below and the mountain ranges in the background. The Lodge complex, and it is a complex, consists of a main lodge, dozens of villas, 100’s of k’s of x-c ski trails,  and other assorted buildings spread over the property. 

My trappist adventure is turning into my evening ritual. Hitting the Fitness Facility. I’ve never been a gym rat, but with sunset at 4ish, and the temperatures hovering in the teens, a treadmill for jogging seems a great idea. Particularly when the alternative to jogging is drinking….what else does one do in Stowe after dark? 

The Fitness complex is actually great, good fitness equipment, nice view, and the piece de résistance the outdoor hot tub! What could be better than a 50 minute jog followed by sitting in the hot tub for 20 minutes? Maybe I’ll mix it up and hit the sauna tomorrow! 

The only negative in the whole experience was that I was not surrounded by attractive ski bunnies, in fact quite the opposite. Every woman I’ve seen in the hot tub is attached, and considerably overweight. Sorry to report. The view over the mountains the full moon, and the massaging jets of the hot tub, could not erase the sight of too much cellulite. 

Oh well, today the gym and then checked my email in the bar in the main lodge. Life was pretty good, and I’ve found another good spot to work the internet. 

This could become a routine, at least short term. Considering the weather report, more temperature in the single digits, it looks like a smart choice.

 

7:15am January 10, -13F, Mt Mansfield

Sunrise Mt Mansfield....-13F. A very cold calm morning in Stowe. Crisp would be one descriptive, but I would consider it just damn freezing! 

The river was significantly hotter ( relative term) than the air so much to my surprise these ducks were enjoying a morning frollick. I guess  ducks have no concept of cold.

Countrywide CEO to help solve Mortgage Mess? R U kidding?

From the are you kidding me segment? Who better to clean up the Mortgage mess than the guys who created it? Countrywide exec’s, including former COO Stan Kurland as white knights riding in to help solve the mortgage mess! Here’s the story in a nutshell.

The FDIC cut a first-of-its-kind deal to sell a portfolio of bad residential mortgages from a failed bank to a private equity group, while still maintaining an interest in those loans. The loans were sold to Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company, or PennyMac,  for somewhere between 30 and 50 cents on the dollar. That's quite a discount. The FDIC will share in any potential new losses from these loans, OR in any potential gains.

The exec team at PennyMac comes from Countrywide the, one of the symbols and perpetrators of the housing mortgage debacle, and is led by Stan Kurland.  Some have wondered if these Countrywide alums are now profiting from a mess Countrywide helped create. "I don't like to spend a lot of time going through the history," Kurland tells me, adding, "I left Countrywide in 2006, and much of the things that you're criticizing, or that people criticize, occurred quite a ways after I left. ( someone check the TRUTH here, that’s just erroneous, his watch is when the mortagge standards deteriorated tremendously.)  He blames the housing meltdown on a "perfect storm" which included mistakes by direct lenders, ratings agencies, GSE's, the Fed lowering interest rates, an over reliance on FICO scores, and on the mistaken belief that home prices would keep going up, but of course he had nothing to do with it. His risk assesmnet team and underwriting standards had nothing to do with it.  This is hypoctrisy. This guy at Countrywide as president and chief operating officer in September 2006, received a pay package valued at $42.5 million, including a $25.4 million severance payment. He also realized $108.7 million from the exercise of options that year. that is the exercise of these Options. The guy stole money from the shareholders was the overseer of liar loans and therefore encouraged such practices is now working with the FDIC to solve the mess he created?

Still, as for criticism of his team, Kurland says to make PennyMac work, "The only people that can do this are people that come out of the mortgage industry...it's much different than just investing in securities. You actually need to have expertise in all the activities that go from sourcing mortgage pools to modeling, evaluating, due diligence, servicing, (and) modifying mortgages."

Due Diligence? What due diligence did he do other than ensure he worked the remuneration package to his advantage?

How dare the FDIC even think of working with these clowns.

Punishment should be the cold shoulder. Why should a guy who is the very essence of excessive greed, completely sunk a mortgage industry, helped in the poor risk lending standards possibly be involved with this industry ever again. There should be a black list. And clowns like this should have some sense of shame to have there names associated with mortgages. 

Stan Kurland represents everything that was wrong with the lax mortgage lending practices, that has caused much grief for Homeowners, the economy overall, shareholders of Countrywide…the list is endless. 

Yet he is the experienced hand people turn to? 

Dismal-The Economy around the World

Just a sampling of the dismal news that greeted us regarding the world economy. Massive layoffs, significant revenue declines at household names, well known business shuttered, and to boot a US style scandal hits India, with the potential to discredit a major accounting firm. Irony of ironies the company stood for “Truth”

USA:

America's private employers cut more than half a million workers in December alone, raising fears that Government figures out on Friday will show the most savage job cuts in almost 60 years.

UK:

Marks & Spencer (M&S) today confirmed it will cut 1,230 jobs and close 27 stores after reporting one of its worst Christmas trading performances on record.

The retailer said it will shut 25 of its 355 Simply Food stores and two of its smaller M&S branded stores following the sales decline.

Over the 13 weeks to December 27, UK likes-for-like sales, which strip out trade from new stores opened during period, fell by 7.1 per cent after an 8.9 per decline in general merchandise, which includes clothing, and a 5.2 per cent drop in food trade.

Waterford/Wedgewood, in receivership.

Viyela 250 year old company in receivership.

Woolworths UK. Business wound down. All store closed.

INDIA:

B. Ramalinga Raju, the founder and chairman of Satyam, which means "truth" in Sanskrit, said in a letter to the board that he had wildly inflated the company’s profitability for several years. admitted he had orchestrated a $1billion (£669 million) fraud, and resigned.  This resulted in 50.4 billion rupees ($1 billion) worth of "fictitious” cash on the company’s balance sheet at the end of September. Satyam is India's fourth-biggest software-services provider The independence of the board was already in question, now the auditors' Price Waterhouse complicity in what seems to be a multi-year mis-statement of financials will also be explored

Apres Ski Stowe

Key après ski and bars- gleaned from Local sources and my own brief experience. In no Particular order. 

Pie casso- I was told it had a good bar scene. It seems to me a cross between a NY city Pizza joint and a kids Arcade joint. Next to The Shed 

English Pub- Pickwicks…good selection of beers. Smallish bar with some combination of English Pub and Austrian Kitsch. No surprise, run by an English guy. From the outside unclear if it’s a Tudor House or St Anton pub. 

The Shed- Brew Pub. Coined the “Shed-ache”- super strong beer- apparently. My experience is that its fun, the beer OK. Music scene lame. And apart from the Ukrainian Juliet, pretty unattractive girls. 

Rimrocks Tavern, Baggy Knees Shopping Center…Pool tables, young crowd- good for sports good TV’s. Local hangout. 20 somethings. 

Of course the Matterhorn straight after skiing. That’s the place apparently. Talking to a couple of snowboard instructors, they said “matterhorn on the way down, and then figure it out from there.” The highlight of the week for them, when they really ratchet it up, is ice skating Thursday at the town rink followed by Chinese Buffet. WOW that’s really living! 

The Rusty Nail is “hit and miss and very touristy”…which means the NYers and Boston folk…cavenous and empty some times otherwise packed…words from a local. I hit it NY’s eve and it was full of 22 y.o. girls from East Montpelier, mostly in various stages of inebriation. I’ve heard that of the matterhorn as well, except its full of 22 y.o. from Peru and Chile inebriated. 

The Whip at the Green Mountain Inn…good burger but no fries..? More sophisticated scene. 

Harrisons- small place popular with long time locals…Mom and son…run the place good Burger and Fries… 

The Spruce Base Lodge. Surprisingly friendly spot. Not too bad, for a base lodge. New this season. Music however I’ve heard play there is pretty terrible. 

The Stowe Mountain Lodge. Bar Hourglass- elegant sophisticated but a little cold and austere. The fireplace area is right by the front door and a little on the small side.

Melancholy in Stowe

 The last few days I’ve been playing the same tracks over and over. Eleanor McEvoy…Snapshots, from back in 1996, apparently. I have no idea how it ended up on my iTunes, …I’ve been jogging to it…playing it in the Gingerbread Crack House…Can’t recommend it highly enough. The play count says my favorite track is “Did you tell him?” …Ummm I wonder if it has anything with loves lost….or specifically the Alaskan? Probably not….the ex from 3 years back, that would be the one. Now she did a number on my psyche. In summary she was the 6 year relationship that I would characterize as the love of a life. But she left, for another. That’s always tough to take, and it did take some time to recover from. That relationship was full of romance and idealization. We ran away to Asia for the better part of 3 months. The start was beyond comparison to any romance novel. Love started on a rooftop restaurant on the Bund in Shanghai, and continued through 6 years. It was full, of life and love. It ended. So that was that. Idealization of one person is a curse once they leave. But as I found out time heals all. It took a long time. I skied with her in Stowe 3 seasons back, in fact I taught her how to ski, play tennis and sail. I know I had a big influence in her life. As she did in mine. Its Jacques Prevert’s “Dead Leaves”. She married this past September, to the guy she left me for. I no longer know who she is…nor will I ever. Its amazing how a friendship of such depth can vanish from one’s life. In this facebook age I see everyone “friending” everyone. A counter for friends, I have 66 you only have 34. Almost none of these are real friends illusionary at best. Superficiality is what we get when this is our life. REMEMBER You’re not surfing, you’re typing in your bedroom! 

Do females leave and come back? That is a question that I have been confronted with twice. The first one was one where I ignored the advice of my girlfriends, this time I’m taking their advice, leaving well enough alone and getting on with my life. The first time it happened, was for another, this time its “ I have no idea” and I’m not sure if the Alaskan has a clue, either. 

More on ...Prozac

I guess the skiings not that great as I've read more about anti-depressants...More insight into Prozac: I came across the term "cosmetic psychopharmacology"…Prozac akin to Botox?  Read on… 

“There is no free lunch. Most of these people who feel so good about the long-term use of Prozac think it’s cost-free. Patients need to be better educated about the risk-benefit analysis. If they are taking Prozac to feel ‘better than well,’ that’s a big mistake.”

“Repeated studies have shown that about 60 percent of patients have some form of sexual dysfunction—loss of libido, difficulty reaching orgasm, impotence—on SSRIs, But Eli Lilly’s official Prozac figure is 2 to 5 percent.” 

“Many patients were in effect being poisoned by the serotonin produced by their own bodies, the irritation victims suffered from migraines, hot flashes, irritability, sleeplessness, pains around the heart, difficulty in breathing, a worsening of bronchial complaints, irrational tension and anxiety. . . horrifying nightmares. It also caused volunteers to sleep badly - that is, always on the edge of consciousness so that they were not properly rested - and to wake after only a few hours of sleep."  Prozac was found to affect sleep habits, specifically to suppress deep sleep, (REM sleep)

Gingerbread Crack House

When I rented the house in Stowe, euphemisms abounded, cute, cozy, quaint. The house had a fresh mantle of snow covering the roof, icicles hanging from the eaves, a plume of smoke from the chimney. It oozed charm. Enough for me to overlook the opposites, ramshackle, rundown, unkempt, a tad dirty. 

Nothing some elbow grease couldn’t fix, some nice rugs on the floor and a clean smell. 

It looked for all intenets and purposes like a Gingerbread House. 

The snow melted and suddenly without the icicle jewelry and the clean blanket of snow it took on its true form, euphemism free, frankly it looked more like a Vermont Crack House! Well at least what I would imagine one looks like! 

So hence forth the bailout house is the Gingerbread Crack House.

Mt Mansfield Sunrise 7.25am January 2, 2009

New Year 2009

New Years Eve in Stowe

Movie to start. Benjamin Button. What a terrible movie. Don't waste your time. 

Left movie theater at 9pm, absolutely freezing outside. I was walking, and unbelievable a guy stopped in a mini van, an offered me a ride. Took me to the shed. What an unbelievable act of just “niceness”. Thanks Dwight, You will have a great Year. 

Met 2 NYC folk, Andrew and his wife Leann from 87^th on the UWS. We had great con

versation. Laughed about the financial crisis, the crappy music being played by the musical trio, the unattractive threesome in the corner, the Ukrainian, Juliet, with the long pig t

ail and bare midriff, and big earrings. To the Rusty Nail for the $40 cover charge. For New years complete anti-climactic moment. For walking to the Rusty nail at 1am, and all the 21 yo girls from east Montpelier. Jeez they really were 21. For walking home at 3am. 

Thanks. Happy New Year.

 Fashionista review 

I just read that I’m not the only one bemoaning the lack of style on the slope these days. I read that the noted movie making impresario Warren Miller of all those ski movies has written a lengthy article about the ski industry lamenting the fact 

that the girls have lost the sexy snow bunny label, and instead dress like grungy snowb

oarders. Of course in the cold that exists at Stowe nobody can tell if a girl is a guy and vice versa as everyone’s covered head to toe. Um…burkha’s on the slopes, Taliban approved outfits? 

Today’s pickings on the slopes were slim, primarily because your cameraman found it too cold. Here’s a selection. 

NFL outfits.Nothing says tacky more than this outfit. I think he’s just a “carrier” though, he just doesn’t present the snowboard look. 

Camo Family. This family is thematically correct and obviously

 went to a lot of trouble to present a unified view to the world. They certainly look like they belong together.

 

Stripes. Standing out was obviously the intended goal. Goal achieved. The old adage, horizontal stripe definitely widen not lengthen. He looks a little like Sponge Bob in stature.

 

Brown camo: brown on the slopes?

 I just don’t get brown…its not the new black. Skiing is meant to be white snow and brilliant blue skis. Brown doesn’t fit into the mix. Brown is the color of mud and disappointment.