Investing 101

I am getting killed in the market. I think I am down something like 60-70 percent. I wish I had followed this stock advice:

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received a $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg. A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon! Makes you proud to be an American!

Speaking of Firsts

I taught my first scuba class this last week.  There were seven people in the class, although two dropped out.  One dropped out because he got an ear infection and the other found out she was preggers, although her husband finished the class.  It was a fun class and an amazing learning experience.  The learning experience really hit home though when I read this article in the San Diego Tribune.

There is an extra skill that can be taught called “buddy breathing” which is not to be mistaken with sharing air from an octo or air2 source. Buddy breathing is when there is only one regulator and the buddy team shares air off that regulator, passing it back and forth. Sharing air is when you give your buddy your octo or your primary and you breathe off your air2.

Well this weekend we taught this “extra” skill. In both skills we teach that you stay connected to your buddy. In buddy breathing the receiver holds on to the donors wrist that is holding on to the regulator. In sharing air the buddy team grasps each others right wrists. It is a tough skill to do but one that could be vital in saving a life in an underwater emergency. It was a skill that could have made a difference in this story.

This is definitely a good reminder to me that the roll I play in teaching someone how to scuba dive is very important.

Firsts

Life is full of many firsts, first dance, first kiss, first adventure, first scuba dive, making your first millions. The list is endless, but each time a first happens it holds a significant place in our hearts. My last post I recently relayed my first adventure in scuba diving. I am hoping in a few weeks to relay my first passing of the bar. In this blog you will read a lot of my firsts, but I am always interested in what other firsts people hold dear or remember most vividly and why. So dear readers if you have some firsts you would like to share, I would love to hear about it.