A Dork Is Born

For the past two or three years my distance vision has been deteriorating, but amazingly enough I couldn't really tell until the past couple of months.
Because I work from home and never drive out of my vecinities, I got used getting around with no problems. Then recently on a trip to San Diego I realized that I couldn't drive because I didn't have any landmarks as points of reference to get to places. I could only read the freeway signs as we were passing them, not before.
Today, I went to the eye doctor and was told that not only do I need glasses because I couldn't read the top two rows of letters, but that I have to go to a specialist because I have large muscles in my eyes. Those large muscles are indicators that I may have or will have glaucoma in the future. Am i worried? a little.
I will look like a dork wearing glasses, but it will be fun to be able to see again. Who knows, maybe I will look smart.

Instant Karma

Today I went to Trader Joe's to get some milk and pasta. When navigating my way out of the shopping center's parking lot, a black guy in a Vespa cut me off on the left side. For no reason what-so-ever, this guy keeps driving and turns his head to look back at me with a defiant face.
This guy has just come out of nowhere and I haven't done anything to him for him to try to intimidate me with his "bike". My reaction was to just keep driving at parking lot acceptable speed, and say to myself "what is this dumbass looking at".
By now, the guy is looking ahead and is approaching the curve to exit the parking lot. He made a sharp turn and lost control of the Vespa and in the blink of an eye he was hitting the pavement with his right shoulder and head.
I must admit that for a second or two I grinned as I stopped and saw him on the ground. I then opened my door and yelled out asking him if he was okay. He didn't respond but i knew he was moving. I decided to walk towards him, but my gut told me to get the key off the ignition in case it was a setup. I went over and got the Vespa off of him and asked him if he was alright.
When he got up he asked me to push his shoulder back in place, which I reluctantly did. I suggested he takes it easy and not make sharp turns like that. He thank me and I got back in my car.
I drove off with the elated feeling that Karma had done it's job.

Crappy Friday

I usually look forward to fridays. It's not because I don't have to work the next day, historically they have been stress-free days for me.
Today however, has been crappy, shitty, sucky, etc and it's only 1:30 PM. Due to my back pain I have been working with my laptop from the couch for the past couple of weeks. In the past I used to say: I wouldn't know how I would live if I didn't have internet. Then I moved up and said: I don't know how I would live if I didn't have high-speed internet. Now I say: I don't know how I would live if I didn't have wireless high-speed internet.
I've had my trusty Netgear router for a couple of years now and it looks like it's usability has come to an end. I've lost my connection a million times today.
I decided that instead of wasting the day away trying to figure out what is wrong with it, I may as well just go buy a new one. I got my keys and got in my SUV. Before i turn on the ignition I felt something wasn't right, so I got out and looked at my rear tire. FLAT. I said to myself, no problem. I got the jack out and started changing the tire. when I went under the car to remove the spare tire, FLAT. Now I have two flat tires and no way to get them fixed until the wife comes home.
I was pissed, but no sweat. So I decided to go to the mailbox and get the mail. What do i get, bills including a big hospital bill for my accident.
The bottom line is this: when things get bad, don't sweat it too much because they can always get worse and worse. Not only that, there are people having an even worse time than you right now, like my faher-in-law. He just found out his cancer has spread and he thinks he doesn't have much time left alive.

Starting Over

A few weeks ago I was involved in a multiple car accident. I am lucky to be alive. I was traveling on the freeway at about 80 MPH on the fast lane when suddenly my SUV started vibrating. I couldn't hit the breaks because there were cars coming behind me. The was a lound noise and I realized I had a blown rear tire. At that poing my car started traveling out of control. I tried to keep in the the lane, but driving on three wheels proved impossible. If I let the car go I would have hit traffic on my right side, and if I tried to compensate, I would have hit the medium wall that devides the two way traffic.
Suddenly, the car lost complete control and I ended up doing a 360 degree turn in the middle of the freeway. Some cars where able to change lanes on time but others couldn't. I ended up facing cars coming towards me and hitting me on the driver side doors. The impact was so strong that I was pushed about 75 feet into an exit wall on the right side of the freeway.
I escaped through the passanger side window and was rushed to the hospital. Luckly, I was in a lot of pain, but otherwise fine. No broken bones. I was released in no time.
I loved my Toyota 4Runner. So I went and bought another one.
Here are the old and the new one.

Moving?

So, there is a slight probability that we will be moving to Houston within the next year. I welcome that possibility since I already gave Las Vegas a shot and after 7 years have failed to truly make it my home.
I came here for the money, but now real estate is flat and like any other investor, I have ran out of passion. I would be an ingrate if I said the past 7 years have sucked because I have lead a really good financial life that would have been impossible had I stayed in New York.
If it was up to me, I would move back east, but not to NY or NJ. I would consider PA or SC. The thing is that Houston has good cancer treatment centers and the in-laws are planning on relocating there because of it.
I've checked out Craigslist and it doesn't seem too bad, except for the traffic, humidity and low level of education of some of the residents. I'm beginning to understand why they call middle america The Heartland. It's because the brain ain't there.
I've spent sometime looking at real estate there and it amazes me that I can get a palacial mc.mansion there with 6 bedrooms, 3 living rooms, gym, theater room, 3 car garage, study, etc. All for about $400K. Something like that in Vegas goes for around $1.5 Mil.
It looks like we'll be making a trip to Houston to take a lookie lookie.

alive