Heading back to Ohio

After packing up Bob's truck and hooking up the boat, we started heading north, on our way back to Ohio. The truck is certainly drinking more petrol with the boat in tow, averaging around 13mpg. Going to be a very expensive trip back, even with petrol here being far cheaper than in Australia (costs around US$1.80 / gal here, which translates to around AU$0.67/L).

We encountered little traffic on the road, and were glad to leave the Florida Turnpike behind, which was costing us $3 every 7 miles in toll charges.

We have stopped here in Georgia for the night. Back to grits and biscuits!!

One lesson we learnt on the road. When we have needed wifi access on the road so far, we have stopped at McDonalds and paid for a 2 hour connection. Well we were sitting down and had just paid another $3, when an older couple sat down with their notebook. They pulled out a McDonalds voucher for wifi - it turns out you can just ask for them for free from the counter staff!! Oh well, given the fragile nature of the economy here we can consider our payments to Waypoint Network as their bailout funds! :-)

Given we will have another long day on the road tomorrow I'd better get some sleep.

Key West

Key West is an the southern most tip of the US, sitting at the end of the 'Keys'. Only 90 miles to Cuba, which may explain the Naval Air base sitting down this part of the country!!

Well we headed down there today, and hour and a half each way, passing wonderful sights all the way down. The water is a lovely shade of azure, and generally very clear.

Key West turns out to be a cross between a quaint little township, and a tourist trap! The latter is hardly surprising, given we are here in peak tourist season. The weather is lovely this time of year, around mid 20s celcius. Mind you the seabreeze is a little chilly, but Bob still thinks I am nuts as I generally always have a jacket and jeans on to keep warm :-)



These chaps are everywhere, much like we have in Redcliffe. Note the lovely colour of the water - it looks gorgeous with the shallow water which is found here, the sand showing through for wonderful plays of colour and light.

Arriving in Key West we wondered down the end of Duval street, which finishes at the shoreline. As you can see the beach was well populated, despite the $5 charge to occupy a deck chair!



The standard of buildings varied widely, and it was obvious that the economic turmoil is reaching down to the tips of the country (coming back up tonight we ntoiced probably 1 home in 3 on the waterfront was up for sale. In Key West itself, there were homes looking like this...



And others not quite as clean and tidy :-)



However you can certainly see it has character...

And the final photo I want to share is specifically for my little boy, as I am sure he would have LOVED to go for a ride on this!!


Well, time for us to go find some dinner! Tomorrow we hope to go out on Bob's boat again, before heading back to Homestead. Bye for now!!

Sands of Islamorada

Today we headed south from Homestead to Islamorada, which is approximatley half way south from Miami to Key West.



It was a lovely drive. In areas the land is little wider than the road, with mangroves and then the sea either side. In other areas the land widens out, and we were unable to see the coast either side. There are many homes on absolute waterfront, sporting their own piers / marinas. We found a lovely little motel that Bob had booked us in to, with it's own marina where Bob can put the boat in the water.


After we had unpacked, and Bob had unhooked the boat, we headed out to 'Worldwide Sportsman', a VERY large fishing shop, which is also a restuarant and bar. We went there so Bob could get a fishing rod (in case he wanted to head out fishing), and also to view the Keys sunsets, which are famous. Apparently it is a bit of a ritual here for the locals to gather and applaud the sunsets. Well, I think you will agree that they are worthy of applause...



It was a lovely spot, with many photogenic moments occuring. Thank goodness for digital cameras and large memory cards!!!!



We found a lovely little place for dinner afterwards - ordering a glass of water to drink I found that they added strawberries and pineapples to their pitchers of water. Absolutely gorgeous!! So was the Potato and Leek soup, followed by a wonderful serve of mushrooms, feta and onions on sourdough! Nice to find real food :-)

Tomorrow we head south to Key West - speak to you all then!!

Getting Bob's boat wet

Last night Bob, Kim and I headed down to the boat ramp with the plan to get Bob's boat wet. Well, after getting it into the water Bob turns the ignition and turns the engine over, and over, and over, and then dead. Turns out the batteries were on their last legs. So, we had practice and getting the boat on and off the trailer!! Not that Bob needs practice as it turns out - after our excursion he simply drives the boat up onto the trailer. No winching for him!!

After dropping me back at the house so I can do some more work for Henry, Bob and Kim head out to buy some new batteries.

This morning we all head down to Biscayne Bay boat ramps again, and this time everything goes to plan. So out we head into the deep blue yonder! Well wasn't I surpised to find that after powering along for half an hour or so that the GPS / depth finder / fish finder thingo is still telling us that we are in 6 - 8 feet of water! We head through a pass at Elliot Key, and finally head out into open water.



As you can see Kim's babies, Roxie and Zoie are enjoying the boat as well!! Actually we all had a ball, stayed out on the water for a few hours. We saw some of the local wildlife that you wouldn't want a closer encounter with.


 A Portuguese Man'o'War, definitely not to be trifled with.

Whilst out on the water I was reflecting again on how much my life has changed since meeting Henry, and learning about creating one's life rather than just bouncing from situation to situation. Since adopting what I learnt from Henry, my life with Janine and Jordan has gone from 'ok' to living a dream, and getting better all the time. Here I am, spending my days with fantastic generous people in Miami, learning one of my heart's desires from one of the best in the business, and about to meet up with my family to travel across the US in a gorgeous Motorhome on a dream holiday.

Then we get back, I look out the window and see this.



Some say meterological phenomena. I say Nature's Majesty.

Shopping!!

Today Bob, Kim and I went out to the market again, as we are planning to leave Miami next weekend, making this the last opportunity we would have to go shopping there. I find this market amazing, as you can pretty much buy anything there. For instance today Bob bought an anchor and rope, I bought some fantastic leather walking boots - $30! They are insulated too, and I haven't seen anything under $150 for equivalents in Australia. I also bought a great daypack for $12, two leather belts for $2.50 each. I saw everything from mattresses, cooking pots and pans, stereos, of course clothes and jewellery, toys, motorbikes, tools, furniture. You name it, they had it for sale.

Virtually all the stall holders were Mexican or Cuban, and of course that adds an extra element of fun to the shopping! As I have said previously, virtually everyone is polite and courteous.

Going along with the large Spanish influence down here, most everything is printed in two languages. Even the large commercial signs like this!!



Next week we are going down to spend a night on Florida Keys - I'm really looking forward to that. Another exciting event for me will be the private trading lessons start in earnest. Nick will be watching us trade for 20 mins so he can get an insight into the beliefs we have that drive our trading. From there he can guide us as to which beliefs serve us, and which don't. Fantastic stuff.

Well we are going out on the boat tonight, and Bob is hooking it up right now. So I'd better go help - I'll be getting of photos to put up on the next entry here!!

cya.

Studying and Planning

I've pretty much not gone out since the last blog entry, spending the days studying, training Tai Chi, and planning the trip for when Janine and Jordan arrive. We have had two big wins with the trip. First is that Qantas announced a special that allows children to fly free on selected flights - including the one we want. So that saved around $1000. The second big one came today when the Motorhome hire company I was planning to use announced a 50% discount for the duration trip we are doing. That saves another $1200. Praise the power of deliberate living with postive intentions!! Of course some people would just say we are lucky, however that means we are constantly lucky as this stuff happens often these days...

I've changed the trip itinerary a little to allow for fewer stops and a few long days travel so as to consolidate the 'looking' and 'driving' aspects of the trip. So now the map looks like this.



Basically I've cut out the incursion into Canada, and added a trip through Death Valley, Grand Teton National Park, and Mt. Rushmore National Park. We also travel more through the (hopefully beautiful) areas around the Rockies. We also head North via Chicago into Toronto, instead of South, and that saves travelling the same roads twice.

Study is going well, I have knocked up a database to allow for far more powerful analysis of signal correlations. I believe it is starting to pay dividends, if for no other reason than it forces me to examine each potential trade closely in order to determine it's various qualities for entry into the computer.

I'll finish up this entry with a photo I snapped a few days back, showing how the local Police always have people's welfare foremost in their minds, because they care...



Bye for now!

Happy Birthday Janine!!!

Today my sweetheart enjoys her birthday, and I expect she will wake up to a bug kiss and hug from Jordan. I wonder if he will have let her sleep in!!

Whilst I'm not there to give her a prezzie, she will be in my thoughts, and will no doubt be looked after by her Mum, Dad, brother and sister-in-law. And I bet I know what sort of birthday cake she will have!!!



I've got a funny feeling Jordan will end up with a piece in his tummy too (not too mention some on his face as well).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART - I hope you have a great day, and indulge yourself a little with whatever you decide to do to celebrate your birthday.

As it turns out Janine and Jordan are coming over here in 4 weeks so that we can all travel around together. Our first draft of our travel plans looks like this.



In a nutshell, the plan is currently to travel from LA up to Vancouver, back down to Salt Lake City, then east to Denver, Toronto, finishing in New York. Our home for the duration will be one of these.


Its 30' long, which should give us enough room to stretch our legs and have some comfort. I will continue to do my morning trading via 3G, and my classes the same way. I'm having a great time planning the trip, and it has added another level of excitement to my days!!

Well I'd better get back to my studies, and no doubt Janine will be getting up soon so I want to post this so she can read it when she wakes up.

cya

Photographic Indulgence

After spending the morning studying my trading, we all decided to spend Sunday afternoon being tourists. Bob picked Biscayne National Park as our destination for the afternoon, and when we got there I got to indulge myself!

I developed a love for photography in my mid-late 20s, and put it to one side for most of the last 15 years. One of the many highlights of my time in the US now though is the ample opportunities to get back into it. And today was a wonderful opportunity.

People enjoy photography for a number of different reasons - for me, I love the interplay of light and textures, and the subjects for me aren't so much objects that I photograph as wonders of natures' many forms which play games with light.

Anyway, today Biscayne National Park gave me plenty of light to play with!!



The park is due east from Homestead, on the Atlantic coast. It seems a popular destination for fishermen to head out for their weekend fun.



I'm guessing my friend Alan would have a lot of fun here!! We chatted to some fisherman for a while who were filleting their catch - they also had a few lobster crawling around on the filleting table. No doubt they were destined for dinner.



The marina hosted some lovely boats, and also some other locals enjoying the facilities!!



And as I said, I also indulged my love of light and colours...



Well, back to work next week, then hopefully we can persuade Bob to go down to Florida Keys next weekend!!

Bye for now...

My Sweetheart

Today's blog entry is in dedication to my sweetheart, Janine.

Valentines Day has arrived, the day which encourages me to be grateful for the blessing which lead to my partnership with my wife Janine. Today, we are both very different people from the two who initially met 20 years ago in London. However those differences have led us to be even more compatible than we were then.

Through experiences and processes that have sometimes been different, and at other times we have shared, we find ourselves heading down our respective paths hand in hand, with similar visions.

Whilst I would love to share Valentines Day with Janine in person, we both knowingly made the choice for me to be here in the USA, undertaking the education process which will benefit our family massively in the near future. This is just one of the reasons why I love her so much, she gladly makes sacrifices for myself and Jordan, putting us before her personal wishes time and again.

As I can't be there, here is my present to her...

And I can't leave Jordan out. My gorgeous little boy, here is a video that I am sure you will love, not so sure about Mummy though!!

Dinosaurs for Jordan


Hope you all have a lovely Valentines Day, and utilise the opportunity to reflect upon how you enrich your partners through your relationships with them.

I love you Janine!!

Another day around the house

During the week I generally stay around the house as I have 4 hours or so per day dedicated to my trading education, another hour or so with Tai Chi and Tong Long. That doesn't leave much for being a tourist, so that is left to the weekends.

I realised I hadn't posted any pictures of the neighbourhood, so I thought it would be nice to share some of those.



That is Bob's boat sticking out of the garage - he is still waiting to get it out on the water!! Actually he has just headed out now to buy an anchor, so he is getting closer day by day! The more observant among you will notice that the houses don't have gutters. Another cost cutting measure taken here. Here we can see the street we live in - it is an odd neighbourhood in that the street-scaping and entrance to the area is gorgeous, however the standard of workmanship on the homes themselves has room for improvement.



The lessons with Asset Expansion Development are continuing to impress me. Each day Nick proves his mastery of both his craft, and his ability to express and teach the material. Each lesson I get new specific insights and understandings. Most importantly this knowledge is specific and solid and therefore applicable.

Reading the Natural News site today I followed a series of links to end up watching this video. Many people I speak to think the worst of the current financial crisis has been hit. If you are one of those people, you may wish to watch this video...

Second Financial Economic Crash Coming - Huge & Soon

Not good news perhaps, however if this means you adopt a state of preparedeness then it is good viewing.

Well time for my Tai Chi practice - I'll be back with another post in a day or so!!

We finally got there!!

Yep, after being here 10 days, we finally got there - THE BEACH!!



This afternoon after we had all finish our studies, we decided to go find a beach somewhere. So I was given the task of finding one not too far away (which shouldn't be difficult here in Florida). We headed in towards Miami, and then when I saw the sign Miami Beach became the obvious choice. It turns out that we needed to go over a couple of small islands (with bridges inbetween) to get to the beach.

Miami Beach is an old Art Deco neighbourhood, with old buildings, many of which are in great condition and contribute a real character to the area.



This little strip at Spanish Village looked really nice with the outdoor cafes.

Ocean Drive itself borders right onto the beach precinct, with only a small park separating it and the beach.



The beach had a different feel from Australian beaches, principally due to the many stalls scattered along the length where vendors sell drinks. Ocean Drive had a few notable shops along its length, as well as some notable characters!!



As sunset approached it was time to head back to the house for our 7:30pm class. All in all it was a lovely afternoon, first time I have left the house in a few days with the exception of the local supermarket.

Bob is talking about heading down to Florida Keys in a day or two to take the boat out. I'll have to think about that one, as my trading education comes first.  It would certainly be nice to see that area - I'll give it some thought.

Bye for now.

Quiet days

Turns out we haven't gone out on Bob's boat yet, as there are a few things he wants to do on it first, and also he has a few other jobs he wants to get out of the way before playing.

As it happens Bob's PC has also been dying a slow death over the past week, and despite all my best endeavours we can't avoid having to reformat and re-install everything. So we are in the middle of that process now, expect it to take 2 days or so as just the backup before reformatting is going to take around 20 hours.

Whilst out today I saw a few more things that struck me due to the differences in Australian and US Cultures. For example within the supermarket we went to there was an in-store pharmacy (complete with pharmacist and drive through facility). There was also a self-help sphygmomanometer (blood pressure monitor). Some may consider these great facilities to have available to the general population, however I consider them a sad reflection on the general approach to health and health care here.

On other striking difference is the large billboard signs I am seeing here on the topic of foreclosures. Also a lot of private advertisments on the same topic. The financial crisis here is certainly deepening.

And here is a fun difference - especially thinking of Jordan. 'Kermit green' fire engines!!!



On other nice difference is that redlight and speed cameras are few and far between. However there are these guys, State Troopers who I have been told are basically traffic cops.



Finally, I heard about the devastating fires in Victoria, Australia today. Heartbreaking - my thoughts are with those affected. The situation serves to put my perceived challenges in perspective.

Bob has his boat!!

Today we all headed north to the Fort Myers district to pick up Bob's new boat. It was about a 2 hour trip north through the Everglades, along a stretch of road called 'Alligator Alley'. It quite quickly became obvious why it was so named, we must have seen 30 or 40 alligators in the river beside the highway as we travelled through that stretch. Compared to the Salt Water Crocodiles back in Australia they seemed pretty small, however I am sure they are worthy of great respect and best left alone!! I didn't take any photos as Bob says that when we go out in the boat down in Florida Keys we will see plenty near us in the water.

During my time over here I seen so many large motorhomes (called RVs by the locals), and have fallen in love with them. Well, just near where we picked up Bob's boat we saw a large RV centre (had 100s of them), so we called in there so I could have a look. Now I am more in love with them than ever!!

This one is typical of what I saw...



I thought it looked great on the outside, and then we went inside...



It was my idea of Heaven on wheels. It even has a small trading desk for me on the right!!! The kitchen is complete with a large fridge and freezer, convection oven, dishwasher. Notice the floor has real tiles. Bedroom has a queen size bed, full wardrobe. Also has a toilet with its own basin, and another basin with the shower.

We had a look in a few, here is another one with a slightly different layout...



Don't you love that TV!!! Great for my movies on the road :-)

I went and asked the prices, and they are so cheap compared to Australia, only around $200K!!! So now I have plans to hire one for a month to tour around the US with Janine and Jordan. That would be SO much fun!!

On the course front, I have pretty much completed Phase 1 now. I have learnt so much, and am now very excited to get into Phase 2 next week, which is working with the live market using the simulator. Given what I saw today with the RVs, my motivation has gone up a notch, and it was already extremely high!!

cu all.

Settling down to the Study

These past few days I have been settling down to the study with the Asset Expansion Development course. With each passing class I am becoming more and more impressed with the level of understanding and detail that is being passed on with the education. Nick possesses both a deep understanding of the market, and a remarkable ability to pass on that knowledge through clear and solid explanations.

At the moment my excursions from the house are few and far between - yesterdays highlight in that regard was a trip to the supermarket to stock up on some food! Bob and I headed out in search of a new Farmers Market that he had heard about. All we found instead was an undercover market that sold everything apart from food (well they sold donuts, however they don't come under my personal classification of food).

So instead we popped into a 'WinDixie', which turned out to be much like a Coles in Australia, and did our shopping there. Whilst in the fruit and vegetable section I saw some vegetables that were totally new to me. I'd be interested to know if anyone out knows what these are, and how they are prepared!



In the same section I saw some more vegies that I had no experience of - all very exciting!



Whilst out I saw another pinnacle of American culture, namely a drive-through drug store. Yep, no need to waste time jumping out of your car to buy your pharmaceuticals, you can just drive through to get your drugs of choice. Actually the whole scene of Big Pharma influence here has been surprising to me, I would have to say that at least 40% of the advertisments I have seen on television have been for drugs. What really makes me laugh is that the last 30% of the ads are disclaimers advising the audience of all the particular ways that the drug in question could maim or kill you!! On that topic, check out this article on ways that Big Pharma are now circumventing the requirement to list side-effects on drug ads...it mentions that a recent 1 minute ad for a drug had 25s devoted to listing the side effects!!

Another sad sign of the times here are the large billboard ads concerning mortgage foreclosures and possible ways to avoid them. For example in the estate where we are staying now quite a number of the homes are uninhabited. The home we are in is available for sale, and apparently the 'owner' owes more on it than it is worth.

On the other side of the coin nearly everyone I have met here, whether in Manhattan or in the poorer neighbourhoods where we have been going to the markets, has been courteous and helpful. A nice surprise for me.

Apparently Bob's new boat is now ready for collection, so I expect that he will be taking it out on the water sometime over the weekend. I've told him that I won't join him in the fishing, but will be happy to go out with him and keep him company. Hopefully I'll some shots of the Florida coastline soon!

Bye for now.

Homestead, Florida

We all slept in a little today, must have been a bit tired after the trip down from Ohio. First thing on our 'To do' list was getting some fresh fruit and vegetables into the house, so off we went to find the local 'Flea and Farmers Market'. It took a while to track down, was about 5 miles from our house, in a part of the area that reminded me a lot of Mexico. Everything was written in Spanish, and most of the people looked of Spanish decent. Apparently they are mostly immigrants from Cuba.

As you can say nearly everything and anything was for sale at this market.



The stallwith the wheel rims also had stereos. 50m further down on the left was a stall selling motorbikes, mini-tractors and go-karts.Of course there was also a large produce section (about the size of a warehouse), clothes, shoes and boots. We only explored about half, left the rest for another visit.



Right down the end on the right was a huge shop / stall selling pets and pet supplies.



This chap was sitting on the fence outside, along with another 5 or so of his mates.

Tonight was Superbowl night, but none of us seemed overly interested in it. We popped our heads around the corner occasionally to see what the score was, but otherwise spent most of the night getting Ninjatrader set up on Bob and Kim's computers.

Tomorrow will be my first real day of hitting the charts, Nick's lesson, and making real progress with the material I am preparing for Masters Palace. As such I had better go get some sleep. Bye for now!

We have arrived!

After another long day on the road we have arrived at our new home for the month in Homestead, Florida.

For those of you who are as geographically challenged as me, here is map putting our location in perspective.



The house we are in is new, and will serve our purpose perfectly. It is on the edge of a 'lake', which could be more accurately described as a large pond. However you can buy this place for $175K. You couldn't even buy the driveway of a house in a similar location in Australia.

The day's travels started with a quick visit over the road to Daytona Raceway. We could hear some cars racing around the track, however with due to various gates and guards we couldn't see a thing.



To balance out my collection of American flags (most of which are in snowy setting) I couldn't help myself and had to take this sunny one :-)



For breakfast we went to 'Waffle House', another of the myriad of fastfood franchises over here. I finally got to see what 'grits' are, as Bob got some so I could try them. Basically it is a porridge made from cornmeal instead of oats. Not at all what I imagined when John Wayne ordered his grits in the various cowboy movies!! I had my first ever American waffle, probably my last too! However I'm over here to experience as well as learn, so I had to do it!

On the way out of Daytona we spotted a large 'Farmers and Flea Market', and stopped in hoping to find some fresh fruit. The market was rather large, and had all sorts of clothes, various trinkets, a very large herbal tea stand, as well as jams and preserves, and fresh fruit and vegies. Very similar to the Australian equivalent - except this one had a large selection of Daytona Bike Week shirts, jackets, hats etc. Remembering Craig is a bit of a petrol head I bought some gifts for him. I saw a really nice feminine one too and so bought one for Janine. I hunted for a nice one in Jordan's size but they only had not so nice ones. So I decided to wait until I found a really nice present for him. I'm sure I will see lots of nice things here in Southern Florida.

We arrived here around 5pm, and after getting our cases in the first job was getting the network set up and online. Took me quite a while as I didn't find AT&T's instructions for setting up the DSL overly successful. However after an hour or so we were all up and going.

I have a nice room here, with my own bathroom right next door.



Bob and Kim have their room upstairs, with 2 more spare bedrooms up there.

As you can see most of the house is tiled, which be nice and cool when the hotter weather comes.



Today we head to another Farmer's Market that we have learned about to stock up on fruit and vegetables, it will be nice to become re-acquainted with real food after being on the road!! I sure am lucky to be with Bob and Kim who know the value of whole foods - another blessing!!