Not long now

I'm sitting here on Friday night, and next Tuesday I leave Ohio, flying out to Los Angeles to meet Janine and Jordan on Wednesday!

I've achieved great results with my trading education in the time I have been here, and this last week have made more strides forward. Another week and then I will take the next step. The urgency I felt two months ago has totally disappeared, favouring instead a sure but slower approach, making sure each step is solid before taking the next. As Master Huang said, "Fast is Slow and Slow is Fast". Given this journey has been 3 years so far I think I am good evidence that fast is indeed slow!!

During the course of the week I bought a Kindle, and I absolutely love it!! So now I can have my entire library with me whereever I go. It has so many fantastic features, not the least of which is its capacity to hold 1500 books! It remembers where you left off with each book, so when you open a book it goes straight to the last page you were reading. It has great search capability, you can write annotations and notes, add bookmarks etc. I love it!!! You can even download the first section of any book for free to see if you like it, and if you do, buy it instantly and it will be wirelessly downloaded to your kindle on the spot. Pay for it now, have it on your kindle literally 10 seconds later. Amazing stuff!

Today I made myself a 'Mind Movie', which is a short uplifting movie you watch daily to remind yourself of what your priorities truly are. I'm really happy with the result, and think I'll make some more. I used to watch a lot of these sorts of things when I first joined Masters Palace, but of late had gotten out of the habit. I'm glad to say that it has now gone back to one of the top activities on my list.

With our trip starting next week, I'm also looking forward to lots more photographic opportunities. I've enjoyed my re-acquaintance with photography, and wonder how long it will take Janine to remember how I like to pull over for every photo-opportunity!! Well, she has a nice camera too and I'm sure won't mind! :-)

Ok, time for bed, I think Bob has plans to take me out on the Lake on his boat tomorrow. Hopefully it will be warmer than the current -2 celsuis!

Bye for now!

Rainy Days

Whilst the weather here is still cold, it is now rainy, windy cold rather than dry snowy cold. Nothing like some variety!!

Kim took me to an organic store in Solon on Saturday, which was great! I thought our local organic store near Mooloolaba was big, which by Australian standards it certainly is. However as with everything in America, size counts!! The store here would be three times the size of the largest I've seen in Australia.



This picture shows about a third of it. It also has a deli with pre-made meals, salads, baked goods etc. Upstairs there is a full restuarant and cafe. It really is great!! It is called The Mustard Seed, and well worth a visit if in the area, and you appreciate real food.

On Sunday we went to the local Borders Book Store for a browse and a coffee. It was a lovely day too, especially considering the weather was...raining again! reminded me of Melbourne!! At Border I found a great book which detailed the  '120 Best Scenic Drives in America', which was great to look at considering our upcoming tour of the West Coast. It was nice to see that the route I had planned incorporated a number of the trips.

Well only 1 week to go before I'm in LA waiting for Janine and Jordan to arrive. I have downloaded a heap of audiobooks for Jordan (and Janine and I), as well as a lot of ebooks for my new kindle - which arrives tomorrow!!

To finish here is a lovely Ohio skyline - nature showing off again...




Time for a lesson with Nick - bye for now.

Studying, Planning and Sleeping

This past week since we got back from Florida I've been spending all my time either studying the markets, training tai chi, writing the next lesson for Henry, or sleeping. You could say Vienna, Ohio is great for studying as I'm not aware of many compelling distractions!!

I ordered (and received) a new GPS - a Garmin similar to the one Kim has. A great unit, spoken street names, and 1.2 million Points of Interest (food outlets, accomodation, attractions etc) built in. I was so impressed with how well Kim's worked that I preferred one of these than either the Navman or Tomtom that I had previously. So now we are covered for navigation on our grand tour of the West Coast of the US.

Trading education is going well. Had 2 lessons from Nick this week, and once more his depth of solid detail staggers me. I am slowly absorbing more and more, and now very few moves occur in the market that surprise me. Still some, but not many.

Tonight Bob, Kim and I went out to see a school musical that his daughter was in, and it was great to see the kids putting on such a good performance. A school Jazz band also performed some 50s rock'n'roll and did a great job.

Last night I decided to make an alteration to the indicator I use in Ninjatrader, which required me to understand some C#.Net, which is a computer language I have never used before. Whilst it took me around 4 hours to do what turned out to be a 5 minute job, I got there! So now the indicator looks exactly as I wish it to! I don't know if that means I will trade better with it, but now I have one less excuse for not achieving brilliant success...

I also discovered the Kindle2 from amazon.com today. Even better, Janine has said I can get one!! I'll think about it overnight, just to make sure. It sure looks great, if it still seems just as good to me tomorrow I'll place an order so it arrives before I leave Bob's place.

Bye for now

Back in Ohio

After leaving this yesterday...



We woke up to this, this morning...



I think if Bob's boat could talk, it would have been uttering a few expletives!! The three of us were wondering what sort of weather we would find in Ohio, as we still had another 5 hours north to travel. Mind you, it was good fortune that we left a day earlier than originally planned, as there were tornados down south in the area we had just passed through. In fact it was snowing just 50 miles north of Florida!!

As it turned out, the weather actually improved the further north we went, until we arrived back in Ohio to blue skys, even though it was -3 celsius.

We stopped for lunch at another 'Country Basket', which is a franchise chain which features 'old style' cooking. Each restuarant has a large shop full of homely old style goods, which you wait in until your table is ready. One item caught my eye, a book full of photos of the message boards outside churches, with their various sayings and quotations. Many of the messages I found inciteful and appropriate, and one in particular caught my eye.

"Failure is not falling down, it is not getting back up."

I think that saying will stick with me for a long time, one to remember during those life situations which seem particularly challenging.

And for those who find the concept of blue skies in Ohio challenging, here they are!



The house certainly looks a lot different from when we left it - there actually was a lawn under all the snow! Mind you, the high for tomorrow is currently forecast at -7 celsuis, with a low of -14. I don't think I'll be outside playing in the sun!!

Bye for now!

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!