Today I started a fall project. To go through my library of books and to do some house cleaning. It is utterly amazing how many books I own and I consider my library small in comparison to some people I know.

After going through the bulk of my library I only tossed out a handful of outdated software books. I mean really, now days you don’t get a hard bound printed book with your application. Especially if you order online and direct.

To be honest, even though I get 99% of my information online via the internet from the leading libraries, I just did not have the heart to toss them. Sentimental I guess. First and foremost they cost me a lot of money. Most of my books are technical in nature and many are related to woodworking and other various art forms.

If I added up the average cost of just say $50 per book my little library would be worth several thousands of dollars. And let’s not forget the number of tree’s that gave their lives to create the paper they were printed on.

Now think about it. How many books do you own? If every person on this planet had the same amount of books as I do and as I said I consider my library modest in size I am sure we could fill several thousand football arena’s plumb full to overflow capacity!

So what to do with old books. Well in my case I had some empty plant shelves high above the living and master bedroom. So I moved all my books up there. Sure they are 9 feet above the floor but hey I think I have pulled a book off the shelf only once or twice in the past 3 years.

Now the wall space where the books use to be is giving way to some much needed additional floor space in my office. I figure I can get back roughly 5 additional feet by sliding my desk over. Room to move my drafting table and additional computer table in my office where it will get a lot more use then the space my library was occupying.

Eventually I suppose the books will be turned to recycling. The day of the hard bound printed books I think are numbered. Given how many trees are needed to create the paper and how much more worth they would be to providing the world with fresh air, I say leave them growing and go digital. I could hold my complete library of books and old magazines on a handful of DVD’s available with just a few clicks. No storage or handling issues. And when they are out dated simply hit the delete key. I really do believe it is the next generation for books.

What do you think? How do you manage your library?

Over the past week my wife and I went on a vacation cruise to Mexico. Starting from the Port of Los Angeles located at San Pedro, California to San Diego, then to Catalina Island, then on to Ensenada, Mexico and finally returning to San Pedro.

They call this a 4 day cruise but it felt more like being gone several weeks. As silly as that may sound. No cell phones, no internet, no TV, just lots of other things to do and all you can eat!

It really was a relaxing vacation. With shore excursions each day with plenty to do and plenty of time to relax.

It all started a couple months ago when my wife and I were discussing how and where we wanted to spend some of my vacation time. First we chose Florida as my wife has friends there who would provide us a free place to stay. However we decided we did not want to hassle with hurricane session.

The cruise was perfect. And they really are cheep. You go on line and you find many cruises offered at really cheep rates. We had some free air miles we needed to use so given the low cost for the cruise we spent all toll around $800 for the trip. This included some shore shopping as well.

As it turned out the ship we chose was going on its last cruise out of San Pedro. Because of changes in the California law the ship built in 1991 was considered too old. Even though it had gone through a major refit and was upgraded in 2003. After this cruise the ship is being moved to Florida to sail out of Miami.

The ship - The Monarch of the Sea, in my view was the perfect size. Complete with a large swimming pool and all the sporting equipment you could find at any gym. This is included a full service spa and a rock climbing wall located on the stern. A full theater that sat 3000 people. A full casino, many duty free shops, a library, internet center for those who had to get there fix, on board cell services if you did need to call off the ship, all the major TV networks and lots of restaurants and bars for those needing more then the provided food.

Speaking of food, in my view it was as good or better then most 5 star hotels located on land. As the ship was being moved at the end of this cruise, there were a lot of special events on board including a final toast by the Caption during our last dinner.

We met lots of people from all over the world. The ship was fully loaded with around 2400 from the USA and 600 people from other nations. Many we met had taken this cruise many times before and were old hands at cruising. One of our dinner buddies was an 86 year old great grandmother who had taken 26 cruises previous.

As vacations go this was very relaxing and highly recommend. We are now thinking about an Alaska cruise. We are told it is the best way to see some of natures best.

Now it is back to work. Look for new sections soon based on conversations with various people during our trip and ideas for new articles.

For those interested we found our cruise here!

Once  upon a time a nation was born. It was created from a bunch of misfits and people who were tired of the King imposing taxes and unjust  rules. They boarded rickety ships and sailed across to the promised land. Where they toiled under the distant King. Finally they held a tea party and told the distant King he was no longer welcome in this new land.

This new nation created a Bill of Rights and a Constitution declaring their independence from the not so happy King. Who then waged war on the new nation. Eventually the new nation would win the war when the King gave in. The country grew and grew. Eventually it imposed the same taxes and rules on its people that the original people had fled over 200 years prior.

A never ending story was born. A story written when the world was still round and you could not see beyond the horizon. But we all know the outcome to this story don’t we.

Of course I am talking about England, France and the United States of America. Part of the G7 as they like to say. All super powers within this new global economy and based on today’s headlines they are all seeing their funny money crash. This global economy is not happy with the way the G7 is responding to the financial meltdown.

Frankly I along with some others are quite amused by all the dealings. We all have been drawn into a quagmire of sorts. As we all wait to see how this global drama will play out.

If you have studied history at all you should know this show was well predicted a very long time ago. When you have the top 1% of the world who control the other 99% of wealth eventually you will run into a wall. A domino effect has started and if you ever watch domino’s fall they don’t stop until the very last domino is done!

I have to tell you writing an article on Finance is not my favorite subject. Let’s face it I would rather be creating a new piece of art then worrying about is my money safe in the bank? But the reality is what little money I do have may soon be more worthless then it already is!

When the world started printing funny money in the 30’s that was the beginning of this dilemma. The domino’s were stood up and one by one they were shared around the globe. As time went on the globe as we know it became flatter and flatter. The domino’s were spread evenly across the G7.

Occasionally one of the smaller countries amassed enough power to fit a domino into the row. Domino after domino inserted until one day there wasn’t room for any more domino’s. Game over!

When the first domino started to fall with Lehman Brothers there was a hush in the market. Then AIG announced it was in trouble and well we all know what happened next.

One by one the banks started declaring they were in trouble. Another domino in the chain began to fall. The Federal Reserve stepped in and attempted to shore up the falling domino’s. But if you have played the game, once they start to fall there is little anyone can do to avert the rest short of braking the chain.

The reality is the only people who can break the fall is you and me. We the people who created the 1% at the top have to reclaim our share. We either put our money into the market or we sit on the sidelines. As long as everyone is in panic mode and pulling money out of the market the domino’s will continue to fall. Eventually there will be no funny money left or a market to play in.

The downside of this dilemma is there are going to be a whole lot of losers soon. Eventually the G7 is going to have to put a freeze on all currency and this is exactly what the 1% hopes. By allowing the global economy to melt down the 1% amass their power and the rest of the 99% get to live in what ever world the 1% deems we get.

Sorry to paint a bleak picture but the truth sometimes hurt. As I see it now there are only two options left. We let the domino’s complete the fall and the world plunges into an economic abyss until everything bottoms out and we start over or the G7 all declare bankruptcy and end the chaos a head of the storm. Frankly I don’t think either scenario will play out.

Regardless of the two choices made to right the ship the weight has to be moved. As much as I don’t want to loose my money or my job the only way the world will ever stop the domino’s from falling is to let everything crash. Pick up the pieces and start building a economic system for the 21st century.

Based on the world is flat. All countries have an equal share. A free and open trading system. The 1% loose their power and we the people all share the 100%. I really do think there is plenty to go around if we the people all play by the same rules.

But the conclusion I just stated will probably not happen. It is all a dream and the funny money I live on today will eventually dwindle away. The 1% who control the worlds power will still be there tomorrow. They always seem to come out on top regardless what the rest of the 99% is doing. That is the way of history. A never ending story.

Over past  months, I along with the rest of the world have been watching the news around the financial crisis. Everybody is gripped into how will this affect our mortgages, purchasing a new car or just finding gas at a predictable price.

Case in point. The southeast has been gripped in a gas shortage since hurricane Ike shuttled most of the refineries along the south coast of Texas and Louisiana. So people have been waiting in long lines to buy gas. I can feel their pain having survived the 1973 embargo and the ensuing gas lines my self. We went to drastic measures back then to insure we had enough gas. I even installed a 2nd gas tank in my trunk and I rarely let my tank get below half empty. Arriving at the gas station at 2 am to get in line and waiting for the service station to open at 6 am. Just to buy 10 gallons of gas.

As I think back about this time in my life I have come to realize that I did not need to panic. But I was young and watched and listened to what my government was telling me. I went along with the crowd and I panicked.

There have been other times in my life that follow similar situations where I went along with the crowd and I really should have listened to my gut instincts. In some ways this goes against my grain because having worked as a paramedic in my youth I was trained to look at the unobvoius. To see things that other people miss. To know exactly where I am and what is going on around me at all times. I was taught the art of triage and how to determine the quickest course of action.

Some call this shooting from the hip and it is a old habit that is hard to break now for me. So when I read the news and see where the stock market has dropped 777 points in one day because everyone is uncertain if the government will bail the market out and ease the credit crunch I am a little amazed. Or like today 168 people were killed in India because of a bomb scare and were trampled to death I am again reminded of the crowd mentality.

Well today Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor for Reuters writes about the “Herd mentality rules in financial crisis” - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Herd mentality rules during a financial crisis because people are wired to follow the crowd when times are uncertain, experts say.

Brain and behavior studies clearly show that when information is scarce and threats seem imminent, people often stop listening to their own logic and look to see what others are doing.

People are afraid, and the reason they are afraid is there tremendous uncertainty right now in the markets," Gregory Berns, a neuroeconomist at Emory University in Atlanta who studies the biology of economic behavior, said in a telephone interview.“

Click here to read the rest of the article!

I have been around long enough to see a few elections. I have studied history and know that about every 20 years or so people completely forget what happened. Like being in the Afghanistan or Iraq wars as compared to the US envelopment in the Vietnam war.

Every election year there has to be a major problem to delineate one candidate from the other. And if there is no major problems then the campaigns will certainly find one.

Now I am not saying that the current financial chaos that is gripping our nation was conjured up! Certainly we have a lot of issues that need to be resolved in the financial sector. As long as people stay caught up in the turmoil they will not see the forest for the trees. We can’t fix the problem if there really exists one unless we open our eyes and look. If we all follow the crowd or the herd as Maggie Fox reported, we cannot expect to understand where to begin.

Rushing a 700 Billion program through Congress in one week is not stepping back and looking for the root cause. We are lead to believe by the government that we must shoot from the hip.

Common sense prevailed when the bill was tossed out. At lease some of the elected officials understand this mentality and said wait a minute, lets think this through before we  just blatantly all follow the president because he said this is good for the nation we shall all vote yes.

Yes I believe there needs to be a resolution to the financial issues. But more important and more fundamental is we need to insure we have a solid plan. That the intended plan  will not just waist everyones time and force new regulations on people at the expense of the tax payers.

Let us all remember that history will continue to repeat its self just as we all will continue to grow old. Just wait, the forest is filled with many trees and the next big crisis is just around the next  big tree.