2010 - A Year In Review

It is in our understanding of history and a reflection on our pasts that we better prepare ourselves for the future.  As we approach only one day remaining in the year that has been 2010, this naturally becomes one of those times for reflecting once again on what has transpired in the past year.

The traditional song that is sung in the welcoming of our New Year as the clock strikes midnight tonight is "Auld Lang Syne".  The lyrics for this tune (of the first verse and chorus, which we typically hear) are:


Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

If your first thought is, even after reading these lyrics, that you have no idea what they mean, you probably aren't alone.  It is interesting to begin with a rhetorical set of questions, namely should old relationships be forgotten, not remembered, and the days of time gone by with them.  The chorus promptly refutes the point by giving a cheer to those very days of times past including the "cup of kindness" (in other words, a toast) in fond memory that we should not forget.

I won't lie in saying 2010 wasn't exactly an easy year personally.  It won't be a year upon which I will look back years from now and think "I really want to remember 2010" because it simply won't be true.  Not that the clock magically ticking from 11:59 PM on 12/31/2010 to 12:00 AM on 01/01/2011 will be as simple as turning a page in a book, it does change the chapter of our lives metaphorically.  We chronicle our very existences by the years we live, from the year we are born until the year we die.  What happens in between is dramatically different for each and every one of us.  No two people have the same story ... and that's what makes life interesting.

I wrote my last blog entry primarily as a reflection on my wife's passing in August and how I felt at the time.  Admittedly, this holiday season, the first without her, has been tough.  I don't feel the Christmas spirit, I haven't really enjoyed the parties / events I've attended, and the moments alone just aren't the same without her.  I remembered going through life as a single person in the first half of this past decade, and I didn't expect to find myself here again so soon.  If I'm being completely honest, despite the struggles of marriage, I really did want "until death do us part" at some distant point in the future, when I fully expected to be the first to go someday.

This year wasn't just about the passing of my wife, but I would be lying if that event wasn't the most defining moment in it.  Only a little over a month ago, I also watched the passing of my wife's grandfather, which happened roughly two weeks after I wrote my last entry.  His passing was less unexpected but no less sad.  He passed away in his 80th year (born in 1930), which feels so much different than my wife's passing in her 31st year (born in 1979).  The more difficult part of his passing was the long journey of Alzheimer's Disease that preceded it.  He suffered with the disease after a diagnosis that came earlier in the decade (roughly 2002 or 2003, before I had met the family).  I am comforted knowing that I spent a lot of time with this man, even in his declining years, and stuck in his memory for a lot longer than I ever expected (into 2009 at least and to a lesser degree in 2010).

There actually were some positive moments this year, so let me look back at those things for a while.  I was employed for the entire year for the first time since 2007 (which seems rather pathetic in hindsight, as I had a job for about 8 months in 2008 and 2009 was just plain ugly to be truly honest in bouncing between multiple short-term contract jobs).  I attended my first ever Cincinnati Reds' Opening Day (and the subsequent Opening Night as well, which I have attended in the past) ... when I unexpectedly scored a Club seat (after buying two view-level seats for Jen and me previously), both my wife and mother-in-law got the chance to go, too.  They saw the Findlay Market Parade while I was giving a presentation over in Covington to "earn" my way there.  Thanks, ATR, for your generosity.  This logically led to a Reds' season that just pleasantly exceeded my expectations, as Deb, Marge, and I (my treat) went to the NL Central-clinching game over the Astros in late September.  Truly a magical moment with the Jay Bruce walk-off home run (despite what happened subsequently in the playoffs) that will be an indelible mark in my memory.

I won't even begin to approach the year as a whole when it comes to just about everything, but I do think there were some memorable highlights  (particularly in the "extracurricular" activities).  How about those Saints?  The long-time laughingstock New Orleans organization of the NFL (notably once the 'Aints) won the Super Bowl over the favored Indianapolis Colts.  Although I honestly was rooting for Peyton and his Colts going in, I didn't mind seeing Drew and his Saints pull off a heartwarming win.  My UD Flyers won the NIT (I know, most would say who cares), but at least they won some post-season tournament of some significance.  The San Francisco Giants won the first-ever title for the SF incarnation of a Giants franchise that hadn't won a World Series since their days in New York.  All-in-all, it was an interesting sports year for the "underdog" in general, despite the fact the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title (no shock for the second-most winning basketball franchise all-time).  Even the NHL featured a return to glory for the Chicago Blackhawks, who hadn't won a title since 1961.  Memorable for his absence was Tiger Woods' failure to record a professional golf title in all of 2010, first time in a full season for the former #1 golfer (now #2).  I won't be surprised to see him not only win multiple times in 2011 but to recapture his #1 ranking with relative ease.

In non-sporting highlights, this could be termed the political year of unrest, as Congress will be changing hands following a mid-term election of a majority of Republican candidates.  The House control will shift back to Republican control, and local congressman John Boehner will take over as Speaker of the House in January.  President Obama faced a number of challenges, although unemployment finally appears headed in a positive direction by year's end.  Taxes, budgets, Tea Party unrest, etc. will be highlights (or lowlights) of 2010.

I might come back for a bit more "prolific" view of the year, but too many other sites do that thing.  They can profile people like Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) over at Time or Julian Assange of WikiLeaks infamy (who will probably be a fairly prolific figure for some time).  I could pay tribute to so many celebrities who passed in 2010, notably (in this author's opinion, in no particular order) Leslie Nielsen, Lena Horne, Tony Curtis, Bob Feller, Sparky Anderson, Don Meredith, Gary Coleman, Blake Edwards, Irvin Kershner ("Empire Strikes Back"), Greg Giraldo, George Steinbrenner, Dennis Hopper, Rue McClanahan, Barbara Billingsley, Dixie Carter, Eddie Fisher, JD Salinger, John Forsythe, Lynn Redgrave, Merlin Olsen, Peter Graves, Robert Culp, Tom Bosley, and Teddy Pendergrass (although I could mention even more).

What Happens When You Take Time Away ...

Time alone has given me a much greater ability to reflect lately. My wife, Jennifer (better known as Jen), died unexpectedly just a little over two months ago. Jen and I met over six years ago, in March of 2004, shortly after I moved to Cincinnati from Lima. We didn't meet in a particularly "conventional" way for that time period, using the website eHarmony to be matched. A friendship and bond was made and is one I didn't expect to happen as quickly as it did.

I am not using my blog to reflect on the experience of dating, the time of engagement, the wedding itself, the years of marriage ... because in the greater reflection of time, it all feels like it happened almost instantaneously. From the first real date we had on April 2, 2004, until the last day my wife was alive on August 21, 2010, so many things happened. Personally and professionally, I started jobs, I ended jobs, I had bad stretches of unemployment ... my career with oftentimes little direction. Jen's career was stable right up to the point of our actual time to be married, but then her teaching life was never the same again in finding a full-time position after being non-renewed without a valid reason. I continued to work in mostly engineering capacities while she had to accept the role of substitute teaching. I knew her heart wasn't in the work (not having a class to call her own), but she did it anyway, building great experience, learning new things, and endearing herself to so many people.

This school year was going to be different. In the effort to push forward with her Masters degree and to get back into a potential full-time role, she was planning to babysit the children of teachers she knew from the elementary school. Unfortunately, this never came to pass, as school started the week after Jen's death.

I don't know where life was going to lead my wife, but I know she would have finished her degree and become an amazing teacher in special education. I don't know where our life together was going to lead, given my own work track record and not being the husband I wish, in hindsight, I could have been. My own self-reflection of marriage had nothing to do with faithfulness (as we were nothing but faithful to each other) but of my poor ability to be a better communicator of my needs, a poor listener of her needs, and to be a more effective partner in the relationship.

I took for granted that life could be so short, that things could literally change overnight. There was no chance to say "goodbye" because I never expected there to be a need. We both went to sleep, only I awoke and she did not. To this day, I still don't know what took her from me, but all I know is that she's gone.

I questioned the meaning of life before my wife passed, and I question it more now. I question why events like these happen with no reason. Is life merely a game of "chance" and any moment could be our last? The sad but true answer seems to be "yes" ... any moment in time *could* be our last. Something as simple as "live like we're dying" takes on a different meaning now ... although I'm not moving any faster on the "bucket list" or to accomplish major tasks any faster. Death may be imminent or it might be distant ... I really don't know. None of us knows the day it will end because we each have a different clock. Some clocks run longer than others. Some clocks seem to break unexpectedly while others run seemingly without fail.

Habitually, I tend to ramble, and this entry is probably no different than most I have entered. The only exception is that this one comes at a different point in life, where my perspective on things has changed fundamentally. I don't view the world the same today as I did only 11 weeks ago, and I find sadness and doubt where I thought I used to find joy and solace.

I am sure that I will regain the footing that I feel I have lost. I am sure that things will move forward and I will move with them. Realistically, I don't have a choice. I could live in the past or move forward to the future -- the choice seems an obvious one even if it is hard to do. I am honestly not certain what future I want or what goals / aspirations I have other than simply taking each day as it comes, opening myself to opportunities that present themselves, and not closing myself off to what life might bring. I don't think that Jen would want me to live that way because she herself said she aspired to a life of "no regrets" even if there certainly were regrets along the way. Now, I have to learn to do the same.

To paraphrase and close, this new journey has to begin with a single step ... even if there is no particular destination in mind, enjoy the ride there.

Living by the Rules of Warren Buffett

Rules That Warren Buffett Lives By

by Stephanie Loiacono
Tuesday, February 23, 2010

provided by

Warren Buffett is arguably the world's greatest stock investor. He's also a bit of a philosopher. He pares down his investment ideas into simple, memorable sound bites. Do you know what his homespun sayings really mean? Does his philosophy hold up in today's difficult environment? Find out below.

More from Investopedia.com: • The Buffett Philosophy • Baby Buffett Portfolio: His 6 Best Long-Term Picks • Think Like Warren Buffett

"Rule No. 1: Never Lose Money. Rule No. 2: Never Forget Rule No. 1."

Buffett personally lost about $23 billion in the financial crisis of 2008, and his company, Berkshire Hathaway, lost its revered AAA ratings. So how can he tell us to never lose money?

He's referring to the mindset of a sensible investor. Don't be frivolous. Don't gamble. Don't go into an investment with a cavalier attitude that it's OK to lose. Be informed. Do your homework. Buffett invests only in companies he thoroughly researches and understands. He doesn't go into an investment prepared to lose, and neither should you.

Buffett believes the most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. A successful investor doesn't focus on being with or against the crowd.

The stock market will swing up and down. But in good times and bad, Buffett stays focused on his goals. So should we. (This esteemed investor rarely changes his long-term investing strategy no matter what the market does.

More from Yahoo! Finance: • Warren Buffett's Worst Mistakes • 10 Things Millionaires Won't Tell You • Watch Out for New Credit Card Traps Visit the Banking & Budgeting Center

"If The Business Does Well, the Stock Eventually Follows"

The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham convinced Buffett that investing in a stock equates to owning a piece of the business. So when he searches for a stock to invest in, Buffett seeks out businesses that exhibit favorable long-term prospects. Does the company have a consistent operating history? Does it have a dominant business franchise? Is the business generating high and sustainable profit margins? If the company's share price is trading below expectations for its future growth, then it's a stock Buffett may want to own.

Buffett never buys anything unless he can write down his reasons why he'll pay a specific price per share for a particular company. Do you do the same?

"It's Far Better to Buy a Wonderful Company at a Fair Price Than a Fair Company at a Wonderful Price"

Buffett is a value investor who likes to buy quality stocks at rock-bottom prices. His real goal is to build more and more operating power for Berkshire Hathaway by owning stocks that will generate solid profits and capital appreciation for years to come. When the markets reeled during the recent financial crisis, Buffett was stockpiling great long-term investments by investing billions in names like General Electric and Goldman Sachs.

To pick stocks well, investors must set down criteria for uncovering good businesses, and stick to their discipline. You might, for example, seek companies that offer a durable product or service and also have solid operating earnings and the germ for future profits. You might establish a minimum market capitalization you're willing to accept, and a maximum P/E ratio or debt level. Finding the right company at the right price -- with a margin for safety against unknown market risk -- is the ultimate goal.

Remember, the price you pay for a stock isn't the same as the value you get. Successful investors know the difference.

"Our Favorite Holding Period Is Forever"

How long should you hold a stock? Buffett says if you don't feel comfortable owning a stock for 10 years, you shouldn't own it for 10 minutes. Even during the period he called the "Financial Pearl Harbor," Buffett loyally held on to the bulk of his portfolio.

Unless a company has suffered a sea change in prospects, such as impossible labor problems or product obsolescence, a long holding period will keep an investor from acting too human. That is, being too fearful or too greedy can cause investors to sell stocks at the bottom or buy at the peak -- and destroy portfolio appreciation for the long run.

You may think the recent financial meltdown changed things, but don't be fooled: those unfussy sayings from the Oracle of Omaha still RULE!