For the record

The people who live upstairs from me suck. A lot. A few weeks ago, they decided to put all their trash on the stairs outside my backdoor. The building manager was not pleased. Specifically, he was not pleased at me. Mikey and I eventually explained the situation to him, which is a good thing, because we were about to be fined $50 each.

They also like loud music around or after midnight. This is something I've actually asked them about before. Politely, mind (i.e., "Could you please turn down the music?"). Well, tonight (11:45) they're playing the loud music again. This time, I decided to try a different tactic. So I got the broom and banged a couple time on the ceilings. They stomped back. A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door. Here's how the conversation went between me ("Me") and the asshole upstairs ("AU").

AU (holding a beer in one hand and a joint in the other): What's the problem, man? Why are you banging on the ceiling?

Me: Could you turn down the music? It's pumping straight through the ceiling into my bedroom.

AU: It's not even loud, man.

Me: Well, actually, it is -- it's coming straight through the ceiling into my bedroom, and I need to work tomorrow.

AU: So do I, man. Look, you're getting your fucking wish, we're getting kicked out of here.

Me: (Silence. Closes door.)

AU: Have a nice fucking night, asshole. Go suck your own dick.

By the way, I wasn't exaggerating about the pot. I could've called the cops on AU, and he would've done time. So he should be thanking me. So I just want this whole incident on record.

Oh, and I didn't know they were getting "kicked out". But hey, that's what you get for breaking the terms of the lease. And I quote:

STAIRWAYS: For safety reasons it is important to keep all stairways clear. No items are to be left on the front or back stairs or landings at any time.

NOISE: All loud music or noise must end by 11:00 P.M.

Ahhh...it's stopped now. I guess they all left. Except now I'm too pissed off to sleep. So I'll talk about my job...

I'm in the process of studying for my Series 6. A whole bunch of info. to keep track of. Having trouble keeping all the different types of debt securities straight. Although I think all I need to know about collateralized mortgage obligations is that the word "tranche" is associated with them. Do you know the difference between a Treasury Bill, Treasury Note, and Treasury Bond? How about the difference between Series EE and Series HH bonds? And how do STRIPS fit in? I'm a little fuzzy on those.

However, I know all kinds of random crap about 401k's now. Go ahead. Ask me something. I'm the man. Can you name the 4 reasons for a hardship withdrawal? I can. Do you know what EGTRRA stands for? I do. And let me tell ya, the chicks dig somebody who can quote IRS regulations for qualified retirement plans.

Oh, and speaking of my job, I'm going to be living closer to it in a few weeks. I got a sweet new place in Warwick. It's got carpeting, A/C, a dishwasher, a backyard (for grilling, so they say), and laundry that, while not free, is a step up from coin-op in that it uses handy-dandy little cards that you can put money on. It was also a serious pain in the ass to get. They had to see that I had 4.5 times the annual rent available to me in some form or another. That was quite a trick. Many thanks to the 'rents for faxing over financial statements for money in my name that I will never ever touch because if there's one thing I've learned about the stock market, the longer you're in, the better off you'll be. Historically speaking. Unless you own shares of Enron or something, in which case you're screwed. But mutual funds should be ok. Especially index funds. Those seem to do really well. (/Investment advice I'm not really qualified to give yet but hopefully will be someday).

Ok. Time to read and go to sleep. Thanks for listening.