Welcome to

Other than trying to make bread, I have also been trying to make cakes lately. As I was mixing the ingredients the other day, I have a weird realisation..

Good Luck with Money by Bill Bonner. An short investment read about luck, but what I find most fascinating is the below, a more precise compilation of what often happens with lotto winners. So *ahem*, don't become a statistic, should you win lotto, just don't tell, root cause of the problem solved.

" As Bret Harte said, "The only sure thing about luck is that it will change." And it certainly has a way of kicking you in the derriere.

If you're lucky enough to win the lottery, you should watch your back. Almost all lottery winners are broke within a year or two. Many are broker than they were before they won the lottery. Because their good luck causes them to miscalculate.

There was a story about one lottery winner in the press here in London last week. He had won millions of pounds. Feeling lucky, he invested in a number of enterprises suggested by friends, relatives and total strangers - all failed. He married a much younger woman - who later left him (taking with her the house he bought for her). He invested on the advice of analysts and advisors - who naturally turned out to be idiots. And he lent money to people who, naturally, couldn't pay it back. He was in the news because he had been arrested for attacking one of his old friends while trying to collect a debt (he needed the money to pay his rent!)

Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lottery twice - in 1985 and 1986. Talk about luck! She won $5.4 million in total. But don't go looking for Evelyn in a Beverly Hills or Palm Beach mansion. She lives in a trailer.

"Everybody wanted my money. Everybody had their hand out," she says.

Or take the case of William "Bud" Post. He won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988. Think he's fixed for life?

"I wish it never happened. It was totally a nightmare," says Post.

Within a year he was $1 million in debt and had to declare bankruptcy. Now, he is said to live on food stamps."

Everything goes through cycles I think. Often an accelerated growth, followed by things getting a bit out of control, then over time things will get a bit more mature before it eventually declines. 

Anyway. My point is..

We have our teenage years, and its time where we have to grow up.

Media creativity and its advertising and fair trading laws.

Fast moving consumer goods and its design and food safety regulations.

Additive substances and its ban and Sales Tax.

Often comes with an initiation - like a food dye that makes your food oh so pretty, followed by a need for control - the food dye causes cancer.. OMG! 

I think with the recent financial meltdown.. the sublime loans, Madoff type Ponzi schemes, overpaid executive, and ultimately tax payer money to maneuver these companies out of the mess and retirees having to go back to work. The financial sector is no exception, it requires proper control in place, and it's our retirement money I am talking about!

"FINANCIAL products should be treated like medicines and sold to consumers only when they are certified safe to prevent a repeat of last year's financial meltdown, the world's central bankers said on Monday." - Reuters.

Went to the movies last night. Not my usual kind of movie, but it was rather enjoyable and relaxing. And I've noticed that no matter what movies they are, there's always something to take away, like a catch; like the moral of the story, or "I shall return!".. etc.

" Thousands of years ago, man discovered alcohol; the next day he discovered the hangover." - Natalie Maclean

So, if a business cycle is indeed unavoidable sometime, the best security is... Prevention, always better than Cure!

I do agree that we are truly in a recession right now, some would even call it a depression (ref to below for definitions). 

I once attended a wedding in which the pastor uttered some "words of wisdom", he said to remember the most important three words in their new journey, to always say,

1. I am sorry
2. Please forgive me
3. I love you.

I think other than myself, the crowd were dumfounded. Maybe it's the way he said it while slightly giggling.

I suppose the meaning behind any marriage or commitment is similar. The triumph and challenges will not stop there just because you think you made it - in this case putting a ring on someone you like. Supposedly he meant, it's only the beginning.

... now commonly known as the greedy bankers with reputation tarnished by the recent financial meltdown.

Anyone can be rich if they try really hard, but would you want to be rich being a scammer? 

I used to tell people that if I have kids, I would chuck them down a ditch so they'll toughen up, if they won't make it, well.. that's tough too. 

In saying that, I have contradicted myself and spoilt my Axolotl pets to the core. 

1. They won't eat normal Axolotl food, or maybe it does taste crap who knows

2. Even if I tricked them to eat it, they will spat it out

3. They will also spat out anything else they don't feel like eating, even Axolotl tuckers that cost me a fortune that has all sort of goodies in them like meat, bloodworms, insects all blended in. yum.

4. I hand fed them

5. They're lazy, and fat.

Despite all that. I still love them.. 

Or maybe, that's the difference between when you have time vs when you don't have time.

But when I see people spoiling their only child, I usually suggest that they have a second one. (Hah, not so special anymore!)

One day the dad comes home after work, tired, bit fed-up. So naturally blew his top off when the son asked how much the dad earns in an hour. The dad then grunted, "$50/hour, why?", son said, "there's something that I'd really wanted.. I just need another $25..". Anyway, saddened, the son went back to his room after that. 

I reckon any gyms should have gotten some free advertising today, "Tired of getting freezing air slapping in your face in addition to your flaps? Join The Gym Today!" (as the message hammer home and again in my head this morning)

I walked pass a man this morning who obviously overdosed himself with cologne - I can literally smell him 3-5 metres away. It's nice, except I wouldn't want to get any closer.. A COLOGNE GONE WRONG!? 

Yes indeed. The best thing since vegemite.. comes.. vegemite + cream cheese!

So innovative (for something that hasn't been for a very, very long time, longer than I can remember anyway) that it hasn't even got a name yet!

The verdict is still out there whether if it's gonna fly, or flop.. 

Hard to say isn't.. it's like looking at the history in the making of..

Coke & Diet Coke

Butter & Margarine

Which all held significant niches in the market.

Anyway, heard of Coke Blak? Betcha haven't even got to try this Coke's version of Coke & Coffee before it went South, and then never to be seen again.

Apparently NZ has spend around $89M on traffic cones, why so freakin' many and to do what?!

Making bread, that's right, bread. Despite being able to easily obtain the perfect loaf for $1, I am obsessed, in perfecting my own bread. Almost an enact need to get back to the basics of some sort. 

Despite knowing that it's a recession, I am slowly coming into terms as to how unforgiving a recession is. 

Anyone's been getting random calls lately that has the below sequence?

They said your work capacity/effectiveness is like an odometer sometime, too little you get depressed and unwanted, too much you get overloaded and every single addition like "can you pass the calculator please" becomes a task and oh-so-overwhelming! 

That's right, for years people associate "getting piss" with drinking shesshh load of alcohol, especially beer, probably a term used by the less sophisticated. And guess what, it's about time that wine catches up and associate New Zealand's beloved wine aroma with sweaty passionfruit, asparagus (ever check your pee after having asparagus? try it) and CAT PEE. That's right, Cat Piss.

One of my general managers who I respected a lot used to tell me that consultants are such a waste of time, because you're basically hiring someone to teach you how to read your own watch. Truth betold, in a way.. 

One of my Axolotls is feeling rather frustrated today. I think he's basically... ready to mate. Nature's calling, and can't really defy nature unfortunately, except when you probably lost your freedom, in a fishtank or something..!

Today I went fishing, you know, fine day, high tide; it's just perfect! Except.. there were diving birds this morning, happily swimming around preying on my favourite catch - Sprats. Fun to watch, but they pretty much marked the end of my fishing trip. It's just bad place, bad time.

Everyone's a winner, if you can live forever.

What is Luck? Unfortunately matters a lot to people who gives a toss about it.

In order to graduate as an engineer, we have to work for a solid 800 hours, in an engineering related field. Great, there goes two summers, with or without income.

I get to know Sonia through her cosy little performance arranged by a good friend of mine, ironically it was also my birthday that day, it's on the Sunday just over a year ago. I dragged someone with me, and she seriously resented me for it because she has a "no activity on Sundays" policy until she heard her sang. 

There's an Asian saying that goes, "you can't look after another person if you can't even manage yourself, you can't look after a community if you can't even manage your family, and you can't look after a country if you can't even manage your community". 

I once have this manager years ago, who would stomp by my office from time to time, and the first thing he'll ask is, "are you winning?", with my jaw wide open.. I can only answer, "yes", or "maybe". I can't admit that am a "loser" can I? Well I won't. And If I say, "maybe", he'll come over, council me big time while I still have all the work to tend to, so most of the time I would just say, "YES".

Rain is drizzling through my window, the day prior, the land has froze in the cold weather, and many plants withered..