Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Life Is Good in Southern California

    2 April 2007, 1 April 2011

    Please forgive me for my borderline ecstasy, but life in California in April is very good. The air is redolent of diverse floral scents, and the street names reflect the floral and herbal diversity of Southern California (Mimosa, Poinsettia, Ambrosia, Sassafras, etc., etc.).

    I am on four weeks' holidays at Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara, and the coastal climate, though cool (about 14 degrees Celsius), is a sunny and welcome relief from the relentless winter of Northern Ontario.

    I am working out regularly with weights for about 90 minutes every second day, and doing aerobics probably 5 days per week.

    Yesterday I bought a $73 "Next Power X" bicycle at Wal-Mart, with front and rear shock absorbers. This year's model outperforms last year's, as all 18 gears actually work.

    Today I pedalled to Jimbo's supermarket and back (about 25 minutes each way, with ample hill training included!), with a load of groceries in my backpack on the way home, including a dozen Bruegger's bagels at their 2 for 1 special price! (The clerk seemed astounded that I ordered one dozen of the same kind of bagels - all onion!)

    Not bad for $73 in mobility costs (a fraction of the price of a 4-week bike rental). While not a "high tech" bike, the Power X is actually extraordinarily comfortable)!

    If life can get better than this, I can't imagine how!

    (P.S. For those who read my blog for my observations on the investment markets, I promise I will return to that topic again. It is just that the market's behaviour has been so maddening lately, I have decided to focus on other things. Short version of my present take on gold and the gold miners: the technical (momentum) indicators now seem all to be pointed downwards, but the fundamentals strongly indicate that we should still be headed upwards, and Canadian gold stocks - particularly the juniors, remain radically oversold - unusual behaviour if this is truly a market top! To be honest, I don't even want to talk about it. It is all too tedious when there are less frustrating matters to which to divert one's attention!)

    1 April 2011: Well, that great little Next Power X bike is still available at Wal-Mart, but it now sells for $96. At $73, I would have bought another one (my third) for 6 weeks of bike-riding this year (about the cost of a 2-day bike rental). At $96? No, I'm not there. That is a 33% price increase over the past 3 years (too much for me!). I'm doing long walks and runs instead. Starting next week, I'm going to park the car in various interesting locations, and then take some very long walks. Today, I did the full Batiquitos Lagoon Trail at one hour - 20 minutes. A good workout and a beautiful view.
    _Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/2008/04/life-is-good-in-southern-california.html
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