FYI: This post has nothing to do with investing. Just something that was on mind.
Dog Owners, Please Contain Your Dogs
I like to jog and walk in your neighborhood. But I fear your dog, and someone or your dog is going to get hurt. I am not threatening you or your dog with this post; I’m just making you aware of a few facts. Sometimes I jog or take walks with a hiking stick, a rock, bear spray or other personal protection devices. Yep, that’s me, the old scruffy looking guy with the ugly blue running shoes. It has gotten to the point that I now fear your dog more than I fear being trampled by a moose, mulled by a bear, clowns in sewers, perverts in white vans, and teenagers texting and driving on my side of the street. And please don’t think that because you own a nice little schnauzer or a gentle retriever that my fear is any less than when I run into a pit bull. This post is a warning about a few different outcomes that may happen, when and if your dog comes at me. I’m an old grumpy military vet and if my mind is overwhelmed with fear for my safety, I may act irrationally. Remember, I’m usually carrying something to defend myself. You may have heard the term, fight or flight. Once again, I’m old, I jog slow, and walk slower. I’m not going to outrun your dog, even your basset hound. I will fight. I don’t want to hurt your dog, but someone is going down in this situation, and I don’t plan for it to be me. I will punch, kick, stab, spray or whatever it takes to protect myself. Not only am I a vet, but I’m also a grandpa. And, just like lots of other grandpas, I like to take walks with my granddaughter. You might have seen us walking in your neighborhood, I’m the grumpy looking one with the camo pants and worn out desert boots, she’s the cute one with a pretty sundress and white sandals. When her and I take walks, things are just peachy, if we don’t run into your dog. I’ll let you know; your dog will not come away unscathed if it comes near my granddaughter. Either your dog or I are going down. By the way, the granddaughter knows how to use my smartphone. She knows how to dial 911 and my lawyer. I’m not saying any of this because I don’t like dogs. I do like dogs. My wife has 2 schnauzers and I even like them, sometimes. We have a yard but no fence. We keep our dogs contained to the yard with radio collars, but sometimes the batteries go dead. At this point our dogs could end up in the road. If our dogs get hit by a car, this would be our fault for not containing them properly, and probably not the driver of the vehicle. So, if your dog comes at me, or my granddaughter, and something bad happens to your dog, the fault will be on you, the dog owner. I’ve checked the law on this one, and it’s clear, so long as I’m not trespassing on your property, I will not be responsible for the outcome of an altercation with your dog. Again, this is not a threat. This is as simple as saying, don’t let your dog play in the street because it might get hit by a car. Please contain your dogs to your property, for your own dogs’ sake and mine.
Thanks for reading the ramblings of an old slow jogger.
“What gets measured, gets managed” So, why do we measure performance? Most investors want to get a good return on their investments, so there needs to be a benchmark and a measurement to know if they are getting a good return. I will take that one step further and say that most portfolio managers are looking to produce portfolios with good risk-adjusted performance. For example, a portfolio consisting of 60%/40% equities and fixed income should be compared to a similar portfolio, not a portfolio of 100% growth stocks. I have 3 main reasons that I track performance. 1. I run a blog dedicated to ETF investing and I expect that some people who read it want to know how well or poorly my strategy works. 2. I personally want to know if my strategy is worth continuing to pursue. 3. My wife wants to know if the time and effort I spend playing with my blog and researching investments is a good use of my time.
