The real long term stuff

So, future self, this is another note to you, this time about finance. You have that money in that Latin place that's about doubled in value over the last 10 years. I am thinking of doing some rebalancing - the funds are getting old and the Europe thing seems to be playing itself out. According to their portfolio advisor you're looking at 45 stocks, 40 pct bonds, 10 pct international and 5 pct short term. My options are:

1. Rebalance to a new set of funds to meet this allocation mix;
2. Dump it all into a lifecycle fund.

I think #2 is the no-brainer but I don't trust the aggregate asset mix - not as many comparison basis. The key is the progress in bonds - rates are in the tank right now and I just don't see where it will change when our gov't is having a fire sale on Treasuries every week.

You should have joined an investment club, but the ones you've seen are not all that great - lots of very nice people and commiseration over the general confusion but not much in the way of facts. Basically set it and forget it for a year.

Hope it worked out for you.

Requiem for a Tree

This was a tree in our garden which blew over in a intense windstorm. He was one of a pair, and they had been in our garden for at least 10 years. Now he is no more, and his partner stands alone in the night. I read an article that plants can detect the proximity of nearby relatives and since those guys were about the same age and similar type I bet they came from the same nursery and so were probably related.

If you think about it, in the existential sense, if it's true that plants can sense proximity then these trees 'knew' each other and the other plants and trees in my garden. Do you ever wonder what names they have for each other? We call dogs and cats "Louie" and "Spot" but the animals obviously know each other as well - do they have referent names to label each other with? What about plants? Do they use pheromones, or positions, or what?

So how does a plant access the details of a being it "knows" about?

Yes, I think too much. And that's a common problem in the world - too much contemplation. More mindless, thoughtless action is surely the cure for what ails us.

I cut off a piece of the standing tree and threw it in with the remants of the old tree. Maybe silly, but I wouldn't want the dead one going away without some part of the tree it had spent all of its life with.

I guess I should leave a piece of the old tree with the survivor as well. One thing is for sure - the ecosystem of the garden has changed. Wonder what that will mean.