I forgot to wish Tom a happy birthday.

Happy Belated Birthday, Tom!

Scola Fest sounds like it was a lot of fun.

Boo to staff meetings on days off.

I stayed up late trying to finish some laundry and Liv decided that 5 a.m. was perfect babbling time. She's in my lap trying to type this post. We're of in search of toaster waffles.

I was going to default to eTrade since there was a button right there with my stock options.

PC, can I add to the suggestions above? If you're going to invest, I recommend going in with the idea that you're not going to dick around with the money once it's placed. If you invest in a mutal fund (best to pick several with different levels of aggressiveness), don't panic if there's a sudden dip in the value of the fund. Something like one year out of three, your funds will show a loss, most likely. But over the long haul (ten, twenty years), the value will go up. Moving stuff around because of a temporary downswing is generally a bad idea.

Also, if you do have a significant amount to invest, you might want to go to a financial advisor. They can help you figure out how much risk you can tolerate, what your long-term goals are, etc.

Speaking of financial advisors, does anyone here have any advice of a company you can go to and say, "These are our long term goals, tell us what we need to do to reach them". Preferably a company that isn't trying to sell us a bunch of stuff?

Happy Birthday, Mr. Scola!

There was no meat in the cafeteria today. Fish only. No lunchmeat, no hot dishes with meat. Holy Week sucks. My meals today have been a big doughnut and some baklava with custard frosting (I didn't even know you could put frosting on baklava!).

Frosting on baklava? Sounds worse than gilding the lily. "Oh, here - that honey isn't sweet enough, let's add some sugar."

sj, what you want is an Independent Financial Planner. They are nationally certified, I think, and not affiliated with any company. (Signed, listens to that NPR show about money too much.)

Meeting on days off aren't right.

I noticed this weekend that Miami Subs had baklava and key lime pie on their menu. Of course there are only a few outside of Florida. They have excellent fast food.

Migraine - Day Two. And I'm at work. Why?

Mom is planning on making her famous baklava this weekend. OMG, it is teh bomb.

I wish I had a hot gyno and some root.

I do not think I would be able to handle having a hot gyno. I get flustered enough talking to doctors.

sj, as flea says, you want a fee-only certified financial planner. You can find them from the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors [link] Fee-only planners charge you a fee for coming up with a plan, but they don't make commissions, so they're not tempted to steer you into the things that will make them the most money.

(Signed, listens to a personal finance talk show too much.)