As my readers know, I lost my best man in my upcoming wedding two Fridays ago. I am thankful for the support from everyone here, but there will be no more sympathy comments. Instead, I want to celebrate his life.
I am at peace now, as he was buried last night. The funeral was one of the hardest things I have ever had to deal with. Giving the eulogy was not an easy task, however it helped me say goodbye.
This man has helped me become the man I am today, and for that I am thankful.
He was always prepared for everything, and would always tell me “Be Ready.”
Well, the past two weeks I was not ready. Not ready to lose a friend, not ready to evacuate from a hurricane, and not ready to get punched in the nuts by mother market.
With everything going on I should have put the market on hold. But, I did not. I used it, “The Market”, as a sense of normalcy. However in that, I failed to properly prepare for what was coming.
In the last two weeks I took blows to my accounts, taking a “space alien magician summer” full of bountiful gains, to being almost flat for the year.
How did this happen? Bets. Very large bets.
I bet on oil spiking due to hurricane Gustav, that was a blow. I bet on the Government, ha, another dumb bet. All my life I was that guy who would make the crazy bet.
The last place I saw my friend before he passed was at a casino, go figure. We went to some club called Masquerades located in the center of Harrah’s, supposedly this is place to go in New Orleans. I remember him saying to me, as he watched me lose hundred after hundred betting on black, “this ain’t you”.
We left shortly thereafter with my finace puking in his car. Yeah, it was one of those nights. On the ride back to the hotel we had one of our famous talks, you know the ones you only talk about with your closet friends.
He told me gambling is for suckers, “the type of people we are” will never win. He said the only way to riches is through hard work.
Well, the past two weeks I gambled enough for a lifetime, and my account shows. It’s almost as if I was numb just taking hit after hit trying to hold back the pain I hid from losing my best man.
My friend was wise behind his years, and I only hope I take some of his wisdom and advance in my career.
Some of his last famous words were, “God doesn’t play dice.”
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cool.
It’s only money. That’s the beautiful thing about life: you keep acquiring chances to become rich.
One can fail over and over, and one day, BAM, he invents electricity.
I am very sorry for your loss. I understand your pain.
God has a design for all of us, as inhumane as it may seem. Let his death strengthen your life, in his honor.
Nice piece. Does his memory proud.
_
Cajun-
you’re first class. Hard lesson, but you got it.
Sorry, not sure why my name was “TFT” up there.
Nice, Fly.
_
RC, I was going to just karma Fly and AD’s comments, but that wouldn’t be respectful given the gravity of the situation and that you are my friend.
I don’t know quite what to add, but I consider myself lucky to have gotten to know you these last few years and reading what you wrote brought back some painful memories.
I lost my dad when I was 12, and the biggest mistake I made/make is not thinking about him enough. You’ve done your friend a great honor.
Keep you head up — things will get better.
Ragin,
Some people get missed by the thought of their absence and the hole it leaves in everyone’s heart. You took it a step further and walked away with important lessons. Hopefully, those lessons will have a positive material impact on your life. For that and much more, your friend lives on…
Peace,
Phil
Good post Cajun, keep your chin up.
Nice piece, Ragin. Stay strong bro.
You are fortunate to have had such a good friend. You honor his life with these memories, and you honor us by sharing them. Thank you.
You’ve been through a difficult season of life. There is no sin in taking some time off to regroup and rest.
Take care of yourself, Cajun.
I’m so sorry for your loss, RC.
As for the money–I have no doubt you’re gonna get it all back and then some. We’ve been trading in one of the nastiest, most confusing and unforgiving markets ever. We’ve learned some tough lessons in the last year or so. Mother Market is one moody bitch with one shifty prick. It feels like it has been a long time since we kicked old men down open elevator shafts while drinking Monster energy drinks. Not many will make it to the next bull run. Those that do will bank some serious heaps and stacks of coin. I have zero doubt that you will be one of the first traders that plants a flying leg kick to the neck of an elderly male, sending him down a crowded stairwell. Or maybe you will kick off the next bull run by nudging an old fart with a walker down a mall escalator. Keep up the great work, RC. You will prevail.
Very good piece. I think every trader has been through what you have been through and the title is so apt. We all have to respect the markets and make small bets and play a grind it out running game instead of going for the long bomb.
you will be raging again, cajun. so sorry about the loss. you will come back strong. “God doesn’t play dice”. so very true.
Hang in there Cajun…
What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.
Cherish the memories and celebrate his life.
RC, Sorry for your loss. Nothing more to add to the comments above.
I echo all the sentiments above.
Brutal brutal brutal .. that is life sometimes, there’s no escaping the downside, only dealing with it in ones own way, facing it, when it inevitably comes ones way.
You’ll get through, pick up all the pieces, put them into their proper place and go on living, closer to all aspects of existence.
RC,
as you know i have been there, i am sorry for your loss.
please, do yourself a favor. write down in several pieces of paper excatly what fly wrote. keep one with you at all times and post one in front of your desk, because what fly wrote is spot on. it was perfection.
” God doesn’t play dice ” he doesn’t have too, he’s God, but we humans sometimes do and it’s ok.
Sorry for your loss Cajun, stories like that and today being 9/11 remind us all that there are far more important things in life…one being life itself.
God Bless you brother.
http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070410/070410_hawking_hmed_5p.standard.jpg
Hello.
It would seem at first that matter and antimatter seem to be structured and information is never lost,
however The loss of particles and information down black holes meant that the particles that came out were random. One could calculate probabilities, but one could not make any definite predictions. Thus, the future of the universe is not completely determined by the laws of science, and its present state, as Laplace thought.
God still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Hidden variable theories might seem to be the most obvious way to incorporate the Uncertainty Principle into physics. They form the basis of the mental picture of the universe, held by many scientists, and almost all philosophers of science. But these hidden variable theories are wrong. The British physicist, John Bell, who died recently, devised an experimental test that would distinguish hidden variable theories. When the experiment was carried out carefully, the results were inconsistent with hidden variables. Thus it seems that even God is bound by the Uncertainty Principle, and can not know both the position, and the speed, of a particle. So God does play dice with the universe.
All the evidence points to him being an inveterate gambler, who throws the dice on every possible occasion…
Information will be lost from our region of the universe, when black holes are formed, and then evaporate. This loss of information will mean that we can predict even less than we thought, on the basis of quantum theory. In quantum theory, one may not be able to predict with certainty, both the position, and the speed of a particle. But there is still one combination of position and speed that can be predicted. In the case of a black hole, this definite prediction involves both members of a particle pair. But we can measure only the particle that comes out. There’s no way even in principle that we can measure the particle that falls into the hole. So, for all we can tell, it could be in any state. This means we can not make any definite prediction, about the particle that escapes from the hole. We can calculate the probability that the particle has this or that position, or speed. But there’s no combination of the position and speed of just one particle that we can definitely predict, because the speed and position will depend on the other particle, which we don’t observe.
Thus it seems Einstein was doubly wrong when he said, God does not play dice.
Not only does God definitely play dice, but He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can’t be seen.
Money is an illusion. It comes, it goes and the changes in our lives are only dependent on how materialistic we are. You’ll have other opportunities, just keep at it.
However, the loss of that rare bird, an old, real, true friend is profound. Fly is correct, do your friend proud and honor his life.
Last night my wife and I walked along the water and saw the memorial lights coming from down town NYC. We are both in finance and know people who had their lives horribly changed 7 years ago. It’s a sad day, full of terrible memories, but in the end it’s a day to remember to live your life to the fullest.
I feel your pain, just lost my father and there is no way to describe losing someone you care about and need. Always enjoy reading your posts and what you wrote about your friend was honest and a tribute, hang in there, you are not alone in the world!
Cajun, such an honest and heartfelt post in your friend’s honor, so moving.
Money comes and goes, like one of Gio’s waves, but there’s always more waves. The gifts of love and wisdom you have from your friend will be with you your whole life. He is still with you, maybe you can’t see him right now, but you are still together in a different way.
The best day of my life was when my daughter was born, the worst day was when she died. But she is still with me always, and we’ll be together even closer one day in heaven. Yes, life is brutal in some ways.
In comparison to your friends and family, money, success and the market ain’t nothin’. You are honoring your friend with your life now. Best wishes to you always.
(This was very hard for me to write, please forgive the lack of eloquence.)
It takes time, in hindsight everything happens for a reason, it just depends on what you learn from the experience. I used to hate that saying when I lost my father and then my grandfather, but it helps you become stronger. Life is an experience, enjoy every precious moment.
-P
I beleive in the after life so someday you will meet again and enjoy each others friendship…that good of a friendship will never die…Wishing you all the best!
Congradulations on celebrating his life…
Nice post.
Now get your head together you have 3 1/2 months left for the year to make it back. The market waits for no man/woman.
God doesn’t play the dice but he’s the one who makes the odds and tempts you with the spreads in life’s challenges and in the casinos. All of life, every day, every minute, every hour, is a gamble. To wit: You may slip in the shower, do you not take a shower then? You may get run over while crossing the street, do you not cross the street then? Metaphors for continuing to live life to the fullest and not being afraid to step into that puddle of water, not really knowing how deep it may be. Live well my friend…
Heartfelt post. You will bounce back and bank lots of coin in honor of your friend.