Night Owl Cards

Fellow Supertrader Junior Junkie fired off one last post office salvo before disappearing into the world of first-time parenthood recently. I completely understand why he did -- who knows when he'd be able to send out packages again? Those babies are harsh taskmasters. Anytime anyone has a child for the first time, it reminds me of when my daughter was born, and all of the things that went along with it. Sure, there was uncertainty and wonder and endless diaper changing. I always figured that the diaper-changing would be the worst part of new parenthood. But you end up changing diapers so frequently during a single day that it becomes as mundane as anything else you do multiple times a day. No, it's not the diapering that I remember the most. It's the lack of sleep. I have never been so tired -- and there are a lot of times when I have been exhausted in a lot of different situations -- than when I was the daddy to a newborn child. You know going in that it's...

Until today, I hadn't been in a store since December 23rd. I hadn't purchased a pack of cards since December 15th. This is a result of both saving cash for Christmas gifts and continuing my lifelong mission of avoiding crowds whenever possible. The worst kind of crowds -- at least in the places where I have lived -- emerge the week after Christmas. Just horrific. So, I always wait until January 1 when I think everyone is too hungover to shop. Yet, still, I saw two people today who appeared to be brother and sister, or boyfriend and girlfriend, or very close friends, each talking on their phone to different people . This happens all the time and annoys me to no end, although I suppose it would be worse if they were talking on their phones to each other. And it's why, for health reasons -- mine not yours -- I need to stay away from crowds. While out today, I mostly bought necessities for the coming winter storm (the first of the season around here). But just because no...