martygaalblog

New Jordan Lake 2 mile OW swim race

2009-11-12T15:52:00.006-05:00

We have been working on bringing a 4th race date to the Triangle Open Water Swim Series, and we just received the approval from the Superintendent. We'll be hosting a new 2 mile and 1 mile on July 24 from the Vista Point recreation area on the west side of Jordan Lake. The new race names, courtesy of a brainstorming session between Bri and myself involving a lot of sleep deprivation, oxygen debt, and chanting:

Little Uno and The Big Deuce.

The logo process should be interesting.

Onto Tassie running mileage...
Tassie is a fall and winter running machine. She doesn't like to go too far in the heat of the summer, but once the temperature drops she is ready to rock and roll. This week she ran with both Bri and I on Tuesday. This morning in the lousy sleety rain we went for a solid hour of morning Marty tempo (which is slow as molasses). She is getting close to 20 miles per week.

After her post-run bath and massage, she likes to take a nap.

This weekend we're hosting a Powerstroke clinic on Saturday and racing in the Old Reliable 5k on Sunday.

oil scam?

2009-11-11T22:24:00.002-05:00

I don't know enough about the futures market to agree or disagree with this article on oil futures manipulation at Seeking Alpha, but it sure is some interesting reading.

Lessons I've learned by 38

2009-11-08T10:04:00.003-05:00

My top ten lessons to living a happy and fulfilling life:

Find a spouse who is supportive, caring, loving, honest, and faithful. Someone who you can share your goals and dreams with.

Give to your family, friends, and community. Be generous with your time and your skills.

Pursue your goals and dreams. Do your best not to tread on others along the way. You don't need to beat other people to accomplish things; you just need to be your best self.

Take time out to relax, smell the roses, tell stories around a campfire.

Eliminate from your life people who are negative, who criticize, who belittle your ideas, goals and dreams, in other words, avoid people who perceive it as their job to bring you down. Learn to defend yourself from the tyranny of evil men.

Build up your friends and family. Expect the best from them and they will often live up to your expectations.

Avoid debt slavery.

Pursue your passions and success / money will follow.

Learn a foreign language or two.

Accumulate friends and good memories; these are more valuable than any material wealth you might gain.

Travel. See the world, other cultures, and you realize most of us are just doing our best to make a living, have a life and family, and have a little fun.

Learn to count.

Beach 2 Battleship

2009-11-06T11:21:00.003-05:00

Bri and I will head down to Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach to watch the Beach 2 Battleship triathlons this weekend. There is a full and a half (Iron-distance). We have a few athletes racing so it will be fun to go in full cheer / support mode. I enjoy the beach if you didn't already know that, and Wilmington is a nice town to hang out in.

If you previously ordered the Powerstroke DVD, it shipped yesterday. Everything is good to go. I am working on a few avenues to have it distributed & promoted, we shall see how that endeavor goes.

This week was a tough one for running. On Tuesday we did a short AM 1.7m run (the Tassie loop, named after you know who), and followed it up with a PM 7 miler with 8 x 2 minute fast / 2 min easy. My legs were lead and Bri dusted me on the intervals. The last 3 were OK which is good. On Wednesday we did an easy 3 miler (the Big Tassie loop). Thursday we did a 7.6 miler with 4 miles up-tempo. I felt solid here and was able to keep Bri from breaking away, until the final uphill in Umstead State Park.

Tomorrow we'll do an easy 3 miler on "The Loop" in Wrightsville, then a long run on Sunday morning. That would be 30+ which is not too shabby for this kid.

2010 goals

2009-11-02T17:54:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about my 2010 racing goals. This year went very well - three 1st places is not too shabby! My motivation at this point is also much better than it was at the beginning of 2009. To some extent I was stressed about making the Powerstroke freestyle technique DVD all spring and summer, and having that particular project done and looking good frees me up to focus my intellect or lack thereof on other things. So I am debating goals for '10:

Sub 2-hour olympic distance
Sub 4:20 half IM
Top 5 finish in the NCTS series
Serious competition in 2 or 3 standalone open water events.

The open water events will be fun to get back into. I will hit up some of the other masters teams to train since I coach most of the TAC-OSB sessions and doing hard swim workouts by myself is not my bag.

My current selection:

March: Wrightsville Beach half-marathon
April: St Anthonys Triathlon
May: Low Country Splash 2.4 mile swim
June: Kure Beach

What's a brother got to do to get ahead?

2009-10-29T14:20:00.003-04:00

Just when I thought the muppets and clowns up in Washington were going to kick some dollars our way, we get to the fine print. Word on the street has been that the wise and powerful senators are going to extend the homebuyer tax credit to include current homeowners! Yay, free money for me (from you and me and our kids and their kids)!

But wait...there's more!

You have to have lived in your current home for at least 5 years
The credit is the lesser of 10% or $7,290

Sensible buyers like Bri and myself, who happened to purchase in the last 3 years, get nothing for nothing. No credit, no free money, just more debt slavery, rewarding the imprudent, the foolish, the wasteful, and the schemers at the top.

Get this, if some ****head and his foulmouthed freeloading wife have lived in their $600,000 home for at least 5 years, they can trade up ...and TAKE MONEY OUT OF OUR POCKETS to buy their new 5 bedroom, 6 bathroom colonial...but people like you and I get squa-doodly.

Granted, some of the folks who can take advantage of this are hard working honest citizens. But seriously? We need to give more tax breaks now, with 11 trillion deficit and 1.4 current year? A trillion is a million million, you know? A billion is 1000 million. Let's just give free money out for everything. Want a puppy? Tax break! Want a pet zebra? Tax break!

Want a new diamond necklace for your girlfriend to support De Beers and corrupt import exporters in NYC?

TAX BREAK!

To folks who can buy an $750,000 home AS IS to 'stimulate the economy'?

YES!

Bah.

Powerstroke lecture preview

2009-10-28T15:22:00.002-04:00

Regarding the three main types of freestyle mechanics:
Weakest: elbow slip
Better: straight arm
Best: high elbow catch / early vertical foream

finance and investments

2009-10-27T14:27:00.003-04:00

I continue to read daily on finance, investments, broad based global macro economics, and sector specific stuff. Here is a summary:

-Buy stocks, they only go up
-Sell stocks, they are overvalued and earnings are inflated, accounting is fraudulent
-Japan is going to have all sorts of problems
-The US is going to default
-The US will lead the world out of the economic doldrums
-Buy gold it is a hedge on inflation/deflation/systemic failure
-Don't buy gold, it has no yield or inherent value
-Buy commodities, the world will be starving soon because of taking various production offline
-Don't buy commodities, they are manipulated by the shadow empire
-Diversify to smooth out your risk
-Diversification is for idiots and fools
-Real estate is expecting a new wave of bankruptcy and defaults
-Now is the time to buy a new home!

There you go. You're ready to take on the world of high finance.

I just sent out our Q3 checks to the IRS and NCDOR. Here is a visual display.

fast week

2009-10-25T12:30:00.004-04:00

I didn't have much to write about this week so decided to skip the inanities. I still don't have much to say today. The Powerstroke DVD is at the shop getting some technical menu bugs worked out and hopefully they finish it tomorrow and then we can send it to the production shop for production and fulfillment. It looks really good and I'm happy with how it all turned out.

In December we've been given the opportunity to reshoot the lecture portion at a professional studio with $$$ cameras and mics. Our current lecture presents great information but we had some mic interference that we weren't able to engineer out of the movie. This is what you get when you use an inexpensive wireless system.

We ran in the March of Dimes Run for Babies 5k over in Morrisville this morning - Bri stomped the heck out of me with an 18:45. I felt OK but suffered on the uphills and ran a 19:50. Going to be a good challenge to get back to low 18 or high 17 by March, but consistent speedwork, tempo runs, and long runs should make it a reality.

Next weekend we're off to Jacksonville FL to hang with sis in law and her fella for Halloween and some sort of football game.

Order the Powerstroke DVD. Tell your friends. The Powerstroke: Speed through force and form DVD loves you and wants to live in your home with you and your wonderful family. How can you reject the Powerstroke DVD? It just wants to be your friend.

Twitter

2009-10-17T08:38:00.002-04:00

I may come across as a smart guy, but it is more the intelligence of a dog that kept doing tricks over and over until he got them right. It is super pigheadedness. It takes me a long time to figure certain things out, and some things will always be beyond me (like the mind of an emotional woman, and most higher math, probably because they are the same thing).

But I just don't get Twitter. What is the use of this thing? If you're following a bunch of people, you have to check your Twitter page every day to see what they're up to, or you miss the updates. If you're having the tweets sent to your mobile phone then the thing would be beeping all the time, which seems to me to be a colossal waste of time and energy for what often amounts to something like "I picked some lint out of my bellybutton." Some people stick to a specific industry, which is good. But they tend to send a message every hour or two. I don't want to hear from you every hour or two. You are boring. Stop updating.

As an advertisement, I can see some value, but you have to be a zombiefied self promotion machine to keep cranking the stuff out. By the way, the Powerstroke: Speed through force and form freestyle technique DVD is done, mass production starts next week. you should buy one, now now now now now.

If you follow only one person, then you're a stalker, or a technology idiot, and that doesn't seem right either.

Facebook I get. Blogger I get. There are picture pages, a nice layout, and super cutsie stuff for kids who want to play with stuff on the internet.

Twitter is like the ADD generation on crack. I don't get the utility of it.

I would put a good joke here, but it is early in the morning and I haven't gotten the blood flowing yet.

Off to New Orleans this weekend for some quality time with my father and brother-in-law. We will be at Harrah's Casino, mostly the poker room, if you want to stop by.

winter training camp 2010

2009-10-13T15:55:00.002-04:00

I have been looking at vacation rental sites for the past few weeks trying to nail down a house for our base of operations for the annual triathlon training camp in Florida. We held it at St Pete Beach last year and I would like to do that again, but I have been having trouble getting folks to reply to me in a timely manner about their homes. Just spread out the search to Tierra Verde and downtown St Petersburg, both of which are good locations as well, just not right on the beach.

Anyway, if you are considering a 2010 winter training camp think about us - February 22 through March 1 in St Pete Beach (or downtown St Pete, or Tierra Verde/Fort Desoto). We strike a balance between serious training and some fun social stuff.

nice weekend

2009-10-11T16:19:00.004-04:00

Bri and I had a nice weekend. On Saturday morning we loaded up the car to set up at the Pinehurst triathlon and cheer on our friends/athletes/blood-feud enemies. The Pinehurst triathlon is a very challenging olympic-plus distance race that you'll never see me racing in because of the run terrain. There are too many hills for this intrepid adventurer. The morning was warm and humid, making me even happier that all I had to do was sit there and yell at people.

After the race we came home and kept an eye on Ironman world champs going on out in Hawaii. I had one athlete out there competing - congrats Emily!

This morning was a lot cooler, and we did a run/ ride in Umstead. Then I took a big nap.

This must be one of the most banal posts I've put up in a while. Yakk yakk yakk.

The point is I enjoy hanging out with Bri. She rocks. The end.

Powerstroke-ing it

2009-10-07T14:52:00.002-04:00

I have gone into crunch mode here at Powerstroke headquarters, shutting myself up in the office and only emerging for food and other human bodily functions. Just when you thought you had everything figured out, you noticed the excessive pixelation in your Livetype fonts when they were imported into Final Cut Express and then exported as a movie file? Why is that? Ah because you were using the rendered movie files from Livetype when all you need to do is import the livetype file itself. DUH! Anyone could have told you that!

Good thing you only have to re-enter the livetype files where appropriate and then re-export the movies. The movie exports can take a while because these things are huge. I bought a terabyte hard drive a few months ago to handle it all.

Waiting to hear when my local DVD guru and editor can take everything off my hands and turn into a finished product.

That is all.

winter weekly training plan

2009-10-04T14:07:00.002-04:00

Trigeek data:
Monday: PM run 30-40 minutes, Kung Fu, swim 1500 yards easy
Tuesday AM run 15-20 minutes with Tassie, PM run track workout
Wednesday AM swim 3,000 masters, PM ride 1 hour easy, Kung Fu
Thursday AM run 40min to 1 hour with tempo
Friday AM swim 1,000 easy, run 15-20 minutes easy with Tassie, PM San Shou (Sparring)
Saturday long run - 8 to 12 miles
Sunday easy ride - 1 to 2 hours, optional easy run

Lake Royale Triathlon

2009-10-03T15:03:00.005-04:00

I felt really good this morning and had a great race, finishing first overall. The bike and run courses were both hilly. The first and last section of the bike go through the Lake Royale subdivision which is all twisting, turning, up, down, very technical. The middle section was a nice straight(ish) out and back and flat. The run was like the first part of the bike - not a flat spot in there.

I jumped to a lead on the swim and held it from there. This is the way I need to compete in order to win, since my strategy (if feeling good and in shape) is to get far ahead on the swim and bike, then limit damage on the run.

Night and day between how I felt at the Wilmington YMCA and today. Funny how a couple adjustments can make such a difference.

Here are a couple pictures of me from this morning. Notice the good running form. Working out with the The Athlete's Foot track group on Tuesday nights has helped me quite a bit lately.

Earlier this week I gave a presentation at Lenovo on "Improving your 5k Training" - a lecture for intermediate runners looking to drop their 5k running times. Here's the presentation if that's you. It's a Powerpoint.

In a couple hours we are off to totally kick some more ass at the Durham Beer Festival. I am so psyched for this once a year event. I rested and tapered for it and everything.

Ken Lewis payday

2009-10-02T15:03:00.003-04:00

In case you're keeping track, our boy Ken Lewis from BoA did OK for himself. $125 million payout when he leaves in December.

That is twenty-five hundred $50,000 jobs for one year, or two hundred fifty $50,000 jobs for ten years. I dunno about you but it sounds pretty good. I am sure he will put it to good use though.

Oh, wow, the govnmint got some job loss numbers wrong, too. Oops.

homeward bound

2009-10-01T18:57:00.003-04:00

Today Tassie and I spent all day inside the house. I take that back. I spent all day inside the house, Tassie went in the backyard to hunt birds and squirrels periodically.

I was glued to the computer...final editing for our Powerstroke: Speed through force and form DVD. I am actually nearly done with everything at this point - just a couple more edits and voiceovers for stroke analysis, then we send it to a local production company to put a nice DVD menu together and perhaps fancy a couple things up. My chum Bill Payne has already designed the DVD cover and labeling. It will rock.

You should buy at least one of these most excellent DVDs, if not one for you and every member of your family.

Here is a preview of what the DVD includes:

Part 1) 30 minute lecture and Q&A: What is Powerstroke?

Part 2) 27 minute analysis - the Three Types of Swim Strokes for Freestyle and how to improve:
Type 1: Elbow slip
Type 2) Straight arm pull
Type 3) High elbow catch / early vertical forearm

Part 3) 15 minute explanation & analysis - Powerstroke as a drill, stroke form, and way of swimming

Part 4) Additional drills & voice over explanation analysis (1 hour):
- Catch up drill
- 1-arm drill
- Fist drill
- Techpaddle (drill)
- Sculling
- 6-kick on side rotation drill
- Doggy paddle drill

Part 5) Dryland stretches and supplementary exercises

It is more than two hours, part of the reason it has taken me a couple years from conception to completion to get it done. I did not want to outsource production and distribution, so we could call it our baby.

If you work in the triathlon or swim fitness industry and would like to stock it, let me know. Please help spread the word.

Lake Royale Triathlon

2009-09-30T15:43:00.004-04:00

I am looking forward to the Lake Royale sprint triathlon this Saturday. It is the final race in the Triangle Orthopaedic / FS Series. I basically missed a taper at Wilmington so adjusted things this week in order to feel fresher on race day. My cycling has become weaker here in the late season but the run is better on paper, so we'll see how that plays out. There is potential to ride home from the race site with a training buddy. And then...

WORLD BEER FEST!! Our annual pilgrimage to the Durham Athletic Park for 4 hours of unadulterated frothy beer consumption. We have recruited a strong group of fellow beer consumers to join us and we're all looking forward to it.

That will wrap up the tri season. We will most likely keep riding a couple times a week easy thru January, then get back into a more serious routine. I'm looking forward to focusing on just improving the run for a handful of months.

A strange correlation

2009-09-28T15:05:00.005-04:00

I have been studying the Dow and some principle variable involved over the weekend. Here is a chart of the DJIA adjusted for inflation for the last several decades.

Here we can see my 2009 triathlon results. 0 = overall win, anything below that is a drop in 1 place.

It should be blindingly clear that the bull market of the 1960s topped out with my overall win at the Battle of Buckhorn Triathlon in June, 2009 (point 6).

Equally clearly, the famous stock market peak of 2007 DIRECTLY COINCIDES with my 3rd place at Lake Norman in August. The subsequent market crash is ALSO EQUALLY CLEARLY PREDICTED by my dismal performance at the Wilmington YMCA Triathlon in September, 2009 (point 9).

These are the facts, and these facts are INDISPUTABLE, since they have been published here on the internet.

I have one more triathlon left in 2009. It is this Saturday. If my analysis here is correct, a triathlon win this weekend should sustain a bull market rally through 2012. A loss predicts a stunning and swift downturn in the stock market. YOU SHOULD BASE ALL OF YOUR FUTURE STOCK MARKET DECISIONS ON THIS COMPLETELY REASONABLE AND LOGICAL ANALYSIS.

It is amazing how my one year of triathlon racing can predict 80 years of stock market inflation adjusted gains.

I CAPITALIZED CERTAIN THINGS SO YOU WOULD BE SURE TO UNDERSTAND IT WAS AN IMPORTANT POINT, DID YOU GET THAT PART?

random weekend update

2009-09-25T16:17:00.007-04:00

I've decided to capitalize on the popularity of teen angst fantasy vampire dramas along with my own penchant for dark humor. I'm going to write a book about a group of teenage vampire little people (called vabbits) from a boarding school that find a portal to another world called Smarmia. The young vabbits are mostly good but there is a lot of teenage angst and the occasional violent outburst towards a loved one or mortal enemy.

The main character is a lovable little guy called Eddie Fango who comes from a poor family but they all have huge fangs if you know what I mean. His love interest is Baby Bessa a rich vabbit with a heart of gold but the occasional character flaw leads her to flip flop love interests like a cheap date in Las Vegas or any woman of questionable morality you may or may not happen to know.

The foil is a dark vabbit from the bad side of town named Wolfie Bloodbane the Third. Wolfie is not really a bad guy but his circumstances give you pause for consideration. His father, Lord Vampiremort, was killed in a great battle for possession of the portal to Smarmia and no one is sure if he was really good or evil except for his wife who perished in a skysurfing accident (or did she).

The vabbits all live on animal blood except for two of them who are hippy stoner vabbits that live on cactus juice and bugs and one other one who loves to kill people at random thus ensuring that at least one lovable main character will die in a painful and dramatic fashion designed to bring tears to your eyes and then scribble your own alternative ending to the story.

Each book will be divided into ten chapters, and each chapter ending drive home the point that these characters are really nothing but rascally vabbits.

Flat as a pancake

2009-09-19T11:04:00.002-04:00

Wilmington and Wrightsville are pretty flat, being coastal. This week I took it easy, got good sleep, rested up, and cut back on the beer. Today I was also completely flat. Felt like I did not have much glycogen in my system if you want to be detailed. Could not turn the pedals on the bike or the legs on the run. Probably finished top twenty when you count everyone. I was shooting for top five.

My sweet Bri took me down by a minute, and won overall as well. At least she refrained from slapping my butt and telling me to pick it up, Sally, or something along these lines.

I am a bit disappointed but having done a bunch of racing over the years, realize that sometimes despite your best intentions your body is just not in league with your mind. That is OK. That is racing. You come back and do it again another time.

We're going to enjoy the rest of the day here on the beach, meet up with some friends for dinner/drinks tonight, and then run our open water clinic tomorrow morning.

Tassie had a lot of fun meeting everyone at the race awards.

upcoming races and events

2009-09-17T15:04:00.002-04:00

We're hosting an open water swim clinic this Sunday morning down at Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach 8-11AM.

Our next Powerstroke clinic is on November 14 in Cary, NC.

My final two triathlons of the year:
September 19 - Wilmington YMCA Triathlon
October 3 - Lake Royale Triathlon

Fall and winter running races:
October 25 - March of Dimes 5k in RTP
November 26 - Turkey Trot 8k in Cary
December 12 - Jolly Elf Trail 5k, Bond Park, Cary
January 9 (2010) - Run for Young 5k, Raleigh
February 7 - Run for the Roses 5k, Raleigh
March 6 - Cary Distance Festival 5k, Cary

Notice a theme? They're all 5ks. :) I might jump in a half marathon somewhere but the goal is to drop the 5k time down to mid 17s by March 2010.

partial employment in the recession era

2009-09-16T09:55:00.004-04:00

I am thankful to current/past OSB athletes and local swimmers who have kept me in business over the last year. Without them I would officially be a statistic on a government chart.

I have been sending out resumes left and right (at least 50) since January for a variety of full-time and part-time contract positions in finance, education, health & fitness, and of course, technical writing.

Zero interviews later, I am still at square one. Bri and I have some financial goals together and part of those goals require that I earn my keep rather than just sit around the house and stay buff. At the moment we're not meeting those goals.

From a long-term perspective I am looking at teaching as something I could do for the next twenty or twenty five years, while maintaining the coaching business at its current level. Teachers are government employees with pensions (invested in Goldman Sachs, hopefully) and job security. I do enjoy educating people on stuff so actually enjoying the job to some extent isn't an issue.

Their is a curriculum for business and marketing in North Carolina middle and high schools that I think would be very interesting to teach.

Our local community college Wake Tech and NC State have a joint licensure only program that I can take to eventually become licensed to teach here in North Carolina.

The other alternative licensure program is much shorter, but requires you land a teaching job first, which is not easy at the moment.

The long term goal would be to balance the relative stability of a government education job with the flexibility / variability of personal triathlon coaching.

When times are flush again then I will get Bri to quit her most excellent job and take her on wild adventures through the forests, beaches and mountains every summer and winter.

If you are fully and gainfully employed at the moment, count your blessings.

9-13-09 Weekend update

2009-09-13T15:37:00.005-04:00

I had a good time this weekend despite my favorite lady off on her own adventures. On Saturday morning Tassie and I got up at the buttcrack of dawn to drive down to Wrightsville Beach for the Pier 2 Pier swim. Tassie decided it was too early and went back to bed, so it was up to me to do the two hour drive. I brought my surfboard just in case there were some waves worth catching.

The conditions were nice and I got off to a good start on the swim, held pace for about 1k, then pooped out and just enjoyed the ocean for the remainder. UNC W and a few kids from the Wolfpack were in the hizzzzzouusse and they are fast.

I had done San Shou (sparring) on Friday night for the first time and my arms were pretty tired from punching (attempting to punch, one could say) the 15 year olds from the Kung Fu center.

Not that I need an excuse to go slow. ;)

After the swim I picked up some breakfast, got a new rashguard, and then caught a few waves while they did the awards. I keep telling Bri we should buy a place on the beach, but she keeps telling me things like "how are you going to pay for it, smart guy?" to which I don't have a pithy answer just yet.

Maybe I can sell 10,000 Powerstroke DVDs.

Night time saw me head off to meet Jimmy, Alsyia's husband (Bri is hanging with Alysia this weekend), at Tyler's Tap Room for brews and conversation. He is a well-rounded guy and we had a good time.

Today I slept in, which I rarely get to do, puttered around the house in my slippers for a couple of hours, then road my mountain bike to downtown Raleigh to race in the Magnificent Mile. I was pleased to gut out a 5:25 which is totally jamming for me at this moment and bodes well for a return to sub-18 5ks during the winter.

Now I am going to finish work for the week, open a beer, and stare blankly at the wall until Bri gets home.

Economics 101 in the USA September 2009

2009-09-10T11:22:00.007-04:00

Ultra rich: "We bought an island off the coast of the Bahamas and have moved 50% of our holdings overseas. We have no idea how much a gallon of milk costs as our servants do everything. We are unfazed and actually profiting off the current volatility in the market and the world. I frequently hunt the most dangerous game on my private reserve in Texas. " Top Wealthy .01% of the population hold 6% of all US wealth.

Upper upper class: "How shall I reallocate my assets now that our dividend payments on ultra conservative bonds and CDs has dropped 2 points? Can I keep my sweet Muffy Princess happy on two million in dividends per year? Should we rent out our family property in the Hamptons for a few weeks a year? Oh dear. I had to temporarily shutter one of our factories in China, but our personal wealth is secure. I am so glad Mumsy and Popsy had us put several hundred thousand dollars in precious metals three years ago." Next top 1% of population hold about 30% of all US wealth.

Upper class: "We had to sell one of our vacation homes at a small loss, but better that then continue to eat the mortgage payment. Our other two homes are just fine since we inherited them debt free several years ago. My $600,000 salary is safe as we are partial owners in the business, but maybe it's time to spend a little less and put more away for a rainy day. Our portfolio lost 20% over the last two years, but it's not the end of the world." Next top 4% hold about 25% of all US wealth.

Upper middle class: "We are not quite as comfy as we used to be. My salary has been frozen and our stock portfolio is down 30%. This jumbo mortgage is about to reset and our primary home is underwater. My wife is concerned she will have to go back to work as an accountant teacher psychologist lawyer nurse but I would rather she stay home with our three children. I hope I don't lose my job because then we would be screwed. My father is about to move into our guest room since his retirement account was blown away and the union had to settle the pension dispute at 60% of what he was supposed to get." Next top 10% hold about 15% of all US wealth.

The top 15% wealthy own about 75% of all US wealth. If you need to ask, you're not in this category.

Middle class: "My house is underwater and I am not sure if it is worth it to pay the mortgage. My brother and his wife just got divorced, he had to move back in with my parents. I lost my job in tech retail health finance whatever and had to take a part time job at Starbucks to help pay the bills until I can find a full-time position in my field. Thank God for Starbucks, did you know they will give health care to part timers? My wife found a job as a teacher nurse secretary but we had to put our youngest in day care. We also had to pull the oldest out of his private Catholic school, he wasn't happy but he understands, we're not able to save anything for retirement or college tuition. We have a bit saved for a rainy day but it has been raining for a while. I hope neither of us gets ill." Next 15% own about 20% of all US wealth.

Lower middle class: "We lost the house last year, I guess we really couldn't afford it anyway, damn real estate agent was a liar, and have been living in a one-bedroom apartment since then. We have no savings left and there is a lot of tension in the house. My attempt to go into business with my friend brother relative didn't work out and am back at work at the factory garage restaurant but it is not full-time and there are no benefits. The wife picked up part time work but we are taking on credit card debt to pay bills and I don't know how long we can keep it together."
Next 30% own about 15% of all US wealth.

Lower class: "We are dead broke, declared bankruptcy, my spouse left me, I am having substance abuse problems, lost my job a while ago, stopped looking for work last month, and my buddy is going to kick me out of his house next week. I am going to stay at the shelter and see if they can help me find a job, but it doesn't look good. I am socially alienated." Bottom 40% of the population own close to 0% of all US wealth.

Don't worry though, the recession is over! Everything will be fine! Economists everywhere are saying it, so it must be true. Or not.

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
http://www.lcurve.org/WealthDistribution-1998.htm
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/pers-a19.shtml
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/15/concentration-of-wealth-in-hands-of-rich/