The Writer's Life 8/4 - Money

The recent orders I placed in my retirement account have been filled. Apple fell below $120, where I’d placed a stop order. I earned $2621 on 100 hundred shares in 14 months. I now fully expect it to be trading $150 by year’s end. And I expect Twitter to fall to $10 now that I’ve bought 100 at $30. It’s only money. Don’t say I didn’t tell you. You won’t be accused of insider trading if you buy Apple and short Twitter, although one can never be sure in this era of high government regulation.

Since I will be transporting family to South Jersey on Saturday, it was time to address an issue my mechanic mentioned when I had the car inspected in March. I’m always amazed at the trepidation auto repairs arouse. What’s this gonna cost me -- $500, $200? My Hyundai is a 2003 model, still running well, knock wood. All the hoses and thermostat needed to be replaced. The bill came to $270, far below my greatest fear. To my surprise, upon my return home, I found a decent parking spot in terms of operating the floating book shop. Since it was after 7PM, I expected them all to be locked up for the night. "It was almost worth it," I muttered to myself. Nah.

Adrian Beltre has been a big leaguer for 18 seasons, many of them highly productive. 38, he earns about $16 million per. His numbers in 2015 have paled compared to his best days, which is understandable at his age. Last night he turned back the clock. For the third time in his career, he hit for the cycle - and he did it by the fifth inning! Only B.J. Upton in 2009 had done that before yesterday. Beltre has also become only the fourth player in MLB history to have hit for the cycle three times, the first since 1933, when Babe Herman did it. Kudos, sir.

I earned some cash accompanying a friend on a trip to the doctor in downtown Brooklyn and, despite mind numbing traffic each way, had time to open up an abbreviated session of the floating book shop. My thanks to the young man who bought the Freud biography and the erotica, both in Russian, and to the woman who bought Ophira Eisenberg's Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, of which she said: "I hope it's not too porny." She hopes it's as good as Gail Parents' Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York, which had her laughing out loud on the subway in the 70's.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/