Another year older

Well, it's my birthday today. It's really not as big a deal as it was when I was younger. I'm getting to the age where I'd rather not say how old I am, but suffice it to say I'm in my 30s.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing for my birthday after work tonight. Lauren is planning something, but it's a surprise. I'd rather not have any expectations about it, so I haven't tried to guess at what the surprise is. I'm sure it will be great.

I've been doing some writing lately, for both Stockwatch and alive magazine. So far the writing for Stockwatch is nothing meant to be published, but that will change in a few months. My short articles for alive magazine will be published in the December 2008 issue, available at your local natural health food store.

As far as other things go, I've got some vacation time lined up for the end of August. Lauren and I will be going on a short camping trip to Vancouver Island. It's still mostly unplanned, and we only have three days for the trip. We'd like to visit some caves while there, but the rest is unplanned.

Investing exercise

I've finally gotten used to my new working hours at Stockwatch. They're from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., which means my day starts at 4:15 a.m. every weekday. As long as I get enough sleep, I feel great.

I'm starting the Canadian Securities Course this week, which will teach me all I need to know to become a stock broker. I'm not planning on changing careers, of course; I'm just taking one more step to becoming a business reporter. The home-based study course will come in handy over the next few weeks as I set up 10 portfolios to invest $100,000 total in 10 companies. The money is completely fictional, of course, as are the investments. The exercise in investing is meant to help me learn the market and gain investment strategies.

A couple of years ago I asked my uncle, real estate businessman Eric Trygg, what I should do to learn investing. He suggested something very similar to the exercise above. He also added that, since the stock market is so huge, I should specialize in one or two areas (such as mining) and really learn those sectors of the stock market instead of trying to spread my interests too thin. That advice is good for anyone getting into the stock market.