VARIOUS THINGS

I’ve been trying to debug an online problem in our game for the last three work days. I finally solved the problem today with the help of a guy that’s about ten years younger than I am and about 10x as smart as I am. Turns out the problem was pretty stupid. I still feel like an idiot. Wait, am I even supposed to tell you the game is going to have online features?

I had to sit next to an older woman on the bus today. She smelled like a medicine cabinet. My patience is wearing thin with regard to my suburban bus route. Having to spend almost an hour a day in crowded bus full of seniors is getting old fast, no pun intended. Sometimes I look around and wonder if the bus is actually going downtown or we going to down to the casino down in Tulalip. Maybe up to Canada for cheap drugs? Oh wait, we’re already in Canada.

I work with a guy who was the digital effects supervisor on The Chronicles of Naria. There are a lot of talented people on my team. I feel pretty lucky for a guy who grew up in Coquitlam and went to elementary school next to a trailer park.

Someone on my team just came back from vacation in New Zealand. I jokingly told her before she left that I wanted some macadamia nuts. On my desk this morning was a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. She bought them in the airport in Hong Kong. I’m gonna ask her to bring me back a large sum of money next time she goes on vacation.

Apparently, the White Spot restaurant along Georgia near GM Place is undergoing renovations. That’s too bad since I was looking forward to have a BC burger platter.

LILY ALLEN ON SNL

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cKQPTzcZto]

This weekend featured a decent Saturday Night Live telecast. Hosting was Drew Barrymore, now a member of the five-timers club. Had Will Ferrell and Rachel Dratch been there, I am sure we would have seen a return to the Weshly Arms Hotel and the “hot-tub”.

Instead, we were treated to some strong performances from Amy Poehler. She channeled Dakota Fanning in one skit. My favourite though was her potrayal of Jo-Jo, the scrappy country club valet who wanted to juggle Mrs. Sanderson’s boobs. Too soon Jo-Jo! You can watch the skit here.

Finally, the show featured two marvelous musical performances from British artist, Lily Allen. The video above shows her singing Smile, which topped the charts in her native UK.

MONEY MATTERS

In my previous post, I’m attempted to elicit opinions on what to do with my EA stock once I get my first set of shares at the end of February. I got two answers from current EA stockholders, both of which told me to hold onto the shares for as long as possible.

I understand the holding on part but why for as long as possible? Wouldn’t it make more sense to sell the shares once the stock price reaches an advantageous level? If I buy at $45 and the stock prices rises to $75, why wouldn’t I sell? Unlike a savings account, shares can go up and down in value over time. The power of compounding interest and time doesn’t factor into stocks. What about holding onto stock makes it better than selling when the price is high? Let’s say I do hold onto my shares until I want to buy some property. What if at that time I need lots of money but my shares are actually worth less than what I paid for them?

I wish I had started to learn this stuff when I was in my early 20s.

MO' MONEY?

When I started at EA in August, my timing was fortuitous in that I was able to jump into their Employee Stock Purchase Plan right away. Rather typing out what that is, I’ll just quote another website:

“A typical ESPP program lets employees elect to set aside 10% of their salary to purchase shares of stock in their own company. This stock is typically issued at six month intervals. The purchase price per share is typically the market price of the stock less a 15% discount. The market price chosen is either the price at the beginning of the six month interval or the price at the end of the interval, whichever one is most favorable to the employee.”

My first six month offering period is coming up at the end of February. I believe when the interval started, ERTS was trading at almost $50 even. EA released their quarterly earnings report today and the company beat analysts’ expectations. In afterhours trading, ERTS is up just over $3, bring the stock to approx. $53.50.

My question is, what do I do at the end of this offering period? Let’s assume the stock stays above $50, so my purchase price will be $50 less 15%. Do I sell immediately? I’ll reap the benefit of the difference in prices plus the 15%. Or, do I hold onto the stock for a little longer, hoping the price will increase even further, thus further multiplying my gain? If I hold onto it, I run the risk of the stock price dropping and then I’ll be in a loss position.

The safe bet would be to sell immediately and guarantee myself at least a 15% gain (minus dreaded taxes). The intelligent choice would be to analyze EA’s position in the coming months and choose accordingly. I’m dumb when it comes to money, so I’m really weak in that area.

Maybe we can look it briefly… the industry is through the console transition. The 360, PS3, and Wii are all out in the marketplace now. Gamers who were holding their money back to wait for the new systems are now spending. From now on, gamers should be back to their pre-transition buying habits. EA is making games for the PC, 360, PS3, and the Wii. It seems like we have all bases covered and I’m also privy to some titles that haven’t even made public yet.

Unless, I’m missing something, should continue to rise beyond February which means I should hold onto it. Right?

Well, that was a lot of dry money talk. To offset that, here’s a picture of that giant baby (14.5 lbs) that was born in Mexico recently.