Don't ask for someone's number and then never call

I don’t understand women sometimes. I’ve been a regular customer at a local restaurant lately. I always sit at the bar and always order one of two things – grilled tilapia or salmon – and always see the same bartender M on Monday night. So, we were on a first name basis and after M dumped her boyfriend, she asked for my number. I obliged, hugged goodbye and left.

After a few more trips, M said “Why haven’t you called me?” “Because you didn’t give me your phone number, but you have mine. Why haven't you called?” “Well here's my number…” A few days later I called and left a message, mildly suggesting we get a drink after she gets off work. A couple of weeks pass, she doesn’t respond and I don’t mention it when I see her at the bar. Now she says she promises to call me and really does want to hang out when she's not bartending.

So I refrain from going to her restaurant for a couple of weeks and then M sends me a text: “You gonna come visit me tonight?” “Maybe. Do you miss me?” No response so I didn't go and haven't been since. I guess I am mildly interested in her but these are signs of being undependable, and I can’t handle undependable.

ASsure, ENsure, INsure

Alright, it’s time for a grammar lesson. I’ve seen these words misused a lot lately and I feel a need to make sure my friends know how to properly use the three words. While they have the same general idea of guaranteeing that something will be done, assure, ensure, and insure are not interchangeable.

 

This line was in an email I received earlier today at work: “Make sure you get our CE and BIO folks down quickly to evaluate and assure all materials are properly handled.” It really irks me when highly educated people, in this case a colonel, make simple grammar mistakes. Typos and carelessness that occurs from going too fast is one thing and easily overlooked but things like using the wrong word make you look dumb.

 

Insure has to do with money and guarantees some financial retribution if things go wrong. To insure is to “secure from harm of loss.” The ones doing the insuring are almost always insurance companies. State Farm insures the driver so that he woudn’t be liable for the whole cost of an accident. Doctors, likewise, are insured by insurance companies to protect them from being financially liable if the doctor screws up a procedure or gets sued by a patient.

 

Assure has to do with one’s feelings. To assure is to “put someone’s mind at rest.” A assures B that he will show up at an expected time. Being assures of something should remove doubt or anxiety and make someone feel better about a particular event. The object of the verb assure must something alive that has feelings.

 

Ensure is merely a guarantee that something will be done. To ensure is to “make certain of something.” It’s sort of a promise and has no implication of financial redress. If I host a party, I will ensure that there is an adequate amount of food and drink. (Ensure is the word that should have been used instead of assure in the quote in the second paragraph.)

Investing in Chipotle

One of the first things I did when I got a job and started having regular income was put some money in the stock market. One of the things I regret is not investing as much as I could afford in Chipotle. Instead, I only invested a small amount in Chipotle and my portfolio overall has performed only slightly better than the Dow in these 3+ years.

 

You all know I love Chipotle and how it would make me so much happier if someone would bring one to Warner Robins.  I might well be able to afford to do it myself if I had put all my money in Chipotle stock for the last 3 or 4 years. Then again, if I could afford to open a restaurant, I wouldn’t do it here – I’d go some place where I actually want to live, like the Dunwoody.

 

And I’ve always heard that you shouldn’t invest in companies just because you like their products so I didn’t put much into it. There were doubters all around about how Chipotle could continue to grow so rapidly and those doubters have continued to be proven wrong.

 

Three years ago to the day, Chipotle stock traded for $60.31 per share and at the moment it is trading for $344.53 per share. Wow! That’s a 471% increase. In that time, the Dow Jones is up 1.17%.

 

Yesterday when Chipotle got to 335, I sold all but one of my Chipotle shares. There’s no way this can continue to go up so much and analysts have been saying for awhile that it’s overpriced and way overdue for a major drop despite the fact that it is perhaps the best company in the fast casual food industry.

Week 3 Rankings

Georgia Tech and Georgia both won big last weekend. Tech set several school and ACC records with their 768 offensive yard performance against Kansas. The ACC fared reasonably well in it's slate of marquee non-conference matchups. Clemson beat Auburn and Miami beat Ohio State soundly but Florida State was outclassed by Oklahoma and West Virginia barely held off Maryland.

This week, my computer rankings look a little more normal as Oklahoma is the clear #1.

A few computer predictions for week 4:
Georgia Tech 31, North Carolina 28
Georgia 33, Mississippi 24
Clemson 30, Florida State 24
Arkansas 31, Alabama 30
West Virginia 28, LSU 26