Well, I was wrong yesterday when BHP had gone up 72 cents and I sold off a small parcel in anticipation that this was as good as it gets, only for it to put on another 88 cents at this morning's opening. It's still up by 50 cents to $47.00 as I write this post, which seems to vindicate the many years I've been waiting for it to recover to its former glory around $50.
It's not even about the money which is just a small blip on the computer screen that may change the value of my portfolio up or down by more in one day than I used to own for most of my life, but it's the illusion of a continuum, of doing "something", of assuaging that guilty feeling of not doing something productive, as the old Protestant work ethic dies hard.
I used to make a lot of money for my employers when, for decades, I was someone, when I had a title and a purpose. In retirement, people asked what I did for a living, and I wonder what I was, now that I am without a job title and all I do is watch BHP go up or down. Right now it's down to $46.95 but still up by 45 cents, if you follow what I mean.
