As 2008 draws to a close, I’m thrilled to report that our home in Dallas is not just sold, but closed. The funds were wired into our account earlier today. We could not have ended the year on a better note.

Actual press clippings:

• prepare now for the “mega-storm”
• storm that will be “life threatening…”
• consumers clear storm shelves as ‘storm bears down’
• “Second worst storm in 16 years”

Actual storm details:

• snow up to 4″ deep!
• winds gusting up to 30mph!
• 47 flights cancelled.

I’m posting because my friends in Michigan, who have been getting feet of snow dumped on them, needed a good laugh. 

In all seriousness, the weather did change last week. We got a little bit of ice and snow. Enough that I drove to work instead of riding my bicycle. Here’s a photo taken during the worst of the “storm.”

My Jetta is getting long in the tooth. We have been considering a replacement for a while and have saved up the cash to pay for a new car. Macro-economic forces have caused the bottom to drop out of the US new car market, meaning lots of dealers have cars on their lots. It is not unheard of to score deals for $5-7,000 below market value on new cars. We are on the prowl.

If you are into schadenfreude or looking for a way to feel better about that 40% hit your stock portfolio has taken this year, allow me to introduce to you one of Bernie Madoff’s victims.

After hearing that the U.S. Treasury sold $32 billion worth of T-bills at a yield of 0%, Warren Buffett emailed this note to the directors of his company, Berkshire Hathaway:

“This should be bullish for Berkshire. With great foresight, I long ago entered the mattress business in a big way through our furniture operation. Now mattresses have become fully competitive as a place to put your money, and sales will soon take off.”