Last week, while I was on vacation, I decided to invest some money in well-known companies that have a good dividend yield. I ended up buying shares in American Electric Power (AEP), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Verizon (VZ).

Currently, I am in the green on all of my new investments. I'm up $4.33 with AEP, $9.49 with JNJ and a whopping $26.02 with VZ.

Previously, I had bought shares in Apple (AAPL), General Electric (GE) and Honda (HMC). I'm currently up 49% with AAPL, 14% with HMC and I'm down 31% with GE.

In spite of the economy, actually, because of fall then recovery of the stock market, my portfolio is up 9.28% or $783.57.

Buying up Apple and Honda during the low points last year so far as turned out to be a very good move. Buying GE has not yet gone well for me, but even in spite of that, I'm still doing well enough, considering.

In other financial news, I'm still in love with T. Rowe Price's "Select Mid Cap Growth II". It has consistently performed well for me and it currently has the 2nd best YTD return of all the funds available in my 401(k) plan.

I've been more or less obsessed with the new Honda Insight and 3rd generation Toyota Prius. I figured that one of these two vehicles would be my next car. I'm a big fan of Honda, so I figured that the Insight would be more of what I was looking for. But, I could not dismiss the Prius because of its 50 MPG rating, greater horsepower, and larger size.

I've watched tons of videos about each car on YouTube, including a very long press conference about the 3rd generation Prius. But, I hadn't seen either vehicle in person, until today.

I was at the local Honda dealership, having some maintenance done on my car. While on the lot, I checked out the Insights they had and became disappointed. I had no idea how small the Insight was. I knew it was smaller than the Prius, but I didn't expect it to be smaller than the Civic. It's similar in size to the Honda Fit, which is smaller than what I want.

So, even though it pains me to say it, the Honda Insight is not for me. It is considerably smaller than what I want. From here, I can see myself either going with the new Prius or just keeping my '03 Civic until something better comes along. Or, maybe I would consider the Civic Hybrid, who knows.

I liked the part of this interview where he is talking about the differences between the east and west coast as well as the difference between Canada and the US, and his discussion of why he lives in Vancouver.

I bought a 20oz bottle of Pepsi Throwback yesterday to go along with my pizza.

I don't drink regular Pepsi very often; it is only when I can't get a Coke. My usual stance on drinking Pepsi is that it's too heavy and sugary. After drinking more than 8oz or so, I can feel it churning in my stomach and the sensation is best described as: "Uggh... Why the hell did I drink that?" (To be fair, drinking roughly the same amount of most any other regular soda often has the same effect on me.)

With Pepsi Throwback, the experience was completely different. It tasted much like regular Pepsi, but like something nature actually intended us to consume rather than something fabricated in a laboratory to taste like something we were meant to consume. There was no aftertaste, it didn't feel heavy like regular Pepsi, and I never felt like it was going to war with my stomach. It was actually a decent beverage.

I wish Coke and other beverage companies would catch a hint and drop the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in favor of actual sugar. One: because HFCS is worse for your health than sugar, and two: because sugar tastes better.

From an article explaining why HFCS is worse for you than sugar:

The theory goes like this: The body processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the bloodstream. The end result is that our bodies are essentially tricked into wanting to eat more and at the same time, we are storing more fat.

Here is a link with a shorter video of a Toyota employee giving an overview of the 2010 Prius from the business perspective.

It was very interesting to me to see the decision making process that drives Toyota and it was interesting to get a sense of Toyota's priorities, goals and vision.

Up until about 5 minutes ago, I thought Weezer's "My Name is Jonas" contained the line: "They're fresh out of Bentleys" but it turns out, it's actually "They're fresh out of batteries".

I still like my version better, even though it makes no sense.

I often use the name "Rupert" when I am placing an order for food. (It's a Fight Club reference that I don't think anyone has ever picked up on.)

It's the only name I've ever used when I've ordered food at the taco / burrito place near work. I go there often enough that the owner and some employees there know me as Rupert.

Yesterday, after I ordered my tacos, one of the employees asked me:

"Rupert, would you like a fork with your tacos?"

I was thrilled. It was as if it were my real name.