[jyl]

Hmm, this will be pretty boring from me.

10 yrs ago today, Jan 1996 - I was living in LA, married a few years. Though we didn't know it, by year-end my wife would be pregnant with our first child. We were trying to sell our house, saving up money, getting ready to drop out and travel for a year. I think I was starting a 1 month trial, but secretly was getting ready to wind down my legal career and resign from the partnership. Spending a lot of time kayaking in Baja and fishing in the San Bernardino mountains.

5 yrs ago - Jan 2001. Living in Berkeley, two kids now. Had my MBA for two years, not making much money yet. Had spent most of the savings we'd accumulated through 1997, traveling and then supporting family through grad school. The stock market was imploding. I didn't know it then, but my industry was starting a crushing 3 year decline. Almost half of the analysts in my firm would be jobless in two years, and our assets under management would fall from >$50 billion to <$20 billion (means company revenue falls by 2/3rds).