Change according to Lizzie

One of the great delights I had when living in Belize was hand-raising Lizzie, the Belize Zoo’s baby otter. When she got old enough, a beautiful exhibit was built specially for her, complete with a large waterfall. On top of the waterfall was a bio-filter planted with lovely lilies and an enormous fern.

And Lizzie hated that fern.

I have no idea why it bothered her; the waterfall was easily six feet high so she couldn’t really see it but for some reason she had it in her little otter head that the fern was EVIL and must go.

Somehow, this three-foot-long, twelve-pound otter managed to climb to the top of the waterfall and uproot a plant that weighed several times her bodyweight. Her keeper found the fern floating in the pond, and, since he was quite proud of the landscaping that had been put in, fished it out and replanted it.

Whereupon Lizzie promptly tossed it right back into the pond.

Thus began a week-long battle of wills, with her keeper replanting the fern every time it got thrown out and Lizzie gleefully flinging it over the side of the waterfall again.

I never really understood her hatred of the fern; it was actually quite lovely. But recently I began to understand the importance of having everything *just so* and being quite put off when it’s not.

I took a vacation for two weeks and had my usual trades on. Everything was fine until I had to make the first adjustment and didn’t have my usual multiple monitors, my coffee maker spitting out my cappuccino and my music in the background. Instead, I had a laptop and a Mr. Coffee.

Like Lizzie, I hated it for no particular reason. After all, I don’t HAVE to have multiple monitors to watch the ticks and the futures for my adjustments to peg them perfectly. I know what the pricing should be, so I can just set it and let the market move to it. If I don’t get filled, there’s always the Modify Order button. But it still bugged me. I wouldn’t say it was EVIL and must go but it was… different.

Typically, I love different. I am not a creature of habit. I embrace change. I habitually live outside my comfort zone. But for some reason, when I’m trading, I like everything JUST SO.

I’m curious – is anyone else like this? Do you have your trading setup just the way you like it? With or without ferns? And how much do you think your JUST SO setup affects your trading?

For those keeping score: On the last day of the battle, Lizzie’s keeper found the fern floating in the pond, just out of reach. As he bent down and stretched out to snag it, Lizzie breached the water

and took a nip at the fern…just where Tony’s fingertips were closing.

That day, the fern was removed from the exhibit.

Written and contributed by Cynthia Sarver