Early Evening Rambling -- Nothing About The Bakken -- April 25, 2019

It's 10:15 p.m. CT; I'm laying here listening to the Lana Del Rey's entire catalogue.

There will be nothing about the Bakken here. In fact there will be nothing of interest to anyone but me. For the archives; helps put things in perspective when I look back to see what was going on other than the Bakken at this point in time.

Alexa: I sound like a broken record -- no pun intended -- but Alexa is the best thing since sliced bread. I love Alexa. Can't imagine not having it. It started out as a gift from our older daughter; we have three Echo Dots in our small two-bedroom apartment -- the entire apartment is smaller than Algore's master bedroom walk-in closet. I might get two more Echo Dots. For Amazon, multiple revenue streams from the Echo Dots.

Amazon: I order "stuff" on Amazon and less than two days later it shows up on my doorstep. Amazon will deliver even more quickly if necessary.

Lana Del Rey: I am unaware of any songwriter / singer who writes more personal songs. It is amazing what she is willing to share.

Summer sadness. Sophia happened to hear this song on the radio on the way into Tutor Time. Sophia asked if the singer was sad when she sang this song. Wow. That from a four-year-old; will be five this summer.

Sophia: I pick her up from Tutor Time around 5:30 p.m. I would pick her up earlier but she wants to play with her friends. After picking her up, we bike in the park; she plays with her friends in the apartment complex; we stop to play with dogs in the neighborhood. By the time I get her back home it's 9:00 p.m. and an hour later I already miss her.

Hemingway: said he wrote from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and was quite "religious" about those hours. He said he planned to quit writing at 12:00 noon every day but he would not quit until he had an idea for the next day's writing. That way he never suffered from writer's block. When he quit writing at noon, he knew what he was going to write the next day, so that when he started writing at 8:00 a.m. the next day he was ready to go.

The market: I've never been in such a good mood during the middle of earnings season. More of that tomorrow.

Schwab: I assume there are a dozen different ways to invest and everyone has his/her favorite. But what little I know about the investment world, it's hard to beat Schwab. Schwab has introduced the personal financial advisor for a flat fee of $30/month. It's a game-changer. Regardless of size of portfolio, a flat fee of $360/year. If you think that's not a game changer see what your ML fees are.

Schwab investment luncheon: our Schwab investment advisor hosts investment luncheons once monthly. She invites twelve of her clients, and that's it. Incredible seminars and a free catered Mexican luncheon.

Schwab is building a huge "Schwab center" west of Grapevine, north of Ft Worth. It's in Westlake, TX. Might be the biggest "Schwab center" in the US. Originally slated to have 3,000+ employees, it is now likely to have more than 5,000 employees. I've talked with a day trader who now works in the IT division of Schwab, helping to develop algorithms. His enthusiasm is contagious.

Trump: ever since Trump was elected my life has been hell. My wife supports open borders. I don't. My wife supports increased federal income taxes; I don't. She thought Beto was the best thing since sliced bread (sorry about that, using that twice in one blog) until she realized how dumb he was. Then she supported Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Julio Castro, in that order ... except the "mayor" is now her favorite. As I was saying, my life has been hell since Trump was elected. I've given up. LOL.

Sports: Texans take their sports very seriously. Our middle granddaughter had a middle school soccer game, but at the half she had to leave to go to soccer practice with her "club" team. Two to three hours of soccer every night except Friday, it seems; and, then games on the weekend.  Our middle granddaughter has taught Sophia, the four-year-old how to stop a soccer ball ("tap it") and then kick the soccer ball off the side of her foot. By the way our middle granddaughter's school soccer team is #1 in its "division." They beat their neighborhood rival last night, 4 - 0. Our middle granddaughter is the only player on the team that is also a "club" player.

NFL draft. It was interesting to hear the ABC folks "blow off'" the assault incident by the #19 pick; the assault on a woman, apparently, was caught on film. I didn't see the video, but "they" went on for quite some time saying how he had "redeemed" himself. Eleven NFL teams took that player off the table; no matter how good he was, eleven NFL teams refused to consider him. The Tennessee Titans and ABC had no qualms, apparently. Whatever. At the end of the day, thugs. But that's not to say I don't enjoy watching the NFL on occasion. Generally during the playoffs.