Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- March 3, 2020

Wow, I'm in a great mood.

The Apple page: I've talked about this a couple of times, but I'm talking about it again.

The Apple Pencil is incredible. Sure, Sophia uses it all the time for drawing / sketching / painting, but I'm finding it is incredibly useful when surfing the net. Pinpoint accuracy compared to fat fingers. And it never needs charging! Of course, it needs charging but because it charges when "touching" the iPad, it stays at 100% all the time when it's being used. Whatever it cost when I bought it a year ago, it was really, really well worth it. The iPad -- I really don't use it that much -- Sophia likes it better than the laptop. I love how she sorts out the differences between tablets, laptops, and smartphones. Pretty amazing.

Development in the DFW (north Texas) area: everywhere I drive, if there is an open field, from one-quarter acre to ten acres, it's being developed. It is truly incredible. I'm sure the "macroeconomic numbers" suggest the Texas economy has gone over the cliff due to the oil sector, but I'm not seeing it here. By the way EOG, increased its dividend, and it was not trivial.

SRE: was paying $3.87/year. Raised its quarterly dividend to $1.05 -- $4.20. At least I think that's what I saw. I won't recheck. I'm not looking at the market until the coronavirus hysteria dies down. If I'm wrong on the dividend, let me know. As noted, I'm not going to re-check. $4.20 - $3.87 = 8.5% increase.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, career, travel, job, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Note: I often make simple arithmetic errors.

Still investing: I won't look at the market, but that doesn't mean I'm not investing. I went to my on-line brokerage account to see how much cash had accumulated, and I bought another 100 shares of a company in which I'm building a position. I stay fully invested. That particular stock is not in the energy sector; it has fallen about 16% since the beginning of the coronavirus hysteria. I'll never be able to buy it this cheap again.

McDonald's: due to a different driving route, I'm at a different McDonald's today. The customer service is incredible. Twice in the 15 minutes I have been here, a different employee has come by to see if I need a refill (coffee refills are free, unlike Starbucks). I am convinced the real "Lola" served me. Wonderful, wonderful person. She/he may be the assistant manager, or the manager for all I know. This particular restaurant is pretty much all African-American and I'm in my wonderful, wonderful Grapevine, TX, home.

Politics:

• Both Biden and Bernie need to put an African-American woman on the ticket, or announce several high Cabinet positions to be headed by African-American women.
• this is like chess, where each piece is given a numerical value:
• king (president): 100 points -- although technically, priceless
• queen (vice-president): 50 points (maybe 75 points in this case)
• bishop: Secretary of State: 25 points
• bishop:  Secretary of the Treasury: 25 points (it's really not worth that much but "treasury" sounds important);
• knight: Secretary of HHS: 25 points (worth even more than SecState in the "real world")
• knight): Secretary of Defense: 10 points (very, very important, but no one cares)
• rook (castle): Secretary of Labor: 25 - 50 points (importance dependent upon the person holding that position; everyone remembers Robert Reich; no one can name the current SecLabor)
• rook (castle): Secretary of Veteran Affairs: 10 points (very, very important, but again, seldom seen, heard)
• Pawns: eight other cabinet positions, each worth 5 points. 

Now that we have the points:

• Susan Rice (50 points)
• that woman from Georgia who thinks she is already president (10 points)
• Kamala Harris (25 points)
• Elizabeth Warren (technically and biologically she's not African-American but by November, 2020, she will be; she will suggest that some body part suggests she has some African blood and/or she has an innate preference for urban rap (music) (10 points)
• Colleen McMahon: chief judge of the Southern District Court of New York (75 points)
• any member of "the squad" (0 points; but will become tsars; advisors)
• Donna Brazile (50 points)
• Barbara Jordan, Texas: Biden's first choice and then will be reminded Ms Jordan is unavailable (75 points until Biden gets the memo)
• Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas (50 points)
• Carol Mosely Braun (50 points): actually younger than both Biden and Bernie
• Michelle Obama (100 points)