Saturday Morning -- Notes From All Over -- The Early Morning Ediition -- June 6, 2020

June 6: date sounds familiar? What happened on this day in history?  Oh, that's right. Henry Morgan was the first man to take his shirt off on television. Henry Morgan, not Harry Morgan.

Jack Welch:  It appears I failed to note the passing of Jack Welch. He died March 1, 2020, right in the middle of the Wuhan flu scare.  I have already forgotten how I happened across Jack Welch this morning. I was surprised to see that in 2006 his net worth was estimated at less than one billion dollars. From wiki:

When he retired from GE he received a severance payment of $417 million, the largest such payment in business history. In 2006, Welch's net worth was estimated at $720 million.

Warren Buffett: $75 billion +/- $10 billion based on the source.

Dak Prescott: on May 26, 2020, I said this was the most important story of the week. I was trolling; no one took the bait. But this is what I was thinking, reported now over at The Dallas Morning News six days ago: a season without fans could affect Dak Prescott's contract with the Cowboys "tremendously."

If by July 15, 2020, it is clear that the season will start on time with fans in the stands, no restrictions, Dak will likely get the contract he wants. But, and it's a huge "but," if it looks like the season could be delayed (unlikely) and there are questions about how to manage the stadiums (likely), the Cowboys might be holding a better hand, at least with regard to contract negotiations.

OPEC+: meeting appears to have ended in about thirty minutes. Iraq agrees to cuts, But says it is hard to comply with cuts. LOL. Yes, life is hard.

Wind energy: I linked the article from which this graphic is taken earlier in the week. If I find the link / that post, I will link it again. This is most fascinating. The authors note this in their study which accompanies the graphic below:

In the United States, wind-plant performance declines smoothly with age, until a stepwise drop in performance occurs when plants age out of eligibility for the performance tax credit.

The stepwide change in performance, a pattern not found in other countries, indicates that performance decline can be influenced by policy mechanisms and the cost effectiveness of maintenance and is not an immutable function of physical degradation of the wind turbines.

The overall decline rate is on the lower end of estimates from other countries.

The market: one wonders if a lot of traders and investors -- especially mom-and-pop investors -- are feeling a bit hungover this morning, or perhaps suffering a bit from buyer's remorse. We'll see Monday. I was incredibly excited about the market yesterday -- at one point the Dow, apparently, was up over 1,000 points but as soon as the market closed, I felt a bit discombobulated, utterly confused as to what had happened -- to quote Michael Hall.

Grilling: from this past week. Wow, the salmon turned out perfectly. Soy sauce marinade for one hour; eighteen minutes on a water-soaked cedar plank; indirect heat in covered Weber with very hot coals.

The yellowfin tuna: the seasoning was absolutely perfect -- just some sea salt and pepper, but it was overcooked -- medium vs rare. I misjudged the amount of time required to cook tuna when cooking directly on FOGO lump charcoal. Sixty seconds on each side was too long. The tuna was still delicious but not perfect. We'll try again this next week. I'm wondering if thirty seconds directly on the coals, flip once, thirty seconds on the coals, and then in aluminum foil for fifteen minutes. Tuna should be seared on the outside but rare (raw) on the inside. 

Terms:

• rare vs raw;
• carpaccio vs steak tartare;
• carne de onça; and, here;

Later, from a reader:

Growing up in southwest ND my Dad often made tiger meat for poker nite with his friends. It's very simple and very good.

Start with beef round with ALL fat, tendons and everything else trimmed off. Salt, black pepper and fresh green bell peppers.

Dad always said there is no recipe because beef is always different. He had a reputation for the best tiger meat. I have no idea where tiger meat came from but it was usually made by the German/Hungarian men.

There is a butcher shop on Main Street in Mandan ND that still makes it. I can't remember the name. I travel through Mandan several times a year and always pick up a pound or two. [Perhaps Butcher Block Meats, Mandan, ND.]

Reminiscing: I first had steak tartare in France althoughI could be mistaken. I know May and I went to some fancy San Francisco restaurants when we lived in northern California decades ago before we went overseas; it's possible it was in San Francisco where I first had steak tartare, but as I close my eyes and force myself to concentrate on the subject, I can almost see the Paris restaurant where I first had it. Whatever.

I've also forgotten where I first had carpaccio but I know it was in the states, and I think it was within the last couple of years, here in the DFW area. I've seen it on the menu dozens of times but I have never been interested. Now I enjoy it rarely (no pun intended) as an appetizer.

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Sophia: Coins

Not much here, but proof that we're still working on these "things":