The Million Dollar Way (The Bakken Oil Blog): 03/30/24

Saturday, March 30, 2024

University Of Alabama, Grant Nelsen -- Devils Lake, ND, Native -- Advance To Final Four — First Time In Alabama's Program History -- March Madness -- NCAA Men's -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46874SPORTS.

Sort of reminds me of Phil Jackson's trajectory..

From wiki:

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The Book Page

The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works, Helen Czeerski, c. 2023.

Mentioned earlier.

Tonight while reading this book --- wow, wow, wow -- the treasure ships of China, in the 15th century.

I've been fascinated by this story since I first read about it years ago (Gavin Menzies); there are several posts on the blog about the Chinese treasure ships of the 15th century. These ships, a giant fleet of 250 Chinese ships crewed by 27,000 men, known to history as the treasure ships.

[A digression: this is really, really a bad example of scientific dialogue; based on this one review, it's unlikely I would ever read any book authored by Robert Finlay. He seems he has a closed mind on this subjecgt. I've read of Menzies' books and he convinced me. On top of that, Czerski's book, again, supports Menzies' thesis -- think about this -- 250 ships sailing "around" the world for 28 years -- think about that -- 28 years -- Christopher Columbus with three small ships changed history with one or two years of sailing; Magellan, similarly -- but the Chinese -- 250 ships sailing for their emperor for 28 years -- ]

From the book, p186:

Kirin beer is named after the Japanese word for qilin (which means both the mythical creature, somewhat like a giraffe, which the Chinese invented before any of them saw the real thing, and the giraffe itself), although the creature on their logo is closer to the mythical beast than a modern giraffe.

From wiki:

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Word for the Day

Gyre.

Link here.

Detergent -- Don't Even Get Me Started -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46873DETERGENT.

As low as 9 cents / load (see Walgreens below), and Kroger (28 cents/load); Walmart (22 cents/load); and Instacart, a whopping 32 cents/load:

From the internet today:

Meanwhile, at Walgreens today, on sale. And, yes, I stocked up:

$7.49 / 63 loads = 11.89 cents/ (less than the bar at 13 cents)
$7.49 / 84 loads = 8.9 cents (well less than 13 cents / load)

Inflation Watch -- Soda -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46872SODA.

From Kroger's today -- the grocery store chain that the Biden administration / DOJ has a problem with.

Walmart today:

Spreadsheet:

Walmart soda today: 56 cents / can
Kroger soda today: 22 cents / can

Detergent -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46871DETERGENT.

Inflation Watch -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46870INFLATION.

Honda mileage: driving a bit more these days, taking Sophia to soccer-related events.

Detergent:

detergent prices are impossible to track ... if one doesn't do it correctly
the trick? Total price / number of loads (and one actually doesn't need to use the recommended amount; one can stretch by number of loads by 33%), but having said that, total price / number of loads, the bar? Thirteen cents ($0.13) per load.

So, the following?

$7.49 / 63 loads = 11.89 cents/ (less than the bar at 13 cents)
$7.49 / 84 loads = 8.9 cents (well less than 13 cents / load)

Exhibit A: the price of Tesla in 2024 vs several years ago.

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The Book Page

The Blue Machine: How The Ocean Works, Helen Czerski, c. 2023.

Helen Czerski: physicist and oceanographer at University of College London's Department of Mechanical Engineering. A columnist for The Wall Street Journal.

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Bat Cave

One of the best things I've done in the past few years: build the Bat Cave.

Two things that make my Bat Cave perfect:

it's physically detached from where I live / eat / sleep; and,
it's in an undisclosed location

And, Curious George lives there and maintains it when I'm not around.

Next up: a Batmobile.

Let's Go Brandon -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46869B.

Elsewhere, link here: does the F-35 make military sense? The F-35s are for "something else." A four-letter word, rhymes with Koran, and starts with the letter "i." $2.5 billion / 25 F-35A fighters = $100 million apiece

Independent cost analysis, from October, 2023:

WASHINGTON — The flyaway cost for the F-15EX Eagle II is approximately $90 million for each aircraft in the program’s second production lot, about $7.5 million more than the newest price for an F-35A. [90. - 7.5 = $82.5].

... a contract for the next three production lots of the Boeing-made F-15EX was finalized on September 28, 2023, a major milestone for the program. But the $90 million per unit cost in the contract — a number that is expected to grow in successive lots — will likely raise eyebrows among critics both within and outside the service who argue that officials should focus on buying more F-35s.

Under the new agreement, the price for an F-15EX will start at “approximately” $90 million for lot 2, rise to $97 million in lot 3 and then dip to $94 million in lot 4, according to an Air Force spokesperson. The two parties previously finalized a deal for the aircraft’s first lot in November 2022, setting a flyaway price of $80.5 million for six jets with two test aircraft already purchased — meaning the costs on the F-15EX are going up per unit year over year until the fourth lot is introduced. (The Air Force measures flyaway price in then-year dollars, which are adjusted for inflation.)

As a cost comparison, the Air Force’s variant of the stealth fighter has an “average” flyaway cost of $82.5 million for the jet’s 15th, 16th and 17th production lots, which will be delivered in calendar years 2023, 2024 and 2025.

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Flashback

Flagship for the F-15 squadron -- the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron -- to which I was assigned back in 1984.

Wow, 40 years ago.

I retired 17 years ago in my mid-50's. Great memories but no nostalgia.