Yahoo: Today's Best Sales -- At Amazon -- MacBook Air, M4, 13-Inch -- $799 -- We've Seen This Before -- October 30, 2025

Locator: 49293APPLE.

Noted by Yahoo! today this as a "rare sale," as one of the best sales of the day.

I can't recall if I paid $799 or $749 for this MacBook Air, M4, 13-inch. 

I think I paid $749 but can't be sure. Either way, my wife, for whom I bought it, says it was her best gift ever. 

Except for the new car (2025).

As for me:

• I'm stilling using a MacBook Air, M1, 13-inch, released in 2020 (five years ago); and, 
• driving a 2012 (bought in 2011) Honda Civic / a 2007 Chrysler minivan

****************************
The Book Page

I'm re-reading Keld Zeruneith's book, The Wooden Horse: The Liberation of the Western Mind, From Odysseus to Socrates, c. 2007. I've read the book through twice and many sections multiple times. 

For students, the initial scaffolding:

• three historians: Homer, Hesiod, Pindar
• three tragedians: ASE -- Aeschylus (the old man); Sophocles (the rock star); and Euripides (the rebel)
• three philosophers: SPA -- Socrates, Plato, Aristotle (first scientist) 
• 1+3 generals: Alexander the Great and his four generals -- Ptolemy,  Seleucus, Antigonus and three major kingdoms
• Ptolemy: Egypt 
• Seleucus: the Seleucid Empire -- Asia
• Antigonus: the Antigonid Empire -- Macedonia and Greece
• Kingdom of Pergamon (Pergamene Kingdom, Attalid Kingdom) -- Lysimachus

I've taken extensive notes on the book, first handwritten and then transposed to this site, my literature blog. To find all my notes on this book, search Keld at that site.

Trump: The Most Transformational President Since WWII -- TikTok Transfer Apparently Approved By China -- October 30, 2025

Locator: 49292TIKTOK.

Electricity Rates By State -- Have Just Posted -- August, 2025 -- Posted October 30, 2025

Locator: 49291ELECTRICITY.

Note: in a long note like this, there will be typographical and content errors. Go to the source if questions. 

EIA: link here. 

For previous month, July, 2025: link here. 

For this month, August, 2025, below:

Regional average, this year, last year:

New England:

• residential: 29.10 <-- 27.90
• commercial: 22.75 <-- 20.64
• all sectors: 24.96 <-- 23.33
• most expensive, residential: 
• Massachusetts
• most expensive, industrial:
• Rhode Island

Middle Atlantic:

• residential: 23.79 <-- 21.99
• commercial: 18.95 <-- 15.77
• all sectors: 19.38 <-- 17.15
• most expensive, residential: 
• New York
• most expensive, industrial:
• New York

East North Central:

• residential: 18.22 <-- 16.45
• commercial: 13.35 <-- 12.30
• all sectors: 13.81 <-- 12.50
• most expensive, residential: 
• Michigan
• most expensive, industrial:
• Illinois

West North Central:

• residential: 15.27 <-- 14.67
• commercial: 11.74 <-- 11.25
• all sectors: 12.06 <-- 11.57
• most expensive, residential: 
• Minnesota
• most expensive, industrial:
• Missouri

South Atlatic:

• residential: 15.65 <-- 14.36
• commercial: 11.24 <-- 10.49
• all sectors: 12.81 <-- 11.98
• most expensive, residential: 
• DC (by a lot)
• most expensive, industrial:
• Maryland (by a lot)

East South Central:

• residential: 14.04 <-- 13.20
• commercial: 13.06 <-- 12.22
• all sectors: 11.81<-- 11.10
• most expensive, residential: 
• Alabama
• most expensive, industrial:
• Alabama 

West South Central:

• residential: 14.79 <-- 14.09
• commercial: 9.47 <-- 9.13
• all sectors: 10.55 <-- 10.14
• most expensive, residential: 
• Texas (unregulated)
• most expensive, industrial:
• Arkansas

Mountain:

• residential: 14.70 <-- 14.33
• commercial: 11.94 <-- 11.48
• all sectors: 12.25 <-- 11.89
• most expensive, residential: 
• Colorado
• most expensive, industrial:
• Colorado

Pacific Contiguous:

• residential: 25.69 <-- 25.75
• commercial: 23.89 <-- 22.96
• all sectors: 23.09 <-- 22.93
• most expensive, residential: 
• California (almost double the other two)
• most expensive, industrial:
• California (almost triple the other two)

Pacific Nonontiguous:

• residential: 34.87 <-- 36.30 (yes, a decrease y/y)
• commercial: 29.59 <-- 30.51
• all sectors: 30.67 <-- 32.08
• most expensive, residential: 
• Hawaii
• most expensive, industrial:
• Hawaii

North Dakota 

• residential: 12.94 <-- 12.73  
• commercial: 7.52 <-- 7.15
• industrial: 7.64 <-- 7.24
• all sectors: 8.42 <-- 8.02

Minnesota

• residential: 16.94 <-- 16.45  
• commercial: 13.15 <-- 12.98
• industrial: 9.42 <-- 9.48
• all sectors: 13.40 <-- 13.15

Outside Hawaii, Alaska, industrial:

• most expensive:
• California: 24.69
• Rhode Island: 20.12
• least expensive:
• Louisiana: 6.28
• Oregon: 6.37
• New Mexico: 6.50
• Oklahoma: 6.55
• Texas: 6.57
• Tennessee: 6.99
• South Carolina: 7.04
• Kentucky: 7.21
• Arkansas: 7.26
• Mississippi: 7.37
• North Dakota: 7.64 

Travel Day -- October 30, 2025

Locator: 49290TRAVEL.  

DFW departure.

Pre-check: more than enough TSA folks. Walk right through.

General boarding:

• six ID stations 
• six baggage x-ray conveyor belts
• four human scanners: some people have to remove shoes; some people don't 
• not told until scanned 

TSA staffing:

• only one ID station manned by TSA upon 6:40 a.m. arrival.
• two stations manned as of 7: 00 a.m. 
• two baggage x-ray stations in use
• two human scanners.

Line very long; not as long as they will be at Christmas. Normally I get through TSA general screening within 15 minutes at American Airlines, DFW; today about 65 minutes. Line moved steadily; no big deal; read a book while walking through.

Can't imagine traveling with toddlers and standing in line for an hour. Almost worse than Disneyland. They should have separate line for those with toddlers. I don't think the rest of us would mind.  

McDonald's right at my gate. Gate 34.

Wow, incredibly fast.

McDonald's never seems to miss a beat. US government -- not so much. Government shutdown enters its 30th day. So, no action on shutdown until next Tuesday. Congress has until that Friday to get something done, otherwise they leave for 9-day vacation starting Friday, COB, November 4, 2025.

Portland: arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule. Almost no turbulence which was a huge surprise. On -board wi-fi worked perfectly. Kudos to American Airlines all around. Portland looks beautiful. 

Fire Department trunk or treat was awesome. It is impossible to describe the turnout -- the lines to come in were unbelievable.  

****************************
Montana Property Taxes

Incredibly good news. My Montana property taxes are less than half what they were last year, and I think about a quarter of what I paid in property taxes ten years ago. I have no idea what's going on, but I'm not going to ask. 

****************************
More 

To be continued. Enjoying McDonald's hash browns and coffee. 

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Locator: 49289INVESTING.  

Samsung: link here. 

• 3Q25 profit doubles; beats estimates on strong demand for AI chips; link here.
• SK Hynix: from the blog -- November 4, 2024: link here. 

Solar: solar overloads Europe's electricity system, link here. For two years, mainstream media has tried to downplay this / ignore it -- the third bullet below is most important; the second bullet was to be expected?

********************************
The Book Page

Link here. This is a Sparks Note-like summary; not the actual book.

The Year of Magical Thinking. A PDF.

Joan Didion. 

Thursday -- October 30, 2025

Locator: 49288B.  

Earnings: Apple and Amazon today.

Futures: down. JPow put the kibosh on froth.

Samsung: 3Q25 profit doubles; beats estimates on strong demand for AI chips; link here.

Eli Lilly: in futures, up 5.4%. 

SNAP:
guest essay, New York Times, entitled; link here.

 

******************************
Back to the Bakken

WTI: $60.09.

New wells reporting: link here.

RBN Energy: link here.