Locator: 50597ARCHIVES.
This is for the extended family; nothing about the Bakken and not much about anything else.
Not for the general readership.
Family update:
Granddaughters:
- oldest granddaughter racking up the air miles between DFW and SEA, visiting significant other as often as possible.
- middle granddaughter having taken college courses in Peru and the Galapagos is now off to the Marshall Islands. Still has her eyes set on playing polo for the college team; the one and only time she has been on a horse was when she was in the Boston area in second grade. She also has 14+ hours flight time and two solo fights with the USAF -- from a couple of summers ago, California dessert. No interest in pursuing. Been there, done that. Favorite (?) college course: music, specifically German Techno; one three-hour class each week during which all they do is listen to music.
- the youngest granddaughter is watching soccer and jiu-jitsu from the sidelines due to a "boot"on her right ankle/foot from a sprain that is slowly recovering. I don't think she needed it; she could have toughed it out, but she's loving the rest and the attention.
Grandsons: six-year-old twins; home-schooled. just got their first-grade certificates in reading; now reading at second-grade level. Where they excel? Arithmetic and singing. One of the twins probably reads at third-grade level; the other prefers to discuss the history of Egypt, mummification, and purple dye from Murex snails.
Wife: will not be happy if I write anything about her.
Me? First visit to a physician since 2018. I thought it was 2016, but it looks like it might have been 2018, eight years ago. I thought it was ten years ago. Although I couldn't pass the USAF requirements for the mile-and-a-half run, I passed the general physical -- so, if I'm called up, I'm ready to go. No meds, no follow-up labs, no nothing. Next visit: one year from now. If I remember, I will come back to this later.
The US market has been on a tear, but today, a pullback led by Microsoft.
BRK-B finally had a good day, but BRK-B is still way off it's historic highs. Huge disappointment for new investors, I would think.
The Iran war is at (another) turning point.
Hegseth has sacked the US Secretary of the Navy (well deserved; should never have been appointed in the first place; discussed at length elsewhere). Iran's leadership is incredibly divided: hard-liners who want to live the good life vs hard-liners who want to be martyrs. Trump appears to be perplexed. Nonetheless he is tightening his grip on the Persian Gulf / Strait of Hormuz and the blockade of Iran. Today he issues a "shoot-and-kill-on-sight" order -- for the US Navy to take out the "fast boats." The fast boats will go back into their shell(s) to come out to fight another day.
AI/LDC: Nscale's West Virginia Monarch announcement is a game-changer. CAT, up as much as $31 earlier has pulled back as the overall market has pulled back.
Investing: made major changes in portfolio. No new positions, but sold two huge disappointments and replaced with more shares of a particular US retail giant in which I already had a position. I live and breath investing and blogging. Seldom does one get these opportunities to make major changes in the portfolio. I don't think I have made such major changes in over a year. Again, did not add any new positions; simply added to existing positions, and completely eliminated one position.
Best lunch deal: McDonald's -- double cheeseburger, small fries, and no limits on soda refills, $3.23 -- all in, with tax.
The double cheeseburger is free today -- for the 2026 season, North Texas McDonald's offers a free McDouble (with an addition $2.00 minimum purchase) via the McDonald’s app when the Texas Rangers turn a double play at a home game. This "Double Play" offer is typically valid at participating DFW-area locations until 11:59 p.m. the day after a qualifying home game. At Starbucks, $3.23 will get me a tall coffee. The Texas Rangers double play - free double cheeseburger is this year's go-to luncheon for me.
Biking: ten-mile round-trip daily, except on the weekends; either for hash browns, coffee and real orange juice at McDonald's for breakfast or the "$3.00" McDonald's lunch. And I bet I weigh less a year from now than I do now.
Reading this week: really, really excited about Paul and The Jewish Annotated New Testament, NRSV, Second Edition, Oxford, c. 2010. Notes at this post plus elsewhere.
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The Book Page
The Jewish Annotated New Testament, NRSV, Second Edition, Oxford, c. 2010. Notes at this post plus elsewhere.
