AI Is Simply Amazing -- June 23, 2026

Locator: 51044AFPILOT.

See also this link. 

Yesterday, our granddaughter mentioned that a "C-DUB" was the instructor pilot with whom she flew.

This is all I knew about and asked Gemini for help. 

This was the query because this is absolutely all I knew about this pilot, the very minimal details our granddaughter gave us:

T-38. "Incentive" rides for USAF ROTC students. The instructor pilot started out in helicopters. Female instructor pilot.

Gemini's reply: 

 I can now write C-DUB a thank you note for all she did for our granddaughter. This is simply amazing.

Link here. 

But there's more. Click on the "photo." It's a video. Link here.

Must-read bio of CW, link here. CW is a world-class marathoner:

White's athletic accomplishments include competing in the Olympic Trials, the U.S. 10-mile championship, and the 2011 Boston Marathon, in which she ran 2:37 and was the fifth American finisher. She took second place in the 2011 Air Force Marathon, but was the first place military runner. She also won the 2011 U.S. Armed Forces Cross-Country Championship three times.

"When fellow Airmen think running at an elite level is only for a select few and out of reach for them, I like to point out that I did not start running until after I was commissioned," she said. 

"I developed my running while in the Air Force. It is possible for anyone if they are willing to dedicate themselves." White has been running for four years. Of the 191 women who ran Olympic Marathon Trials, she finished 34th.

US Economy Doing Just Fine -- Olivia's First USAF Jet Flight -- The "White Rocket" -- June 23, 2026

Locator: 51040ECONOMY.

Northrop's T-38 Talon. YouTube. The T-38 is the jet that the US astronauts have at their disposal for training and transportation. 

See also this link. 

June 12, 2026:

Grandchild #2 -- jet fighter flight today. Some weeks ago, Olivia, shaved her head to the scalp. Think Demi Moore. LOL. 

I see she is letting her hair grow out. T-38 jet / F-5. She's at the USAF test flight base, Edwards Air Force Base. She arrived at Edwards AFB the day the B-52 crashed, killing eight members on board. She was scheduled to take this flight on June 15, 2026. Because the runway was closed after the B-52 crash, her training took her back into the simulator. 

Her jet fighter instructor start out in life as a helicopter pilot. What an incredible model.

I flew many, many flights / sorties in the F-15D practicing air combat maneuvers, the F-5 fighters from  RAF Alconbury, England. So, "it has" come full circle.

Olivia.

 

Olivia (no sunglasses) and SeaDub (with sunglasses) 

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Other News

Apple (AAPL): the Apple -- Intel announcement comes at exactly the right time. Link here.

Amazon Prime Day (days / week): starts today, ends Friday. 

There was a recent article comparing Target's subscription program with Amazon Prime. In my mind, there's no question, and we live next door to a Target. In addition to everything else, we get a lot of exclusive NASCAR races on Amazon Prime Television (streaming). I don't think Target has a streaming network; could be wrong. Target definitely doesn't the SKU volume that Prime has.

Manufacturing PMI: does one need to go back to 2022, right after Covid, to see these numbers? 

Global Climate Change Economy Teeters -- January 30, 2025

Locator: 48443GREEN.

Global climate change economy teeters: Bloomberg link here.  

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For The Archives

Link here.

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For The Archives

Link here.

I flew with the 525 TFS, Bitburg Air Base, Germany, from 1984 - 1986, and again, from 1989 - 1993, also Bitburg AB, Germany. My primary a/c was the F-15. 

 In the photo below, the F-15 is the second a/c from the POV of the aircrew member pictured.

The 525 TFS mascot: an English bulldog, or "the bulldog."

Link here.

Quick Note -- Airlines And Price Gouging -- January 29, 2025

Locator: 48432ARCHIVES.

Wow, I'm in a great mood this morning.

We'll have a bit of rain over the next 24 hours but then more than a week of sunny weather and a high of 72°F on the weekend. The days are getting noticeably longer and it's just a matter of time before the swimming pools open up again. 

The dip in the stock market -- I love how "they" call it a "dip" -- was another opportunity for young investors. I remain fully invested at all times. I have a rolling 30-year horizon. I don't plan to leave my heirs any money: they will inherit our entire estate of US equities and the dividends that come with those equities. I've already started the process.

I will be off the net for awhile. I walk Sophia to the bus every morning and I'll be leaving in a few minutes. I've been up for a couple of hours updating production data for Bakken wells. A lot of old sites were updated. I've referenced a few of the sites that I updated, but most of the updates were done without bringing the posts forward.

It's getting more and more impossible to keep up with the news. More on that later, perhaps.

I'm looking forward to a cross-country trip or two or three this calendar year. Whether it all plays out or not, hard to say. I'm too comfortable in my apartment. LOL. 

************************
Of Interest

From Forbes this morning: 

First up, AI:

Venture firm General Catalyst is leading a $50 million funding round into Onebrief, a startup that makes collaboration software to help Pentagon leaders speed up military planning.   

Chris Miller, a former acting Secretary of Defense and co-author of Project 2025, also joined the startup’s board, telling Forbes his role provides a link to the Trump Administration ahead of what Silicon Valley hopes will be a bumper year for startups working with the Pentagon.

Second: in most instances this would be called "price gouging." But I guess "price gouging" only refers to items bought by poor folks. Is it appropriate to use the phrase "poor folks" any more? I've lost the bubble on such things. Anyway, back to "price gouging":

Major U.S. airlines have boosted flight capacity from Kansas City and Philadelphia to New Orleans ahead of the Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl, and experts recommend booking flights now to avoid the steepest prices. Nonstop tickets to New Orleans from domestic airports are already averaging $979 per round-trip ticket, significantly higher than the average domestic airfare of $294 for a round trip, according to the travel platform Hopper.

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Travel

Wow, wow, wow!

The [London] Telegraph ranks the 1,250 prettiest and ugliest cities in "Britain." Link here.

We lived in England for many years:

• first, the family lived three years in southeast England, in Suffolk County, near Cambridge, northeast of London; and,
• then over a period of four years I spent many months in Yorkshire, near the Scotland border.

It was awesome. Four of the prettiest cities noted by The Telegraph were in the areas that we lived. Most notably, Ripon was one of the four cities and where I spent a lot of time, at the Ripon Cathedral for evensong. 

In the immediate area of Ripon was another city that made the cut for being most beautiful: Ilkley, West Yorkshire. Ilkley was a 23-minute drive from where I stayed / worked while in Yorkshire. I have no idea how many times I would have driven through that village. Bolton Bridge, nearby, was a favorite destination. As for hiking, I usually hiked north and west of Menwith Hill which means I probably did not hike through Ilkley.

When on temporary duty, up to four months at a time, I stayed at the Wellington Inn in Darley, just a fifteen-minute walk from the base. Maybe 30 minutes. I forget. I often got picked up by someone driving that direction so seldom had to walk. Occasionally the Air Force would allow me to rent a car while at RAF Mildenhall. 

I would usually hike all day Saturday and all day Sunday. I would leave as early as 7:00 a.m. and not return until 7:00 p.m. In general, all my day-long hikes were solitary, but on many outings by car and short walks I generally had one or two female companions from the air base who also shared the joy of ... what do they call it in Germany -- volksmarching.  Whereas the latter tends to be larger groups and very well organized, the walks I did in England were anything but. 

A Step Down Memory Lane -- The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum -- Reposting -- January 29, 2025

Locator: 48431MUSEUM.

Note: decades ago, the first love-of-my-life -- we were both in our early20's, I suppose -- maybe in our mid-20s -- she was a Harvard medical school student doing rotations at Mass General. I was going down a a similar road but out in Southern California. Linda lived in a brownstone apartment on Beacon Street, in the 400-block. It was a gorgeous location and a gorgeous apartment. How she could afford it, I do not know but she had the highest tastes so it did not surprise me. 

Years later I learned that Isabella Steward Gardner and her husband lived out their entire lives on that same street in Back Bay, Beacon Street in the 100-block. If she walked, it would have been a 16-minute walk for Linda from her apartment to Ms Gardner's apartment. I doubt either of us knew that at the time. 

Our lives were way too busy with other things. 

Beacon Street:

Some say the American dream is owning a big house.

Not me. My American dream would have been ....

********************************

The note below was posted back in 2012. I happened to be reading about the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum again the other day and then happened across this post from thirteen (wow, thirteen!) years ago. It's worth posting again for the grandchildren and the archives.

******************* 

A note to the granddaughters

[After posting the note below, I got a few comments from others including Arne C. who directed me to his blog: http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/a-very-brief-historical-tour-of-fenway-park/]

Now I know why you love this art museum, Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

You have visited at least once, but that was before the new "wing." I visited it for the first time yesterday, and I was simply overwhelmed. I had never seen anything like it before, and my first impression was this is the best art museum I had ever seen.

Now, 24 hours later, reflecting on it, maybe it's a bit much to say this is the best art museum in the world, but it may be the best art museum experience in the world.  It certainly is a museum no one should miss. If you visit Boston and have time for only one museum, I think this would be it. And that's a tough call. Competing for your time: the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; the JFK Library and Museum south of Boston; and, the Peabody Essex Museum, north of Boston in Salem/Essex. But whereas the MFA is a "typical" big city fine arts museum, the ISG is unique. The ISG Italian palace is part of the experience; for some (including me) the palace may be THE experience.

I was overwhelmed. Even though the new wing has been open now for several weeks, the line to purchase tickets still exceeded my expectations.  We walked through a long glass corridor to get to the palace. Immediately upon entering, one realizes one is in a different kind of museum. The three-story structure is built around a classic Italian courtyard. I was immediately reminded of the Roman baths in Bath, England. Absolutely spectacular. I explored three or four rooms/corridors/hallways in the immediate area after emerging from the glass corridor -- the rooms around the courtyard on the ground floor, and I realized I was overwhelmed. It was a unique experience. I did not have the same experience in the Louvre. I assume I had some idea of what to expect when visiting the Louvre for the first time, but I had no idea what to expect when visiting the ISG for the first time.

I went back to the new wing to collect my thoughts. In the opposite quadrant from the restaurant, is the "living room." Isabella Gardner loved books; in fact, I believe she started collecting books before she started collecting art, and throughout the museum -- I hate to call it a museum -- it's a palace -- are shelves of her books. I could spend hours in the "living room." With comfortable sofas and individual chairs, surrounded by books to be read by visitors, it is a most relaxing room. It is "outside" the palace proper and thus no admission charge. There were several books I spent some time with, but my two favorites: the 2012 anniversary edition celebrating the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park; and the collected letters of Isabella Gardner and her co-conspirator in art collecting, Bernard Berenson. 

This is my snapshot of the ISG Museum story. Isabella loved life. She married a New York City man who created his own wealth through smart investments; they moved to Boston where they settled in the newly filled in Back Bay. She was not well educated but she more than made up for that by self-education for the rest of her life. She was devastated by the death of her 2-year old son. To get her out of her depression, her husband took her to Europe. That began her love for travel, Europe, particularly Italy, and an eye for collecting. She had taken some "adult courses" under a history professor at Harvard which was probably the life-altering event in her life with regard to art and history.

Through serendipity, she met a young (incredibly handsome) Harvard undergraduate Bernard Berenson who wanted to be the intermediary identifying, buying, and collecting art for a rich patron. He began scouring the continent for art work for Ms Gardner who had just inherited $1.6 million from her father upon his death.

She and Berenson collected art at the turn of the century and became a very, very close and successful team. The stories coming out of the museum suggest they had had a "come-to-Jesus" moment when she discovered he was being paid a handsome commission by European dealers from whom he bought art, as well as a five percent commission from Ms Gardner. Obviously it was to his advantage for the dealer to increase his prices. Berenson must have been extremely persuasive (and very, very good looking); Ms Gardner stuck with him. The relationship appears to have grown stronger and closer.

Unexpectedly her husband died about this time; I believe she was in her late 40's or 50's. (Let's see: she was born in 1840; the palace opened in 1903 -- so late 50's I guess.) Knowing she had little time left in her life, she began immediately designing and building an Italian palace to house her art collection. She chose an empty lot near where Fenway Park came to be. Fenway Court, as she called her palace, opened in 1903; Fenway Park in 1912. The ISG Museum is now just a few blocks (within walking distance of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts) on the Green Line.

For more, visit the ISG Museum website.

Incidentally, there's a little nook, a little corner on the first floor with two chairs, a table with a dozen books, and a lamp. I don't know if Ms Gardner placed that ensemble there herself but it has "her" feeling. I don't think many visitors realize it provides an opportunity for folks like me, who become overwhelmed, to simply sit and reflect on this most personal of personal museums, as some have described this palace.

Oh, and by the way, the lunch menu was very unique and the food excellent, including affordable wines. I had a Samuel Adams -- you know, I was just reminded that Paul Revere was captured before he completed his midnight ride. Walt Whitman admitted he used artistic license to write his poem. But, Paul Revere was able to warn his close friends Sam Adams and John Hancock before he was captured. But I digress.

Busy, Busy, Busy In The Bakken -- January 31, 2024

Locator: 46696B.

And one rig drills out a whole pad.

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Meanwhile, Busy, Busy, Busy In Grapevine

Coal Is Dead! Long Live Coal -- Inflation Loss -- January 26, 204

Locator: 46654COAL.

As a huge investor in BRK (think BNSF) and UNP, this is incredibly good news. I'm also a big holder of SRE and I still see this as great, great news.

Link here.

Much could be said. But just not worth the effort. It's no longer an investment story, it's a "religious" or "cult" or "belief" story. 

Link here.

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Inflation Watch

Toilet paper: two comments --

• evidence of deflation; and,
• much of those inflation numbers over the past two years were due to supply chain issues; those supply chain issues have resolved. Prices across the board are going to fall significantly this year all things being equal

The price savings at Walgreen's today is evidence of great marketing, customer loyalty deals, and resolving supply chain issues. 

I've never given much credence to government inflation numbers when folks try to extrapolate those numbers to the individual buyer. American women (who do the majority of retail shopping for the home (?) are experts at looking for best deals.

Exact same product at three different sites during the month of January, 2024.

Prices, January, 2024:

• Kroger: $10.99 (considered by us to be low cost of the six grocery stores in our immediate area)
• Amazon: $7.99 (free delivery)
• Walgreen's: $5 (special; weekly sale; one week sale; two for $10, otherwise, $6.99)
  

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The Blue House 

Link here.

Cheong Wa Dae lit. 'Cyan-tile Pavilion'), also known as the Blue House in English, is a public park that formerly served as the presidential residence and the diplomatic reception halls of South Korea from 1948 to 2022.

It is located in the Jongno district of the South Korean capital Seoul.

Cheong Wa Dae is a complex of multiple buildings built largely in the traditional Korean architectural style with some modern architectural elements and facilities. Cheong Wa Dae now consists of the Main Office Hall Bon-gwan,[a] the Presidential Residence, the State Reception House Yeongbin-gwan,[b] the Chunchu-gwan,[c] Press Hall, and the Secretariat Buildings. The entire complex covers approximately 62 acres. 

The South Korean presidential complex was protected by members of the South Korean special forces.

Sophia, our youngest granddaughter, is now taking jiu-jitsu instruction from a world martial arts competitor who was once a soldier in the South Korean "special forces” assigned to protect the Blue House.

Whoo-hoo! Think "Jedi." [Star Wars.] Or a "visible" Ninja.

Congratulations To Robotics Granddaughter Olivia! Whoo-hoo! January 24, 2024

Locator: 46634ARCHIVES.

Olivia is captain of the school's robotics team.

Her high school has approximately 2,000 students and is probably over-weighted with high achievers. We won't get into ethnicities but folks can probably guess. Sophia is in the "wrong" ethnicity to be a star performer on the robotics team. LOL.

Duolingo Update -- For The Archives -- January 13, 2024

Locator: 46523DUO.

Progress for the past week:

• seven days averaging 33 minutes / day

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Language Scholars

The one on the right (viewer's right), Arianna, took Spanish in high school; the one on the left, Sophia, took some Spanish with her grandfather on Duolingo, and is now taking Russian with her mom, again, on Duolingo:

DE: Laser-Focused On Dividends -- December 7, 2023

Locator: 46248DIV. 

Look at the rate of change in dividends. Most companies increase -- if they increase -- their dividends once yearly. Look at Deere.

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

All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them.

Again, all my posts are done quickly. There will be typographical and content errors in all my posts. If any of my posts are important to you, go to the source.

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Watching The Clock

A lawyer? Nope, a union worker, or a government worker. LOL. 

Recession --> Stagflation --> Disinflation --> Deflation -- November 27, 2023

Locator: 46188ECON.

I'm starting to hear the word "deflation" a lot more often the past two weeks. 

*********************
Amazon

Link here.

Amazon.com has grabbed the crown of biggest delivery business in the U.S., surpassing both UPS and FedEx in parcel volumes.

The Seattle e-commerce giant delivered more packages to U.S. homes in 2022 than UPS, after eclipsing FedEx in 2020, and it is on track to widen the gap this year.

The U.S. Postal Service is still the biggest parcel service by volume; it handles hundreds of millions of packages for all three companies.

A decade ago Amazon was a major customer for UPS and FedEx, and some executives from the incumbents and analysts mocked the notion that it could someday supplant them.

Amazon’s outsize growth combined with strategy shifts at FedEx and UPS have changed the balance. Before Thanksgiving this year, Amazon had already delivered more than 4.8 billion packages in the U.S., and its internal projections predict that it will deliver around 5.9 billion by the end of the year. Last year Amazon shipped 5.2 billion packages.

*********************
Black Friday

We live in a fairly nice, not-quite-high-end apartment complex, with about twenty separate buildings, each building with three floors and about thirty units in each of the twenty buildings.

It appears that 80% of tenants use Amazon on a regular basis and on any given day of two units of ten units on each floor have Amazon packages sitting at their door.

Today, Monday morning, the first "workday" after Black Friday and the story is quite different. 

"Everyone" is getting a package and many door mats have multiple Amazon boxes. It's quite startling. 

I expect to see something similar through the rest of the week.

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For The Archives

May and I try to visit the grandsons in Portland, on average, every two to three months. We travel / visit separately.

May likes to spend the holidays with the grandsons; I like to spend non-holiday dates with the grandsons.

May has just spent the last ten Thanksgiving days with the grandsons.

Levi and Judah are 3.5 years old.

Levi is the serious thinker. Judah is more fun-loving, the jokester.

This was the "message" traffic earlier today with daughter Laura and grandson Judah and Levi taking Grammy May back to the airport for her return trip to DFW, Texas. We live five minutes (driving time) to the west of the airport.

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End-Of-Year Trading: The Market

Tailwinds:

• rotation from tech to non-tech? Nope. If not, from where is the money coming to push the market higher?
  
• tax -loss harvesting: the next two weeks.
  
• cash on the sidelines, A: my favorite chart.
  
• cash on the sidelines, B: bears.
  
• FOMO:
• unsaid: 
• oil is way, way too cheap; or,
• oil is paying great dividends.
  

Playing The Worst Team In The NFL, The Cowboys Were Struggling, Until …. — November 19, 2023

Locator: 46104Rosalyn.

Cowboys lead 17 - 10 early in fourth quarter. Dallas will win but they don’t look like a championship team. [Three minutes later: color me "wrong"! Dallas just scored a touchdown (Pollard run) and then a "pick-six" and now lead 30 - 10.

Rosalyn Carter has died.

 

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The Book Page

The book:

• Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening, Douglas Brinkley, 2022.

I picked up this book earlier this year when I was out in Portland, Oregon. I had read the first 110 pages before I moved on to something else. Now that I am back in Sophia's Bat Cave where I can more easily find my books and read them at my leisure.

The sub-title (John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening) highlights the big personalities covered by the author. I was too young to really follow JFK's early political history and so all of this -- Cape Cod -- is particularly interesting. 

Rachel Carson: a chance to get to know her better. She's the "Rosa Parks" of environmental reawakening and I know not much about either except for the headlines and the memes.

I would assume, but do not know, Stewart Udall and Lyndon Johnson should get a lot more credit. That's where I will start -- with Stewart Udall. 

Stewart Udall: Secretary of the Interior -- 1961 - 1969.

Wow, overlaps with my entire public school education -- graduating from high school in 1969 I must have been in 5th grade in the spring of 1961. Of course, I was oblivious to all that. As an aside, John Kerry was a lieutenant in the US Navy, from 1966 to 1970. During this period, he served in Vietnam for only four months but earned one Silver Star, one Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. 

I have an "innate" / "natural" dislike of John Kerry, but his biography is fascinating. 

A bit of trivia:

His father was raised Catholic (John's paternal grandparents were Austro-Hungarian Jewish immigrants who converted to Catholicism) and his mother was Episcopalian. He was raised with an elder sister Margaret, a younger sister Diana, and a younger brother Cameron. The children were raised in their father's Catholic faith, and John served as an altar boy.

I would have passed over (pun intended) that bit about his Jewish grandparents had I not read The History of Jews In America. This was a very, very familiar story. This might be a good time to review the meanings of converso and marrano.

Wow, what a digression. All I can say is what I've said many, many times: never stop reading. 

Back to Stewart Udall. We begin with JFK and his first presidential campaign.

Lego: This Is Most Remarkable -- Nothing About The Bakken -- November 18, 2023

Locator: 46095LEGO.

Sites:

• from Brickimedia;
• from Amazon (third party sellers)
  

Lego set #: 21310.

• released: 2017
• retired: 2018
• "lifespan": a remarkable 13 months; it's my impression that the average "lifespan" for a Lego set is five years;
• original price: $149.99
• number of pieces: 2,049
• this may simply be the best set ever for manufacturer's price
• current prize on Amazon: $607
• can be found at resellers for $350 - $700; even Amazon has multiple listings at different prices;

Buzz, LEGO:

• Star Wars: endless releases; expensive
• Harry Potter: relatively inexpensive; individual sets can be attached to each other; good for collecting; best way to collect, watch when piece is soon to expire;
• Speed Champions: for those with very, very limited budget, these make great collectibles; includes a James Bond Aston Marton and mini-figure based on Daniel Craig (needs to be fact-checked); often heavily discounted over at Amazon.

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Boys Attending a Quilt Show

They enjoy the quilts as much as the machines. It's really quite remarkable.

Apple -- September 9, 2023

Locator: 45585AAPL.

One link: https://twitter.com/barronsonline/status/1700250336814923956.  

Is Tim Cook at risk to lose his annual bonus?

Does one add to one's Apple position before or after September 12, 2023, a Tuesday?

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The Sports Page

Sophia competed at a Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Dallas. Sophia awarded a solid bronze medal against a very tough field.

Her first match, 0 - 0 at end -- ref's decision -- went to her opponent. Sophia's coach contested / argued with officials -- all matches are video-taped -- despite a pretty long discussion -- unable to turnover the decision.

Sophia then won the next two matches, by "submission." She absolutely overwhelmed her opponent and either the ref calls the match early or the opponent "taps out" and says she's beat. A submission is like a TKO in boxing, I suppose, a better win than just on points.

 

Sophia spent quite some time consoling the first opponent beat by submission. For Sophia, it's more about friendship and the social aspect, rather than the wins.

So, a really, really good day -- two submissions and had the ref gone with a win on her first match, she would have competed for gold/silver medal.

She also just earned her grey belt so she wrestled at a higher class / higher belt than last time. So, some of her opponents are at a higher level than she.

So, a good day.

YouTube link, just a short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T1UbzPdyXis.

Rambling On Investing -- August 25, 2023

Locator: 45473INV. 

The blog has really made a huge impact on my understanding investing.

I flip-flop on many things, as I learn more, but hopefully, most of my changes are evolutionary. The "flip-flops" are revolutionary, and can end up being good or bad. "Evolutionary" for me tends to mean "improving." 

Years ago, a writer was updating Warren Buffett's holdings but instead of giving us a dollar amount of each of his holdings, she -- and I do recall it was a "she" -- provided the number of shares of various companies that Warren Buffett held, and then totaling up all the shares of all the holdings.

I thought was ridiculous. Combining all the shares of all the companies.

I still have trouble with that, but updating his portfolio with number of shares vs dollar worth now makes a lot of sense to me.

If I'm told Buffett had $40 million worth of XYZ in 2020 and then $30 million worth of that same company, XYY, in 2023, I don't know if he sold some XYZ or if XYZ had come down in value, or a combination of the two, or even something else. But knowing that he had four million shares in 2020 and then three million shares in 2023, gives me another data point.

I was thinking about that, now that I have a very, very structured plan buying certain equities twice a month, every month, regardless of what the market is doing, though I do make exceptions, and instead of buying on the scheduled day of Tuesday, for example, I might wait until Thursday, to invest, after certain events have transpired.

But I digress. As I was saying, I was thinking about tracking number of shares, as well as the dollar value, as having some practicality.

I talked about this a few days ago when I talked about "time value of money."

I was happy this morning at the open when I bought shares in some company when they opened lower for the day. An hour later, I was feeling great when that stock had turned green and I thought I had made a brilliant "trade." But then, two hours later, the stock "tanked" they say -- but it bothered me not at all.

I have a 30-year horizon; this company is first-rate and will do very, very well over time. It is unlikely that I will ever sell it and the shares will go to our grandchildren. Of course, I want to do as well as I can with investing, and it would have been nice to have bought the shares an hour later when they were less expensive, but twenty years from now, our grandchildren will be thrilled with the shares they inherit, and won't wonder how much I paid for them. 

But if the shares close in the "green" today, I will be thrilled. And if I remember I will update this note. LOL.

******************************
Southern Living Vs Texas Monthly

We live in Texas and have a granddaughter in college in Nashville, TN.

Over the years, I have become very fond of Tennessee. I will never leave Texas, but I certainly hope to spend more time in Tennessee.

New subscription: Southern Living.

For what I'm interested in, I prefer Southern Living to Texas Monthly.

*****************************
Banking

I've written several blogs on banking, etc, and the new technology.

I went to Amazon.com to purchase a subscription to Southern Living. Amazon.com no longer offers subscriptions to that magazine.

However, in the process of subscribing to Southern Living on line, I was offered the opportunity to pay using my Amazon.com account. So, through Amazon.com, I subscribed. Truly amazing. The "stretch" of these companies is amazing. I assume there was an ApplePay option, also, but don't recall. But now, not only does Amazon get a very, very, very small cut of the subscription price I paid, but Amazon.com now knows a bit more about me. 

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Old Photographs

It's a shame we didn't see these photographs until after our parents had died.

I would have loved the backstory: the what, why, when. Sometimes the "who." Always, "who was the photographer?"

Dad was born in 1922, in the farmhouse on the homestead, just a mile or so south of Newell, SD. When he left home at age 20, he never returned home except for very short visits. Photography was very rare at this time; the family was very poor and hiring a photographer would have been a big deal for special occasions.

One assumes:

• seventeen or eighteen years of age, high school graduation; or, alternatively,
• twenty years of age, on his way to sign up for the US Coast Guard

Dad served in both theaters during the war, first: many Atlantic Ocean crossings, home-stationed in Boston, pier 13, USS Wakefield. Then, fewer Pacific Ocean crossings but spent more time in Asia than Europe.

From his biography:

In 1942, Dad received a letter in the mail with a return address from the US Selective Service.

Dad did not open the envelope; he did not want to go into the army. Instead he visited the Belle Fourche Navy recruiting station.

Dad was sworn into the United States Coast Guard, November 6, 1942.

 “I went on active duty December 23, 1942, and was assigned to Coast Guard Boot Camp in St. Augustine, Florida. The folks took me to Rapid City, South Dakota. Then I took a road bus to Omaha, Nebraska. I took the train from Omaha on December 23, 1942, and arrived in St. Augustine, Florida on Christmas Day 1942. I stayed in the Ponce de Leon Hotel during boot camp.”

Can you imagine a 20-year-old kid born and raised in Newell, SD, having never left the town or the farm, and then all of a sudden finds himself in St Augustine, FL? And from there to Boston. Wow.

Life is too short, but on the other hand, one can see and do a lot in one's lifetime.

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Recipes

For The Archives -- A Birthday Celebration -- August 20, 2023

Locator: 45432ARCHIVES. 

Birthday dinner, son-in-law and daughter (Sophia's parents):

The books I am currently reading: this is most of them. 

I'm still reading The Naked and the Dead, also. The Hitchens memoirs just arrived this morning (Sunday). I've been slogging through 1989 for several weeks now; it is one of the best books on the subject, period. dot. Lexington, the third book from the top was a gift from the middle granddaughter, Olivia -- a book on the great racehorse.

Years ago, I read a chapter a night from Black Beauty to our oldest granddaughter about age three to five or somewhere in there. I tried reading the book to our middle granddaughter a couple years later but she showed no interest, and since I had read it two or three times with the oldest, I had also lost interest. But then, with Sophia, we started again, and got about halfway through when she moved on to other books, including a graphic novel in Spanish. 

Anyway, I guess Olivia has heard that story too many times and to assuage her guilt, she got me the book on that racehorse. She says the cashier asked her if she (Olivia) was sure about getting this book (say what?). Apparently the cashier didn't think a junior in high school would be interested in a racehorse from the 19th century.

Speaking Of Covid-19 Studies -- August 19, 2023

Locator: 45419ARCHIVES.

 Speaks volumes about investing -- link here:

Retailers: the most interesting company right now? Amazon. Observation. Not a recommendation.

Backpacks: The WSJ -- posted their top ten -- price range -- $125 - $850, or something like that. I recently bought top-of-the-line backpack -- for $23. At Amazon. Best backpack for computer commuter.

Question: after pharmaceuticals, which sector does Amazon disrupt next?

Apple: by the way, did everyone note that Apple's VP for EVs has moved over to Ford. I'm curious if folks can connect the dots. What this means? Huge story and incredibly good news for AAPL investors. Observation for the blog. Not a recommendation.

Route 66: Ford F-150 Lightning. Grueling trip. Wouldn't recommend it. According to Ford CEO.

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Hot Summer Night

Grapevine, TX, outside best biker's bar on Main Street.

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Best City Ever

Link here.

The 525 Bulldogs -- An Update -- August 19, 2023

Locator: 45516USAF.

I flew with the 525 Bulldogs, Bitburg Air Base, Germany back in the 80s.

The 525th at the time was one of three fighter squadrons assigned to the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing.

After Bitburg Air Base was closed, the 525th moved from Germany to Alaska.

In Bitburg, it flew the F-15C/D Eagle. 

In Alaska, it's flying the F-22 Raptor.

Over at wiki.

Streaming -- Milestone -- August 16, 2023

Locator: 45478STREAMING.
Locator: 45478STV.

Streaming: link here. Streaming wars.

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Got Nielsen?

TV now accounts for less than half of US viewing for the first time. Link here.

Poor timing? Well, it was five years ago.

Maybe she returned. I don't know. I don't watch the show, but my wife did / does. I forget. I'll have to ask.

From the linked article: 

By the way, note which "streaming service" is not mentioned from the story above -- the screenshot again:

The drivers: link here --

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Now, Where's That ChatGPT Link

In Texas, everything is bigger -- even the homework assignments.