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? 

Apple 3-Day Event Begins! March 2, 2026

Locator: 50108TEXAS.

New Apple products being announced today. Start with a new iPhone 17e.  No streaming but can probably catch every segment on YouTube. Link here.

Link here. 

It's Texas Independence Day. I will be at events all day. I will try to do some blogging later, but for now, I'm off the net.  

Texas' 190th birthday today.  

From today:

From a couple of days ago: 

Raising The Roof -- One Pallet At A Time -- September 14, 2025

Locator: 49103FAMILY.

My son-in-law wanted to raise the interior height of an old shed by a few feet (for another project he has in mind).

This was a solid wood building. 

This is how he raised it, gaining two-to-four feet in interior height.

The project was done 100% with recycled wood, old pallets that had been discarded, that my son-in-law picked up over the years. 

Hopefully he's not thinking about raising his house by two-to-four feet.

Huge Thanks To A Friend -- Nothing To Do With The Blog -- January 28, 2025

Locator: 48426VENISON.

Easiest way to send photos to a family and friends and to the individual who shot the deer, and then gave us a lot of venison (steaks, sausage, venison-burger). But other than that, nothing for the blog. Simply for the family and friend archives.

Photos below should be self-explanatory.

Two venison steaks; two different dry rubs.

And then served.

It was very, very close, but we preferred the pork and lamb rub, Grapevine, TX.

 

 

 

Amazon And Shopify Enhance The Expansion Of Their Partnership -- Reflections On The Magnificent Seven -- September 18, 2024

Locator: 48313MAG7. 

Not on my bingo card today! AAPL. On relatively "bad news" for AAPL it's having quite a day:

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Magnificent 7

New tag: Magnificent 7.

Enhancing the partnership: Amazon and Shopify.

This is so unlike any other sector in which to invest:

• relative monopolies
• unique strengths
• the average investor can actually "keep track" of a handful of companies
• behemoths 
• market values are incredible
• cash hordes for some are also incredible
  
• margins, amazing
  
• partnerships
• a different kind of competition, because they each depend on the other in some way, shape or form
• with some exceptions, their only raw material -- silica and brain power

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Ticker BRK

Flat.

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Flashback

Copy of Arianna's financial newsletter, April, 2005. 

Paddle Boarding -- Texas -- June 20, 2024

Locator: 47846FAMILY.

Sophia, age 10, on her mother's stand-up paddle board and her mom kneeling on the same board. 

ESG: What A Difference A Year Makes -- January 10, 2024

Locator: 46510ESG.

Tag: woke.

Link here.

From the linked article:

Following years of simmering investor backlash, political pressure and legal threats over environmental, social and governance efforts, a number of business leaders are now making a conscious effort to avoid the once widely used acronym for such initiatives.

On earnings calls, many chief executives now employ new approaches. Some companies, including Coca-Cola, are rebranding corporate reports and committees, stripping ESG from titles. Advisers are coaching executives on alternative ways to describe their efforts, proposing new terms like “responsible business.” On Wall Street, meanwhile, some firms are closing once-popular ESG funds as interest fades.

The shift in messaging reflects a reality: “ESG is complicated,” said Daryl Brewster, a former Kraft Foods and Nabisco executive who now heads Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose, a nonprofit of more than 200 companies focused on social impact.The movement to bake accountability into business decisions stretches back centuries; the term ESG gained momentum after the United Nations used it about 20 years ago. Over time, the effort became divisive—derided by some state officials as “woke capitalism,” and criticized by others for putting too much focus on measurement and disclosure requirements.

Many CEOs stress that they continue to follow sustainability commitments made years ago—even if they are no longer talking about them as often publicly. A December survey by the advisory firm Teneo found that about 8% of CEOs are ramping down their ESG programs; the rest are staying the course but often making changes to how they handle them.

Many leaders are more closely examining disclosures, wanting to avoid regulatory scrutiny or political criticism. In lieu of lofty pronouncements, advisers are telling CEOs to be more precise and to set goals that can be achieved. Saying as little as possible is recommended.

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The Book Page

I'm back in my Shakespeare phase. In the last couple of weeks I've focused on three Shakespeare plays:

• The Winter's Tale;
• The Tempest;
• The Merchant of Venice.

Now, for the fourth play: Measure for Measure.

 The books this week. Focus on Measure for Measure.

• William Shakespeare, Harold Bloom, editor, c. 2004.
• "Measure for Measure": The Flesh Made Word, Ronald R. MacDonald, p. 343
• Shakespeare's First Folio: Four Centuries of an Iconic Book, Emma Smith, c. 2016, from the local library, looks and feels brand new!
• Shakespeare's Guide to Italy: Retracing the Bard's Unknown travels, Richard Paul Roe, c. 2011, in personal library.

Most rewarding: I think I. have "discovered" something in The Merchant of Venice not mentioned in any of the several sources regarding the play. 

My hunch: Antonio, Bassanio, and Portio represented a threesome of sorts, though not altogether at once. My hunch: Antonio and Bassanio were more than close friends. For staging, one might consider a "Johnny Depp" as Antonio. Portia? Carey Mullilgan. Bassanio, perhaps Antonio Banderas. Or perhaps, better yet, Antonio Banderas as Antonio the merchant, and Johnny Depp as Bassanio.

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The Art Page

Snowmen.

The Norman Rockwell version, by Levi:

The Picasso version, by Judah:

How The Brits See The Americans -- Economy -- December 3, 2023

Locator: 46228ECON.

Link here. Archived. 

How the Brits see Americans when it comes to the economy:

Something weird is happening in America. GDP growth for Q3 was just revised up from an already scorching 4.9 per cent to 5.2 per cent, more Americans have jobs than at any time in history, but the public is up in arms about economic conditions, with consumer confidence dropping to a six-month low. There really is no pleasing some people.

With headline indicators in such rude health, we would expect the number of Americans who think they’re better off than this time last year to outnumber those who say they’re worse off by about 25 percentage points. Instead, the reportedly worse-offs outnumber the better-offs by ten points in the latest University of Michigan’s index of Current Economic Conditions.

I know what you’re thinking: inflation explains all of this. People really hate rising prices, and are reminded of them every time they buy something. Inflation’s salience drowns out other more distant or intangible gains. It’s certainly a good theory, but countries all around the world have faced steep inflation. Many steeper than the US. Presumably their consumers are also much more pessimistic than we would expect?

Well, no actually. Extending an original analysis by X user Quantian1, I have calculated expected consumer sentiment for a set of countries based on their underlying economic indicators, and compared it to actual sentiment. Relative to the eve of the pandemic, US consumers now appear gloomier than the French, the Germans and even the British. The Europeans all feel about as confident as one might expect based on how their economies are performing. Disproportionate doom seems to be a new American affliction.

So what’s going on? Last weekend FocalData ran a poll for me, asking a representative sample of 2,000 US adults whether they thought economic circumstances had improved or deteriorated over recent years. The results were startling: Americans are consistently wrong in the negative direction on almost every measure we polled. By huge margins, they believe inflation is still rising (it’s falling), that it has outstripped wage growth (wages have outpaced prices), and that they have become less wealthy (they’ve become much wealthier).

Attempts to justify this sense of gloom often emphasise the challenges faced by less prosperous groups, but this also goes counter to the evidence. One explanation I heard is that the despondency comes from young people struggling with runaway rents. But wages have risen faster for them than the old, outpacing rents. Plus young consumers are the most positive, per the Michigan survey.

So much more a the link.

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Debonair

The In-N-Out Edition -- July 22, 2023

Locator: 45178MISC.

The In-N-Out edition.

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And Now We Get Down To Business

First things first. After a long, long, long trip to the northwest several things stand out -- more when I get back home:

• conservative, Christian, MAGA Californians continue to flee to Idaho: this may not be good;
• Utah: haven't seen such a "clean" state in years;
  
• economic activity from Utah to western Idaho: amazing
• classic country (western) music is still the best -- "classic" is the operative word;
• the US: simply the best country in the world;
• In-N-Out is not "hyped"; some may be as good; no one is better;
• one never tires of Randy Travis; but I can say that about George Jones, too, and that's about the only two;
• will this be my last hurrah?
• the trip was grueling; it's hard to imagine I hitchhiked "this" trip three times in the early 1970s
  

The Bakken: a random note from a reader that tracks this stuff very closely --

Investing:

• the next two weeks will be a huge win-win period for investors; huge; more on this later;
• ten-day rally; Dow record since 2017;
• F (Ford): maintains dividend of 15 cents;

CHIPS:

• TSM and Arizona; INTC back in the news; link here.
• ASML increases dividend, but I think they are talking quarterly dividend from same period last year; compare to previous quarter, dividend actually decreased (needs to be fact-checked)
• ASML: one of the seven in which I don't invest; doesn't meet my criteri

Re-posting:

• affirmative action; full of ironies; link here.
• US Supreme Court was wrong on this, but I have no time for such stuff

Irony:

• inflation killing off-shore wind projects:
• Massachusetts, Rhode Island;
• link here; link here;

Bakken revolution:

• this graph tells me absolutely nothing: a graph of active rigs / frack spreads since 2015; 

Dumbest politico of all time? Probably not, but I may have to add new category of posts to cover such inanity;

• link here:
• her 3 x 5 index card needs to have three data points, in round numbers:
• US crude oil production: 20 million bopd
• US crude oil demand: 13 million bopd
• US imports 7 million bopd
• that's all she needs to know

Teller on climate change: link here.

• the big question: did "The Simpsons" ever have an episode on Oppenheimer or Teller;
• it's a big question: after all, "The Simplsons" story line flows directly from the Manhattan Project
• Rolling Stone obsessed with 20-seconds of this 3-hour film; having said that, it's probably why I won’t see the movie -- LOL

Lana Del Rey!

• Rolling Stone: her 50 best songs; link here;
• how many artists even have 50 songs, much less 50 "best songs" reviewed in Rolling Stone?

*********************************
Favorite Activity

Buzz On The Street -- WT -- July 9, 2023

Locator: 45052OIL.

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WTI

It all comes down to this, reading the headlines:

• price of oil comes down to this: fear of recession vs cost of keeping oil in storage 
• keeping oil in storage keeps getting more expensive as JPow keeps raising rates
• backwardation: oil companies will get more for their oil if they sell now rather than waiting until six months from now
• as oil companies release/sell more of their oil now, they are setting "us" up for a shortage of oil six months from now

Me? My thesis? Outside of major geopolitical events, we're never going to see another shortage of oil in my lifetime.

I think oil company CEOs know that and they're going to start selling oil sooner than later.  

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Graduation Photo

Three weeks.

California high desert.

Soloed at "first opportunity."

Mano A Mano -- July 9, 2023

Locator: 45049B. 

 Two wells drilled the same year, 1245 feet apart, same field:

• 19200, 539, Crescent Point Energy, State 1-36H-156-98, Wheelock, t11/10; cum 89K 5/23; original operator: Anschuutz Exploration; completion: 13 stages; 643K lbs proppant; volume 28,849 bbls;
• 17843, 1,981/IA, Hess, Roon Viall 1-25H, Wheelock, t5/10, cum 244K 10/22; off line while neighboring wells are being completed; completion: 30 stages; 3.55 million lbs proppant; volume 59,826 bbls;

Much could be said. "This" has been going on for fifteen years. Yes, much could be said.

The map:

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Jiu-Jitsu Tournameent
Dallas -- July 8, 2023
A Silver Medal

Sophia milestones:

• July, 2022: starts Jiu-Jitsu
• March, 2022: first competition, white belt, bronze medal
• March, 2022: second competition, white belt, gold medal
• June 28, 2023: awarded grey belt
• July 7, 2023: competition practice; tells coach she wants a silver medal to complete her collection
• July 8, 2023: silver medal; Sophia has been a grey belt for two weeks; her opponent, a full year;

Best Father's Day Ever -- July 4, 2023

Locator: 45887ARCH.

Happy Father's Day from our younger daughter.

• eM2 cap (relatively rare; first day issue)
  
• Umami mushroom powder
• Spiced Marionberry, fruit spread, Mt Hope Farms
• Italian Black Truffle Sea Salt, Savory Spices, Portland, OR

The eM2:

 

And So It Goes -- June 27, 2023

Locator: 45089ARCH.  

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The Book Page

The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and the Secret History of Wonderland, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, c. 2015, 828DOU.

Notes.

Olivia Update: Flight Lessons With USAF -- Sponsored By Edwards AFB -- June 25, 2023

Locator: 45047FAM.

End of first of three weeks of flying. 

On Friday, fourth day of flying -- they were practicing "power off" and "stalls."

She says she literally "held her breath" the entire time power was cut!

Olivia in left seat -- was in left seat from the very first day.

Hasn't washed out yet. LOL.

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So Far, After Three Days

A challenging puzzle.

LOL.

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IPOs?

The CLR Brangus Wells And Area Wells Have Been Updated -- June 24, 2023

Locator: 45039BRANGUS.  

Link here.

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Sophia turns nine later this summer.

She has been training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for about a year.

This past year she earning four stripes on her white belt.

Today, in her Jinho academy belt ceremony, she was awarded / she earned her grey belt. 

I have to get a better photo of her with her grey belt. The photos below show her with her "old" white belt around her neck.

Of the 21 (?) students in the "belt ceremony" photo, approximately 15 earned a new stripe for their white belt. The remaining six were promoted from white belts to grey belts.  

Sophia is engaged in numerous after-school and summer activities -- to include sailing. Her favorite activity is jiu-jitsu. She says she lives and breathes jiu-jitsu. LOL.

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Mark Zuckerberg 

Link here.

It appears in the photo at the linked article Mark Zuckerberg is also a "grey belt."

One can barely see his belt but his opponent clearly has a grey belt, and opponents are "always" same belt / same level of skill.

Mark also has a "green-yellow" belt which is worn by the victor following a match. The winner does not keep the belt; just long enough for the photo op.

Tournaments: based on weight class, gender, and skill level. Not age.

Actors in action movies often take Brazilian jiu-jitso to "learn how to fall."