... except there is a Buffalo Wild Wings in Williston).
The article to read is on the back page of today's edition of The Wall Street Journal, page R10, "Minimum Wages and the Casual-Dining Chain," a Q&A with Buffalo Wild Wings CEO, Ms Sally Smith.
Her interview makes me want to become a regular. Outstanding interview. Enjoy. [You can get past the paywall by googling the link.]
That was the Original Post above. Tonight, October 28, 2015, I was stunned to see one of my favorite blogs, Carpe Diem, have two posts on that very story.
Here's the first link.
And here's the second link.
Incredible. Of all the stories in the WSJ this past weekend, both Mark Perry and I caught this one as being perhaps the most important story all weekend.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Minot, North Dakota, Native To Umpire World Series -- October 26, 2015
This was sent to me by a reader. First the link and the story:
Anyway, here's the backstory to the KXNET story, from the reader:
By the way, the same reader (that sent me the Gary Cederstrom story above) reminded me of the donut "shop" near Rickard Elementary School, Williston, North Dakota, when I was in high school. It was run by an elderly couple out of their house in a residential neighborhood (I was 16 or so at the time and anyone over 30 was "elderly"). I could be wrong, but correct me if I am, but I think the house was less than 500 square feet. I think the city sidewalk around the house had more square feet of cement than the foundation of the house under discussion. I always wondered where the donuts could possibly be made. Well, now I know: in the basement. (You know, in the basement in New Jersey in the 1920's they would have been distilling, but in North Dakota, in the 60s, the Norwegians made donuts and the Swedes made meatballs.)
Coach Amsden had me pick up two dozen donuts for the concession stand that the Lettermen's Club operated for every varsity basketball game (Phil Jackson played at WHS when I was there in my freshman year). I had an old 1948 Willys Jeep (no door windows) and religiously I would drive to the donut "shop" about two hours before every game to pick up the donuts, regardless of the weather. I can't even imagine explaining to Coach Amsden why I hadn't picked up the donuts if I ever failed in the mission.
I have no idea what I paid/sold the donuts for but it wouldn't surprise me if we bought the donuts for 10 cents a piece and sold them for a quarter. I did not know then, but I know now, the purpose of selling donuts was not to make money, but to have the donut aroma permeate the gymnasium, sort of like the popcorn, to entice customers. Wow, I wish I knew then what I know now. (For starters I would have bought 10 mineral acres northeast of Watford City with the money we made on donuts.)
I had long forgotten the name of this donut "shop." In fact, I don't recall ever knowing that it ever had a name. I still wonder how I found the "shop" the first time Coach Amsden sent me on what must likely seemed to be a wild-goose chase. But from the reader, now I know that, also. Apparently it was called the Donut Hole.
For those who wonder where the Donut Hole was located (if that was its name), it was two houses north of the Njos's. I know how to pronounce Kjorstad but I won't attempt "Njos's." I think it needs one less consonant, and maybe an extra vowel would help. (Yes, I know this is going to invite comments from those living in the southwest part of the state.)
Anyway, enough of this. Life is too short at the front end; too long at the back end.
[Back to the wrestling story: I especially feared Minot Ryan because it was a Catholic school. I was Lutheran and went to the public schools in Williston, but the Catholics had their own school until the later grades. I figured there must be a special reason for anyone to go to a Catholic school -- based on physique and stamina and discipline -- and then I heard about nuns, which confirmed my fears. At least the stamina and discipline part. Montana was just plain scary.]
Gary Cederstrom, of MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA, was named the crew chief today by Major League Baseball.
Cederstrom has been umpiring in the Major Leagues since 1989 and has umpired in two previous World Series - in 2005 and 2011.
Cederstrom will be the right field umpire for game one of the fall classic tomorrow night in Kansas City as the Royals take on the New York Mets. He is scheduled to serve as home plate umpire in game six, should the best-of-seven series last that long.My hunch is that being from Minot he doesn't take any crap (can I say that?) from the players, no matter how much they (the players) get paid. I remember as a wrestler at Williston High School in the late 60s, there were only three teams I feared: a) the Minot teams, especially Minot Ryan; b) the Watford City team; and, c) any team from Montana (generally we wrestled Billings, I recall; I don't remember Miles City but I assume we wrestled them, also).
Anyway, here's the backstory to the KXNET story, from the reader:
This might be remembered by Minot State alumni who graduated in 1978. One of the guys in a frat there had (what I thought) was a rather unusual (and far-fetched in my mind) career aspiration.
Gary Cederstrom wanted to be a major league umpire. Well, now I find out that he is leading the umpire crew in the World Series this year! Amazing!!
*****************************
For The Granddaughters
By the way, the same reader (that sent me the Gary Cederstrom story above) reminded me of the donut "shop" near Rickard Elementary School, Williston, North Dakota, when I was in high school. It was run by an elderly couple out of their house in a residential neighborhood (I was 16 or so at the time and anyone over 30 was "elderly"). I could be wrong, but correct me if I am, but I think the house was less than 500 square feet. I think the city sidewalk around the house had more square feet of cement than the foundation of the house under discussion. I always wondered where the donuts could possibly be made. Well, now I know: in the basement. (You know, in the basement in New Jersey in the 1920's they would have been distilling, but in North Dakota, in the 60s, the Norwegians made donuts and the Swedes made meatballs.)
Coach Amsden had me pick up two dozen donuts for the concession stand that the Lettermen's Club operated for every varsity basketball game (Phil Jackson played at WHS when I was there in my freshman year). I had an old 1948 Willys Jeep (no door windows) and religiously I would drive to the donut "shop" about two hours before every game to pick up the donuts, regardless of the weather. I can't even imagine explaining to Coach Amsden why I hadn't picked up the donuts if I ever failed in the mission.
I have no idea what I paid/sold the donuts for but it wouldn't surprise me if we bought the donuts for 10 cents a piece and sold them for a quarter. I did not know then, but I know now, the purpose of selling donuts was not to make money, but to have the donut aroma permeate the gymnasium, sort of like the popcorn, to entice customers. Wow, I wish I knew then what I know now. (For starters I would have bought 10 mineral acres northeast of Watford City with the money we made on donuts.)
I had long forgotten the name of this donut "shop." In fact, I don't recall ever knowing that it ever had a name. I still wonder how I found the "shop" the first time Coach Amsden sent me on what must likely seemed to be a wild-goose chase. But from the reader, now I know that, also. Apparently it was called the Donut Hole.
For those who wonder where the Donut Hole was located (if that was its name), it was two houses north of the Njos's. I know how to pronounce Kjorstad but I won't attempt "Njos's." I think it needs one less consonant, and maybe an extra vowel would help. (Yes, I know this is going to invite comments from those living in the southwest part of the state.)
Anyway, enough of this. Life is too short at the front end; too long at the back end.
[Back to the wrestling story: I especially feared Minot Ryan because it was a Catholic school. I was Lutheran and went to the public schools in Williston, but the Catholics had their own school until the later grades. I figured there must be a special reason for anyone to go to a Catholic school -- based on physique and stamina and discipline -- and then I heard about nuns, which confirmed my fears. At least the stamina and discipline part. Montana was just plain scary.]
Tuesday, Open With "F"; Close With "APPL" -- Should Be An Exciting Day -- October 26, 2015
Earnings announced Tuesday:
I will subscribe to almost any periodical that offers an introductory annual subscription for $10 -- or thereabouts. That's how I got BloombergBusiness for a year or so. That's how I ended up getting the Smithsonian. Unless the latter is renewable at $10, I have no plans to renew. The magazine is an embarrassment with innumerable pages of "cheap" advertising (e.g., "Athena Pheromones Increase Affection"; "Rent an Apple Tree"; "Men's Wide Shoes"; and, Word's Finest Eye Cream!" I believe the latter goes around the eyes, not in them). But I digress.
I got an introductory offer for Texas Monthly but now, because I live here, I'm pretty much committed to renewing every year despite the price. The covers are always enticing, and the titles to the articles are always interesting, but the font is way too small to read, and the advertising is excessive -- worse than the Smithsonian if that's possible.
If there was less advertising and the articles had slightly larger font, it might be enjoyable to read the articles. A sampling of this month's stories:
The median price for a house in the major metropolitan areas in Texas seems to be about $225,000 -- I'm not sure who buys these houses when 51% of Americans earn less than $30,000 / year.
The best article: the top 25 new and improved BBQ joints in Texas. There are over 2,000 BBQ joints in Texas, so to get to the top 25 is no mean feat. It turns out that one of the BBQ restaurants that made the list is here in Grapevine: Meat U Anywhere BBQ. It's been open for about a year. There are two others in Dallas (where I will never go) and two others in Ft Worth.
The best story, however, may be on the sanctuary city of Mission, Texas. This Hispanic town of about 80,000 people just west of McAllen on the Mexico border is close to becoming the butterfly capital of the United States. Last year, the city council unanimously passed an ordinance, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, prohibiting the capture or killing of butterflies on public property. Around 300 species of butterfly can be found in the Valley. Birdwatching remains the biggest draw, but butterflying is quickly catching up.
- Anadarko (APC) (a lost of 73 cents: wow, huge miss, a net loss of $4.71. How could forecast and actual be so different? Actually, they knocked off $3.69 from the loss for "certain items affecting comparability" and when doing that they actually show a loss of only 72 cents (slightly better than forecast).
- Baxter (BAX), time not supplied, forecast: 29 cents/share; incredible quarter; beats by 12 cents;
- Canadian National Railway (CNI), forecast, $1.15/share; easily beats, $1.26;
- Comcast (CMCSA), forecast: 80 cents/share; meets forecast;
- Cummins (CMI), forecast; $2.60/share; huge miss, at $2/14; job cuts announced; shares tank, down 10%
- Ford (F), forecast 47 cents/share; incredible quarter but misses by one cent;
- Peabody Energy, a loss of $8.38/share; reports loss of $8.08;
- United Parcel Service (UPS), forecast $1.37/share; misses, at $1.32; surprise drop in revenue; shares drop about 5%;
- Apple (AAPL), after market close, forecast: $1.88/share
*********************************
Texas Monthly
I will subscribe to almost any periodical that offers an introductory annual subscription for $10 -- or thereabouts. That's how I got BloombergBusiness for a year or so. That's how I ended up getting the Smithsonian. Unless the latter is renewable at $10, I have no plans to renew. The magazine is an embarrassment with innumerable pages of "cheap" advertising (e.g., "Athena Pheromones Increase Affection"; "Rent an Apple Tree"; "Men's Wide Shoes"; and, Word's Finest Eye Cream!" I believe the latter goes around the eyes, not in them). But I digress.
I got an introductory offer for Texas Monthly but now, because I live here, I'm pretty much committed to renewing every year despite the price. The covers are always enticing, and the titles to the articles are always interesting, but the font is way too small to read, and the advertising is excessive -- worse than the Smithsonian if that's possible.
If there was less advertising and the articles had slightly larger font, it might be enjoyable to read the articles. A sampling of this month's stories:
The median price for a house in the major metropolitan areas in Texas seems to be about $225,000 -- I'm not sure who buys these houses when 51% of Americans earn less than $30,000 / year.
The best article: the top 25 new and improved BBQ joints in Texas. There are over 2,000 BBQ joints in Texas, so to get to the top 25 is no mean feat. It turns out that one of the BBQ restaurants that made the list is here in Grapevine: Meat U Anywhere BBQ. It's been open for about a year. There are two others in Dallas (where I will never go) and two others in Ft Worth.
The best story, however, may be on the sanctuary city of Mission, Texas. This Hispanic town of about 80,000 people just west of McAllen on the Mexico border is close to becoming the butterfly capital of the United States. Last year, the city council unanimously passed an ordinance, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, prohibiting the capture or killing of butterflies on public property. Around 300 species of butterfly can be found in the Valley. Birdwatching remains the biggest draw, but butterflying is quickly catching up.
Just What We Need: More Natural Gas -- This Time From Alaska -- October 26, 2015
This is most interesting. And why I love to blog. I just posted this over the weekend:
I can only assume this is how President Obama pictures the Mexican-US border in the future, and what Homeland Security has nightmares about. The [London] Telegraph posts a photograph of countries without borders, states without passport control. If you zoom in on the photograph to see individual refugees, you can identify the Bernie Sanders supporters. The ISIS terrorists are a bit harder to recognize but the ones carrying mortars are probably not our friends.
I mentioned that to Don. He agreed, reminding me of the "gloom and doom" of 1973 - 1975 and then again in 1978 - 89. Things were so bad that there was serious talk of a 48-inch natural gas pipeline from the Alaskan North Slope to the Northwest Territory (Canada), and from there to the continental US.Now, today, from Seeking Alpha:
BP and ConocoPhillips have provided written assurances that they will commit their shares of Alaska North Slope natural gas to a future pipeline project, Alaska's Governor Walker says, adding that he will not introduce property tax legislation on gas leases within the Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson units.
The announcement comes as the state legislature begins a special session concerning the project, which now is likely to focus on buying out TransCanada’s interest in the proposed $45B-$65B project that would be the largest single investment in Alaska in the state’s history.
It sure doesn't sound like the US oil and gas industry is dead, as Saudi Arabia would like to paint it.Exxon Mobil, also one of the three top North Slope producers, has not yet made public a similar commitment.
****************************
Countries Without Borders
I can only assume this is how President Obama pictures the Mexican-US border in the future, and what Homeland Security has nightmares about. The [London] Telegraph posts a photograph of countries without borders, states without passport control. If you zoom in on the photograph to see individual refugees, you can identify the Bernie Sanders supporters. The ISIS terrorists are a bit harder to recognize but the ones carrying mortars are probably not our friends.
CO2 Emissions By State, 2000 - 2013 -- EIA
As far as I'm concerned, it's meaningless, but policy wonks in Washington, DC, will love it, and a few other folks will spend some time looking at the analysis and the spreadsheets.
EIA is reporting it's 2000 - 2013 energy-related CO2 emissions at the state level report:
Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions at the State Level, 2000-2013
The only data point I found interesting I will post later. But I will give readers a chance to look at the data before I point out something very, very interesting. Hint: it has to do with North Dakota, and it has to do with the Bakken boom.
EIA is reporting it's 2000 - 2013 energy-related CO2 emissions at the state level report:
Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions at the State Level, 2000-2013
Over the time period from 2000 to 2013, CO2 emissions fell in 37 states and rose in 13 states (Table 1). The greatest percentage decrease in CO2 emissions occurred in Maine at 27%, or 6 million metric tons (mt). The greatest absolute decline was 52 million mt in New York (25%). The state with both the greatest percentage and absolute increase was Nebraska, at 28% (11 million mt).Two links:
This analysis examines some of the factors that influence state-level carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels. These factors include: the fuel mix — especially in the generation of electricity; the state climate; the population density of the state; the industrial makeup of the state and whether the state is a net exporter or importer of electricity.
The only data point I found interesting I will post later. But I will give readers a chance to look at the data before I point out something very, very interesting. Hint: it has to do with North Dakota, and it has to do with the Bakken boom.
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