Saturday, March 30, 2024

University Of Alabama, Grant Nelsen -- Devils Lake, ND, Native -- Advance To Final Four — First Time In Alabama's Program History -- March Madness -- NCAA Men's -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46874SPORTS.

Sort of reminds me of Phil Jackson's trajectory..

From wiki:

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The Book Page

 The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works, Helen Czeerski, c. 2023.

Mentioned earlier.

Tonight while reading this book --- wow, wow, wow -- the treasure ships of China, in the 15th century.

I've been fascinated by this story since I first read about it years ago (Gavin Menzies); there are several posts on the blog about the Chinese treasure ships of the 15th century. These ships, a giant fleet of 250 Chinese ships crewed by 27,000 men, known to history as the treasure ships. 

[A digression: this is really, really a bad example of scientific dialogue; based on this one review, it's unlikely I would ever read any book authored by Robert Finlay. He seems he has a closed mind on this subjecgt. I've read of Menzies' books and he convinced me. On top of that, Czerski's book, again, supports Menzies' thesis -- think about this -- 250 ships sailing "around" the world for 28 years -- think about that -- 28 years  -- Christopher Columbus with three small ships changed history with one or two years of sailing; Magellan, similarly -- but the Chinese -- 250 ships sailing for their emperor for 28 years -- ]

From the book, p186:

Kirin beer is named after the Japanese word for qilin (which means both the mythical creature, somewhat like a giraffe, which the Chinese invented before any of them saw the real thing, and the giraffe itself), although the creature on their logo is closer to the mythical beast than a modern giraffe.

From wiki:

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Word for the Day

Gyre.

Link here.

Detergent -- Don't Even Get Me Started -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46873DETERGENT.

As low as 9 cents / load (see Walgreens below), and Kroger (28 cents/load); Walmart (22 cents/load); and Instacart, a whopping 32 cents/load:

From the internet today:


Meanwhile, at Walgreens today, on sale. And, yes, I stocked up:

  • $7.49 / 63 loads = 11.89 cents/ (less than the bar at 13 cents)
  • $7.49 / 84 loads = 8.9 cents (well less than 13 cents / load)


 

Inflation Watch -- Soda -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46872SODA.

From Kroger's today -- the grocery store chain that the Biden administration / DOJ has a problem with. 

Walmart today:

Spreadsheet:

  • Walmart soda today: 56 cents / can
  • Kroger soda today: 22 cents / can

Detergent -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46871DETERGENT.





Inflation Watch -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46870INFLATION.

Honda mileage: driving a bit more these days, taking Sophia to soccer-related events.

Detergent:

  • detergent prices are impossible to track ... if one doesn't do it correctly
  • the trick? Total price / number of loads (and one actually doesn't need to use the recommended amount; one can stretch by number of loads by 33%), but having said that, total price / number of loads, the bar? Thirteen cents ($0.13) per load.

So, the following?

  • $7.49 / 63 loads = 11.89 cents/ (less than the bar at 13 cents)
  • $7.49 / 84 loads = 8.9 cents (well less than 13 cents / load)



Exhibit A: the price of Tesla in 2024 vs several years ago.

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The Book Page

The Blue Machine: How The Ocean Works, Helen Czerski, c. 2023.

Helen Czerski: physicist and oceanographer at University of College London's Department of Mechanical Engineering. A columnist for The Wall Street Journal.

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Bat Cave

One of the best things I've done in the past few years: build the Bat Cave. 

Two things that make my Bat Cave perfect:

  • it's physically detached from where I live / eat / sleep; and,
  • it's in an undisclosed location

And, Curious George lives there and maintains it when I'm not around.


Next up: a Batmobile.