The Million Dollar Way (The Bakken Oil Blog)

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Luncheon Recommedations From Google Gemini -- April 11, 2026

Locator: 50507LUNCH.

This is why I love chatbots.

My prompt:

My wife, a senior, 70+ years of age, enjoys lunch out but is getting tired of the "same old choices." She loves typical American fare (soup and sandwiches) but is looking for something different. Any recommendations for a woman living in north Texas, specifically Grapevine area, with endless choices.

The reply:

We, of course, know all these places very, very well, but it gives us something to think about. Interestingly, neither her favorite (Lazy Dog) nor my favorite, the Thirsty Line, were mentioned.

I will ask again, but next time, I'll be looking for ethnic choices, specifically Thai, or perhaps Indian / Nepalese.

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The Book Page

My prompt:

Walter Murch in his book, "Suddenly Something Clicked," p. 345, references a "subsequent volume of this book." Was that volume ever published? If so, the title?

Reply:

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The Baseball Page

The link.

Personal Electricity Bill -- Texas -- Comparing 2026 With Five Years Ago -- April 11, 2026

Locator: 50506ELECTRICITY.

Our previous electricity bill was $137.33. This was from March, 2026.

Our only utility bill is electricity, for a small one-bedroom-one-bath-one-den/office apartment in north Texas. We have no natural gas. This is our total energy bill for the apartment.

With all fees, taxes, etc., we're paying 20.0 cents / kWh (2026). One year ago we were paying 17.0 cents / kWh (2025).

Today, I was culling some old files, throwing stuff away, and I came across this, a very old utility bill from March 4, 2021.

I find that simply amazing. "Everyone" is telling us that our energy costs are going up.

I can't recall the last time we were paying over $200 / month. It looks like it was back in 2021.

Now we're paying well less than that. January through March are generally our most expensive months.

So, now, five years later we're paying 40% less? Calculations:

(137.33 - 230.67) / 230.67 = 40.5%

(137.33-253.47 / 253.47 = 45.82%

Our electricity use has not changed all these years -- in fact, now that I have the Bat Cave, my electricity needs have actually increased over the years, albeit not much.

Seriously, I can't explain why our monthly electricity bill dropped so much.

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Spectrum
Internet Access

Last year our Spectrum bill was running right at $100 / month.

This year our Spectrum bill is running right at $60 / month.

Absolutely no change in service except Spectrum has actually added faster connection / download / upload speeds.

Wow -- The 2026 Masters -- One For The Ages -- April 11, 2026

Locator: 50505PGA.

NASCAR: Ty Gibbs just won his first NASCAR career race. At Bristol.

Now Back To Our Original Programming

Tickled pink: that Rory won.

This really was a Masters for the ages.

24 years -- 12 years -- 24 years.

Round 4

18th hole:

walking to the hole with his last competitor, Cameron Young, leading by three strokes;
but an incredibly bad tee shot
the good news, Rory does have an opening to get back on the fairway -- but it's awful
don't count Cameron Young out yet!
a double-bogey for Rory and a birdie for Young brings us to a three-way playoff -- Rory, Young, and Scheffler.
Rory can win with a bogey but a double-bogey comes into play.
wow, wow, wow -- a six-inch bogey stroke to win his back-to-back green jacket.
sixth major victory. Defeats Scottie Scheffler by one stroke!

17th hole:

Rory walking to the 17th hole. He leads three other players still playing, by three strokes.

now, two of those three are done.

Scheffler is done, two back from Rory, in second place.
Rory would need to shoot two consecutive bogies to go to a playoff with Scheffler.

15th hole:

Rory put the chip shot right into the water! But like a skipping stone, it skipped to dry land and on the green.

9th hole:

Justin Rose moves into sole lead: -12

7th hole:

McIlroy and Young tied for second: -7
for McIlroy, back-to-back green jackets; fourth in history if he does that;

2nd hole:

Rory drops a hole to Young.
Young, now, sole lead. Rory, pars, but drops a shot behind Young.

Round 3

Rory McIlroy: was heading toward a(n) historic win, leading by three strokes over #2 Cameron Young and six strokes over Scottie Scheffler, PGA's #1 ranked player, when he (Rory) double-bogeyed the eleventh hole (put the ball in the water). Still holding the lead but wow! By one stroke. And not doing much better on the next hole. End of third round: McIlroy and Young tied, -11 strokes.

All of that happened, just as I was checking headlines, and this popped up: