Looking at the Finviz chart of the wild second half of 2015 slide for crude oil, one would think we Americans would be cheering since we love driving big cars. Unfortunately lower crude prices (and prices at the pump) are also indicators of a struggling domestic and world economy. U.S. companies need strong international economies in order to sell our products and without growth, our companies are reluctant to hire workers, expand production or increase pay in the U.S. Add to that the ridiculously high corporate taxes forcing companies abroad along with excessive regulation and we’ll continue to lag. In other words, we’re not out of the woods yet.
I’ll keep baby Bruno Ray’s announcement short and sweet since I didn’t check with mm and dad first before posting on my blog. But my nephew David’s wife Rachel gave birth to a handsome little boy with a full head of dark hair. Rachel’s dad delivered her little bundle of love via c-section as planned and all are doing well. Nollie is all prepared to be a 4 years older big sister … at least until the annoying starts. We stopped to visit them Saturday night in Kentucky and gave them our "late" baby shower gifts only a few hours before she was heading to the hospital. Rachel … and everything in the house looked great (I particularly liked their creative changing table building into the baby’s room closet … very creative and helps keep the small room size useful. Nice job David!)
Twitter marked TEN years of micro social networking this week … or perhaps more appropriately stated as a real time newsfeed and feedback mechanism? At least that is how I have used the service for over 9 of those 10 years.
Most journalists, politicians, corporate heads and notable celebrities use Twitter (and other social networks) regularly as a way to connect with followers. Those who comment about using it are usually very positive and find sharing addicting. The real time feedback and sharing is perhaps one of the more powerful features. Hopefully Twitter as a company will develop better ways to monetize the service without impacting user growth. It has been disheartening to watch $TWTR stock decline over the past year as well as see subscriber growth lag competitors. Innovation is needed and likely will require management change either on their own of forced if the company were to be acquired. In either case, as a shareholder I’m anxious … but for now, happy anniversary.
One cumbersome downside of driving older premium vehicles like our 2010 BMW X5 35D is that 6 year old technology might as well be 20 years old. The navigation software and maps leave a lot to be desired in today’s Internet connected mapping world. The current 2009 maps (above) have never been updated and thankfully the 2010.3 and up BMW models have the ability to update using USB instead of the 3+ hour process of loading DVDs into the onboard hard drive (USB capable IF the little checkmark is in the lower left circle when in map view — see above left).
So first step is to download the recently updated files from a torrent site (below) and then pay for a FSC Code ($5-50) in order to update. Having just been to the dealership, I do know that $112 would have bought me DVDs … although I think they were 2015?
Since I’m slowly downloading tonight, I’ll have to post progress once I receive my code and see how the update goes.
(BMW Road Map North America Premium 2016-2 Torrent as of March 2016 – LINK)
On a spring Sunday in 30 A.D. (est), the city of Jerusalem was crowded with pilgrims who had come for the annual Passover celebration. Jesus, who had been traveling through the towns and villages of Palestine was also heading to Jerusalem. He preached about the kingdom of God and healed the sick wherever He went, something that was not lost on those gathering for Passover. The day arrived for Jesus to claim He was the Savior God promised to the Jewish people … the Messiah.
Jesus also knew His time was almost finished and warned His disciples that He would soon be put to death, but after three days He would rise again.
Jesus told two of His disciples to bring a donkey that would be waiting in a nearby village. When they brought it to Him, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. Crowds of people spread their coats on the ground in front of Him and waved palm branches as a sign of victory. The people shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord – the King of Israel!” Only a king would be greeted this way (2 Kings 9:13).
People expected their King, their Messiah, to be a great political and military leader … someone who would free them from the tyranny of the Roman Empire. They had trouble grasping the kingdom of God is not of this world … not unlike many today. This is the celebration of Palm Sunday.
When do you reef? How should you reef? What are some excellent ways to screw it up? A few thoughts from Jamie (filtered through fun with salty sayings and his fondness for puns). Many witty phrases…
On Friday morning, Doug Wead a presidential historian, talked with Maria Bartiromo on Mornings with Maria about the confusion most of us have regarding contested, brokered or open political convention. Personally, I only semi-understood the "courting of delegates" process that goes on behind the scenes in party politics. The "sausage making" and cronyism that goes into the process is uglier than most think. The average primary voter, particularly those who may only have gone to the polls this primary season because they either support or don’t support Donald Trump, will see the system as corrupt … and in my opinion, they are correct. It is an unscrupulous systemwe use to nominate a candidate, BUT applies equally to ALL candidates seeking to be the nominee of either party (obviously the best connected know how to play the game — noting Trump’s previous donations, he is probably very well aware of this).
Since the rules apply to each party affiliated candidate, it is equally harsh for all candidates who "choose to be connected to either party" (and learning about it could ignite a third Independent party?) From what a casual observer comes away with is that it requires the selling of one’s soul to win the nomination. It is pretty ugly when you look behind the political curtain and see how the process works.
The 5 minute discussion is worth the listen (mp3 version) … and if you hate cronyism, will surely make you even more disgusted in the nomination process.
A few modified exhaust pieces needed to work on the BMW X5 35d arrived today from Canada. The welds look good, fitting for sensor "seem" to be in the right place and I’m hoping this expensive stainless steel will last a long time. I’m opted for the version with the small catalytic converter to keep things cleaner and quieter. Unfortunately I’m busy for a couple weeks, so this project will be on hold, but I’m glad the new exhaust pipes are in my shop.
