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Leo says he can smell and taste. Which is really great. Why today in the market made some people look very stupid.

Today makes you look stupid if you sold anything in recent days. This is Nasdaq versus the S&P 500 today. Tech stocks did better, as usual.

My biggest joy

My biggest recent joy was paying our lawncutter Leo $100 in cash to give up smoking.

He gave me the pack he was smoking.

Half my readers applauded my selflessness. Half said I’d been taken. I’d paid a lot for half a packet of cigarettes. (Retail is about $10 a pack.)

I saw Leo yesterday. How was he doing? I asked.

With a huge smile on his face, he said he could now smell and taste. He was so happy. He actually looked deliriously happy.

In the tiny recesses of my brain, I thought the whole thing was a tiny metaphor for politics. The Democrats were willing to take the $100 chance on improving Leo’s life. The Republicans figure he (and everyone else) weren’t worth it. He’d squander the $100.

Our President is trying to kill Obamacare and lose 20+ million people their health insurance. He says he’ll replace it with “something better.” But what might be is his little secret, for now.

Why doesn’t the U.S. have universal Medicare? Like so many other countries — Sweden, Canada, Australia, Germany, etc.

You really don’t want Covid-19

+ Healthy people (those without other sicknesses) can catch it and die in ten days. Read the story of Nick Cordero, stage star, here.

+ The agony of the disease can be devastating.

Here’s a ProPublica piece you must read:

A Medical Worker Describes Terrifying Lung Failure From COVID-19 — Even in His Young Patients
“It first struck me how different it was when I saw my first coronavirus patient go bad. I was like, Holy shit, this is not the flu. Watching this relatively young guy, gasping for air, pink frothy secretions coming out of his tube.”

The ProPublica piece is here.

Read more. The New Yorker here.

The disease is spiking. It is not under control. Do not become lax in your precautions. Masks. Six feet. Stay away from crowds. And wash your hands aggressively.

I bought a new Apple Watch Series 6

The new health features were too compelling. Moreover, I’m getting a $180 trade-in on my present Apple watch.

Mens Journal loves the watch. Read here.

I’ve just gone 100% paperless

Our NYC’s building superintendent bundled all my month’s mail into a FedEx envelope.

Somewhere in the bowels of FedEx, the envelope got torn open and all my mail got scattered to the winds.

Thank you. Fedex. I no longer have to pay my tax bills.

Getting “service” from FedEx, like finding my envelopes — or, God Forbid, a refund on my $34 — is worse than pulling teeth, without laughing gas.

Their stock is way up this, but their “service” is way down. Try this for customer friendliness. This is on FedEx’s miserable web site.

Too many people still use DirecTV

You can run the $64.99 YouTube TV on your TV via Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast and zillion others. Some TVs actually can pick it up directly from their built-in Internet connectivity.

You’re dumb to still be using a stationary TV like DirecTV or Comcast or Verizon FiOS or a million others.

With YouTube TV you can start your show any time. You can skip ads. You can rewind and catch the parts you missed. And, most importantly, you can watch it on your laptop on your lap in bed. Pure Heaven.

Dumb things we do

+ Once every five years an Australian art dealer sends me a pricey, heavy, glossy sales catalog. He didn’t bother checking my address. Where he sent it is not where I am, at present. Dumb.

+ A friend cut down a tree with a his new chain saw and put himself into a wheel chair for the rest of his life. Ditto for the local fellow who fell off a tall ladder.

+ Idiots are still chasing subways, buses, appointments and running down stairs. Then they fall on the last step. That puts them into the hospital not into their urgent appointment.

Fun cartoons

What I just learned about this web site

This photo was originally an MP4 video of a truly horrible fire in California.

It comes across as dramatic video on my web site, ie. this:

But on most people’s emails that I sent out, it looked like this:

https://www.technologyinvestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Sequence-01-intro-compressed. mp4

That’s because virtually all email software — like Microsoft Outlook and Google Gmail — won’t play MP4 videos embedded into emails — not attahed. (Apple seems to be an exception.)

I’ve spent countless hours configuring ways to send video files by email via this blog which uses WordPress, the world’s most popular web software. An attachment might work, but WordPress doesn’t offer that. So, for now, I’ve given up. If I do include videos in future, I’ll suggest you click on the code or go to my web site.

Climate change

I believe in climate change. I’m warning all my friends: Don’t invest in or buy houses near where they can be hit by hurricanes or wildfires. This stuff is really serious. Friends have driven through the fire damaged areas out west and report extreme devastation — burned out cars, standing chimneys where houses once were and dead people.

Two are articles are worth reading this weekend.

The first is from ProPublica here.

The Economist refers to climate change as The Great Disruptor. Read their piece here.

Personal health

This morning I played my 193rd consecutive game of tennis. This was the view into the valley as I drove to the court early this morning.

This was the view from Mark’s court this morning. Fall is coming.

Here’s a tree on the way.

See you Monday — Harry Newton