We walked ½ mile this morning and then after Suzette left for work I made a bowl of Tropical Fruit Salad by peeling and dicing ½ of a large papaya, 1 pineapple, four oranges, three mangoes and the juice of two limes. This is something I make regularly because it keeps about two weeks in the fridge and forms one of the three or four ingredients of my most common breakfast of fruit salad, granola, milk, and yogurt and this morning was no exception.
At 1:00 I decided to combine three errands at the intersection of San Mateo and Lead Coal. I first got my Mini emissions tested at Bangkok Emission, while that was being done I called 2000 Vietnam which shares the same building on the Southwest corner and ordered a No. 21, which I picked up after the inspection was completed. I then drove to the Wells Fargo branch on the northeast corner of San Mateo and Zuni and cashed a check.
I drove home at 1:50 and ate my lunch as the market closed. Today was one of those days that teaches you not to count your chickens before they are hatched. The Market rose rapidly during the morning and at one point was up 453 points. When I left for my errands at 1:00 my gain for the day was $36,000 and when I returned home at 2:00 my portfolio had suffered a $3,000 loss. For those who own Tesla shares their downturn was even more dramatic. When I left Tesla had gained $215 per share and when I returned home it closed down $66.00. That is real volatility, a $281.00 per share reversal of fortune. For example, if you owned 1000 shares of Tesla, you saw a whopping 15% gain of $215,000 evaporate into a substantial almost 5% loss of $66,000.
My most volatile stock was Apple that was up $16.10 when I left and ended down about $1.76 for the day. I was saved a disastrous loss for the day by Moderna that was up $15.00 when I left and closed up $10.00 for the day. I have never experienced such a reversal. Thank God I do not own Tesla.
The reason for the rapid swing in sentiment was the announcement by California Governor Gavin Newsom during a press briefing that all bars across California must close up shop and that restaurants, wineries, tasting rooms, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and card rooms
must suspend indoor activities.
The governor also announced that all gyms, places of worship, malls, personal care services, barbershops, salons, and non-critical offices in counties on the state’s “monitoring list” had to shut down under the new order. The order affects more than 30 counties which are home to about 80 percent of California’s population. California is the 7th largest economy in the world if counted as a single country, so what California does affects the entire U.S. Economy.
To complete the dramatic effect, the Los Angeles and San Diego school districts announced that all instruction this fall semester would be by remote learning with no live classes.
Those announcements sent a shock wave through the market.
The moral to this story is that the pandemic has finally become linked to the previously unstoppable Market.
I worked until 4:00 when Suzette came home and I watched the news in the bedroom where I could put my legs up and Suzette watched home decorating shows until 6:00.
At 6:00 I went to the kitchen. The menu was conceptually simple; Rice and sautéed yellow squash with grilled tuna steaks. But Suzette and I rarely stop at simple and especially tonight when Willy was joining us for dinner.
Rice
I made the rice and chose to make in the Bombay style with turmeric, cinnamon bark, and whole
cloves. After I brought 2 cups of water and spices to a boil I added 1 cup of rice and then covered the rice and set it to simmer for 30 minutes, but Suzette wanted to make the rice to Willy’s liking, so she toasted a handful of pinion nuts and a handful of raisins in a skillet with a dash or two of sesame oil until the nuts turned golden brown and then added those two ingredients to the rice. For some reason the fire under the rice went out and Suzette wanted to stir the mixture, so she lifted the pot cover and stirred the ingredients. In order to fully cook the rice I added some water and extended the cooking time for the rice by fifteen minutes,
Sautéed Vegetables
I sliced a yellow squash that must have weighted approximately 1 lb. into 1/3 by 1/3 inch wide strips l suzette suggested adding broccoli florets, which I did plus the pea tendrils and baby sugar snap peas I picked this morning plus two rather large green onions cut into thin rounds.
Suzette placed the vegetables into a large skillet and added butter and some water and covered the skillet with a wok cover and sweated the vegetables and then uncovered the vegetables and sautéed them at the lowest heat until the tuna was cooked.
The tuna steaks
I cut several corners off the two 12 oz. tuna steaks, leaving 3 rectangular steaks. Suzette then went to the garden and collected some flowers, pollen, and seeds from the carrots, the fennel, and the celery plants that are blooming currently and garnished the tops of each steak with some of mixture.
When Willy arrived at 6:45 I was talking to Dee Simpson about the fabric art I sent to him. Willy followed Suzette out to the grill as I finished talking to Dee and they grilled the steaks. Although pink in the middle, the tuna steaks dried out a bit, which we agreed was probably resulted from slight freezer burn.
Suzette plated each of our plates with a pile of rice and then several spoonfuls of Sautéed vegetables on top and then leaned a tuna steak on the side of the mound of rice and vegetables.
I filled the ice bucket with some ice cubes and water and placed the bottle of Cotes du Provence rose for Willy and a bottle of Gruner Vitlander for Suzette and me and carried it to the table under the gazebo in the garden and we enjoyed a pleasant meal.
After dinner Willy left and we watched the Antiques Roadshow and then an episode of the Ken Burns series on the National Parks that chronicled the formation of the National Park Service and creation of several parks, including Acadia, Great Basin, Volcano, Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon.
I ate two chocolate chip cookies with a cup of chai and a shot of Calvados while we watched the National Park documentary.
We became tired at 10:30 and went to bed. I awakened at 12:30 to finish this blog.
Suzette said she intends to walk every morning. I hope she does so I can join her.
Moderate exercise such as a ½ mile walk seems to relieves pain in my legs.
Bon Appetit
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