December 9, 2021. Lunch - PPI Miso Noodle Soup. Dinner - Cedar Plank Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with rice and Cream of Avocado Soup

December 9, 2021. Lunch - PPI Miso Noodle Soup. Dinner - Cedar Plank Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with rice and Cream of Avocado Soup

I slept until 8:30 after being up quite a long time last night. I worked until noon when I heated the PPI Miso Noodle Soup after adding more tofu and water to reduce its intensity.  Again it was not received well by the bacteria in my gut but I was clever enough to not swallow any indigestible vegetables so suffered a very minor controllable eruption.

I worked until 4:00 and then took a shower and dressed and at 4:45 walked 1/2 mile in the neighborhood, after saying goodbye to Suzette, who had just arrived.

Suzette submerged a 1x 1 x 6 inch cedar plank under water in the bathtub for over an hour.

While I was walking I met Josh and then his wife, Mary, beside their home at Laguna and Los Alamos and found out he is a bocce enthusiast and has discovered the oyster markdown system at Smith’s.  We pledged to play bocce and he offered to prepare a Yucatan Oyster Soup and I promised to break out the champagne or rose when it gets warmer.

When I returned home in darkness at 5:30, Suzette was busy making a Cream of Avocado Soup from a recipe she found on the Internet. We tasted it and added some ground cumin to give it a bit more earthy flavor. After it was made in the Cuisinart she chilled it in the fridge.

I made gin and tonic and then prepared a cup of rice.

After the rice had cooked about 15 minutes of the required 30 minutes, Suzette heated the propane grill and then around 6:30 started grilling the 1.7 lb. teriyaki marinated salmon fillet.

A bit after 7:00 when the edge of the salmon fillet was fully cooked and removed from the grill and the thicker portion was cooked just beyond searing Suzette plated our plates with rice and salmon and served us bowls of Avocado Soup garnished with a small pile of crushed tortilla chips. I drank a glass of Italian Falerio white wine and Suzette drank a bottle of Belgium Stella Artois beer.

We enjoyed playing dinner, especially the new recipe of avocado soup because the avocados were perfectly ripe and creamy.

At around 8:30 Willy arrived after his workout and ate the dinner we had plus a small pile of seaweed salad with the salmon and rice for an ever better dinner.

Willy left after dinner and I then drank two cups of chai and ate three cookies as we watched the news.

Suzette went to bed at 10:00 and I stayed up to watch the first 30 minutes of Rachel to hear the ruling by the D.C. federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the district court’s denial of Trump’s application to enjoin the release of the records the January 6th Committee of the House subpoenaed from the National Archives.  Trump has 14 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.  If he does not appeal, the records will be released to the Committee on December 23, 2021.

The Attorney General of New York also said today she intends to take Trump’s deposition in her civil fraud case against the Trump organization for tax evasion.  So, it was another wonderful day in the witch hunt of our ex-President.

The Market did another gyration today, with the NASDAQ dropping 669 points.  My portfolio dropped 1.655%. The downward amplitude of the waves of volatility will have diminished a bit in the last week if there is not another significant drop tomorrow.

I heard a bit of Cramer on Mad Money today say,  “Some days you just have to watch it and suffer”, which could be the mantra for this wildly rolling market that feels like one is in a small boat in a storm at sea with 30 foot swells.  It makes it a lot easier to keep going when some days the swells also raise the portfolio to a new high as it has three times in the last two weeks.

I also successfully completed a Required Mandatory Distribution from one of my three IRA accounts, so I have completed all of my distributions for this year.

Bon Appetit