February 23, 2026 Breakfast - Granola Lunch - Mary and Tito’s Dinner - Nicoise Salad with Smoked Trout

 February 23, 2026 Breakfast - Granola  Lunch - Mary and Tito’s Dinner - Nicoise Salad with Smoked Trout

I love Monday’s. I usually am rested and ready to do some work. Today was one of those days. I read my book for a few minutes, then showered and dressed and at 9:00 ate a bowl of granola, with milk, mango yogurt, and blueberries at my desk.

I kept getting diverted from my work by important things like a conversation with Scott bringing me up to date on the LRGA, checking to see if Tarantino County received my tax payment, and paying my Annual safety deposit box fee.

Finally, I was able to read an amendment to a PSA and talk to Rahim.

At 11:15 I remembered that Peter and I had tried to have lunch last week but failed to connect so I called him and he said he was ready to go to lunch, so I drove over and drove us to Mary and Tito’s.

Peter ordered a chichirone burrito and I ordered the Monday special of a taco and a chili Relleno with double beans, both with red chili. Both of our meals were less than $9.00.

We had an illuminating discussion of the book, Stella Maris and its author, Cormac McCarthy. Peter is a deeply knowledgeable student of literature, so his insights were helpful. He summarized the book in one sentence, “This book is just like Alice in Wonderland where the plot is constantly shifting from reality to illusion.”

Thank you Peter.

When we finished lunch, Peter offered to pay the check which I found very generous of him.

I fetched the car and drove him home.

When I returned home I worked at my desk until 3:30 when I walked to the bank and then checked my portfolio. It was a bloodbath in the market today with the Dow falling 822 points and the NASDAQ falling 259 points, the worst day in over a month. But when I checked my stocks something remarkable. My portfolio had a slight gain of .13% thanks to increases in my larger holdings, Apple, Nvidia, and AT&T. All my other stocks, except XOM which rose on the increased price of oil, were down dramatically. The only explanation I have is I was lucky.

Suzette came home around 3:00 and so after I checked my portfolio, I watched Ari with her. We also watched the burning of cars and buildings in Puerto Vallarta by the cartels, including cars in the Costco parking lot we shopped at last Monday. Henry called to make sure I made it back okay and I confirmed I had.

Dinner - 

At 5:00 I peeled and cubed a potato and put the cubes into the pot in which she was hard boiling four eggs in order to prep Salads Nicoise she was making for dinner with the trout we smoked on the grill Saturday evening instead of the traditional tuna and added some guacamole I made with 1 1/2 large avocados, garlic, red onion, lime juice, and Cholula 

I walked around the block to accumulate 3700 steps and when I returned she had finished two beautifully composed salads and made a lovely light honey mustard dressing with Mayo.

I fetched a chilled bottle of Spanish Faustino Umblea Albariño and poured glasses.

This is my favorite Albariño and is available at Costco for $12.99. It was fun having a lovely salad Nicoise with a lovely wine.

After dinner I spoke to Luke for about an hour and then watched the second hour of Antiques Roadshow with Suzette, who went to bed at 9:00. I stayed up to watch a documentary on Barbara Jordan.

I then blogged and went to sleep at 11:45.

Bon Appetit

I cannot explain