wiltznucs

Did Japan back in March.

Flew into Tokyo and out of Osaka. The Osaka routes back to the States will almost assuredly have you go from Osaka to Tokyo/Incheon/Taipei/etc then back to the States. There’s very few direct flights from Osaka to the States. If you do find one; odds are it will land you in LAX or San Francisco.

Our flight route had us leave Osaka then to Tokyo and into Toronto before heading back to the States. It was a long haul. Cost wise and time wise; we found that paying to take the Shinkansen back to Tokyo would have cost more than simply departing via Osaka. It ultimately wouldn’t save any time either. But a bullet train back from Osaka to Tokyo is definitely an option which would allow you to arrive and depart via Tokyo.

Metals go up; metals go down. Been dabbling with shiny for over a decade now.

What’s happening currently is unlike anything I’ve seen before. The last pricing surge was 2008-12’. This was during the global financial crisis and Great Recession. Housing prices tanked, a lot of people lost their asses and the stock market had two years of negative or breakeven performance.

The current surge in pricing is exponentially greater than the last and nobody wants to say aloud why that is. The stock market has been on a tear. So it’s not that. There’s no recession as of yet. So gold/silver pricing is clearly decoupled from the market and stated economic fundamentals.

So what’s prompting the surge? It’s a few things. The election of one Donald J Trump is one. Gold was at $2,600 in October of last year. The month before he was elected. Still at a historic high to be clear; but, only a few hundred dollars above the previous surge high a decade earlier. It’s hovering around $4,300 today. Things changed after Election Day. It’s widely believed that his economic policies are going to torpedo the US and global economy so people worldwide invest in metals as a historic hedge. At a broader level; foreign countries which have historically invested in US Treasuries are worried that our countries debt is unsustainable, may choose to not buy for political reasons and have undoubtedly taken note that the $USD has lost 10% of its value in the past year. So these foreign governments and institutions are shifting to gold too. At the same time; you’ve got crypto bros shifting from meme coins to metals. Silver in particular. There’s entire wallstreetbets type groups devoted to physical and or options trades. So there’s concerted manipulation going on too. Think GameStop version 2.0 particularly with silver.

When will prices stop climbing? I have no idea. I think it’s entirely possible; if not likely, that prices will continue to climb. Particularly if the R-word (recession) becomes a thing.

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You really shouldn’t besmirch the Stockport Messi like that

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He apparently read my comment and took it personally. #AgedLikeMilk… LOL

I see glimmers of hope; followed by games like this one. They need a bit more time to gel I think. When the feed it to Haaland thing works; it works. When it doesn’t; it just doesn’t. Feels like we live and die by him. Someone should put Foden’s image on the milk boxes in Manchester. Hasn’t been seen in over a year. Not sold on Savinho either. I will say the new keeper is clutch. I personally believe we’re too far out to catch Arsenal now. We’d need them to have a Liverpool like fall. I don’t think we can consistently score enough to win the Champions League. At this point the only trophies I think are reasonably achievable are the FA and EFL.

I’ve got a little seedling experiment going too. I grabbed up some Improved Solo Sunrise F1 Papaya seeds I’m trying to germinate.

It’s supposedly an improved high yield Solo Sunrise fruit. The fruits are larger on average than the Original Solo Sunrise. They also claim to have bred out the nasturtium profile which gives the vomit-like flavors found in some papaya varieties. We’ll see….

If anyone wants seeds; I’ve got plenty and will happily mail you some.



Outside of that; got my onion sets planted yesterday. Co-planted some into my strawberry plants which are on the struggle bus; I planted them right before the freeze and it really set them back.

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what's your opinion of Marcus Pumpkin

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I can honestly say that I’ve never ate one. I don’t see them here in Central FL. It seems like it’s more common in SoFL.

Marcus is probably the most divisive avocado on the local fruit forums. It has it’s fans; but, most people seem to think that it’s lacking in flavor.

I think a large part of its appeal is the novelty of its huge size. One of a few avocados that readily gets up to 3-4lbs.

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I had a cold hardy one (but can’t remember the name) that froze in the hard freeze of 2024, when it got down to the low teens. It didn’t come back. I thought about trying it again, but read somewhere that the avocados the cold hardy ones produce are not good compared to the standard (Haas) ones. Can anyone confirm this?

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Haas is a Mexican variety that seems to thrive in more arid environments like Southern California. It generally doesn’t do well on the east coast. Doesn’t fare well if temps drop below 25.

Here in Florida; when people are looking for super cold hardy varieties that can survive temps dipping as low as 18-20 degrees you’ll hear varieties like Mexicola and Joey thrown around. Not exactly easy to find and not considered great table fare by comparison to others.

Others worth looking at are

Bacon (22-25F)
Brogdon (22-25 F)
Hall (24-26 F)
Lula (24-26 F)
Marcus (22-25F)
Monroe (24-26 F)
Pinkerton (22-25F)

Whichever you choose; understand that young trees regardless of type are the most vulnerable. The cold tolerance stated above is for mature established trees.

So; my thinking at least at the moment is it’s dry AF. We’re in drought conditions here; which is ideal for minimizing powder mildew and anthracnose on the blooms. I’m going to let them ride. If I’m eating fresh mangoes in March-April; I’m not complaining. Odds are I’ll get a second late crop. I’m in uncharted territory; fingers crossed. My usual gauge which is Dwarf Hawaiian seems to be dormant. I’m seeing new flushes coming from CAC, Mahachanok and it looks like Angie plus Pickering may give me another flush too:

Well; this is a first. Mango panicles in mid-November. This is a Nam Doc Mai. I didn’t allow it to hold fruit this Spring and it’s thrown out mixed blooms throughout the summer which I’ve trimmed back. The recent near freezing temperatures kicked it into overdrive.

The flowers haven’t emerged yet so no telling if it’s got both male and female flowers. Either way; it fruit does set we’ll need a very mild winter to have it work out. We’ll see…

Pickpockets are a thing; otherwise extremely safe.

Probably too late to nab a ticket to the Anne Frank House. I’d find a walking tour and see some sights. Perhaps hit the Van Gogh or Rijksmuseum. Have a drink at the Amstel or Heineken Brewery. Eat a Stroopwafel and have some Dutch frites. Go to the Red Light District after nightfall. Tons of people go there each day and it’s a common meeting point for locals before their night on the town.