Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Hi Reaper,
Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy December 45th, 2020. Hoping the finale to this year comes soon. Be well!
Hi Marich. Hope you and all other LAHO shareholders are doing well. May 2021 be a better year than 2020.... even if just modestly better.
No longer have PM.
I 100% get what’s going on.
something
Don’t have PM anymore. I’m aware that boards don’t get shut down. I was merely pointing out that people are still motivated to talk about this despite “nothing” happening.
Hi Reaper,
Just wanted to wish you and everyone else here a Happy New Year!
Imagine an infectious disease that is at LEAST as transmissible as COVID-19 (including asymptomatic cases), but has a 10% - 20% case-fatality rate.
The reason diseases like Ebola haven’t become pandemics is:
1. It’s only infectious when someone is symptomatic
2. The disease progresses quickly, so people are usually bed-ridden quickly (and not out spreading it to others).
People call COVID-19 a once-in-a-century pandemic. I know, because I was one of those people early on. Now it’s abundantly clear to me that the more we infringe on the habitats of other animals - the more likely for zoonotic transmission. I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s another pandemic within the next 10 years. Given how easy it is to travel now (compared to 1918), spreading a virus globally can happen in a matter of a couple of days (depending on the location of patient zero - urban vs. rural?)
Agreed - hockey is best watched in person, but the only way for me to watch the NHL in Seattle is on the TV... Well, for a few more months anyway.
Luckily I’ve always lived close to WHL teams, so get a chance to watch these kids play live regularly. Had seats right behind Carter Hart’s net for a couple of seasons. Don’t know how he was still available in the second round of the NHL entry draft. He was still the first goalie drafted that year, but the Flyers were the lucky ones to get that gem. I’m sure other teams are kicking themselves about it. Unfortunately for the Sharks, Martin Jones was coming off the Stanley Cup Finals that year. Little did they know what a dud he’d turn out to be.
What if I told you my grandparents were Blackhawks season ticket holders when my mom was growing up? Two uncles are Cubs fans and the other is a Sox fan. Of course, everyone is a Bears fan. I had my Bears parka in junior high - which people in Eastern WA scratched their heads at.
Seattle is becoming a pretty good sports town, but I’ll admit, Chicago is in a league of its own. That and Lou Malnati’s pizza. Always have at least one frozen one in my fridge (about as close as I can get to fresh Lou’s in the PNW).
“He upgraded to the fastest DSL that the telco offers. His connection drops constantly and, even when it works, speeds are abysmal.”
It’s always the owners/officers of SMBs who manage to have the problems. For example, our MSP has been battling MFA issues for our CEO. It’s been going on for two weeks with no end in site. One of our warehouse directors had the same issue. Took two minutes to fix. Go figure.
I was almost two years old when St. Helens blew. I grew up in SE WA, and vaguely remember my dad holding me at the end of the driveway and I could see the plume of black smoke headed our way. I don’t remember much after that, but I’m told there was about three inches of ash on the ground for a couple of weeks.
I grew up watching the WHL (including the Portland Winterhawks). The Americans were my team (Olaf Kolzig, Stu Barnes) but I adopted the Silvertips when I moved to Pugetopolis (Carter Hart, Radko Gudas, Ryan Murray, etc.)
Recently picked my Kraken season tix seats (half season shared amongst a few friends, that is).
Sports are given too much clout in this country, don’t get me wrong, but hockey is the most under-appreciated major team sport, IMO.
I grew up in eastern WA (ie. Trump country). So I want to preface my statement by saying there are many good people (of both major parties) that live there.
But to be flippant - it’ll probably take talk of building a wall for the rural areas to be willing to spend money on network infrastructure :P.
Yeah, there has been a lot of talk about it for the past couple of decades (with a bit of action - mostly in urban and suburban areas). Hopefully the Biden Administration can kick the process into higher gear for the entire country!
To clarify, I’m not advocating a government takeover of our network infrastructure. I was speaking mainly to the government working and coordinating with local last-mile carriers to beef up the infrastructure - especially in rural areas.
I lost hours of my life in the first few months of the pandemic explaining to end users that “the problem” wasn’t with our server - it was with their home internet. I give the ISPs a C+ for their services at the beginning of the pandemic. Right now, I’d give them a B. They gotta figure out how to manage QoS for home users. If I had a penny for every time I had to take my cell phone off of WiFi so my calls would stop breaking up, I’d be rich.
A few years ago, I got stressed managing our entire team of techs (as well as 200+ customer networks), and decided to take a position for supply chain distributor. Now I only have 6 locations to manage - which is much less stressful. Instead of staying up at night worrying about whether backups ran for 200+ customers, I only have to worry about one :).
We’ve pretty much moved all of our physical servers to VMs on a SAN in our collocation. That said, we still have retail customers who prefer fax and, believe it or not, a brooktrout modem in a physical server is cheaper than an electronic fax solution for us.
We’re considering letting our file servers sunset, and move all of our shares to Sharepoint. Other than needing domain controllers/authentication servers in each location, moving those file shares will be the last thing we need to completely virtualize our critical systems.
That being said, I still firmly believe this pandemic has exposed the fragility of bandwidth availability amongst our ISPs. Until business and home users can have reliable, fast internet (99.999%) uptime, I don’t know if physical servers will go away (aside from the ones in “the cloud” that host everything :)).
Sorry, I’ve digressed from the topic of this board. That being said, I do think the government ought to invest money in WAN infrastructure so we can continue to move into the 21st century.
“Bingo. The Jews that didn't pay attention to what was going to happen, and basically stuck their heads in the sand....had a very harsh awakening....but then it was too late.....”
Which is exactly why people like Donald Trump need to be out of office. Calling White supremecists and neo-nazis “very fine people” is something that Jews today take very seriously. It’s why he has to go, and one of many reasons he lost the election emphatically (no matter what crazy conspiracy theories he peddles).
As a child of the 80s/90s, I can attest to the absurdity of the war on drugs. I was never into drugs, but from what I could see from some kids around me, that war wasn’t working at all. To your point, it certainly has caused lasting effects on the poorer demographics.
“As technology improves production per person will also improve further limiting opportunities for the masses. Unless the USA attitudes change there will be further spread between the haves and have nots.”
Technology certainly improves scalability. I’m guessing it’ll lead us down a path to new “things” that we can’t do today, but will be able to in the future. It’s kind of like the industrial revolution right now, but at an exponential scale. I suspect new types of jobs and trades will emerge. Maybe it’ll offset some of the jobs that are going away now? That said, I agree with you wholeheartedly - if this country doesn’t start taking education more seriously, the divide between the socioeconomic classes will continue to grow.
You are correct. I jumped into the MSP world for those reasons. Lots of SMBs can’t afford in-house IT, so look to 3rd-party providers IT support. Frankly, I’m all for the movement of bare metal servers to VMs. Furthermore, it’s just a matter of time when there will be enough bandwidth for all businesses to take those VMs out of an on-premises environment and into something hosted like AWS, Google Cloud or Azure.
COVID has certainly expedited some of that. However, what IT is today will become something different in the future. It’s definitely a continuing education trade. I’m old enough to remember being excited when DOS 6.22 came out, and I installed it on my 256MB HDD :). Time flies.
I feel the same way about being a Sharks fan. Maybe the Kraken will convert me.
“People need to be able to be adapt.”
Totally. Many of the typical blue-collar jobs have been automated or are on the verge of being automated. Heck, even some white collar jobs are becoming more and more automated.
Until someone can vastly improve the Flowbee, perhaps being a beautician and/or barber is the most stable trade to be in? Though, even COVID has thrown a monkey-wrench into that.
Thanks for the exchange. Look forward to more in the future. I’ve got a pre-schooler (whose daycare is closed this week) that will be awake in about 6 hours. Gotta get some sleep while I can. Good evening!
Maybe it’s a matter of doing something to ensure decent paying jobs for those blue collar workers (who have mostly been political pawns)? I know this is a robust topic, but please humor my generalization for a moment.
Maybe if people are more financially stable (can pay bills, have food, have some disposable money for fun things, etc.) then we, in essence, “stop the bleeding” of discontent? Perhaps relaxes people enough to think more rationally and be less inclined to follow conspiracy theories? Maybe then they’d be more open to the idea of better education for themselves and their kids?
I totally realize this would require a lot of things to fall into place, but I think my point is that maybe “stabilizing the patient” comes before convincing people that we need to spend more on education?
It’s a good point. Not everyone is on a path for 4-year college and that’s totally fine. Frankly, I think COVID has sped up the “retraction” of on-campus higher education. Why move to another town for college when you can do it cheaper from home? Sure, the social experience is lost, but maybe it’s just changing to be a virtual experience anyway?
I agree with you in regards to high schools needing improvement. It’s probably the most impactful time of a kid’s life when determining their future trajectory. I do think, though, that improvement from pre-school through junior high/middle school could be quite helpful, too - in such a way that it carries on to high school. Needless to say, urban areas need a lot of help. And I think rural areas do, too.... badly.
Circling back to a comment you made in an earlier post - there are a lot of people who talk about improving education in America, but it’s mostly lip service. You hit the nail on the head. It also makes me think of politicians paying lip service to helping “our kids and grandkids”. All talk, no show.
I’m not much of an “idea” guy, but on-and-off for the last month or so, I’ve been trying to think of ways to make better education a reality. Obtaining funding is the biggest hurdle, so for me, it seems that everyone needs to be convinced of WHY we need to spend more money on education.... and that’s where I keep hitting a brick wall.
Would the failure of how we handled COVID be enough to make people think more about improving education? Or is it just another topic that gets caught up between political factions?
These are mostly rhetorical questions, but I’m open to any ideas or thoughts.
m not opposed to trade school, but do believe that something needs to be done to improve K-12 education so it can provide a better balanced curriculum to the kids. More importantly, find a way to keep the kids more engaged and WANTING to learn.
Its going to involve much more money being spent on education. While the Re-Trump-Licans will certainly balk at anything that might be helpful to others, I think the original Republicans (like those from the Lincoln Project) may change there tune somewhat on this topic. After seeing what happens when their party got hijacked by lunatics, perhaps they’ll do some soul searching? I don’t know. Maybe just more wishful thinking on my part.
I’ve never understood why sports take precedence over academia in this country. I mean, I get it - it’s about the money. Which means some people in this country, generally speaking, have (in my opinion) the wrong priorities. As a result, they ignore science class, and misinformation flourishes during a pandemic and lots of people unnecessarily die. I know I’m generalizing, but hope my point is taken.
To be clear, I am an avid soccer and hockey fan - so I also have some culpability in the aforementioned statements.
You may be right, and we can’t fix stupid. It’s why I’m putting my hope in younger generations to move us (more or less) passed bigotry and “very fine people” being normalized.
Also, thank you for the article. Now I need to read and/or watch Ender’s Game again.
So true. My hypothesis is that better education would help a lot, but to your point, this sort of disdain for the “elite” or college-educated people is rampant in American culture.
I have some hope that the millennials will be the next Greatest Generation. I know they get flack for “participation trophies,” even though it’s it’s their entitled Boomer parents who actually made those a thing.
Generally speaking, I think millennials grew up being much more accepting of others who may be “different” (black, white, brown, gay, straight, etc.) that those sort of divides will diminish at an exponential rate once that generation is in power. Of course they won’t diminish completely, and there will be different divides to contend with. However, for a generation that has suffered through two recessions, now, I certainly hope they have learned what NOT to do in the future. Possibly not allow the pursuit of education to be stigmatized? Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part.
Anyhow, thanks for sharing the article!
Thanks for the greetings! Also glad to see some hockey fans here!
My opinion is that, in American politics, a centrist approach works best. I’d tend to agree that left-center has been better for the country (at least since 1993). Right now, I think we’re just trying to stop the bleeding of factionism and (hopefully) will be able to find more compromise in the coming years.
If there is one thing this pandemic has made me realize, it’s that our education system sucks. When people believe the words of a bloviating sociopath over factual information provided via science, there is a problem. Had people received better education (in this example, with science), then I suspect we wouldn’t be in near the mess we’re in now.
He did say, “I love the poorly educated.” And then stopped himself to say it again.
Critical thinking is a skill that roughly 30% of the American population lacks.
I’d agree that idiocy, in general, won’t go away on January 20. It just won’t be in the Oval Office anymore.
I find the crumbling of the Republican Party to be fascinating. It’ll be interesting to see how that affects the Democrats.
My prediction is that many republicans will leave the party to become independents or democrats. Then the independents and Democrats will start caucusing together. Then the progressives will leave the Democratic Party to form a new left-wing party. The Democrats will become the new center party. Haven’t figured out if that’ll be center-right or center-left. With the millennials and Gen Z’ers getting older, I have a feeling it’ll be center-left. Anyhow, I digress.
The age of conspiracy theories as the norm (rather than the exception) is coming to an end.
Turns out that the snowflakes were projecting their own insecurities onto others four years ago.
For a Star Wars fan, the season 2 finale was.... well... it just brings back the giddiness of being a kid watching Star Wars.... wow.
For those who may enjoy Star Wars, but not be total nerds of the canon... I think they’d find it to be a really good episode.
Hi Reaper,
Speeds will definitely improve and the “wired” ISPs know it. Cellular beat WiMAX, and it’s ultimately going to give the wired world a run for its money.
Forgive me, I’ve been preaching to the choir about the Mandalorian for a few posts, here, now. Looking forward to your thoughts when things line up and you’re able to watch!
L’chaim, Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays! Hope you and your friends and family are enjoying the season despite 2020!
Hi Reaper,
Sorry, I was giving you a little too much grief. In my line of work, I can appreciate the predicament you’re in with bandwidth.
Although, I’m sure your bandwidth was limited prior to the pandemic, our ISP’s weren’t prepared for so much bandwidth to be used. Period. On a side note, not sure if that means we should think about investing more (or less) in ISPs moving forward. Feels like they failed the stress test in the first few months of the pandemic, so they’re on notice to make that right.. I digress.
Listen - whenever you are able to watch the Mandalorian is good enough for me. Sounds like it’s piqued your interest, so I’m looking forward to you having a chance to watch it as soon as the circumstances allow! I’m also quite excited for the other Star Wars ventures that Disney announced recently! But, I’m a bit of a Star Wars nerd if it wasn’t already apparent :).
Stay well, man. These next couple of months are going to be the worst of it, but the light at the end of the tunnel will start brightening in late Feb/early March, IMO.
Touché. How could I have forgotten that the PS4 is also a Blu Ray player? “DD” failure on my part :).
Glad you’re seeing availability for DVD/Blu-Ray. That said, there’s no excuse not to watch it. Now I definitely won’t stop bugging you until you at least catch the first episode.
Hi Reaper,
It’s totally true - when we were growing up, pretty much no one even heard of gluten (myself included). Awareness has definitely improved. Here in the Seattle area, there are actually quite a few restaurants with gluten-free kitchens. For those that have two levels, they’ll keep the gluten on floor 1 and non-gluten on floor 2. That said, there’s still plenty of cross contamination at other places. Luckily, a lot of places around here are cognizant of that and have disclaimers and such. So it definitely helps my brother and sister-in-law navigate things for my nephew.
I mean this in the absolute nicest way possible, but DVDs?? I’m mostly poking fun at you, but given the HD nature of the Mandalorian, you may need a Blu-Ray player. (should Disney decide to release it on physical media).
Don’t worry, I’ll keep insisting until you finally watch the first two episodes ;).
Hi Reaper,
Got it - the flour. That makes sense in where the gluten comes from. I was picturing gluten being sprinkled between the slices initially, hahaha.
I have my own ailments, but I never realized how fortunate I was to be able to eat gluten until my nephew was diagnosed. That being said, it’d probably be better for me to eat LESS gluten. Everyone’s got a vice, I suppose.
Let me know if you’re able to watch the Mandalorian. No offense will be taken if you’re not into it, but hope you’re at least entertained.
Hi Reaper,
So first of all what I’m gleaning is that I need to go buy some pudding and mozzarella sticks. On it.
I had no idea gluten was used to help separate sliced cheese. Wow..... Learn something new every day. Thanks for sharing.
As for the mandalorian v. PS4 - I understand your conundrum, dude. You gotta prioritize your bandwidth usage. My unsolicited suggestion is to find a time to get a trial Disney+ account, and check out an episode or two. If you aren’t into it, cancel the subscription before you have to pay, and focus all attention on PS4.... or... binge season 1 and 2 during that trial period and still cancel. Or... keep the subscription and watch some Pixar movies, too.
I concur
Hi Reaper,
Firefly. Yes - a tragedy that it wasn’t able to go beyond one season. For years, I’ve been hoping that they bring it back. I still hold hope.
So I asked my brother if he knew of Udi, and he said, “Have I heard of air? Water? Yes.” The topic came up because a pizzeria we like in Chicago (that ships flash-frozen pizzas cross country) is now offering gluten-free crust. Unfortunatey, he found out that the gluten free crust is processed in the same area as non-gluten free. With a son who has celiac, he can’t eat it... yet. My hope is that the pizzeria gets good sales of gluten free and is able to have a totally gluten free kitchen.
As an IT person, I completely understand the predicament you’re in with low bandwidth. As an avid Star Wars fan, I think you need to figure it out so you can watch the Mandalorian ;).
Hi Reaper,
I’d be genuinely interested to get the perspective, of the Mandalorian, from someone who isn’t a Star Wars fanatic like me. I mean that in a good way. Does it have any appeal to people who (traditionally) aren’t enamored by the Sci-Fi/Western genre? Anyway, I think you might find it fun, but you would have to sign up for a Disney+ subscription. Right now you could get through Season 1 and most of Season 2 with a trial membership.
I had no idea there was a new Guy Ritchie film. I will definitely be making time to watch that in the near future. Thanks for the tip.
On a related note, have you ever seen Mean Machine? Sorry if I’ve already asked you this in the past. It’s not a Ritchie movie, but has a chunk of the cast from Lock, Stock and Snatch, and the cinematography is similar. It’s a well-written and fun comedy.
On an OTC note - what are your thoughts on DGTW at this point? I am a bit surprised to see it still churning in that .0025 - .0035 zone. I’m not complaining - just not quite what I had expected.
Hi Reaper,
Pixar, for example. From the day I first saw Toy Story in the 90s, I knew there was talent in everything that went into that movie. Now I am fortunate to be able to watch those movies regularly. They’re a lot of fun. Even though I’ve seen Cars more times than I can remember, the detail that went into that movie (animation, script, cultural details, etc.). Amazingly done in such subtle (but relevant) ways.
I’m with you, man. I have a renewed appreciation for kids movies. Who knows - when my son outgrows those movies, I may still be forking over money for the Disney+ subscription. And not just for watching live-action Star Wars series. On a related note - not sure if you watch the Mandalorian, but the last two episodes have been fantastic. The whole show brings me back to the glee I felt as a kid when watching Star Wars movies.
Anyway, hope you’re continuing to stay well! We’re entering the worst of this pandemic now. Thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just gotta get through the next few months.
Hi Reaper,
Thanks for the tip regarding Udi. I’ll mention it to my brother the next time we speak.
I’m a bit baffled as to how a restaurant can call itself “gluten free,” but have product that contains gluten. Your sister’s anger is totally justified.
As for kids movies with adult appeal? I’m living that now with Pixar movies. I like it - a good excuse to watch movies I, otherwise, would not have.