Monday, January 1, 2018

Evanston: annual report to shareholders



        Were the above a sales graph, reading from left to right, the company would be in serious trouble, but I trust you will recognize it as GANNET’s  2017 track that reads from lower right to upper left, Durban, South Africa to Marathon, Florida, with two stops:  St. Helena and St. Lucia.  Day’s runs total 7746 miles for the year.  23339 miles since leaving San Diego in 2014.
        Although it was not an intended goal, since leaving Darwin, Australia, GANNET has sailed 211º of longitude--Darwin is 131ºE, Marathon 80ºW--almost two thirds of the way around the world, with only three stops.
        I have changed the Yellowbrick tracking default page to one named 2018, now blank.  I am back on the little boat a week tomorrow and don’t yet know what lines will be drawn on it.
        I worked out 57 times, far fewer than the 100 I aim for, but higher than usual for a year in which I cross oceans.  Of those 57, 42 came in the last four months of the year.  I did not workout aboard GANNET in Marathon because of the heat.  I think working out there would likely have resulted in death by push-up.
        I estimate that I did 9050 push-ups and crunches during the year.  Only an estimate because I now frequently do 80 pushups in my first set, instead of my age of 76, but not always.  I also have started taking the stairs two at a time during my twenty flights a day.  One at a time was getting too easy.
       I close the three circles on my Apple watch activity app at least six days a week.  Sometimes I take Sunday off.
        Two other noteworthy events:  
        I started wearing hearing aids.  A mixed review.  They are comfortable, unobtrusive.  They definitely enable me to hear better, but sometimes I would rather not.  Fortunately mine are controlled by an iPhone app and I can cut off with a tap the noise of the world when it becomes too intrusive.
        The other is the probability that we are buying the condo on Hilton Head Island.
        The list of books read in the past six months is below.

        If you read this journal and the passage logs, you are a shareholder and know me better in some ways than those who don’t, even if they frequently see me in person. 
        Your loyalty is appreciated.
        The company makes no profit, pays no dividends, has no capital appreciation, no credit rating, is rated by Morningstar at -5 stars.  On the plus side the CEO is not among those who are extravagantly overpaid, although he is extravagantly compensated.


books read July-December 2017

    THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH   Arturo Perez-Reverte
DEATH OF KINGS   Bernard Cornwall
PEDRO PÁRAMO   Juan Rulfo
THE FALL   Albert Camus
FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK-BOX   Nathaniel H. Bishop
WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS   Ray Bradbury
PANDORA’S LAB   Paul A. Offit
JACKPOT   Jason  Ryan
THE PAGAN LORD  Bernard  Cornwall
THE EMPTY THRONE   Bernard Cornwall
THE MOVIEGOER   Walker Percy
SHADOW COUNTRY   Peter Mattiessen
WARRIORS OF THE STORM   Bernard Cornwall
THE FLAME BEARER   Bernard Cornwall
A LEGACY OF SPIES  John le Carré
BRAVE NEW WORLD   Aldous Huxley
HUE 1968   Mark Bowden
PLAY IT AS IT LAYS   Joan Didion
ALI   Jonathon Eig
RAGTIME  E. L. Doctorow
GRANT   Ron  Chernow
TREKKA ROUND THE  WORLD   John Guzzwell
ALL THAT YOU’VE SEEN HERE IS GOD   Bryan Doerries
THE  ODYSSEY  Homer/Emily Wilson
THE FRINGES OF POWER   John Colville
BRAVE COMPANIONS   David McCullough
AN ELEPHANT FOR ARISTOTLE   L. Sprague de Camp
THE FLEET THAT HAD TO DIE   Richard Hough