Lemur Journal!

[Lemur]

What happens when you mix pinto beans, egg, flour, salt and fry it on both ends?

You get this weird pinto beans burger...pancake...thing.



Ate with ketchup...it was best described as edible. Actually would eat again but not exactly something I would crave.

[Lemur]

The foods I pickled turned out awesome. Very strong taste by themselves but found the cucumber pickles to be amazing on tuna sandwich with ground mustard.

Also finally harvested our first pumpkin. My son is obsessed with this now.

[saltefanden]

Jesus! How much food does a plant need to grow such a monster?! - I wish I had some garden space myself. It's nice to follow your garden development so keep the garden stories up Nice work!

[Lemur]

@Saltefanden

Thanks. Its funny this year because my garden overall hasn't done well...no zuchinni producing, tiny tomatoes, small garlic, small squash....my first round of planting just hasn't gone well and I'm basically in planting #2 in July. The only exception being this monster pumpkin vine. The soil where I planted this must have been very fertile but in hindsight I dumb lucked this one; I happened to plant it close to where a gutter drains (constant water supply) on the side of my white house (reflecting light) and also a spot where the sun hits heavy. This plant made me re-think about my garden location altogether.

I thought about web-of-goals today as I'm halfway through a re-read of the ERE book (I'm on 'The Renaissance Lifestyle' chapter). My recent dieting efforts as an example:

Eat less food (savings) = Positive
Better health = Positive
Maintaining a lower-bodyweight after dieting completion = Don't need as much calories to maintain new weight (health + savings) = Positive
Eating healthier means + skill increases in cooking = Positive

It is an all-around positive to get ones bodyweight to a normal BMI (healthy weight). Even if one carries a lot of muscle mass, this would only put you near the higher range of the 'healthy weight' and you would have to carry A LOT of muscle to justify being in the 'over-weight' category on a BMI.

For me to get to a healthy bodyweight of 21.7 BMI (I read somewhere that even having higher then a 22 BMI could have health risks? Need to find that source...) I would have to achieve a bodyweight of 160lbs (I am 191lbs right now).

That seems way too low. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. The mid-point is 21.7 which is where I derived that from. So since I'm probably carrying 5-10lbs of muscle more than the average person my height (because I work-out and lift some weights enough), I could probably justify 165-175lb range for long-term health and bodyweight maintenance.

[Gilberto de Piento]

The more I learn about gardening the more it seems like I need to accept that there will be some randomness I can't control. One year the peppers are strong, the next they are weak even though I did everything the same. Some solutions are to plant more than you need and to diversify what is planted.

[jacob]

https://www.amazon.com/Longevity-Diet-D ... 525534075/ has the recommended value of 22. It's 21 if you're apple-shaped so as to reduce abdominal fat and the chronic diseases risk factors associated with that. A BMI of 22 also turns out to be the value that the majority of people considers the most attractive body shape.

IIRC, only 10% of Americans have a BMI under 22 these days, so it definitely wouldn't be normal to have a healthy weight.

In terms of body fat percentage, which is a better measure, the target is ~15% for men and ~25% for women. In reality, it's a good deal higher (+15% excess) than that.

[chenda]

Though regardless of your BMI, if your waist is more than 80 cm/94 cm for a female/male you are unhealthy fat.

[Lemur]

@Gilberto

Motivational quotes:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes ... l_Mollison

I also watch some Youtube videos on this channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ThePermaculturGarden

His common theme is that there will certainly be factors we can't control but one should learn to see these mistakes / failures as 'feedback'. Work with the system not against it...It takes experience though to be proactive as opposed to reactive.

@Jacob

Makes sense. My subconscious has probably been skewed in terms of what a healthy weight looks like given that 90% of the people I see are over 22 BMI. Now that I think about it, I have a co-worker who I used to think is god-awfully skinny but, now...hes probably at a healthy weight. I specifically remember a photo of some polynesian indigenousness peoples...can't remember whom they're called but there diet is made up of basically purple yams. Some anthropologists went down there and took bodyweight and other measurements and were somewhat stunned to report not a single overweight person nor did they find anyone with common western diseases. Even the older folk were still very active. They asked these individuals if they ever feel hungry to which they responded that they're essentially in a perpetual state of small hunger and when given the chance they do absolutely binge whenever they could. But in this photo, I didn't see an unhealthy weight - these guys looked like our athletes do.

I'll need to be exactly 162lbs to be 22 BMI. Assuming I'm carrying an extra 5-10lbs of muscle, 167lbs-172lbs is probably a great target. My best shape was fall 2013, I weighed 173lbs and was the only time in my life I could see my abdominal muscles.

@Chenda

Agree and Jacob provided a good source as well. For men especially who tend to accumulate in this area due to certain sex hormones.I've heard of Dr. Valter Longo's work. He developed the fasting-mimic diet as I recall. I used to have the beta excel sheet a while ago. I probably still have it somewhere.

[Lemur]

I found it! I had to really dig in the memory bank for this one lol

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trobriand_people

[jacob]

Muscle has a higher density than fat. Given the same weight, people with a higher bodyfat percentage thus take up more volume than e.g athletic bodies which are more "compact". I've found that people tend to estimate weight by size more than shape. so athletic bodies look smaller because they are smaller (smaller clothing size for the same weight). I suppose it's similar to estimating wealth by the car someone drives. If one didn't know any better, ...

People normalize according to what they're used to seeing. There's an Overton window for this too. In the US, you're "scrawny" if you're at the recommended healthy weight and people will comment as people do. This is readily apparently if you travel. Even state to state. Or decade to decade when looking at old pictures compared to today. There's a 25lbs difference between people and their grandparents at the same age.

[Lemur]

July 31, 2020

Investments:
Invested - $231,836.52 (+$16,927.41)
Spouse Note - $50,000.00
Cash Savings - $12,00.00 (-$600.00)
Net - $193,836.52 (+$16,327.41)

My portfolio continues to grow like weed due to on-going market recovery as well as heavy gains from MSFT and SQ (unrealized) and AMD (realized but bought back in). AMD profits were taken when a covered call triggered so some of the profits went to upping my position in PLUG and some went to buying back in AMD.

My strategy was to be happy when a covered call triggered because that would mean nice profits as I set my price 15-20% above cost basis, but I"m second guessing things because on AMD I traded away A LOT of upside when earnings came out. My lesson was to be careful around earnings. So when I'm setting up my contract dates, I need to be cognizant of that.

I also need to think about hedging and/or being more defensive as well as market is starting to second-guess things. I haven't been in a 'bag holding' situation yet.

Physical Health / Diet: Down another 2 pounds from 192 to 190lbs. I'm continuing to drop weight slowly as I've switched to whole foods, an overall cheaper diet, and watching my calories. I also have a target weight now - 162lbs because I want to see a 22 BMI. If I'm already seeing abdominal muscles before then though, I won't cut further as I know my bodyfat% is likely already low enough at that point.

Mental Health: Great but watching carefully as my spouse is leaving for home and just me, full-time work, and toddler for 6 weeks.

Job: Great. Staying busy but not too busy. I'm off on PTO for the first time in a while for most days next week.

Gardening: Cantaloupe coming up. Still don't have zucchini. Tomatoes are coming now too.

Family: Nothing eventful.

Other: Finally picking up 'The Story of B' by Daniel Quinn at a library drive-through window. Our local library was closed but just re-opened but for drive-thru only. Still half-way through re-read of ERE book. I'm on chapter 'Renaissance Lifestyle'.

[Kriegsspiel]

I tried making some split peas for the first time after I saw what you did. I used mostly the same ingredients but just threw them all in a slow cooker for a while They're fucking delicious, better than lentils. Good suggest.

[Lemur]

@Kriegsspiel

Glad you liked it!

in recent +cooking skills...

1.) Learned how to make my own tomato sauce. I used 5 tomatoes my neighbors gave me. I just copied the instructions from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqh3QfY ... okingguide . I used this on chicken thighs + cheese roasted in the oven. Also the first time I ever used basil...

2.) I love making pumpkin pies but I learned how to make my own pie crusts. That makes my dollars more efficient because I used to buy the crusts. Didn't realize it was so easy until I simply googled how to do it....flour, butter, salt, water. Mix dry ingredients first + then start adding chilled water + get it wet enough not like dough but slightly crumbly but should mix...get a ball put in fridge. After an hour, ready to roll out.

3.) Learned how to roast seeds (and being patient letting them dry for a day so they won't steam.). Took a day or so for all the seeds to sit on cardboard and dry it. I used a chili-lime seasoning + salt.

4.) Made a really awesome pumpkin soup. (First time cooking with rosemary as well). Figured I'd post the instructions...

1.) The first pumpkin we ever harvested. This pumpkin became a lovely seed snack, 2 pumpkin pies, and 2 dinners for pumpkin soup. Was astounded how much food this covered.


2.) Cut in half and remove the seeds/guts


3.) Cut into cubes.


4.) On the left side, boil the pumpkin cubes for 10 minutes or so with salt. A fork should be able to easily pierce through when done. On the right side, cook in 1/4 cup of olive oil: 1 large carrot, 1 large onion, 3 garlic cloves, and 2 sprigs of rosemary finely chopped. About 10 minutes the ingredients will be tender.


5.) Final steps. Strain the pumpkin cubes. Add the cooked ingredients to a pot with a little oil. Add the pumpkin cubes now. Add chicken stock / vegetable stock enough to cover ingredients. Bring to a boil. After boil, reduce to simmer and add 300ml of fresh cream (I also used coconut milk for the day 2 of soup when I ran out of fresh creme; both work fine). Let simmer for another 5-8 minutes or so. Final step is blending and adding back to pot to serve.

[basuragomi]

Pumpkin makes for great eating! I've met a disappointingly high number of people who think that pumpkin is purely for decoration and pie, when it's one of the best (and incredibly cheap) late summer vegetables. You can boil/roast it skin-on in big chunks (after washing the outside) then easily scrape the flesh off to save time peeling. My preferred variation on the soup is coconut pumpkin curry. I've also seen variations on classic turnip cakes using pumpkin, which fries up interestingly.

[Lemur]

@basuragomi

Never would of thought to leave the skins on when boiling/roasting. Will give that a shot next time. I've pumpkins coming up.

I'm actively crushing the market so far since switching to an active portfolio this year...

Personal Return January 1 to Today: 16.28%
S&P 500 Total Return YTD: 3.63%
https://www.ytdreturn.com/on-s-p-500/

A big part of the reason I'm beating the market is that I have +$5,723.93 gains from realized short-positions. And I happened to pick a few stocks that popped (SQ, AMD, PLUG, MSFT) post-covid debacle. Meanwhile, the other stocks I picked (PEP, WMT, WFC, KO, GE), have basically traded around the price I bought them and I've had no issues selling covered calls on them. So far the only traps I had were trading away gains on AMD and probably SQ now. While this has bothered me losing potentially thousands in gains...when compared to the S&P 500 performance YTD...I'm crushing it...

Edit: Decided to roll-up my SQ position. Taking some chance here I guess. Posted details in Investment Trade Log.

[Kriegsspiel]

I found it was much easier to throw the whole pumpkin in the oven instead of cutting it up first.

I made the seeds with splenda and cinnamon and used them on top of the pie. It was awesome.

[Lemur]

Did a bit of house cleaning in the portfolio this morning:

Dumped GE Stake: Thanks for nothing GE lol... Only realized stock loss this year.
Dumped KO Stake: Just about broke-even.
Dumped CRM Stake: Concerned about CEO selling shares like every other week...I take it earnings won't be great. Sold for modest profit.

Initiated positions in: Apple, Disney. Added to Walmart and AMD stake.

Other: I turned some of my covered calls into vertical spreads for Pepsi, AMD, and Square.

I now own 9 stocks to manage:

AAPL
AMD (Vertical Spread)
DIS (Vertical Spread)
MSFT (CC)
PEP (Vertical Spread)
PLUG (CC)
SQ (Vertical Spread)
WFC (CC)
WMT (Vertical Spread)


PLUG is likely going to be sold off soon end of August due to CC's. I'm not gonna try to save this one. SQ is another possibility if it shoots up.

[Lemur]

Goofed up a trade yesterday as I made very quick money on a Disney Call Option I had bought and sold in a 1 hour span (it shot up 73%) using funds I sold from dumping my KO stake. My account was place on a 90 day restriction. I called my brokerage and they deemed this 'free riding' as the funds didn't settle. Whoops. In light of that, to avoid these problems I decided to just transfer some of my emergency funds over to my brokerage to just sit there to cover myself for these situations in the future. Therefore, if I need to make a quick trade, I don't have to wait for funds to settle as I have cash.

[Lemur]

The more I read about options and play with numbers (and also get real life lessons) the more I'm actually understanding that there is no free lunch here due to various risks. Profitability, in the long-run is all about being consistently on the winning end of trades, minimizing losses. One can never suffer from the myriad of behavioral finance fallacies such as anchoring bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring ... tive_bias) or sunk cost fallacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost. I did the former thinking about AMD price too much and the latter for what took me a LONG time to let go of General Electric. It is now clear that if I did have a real exit strategy in place (or just less ego), I would have dumped it a long time ago (also reminder: don't bet on turnaround stories again...just put the money on the actual growing stocks with solid financials). The proceeds could have been used and put on something else...something that will actually grow my portfolio.

I'm somehow reminded of how Henry Hazlitt describes "The Broken Window". This passage is slightly irrelevant, but the connection here was being reminded that when it comes to A's effects on B...sometimes C is often forgotten (like how I recently traded away gains thinking covered calls was mostly free money). I then started to think vertical calls spreads are free money too! ...(now understanding the double risk here that if the underlying goes down, my long call is also worthless and due to a net debit created from a vertical spread, I'm going to lose even more money then if I just held the stock and not did the options in the first place).

A young hoodlum, say, heaves a brick through the window of a baker’s shop. The shopkeeper runs out furious, but the boy is gone. A crowd gathers, and begins to stare with quiet satisfaction at the gaping hole in the window and the shattered glass over the bread and pies. After a while the crowd feels the need for philosophic reflection. And several of its members are almost certain to remind each other or the baker that, after all, the misfortune has its bright side. It will make business for some glazier. As they begin to think of this they elaborate upon it. How much does a new plate glass window cost? Fifty dollars? That will be quite a sum. After all, if windows were never broken, what would happen to the glass business? Then, of course, the thing is endless. The glazier will have $50 more to spend with other merchants, and these in turn will have $50 more to spend with still other merchants, and so ad infinitum. The smashed window will go on providing money and employment in ever-widening circles. The logical conclusion from all this would be, if the crowd drew it, that the little hoodlum who threw the brick, far from being a public menace, was a public benefactor.

Now let us take another look. The crowd is at least right in its first conclusion. This little act of vandalism will in the first instance mean more business for some glazier. The glazier will be no more unhappy to learn of the incident than an undertaker to learn of a death. But the shopkeeper will be out $50 that he was planning to spend for a new suit. Because he has had to replace a window, he will have to go without the suit (or some equivalent need or luxury). Instead of having a window and $50 he now has merely a window. Or, as he was planning to buy the suit that very afternoon, instead of having both a window and a suit he must be content with the window and no suit. If we think of him as a part of the community, the community has lost a new suit that might otherwise have come into being, and is just that much poorer.

The glazier’s gain of business, in short, is merely the tailor’s loss of business. No new “employment” has been added. The people in the crowd were thinking only of two parties to the transaction, the baker and the glazier. They had forgotten the potential third party involved, the tailor. They forgot him precisely because he will not now enter the scene. They will see the new window in the next day or two. They will never see the extra suit, precisely because it will never be made. They see only what is immediately visible to the eye.

The result of all this thinking : I re-wrote my investing methodology; something that could be written on a small notepad. The reasons for why is more succinct but I also have a defined exit plan for my vertical call spreads (exiting at 50% max profit which can be calculated: https://optionalpha.com/wp-content/uplo ... -Guide.pdf) but also what to do with underlying stocks in portfolio. Recognizing that any stock not growing or slowly losing...is an opportunity cost. May consider just hard exiting at 10% of cost basis.

[Lemur]

Almost wanted to buy a knife sharpener for my 1 kitchen knife but just a little bit of Google and like magic:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.inside ... 17-6%3Famp

Very cool this actually worked
One can sharpen a knife with the underside of a coffee mug with rough edges.