YES, THIS WAS A GREAT WEEK

As the past few day have been featuring ridiculously expensive Japanese Whiskies, to all mothers:

But how many mothers actually receive whiskey for their day of the year? Mothers get $25 billion worth of gifts/meals, compared to $16 billion for Father's Day. Also 84% of mothers are recognized and only 76% of fathers. Are mothers better respected or loved or good at inspiring guilt? Whatever, here is what mothers most get:

47% flowers.
36% chocolate.
29% gift cards (150 million/year, next to Christmas and Valentine's)
26% dinner.
22% jewelry.
19% beauty products.

Also:

Spending is up in the USA: $134 this year, up from $97 in 2020.
Surprisingly enough, only around 50 countries follow this American tradition, which some say was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe, writer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
But only a few use the second May, and it is never a public holiday.
Which countries most celebrate Mother's Day? Those with companies that early on promoted this day for profit.

With that, I need to complete a truly great week with more about my third straight day of greatness.

Watched the entire Kentucky Derby from 8:30AM to 1:30PM, of course enjoying Mint Julep, which features Kentucky Bourbon.

I long thought Woodford Reserve just outbid Old Forester for Kentucky Derby Rights. Not so, for both companies are owned by Brown-Forman, which celebrated their 150th anniversary in 2020. Perhaps the reason is that Woodford Reserve is more expensive than Old Forester.
There is also Tennessee Whiskey, and Brown-Forman also owns Jack Daniels.

So we taste-tested the two Kentucky bourbons, and when mixed with syrup and mints, you really can't determine any difference.

After a while, getting close to the playing of Old Kentucky Home, I thought it was an appropriate moment to crack open a special Kentucky Derby bottle of Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay.

While boiled peanuts and deviled eggs are not the traditional fare served at Churchill Downs, this party of mine was in Hawaii. The finish was incredible, as 80-1 shot Rich Strike won. In addition this was the first Kentucky Derby win for trainer Eric Reed and jockey Sonny Leon. Rich Strike entered only because another horse got scratched. The biggest upset occurred in 1913 when Donerail won at 91-1.

But that was not all. Next the Hawaii softball team played the league leader Cal Fullerton. No problem at the beginning, for Hawaii jumped out to a 10-1 lead. But later on the game was tied 11-11 and into an extra inning. A two-run home run won it for Hawaii, meaning we took the series from Fullerton.

This was followed by Hawaii sweeping Long Beach in volleyball on ESPN2, making us repeat NCAA champions. I told you last Sunday that THIS WILL BE A GREAT WEEK.

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These a...

OSAKA EXPO: Day One

Well, the day finally came for us to go to the Osaka Expo. We were told ahead of time that the long walks would be fearful, giant lines will need to be tolerated just to get into the Expo, with those ocean breezes, it would really be cold, and so forth. Maybe it was pure luck, but we avoided all the above warnings We had a grand day, and are looking forward to Sunday, our second day at the Expo. So come along for an enjoyable ride. Our hotel is adjacent to the Tennoji Station, a very large one with several lines. We upgraded our Suica card and caught the Misosuji red line towards Umeda. Transferred to the Chuo green line at the Hommachi Station. This Osaka Metro train took us to the Yumeshima Station at the Expo site. It was a very large mob leaving the train and heading to the entrance. Took only a few minutes to get to the entrance. This mob was multiplied by at least a factor of ten of those already waiting to enter. However...

WHY YOU SHOULD CONVERT TO A JAPANESE HIGH TECH TOILET

Did you know that Oktoberfest in Germany is mostly in September? The very first day of Oktoberfest 2021 was supposed to be today, September 18, extending into October 3. Well, as in 2020, Oktoberfest was cancelled. So why is it called by that month when it is held mostly in September? The first celebration in 1810 was in October. Did you also know that Oktoberfest is held only in Munich? These days seven million drink more than a liter ( about three typical cans ) of beer each, costing around $11. Except for my wife and I when we followed the crowd to board the S-Bahn to the fairgrounds near Old Town. It was drizzling a bit. We bought a large pretzel outside of a typical barn where beer is served. We did not know that you needed to get this inside the hall. So no one came to serve us beer. After a while we decided to have lunch, and the restaurant we settled on only served wine. Thus, we might have been the ...

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