The first Friday of 1925 was January 2. Supposedly, on that day the capital of Norway was renamed Oslo after having been called Christiana. Speaking of Norway, a proposed tax on unrealized capital gains is leading to the exodus of many entrepreneurs and other wealthy citizens. The irony is that Norway can afford that exodus, at least for now, because of its enormous oil and gas revenues that it has invested in what has become the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.
The first Friday of 2025…doesn’t seem real to me, somehow. So much of what is happening in the world doesn’t seem real, or possible, either.
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Obviously, I am not pleased at Notre Dame’s being in the semi-finals of the College Football Playoff (CFP). I am not an objective observer, but playing a team whose quarterback was making his first college start I didn’t think the so-called Fighting Irish were impressive. Their vaunted running game was non-existent except for a few quarterback runs. Their QB threw for 90 yards.
Still, their defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and that is often how games are won. Of course, returning the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown didn’t hurt.
I literally have no feel for who will win it all. I still don’t want to see Notre Dame win, but my world will not end if they do.
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The primary reason January 1st–yes, I know today’s the 3rd–is significant to me is that on New Year’s Day in 1988 I became a full-time employee of my then hometown baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles. OCD-addled math nerd that I am there was real poetry in that start date of 1/1/88.
At first, I worked from home, but since I knew I would be driving to Memorial Stadium on a regular basis and since Baltimore winters can be problematic, I bought a vehicle of the type shown below.
I purchased a 1988 Chevrolet Blazer. It helped me make a good first impression as I was able to attend a Baseball Operations meeting in early January while others couldn’t because of a significant snowfall.
The Blazer was the first new vehicle I had ever owned as well as being the first one that I bought completely with my own money. My father thought I was crazy to get a five-year loan to buy the car, but that kept the monthly payment ($224) manageable. As it turned out, I paid the car off almost a year early, anyway. I earned and asked for large raises, more than doubling my salary in five years. A couple of bonuses didn’t hurt, either.
One of the events that doesn’t seem real to me is that the beginning of my tenure with the Orioles was more than half my life ago. I have now received 114 baseball pension payments. If I make it to August, then I will have been getting a pension for ten years. That’s about as long as I worked in baseball as a full-time Baseball Operations employee.
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Not only is Stellantis/Dodge pushing up the timetable for the release of the ICE-powered version of the new Charger in the US, but it has also decided to offer both ICE and EV versions in every market in which the car will be sold, including Europe. A relevant photo:
Some reports indicate that China’s so-called push to EVs will be more hybrid-based than previously thought. It has even been reported that Tesla is considering building a hybrid. Given yesterday’s report that their EVs “suffered” their first ever year-over-year decline in sales, maybe Elon Musk is too late.
Except in countries where their purchase is heavily subsidized–and the purchase of ICE-powered vehicles is heavily taxed–EVs are sort of like the rejection of an organ transplant. They might work at first, but not for long.
#TheFirstFridayOf2025