I made a one-way road trip from Des Moines to Philadelphia last week. Among other things, this provided me with 1100 miles worth of observations while driving east, with all but the last 100 miles or so on Interstate 80:
* Iowa gets stereotyped for flat terrain, but across the fruited plain east of the Mississippi River, it's actually much flatter through the northern parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. I suppose this is due to the proximity of the Great Lakes, but I never hear anyone refer to Ohio being flat.
* Once you cross the state line from Ohio into Pennsylvania, it suddenly gets hilly, and you spend most of the road time crossing the Allegheny Mountains, then the Pocono Mountains. A much more scenic drive, but a much more difficult drive.
* Although I missed the toll roads in Illinois the lead to Chicago, it was all tollways through Indiana and Ohio. Why? The roads weren't any better in those states. I was particularly discouraged about this in Indiana, a not-so-populous state that can't possibly need toll/road money any more than Iowa, which has no tolls on I-80.
* Did you know that there's an RV / Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum along I-80 in Elkhart, Indiana. Again, why? This was the most memorable, cheezy site of interest along the way.
* It's no surprise that traffic was thick near Chicago, even mid-day. But the worst of it was eastern Pennsylvania. Once you get to Allentown, it's high traffic the rest of the way, because for some reason millions of people choose to live on a tiny section of America on the northeastern seaboard.
* Thank you to Google Maps, and Waze, and any other tech app that helps people with directions and traffic. It's hard to remember how people could successfully made epic drives with only paper maps at their disposal.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Berky Meeting Nuggets 2017
It's time for the latest Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting summary, the 2017 version of Woodstock for Capitalists that was held in Omaha last week. Last year I focused on some of the funnier lines said at the meeting, and other times I've focused on specific topic, but this year I'm going more observational.
On the scramble to enter the meeting
The Wall Street Journal published an article the day before the meeting about the secrets of some frequent meeting-goers in their attempts to get good seats once the arena doors open at 7am. (It’s first-come, first-served seating.) I have my own strategy that I’ve refined over the years, which includes knowing where the shortest entrance line always is, and also where to find the limited supply of free pastries and beverages are once inside the venue. I almost – almost – feel bad for those who stand in line outside for so long, only to get much worse seats than I do.
On Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, as one late-day questioner put it, must have iron bladders. They sit on chairs answering questions for hours at a time, always drinking Coke, and never have to take a bathroom break. They are ages 86 and 93, respectively.
On protesters
For the first time in several years, one of the questioners was actually a protester. She had another person hold up a sign behind her while going on a rant about how capitalism is bad, using slavery, wealth and the sugar in Coca-Cola(!) as examples. She was soon boo-ed loudly enough that no one could hear her speak. Note to interrupting protesters: Meeting attendees will only hate you and your cause more for wasting their time doing this. Also, most of us love sugar.
On foreign meeting attendees
There have always been large numbers of international visitors at the meeting. However, this year I felt the number of Asians not only far exceeded Europeans, it actually rivaled Americans in attendance. Many appeared to be there as members of large tour groups. I sat among a crowd of friendly Chinese folks, and there were also a few questions during the meeting about the Chinese stock market. Not sure what to make of this trend, if anything.
On Jack Bogle
In this year’s shareholder letter, Buffett went out of his way to point out how much money that Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Funds and the father of index fund investing, had saved for investors. It’s in the billions of dollars, collectively. Bogle happened to be in the reserved seating area this year, and Buffett introduced him. It was an historic moment, knowing that Buffett, Munger, Bogle, and I were all in the same room together.
On the scramble to enter the meeting
The Wall Street Journal published an article the day before the meeting about the secrets of some frequent meeting-goers in their attempts to get good seats once the arena doors open at 7am. (It’s first-come, first-served seating.) I have my own strategy that I’ve refined over the years, which includes knowing where the shortest entrance line always is, and also where to find the limited supply of free pastries and beverages are once inside the venue. I almost – almost – feel bad for those who stand in line outside for so long, only to get much worse seats than I do.
On Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, as one late-day questioner put it, must have iron bladders. They sit on chairs answering questions for hours at a time, always drinking Coke, and never have to take a bathroom break. They are ages 86 and 93, respectively.
On protesters
For the first time in several years, one of the questioners was actually a protester. She had another person hold up a sign behind her while going on a rant about how capitalism is bad, using slavery, wealth and the sugar in Coca-Cola(!) as examples. She was soon boo-ed loudly enough that no one could hear her speak. Note to interrupting protesters: Meeting attendees will only hate you and your cause more for wasting their time doing this. Also, most of us love sugar.
On foreign meeting attendees
There have always been large numbers of international visitors at the meeting. However, this year I felt the number of Asians not only far exceeded Europeans, it actually rivaled Americans in attendance. Many appeared to be there as members of large tour groups. I sat among a crowd of friendly Chinese folks, and there were also a few questions during the meeting about the Chinese stock market. Not sure what to make of this trend, if anything.
On Jack Bogle
In this year’s shareholder letter, Buffett went out of his way to point out how much money that Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Funds and the father of index fund investing, had saved for investors. It’s in the billions of dollars, collectively. Bogle happened to be in the reserved seating area this year, and Buffett introduced him. It was an historic moment, knowing that Buffett, Munger, Bogle, and I were all in the same room together.
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