Sapote Update

Shortly after the L.A. Times article came out, I was able to obtain a sapote tree at OSH for $35.  Quite amazing since I had never seen one before.  I kept it under a tarp during the hottest weather and now that the weather has cooled off somewhat it is fully exposed.  Since it is not a very cold tolerant plant, I made it a south facing “fortress” out of paving blocks in the hopes that they will help retain heat during the cold months.

I had hoped to buy the tree in the spring so it would have months to get established.  Sadly, it looks like many of the leaves are yellowing and browning at this point but perhaps they will perk up in time.  The great thing about having bought the tree at OSH is that they have a lifetime plant warranty so if the tree dies, I can get a replacement (probably a loquat).

The Helium Problem

The world has many problems.  One of the lesser known ones is the helium shortage.  Helium is something everyone enjoys putting in balloons to make them float.   There is a long term problem, though.  The earth has only a finite, small supply of helium.  Since it is a noble gas, you can’t extract it from other materials.  (A contrasting example is hydrogen.  It can make balloons float and it can be extracted from water.)  You also can’t get the helium back once the ballloon it’s in floats away since any helium free in the atmosphere leaks out into space.  Someday it may be possible to generate significant amounts helium from hydrogen fusion but that day is a very very long way away.  What if in 100 years a technology is invented that can do something very valuable for the world but the helium it requires was virtually used up 50 years before?  The responsible thing for the world to do is to save helium for important medical and industrial uses instead of wasting it on blimps and party balloons.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19676639

Corporate Loan Sharks

I did some research into some stocks that are classified as Business Development Companies.   They seem to be the corporate equivalent of loan sharks: lending out money to companies at very high interest rates. They are not REITs but have a nearly identical tax structure so all the earnings are paid as dividends and they should be held in a tax sheltered account.  They all have very high yields probably because they are more risky than REITs.  My favorite two are MCC and TCAP.  MCC is riskier but I like it more.  I don’t think I want any of them but the dividend is very tempting.  I wonder why I didn’t hear about them earlier.

I found a lot more than this list but these were the ones that were not awful.

• TCAP
• PNNT
• MCC
• TICC
• HTGC
• KCAP
• ARCC