Mira won her school spelling bee some weeks ago (Lyra Meadow came in third).  Now she’s passed another hurdle, advancing to the California Central Valley Championships.  If she wins that, she’ll go to DC.

She advanced by correctly spelling “waterzooi.”

It’s a really big iPhone with no camera.  Or phone. Big whoop.

That said, it looks fun. If I ever carried around a laptop, I’d be more excited about it, but I don’t.  I’m not about to give up my desktop machine, and the iPad doesn’t seem to do anything the iPhone won’t do, and the iPhone fits in my pocket.

If I were a student, it’d be pretty cool to carry around to classes and such.

I originally bought 40 shares of this company, which makes medical robots, back in November 2006 for $97.21.  I sold half In April 2008 at $359.99, and I bought them back six months later at $178.40.  Now I’m dumping all 40 shares at $321.55 — not as good a price as my first dump, but whatever. (We could’ve bought this company for $85 a share back in March 2009, lest you think I have a clue.)

I still like this company.  Revenue growth is still something like 25%, and income 40%, and in this crappy economy.  Still, even with their strong profits and growth, the growth seems to be slowing, and it’s difficult to price this stock as worth much more than $160.  And when a stock sells for double what I think it’s worth, it’s probably time to find something cheaper.

I’ll buy it again if it drops below $200.

Hey!  Your dollar coins look like quarters!  They feel like quarters. Nobody likes them.  We never have. Changing the color or putting a different person on the face doesn’t make them less like a quarter.

Every other country on the planet manages to make coins you can tell from each other.  We used to.  Remember the silver dollar?  Good coin.  Why did you stop making that, again?