Aloha Bread Lovers
Aloha Bread Lovers – tomorrow (Sunday) we will be serving Shakshuka: tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, lots of spices that all slow cooks overnight. When you order it we crack an egg or two (your choice) into it, bake it and serve it with a roll that is perfect for mopping it all up. AND, we will have our favorite Uke Jammers (still minus Gordon who is still waiting for a part for his car…seriously..tough part to find).
So, gas prices. For those of us who would normally gas-up at Costco, due to renovations of their gas station, we are now forced to contend with even higher gas prices. All of this is of course connected to the war with Iran who has very successfully choked off the flow of oil out of the Gulf states by closing the Straits of Hormuz. For a time it seemed that diplomacy would prevail, ending the conflict and opening up the Straits. For a short time the ships were transiting the Straits, oil prices fell and we began to feel some ever so slight relief at the pumps. Then that old saying ‘the devil is in the details’ kicked in with the U.S. and Iran not seeing eye to eye regarding control of the Straits and once again the Straits are closed. So, with the Straits being so present in my mind, here are some things that you may not know about them: 1) they are all together just over 100 miles long, narrowing down to 21 miles wide. This may seem like a lot but if you’re an oil tanker in a congested waterway, it’s narrow. There are three lanes in the Straits, each two miles wide – one for incoming traffic, one for outgoing traffic and one in the middle as a buffer; 2) they are home to a unique set of super corals that have adapted to the high water temperature (97 degrees) and salinity – these corals are being studied to see if their genes can restore corals on the Great Barrier Reef; 3) it is considered one of the nosiest marine environments in the world with the constant hum of the boat traffic interfering with the navigation of dolphins, porpoises and other marine life. This is a problem for the Whale Sharks that share this waterway and for whom the Gulf of Arabia is home to the second largest population in the world; 4) the insurance costs for ships transiting the Straits have risen to about 4% of a ships hull value – a roughly $600K in premium for one passage of a $150 million dollar oil tanker. As of writing this, the negotiators are still trying to hammer out a deal to end the war and to open the Straits, among other things. We can only hope.
Mahalo – David and Yael
P.S. – A Joke: WARNING – CLICK ON THIS LINK AT YOUR OWN PERIL: https://www.oldjewstellingjokes.com/2018/12/19/mike-leiderman-new-cell-phone-479
