BG2008

@John Hjorth These memos are for you Wrote 2 memos on my Substack about "Keeping an Edge" a metaphor for constantly having to work on keeping an investment edge and also needing to sharpen your knives https://hardassetmemo.substack.com/p/keeping-an-edge Second memo is on PJ-Flying Marketing Gurus and Japanese Ramen Chefs https://hardassetmemo.substack.com/p/pj-flying-marketing-gurus-and-japanese

I will die on this hill and just say that you need the whole knife block. You also need bone picking tweezer for fish, you need 4-5 silicone spatulas for eggs, a fish spatula, a Kitchenaid mixer for making fresh pasta and cookies with your kids, 4-5 cutting boards. 2 smaller ones, 1 large red one for cutting meat, 1 large white one for cutting lots of veggies, and 1 artisanal Ginko wood one for those sushi cuts You need 2 sets of measuring cups, extra sets of chopsticks, knives, forks, you need sieves, fine ones, coarse ones, and the finest ones, you need sharpening stones, you need cast iron skillet, 1 that is polished and hope that one day the carbon deposits gets so fine, it essentially works like teflon, you need one more that's coarse for cooking meat and can be abused like the cheap Lodge that you buy from Walmart, you need an airfryer, ideally one by SharnkNinja. You absolutely need an InstantPot. You need parchment paper for roasting sweet potatoes so that the clean up is easier, you need I'm surprised my wife hasn't asked me to throw out my kitchen stuff

The funny thing is that I couldn't remember the specific metalurgical properties, I know whether it is carbon steele and needs the knife oil so it won't rust I remember some characteristics of trade off between sharpness and brittleness. Apparently, you're not supposed to put them through the dish washer as it destroys the better knives. I have a knive block full of Henkels that I have used for 15 years now. Got them as wedding gifts from my father in law. Sharpen them with Japanese stones and they are about 90% as good as new. Sharpening knives can feel very therapeautic.

The solution to these problems are to own more than 15-20 knives so that you have Meat clevers for those tough jobs Japaneses knives for the really thin cuts ginko cutting boards for using the dainty Japanese knives Japanese stones for sharpening Knife bags for traveling Set of Henkels for everything Tweezers for fish bones Ports well over to nail cutters from Japanese or German sources since the skills are metallurgy and cutting stuff I wind up using my Japanese knife and the Ginko board only occassionally. It's not my everyday knife. It's for when I need to slice conch into paper thin slices. But conch can be slimey and tough, hence the cutting them into paper thin slices that provides the perfect balance of brine, crunch, and bite Too thick and it's chewy. With a dull knife, it sleeps everywhere and you can't get the right thinness. I've use it for sushi and Sashimi a few times and it cuts great in one stroke. To the gentlemen of CoBF and collecting good knives

What strikes and expirations?

ALX is my second largest position after the debt refi, I think the shorts are quickly figuring out that it's not a good idea to short a 14 year Bloomberg bond with some non-core assets being sold off. Rego 1 could be a $10-30 special dividend and they are in advanced negotiation. What I have heard is that ALX is shorted in a basket with lazy analysis.

I think CUBE is cheaper and higher quality by a tiny bit

Thanks Bizaro!!!

I shared CubeSmart a couple days ago. I think MAA, CPT are both quite cheap, not multibaggers, but good for 30-40% pops or 15+ IRR on a multiyear hold. Veris probably get sold once they cut rates down further. AIV good for liquidation if you are sitting on cash in your IRA. What else do ppl like?

Some biz are just tough. It's just one tough event after another. Some biz are just better. We got some storm damages? Yeah, you're gonna need more rocks and sand. Again, not making light of the situation. This is just life. Choose your players wisely.

Greg, So happy to hear that your family is safe and well. Media sensationalizing events, who would've guessed? Saw some stuff online about that CAT 5 storm facing a lot of wind shear as it approach landfall and downgraded it to CAT 3. I'm not a weather scientist, but I guess that typically happens. Someone online was literally talking about 14% of MAA and CPT's NOI going away bc of this storm. I'm like if those buildings have been there for 20-30 years, it's probably not gonna happen. Bought some more MAA and CPT recently, probably do 15% IRR all in over 3-4 years with like 20% LTV. They're taking leverage up to build more MF units to a 6.5% cap. The way MAA and CPT are playing offense right now is exactly how you want a low leverage public REIT to allocate capital.

You have to ask yourself "Is the orange worth the squeeze?" (Even my 7 yr old son is rolling his eyes at this dad joke)

Anyone aware of any meaningful damages caused by Milton so far and the impacts to companies we own? I know that Alico's oranges will be damaged. Obviously anything in the Tampa area will be affected. Let's hive mind this. Thanks in advance. @Gregmal @thepupil In times like this, I prefer to own rock pits as the damages likely result in spikes in demand for rocks and sand to rebuild damaged buildings, houses, etc. FRPH's tagline should be "Hurricanes destroys oranges, but it can't do jack shit to rock pits" All kidding aside, I hope for minimal life and property damage to people in the SE. There's been enough drama lately for them.

The just sold The Hamilton and 20% of the adjacent assemblage, see the AIV thread for updates

Instead buying when there is blood on the street, it's buying when there is a hurricane barreling down Florida