09:46 – Kit inventory is getting uncomfortably low, with only 15 chemistry kits and seven biology kits in stock. As of now, we’re shipping around 12 to 15 kits a week, which is a good rate for early August. That rate is ramping up, and will probably be double or triple the current rate late in August and into September. As of now, we have 30 more biology kits that need only final assembly, and 60 chemistry kits that aren’t far behind. The next batch will be 30 forensic science kits, followed by another 60 biology kits and then another 60 chemistry kits. Earlier this year, I thought I’d be pleased if we sold 60 total kits in August. It looks like that won’t be a problem.
Barbara just emailed me with very sad news. Randi Weiss, one of the attorneys at Barbara’s firm, died suddenly yesterday of cancer. Barbara’s email summed up in two sentences how everyone felt about Randi: “She was brilliant and kind. It is really a blow to the Firm.”
Randi’s doctorate was in molecular biology. I’d exchanged several emails with her and spoken with her on the phone a couple of times. I told Randi that at some point I intended to do a lab manual and kit that focused on molecular biology, and she had kindly agreed to be my tech reviewer for that project. Although I never met her face to face, I’ll miss her.
11:58 – It seems that Spain is in even worse debt trouble than anyone thought. A Polish legislator has pointed out that Spain borrowed about $60 million worth of gold from Poland about 400 years ago. At current gold prices, and assuming that Spain pays 400 years’ worth of compound interest at the natural 3% annual rate, that means Spain owes Poland just over $8 trillion. Some might argue that a debt 400 years old is impossible to collect, especially since neither Spain nor Poland is the nation it was 400 years ago. But in my opinion, debts, most especially including sovereign debts, must be paid. Of course, in effect this means that Germany now owes Poland $8 trillion, beyond whatever Germany still owes Poland for what it did to Poland in WWII. I suspect that Poland would be willing to settle for $8 trillion even.