I hope all his work pays off

The world's most perfect teenager has done 4 out of 5 end-of-year-exams. Tomorrow's math exam will hopefully be Junior's last exam for grade 10. I have to give him credit for how much he has studied every day after he got home from school and every weekend for the past few weeks.

I doubt the penny has dropped, but in the best of worlds, the offspring has begun to realize how much he really has to study to get the high grades he is capable of.

It's past 9 p.m. and he is still sitting in the office studying.

Good and bad

Today we received the last extra dividend of the month, namely FS KKR Capital Corp. ordinary share (FSK). (FSK) extra dividend of ¢5 gave us a total of just under $7. We are still waiting for about 10% of the regular dividends for the month.

Although we have not yet received all of this month's dividends, we have already passed the entire 2017 dividends. Apart from finally getting sun and warmth, the month of May has been a bad month with falling sales figures in our business.

Recently, the Swedish krona has strengthened against both the US dollar and the euro. If the Swedish krona does not weaken within a week, the consequence will be that our dividends for June will be even lower compared to March than the forecast shows.

Click to enlarge

Probably new routines await

Today I received my test results regarding my blood lipids. Just as my dermatologist suspected, my cholesterol is elevated. My doctor has sent a referral to a cardiovascular specialist as my grandfather was medicated for high cholesterol and my father is medicated.

I really don't want to have to take medication for high cholesterol, but if the doctor says it's necessary after the examination is completed, I just have to bite the bullet. Intellectually I know it's wrong but I can't shake the feeling of shame, my veins are clogged with fat.

And so it begins

My parents picked up their Tesla last Friday and drove straight to their summer house in the Stockholm archipelago. Halfway to the summer house, they called in a chaotic frenzy, wondering how they could get the AC to work in the car.

The air conditioning was set to 84°F (29°C) and even though they had the windows down, they were almost suffering from heat stroke. After a lot of back and forth I managed to guide them right on the screen so they managed to lower the temperature in the car.

Instead of staying the whole weekend in the summer house, they chose to go back to Stockholm already on Saturday as they needed our help with, among other things, activating the easy entry on the Tesla. Today mom came by and I had to help her with the app.

Perhaps we should have encouraged them to buy a petrol-powered car instead...

A kind of hybrid of shared and common economy

Since me and the world's most perfect husband are employees of our own limited company, we have a certain amount of freedom. One of them is that we have set my bank account as a salary account for both his salary and mine.This means that in addition to my own, I also receive his salary into my account every month. This was a measure my husband asked 20 years ago.

In connection with salary payment, our mortgage and the monthly fee to the condominium association are paid. All other running costs are paid directly during the month from our joint account. In addition to these 2 costs, we deposit a sum of money into our joint account where we have each bank card linked. The money left over is divided equally between us.

This is an arrangement that works great for us.

Freedom doesn't come easy

Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. The first national observance of Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868. Since 1971, Memorial Day has been celebrated on the last Monday in May.

My aunt is a widow after being married to an American man for 30 years and through him we got an insight into the American way of life. Even as a Swede, I am grateful for America's sacrifice and am aware that America's sacrifice secures my freedom. Thank you for your service.

Good times ahead

With 5 days to go and 10% of the dividend remaining, the 3rd worst dividend month of the year is almost over. Then comes the 4th best dividend month of the year.

In addition to the high dividend, June also brings Midsummer. The most Swedish holiday we have. Also, we close the shop for vacation a week after Midsummer, so June is a good month in more ways than one.

The only bad thing about June is Junior's possible trip to Paris.

Having a teenager is a tough job

He who sleeps in the fall, starves in the winter is a metaphor I try unsuccessfully to get the world's most perfect teenager to understand. Our son has incredible potential to achieve fantastic school results but he always follows the law of least resistance. Junior admitted a couple of weeks ago that he hadn't been truthful about his homework.

I have always wanted him to use paper and pencil, while with the stubbornness of a fool he has insisted that all assignments must be done on the computer. Since there is a daily debate in Sweden about how all school work is now days done on a computer, I have accepted his claim as the truth. But after he came clean and admitted that much of his homework can be done with paper and pencil, the amount of handwritten assignments over the past two weeks has surpassed anything he's done before.

Last night when he got to play computer games for the first time in two weeks he hugged me and said quote "Sorry for all the fuss. I know I was the one asking for help with school. I love you." unquote. Considering all the work he has put in, I sincerely hope he succeeds in his end-of-year exams.

Not the outcome I expected

Yesterday the dream of a Swedish World Cup gold in ice hockey died, the Czech Republic won 7-3. The outcome in the other semi-final also surprised, Switzerland won over Canada. This means that both favorites are eliminated.

Who wins the World Cup final now is completely uninteresting to me.

I have done my European duty

On Wednesday 22 May, temporary premises were opened around Europe to give European citizens the opportunity to vote early in the 2024 EU elections. This year's election is the 6th in which I vote.

In the first 5 EU elections, I voted for the same party that I voted for in the Swedish parliamentary elections. This year is the first time I have read properly what the various parties actually work and vote for in Brussels compared to what they say that they work and vote for.

It made me already the day before yesterday vote early for a different party than the one I voted for in the last parliamentary election in 2022.

What happened to right man for right job?

I'm getting more and more tired of Google and their completely useless algorithms. A couple of years ago, Google's accuracy was unbeatable. You always got the right hit on what you were looking for, today it's the complete opposite. To minimize that, I've changed my search behavior to more closely mimic how I once used AltaVista.

Even Google's completely useless AI attempt, Gemini, is laughable. The only service that is still unbeatable and absolutely amazing is Google Sheets. I sincerely hope that Google Sheets keeps all people with the slightest woke tendency far away from all source code.

To be able to follow how each month develops compared to the previous one within its group, I have built a table. The table retrieves all information automatically and calculates as a percentage how the month has developed compared to the previous one.

The table below provides a snapshot of the development up to today.

Click to enlarge

He partially understood - I didn't

Today the world's most perfect teenager got back his latest math test which covered geometric pattern series and sequences. The test included both criteria B & C and he scored 5 out of 8 on both parts. This time he also managed to partially solve the tasks that referred to grades 7 & 8.

Although he did not fully implement them, he proved that he understood the rules and could partially apply them to various mathematical problems. This is the first time he has studied properly for an exam.

However, this did not come for free, but Junior is hopefully beginning to sense that he will have to put this amount of time into his studies in order to pass the Diploma Programme.

I knew I wouldn't blink

Today's acquisition was 34 shares in Realty Income Corporation Common Stock (O) distributed among our 3 portfolios.

The world's most perfect husband received his pension payout from one of his private pensions today so he acquired most of the shares. I turn 55 in January next year and intend to do exactly the same as my husband, i.e. activate one of my private pensions.

Just the thought that I could get a pension payout, albeit a private, already next year scares me. Where TF did all the years go?

Being a mom is not easy

Yesterday I spoke with the mother of the other teenager about the possible trip to Paris, France this summer. She and I are much more worried, while the fathers are much more positive.

Even if the teenagers get to borrow a studio from a family friend of the other family in one of the best arrondissements in Paris, I am very doubtful about this. Especially given that Paris is hosting the Summer Olympics this year and the risk of terrorist attacks is imminent. Add to that the fact that Junior, for natural reasons, looks very Swedish and I know there are people who wish him harm just for that reason.

This is a classic difference between knowing and understanding (accepting). Intellectually I know I have to "cut" the umbilical cord at some point but emotionally I have a very hard time understanding (accepting) this.

🇸🇪 Today it is good to be Swedish 🇸🇪🇸🇪

Yesterday, the Swedish national hockey team won over the Finnish national hockey team in the quarter-finals of the WC. Both Sweden and Finland must be regarded as giants in hockey so that we already met in the quarter-finals was a shame. I would have preferred to see Sweden and Finland in a final.

It is said that Finland has sisu while Swedish steel bites and yesterday the Swedish steel won!!

Today is a good day

I am grateful that Sweden has a double taxation agreement with the company's corporate residence, permanent establishment, which entitles us to a foreign tax refund. The foreign tax refund for the current period was refunded to us today on our endowment insurances with Nordea. This settlement means that we get almost as much back in foreign tax refunds as we pay flat tax on our endowment insurances in Sweden.

The capital tax on capital insurance is calculated using a flat tax, which is the government loan interest plus one percentage point, currently it is 3.62%. The standard income must then be taxed at 30%. The Swedish central bank reduction of the policy rate by 25 points means that the flat tax we pay in Sweden falls, albeit marginally.

All tax cuts are welcome, no matter how small.

We are waiting for you

9 days and 7 dividends left in May, which make up approximately 12% of the month's estimated dividends. Even if 12% of the year's second-worst dividend month is small potatoes, I welcome every penny just as much.

The dividends we are still waiting for are

Fastenal Company Common Stock (FAST)

Gladstone Investment Corporation Business Development Company (GAIN)

Gladstone Capital Corporation Common Stock (GLAD)

Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities Fund Common Shares of Beneficial Interest (GOF)

OFS Credit Company, Inc. Common Stock (OCCI)

Oxford Lane Capital Corp. Common Stock (OXLC)

Welltower Inc. Common Stock (WELL)

🎶 Who you gonna call 🎵

Our life will change significantly starting Friday this week. My parents have bought a Tesla model Y Performance which they will pick up on Friday. That the world's most untechnical dad should have an electric car will be problematic. His track record for tech gadgets isn't the best.

As an example, when my parents had bought their first CD player in the 80's and my mom was out on a girls' dinner, my dad got the idea that he should play a CD. This resulted in the CD player having to be thrown away, it was damaged beyond repair, just because he was trying to play a CD.

This year alone, he has blocked his computer 4 times and his mobile phone 3 times. It's always us he calls when he has technical issues and considering we've had our Tesla Model Y since August 2023 it's a no-brainer who he's gonna call...

Because 🎼 I'm happy 🎼

It is now written in stone that, assuming none of our holdings either lowers or withdraws their regular dividend, this year will be our second best dividend year ever. Knowing this as early as 5 months into the year is satisfying. With this knowledge that our goal has already been met, it has changed to instead narrow the gap as much as possible between the current year and our best dividend year, 2019.

This will be done by continuing to (hopefully) reinvest all the dividends we will receive in the remaining months of 2024, plus we will most likely receive additional extra dividends in the second half of the year.

How much we will narrow the gap I dare not to predict today, although I am aware that no one remembers a coward, except the world's most perfect husband. 😉

Actually completely unnecessary but very exciting

I follow up the development between the different months in each group, as listed below.

Group 1 consists of January, April, July and October

Group 2 consists of February, May, August and November

Group 3 consists of March, June, September and December

When I compare April's outcome with January's, it is 16% better. My calculations, which I can't confirm until we get all of May's dividends, point to May's outcome being 16-17% better than February's.

However, June will be worse than March due to the fact that all companies paying extra dividends, except for Main Street Capital Corporation Common Stock ( MAIN ), have lowered their extra dividend for June compared to March.

The reason I divide the companies into these groups is that almost all companies either pay their dividends every month or every three months. It will be exciting to see how this will develop during the year.

Small drops of water can on one day make big ocean

Today we received the dividend from Hercules Capital, Inc. Common Stock (HTGC) credited to our endowment insurance with Nordea. For the dividend, we purchased a small number of British American Tobacco Industries, p.l.c. Common Stock ADR (BTI).

Since (BTI's) upcoming ex-div date is June 28, 2024, we have more than one month to acquire additional shares in the company. As June is our 4th best dividend month of the year, we should be able to triple our holding in (BTI) before June 28, 2024.

Dishonest headline

The state-owned Swedish television (SVT), which is considerably less apolitical and impartial than they neither realize nor even understand, continues to omit important information. All headlines and texts SVT writes that involve Israel are always angled to Israel's disadvantage. SVT could, for example, write before October 7, 2023 that the IDF has shot dead a Palestinian. Only at the end of the text does SVT fleetingly and dutifully write that the dead person was a martyr sent by Hamas to kill civilians. Which meant that Israel was only defending its citizen.

Yesterday's headline regarding the ICC application for an arrest warrant regarding crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza, SVT named only Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant and omitted the three leaders of Hamas who are also included in the application. The three Hamas leaders included in the application are Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri and Ismail Haniyeh.

I'm in trouble

The world's most perfect teenager who turns 17 at the end of August has never been home alone for more than a couple of hours after school before our work day is done. Last Sunday, he asked if he could accompany his best friend to Paris, France, during the first week of his summer break.

His friend's dad is French-Canadian so I assumed he would come along on a family trip. But, NO, it would just be our son and his friend on this trip. Usually his friend's mom is less permissive than me so before I meet his mother who is currently away on a conference trip with work, I'm going to assume this is just two teenagers daydreaming.

I can still hear the world's most perfect husband 17 years and 6 months ago asking me quote "Are you sure you don't want kids?! It's going to be fun!" unquote. NO, this is not funny!!!

When I look at my son, I see an unusually tall, 6'1" (186 cm), toddler.

Some money coming my way

Today we get the last slightly larger dividend of the month, namely Hercules Capital, Inc. Common Stock (HTGC) ordinary and extra dividend. After that, we have to wait closer to 10-12 days before the world's most perfect sound for notifications, ka-ching, is heard again.

The sweet sound will also be the starting point for the fourth best dividend month of the year, June. After that, September and December should be better than March provided the extra dividends keep coming.

More or less spot on

Our previous risk-taking behavior cost us a fortune as a result of the pandemic, Covid-19. We were well aware of our risk-taking but being able to predict the pandemic was about as likely as a snowball's chance in hell. After the pandemic, we reduced our risk-taking in all portfolios except the world's most perfect teenager because we have always taken a more conservative approach with his savings. Despite a significantly less aggressive strategy over the past 2 years, the portfolios have beaten the ATH several times during that time.

The increasingly weak Swedish krona contributes to a higher net dividend, which means that even the chart where I exclude extra dividends and adjust for purchases and sales will have a higher outcome than forecast. According to my calculations, the outcome would be higher from April 2024, which it was. The weak crown naturally also affects the other 2 charts. Since I include the extra dividends in them, the outcome should be higher than the forecast from the first month of the year.

The outcome for April 2024 was better than I expected, May 2024 will most likely be more in line with my calculations. That is, higher than the forecast but not as much above as April.

Group 1

Group 1 which is our second best or worst, depending on how you choose to look at it, group of months regarding the regular dividends. Group 1 extra dividends are, if only barely, better than group 2.

Even if I were to merge group 1 & 2, they wouldn't reach the same out-turn as group 3, be it regular or extra dividends. Of our holdings that are included in group 1, it is only one holding that give us a dividend in July.

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. Common Stock (CGBD), ¢7 with pay date July 17, 2024

My Swedish son who does not speak correct Swedish

Next week, the world's most perfect teenager has his very first end-year-end exam. This means that he only has this week to refresh his knowledge in English, I&S, science, Swedish and mathematics. Since this will be his first time taking an end-of-year-exam, he doesn't really know the scope of the exam itself.

The only teacher who has so far specified what he should practice on is his math teacher, whereupon it became math studies this weekend, again. Last week when "we" practiced for his summative on Thursday which covered the geometric pattern series, he used the Swedish word for currency, (valuta), instead of the correct word value.

Yesterday when he was solving algebra problems he used the word currency (valuta) again when he was going to explain to me what he was doing. Since my knowledge of algebra is complete, I finally understood what Junior meant when he said currency (valuta).

When he cannot translate a word, he "Swedishizes" the word, which in this case became valuta (value). In addition to the math studies, I had to explain that he can't just make up Swedish words. If he is not 100% sure of the translation, he has to say so, otherwise it can be very wrong.

I take my hat off to Ms. Taylor Swift

This week, the talk of the town in Sweden has been Ms. Taylor Swift when it comes to finances. Ms. Taylor Swift gives 3 concerts in Solna city, which is just outside Stockholm. Due to the lack of value of the Swedish krona, many "Swifties" from all over the world have traveled to Sweden to attend her concert(s).

According to testimonies from many foreign visitors, it is cheaper for them to fly to Sweden, stay in a hotel and go to Ms. Taylor Swift concert/s than going to a concert/concerts in their own country. This only confirms my thesis that the US dollar is not strong but that the Swedish krona is weak.

Danske Bank AS (DNSKF) made a statement earlier this week that Ms. Taylor Swift's 3 concerts may affect inflation rates for May 2024. Which I personally consider doubtful.

That Ms. Taylor Swift is a mega-superstar of gigantic proportions there is no doubt, the ultimate proof of her greatness is that there is a concept named Swiftonomics. I wish Dewlaromics was a concept too.😉

Hopefully easier times await

However I calculate, there is nothing to cushion the blow, but I have to bite the bullet and accept that the outcome for June 2024 will be lower than March 2024, despite the fact that we have reinvested all the dividends we received this year. In addition, the world's most perfect husband reinvests the money he receives each month in one of his private pensions.

Hopefully, Sweden's central bank will make further reductions in the policy rate, which means that instead of paying interest, we can start saving money again. My intention is not to complain. Despite Riksbanken raising the policy rate by 4% since May 3, 2022, we have not had to change our way of life. The consequence for us was that instead of investing money in the stock market, we have instead paid mortgage interest. Many mortgage borrowers have barely had food on the table during these years.

This will come back to bite the unions, part 16

For transparency and my own agenda, my husband and I own a 2023 Tesla Model Y.

The power struggle between the union IF Metall and Tesla Motor Sweden AB (TM) has been going on since October 2023. Now another organization is trying to put pressure on (TM). Since IF Metall took its members out on strike on 27 October 2023, AMF becomes the 11th organization to try to put pressure on (TM).

This time it is the pension company AMF, owned by the union Landsorganisationen (LO) and Swedish Business Confederation, which is demanding transparency into (TM's) anti-union policy with the help of American lawyers. AMF owns $171 millions worth of Tesla shares.

AMF's head of asset management Tomas Flodén states that the company is trying to persuade other Nordic investors to support a shareholder proposal at the company's annual general meeting on June 13, 2024. The proposal means that (TM) should adopt a policy which means that they should not oppose employees who try to organize themselves into a union. AMF also wants (TM) to enter the negotiations concerning the "voluntary" collective agreement with good intentions. Tomas Flodén states that the company is "fairly optimistic" that many owners will vote for the proposal.

Personally, I hope (TM) does not give in to these pressures. Being able to legally use the help of 10 unions and now a shareholder to get someone to sign something that according to their own statutes is voluntary is an approach that most likely even makes the mafia green with envy.

It gets harder before it gets easier

I sincerely hope that the world's most perfect teenager passed his Spanish test yesterday and gets the first diploma of his life. Hopefully one of many.

Junior had failed to mention that due to having the MUN 2024 conference this Tuesday, he and a couple of his peers missed their Individual and Society (I&A) test. Since they missed the test due to the MUN 2024 conference, they were given an extended deadline to Friday 9:00 p.m. This meant that the offspring had to go straight home and complete his essay in (I&S) immediately after finishing the Spanish test. Exactly 8.50 p.m. he submitted his essay.

Tomorrow "we" start studying for his end-of-year-exams. It will be 3 very busy weeks for Junior. After that, 4 school days await, of which 1 is graduation day before he has 10 weeks of summer break. Hopefully he has then been admitted to grade 11.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, obviously...

Yesterday we received more than half of the month's estimated dividends. We have just under 7% of the month's estimated dividends left to receive. At the same time, we sold off our entire holding in Best Buy Co., Inc. Common Stock (BBY), which was 60 shares.

Instead, we reinvested both the sale proceeds and the dividends in British American Tobacco Industries, p.l.c. Common Stock ADR (BTI) and Horizon Technology Finance Corporation Common Stock (HRZN).

That the world's most perfect teenager who has to save 50% of all the money he receives in gifts, such as birthdays, Christmas Eve and more, has managed to save almost $5,000 dollars is incredible. His best investment is NVIDIA Corporation Common Stock (NVDA) which he chose all by himself.

Junior is the only one in the family who owns (NVDA), which makes me both proud and a little annoyed at the same time. I wish I had also understood what (NVDA) is all about. I thought it was just another company developing games.

Each day he doesn't learn to drink soda is a good day

In Sweden we have fantastic drinking water. No matter where you are in the country, provided you do not have your own well, the water is clean and clear. No nasty taste of chlorine or other chemicals. In winter, the water is also incredibly cold. In summer, you have to flush the water in the tap a little longer before the water becomes ice cold.

Even before we had the world's most perfect baby, we have had glass bottles filled with water in the fridge so that even in summer we have instant access to clear, clean and cold water. This has meant that Junior has always been good at drinking water. In addition to drinking milk, he also drinks, depending on the season, between 16.9 oz (0.5 L) and 33.8 oz (1 L) water each day.

Despite turning 17 at the end of August, he still doesn't drink carbonated beverages, which pleases the world's most perfect husband and I. However, I am not naive. The window before he starts to drink carbonated beverages, which literally means soda and beer, is closing fast.

Happy thoughts

I have calculated our upcoming extra dividends for June and since most companies have cut their extra dividends by a cent or two, June 2024 will not be as successful as March 2024. My calculation shows that the final result will be about 4% lower.

This means that June will very likely be our third best dividend month ever. December 2023 will continue to be our second best month, at best this will change in September 2024.

Although 2019 is by far our best dividend year, the distribution between months was more even, meaning that none of the months on an individual basis was higher than March 2024. How many years are left before we are back on the 2019 dividends, I hope will be clearer at the turn of the year.

If it can be exploited, it will be exploited

AI's continued development at record speed will change the world in more ways than we can imagine. The latest talk of the town is Chat GPT presentation of real-time translation.

Since humans are lazy by nature, many future generations will most likely use AI instead of learning new languages. With a possible outcome that language learning will decrease drastically. By extension, this can mean that large groups can allow themselves to be vulnerable as they have to trust that the translation provided is correct.

Just like no one cares about your money as much as you do, it can be equated to no one cares about your true and correct information as you do. Instead, it may be in their interest that you actually have false and incorrect information. AI is a fantastic tool if you are aware of both the pros & cons.

I don't think Riksbanken will rush it

The expectation for April's consumer price index with a fixed interest rate (CPIF) was fulfilled. Instead of the expected 2.4%, the outcome was 2.3%, which is higher than February's 2.2% but still good.

The better, albeit marginal, outcome strengthens hopes for many that Sweden's central bank will make a further reduction in the policy rate at the next monetary policy announcement on June 27, 2024.

Personally, I do not think that Riksbanken will make further interest rate cuts on the policy rate until August 19, 2024 at the earliest.

Specification of CPIF 2024

January 3.3%

February 2.5%

March 2.2%

April 2.3%

Increased cost of living partly man made

For transparency and my own agenda, I strongly dislike socialism and our previous government, the Social Democrats with the support of the Green Party and the tacit acceptance of the Left Party, who ruled Sweden for 8 years. At the last election, I voted for the current government.

Today, the inflation rates for April 2024 are to be published. Most people assume that inflation in April 2024 will be higher compared to March 2024. One of the reasons is said to be that energy prices rose in April compared to March, which affects pretty much everything in society.

Had our previous government not decommissioned 6 of our then 12 nuclear power plants, we would not have had such high energy prices today and thus lower inflation.

Be trusting but not stupid

With Riksbanken's lowering of Sweden's policy rate at the latest monetary policy meeting, advisers are now starting to talk about the benefits of saving. After years of ever-increasing interest costs and rampant inflation, many now see the light at the end of the tunnel and the beginning of the end of extremely high living costs.

This means that many banks and financial institutions now see their chance to push for increased savings. Their advisers always recommend the most obvious first, paying off any loans. In addition to this, self-evident number 2 is mentioned, to have a buffer preferably corresponding to 2 months' net wages. After the advisors mention the "must" savings, they always end up on option 3, mutual funds. Saving in mutual funds is of course a good way of saving and absolutely better than nothing at all, but you have to remember that the advisers speak for themselves, they want to sell their product. Compare between different banks and financial institutions to get the best option for you.

No one cares about your money as much as you do. - Liza Dewlar

A 16-year-old's logic is anything but logical

Even though we studied the geometric pattern series for more than 4 hours last night, I am as hopelessly ignorant as before. Yesterday there were 3 tasks that "we" failed to solve. Today the world's most perfect teenager will ask a peer for help with the solution of our total of 5 unsolved problems. Hopefully his friend can make him understand and help him where I fail. Tonight, no matter what Junior says, "we" will try again to solve the 5 tasks "we" failed.

According to himself, his performance in the MUN 2024 Conference yesterday was average. His commitment and motivation is almost non-existent at the moment. All he is waiting for is the feedback on his personal project. He may not proceed to Year 11 without his personal project being approved.

How he can think it makes sense to neglect the other subjects in school pending the evaluation of his personal project is beyond me.

Group 3 - sometimes there is such a thing as a free ride

The holdings below will give the portfolio a real boost this month through special and supplemental dividends.

Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. Common stock (CCAP), ¢11 with pay date June 17, 2024

Capital Southwest Corporation Common Stock (CSWC), ¢6 with pay date June 28, 2024

Fidus Investment Corporation Common Stock (FDUS), ¢16 with pay day June 26, 2024

Golub Capital BDC, Inc. Common Stock (GBDC), ¢6 with pay day June 14, 2024

Main Street Capital Corporation Common Stock (MAIN), ¢30 with pay day June 27, 2024

New Mountain Finance Corporation Common Stock (NMFC), ¢2 with pay day June 28, 2024

Blue Owl Capital Corporation Common Stock (OBDC), ¢5 with pay day June 14, 2024

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. Common Stock (TSLX), ¢6 with pay day June 20, 2024

He longs for Friday night

The world's most perfect teenager has an intense school week ahead of him. Unlike his peers who have had MUN as extra studies since grade 6, Junior only started in grade 10 because he studied Spanish instead. Today, as in previous years, the school will have the MUN conference all day.

This means that he misses the usual lessons today, including, among other lessons, the math lesson. A lesson he really should have attended because "we" couldn't solve 3 of the problems in the chapter "we" practiced last night for his Thursday math test.

In addition to the MUN 2024 conference today, the math test on Thursday, all of Friday will be devoted to a big test of his previous Spanish studies at The Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera (English: Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language), or DELE.

Which are official diplomas issued by the Spanish Instituto Cervantes on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science to participants who have passed a standardized test demonstrating their European Spanish language skills.

The diplomas do not expire, which means that a possible diploma can be used for a college or university application.

I don't even know if I've ever studied this or if I've forgotten it

I couldn't sit on the couch and be lazy yesterday after I got home from the car boot sale. First I took a shower and then I was served an early dinner by the world's most perfect husband.

Then a not-so-anticipated task awaited. The world's most perfect teenager and I sat down in the office to study the geometric pattern sequence. Junior has a test later this week and really needs to practice.

I have always found it easy to understand mathematics, but the tasks the 10th graders have to solve when it comes to geometric pattern sequence with the help of the Sigma sign (Σ) are almost incomprehensible. It's been a long time since I felt this stupid. 2 hours later "we" had solved 8 exercises out of 10.

The offspring must go to the school math helper on his lunch break today and have the last 2 exercises explained to him. With the outcome that I have to plunge into the not-so-wonderful world of math with geometric pattern sequences and (Σ) again tonight.

Group 3

As for group 3's extra dividends, I'm still waiting for one of the holdings' announcements. It is Capital Southwest Corporation Common Stock (CSWC) that is keeping back its announcement of upcoming dividends, both the regular and any additional dividends.

Last year they announced the dividend for June on April 26. We are almost half way into May and still waiting for (CSWC) announcement. The last time the declaration took this long was in 2021 when we had to wait until May 25.

We were lucky with the weather

The last time I rented space at a flea market was 14 years ago. It was me, my mother and my sisters who rented 2 tables at an indoor flea market in a suburb of Stockholm. At that time, my youngest sister and I had a lot of clothes with us. We pretty much sold everything but the clothes, so this time I had minimal clothes with me.

Yesterday it was just the opposite, clothes were the most sought after items. My BFF brought 4 boxes of clothes and she pretty much sold everything. I got rid of about 70% of everything I had with me and sold for just over $110. Not a huge amount but I didn't have to throw the things away and got to spend a sunny day outside with my BFF.

WIN-WIN

Hopefully not a hoarder in the making

Today is the time for the car boot sale. Everything is prepared and the van is packed with my things. We are supposed be there at 9 a.m. so I have to leave at 7:15 a.m. since I'm picking up my BFF and all her stuff.

I've forced the world's most perfect teenager to clean out his closet of toys he no longer uses. It turned out that Junior has some traits of his dad. They both have a very hard time getting rid of things.

Group 2

This month is very frugal when it comes to extra dividends. Of all our holdings, only two of them pay extra dividends in May and I list them below. In addition, our holdings in these companies are very small, so in terms of money it will hardly be anything for us. But I'm not excluding anyone.😉

FS KKR Capital Corp. Common stock (FSK), ¢6 with pay date May 29, 2024

Hercules Capital, Inc. Common Stock (HTGC), ¢8 with pay date May 21, 2024

Specification of our holdings that gives extra dividends

Several of our holdings distribute additional dividends more or less regularly every three months, provided that the respective company's results allow it. In order to have a better overview of any dividends, I have made a compilation of the companies in the different three groups. Regardless of whether the company made one or more extra dividends during the year, I have listed the company in the group to reduce the risk of missing an extra dividend. I include everyone.

Group 1 includes January, April, July and October consists of the following companies:

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. Common Shares (APLE)

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. Common Stock (CGBD)

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation Common Stock (HRZN)

Group 2 includes February, May, August and November consists of the following companies:

FS KKR Capital Corp. Common stock (FSK)

Hercules Capital, Inc. Common Stock (HTGC)

Group 3 includes March, June, September and December consists of the following companies:

Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. Common stock (CCAP)

Capital Southwest Corporation Common Stock (CSWC)

Fidus Investment Corporation Common Stock (FDUS)

Golub Capital BDC, Inc. Common Stock (GBDC)

Main Street Capital Corporation Common Stock (MAIN)

New Mountain Finance Corporation Common Stock (NMFC)

Blue Owl Capital Corporation Common Stock (OBDC)

Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. Common Stock (TSLX)

I'm tired of tax dollars being wasted

My own agenda, I am a Swedish taxpayer who is tired of the careless handling of tax money.

Sweden's aid agency SIDA works to reduce poverty in the world, on behalf of Sweden's Parliament and government. The operation is financed by Swedish tax money.

SIDA has once again been hit by a scandal. This time by a "top executive who has had a fast and successful career" within the agency. The person in question has been responsible for various projects whose budgets amounted to more than 84,250,000 dollars.

Sweden, which is one of the world's largest contributors, always sends money instead, for example Swedish products. Countries that qualify for Swedish aid are often underdeveloped dictatorships where corruption is a natural part of the culture.

Sending money to these countries is doomed to fail, something anyone with logical thinking can foresee, which everyone who works at SIDA demonstrably lacks. My personal opinion is that Sweden must reduce its aid substantially so that SIDA cannot support projects left and right, but must choose "actual" projects. 

Understanding vs knowing

It looks like the American man will be proven right. The formerly well-reputed giant company, which previously had a monumental trust, is now beginning to crumble. With three accidents within a very short time frame, they have serious problems. Fortunately, none of the accidents involved fatalities.

The American insurance adjuster appears to be correct except that the time frame is shorter than he thought. He guessed 8-10 years but unless management really understands and doesn't just know the gigantic problems they have because of their value-based recruitments, I'm guessing the time frame is shorter.

There is a huge difference between knowing and understanding.

This is crazy

Full transparens, my political views are on the right.

What happened at the press conference after the Eurovision semi-final 2 in Malmo is unimaginable. That a woman is held accountable at a press conference by several men with the accusation that she puts THEM in danger when she is the one who received terrorist threats is incomprehensible. I am deeply impressed by Eden Golan's grace and professional performance. Both on stage and at the press conference.

In addition to this, reading posts on social media by the left that the police presence in Malmo is provocative when the rest of the population feels safe when they are met by the same says something about these people.

Has the left completely lost its moral compass?