The deck of the Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Friday afternoon

[betterthanaplan]

So. Duke had been in Fandom for two weeks now. And while he'd absolutely never say out loud that he felt like he had a handle on things . . . he felt a bit like he had a handle on things.

Case in point: he was lounging on the deck of his boat, sipping bourbon and pondering whether or not he could sail to 2008 Baltimore, stash an inexpensive bottle somewhere, then walk across the causeway to 2019 Baltimore, pick it up, and sell it all nicely aged. He was pretty sure he could get away with something like that without breaking time. So long as he didn't manage to run into his older self or something. But wouldn't his older self know to just avoid Baltimore in 2019?

He was not so lost in such thoughts as to not notice the small green thing creeping around his crates, though. He dropped his hand down to the butt of the gun taped under his chair.

"Pretty sure biting your subjects is a big reporter no-no."

The gremlin made a sort of grumbling, snarling noise, and scuttled off. Duke nodded to himself and sipped his bourbon.

Yeah. He was getting a handle on things.

[open boat deck is open!]

Comments

[betterthanaplan]

"Haven't been across the causeway much," Duke said. "But if I sail out on the Rouge, I'm back in 2008. Haven't worked out exactly where the shift is, yet, but it's nice knowing I can get home if I need to."

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando chuckled, "It would be tempting to look up the lottery numbers for the last decade and compare them to see if the realities matched up to that degree."

Hernando meant it as a thought exercise.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke laughed. "I was thinking more along the lines of seeing if I could stash a bottle of something in 2008 and pick it up ten minutes later in 2019 to sell at a profit."

[hernando_fuentes]

"That would be interesting, to see if it worked," he mused, "Is the difference in price between a ten year and a twenty year Scotch such that it would be worth it?" In a word, yes, Hernando.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke spread his hands. "When it comes to alcohol, age is money. Kind of a lot of it."

[hernando_fuentes]

"The same is true of certain tea," Hernando noted, and then laughed a little, "Now I shall need to go look at the market for a 2008 pu'ehr just to know."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke leaned back in his seat, giving Hernando a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "If it's any good, you should let me know. Perhaps we can make a deal."

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando smiled, "I admit to being curious. It would be after the pu'ehr bust of 2007, so prices in 2008 would have been incredibly low but unfortunately, the commercialization that had lead to the 2006 boom and 2007 bust would have affected the general available quality.." Humming a moment, he pulled out his phone and tapped away. His brows went up, "A minimum factor of ten for even low brands with some like the Dayi peacocks going for a factor of 30. Yunnan Longrun 826 has appreciated quite a bit as well. Hm. Well. If you wanted to spend some money on tea, spending $5 or $10 per cake in 2008 and assuming a case of ten per would net you a minimum of $450 and $900 per case after the original investment was deducted. More, if you negotiated a bulk discount."

A shake of his head and a palm shrug, "I have no market for it here. You would have to find a specialty tea distributor or sell it on Ebay or Amazon though.. " Another tap, "The Yunnan 826 is currently selling for roughly $160 per cake on Amazon." Hernando chuckled, "I admit, I'd like to try it and see if it is truly worth that cost or if it is an inflated market due to the number and the year."

[betterthanaplan]

"If there's a market out there, I can find it." Duke thought it over and nodded slowly. "It's worth a shot. What kind of storage does it need? I can pick some up this weekend, and we can see if this whole scheme even works."

[hernando_fuentes]

"You'd want a humidor," Hernando said, thinking it over, "Though not one made of Spanish cedar or any other strongly scented or resinous wood. Pu ehr is in a state of constant fermentation, that's what gives it the flavor and makes older tea more expensive. A stable temperature range would be 20-30C, humidity between 50-75% - higher temp, lower humidity and vice versa. A fan or air exchange would be necessary to keep mold from forming and to keep the fermentation from stopping. You'd want to separate Shou and Sheng blends, and keep all of the tea away from anything with a strong odor."

More thinking. "8 is an auspicious number in the Chinese calendar. That may play a factor for the price of the tea now. I don't know." Frowning a little, he noted, "I do know 2019 is going to be a terrible year for pu ehr tea of any sort. The climate change has done so much damage this year alone."

[betterthanaplan]

". . . Might take more than a weekend to set all of that up," Duke confessed. "Not quite as simple as finding a decent wine cellar."

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando laughed quietly, "Little more difficult, yes. Wine ages in an airtight environment. Tea will simply decompose if there is no airflow."

[betterthanaplan]

"Sounds like it could use a decent caretaker, too. That's a pretty big increase in overhead." Duke shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Not quite the sort of time travel scheme I'm looking for at the moment, I'm afraid."

[hernando_fuentes]

"With a chest-sized humidor? No," Hernando shrugged, "They're all computerized now. Though it would not be a sustainable market, it's true. There is only so many you could bring back before the value depreciated."

[betterthanaplan]

"And if the power goes out in 2011 and no one's there to plug in into a generator? You are not thinking this time travel thing all the way through, my friend."

[hernando_fuentes]

"Mm, it would do better in a warehouse," Hernando admitted, "Somewhere already set up for such things. I admit I wouldn't know where. For me it is all simply speculation."

[betterthanaplan]

"Spoken like a man who doesn't have to worry about what, uh, 'time zone' he ends up in if he leaves the island in the wrong direction.'

[hernando_fuentes]

"That is also very true," Hernando agreed, "but that is also why I would look at nontangible items. It would be quite a chore to make sure things like the dates on my dollars and coins matched up with pre-2008. Especially considering the currency changeover in the US."

[betterthanaplan]

Duke snapped his fingers. "Now you're thinking. All the more reason to keep things simple. And in a business I already know."

[hernando_fuentes]

He laughed again, "Well then, I wish you luck on your endeavors. Stop by the tea shop sometime. We're open on Thursdays. I'd like to hear how it all works out." A glance at his watch, "For now I must be going. I have a portal to Toronto to catch. It has been nice meeting you, Duke."

[betterthanaplan]

The tea shop was open once a week. Of course it was.

"You too, Hernando. See you around."