SUNNY DELIGHT...

This 5th grader, our grand daughter, was voted Aliso Grade school secretary yesterday...she is totally stoked and can hardly wait for the first school meeting...her entire family and all her friends are so proud of her and we all know she will do an outstanding job...

GIANT FANS SHOULD BE THANKING DODGER FANS

The World Series began last Wednesday in the Giants stadium thanks to Jonathon Broxton who saved this year's All Star game giving the National League home field advantage...Really? Jonathon Broxton? Yup...Up to this year the American league has had home field advantage since 2003...I believe it was the last game Broxton didn't screw up like he did for almost all the remainder of the games he tried to save for the Dodgers...
the Giants won the first two games against the Texas Rangers and not a single word of thanks...
I'm not sure the Rangers could have won two games in Arlington Stadium but we'll never know...

ELI WASN'T KIDDING...

As often as I can I take my three and a half year old grandson Elijah to the park with his three wheeler or sometimes with his two wheeled scooter...
The last time we went I stopped at seven-eleven for a bottle of water and as I approached the cooler to get a bottle he spotted the ice cream 'push-ups' in a case next to the cooler...I bought him one with the promise he wouldn't open it until we got to the park...but he couldn't wait and opened it on the way there, made a mess on my seats that were fortunately leather...not a big deal...
so the other day as Eli and I went to pick up Sunny at school we passed by the same seven-eleven and he asked if I could stop and get him a push-up...not wanting to go thru that again and because we didn't want to keep Sunny waiting at school I told him I had no money, which he didn't understand and kept on asking and asking and asking as I kept on saying no, no...
Finally he said: "Can we go by and just LOOK at the push-ups?"
The kid is a genius...we paid seven-eleven a visit after picking Sunny up...

The Buffalo Theory

One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Claven was explaining something to his buddy Norm...

Here's how it went:

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

Homer Simpson Catholic?

The Simpsons got a blessing from the Vatican...when I thought I've heard just about everything the Catholic Church has done they're saying that beer drinking, donut-loving Homer and his son Bart are Catholics!!!

The church also claims that parents shouldn't be afraid to let their kids watch the show...My own children haven't let their young kids watch the show because of its violence and, well, you know how it is if you watch the show...hilarious most of the time but not really a family show for little impressionable children...

In addition the Vatican wrote that a study by a Jesuit priest about a 2005 Simpson's episode called "The Father, Son and the Holy Guest Star" is among the TV shows for kids in which Christian Faith and religion and questions about God are recurring themes. The Simpsons always pray before meals and in their own way believe in the beyond...The Catholic Church drives me nuts sometimes...

CPR switch: Chest presses first, then give breaths

DALLAS – New guidelines out Monday switch up the steps for CPR, telling rescuers to start with hard, fast chest presses before giving mouth-to-mouth. The change puts "the simplest step first" for traditional CPR.

In recent years, CPR guidance has been revised to put more emphasis on chest pushes for sudden cardiac arrest. In 2008, the heart group said untrained bystanders or those unwilling to do rescue breaths could do hands-only CPR until paramedics arrive or a defibrillator is used to restore a normal heart beat. Now, the group says everyone from professionals to bystanders who use standard CPR should begin with chest compressions instead of opening the victim's airway and breathing into their mouth first.

it wasn't the road conditions....

I was driving back from Hemet this afternoon and decided to post this blog as soon as I got home...I couldn't wait to write about frustrations I had on the road today...

A few days ago my car's ignition switch took a dump and had to get towed to the Volvo dealer by AAA...that's not Alcoholics Anonymous...I have a 'premium' card meaning they'll tow me as far as 100 miles instead of the usual 7 or 8, they'll rent me a car for a day while the car is being repaired and pay for one night's lodging if I'm out of town...I took the rent-a-car option at Enterprise where they loaned me a basic white Chevy pickup truck that was already there in the parking lot and it looked good to me...it had a six cylinder engine and I liked the thought of getting good mileage driving to work in Riverside...it had four doors which would be handy if I decided to pick up any hitchhikers...it had been 15 years since I drove a pickup and I was kinda looking forward to it....

As I was leaving the parking lot the Volvo guy (who knows me well for having the car serviced regularly) called to say the needed part was not in stock and had to be ordered from Sweden or Detroit (I think Ford makes Volvos now) and would take two or three days maybe longer to arrive...I wasn't thrilled with the news and had no choice but to call Enterprise and tell them I'd need the rental longer than expected.

OK, so I'm driving the truck, like for the third day in a row, all the while thinking about how I miss my SUV with controls on the steering wheel for radio volume and changing stations and for cruise control...it's been over 4 years since I had to reach the radio dial to turn to Jim Rome...what a pain....I mean leaning over with my eyes off the road for who knows how long...earlier today I was all set up to pass a pokey driver on the freeway and hit the gas but was sadly reminded this truck did not have Volvo turbo power... it has ZERO passing power and I had to fall back into the slow lane...very embarrassing...the Chevy doesn't have a GPS either so I can't afford to get lost...my Volvo affords me the thought that if I'm lost in the middle of L.A. and can't figure out which way north is I can click a button and find my way to the I-5freeway ...
And, would you believe there's no slot to insert an Eric Clapton CD?? there's probably an FM switch somewhere but who listens to music on FM?

But one more miserable defect in this cheap ass truck is not having controls for adjusting the side view mirrors from inside...you have to role the windows down and do it by hand...hard to freaken believe ain't it?

II don't remember my score...

It was the perfect fall day when our friend Klaus planned on flying us to Palm Desert on a four passenger awesome propeller driven airplane he had bought a few weeks before… not a jet like you might see these days… it was going to be an outstanding day of golf, and flying there and back in a matter of minutes was a heck of a lot better than driving two hours each way…he was a landscape contractor with a lucrative business and he frequently flew to the desert to oversee his projects, some of which our firm had designed…There would be a total of four of us, forty-ish old guys at the time, four good golf friends …we played golf, ate, laughed and traveled together on golfing vacations, but we’d never gone together before on a private plane…

I’m not a big fan of flying even though I had flown on private planes several times before with clients and even once with Klaus when I had flown commercial to Stockton but flew back to Fullerton with him from there…I had flown there to oversee the installation his company had completed on one of our projects ..

That day he planned to land at Fullerton airport, which is not the keenest or safest place to land because there is no tower there, no radio contact with flight controllers, only a wind-sock to show wind direction… a freaken wind-sock!!! had I know before about the restrictions at Fullerton airport I might have taken Air Cal back to Orange County airport but I reluctantly accepted the ride; even landing after sunset was not permitted…after Klaus made a few passes around the airport looking for other approaching aircraft we landed on a super short landing strip that ended a few feet from Commonwealth Avenue…all the while Klaus was laughing like the Red Baron…I had forgotten he lived in Fullerton and this was his home airport…

We met at Orange County airport…in those days it was a small airport that had been a drag strip in the 50’s… Klaus’ plane was parked near other private planes and after loading our golf clubs he had us walk around the plane with him checking tires, the wings and I suppose, propellers and flaps which all seemed to be in the right places…we had been instructed to pack lightly as he said he’d never flown with four guys and their clubs before and didn’t want to overload the plane…not a good feeling…we hoped he was kidding…he even had told us to bring as few golf balls as possible even though we were going to play at a course called the Lakes…most guys carry at least a dozen balls when they play…did you know golf balls are like eggs and you have to buy a dozen every week? We settled on six each and knew we could always borrow some or buy more at the course that day…

The flight was semi-uneventful except for the portion of the flight over the mountains near Palm Springs but it was bumpy and spooky…the Red Baron laughed a lot that day...we all did...I don't recall what anyone shot that day but I know it wasn't close to par...we don't remember scores when we don't break 80...

Key to happiness...location, location, location....

Keep in mind that in real estate, determining the best place to build anything, a house, shopping center, golf course or whatever, location is key...

A friend will be on a plane headed to Lake Forest from his home city, Montreal, and he'll be reading an article about where you live being connected to the possibility of having mental distress...could it be?

He'll also be thinking about the author of that article, probably living and working in Los Angeles reviewing surveys on mental health, to discover that people living in, say, Hawaii have less stress and depression than people living in, say, freaken freezing Montreal...

DUH!!!

Stogies and bogeys...

A few years ago I played golf at least once a week and sometimes twice; getting together with clients who were my old golf buds was the thing to do...we usually went out early in the morning and tried to make it back to our offices by noon...we didn't eat lunch afterwards and hardly touched a martini...only once in while, well, a few times, OK, if we played fairly quickly and could have a drink and make it back to work by 1:00, we'd have a drink, just one...

During that time there were few better places to enjoy a good cigar than out on the golf course. It was a great way to forget about the fact that we were playing behind four of the slowest golfers in the world that were showing no sign of letting us play through anytime soon. Wrapping our lips around that stogie and breathing in that smooth breath of smoke also helped us forget that club we just wrapped around a tree...not me, well, only once in my life and it was an accident, well, not really, it was an old club and I always wanted to see what would happen...it wrapped around the tree and it was worth it...

I developed a detached retina a few years ago, as well as double vision which kept me from playing golf...heck, I couldn't even drive much less putt...I don't smoke anymore and haven't played golf for a few years...I don't miss the cigars but I sure do miss hitting that little white ball...when the economy improves we're all going out there again and maybe once in a while have a cheap cigar...