Boy Scout Reunion

For my dad's birthday, I gave him a trip to Southern California to attend a Boy Scout reunion. I was in Las Vegas for a conference committee meeting. I drove down to Ontario and met with my friend Cyndi Riggle who is starting a Company called Sunshine Hospitality. Did I mention that I hate country music?

I was scheduled to pick up Cobos at 3:15, but her son Ben called to offer to pick her up. Next thing you know, Ben is in a meeting, so I went to pick up Cobos, her daughter and grandson. To my surprise, I picked up a Hillbilly!


Yes, that is right she lost her front tooth. This is the second time I have had a close friend lose their tooth. Cobos insisted I mention this.

My dad flew in at 6:30 and we headed over to Pinnacle Peaks to have dinner with a few friends.





Imagine the shock and surprise when the evil Judy Dahle came over and cut off the brand new ties that my dad and I were wearing and then hung them up on the wall for all to see our shame!


The next day we headed over to the Fisher's house for a reunion of the families that were in Boy Scout Troop 477. Our troop was called the "Eagle Machine". It isn't that us kids were anything special, it was that we had so many parents that cared and got involved. It really made a great difference in our lives.

The Fishers are such wonderful hosts. Besides the Fishers, there was their son Gerry and his kids, Mrs Johnson and her friend, the Browers, Tom Sargent, Tom Creasy my dad and myself. It had been over 33 years since we had been together. These are some pretty special people.

Later that night, some of us from COHS got together at the Black Watch Pub in Upland. It was great until the music started. Next time we meet at the pizza parlor! I don't actually have any pictures of this event, so consider the following a reenactment. Oh look, there is Melinda and Gary! You see a reenactment is just like the real thing.



The next morning we drove out to have breakfast with my brother Dave at Jerry's in Studio City. Breakfast was great, but my brother's radiator hose wore out and my dad lost his credit card. Other than that it was perfect!

It was a great trip, but I am really glad to be home!

The Chicago Bears

June has been a month of travel. Ceci went on a road trip with her friend to Disneyland. She got a very good deal where she could stay for five days at the cost of three. I told her to go ahead. I remember how special Disneyland is when you are young. Unfortunately this meant that she would arrive home in the evening on the same day that I flew out for Chicago and then Orlando. It is the first time that I have been away from Ceci for that long (three weeks).

Carmen and I headed to Chicago via Southwest airlines. I think it is the first direct flight I have had this year and I was glad to have it. We flew out with Scott and Erika Williford. Our flight left very early, but it arrived early in Chicago, so after we checked in, we all headed over to Hot Doug's for Chicago's best hot dogs. Bon Appetite magazine rated Hot Doug's as one of the top 50 restaurants on the planet. Anthony Bourdain admitted that it was better than any hot dog he had eaten in New York.

We were lucky, when we arrived there was no line. They played only Beatles music while there and we had the classic Chicago Red Hot for less than $2.00 each. Scott had the polish sausage and o one went for the rattle snake sausage. These hot dogs are amazing.

Later that evening, Scott and I attended a reception for AAHOA. After all, we were there to work and our families were there to vacation. The next morning was work for us, but Lila flew out on her own to join us. She had to stay one more day for school. That evening we visited a Chicago Classic, Gino's East. The line went around the building, but it was worth it. Chicago deep dish pizza was so filling we could only eat one piece each. We did save room for the cannelloni which we shared. Such great food!



That day was Scott and Erika's anniversary, and they took off to the Hancock building and a romantic dinner and from all accounts it was a perfect evening for them.


The ladies enjoyed Chicago, and the men worked. There was a terrible storm and when we all arrived at the Silver Palm, another Anthony Bourdain suggestion, we found they had no electricity.


Next day after work, we went to the Silver Palm where I had a Schlitz Beer and Carmen and I split the "Three Little Pigs" sandwich, this sandwich contains bacon, egg, ham and a deep fried pork loin. The dining room was a converted 1941 railroad dining car.


We all hooked up with some friends at the Second City Comedy Club, which has been open for over fifty years and has an amazing list of alumni including the original Saturday Night Live - Not Ready for Prime Time Players. Scott had been good enough to book the reservations and it was probably the highlight of the trip.


The final day before departure, Lila and I went to see the Chicago Cubs play the Anaheim (ok Los Angeles) Angels. This is true living history. It is very cool that some of the buildings next to the stadium have their own stands.


Since Lila had arrived after Hot Dougs, we went and got some hot dogs from here as well as their famous french fries, fried in duck fat which are only served on Friday and Saturday.


The next day, we all headed to the airport. Lila got up extra early to make her flight. Carmen, Scott and Erika headed back to Oakland while I headed to Orlando for the Hitec show. I am very happy to be home.

Fathers Day

Today is Sunday, June 13th and for most everyone Fathers Day this year is Sunday June 20th. The problem is that Carmen, Lila and myself will be in Chicago catching a plane on the 20th. Carmen and Lila will be flying home and I will be continuing on to Orlando for the Hitec conference, so we decided to hold Fathers Day today.

The entire family was not able to attend. First Ceci had already made plans for a girls trip to Disneyland and it would have been fair to ask her to cancel it. My brother David and my sister Susan and her family could not make it. Still Mom and Dad (or Grandpa and Grandma depending on who you are) were here as well as Becky and even Bob drove up from Morro Bay.

I BBQ'd a classic. Hamburgers and Hot Dogs. We had home made relish, salsa and plum sauce. The plum sauce is excellent on vanilla ice cream.

It was a very hot day today, but we managed to stay cool. I sent an air conditioner with Bob to install at moms house. She still has bees. She may have to call the bee guy out again. Stay tuned for further developments.

Mom Has Bees

I'm at work yesterday and just after 4:00pm dad calls. He said that the police called him because the alarm at my mom's home went off. He called and there was no answer.

I collect my things and get in my 1968 VW Bug and drove to her house. Two thoughts kept going through my mind. One was I hope she is okay and the second was I hope this more than 40 year old car makes it!

I arrive at mom's house. She is inside with a friend of hers. She explains that the bees were all around her, she panicked and went out the back sliding glass door without turning off the alarm, so it naturally it went off. After she was able to collect herself, she called the police to let them know and so they never actually showed up at the house.

Sure enough there are bees all over the kitchen and living room. Turns out they went down the chimney. Apparently this has happened before and they had the chimney blocked off. That means we can not start a fire to get rid of them.

I'm wondering why my mom is still in the house with all of the bees. While I'm looking through the yellow pages for "Bee Removal", she decides to get a drink of water. The bees decided they wanted the water and she got stung. At this point I insisted that she get out of the house.

Her friend takes her to In N Out for hamburgers and I call the Bee Remove guy. He shows up, checks out the inside, then goes up on the roof and confirms that they are getting into the chimney. Turns out that while it was blocked off, the chimney is old and there are gaps in the mortar and the bees are getting in through the gaps.

He vacuums most of the bees out of the house and we do our best to block the fireplace with some screening. You can actually hear the bees buzzing pretty loudly. If the bees don't leave on there own in a couple of days, then we will bring the Bee guy back. It won't be cheap.

Oso Visits Magnolia

I was on a flight from Oakland to Baltimore for work. I had to switch planes in Albuquerque New Mexico. Some long time friends of ours Katy (Magnolia) Sheridan and her husband Marlin live in Albuquerque, so I decided to call them when I landed. Magnolia answered the phone and was she surprised! Then she said "I am only 10 minutes from the airport. Can I come over and visit". My flight was scheduled to leave in exactly 1 hour. In the old days this would not have been a problem. They could have come over and we could sit in the lounge, enjoy a drink and enjoy each others company. The problem is that you can no longer enter through security unless you have a boarding pass. That meant in order for us to visit, I would have to exit the secure area and go through security again. I asked if 10 minutes meant 10 to 20 minutes. She assured me it meant 10, so I agreed to meet them.

I was sitting waiting for them to arrive when Magnolia comes running through the door. I think she did a "tuck and roll" as Marlin slowed the car down. Anyway, Magnolia and I greeted each other with a great big *osohug*. A few minutes later, after parking the car Marlin joined us.

We caught up on what each of our families are doing. It is always a great thing when everyone is doing well. I must say that I really admire their son Edward, who helps farm workers without receiving any salary at all!

In no time at all 20 minutes had passed, we took a couple of pictures and said our goodbyes.




I went through security. Seems like I always warrant extra searching. This time it was my backpack. I was pretty sure there was nothing bad inside. I do have lots of gadgets such as cables, power supplies, cameras and other computer junk and I often get searched.

They did a manual search and took everything out and could not find anything wrong. They then put the contents into one bin and the backpack into another bin and scanned them both. This time they searched the backpack again and down at the bottom of the black bag was a small knife, fork and spoon set in a black nylon sheath. I couldn't believe it. Wonder how many security scans it went through before anyone discovered it. I said I would have to throw it out as I did not have enough time to mail it. The security person said I could have the fork and spoon after she confirmed they are safe. I asked if I could have the sheath and she gave that to me as well. I love that knife, fork and spoon set. What a bummer. Perhaps someone has lost the fork, spoon and sheath and would like to make a deal?

Turns out I just made my plane and yes I was the very last person on board, but it was worth it. I have not seen these wonderful friends in many years and really missed them. I hope they will come visit soon.

Greenfest San Francisco Spring 2010

I have been going to the Greenfest in San Francisco for several years now. In past years it was in Fall. This year it will be in November again, but they added a Spring Show close to Earth Day.

The Greenfest is held in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Washington, DC. I find it curious that it is not held in Los Angeles, which going really use some greening. How about Dallas, Denver and Miami or Orlando?

I enjoy Greenfest. It is close enough to where I live. It is the largest collection of Green minded vendors that I have come across. That and a combination of educational seminars makes it a wonderful event. There is a certain spirit, enthusiasm that is invigorating.

There were several things I noticed right away. The festival was for only two days (Saturday and Sunday) where in the past it had been three (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). It was also clear that there were significantly fewer vendors. This space was taken up by more seminars, which could be a very good thing. Finally, there weren't quite as much give-aways as there had been in the past. Cliff bar still had a huge booth, but there were giving out pieces of bars, which they do every year, but this year they were not handing out sample bars.

Funds are tough this year, but I really want to continue down the green path. I would very much like to do something solar at my house. I am considering either solar water heating or solar electricity. While I would love to be solar and off the grid, that just isn't going to happen in the near future. What is most likely is solar with no upfront cost. I basically pay what I am paying for electricity now, but pay it to the people that put in the solar panels. That would be a green step in the right direction and it would guarantee that my power costs would not increase for the duration of the contract.

I did not attend any seminars. I was not interested in most of the topics and the ones I was interested were not at times that worked for me.

Most of my education tends to come from the vendors themselves. Seeing the new creative products and services. This year some of my favorites were bowls and plates made from fallen palm leaves by leaf-ware.com and silverware made from birch by birchware. The toilet with sink that uses the water before it enters the toilet to wash your hands is always a favorite. There is a company that has a store in Richmond, near where I live that has some serious rain barrels, that piqued my interest, but I think my all time favorite this year was the paper made from elephant crap. Fortunately, they were not making paper plates!

There is one booth that provided me with information that I plan to use right away. 1 800-EXHAUST (1-800-394-2878). I have loaded this into the speed dial on my cell phone. When I see a car spewing out all sorts of smoke, I will turn them in. Not only can you call in, but you can email them at exhaust@baaqmd.gov and they have a website www.1800exhaust.org

Not all of the vendors provided me with an education. I found this one very entertaining.





There is an element of friendliness and fun that I just don't see at a lot of other festivals or conferences. Live music was often being performed. There is nothing quite like live music.





Some of the vendors really got your attention. This one did not have a booth. I really frown on vendors not renting a booth yet working a show. I have to admit, she was pretty clever. She was promoting a machine that created water. It is basically a huge dehumidifier. I'm not sure how green this is. It uses a lot of electricity. I guess if you have enough solar power and water is scarce.



There is so much more I want to write, but I will end with two of my own Green Tips:

1) Next time you buy a computer, consider a netbook. I use one by Asus. Today it got over 6 hours on the batter. They use so much less power. Just make sure that you get one that supports a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or greater.

2) Get an inverter for your car. When you drive, charge your laptop. I am assuming that you already charge your cell phone when you drive.

Easter 2010

This year four generations met for Easter at my cousin Nancy's house in Sutter Creek, California. Her and her husband Mark did such a great job. The food was wonderful and they made everyone feel at home. I have to admit that I felt bad. I'm not sure Nancy got to relax for even one minute.

We started off with an Easter Egg Hunt. Jake, Anthony, Angel and Terra with baskets in hand left no stone unturned.





Jennifer and her son Anthony were there.




We managed to get a group picture, but not until after Terra, her father and step mother had left.







We finally got to meet Hank's girlfriend Sue. She was nice enough to take the group pictures.