Jimmy Vanessa - Hero!

That is right! I'm talking about Jimmy Vanessa, Class Clown of Charter Oak High School class of 1978. I went to school with Jimmy Vanessa from first grade all the way through high school. There are times when I think the reason we graduated was because they needed our desk for someone else.

Jimmy and I were in Little League Baseball together. His dad was our coach. The first year was the Delaplane Truckers. Worst team ever. The following year was as Savage Mazada where somehow be became a much better team. Jimmy would go on to eventually play AAA ball.

So how does any of this make Jimmy a Super Hero? It doesn't. Fast forward 30 plus years. My wife and I are having breakfast with Jimmy and his dad. Interesting that Jimmy doesn't have to work on a Wednesday morning. Why? Because he is on Holiday. Turns out that Jimmy has been suspended by his employer "Stater Brothers". Why? No official word has been given.

On the day that Jimmy was suspended he was driving his rig when there was a terrible accident. He used his rig to keep people from driving into the accident and as requested by the Highway Patrol he helped direct traffic.

I'm thinking to myself, Stater Brothers would naturally want to take pride in their employee of 18 years. They would want to brag about him, give him a plaque, donate $50,000.00 to his favorite charity, but no. As the old saying goes "No Good Deed Will Go Unpunished". Jimmy made the newspapers, CNN, ABC ...etc. Instead of good press for Stater Brothers, they are getting just the opposite. Jimmy has been suspended and as a loyal friend, you won't see my shopping at Stater Brothers while Jimmy is suspended. How about you?

News Paper Article One PDF

News Paper Article Two PDF

A Week on the Road

I travel a lot for my work. Some travel more than I do, but most don't. When you travel as much as I do you miss your family and your home. That is why it is always so much nicer when a member of my family is able to accompany me. This past week, my wife Carmen took vacation time off from her work so that she could be with me.

Monday night. I'm back from work and spend the rest of the evening packing. Carmen has packed her own suitcase, a bag of food and our plug in cooler. I have packed my suitcase, computer bag, the company booth, brochure rack and spare laptop.

Tuesday morning comes way too early. We get up, shower, dress and hit the road by 6:00am. We will be traveling down to Anaheim. It will take us 13 hours to reach our destination for dinner. We travel down 101 South and stop at eleven of our customers hotels. We eat both breakfast and lunch in the car as I am driving. We make good time until we head to the last hotel of the day in Hermosa Beach. Traffic comes to a crawl. Turns out there was an accident. Once we get clear It of it, we get to the hotel minutes after the GM left for the day. That means I will be returning to Hermosa beach tomorrow.

We arrive just before 7pm at the house of my childhood friend from school, Dean (Call) Lent. This is one amazing woman. Not only is she instrumental in putting on our high school reunions, but she has a family (village) of 8. That's right, her and her wonderful husband Tom have six children and they all live at home. They have a beautiful family and being a mom is more than a full time job. We enjoy a delicious dinner and great conversation, but now it is time to head to the hotel. We have had a long day.

We pull into the hotel where I made our reservations only to find that they oversold the hotel and have walked us to a hotel all the way in Long Beach. Did I mention that my meetings and conference are in Anaheim? We get there and even though the General Manager had assured us that the first night would be complimentary because of his mistake, the hotel in Long Beach knows nothing about this. Doesn't matter, I give them my credit card and we finally get into our room. When you travel as much as I do, you learn to roll with the punches. It is 10pm and we pass out.

Next morning waits for no one. It is bright and early. I get a call from another childhood classmate. It is Jimmy Vanessa. He thought it he could not get to the restaurant in Anaheim for breakfast until perhaps as late as 8:30, but he was wrong. There was no traffic and it is 7:30am and he is waiting for us. We quickly get ready, hop into the card and meet him at Marie Calendars. I never really had many if any classes with Jimmy in school. What we had in common was little league baseball. I was in little league for the first two years. Later I would discover that swimming was my sport. What was special about this breakfast was that Jimmy brought his dad. His name is Coach. I'm pretty sure this last name is Vanessa, but I don't think I actually ever knew his first name.

The first year we were on a team named Delaplane Truckers. Worst team in the history of Little League. We didn't win even one game. Besides Jimmy and myself, there was Craig Schaeffer, Danny Hancock. Richard Mendez was our catcher. Side note about Richard, he had the coolest hair cut ever. It was short on the top and long on the sides, just like the guy that rode the motor cycle in the movie Animal House. I can't remember the other members of the team. My best memory is of the last game. Coach took the worst players on the team, like me and asked us what position would we like to play. I got to play 3rd base. Usually I played center field where I would drop ever ball hit to me while I tried to use the basket catch cause I wanted to be like Willie Mays. So, I'm playing 3rd base and a line drive is hit right too me. I have never seen a ball travel this fast. I raise my glove and to my amazement, I actually catch it and try to run down the runner from 2nd base, but the short stop and 2nd basemen forgot to cover 2nd. I get back to my position and the 3rd base coach from the other team looks at me and says "Nice catch son". It is the best play I will ever do in baseball, and I will never forget it.

Following year, we will be on a team called Savage Mazda. We were not that bad. Jimmy was starting to become a real pitcher. He would eventually play AAA ball. There will be more on Jimmy in another blog entry. Did you know that Jimmy is a hero? It is true!

So we are all having breakfast, and it was so good seeing coach. He used to be taller. I learn for the first time that he was in the Marines. He arrived in Korea the day the war ended. We chat like there is no tomorrow and next thing you know, it is time to go. I have to visit the hotel in Hermosa Beach and then get to a board meeting in Anaheim.

There is a reason they are called "Board Meetings", but it should be spelled differently. We wrap up the meeting late and get over to the "Women in Hotels" reception. It is a small gathering. It is our first time doing this. We will improve it over time. Recognizing women in the Hotel Industry is very important to me.

Carmen and I go out to dinner with a friend of ours, then it is back to the hotel and to bed. The next day is the conference with educational seminars a lunch, trade-show, meeting, followed by a town-hall meeting and dinner. The town-hall and dinner was put on by AAHOA. Asian American Hotel Owners Association. The Indian hotel community. They have hired a comedian from their region (Gujarati) of India. He sat next to me until it was time for him to perform.

Tired and exhausted, we return to our hotel. Tomorrow we checkout and drive north to San Luis Obispo. On the way, just before Santa Maria, we stop and pick blue berries. They give us a small bucket. After we start picking, we realize just how huge that bucket really is. It takes a long time to pick blue berries, but we really enjoyed picking them.

We arrive in San Luis Obispo and checkin to the La Cuesta Inn. We are meeting the owner and a good friend, Cynthia Woods for lunch along with her husband and her long time friend Terri Raey. Lunch was fantastic. Not only was the food good, but I had not seen Cynthia and Terri for about 10 years. It was so good to see them again.

We get back to the hotel and enjoy the Jacuzzi. I want Carmen to relax. That is the point of her coming with me. We head back to the room and both of us fall asleep, but just for an hour. It is time to head up to Jennifer and Miles house. Jennifer used to work for me and I consider her a dear friend. She showed us her toes.

She is married and has 5 year old twin girls. They are so cute. They also have a son 12 and a daughter who is a teenager. Enough said. We enjoyed their house, garden, food, wine and conversation. Miles is a techie like me and so we got to chat about our Google phones. We are such nerds. It is 10:00pm. Where did the time go. We get back to our room and fall asleep.

Why does morning start so early? We race to shower, get dressed and over to McClintocks in San Luis Obispo. We are having breakfast with one of my long time great friends, Susie Norris and her family. Susie amazes me. She is such a fine human being. She started being a foster parent while she was still single. She takes children who have parents with serious drug addictions and has the patients of an angel. She takes such great care of those kids and so loving. She has adopted two of these children and today she and her husband are fostering a little girl. I love this woman dearly and consider myself lucky to have her as a friend. Time to take the kids to dance class and Carmen and I head back to the hotel to enjoy the jacuzzi and take a nap.

Next thing we know, it is time to head to my brother Bob's house. He lives with his long time girl friend and the house really looks wonderful. I wish we could visit more often. We should have brought our swim suites has they have installed a hot tub. They take us to dinner. The time flies by so quickly and it is time to return to the hotel. By the way, they are camera shy.

It is Sunday. We hit the road by 8:30 and drive home. We eat in the car. While we enjoyed spending time with our friends and family, it is so good to be back home with the rest of our family. Now you know what a week on the road is like for me. I will be at work the next day at 9am.

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.