Goodbye Former President Bush

This picture is of Dena burning a cartoon that has been on our fridge for 8 years. The cartoon was of a bunny or something sitting on a stool telling another character that he can't believe he has to put up with Bush for 4 years. In the 2004 election she changed the 4 to an 8 with tears streaming down her face. Today, she was elated to burn the entire cartoon thus ending an era of American politics that drove this country into the ground.

Sunrise over Downtown Los Angeles

This shot taken from the 50th floor of the LA Live building in south downtown Los Angeles. In the distance you can see the sun glinting off another Webcor crane at 9th and Figuerora Streets

Top Chef: Where are they now?

Since I'm a big fan of Top Chef and have watched the show from the beginning, often I wonder what has happened to the winners, the losers and the in betweens.

Over Top Chef's run, several accusations of wrong-doing have been alleged on Contestants as well as Judges.
1) Contestant Marcel Vigneron was arrested on August 23, 2008 on suspicion of DUI [20] .
2) Contestant Richard Blais had a petition filed against him by a women named "Samantha" alleging that he had neglected to pay Child Support for a child she claimed was his. [21] Blais's name is on the Birth Certificate as the father of the Child (now 17).
3) Contestant Cliff Crooks was discharged from the show as a result of assaulting fellow Contestant Marcel Vigneron [23] Vigneron did not file charges against Crooks.
4) Judge Tom Colicchio was sued for allegedly failing to pay a waitress minimum-wage. [24]

Marcel Vigneron has had a tough time of it. He was always portrayed as sort of an ass in the show. It hasn't served him well. Vigneron, after identifying himself, was assaulted and struck on the face with a bottle by a Top Chef viewer at a nightclub.[3] On August 23, 2008, Vigneron was arrested in Laguna Beach, California, for suspicion of DUI after being pulled over for speeding.[4] As of November 2008 he serves as a lowly sous chef at The Bazaar in the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.

I'm excited and fascinated by the Internet gossip regarding Ilan Hall (Season 4). He seems to either be suffering from lack of focus or lack of funds. There have been many rumors of him opening restaurants in Manhattan and now Los Angeles. The latest is a restaurant called Gorbals in Los Angeles that is a severe twist on Irish/Jewish cooking. There will be rabbis doing backflips in their graves at this restaurant with menu items like bacon wrapped matzoh balls and lobster hummus. There is no indication that it is open but the rumor was for it to open in January 2009. Knowing funding, the economy and the Los Angeles permit fiasco it probably isn’t. Details here.

I am also excited to be taking Dena out for her birthday to Tom Colicchio's restaurant Craft in Century City, CA. I had the privilege of eating there for the holidays in 2008 and am looking forward to another visit. The service was impeccable, the food was excellent and innovative although the amuse bouche was practically inedible. We shall see what a second visit holds.

A Shocking Message

At home this evening there was a message on the answering machine from Costco. Odd? Costco calling me? The message was regarding a recall for Zone Perfect bars. I just bought some from Costco last weekend. I have one every morning at 6:30 am. It was quite shocking to me that a) they knew that I bought some and b) they knew my home phone number to call me and tell me that.

So, let's preface this whole conversation with the news of the day that applies to this story. There is a problem with peanut paste causing salmonella. People have died, it's nothing to joke about. That's what the CDC says anyways. It's been traced to The Peanut Corporation (what an original name) and they make peanut paste. Peanut paste is in everything except peanut butter. Odd.

Zone Perfect bars and tons of other items (125 and counting), have peanut paste from the company in question in them. This peanut paste was somehow contaminated at their Georgia plant with Salmonella. This is nothing to joke about and is quite serious. Not to be too graphic here but yesterday all of a sudden, without warning, I got diarrhea. This sort of explains the whole thing.

And back to the 2nd item that is freaking me out. How did Costco get my phone #? Our home phone is listed under Dena's name and the Costco membership is under mine. How did they know I bought Zone bars? I suppose I'm foolish enough or have my head stuck in the sand far enough to think that no one is keeping track of what I'm buying. Well, here is proof that someone is, and frankly they always are, keeping track of what you are buying, when you are buying it, where you live, and the privacy violations go on and on and on....
I think I'll stick my head back in the sand, but before I do....

Do you have items in your pantry that have this peanut paste in it? I'm sure you do.
Check out these links:

USA FDA
The Peanut Corporation official website
USA today info article
Costco Zone Perfect Letter
Recalls - just go to the Costco website and type the word recall into the search bar. I was stunned at the quantity of results.

How Does Former President Bush Live with Himself?

As I sat and watched the inauguration in the comfort of my own home and the power of my DVR remote, many thoughts occurred to me. I watched as they showed George W. Bush a couple times and wondered what he thought of the speech. The statements in italics below struck me as indirect digs at Bush's inability to lead and his leaving this country in a state of disrepair not seen since the original depression.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

Was Bush wondering how it all could have gone wrong? Was he feeling bad about creating such a mess? He must have felt something because his speech as he landed in Texas a few hours later could have been taken as a bit defensive. You can read it here. I would probably feel terrible if the legacy I left after running a great country like the United States of America for 8 years was the highest unemployment since the troops came home from WWII, businesses closing their doors so fast we cannot keep up with the news, people losing their homes at a record pace, and frankly the list goes on and on and on. Some interesting graphs on the younger Bush years is here

Perhaps the record number of attendees illustrates the hope and desperation of the American people? See the numbers below:

Attendance numbers
PAST ATTENDANCE
1965: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1.2 m
1973: Richard Nixon, 300,000
1977: Jimmy Carter, 350,000
1981: Ronald Reagan, 500,000
1989: George H.W. Bush, 300,000
1993: Bill Clinton, 800,000
2001: George W. Bush: 500,000
2009: Barach Obama: 1.8 - 2.0 million

I wonder what he's thinking and I wonder if he cares or if he thinks at all....

Inaugaration - The Year of Hope Begins

The machine that is the Obama campaign is producing what I can only imagine was their goal 2 years ago -- the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America. The Obama campaign machine is a digital marvel and did a fantastic job of capitalizing on the changes in communications media that has occurred in just the last few years. We are after all much more media driven than 2 years ago, if that's possible. We want to know what you're thinking, where you are and what you're doing at any given moment via Facebook, Twitter , Skype or any combination of those via your iPhone. I want to know NOW.

On that thought let me expound a little on the technical preparations that are being done in DC for the inauguration. Sprint, AT&T and other astute wireless carriers are beefing up cell sites in and around the White House to handle the expected increased cell, text and Internet traffic. They are adding mobile cell site trailers or "cell on wheels," or COWs to help. Did you know that text messaging traffic spiked 44% above normal on election day as the results came in. Is the fact that it spiked 44% some sort of cosmic reflection on the fact that the 44th president was getting elected or was it just coincidence?

So if you're lucky enough to have a ticket to the inauguration or one of the balls, just know that texting takes less cell overhead than voice and sending pictures so a text is more likely to get through a jammed network. Speaking of jamming, Secret Service agents do have the capability to jam wireless communications in the immediate vicinity of the president - that is, if they think there's a threat. But if you have trouble getting though from the parade route, it will probably be due to congestion rather than national security.

Get your official Inauguration poster here and if you're feeling generous, for $500 you can get a signed one. Signed by who I don't know but it's signed none the less.

Hanging out Above 53

Today I had an opportunity to go up to the top of one of our buildings for a survey for some temporary cellular coverage for our workers. Here I am, on top....

Did you know there was a word for it?

Me neither....what am I talking about? Someone sends you an email with an URL or hyperlink in it, basically a web page. You click it, think it's cool and then forward that email to 500 of your closest friends. They click it, think it's cool and so on and so on.... This is a phenomenum created by the proliferation of the Internet itself. It has a name....Internet meme (pronounced /miːm/) Internet memes are spread organically, voluntarily, and peer to peer, rather than by compulsion, predetermined path, or completely automated means.

Say what? What the hell is a meme? Glad you asked. A meme is (according to the Princeton Online dictionary); a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one person to another by non-genetic means (as by imitation); "memes ...

There are many kinds of Internet Memes, standard joke emails, hoaxes, altered images (think Sarah Palin), false news stories and the list goes on and on. Some of these memes have created their own businesses, like Snopes for example, whose sole business purpose is refuting Internet Memes and their validity. I could be creating my own Internet meme by putting hyper links into my blog. There's your new word for the day.

House Hunting Update

This weekend we decided to try something different regarding the whole house hunting adventure. We decided to expand our area of interest and we looked in the Venice Beach area. An interesting group of houses were carefully chosen by Dena all around our price and all "reduced" which is the norm nowadays.

As we drove around and stopped in to look we noticed some things that we have never really paid attention to about Venice. It is very dense. Much more densely packed and populated than where we live. Most houses have no yards, the houses are much more expensive due to their proximity to the beach and no one has a garage to speak of. If there was a garage it's long been converted to a "single" where usually some surfer bum lives. The houses are on the smaller size and you get less for your $. Venice also comes with an eclectic set of neighbors. You could have section 8 living next door or a 6 figure attorney with a surfing habit.

We realized that Venice wasn't our cup of tea and quickly drove out of the neighborhood. It's good for showing tourists around, good for brunch and great for a walk with a view, but not to live in.

My Office

All of you have been bugging me and teasing me saying that I don't really have an office since no one has seen pictures. Well, finally, here it is. A picture is worth a 1,000 words, so I won't bore you. Yes, isn't the view lovely? Yes, those are flowers - a gift from Webcor for my birthday. And yes, those are orchids, a gift from a subordinate. Yes, it is all wine and roses in my life.

In Search of the Wii Fit

I got a Wii for Christmas. I've been playing it almost everyday, we played it on New Year's Eve with our friends, we played it with friends from Sweden last night and I played it by myself today. It's addicting. I played 18 holes of golf on Doral (Home of the Blue Monster) and had to take 2 Advil afterwards for my sore shoulder. By the way, I was 2 under par! Perhaps next weekend I'll try Pebble Beach...

I wanted to start the new year off right with a Wii Fit. I searched online and my goodness they seemed expensive. They were selling for ~ $ 150.00 I tried Target, GameStop and the like, all sold out and no idea when more would come. They were cheaper if you could find one in a brick and mortar store. $89.99 That was reasonable. Best Buy was the only store that knew when they would get more in and the nice girl at the Culver City, CA store told me to come early as there is usually a line. I've never waited in line for anything in my life but I had to have it.

I set my alarm for 8 am Sunday and barely could sleep with anticipation. Would there be a mad dash through the store? Would I have to push aside some 6 year old to get one? I arrived promptly at the Best Buy in Culver City at 8:30 am. There was no one there. I trotted over to Ralphs, got the paper and a muffin and took up my position as first in line. I was assured a Wii Fit. I felt confident. As the morning wore on and my feet got colder and tired of standing more and more people showed up. A fellow behind me wanted the Wii for his kids for their belated Christmas. Everyone had a story.

At 10:00 the doors opened and calmly we filed in, a young boy shouted, "There they are, I see the Wii Fits!" and the race was on. My walk became a trot and I too finally spotted them. And yes, there was some pushing and I had to reach over a 6 year old to snag my Wii Fit. The little kid was faster than me as he was about 10th in line! There were only six Wii Fits and one Wii. I got the 3rd one. I'm not sure how as #1 in line I got the 3rd, but hey, I got one! The guy second in line behind me walked away with no Wii. I felt sorry for him but I left triumphant! Was I just as happy as I plugged it in and played (or rather exercised) with it? I can tell you for sure, YES!

Status - Dream House

I haven't been able to write about this for a couple weeks and I'm not really sure why. It's interesting this blogging you know. I have to be able to express in words what I feel and want to say but sometimes the words will not flow about a topic, perhaps because I either want to forget it ever happened or maybe it still bothers me, not sure. But now, I feel I can speak of this now.

As I'm sure some of you have heard we put an offer on the dream house referenced in the blog posts below. The house is owned by a recently famous (young and blond) actress. It was her bachlerette pad before she was married recently. She will remain nameless in this blog. The offer was summarily rejected without a counter offer. They deemed it not a serious offer and I was insulted, for a moment. I suppose when money is no object you don't really have to be realistic about the value of your property. Our offer was not out of line with today's market conditions but alas.

A friend of mine who has seen the dream house aforementioned put the comparison of the two houses into perfect perspective -- Our current home is the "BBQ house" and this house would be the "cocktail house". Truer words have not been spoken. The comment has stuck with me since it was made and has caused much reflection on my part. Do I want to give up the BBQ lifestyle? Are we no longer BBQ types but cocktail types now? Who are we now?

Our friends and family are aghast that we would want to leave our current home. They say how wonderful it is, well appointed, and whatever else tickles their fancy about it. A home is where you hang your hat, a place you make your own and is a reflection of who you are and often what you stand for or believe in. After much thought about the BBQ versus cocktail point I realized that whatever house we live in it will be made into who we are. Just because some blond bombshell actress thought it was her party house doesn't mean it would have been our party house. Sure, I mix a mean martini but that doesn't mean that we are party animals entertaining every night serving only the finest wines and cheeses and we never BBQ. hmmmmm well maybe we've started doing that this year......weird.

I suppose it all doesn't really matter because it isn't our house. Somewhere out there, there is a house for us. The perfect house. A house we will make our own. Until then, we will live in the BBQ house and continue to enjoy it.

Happy Birthday to Me.

This morning at one minute after midnight I was wished happy birthday. Another year older. I couldn't be happier. These few short days in Edmonton with my family has been enjoyable, relaxing and crispy cold. I feel the happiest I've been in months. Perhaps it's the attitude around here.

People in Edmonton are out shopping, buying things, talking of the future in a positive light, going out to dinner and living life. It's a dichotomy from the current attitudes in Los Angeles and the United States in general for sure. In Los Angeles I felt stifled, muffled almost, and somewhat depressed. In LA where everywhere you turn there are empty houses, for sale signs and all conversations focus on the value of our 401k's (or lack thereof), the stock market, interest rates, and how long it will all last. Malls are empty and sales people chase you around the store like a pack of desperate, hungry dogs. Restaurants you used to go to are gone and the future looms like a big black crushing rock weighing down your every thought. I'm getting depressed just writing about it.

I will enjoy my time here away from the reality that is America's deep recession (or depression as some may say). I will no longer cling to fear that has become the only driving force behind every policy and decision that the USA makes. I will live my life and be damn happy doing it. Today is my day. It's a National Holiday in Canada for crying out loud.

Playdoh is so much fun!!!

Sienna, Krystal and myself work on our Playdoh skills. Auntie Dena made some rockin' penguins with Grace and I made lots of worms which Sienna promptly cut up.

Waiting in Line for Santa

It's a hard day when you have to wait in line for 3 hours to see Santa. But oh, so worth it.....

In the Air Today

I had an early flight to Edmonton this morning, 6:30 to be exact. I'm flying on my last 50,000 miles of United Airlines. The end of an era to be sure. The end of free business class to Europe, the end of security bypass lanes, the end of quick, personalized checkin, the end. But a good end.

In today's modern world of air travel one must check in via the internet 24 hours ahead of time. It's just a necessity now or your line at the airport will be worse. If that's possible. I checked in last night on United.com and was greeted with a plethora of questions. Of course, there was the usual, enter your passport, nationality and all that usual International stuff but now there was more. How many bags are you checking? Wow, do I really have to decide that now? I haven't even packed yet! Apparently I do because I have to pay for each one and if I pay online I save 3$. Whoopee!!

Then I was presented with an option of paying $ 40 to go in the "Premier" lane. This would allow me to basically go into the shorter security lane. I used to be able to do this all the time when I flew regularly and was United Premier Gold. Now apparently, I have to pay for it! Another option was if I paid an additional $ 80 I could get double the air miles. $80!!! Are you crazy?

So, if I would have paid the $ 40 I would have saved probably 30 minutes in the security line this morning. Was it worth it? Who knows. I have made it to Denver this morning and am anxiously awaiting a delayed flight to Edmonton. Wish me luck and wish all the travellers stuck all over the US of A luck as well. God speed and good weather.

Lessons Learned

Life is full of little lessons. Some are painful, some inconvenient and some life changing. This lesson was inconvenient and chilly. About 6 weeks ago Dena smelled gas in our house and had figured out that it was our gas fireplace. She shut off the valve and the smell dissipated, problem alleviated. I called the gas company to come out and check it and also adjust the pilot lights on our 1940's vintage O'Keefe and Merritt stove This is a free service that they do.

The gas company came out and it turns out the old valve that we don't really use to turn on the fireplace was leaking even in the off position. It was leaking at 0.3 cubic feet per hour. For the record, a pilot light can use up to 1 c'/hour. So, the leak was very, very small. There was more than enough air circulation both above and below our house to disipate the gas. We couldn't smell it and a gas leak detector was required to even know there was a leak. Now for the lesson. If you suspect a leak and it is not an emergency, call your plumber, not the gas company. Obviouisly, if you smell gas, shut it off and call the gas company. That's my disclaimer. But if you've shut off the gas and wish to call your plumber, that would be best.

The Gas Company, when detecting any sort of leak, is required for safety reasons to shut off the gas. I understand that but they also lock the shut off valve so that only they can turn the gas back on. So how are you supposed to get it fixed? Their answer to that is to have your plumber shoot compressed air through all the lines to test it. This can be damaging to the pipes and the pilot light mechanisms and is usually expensive. The gas company doesn't care, they are just covering their collective asses.

We spent the night with no heat on a very chilly night in Los Angeles. We managed to survive and get our plumber out on Saturday to fix the faulty valve. The gas company responded within an half hour to turn on the gas but we were cited again for another safety violation. This time for not having our fireplace flue permanently blocked open. Doesn't that sound silly? Why would I leave it open and let the cold air in when I'm not using the fireplace?

Topping off Another Project

At our highest building under construction today we had the "topping off" party. This is a tradition in construction - you have a breaking ground ceremony and you have a ceremony (aka party) when you put the final piece of steel or concrete in to "top it off". This doesn't mean the building is complete, but it is as high as it's going to get. It was quite a media event as it symbolizes a major step in the revitalization of downtown Los Angeles. Mayor Villaraigosa spoke, a couple council members, Laura Diaz was the MC and Jimmy Smits handed out the major safety awards. After giving a "Union" shout-out, Smits joked with the workers in the audience. "I'm in a union. It's not as good as yours".

Here is a picture of me getting my hard hat signed by Jimmy Smits (of NYPD fame and also the owner of the Conga Room, opening downtown tonight). He was quite gracious in mucking for photos and signing autographs.

When Dreams come too Close to Reality

Three weeks ago Dena and I were driving around one Sunday looking for open houses. We had a plan of certain houses to look at and stumbled upon one not on the list. We went in, just for the hell of it. It was spectacular. It was a dream. It was way over our price range. It was perfect. I was ruined.

Since then the economy has further worsened, if that was possible. We've researched, met with financial advisors, consulted mortgage bankers, talked with realtors, researched market values, and watched property prices drop. Time has passed and still we can think of nothing else but that house. It turns out after all our research and crunching numbers that possibly it isn't just a dream.

Today we are going to see the house again. We are taking our tape measure, our realtor and our hopes. What happens when a dream gets close to reality? What if we make an offer? What if they don't accept it. What if they do?

The Charitable and the Bizarre

The other night we went to a fundraiser for Bosnian orphans. It was being held at a restaurant and they promised dinner, drinks at no charge, if you donated. Dena, my favorite philanthropist, was all in so off we went.

The event was in an small little restaurant on the west side. We walked in and immediately stood out like sore thumbs. We weren't blond, we didn't look like Martina Navratilova and we didn't speak an Eastern European language. Well I thought, at least there's food. There wasn't much of that and what was offered was a little different. Some sort of potato pastry thing, some dry salami, feta (?) cheese, bread and carrots. An interesting combination to be sure. Well I thought, there's alcohol.....and off I went drinking bad wine on an empty stomach. I'm sure you can imagine where that ended up.

I can say that we ate, we drank, we donated and then we went our for Ethiopian food. What can I say, I was hungry. As a parting piece of knowledge that I did learn about Bosnian orphans, is that they are not allowed to leave the country so people in that country are adopting them and using them as child labor.