It's a Dogs Life....

...So here I am eating the turkey and gravy and all of the trappings of Thanksgiving...discussing the merits of being an American in this day and age...including being able to buy 10 pounds of potatoes for .69 cents...crazycheapspuds!..and my lovely bride tells us about the lady in the Ralph's right behind her...with an opinion on everything...she must have a blog also...but anyway...old Ethyl starts to talk to the little lady...when she notices what does her new friend have in her shopping cart?...well besides 3 pounds of Velveeta, Del Monte fruit cocktail...some coffeemate and three jars of medicated Tucks...

She sees the old bow-wow in the cart! Isn't that just cute...no downright precious...ahhhhh....cute little poochy-poochy....smile...and warm fuzzies go up and down Ruthie's cute little spine...how thoughtful of her new friend to bring her little companion into the grocery store!...ahhhhhhh....how nice... anchors aweigh little buddy!

...Now before you go sending me a note about not loving dogs...make no mistake but I do indeed love the little fellas enormously...always have and I have a very tender spot for dogs...but dogs in a grocery store? Are you freakin kidding me!!!!..... dogs are dogs people! Not people, people! Persons peoples! arrghhhh!

...As someone who worked in food production for many years and has had to make significant changes in our company and handling practices for food safety, does anyone in their right mind think that bringing animals into the grocery store is a good idea? Can little muffy possibly survive in the big nasty car for twenty minutes when mommy poo needs to buy-buy some good foody for the wittle puppy? Can you say fecal matter and e-coli?

Can we all let our dogs be dogs? You know those things that protect us from bad people, chase cars, catch rabbits, lay on the porch and lick...well, you know...dog stuff....anyway let's let our dogs do the whole companion thing! But in being a companion do they have to become like us? Wearing silly clothes and taking trips with us? Have we taken this whole thing way too far with pets?

...The picture just above is from a site that explains why sometimes dogs bite people...I would have done more than bite my master if I was such a pooch...and again, I just love dogs...but they are not humans...

...This leads me to think that people are now using dogs to replace children...I know this is true in some urban areas...and I am all for that...provided that dogs can start paying Social Security...because that is likely the only way I will ever see anything that the government has taken from me...so maybe we can kill two birds with one stone...

...Let's train little poochie to pick up his...errr...well...you know....his...ummm....errrr....uhhhh...his...poopie!...and then he can have some earnings and pay Social Security and all the other taxes...then we have cleaners streets and a bigger tax base!...so I called Madam Speaker and she thought it was a great idea!...and as someone who can generate a whole bunch of stuff herself that needs to get placed in plastic bags with your nose held...she immediately saw the value and took a great photo with Leonard Nimoy!...


God Bless America!

Remembering Law School

...Hard to believe but it was 23 years ago today that I learned that I had passed the 1986 California Bar Examination...memorialized in the picture of me receiving the telegram from the Bar above...that shocked look on my face...and that is really how it happened...a simple little note from the State that said something like "We can't believe it but you actually passed the hardest bar exam in the country. We tried to stop you but somehow you got through. Good luck and don't screw up too soon."...

...I had actually gone up to the family cabin at Hartland...don't ask where that is because it isn't on very many maps...just somewhere up in the Sierras...and our family was celebrating Thanksgiving...well actually the day after Thanksgiving...and my dear sister in law Janet had decided to go by our home and check our mail...and she opened the envelope and read it! I am still shocked by that as much as actually passing!...

...so this was in the era before the internet and email so Janet saddled up and rode up to the top of the hill to let me know...that is her above in the photo with the bowler hat and dark mustache...well actually what she did was call the camp near where we were staying at let the staff know who then walked to our cabin...as we had no phone...seriously...and so a guy shows up and knocks on the door and asks for me...and tells me I need to call my sister in law Janet...which I did...on a payphone down the hill...

...and so it turns out that everyone in my study group passed the first time!...in a year when only about 1/3 of first time takers did so...here we are at our bar swearing in ceremony... that's me with the dumb look on my face...

...so all these years later what do I think of it? Well, besides that they made a clerical error and they actually meant to notify some other guy with a similar name...and that any day I will receive a latter saying "Hey, just kidding! We just found your exam and it really stunk it up! Cut the shingle up on your wall--now!"...well, besides that I mean...here are some thoughts about getting through something as tough as the bar exam...

*Study with your friends. I am eternally grateful for HP, DE, RL and KG and their help.

*Reduce complex subjects down to their essence, then build up from there. If you don't know the basics of something all the rest is nonsense.

*Stay calm. Everyone else is as nervous and scared as you are.

*Study out loud. Read your notes out loud. When your ear hears your own voice without interruption it sticks in your brain.

*Get away for a bit. Several times in my life on huge projects I got away for several days by myself. It helped.

*Have a supportive family and friend group. I tell students this all the time about grad school---don't tackle it alone. Make sure your support team is behind you.

...so I guess that's just about all I am going to say about that!...for now its off to Turkey Day...and time with family...and may you have a wonderful and blessed day!

Confusing Times for Schools...

"So here's to you, Mrs. Robinson...but only if she is a recruiter for a company that actually is looking for an employee...or two...well, maybe just one...the answer isn't so simple any longer...unless the advice to get into plastic is about using your charge cards to live on...so I have been thinking and reading about this issue a great deal...since I am a bidnez perfeser and all of that...

...so where has my inquisitive mind taken me? Straight to the venerable School of Business...the bastion of excellence and honor and scholarship and...well you get the point...ant there are plenty of critics and pundits and observers who have a plan...often it comes down to just blowing the whole thing up...

...I for one don't necessarily think that blowing everything up is the answer...but for the folks outside of Californye-yeah...perhaps you have missed what is going on with our famed public education system...with students at UC Berkeley below showing their "support" for the huge increase in tuition... (can you say over 30% increases in a single year? Sounds like a third world country)...but I actually think it is more about a collapse of government and leadership than anything else...

...So I have been researching about the University system for the past 18 monhts and now am writing about the Schools of Business for the past month...and almost done with a paper...but if you want to read about things from Harhvahd's point of view check out...http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6053.html for a discussion of the future of the MBA...and while I think HBS is getting some things correct they are missing the point on some others...

...and that is the purpose of the paper I am writing...and hope to finish soon...because as strange as it may sound...I think part of the answer to what is ailing our Universities generally...and the School of Business specifically...can be answered by listening to...can't believe it...hard to say...errrr...ummm....listening to...lawyers! ...Yes, I think that if the Schools of Bidnez can incorporate a few things from law schools that things would improve...

...and I am going to start with the suggestion that we can start wearing the really cool berber rugs that Her Majesty's advocates get to don...and the great napkin around their necks...far more prestigious than our simple black robes...well, just kidding...but there are some things we could learn and apply from other professional schools...

...so in the coming days I hope to finish the article and post a blog copy sometime in the near future...which I am sure will lead to its publication in Harvard Business Review...or Mad Magazine...one or the other is just fine with me! Have a wonderful day!

My. How Things Have Changed...

...So I am driving down Rosecrans heading towards the Goodwill store...delivering bags of clothing...darn pants keep shrinking in the wash...can't quite figure that out...must be something in the new-fangled detergents...and I see the sign flashing over the corner drug store...and it got me thinking about the "good ole days"...

...No, silly, it wasn't for the pink strip club advertising "Join Us For A Gala Nude-In"...but rather the Walgreens at the corner of Midway and Rosecrans...actually a decent looking store which I have frequented on occasion...convenient...well lit...and if you can serpentine in and around the gathering of homeless folks on the corner...I nearly hit a Home Depot shopping cart full of plastic bags...overflowing like a black poly volcano....but anyway...

...Flashing prominently on the store sign on the corner...besided 1 gallon of milk for $1.99...a good deal so I had Ruth run in and get two of them while I idled at the light...then it flashed the message that triggered the old metallic tapes in the gray matter...reversing and spinning for a few moments while it searched...and a different era came to mind...when I saw the message OPEN THANKSGIVING DAY 24 HOURS...

...you see back about 35 years I was a stock clerk at the Payless Drug Stores at the corner of Kings Canyon and Clovis in Fresno...well, actually not a stock clerk because I actually worked at the "Back Wall" and kept the dog food and paper products and household cleansers and the....ummm...errr....the...well, I will just say it...the feminine hygiene products as well...a wonderful job for a 17 year old guy...and I can assure you that my dear fellow employees and cashiers never messed with me on that one..."Mr. Ataide. Price check on Maxi-Pads, 24 pack, checkstand 3!"...trust me it did no lasting harm...well, other than 2 1/2 years of counseling while in the US Navy...but I digress...
...you see as the youngest employee at Payless I frequently would be the person locked in to the store over the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Holidays...after all it paid double-time...and knocking down $4 per hour was really something...but to be inside of a huge store...for Payless was the size of a large grocery store or Target more so than a Walgreens or Longs Drugs...and I would have the run of the place for 8 hours...lliterally locked in with all the lights on...on a holiday...kind of a strange experience...

...what does one do in a locked in store? Well...start with turning on all of the stereos in the electronics department on the same radio station...I think it was K-FIG...the real rock station in Fresno in the 70's...getting a bicyle or two out for riding up and down the aisles while snacking on pork rinds or 5th Avenue candy bars...and I would do a little bit of work...stock a few shelves...sample a few beverages...eat a bit more...

...but what really sticks with me all these years later is playing pinball up at the front of the store...hearing the bells and buzzers sharper and clearer than one could do when the store was actually open...it seems so surreal and strange..and then people coming up to the glass front doors and seeing me and pounding on them telling me to let them in ...panicked no doubt because the "Operation" game they bought for little Chuckie needed batteries...or it was New Years and they forgot the champagne...Charles Krug...about .99 cents a bottle as I recall...and almost worth every cent...but they could never quite figure out why the store lights were on and here was this young guy with long hair playing pinball on a holiday...

...so I think we kind of have lost something with everything open 24 hours...not entirely sure what it is we have lost but perhaps it has something to do with the special nature of the holiday...time with family and friends...the town basically shut down...and I guess at times even after all of these years I am somewhat nostaglic for that era...and think that I too have pushed too hard and run the race too fast...I left for the US Navy from this job at Payless and never looked back...maybe I should have a bit more...

...so Payless is long gone...sucked up into the Rite-Aid leveraged buyouts of the 90's...and the old store and shopping center in Fresno is kind of unrecognizable...so this holiday season I would ask that maybe you not frequent the stores that are all open...perhaps with time stores will begin to close again on holidays...or if you do need to visit a store or restaurant on a holiday that you show a special bit of grace and consideration to the people who are working...

...because odds are they are not having nearly as much fun as I did when I work holidays all those years ago...

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today...and it had nothing to do with Sgt. Pepper!

Well I know that I have been ruminating in a somewhat light-hearted way the past few posts...although I am never certain that readers can discern the nuances of my strange mind...but today I want to remind everyone of the transformational events of 20 years ago...with the falling of the Berlin Wall and the end of the world...or at least the world that all of us born from the 1930s-1960's had known...

...It truly remains hard to believe how rapid the collapse came...and there are many well-written pieces (here is one that brings together the old and new pretty well: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/world/europe/08germany.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 ) ...but it really was a transformational event in our history...


..For those of us who served in the military through the 1950s-1980's the power of the Soviet Union was the reality that we faced every day...it drafted my father into the US Army during Korea and 25 years later I would volunteer for the US Navy...and the efforts and energies of many countries poised against each other...nuclear weapons at the ready...was something we simply could not shake from our minds....even well into the 1980's our young men and women stood at the ready against "the godless red hordes of the east"...(just ask my buddy Mike Gallagher)...if any of you are interested in the USS Bainbridge CGN-25, my steel and nucelar powered home during those years...check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEFT0wPQo0Y for some old film of the "Gray Ghost of the Orient"...almost two football fields long she was something in her day...


...it is somewhat crazy to believe that the ship I served aboard for four years from 1976-1980 possessed more fire power aboard than all of the weapons fired by all sides in WWII...amazing...and sad...and reminds me of the huge debt we owe to Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, Lech Walesa and many others known and unknown who brought this awful and wasteful stalemate to an end...even Gorbachev deserves some credit...at least he didn't line every one up against the wall like previous Soviet leaders...



...so on the plane home from Europe I watch a movie that gets **** from me...an excellent watch...well acted and in many ways prophetic...of not only the rise of the Wall but also its collapse and a warning for contemporary citizens of this global village...Brendand Gleeson gives a stunning performance of Winston Churchill...oh, WWII is so boring, you say?...well listen carefully kiddies to the dialogue in this film...for it speaks to us well...stirring my heart, my soul and desires for a better tomorrow...rent a copy of Into the Storm http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0992993/ ...and prepare to be impressed with the strength of those who we can hold no candle to.

I for one am quite grateful this date for not only Ronnie and the rest of the leaders of the 1980's but also the one and only Sir Winston Churchill. Hats off to all of them!

Que no mundo é isto?

So I think I am a pretty smart guy...right?...well I mean I have a online degree from the Cleveland Institute of Electronics and Television Repair...a certificate from Dalena's College of Beauty...and I also read National Geographic...well, at least I look at the pictures...but, anyway...as I was saying...I consider myself a real conneeesurrr of fine living, cultural sophistication and international stuff...so these questions should not perplix...purplix...plerpexx...I mean these things shouldn't be beyond my capabilities in figuring out!



...So I be skirting on down the highway in old Paree...heading on out of town with my confidence in and awareness of the Europe...with my Maurice Chevalier 8 track playing...and the little lady begins to inquire about some of the ummm....errrrr....uhhhh....well, you know...."the facilities" in France that we had experienced...especially one at a roadstop somewhere near Caen...and boy howdy, they were really eco-friendly with this particular sanitation portal...which we later discovered was known as a "Turkish Toilet"... and how wonderful this device was since it used no water...or at least in the version we used...so it must have been a very new model...kind of like the Falcon urinals I see around PLNU...water free...but I am thinking that there are some things that really do require the use of water... I also discovered that they also called these "squatters toilets"...must be something for the homeless chaps I guess...

...anyway I was talking about the facilities...which by and large are quite nice in Europe...well, except for the U.K....but that led us to a conversation about that other piece of porcelain that we kept on seeing wherever we went...and since we had never seen such a thing in either my National Geo or Popular Mechanics magazines...it led us to using our powers of deductive reasoning to get to the....ummm....bottom of things....

..So we set out to use the porcelain thingy in various settings to see what conclusions we could make....Was it:

*A Mini-Washer for the weary traveler? (travel light/travel right!)

*A convenient espresso maker? (one must not stray far from the coffee!)


*A footwashing basin? (for all the pilgrimages you could make in Europe!)

...So I must say we didn't come to any firm conclusion on any of our three possible solutions...except the only way I could see it being a footwashing basin is if no-one has size 10.5XXX feet like mine...I got my baby toe on my left foot stuck on the lip and nearly tore it off...So let me know what is your favorite or offer a new solution to this vexing question...

...But I don't want you to think that all of your confidence in me is lost...I mean after all this is now my third trip to France and fifth to Portugal in the last 4 years or so...so on the way back from Normandy I stopped by a little bistro and picked up some genuine French "chocolat" for a little "snackee"...which Ruth was so pleased with my selection that she snapped the photo below...

...boy were they good! Vive Le France!

Somehere on the road in Portugal...reflections on Twain-isms vs. Joe-isms

The venerable Mark Twain

"All generalisms are false, including this one."

"Don't let schooling interfere with your education."

"If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you cannot in any other way."

"It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense."

The indubitable Joe Arrais

"He who steps off the blanket gets his feet wet." (A caution to Americans.)

"The further you drive, the closer you get." (Helpful advice as to the length of any journey.)

"The rain will be ending soon." (As the rain begins, with gray skies everywhere and no sign of sun.)

"If you step on the wrong rock, you will get a radical feeling." (In other words, "watch where you step.")

"Always stop at the stop sign." (Reflecting upon the importance of traffic safety.)

"Next time you are in Argentina and you see a stop sign, you need to stop." (An observation after a minor auto accident with some Argentinian surfers.)

"It's just a little bit of humidity." (During a rain storm while waiting for the traffic police.)

...So here we are...at the end of Europe...literally...outside of Sagres at the far southwestern corner of Europe where Prince Henry the Navigator (allegedly) trained seamen from throughout the regions...and I am thinking to myself "How would it be to have Mark Twain riding in our rental VW van for a few days"...and then I realized that he was indeed here...just in a Portuguese version...you know, louder, more passionate, articulate, louder...well, you understand...

...So in addition to the wit and wisdom of Joe, he also is quite a driver...and in Portugal that is a big statement...since cab drivers here make NYC drivers look like driver's training school...on a first day lesson...and I have enjoyed Arrais and his driving in the past...getting to Porto from Lisbon faster than a bullet train a few years ago...but you know I am really tired after having driven about 400+ kilometers, so I figure, why not have Joe drive a little bit...right?...and the symbolism is astonishing since in the photo below (with Joe's lovely wife Paula, daughter Debora and our friend Marjorie Ekk)...we are admiring the kilometer zero marker of the famous "cycle across Europe" start that leads one all the way to Russia)....

...I mean, what kind of trouble could we possibly have?...

...so five minutes and one kilometer later here we are in a traffic accident with four young Argentinians who decided it was smart to pull out into traffic...now don't get me wrong...this collision was not Joe's fault...but I just found it somewhat ironic that it would happen to him just after taking the wheel deep in the Algarve...and fortunately everyone was OK...except for the tie rod and left wheel and tire of the young man's car...no injuries...but I just loved to watch the special language that Joe brought to the scene...

...when we got out of the car Joe greeted the young travelers with a hearty greeting...affirming in them that in no way did he think less of them for their driving problems...and after we all embraced one another and shared pleasantries our young South American folks thought it was a good time to change their tire...move the car...and I am sure they were just going to head to the nearest police station to report their error and damage...which at that point was developing...

...but fortunately just at that moment as they were getting in their car and wishing us all 'bon voyage"...the policia appeared and saved them the effort of seeking them out...wow, those Argentinians were so pleased to see them as well!...they said some special things in Spanish that I am certain were a particular form of being especially pleased to see the policia.

...so long story short...the rain was pouring...and pouring...and we worked it all out...and our hapless young friends had to wait for a tow truck (Portuguese law, I understand)...and the important thing is no one was hurt...and I took the keys back from Joe so that he could reflect on his long journey behind the wheel...and share with us those special tender thoughts he had towards our young amigos from down south...

...and it just made me grateful once again for the wonderful surprises that await us around the bend...and how even little accidents can seem funny...and moments to learn from...especially when you are with wonderful friends like Joe and Paula and Debora and Otto and Marjorie...and of course my bride Ruthie!

Eu achei o Miguel! Ele e bem!

So on a national road in the vicinity of Montsaraz in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal...who did I run into? Well, not literally run into because our VW van (courtesy of Avis)...would have received the short end of the deal...since Miguel and his familia are very very big...and very very thick...hmmm...kind of like some of my Portuguese relatives...but anyway....Miguel is obrigado muito bem...

...So we stopped and I gave Miguel a little sugar...and he...or could have Miguel been a she? (o Jesus!)...and I am pleased to report that Miguel...sans his outer layer of bark...is doing very well, thank-you!

...Why is Miguel so red? That is a good question...and is an indication that the cork was just harvested...or at least in the last 6 months...and they paint a number for the year (my Miguel had the number 9 on its huge trunk)...and so for another 9 years Miguel will have the time to regrow a new layer of cork (.75-2" thick)...and be ready for another harvest...very cool stuff...

...On a beautiful day we have entered Southern Portugal...the Alentejo and then further south to the Algarve...where we are now closer to Morocco than to Lisbon...and enjoyed our time at a walled city...where Christians and Muslims slugged it out over several centuries...and then arriving later at the Algarve in Praia do Carvoeiro for the night...

All is well...and I am seeing the manifestations of faith and business and life and entrepreneurs all over the region...and it renews in me the strength of the ordinary people...prevailing against the odds..taking chances and working hard...either in a small business or a fishing boat or a restaurant....whether in New York or a small rural village in Portugal...and it confirms in me once again that our destinies lie in our own hands and not the government...and rulers and politicians...

It is up to us! So have a wonderful day and smile as you pass into it

Ciao!

Save Miguel! Save Miguel?

Well, Portugal has entered the modern era...it is perhaps an inconvenient truth...and yet something that must come to light...in this lovely old nation of merely 10 million citizens...about 1/4 the size of California...or the San Joaquin Valley come harvest time...but anyway, in addition to modern highways (yes, far better than most of the roads in the US), vino verde, nice grocery stores, shopping centers and malls, great cell reception, vino verde...ummm...well yes, all of that, Portugal has found its environmental voice...

Yes...the home of Cabrillo, Enrique the Navigator and Rosa Ramos Ataide has its own passionate environmental cause...and it is a doozy!...while other nations and their environmental activists shoot paint balls at whaling ships...chain themselves to nuclear reactors...and refuse to use deodorant....my ancestral home has found the right balance...and it is about saving Miguel!

Who is Miguel? Well the link below will explain it all...and in all seriousness saving Miguel is a beautiful thing...for it is truly a cultural and historical tradition worth saving...and Miguel provides a habitat...a Portuguese garden of Eden...in its own unique way...

So sit back and enjoy a little trip to Lisbon and then to the South...where I am actually traveling to in a few days....and help save Miguel! Viva Lisboa! Viva Miguel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_gecqWJPx8