I didn't know him but was still struck by the sense of loss of life and this collection of tributes left by those who did know him. Candles, flowers, stuffed animals, messages on the asphalt scribbled with chalk, beverage cans, cigarettes, drug paraphanelia, messages from friends, the homicide detective's business card, photos....

Boys will Be Boys!!!

Once in a blue moon, I substitute teach at the Team Kess Academy. The last time was in February. We took a break for the really important lessons in life. I took a back seat and learned a thing or two myself.


Kind of looks like an impersonation inspired by Master Po now that I think about it.

Warranties

I usually don't advocate purchasing extended warranties on things. It's like rebates - they should just offer the product for free or cheaper rather than make us jump through hoops. They bank on people not filling in rebate forms and sending them in. I get a whole $10 back on a camera lens because I met the submission deadline yesterday.

What good is a product if it does not hold up and has to be backed with an extended warranty beyond the standard warranty? (a la Tommy Boy and the fancy guarantee). I recently sent in a Targus laptop bag with a bad zipper. They replaced it with a new one free of charge under the Lifetime Warranty - gotta love that. I was convinced to buy an extended warranty on the Toyota pickup. So far I've had a cable related to the air bag go bad, the alarm had some issue that caused it not to arm and both horns (high & low pitch) shorted out and had to be replaced. I don't know if I want to get my money's worth on the purchase of the warranty or not but I'm well on my way.....

BTW, not having a horn takes all the fun out of road rage. Last night someone entered the freeway, drove alongside me and then decided to creep into my lane without signaling and seemed to not notice I was there. I hit the horn and remembered new ones were being sent overnight from L.A. I was forced to resort to giving a mean stare and swerving eradically to get the driver's attention. RRRRrrr!

Kaleefornia Education is in Crisis!!

An honest mistake. Apparently, the kids hadn't had their coffee yet this morning when they raised the flags. This inverted California flag caught my eye. ESPN is shooting Tony Hawk on location this week for an upcoming episode of "Homecoming". A minor oversight with all that's going on.

Wow!

I was blown away by something today. I saw a bicyclist pedaling with one leg. His left pedal was missing as was the majority of his leg on that side. Wow! That was inspiring.

Swedish Royal Bakery

I had the air bag light come on in the pickup last night and had to return to Poway Toyota today to get the problem remedied before my roadtrip to Porterville Tuesday night. I was told that the extended warranty I was buying into would allow me to take my truck to any Toyota dealer for work. The dealer in Mission Valley saw it another way and gave me the option of signing on for a possible charge of $45 to have the problem checked or go to Poway. The service tech said I could be charged the $45 plus the cost of repair if Poway Toyota didn't reimburse him, yada, yada, yada. I didn't have time to argue so off to Poway I went. Spent 4.5 hours there and the result was good - problem solved - under warranty. On the way back I stumbled upon the Swedish Royal Bakery and John made everything right and made me forget about the 4.5 hours I had just spent, well, doing nothing. I would highly recommend it!

The colors of the Swedish flag on the sign stood out and called my name. John gave me a lesson in Swedish food, culture and language. I told him though I may have never been to the homeland, couldn't speak the mother tongue, and may have never seen some of these things he had created, eating them was like eating soul food. The food I was served by my parents and their parents were influenced by the food from the old world. Eating homecooked meals just makes something click inside me. I can eat these Swedish baked goods or a meal at Kaiserhof Restaurant and its like the stars are aligned and everything is right in the world for a brief moment in time.

I picked up a variety of items. I won't even start to describe them because words cannot do them justice. The items that are behind the glass case are real and they are edible. Don't be fooled. They are works of art as much as they are food made to satisfy your sweet tooth.

I should note, too, that I've been to Poway twice recently for truck related matters and I'm convinced there must be something in the water out there. Everyone, or at least 95% of the people I encountered, are über nice. Too bad we had to close our Nazarene church in Poway. :(

New twist on the Golden Rule....

You say potato, I say po-tah-to; you say onto I say unto. Speaking of po, this fortune must have been written by Master Po.


Please spare me the trouble and let's make a pact, Grasshopper. I won't do anything onto you if you promise not to do anything onto me.