We were so surprised by the beautiful topography of Temecula that we added an extra day here to explore the surrounding mountains, look at real estate, and check out the local stores. The city of 100,000 or so people is surrounded by beautiful estates, vineyards, and farms growing citrus and avocado. It’s roughly 1-2 hours…
I want to thank those of you who have written me in the past few days. The Internet access situation has been spotty, so I haven’t even had a chance to get through a fraction of the messages but the number of you offering to show us around towns, drive us to or from the…
Ashly had an appointment so we babysat our godson this afternoon. He was perfect. He decided my job was Vocabulary-Checker-In-Chief as we spent 45 minutes with him pointing to things (“dat!”) and then making me say the word over and over, sometimes with him running around to find a second copy of the object to make…
Since we were at the original Disneyland location, it seemed like a good excuse to pick up a handful of shares of The Walt Disney Company to add to the souvenir collection.
You know I love The World of Color. There is a restaurant called Carthay Circle that offers a three-course dinner. If you dine there before a certain time, it includes a reserved ticket to a premium viewing area so you can watch the show from one of the best spots without having to stake out your…
I experienced investor nirvana this morning. I was standing on Main Street in Disneyland out here in Southern California, taking a photograph of The Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, with the cart vendors selling Nestle ice cream, and the loudspeakers begin playing, “The Wells Fargo wagon is a comin’ down the street”. It’s as if my investment portfolio…
After writing about the mathematics of Borda count voting systems as applied to the Eurovision contest, I realized I never posted the Russian performance, presented by the virginal 17-year old Tolmachevy Sisters. Bask in the symbolism of both the staging and the orchestration choices. Those of you with a history or music background will spot it…
The Washington Post this morning had a story about the political discontentment in Russia over the outcome of the 2014 Eurovision competition. Given that a few days ago, I outright said I’d personally emigrate were I living in Russia, this confluence of events is particularly timely. I’m going to use it as an excuse to talk about something known…
I spent my morning taking the Moroccan empire to victory in Civilization V against the world thanks to an extensive network of highly lucrative trade routes before going to the bank with Aaron to sign the contract for a new working capital line of credit our banker recommended. The whole experience was a pleasant surprise.
When I wrote this post a year ago predicting the decline of individual freedom in Russia, I never could have imagined how far the country would descend in a mere eleven months. In addition to the Ukraine conflict, the anti-free speech laws that make it a crime to insult certain religious beliefs, the criminalization of any outward sign that you are gay under the guise of protecting minors, the ban of any potentially offensive words in film and art, and a host of other development that look like something out of a 20th century dictator’s textbook, the country has now passed a so-called “bloggers law” that requires any site with more than 3,000 visitors every day to register with the government.