I Think I Found the World’s Smallest McDonalds

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I remember when I was about 12 years old the first McDonalds came to Mexico City. It was in Polanco (rich part of the city). Back then McDonalds was a novelty and only rich people went there. Now of course there are McDonalds all over the place in Mexico City and everyone goes there. Seeing this little McDonalds inside the subway station however made me laugh. I haven’t been to every subway station in the USA, but I bet you wont find this in the USA.  

Not a cultural post, but I don’t really consider myself that much of a cultural tourist. For some reason when Americans travel abroad we are put down if we don’t follow the “cultured” activities, but I never really understood that thought. I don’t drink and I don’t I don’t go clubbing. I have however shopped many times at foreign Walmarts and I bought some chicken McNuggets for AJ today.  I am kind of torn on this issue. I don’t want to be seen as the “Ugly American” but at the same time I am on  vacation and want to do be free to do whatever I can (legally of course).

Singing Time (by Denise)

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We are a couple of days into our Mexico City trip, and I was just attempting to put AJ to bed for the night. (Putting a small child to sleep in a strange bed should be a new extreme/endurance sport, in my humble opinion.)

Anyway, as you may expect, I sung him a couple of songs to help him calm down and go to sleep. This reminded me of something I’ve been meaning to blog about for awhile now. When you ask AJ what song we should sing, the answer is always the same. It does not matter if we are singing him to sleep (like tonight), starting FHE, passing time on an extended car trip–any time AJ gets to pick the song it is always the same. And what is this much treasured piece of music?

The ABC song. Yes, that one, “a b c d e f g, h i j k l m n o p, q r s, t u v, w x y and z. Now I know my ABCs, next time won’t you sing with me?” He can listen to it over and over. He can only mumble it if pressed to sing it by himself. Now, if we tell him it HAS to be a primary song (aka, at FHE) he’ll go for that old stand-by “I Am a Child of God.” And, if pressed for a different song, he’ll come up with a different one. He does know additional songs!  The “b side” has changed over time, these days it’s “Two Little Dickey Birds” (Two Little Dickey Birds sitting on a cloud/one named soft/the other named LOUD….) But the “A side” has never changed for about the past year.

Any one else remember a favorite little ditty from childhood? Or singing the same song over and over to a small child?

Starting Slow

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Today marked the first day of our vacation. We decided to take this vacation really slow. We have a rough idea of what we want to do but we don’t really have a set itenerary. Eventually we need to end up in Mexico City and eventually get back. Starting this laid back vacation our first stop was San Marcos, California. Thanks to Priceline we were able to get a nice room at the Ramada Inn for only $45 dollars. This place has a pool, free widow, and gives you breakfast.
For dinner we explored a bit and found a little Argentine Grill called Gauchito (little cowboy) next to town hall. Denise got some empanadas (Argentine turnovers) and I got Milanesa A La Napolitana (breaded beef with a pizza like sauce and cheese). It was good but still wasn’t Argentina. Missing were the Fideos Caseros and Alfajores. Even so for $30 (tip included) it was still a nice meal.

How to Kill the Stock Market One Penny at a Time

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Wish me luck, I need it!

Well, it is official I am now an official investor. Pretty much all my life I have read about stocks and heard stories about stocks. “The DOW is up” or the “DOW is down”… Reason this… Reason that… I have often wondered what the best stock would be to buy and what it would be like to be an investor. I could of written my thoughts down on the matter, but that seemed rather hollow. So instead I actually decided to put money on the line.  Unfortunately, I don’t have much money to invest into stocks (hello, I still got a family to feed), but thanks to my usertesting jobs I was able to scrap together $250. So here is what I chose:

F – Ford Motor Company – I bought this stock at $13 dollars a share because I think it is a large cap (big company) stock that is highly under rated. The news lately is about higher MPG vehicles, and I think that is good, but I think no matter what people are still going to need trucks and the truck for the USA is going to be  Ford.

FORD – Forward Industries Inc.  – I bought this small cap (small company) fund for $2.96 a share. They are a business that makes cases, like suitcases and medical cases. I found this company by accident looking for Ford Motor Company, but then I read their financial statements and thought that they might be a good buy. I think as people start having to take care of themselves more at home due to rising medical costs, they are going to need to be organized, and a good way to be organized is to have a medical case. Everyone I know that has to take pills on a regular basis always has a medical kit.

CAMP – CalAmp Corp. – Another small cap fund. These guys are into making the technology possible so that satellites can communicate with each other. Networking satellites together I think is going to be a big thing. Satellites already talk to each other now, but if they could network together and create a mesh technology I can see lots of different useful applications. So at $3.85 per share I thought I’d give it a whirl.

SILA – Gold American Mining Corp. – You might of heard the hype about the price of gold going up and may think “Oh, John is going with the hype,” and you would be wrong. The reason why is owning gold company stocks is nothing like investing in gold itself. Gold American is a very small gold mining company that has three mines and to the best of my knowledge has not yet found any gold. Do to this fact the company is bleeding capital big time, pretty much to the point where the stock is almost worthless. I bought 1250 shares at .035 per share. Odds are I will lose it with this company, but if they do find gold I could be seeing a very nice return. A very risky stock, but I wanted to see what riding a penny stock would be like.

So there you have it, my stock picks backed with my own investment money.These stock picks are purely my own ideas and I was not compensated by anyone to write this post. My plan is to play around with them for a year (good or bad in a year you will find out the results). Unfortunately, at $9.95 commission per trade I can’t trade them back and forth too much, but I am also not in this for the long term. It should be an interesting adventure.

Crestline Summer Reading Program 2011

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The Crestline Library is having a Summer reading program this year. The contest is called “Novel Destinations.” The grand prize is a Nook e-reader, but don’t worry about that because I am a angling to win it myself. Never to fear however because there are some really good lesser prizes.
The way it works is every time you read and return a book you are entered into the weekly drawing. This week they are raffling a $25 gift certificate to Paula’s Cafe. After you read 5 books you can choose to have your entry count for either the weekly drawing or the grand prize drawing (I suggest you try for the weekly drawing). The drawings continue until the first week of August at which time I will be selected the grand prize winner.
SO, how am I so sure I am going to win?? Well, first of all I already have checked out my first five books (sounds like 5 easy blog posts to me)and have already read three of them. Second, I go on vacation later this month so I am thinking I should have plenty of time to get in some extra entries. Kind of funny really, I haven’t read this much since college.
Anyhow, you should get out there and get reading. Any book counts! Oh and if your a teenager you are considered to be in a different category (grand prize there is a iTouch).
P.S. I have no idea who is going to win, but I want to win!!

Happy 4th of July!

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Veterans at the start of the parade.

Happy 4th of July!! Here in Crestline, California the party has been in full swing for the last three days. In Crestline the celebration is very small town USA, but considering Crestline is  small town it is all good. It has been a busy weekend of parades, fairs, barbecues, and of course firework watching (personal fireworks are illegal in Crestline, we’re in a forest you know). I don’t have much time to write so I will do the second best thing and include some pictures from the parade and fair on Friday. As I write this I am on my way to a 4th of July Barbecue (the second one this weekend).

It’s time for Crestline Jamboree Days 2011!

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Once again it is that time we don the red, white, and blue and get ready for Crestline’s annual hoedown. I have gotten a few emails about this year’s festivities and so I wanted to share with everyone. I hope you get a chance to come up this year.  With the 4th falling on a Monday the chamber of commerce is starting Friday night and going all the way to the 4th with activities.

 Here is what is planned:

Friday, July 1st at dusk there will be a viewing of National Treasure on the lake.
OnSaturday, July 2nd the parade starts at Fern Drive and goes down Lake Drive. The parade stages on Fern Drive at 8am and will start at 10am. From 10am to dusk most of the business will be having events along Lake Drive (surprisingly though this year they will not be closing down Lake Drive to traffic). As soon as it is dark there will be fireworks over Lake Gregory.
On Sunday, July 3rd there will be a sailing regatta at 3pm and boat parade at 7pm.
On Monday, July 4th is the community picnic at the ball fields from 11amto 5pm.

The only issues you should see for parking will be on Saturday and Monday. On Saturday I would avoid driving down Lake Drive if possible. My suggestion that day would be to park and drive along straight way road. It is right behind Lake Drive and will be easier to manage.

On Monday if you find that the parking by the ball fields is full you can park along San Moritz drive or by the water slides and walk the trail over to the ball fields (about .25 miles). Hope you make it up this weekend. It looks like the weather is going to provide for an awesome weekend. For more information go to the Crestline Chamber of Commerce website.

Mission Buena Ventura, California 12/27/10

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On our December trip to Solvang, California we took two cars and so on the way back home I snuck out on my own to Ventura, California. Ventura is a beautiful place to visit if you ever get the chance to stop there. Set along the California coast, it has a gentle breeze with good weather. Housing is well beyond my budget, but on an afternoon visit it can be economical. My goal of course was to visit another mission.

The Old San Buena Ventura Missionis the 9th in the mission series and was founding in 1782. It is the last mission that Father Junipero Sierra founded himself. The story goes that it was supposed to be the 3rd mission, but Father Sierra got sick and so it became the 9th.

San Buena Ventura wanted to be a doctor, but was ordered to become a Bishop (who went on to become a Cardinal.

For $2.00 you can tour the mission museum, grounds, and chapel. As far as missions goes it is a very small mission, but there are still many interesting things there to see nonetheless.

One of the most interesting things for me to see was bells. The original bells were made of wood. This is the only mission I have seen with wooden bells, they are rotted out now, but I wonder what they sounded like. It must of been really different than the clang of a iron bell.

My favorite part of the mission was the garden. I enjoyed sitting in the garden and listening to the fountain. I must of sat there for about a half an hour just enjoying the scenery and watching the birds.


I am also experimenting with a new mapping feature:
[tb_google_map]

The Mountain History Museum, Lake Arrowhead, CA

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If Scarlet only knew that Tara was really in Cedar Glen maybe she wouldn't have had so much stife.

Ever wonder what San Manuel, Mormon pioneers, Michelle Kwan, Nicholas Cage, Elvis Presley, Clark Gable or Santa Claus have in common? What?! You mean you don’t stay up at night thinking about these things. Well, you should, because you know what? Strangely enough they are all related, and they are all part of history in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The hours for the museum are limited.

Open on weekends only, the museum is technically located in Lake Arrowhead, but every local knows it is closer to Blue Jay than Lake Arrowhead. The museum is free (donations accepted) and is run by the Rim of the World Historical Society.

Look for the the little Museum directional signs along the way to the museum.

To get there follow the little museum signs from the village. Go west (right) on Hwy. 189 toward Blue Jay, 1.4 mi. Turn right on North Bay Rd. (at the movie theatre). Go 1.7 mi. to Peninsula Dr. (at the fire station). Turn left and drive .4 mi. The museum is on the right at Rhine Rd. The address is 27176 Peninsula Drive, Lake Arrowhead, CA.

When you get there you will learn about the varied history of the mountain area. From native Americans, to theme parks, to movie stars there is a lot to learn. It’s interesting stuff if you have the time to check it out. Plus, the drive on the way there is really nice.

Cedar Glen Malt Shop

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Unless you know where it is, it is kind of hard to spot.

If you drive far enough along Hwy. 173 you will pass through Cedar Glen. Most people pass it on their way to the back side of Lake Arrowhead. Most people who pass through Cedar Glen will not notice much. Along the highway there isn’t really much to look at, just a small market called Jensen along with a little gas station. The tall trees hold much more to those who take a little time in this mountain community.

The theme of the Cedar Glen is mid 50's to early 60's pop.

Probably one of the best “not so well” kept secrets in the Cedar Glen Malt Shop. A small unassuming place it is very easy to miss. There is only a little sign in the front that denotes it as a malt shop, but I am guessing it is because the owners don’t want to be overrun by too much business. If you go there on a Saturday afternoon you will probably have to wait a little to be served but it is worth it.

AJ liked the car his macaroni and cheese came in.

The menu is very simple. Sandwiches, hamburgers, and of course ice cream. Nothing really fancy but with it’s 50’s decor it definitely has charm. Prices for the sandwiches range between $5-$10 dollars and come with french fries. Ice cream will run you between $1.60 for one scoop to $6 dollars for the Banana Split (your fault for the stomach ache if you finish).

The sundae cup pretty much covered AJ's head

If you have a little bit of time I suggest you check it out. They are open daily 11am-5pm. To get there from Lake Arrowhead turn right onto Hook Creek Rd. (the road right behind the Jensen’s Market). Go up about a mile up the road (remember to turn left to continue up Hook Creek Rd.) and you will see it on your right. The address is 2915 Hook Creek Rd.