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Family

Apocryphal, Family, Junkyard Management,

Handicapping a Horse Race, Junkyard Style

This post is a complete fiction. I made it all up. Don’t believe a word of it. Because, obviously, it can’t possibly be true. My family is more respectable than this.

It was in the early 70’s and my parents had just purchased the Sunol Ranch. My Dad agreed to let my Uncle George board a few race horses on the property. I have no idea how Uncle George ended up owning race horses, but then he was always up to something out of the ordinary.

The thoroughbreds were beautiful to have around and I grew curious about the horse …

Book Reviews, Family,

Twenty Five Books That Influenced My Life

Last year I read 25 Books Every Christian Should Read and it made me wonder what 25 books I would recommend if I were on the editorial board that put such a book together. I started jotting down a few that came to mind and the list just kept growing.

But then it dawned on me that a lot of the books that influenced me most deeply were not specifically about faith, theology or Christianity. So my list grew even larger as I thought of great books of literature, history, mystery and non-fiction.

Out of all that came an idea. …

Belize, Family, PathLight,

Annual Christmas Post

Two years ago I sent a letter to friends of PathLight, and it was so well received that I reposted it last Christmas. It seems to still strike a chord, so I’m posting it again. Consider it as my Christmas wish to you. I hope you enjoy it.
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David L. Fleming writes, “The son of God became poor by becoming incarnate. He embraced poverty in the circumstances of his earthly life. God was born in a stable manger and was given the name Jesus. His parents fled with him as refugees to escape a murderous tyrant. Later he …

D'Oliva Olive Oil, Family, Goble Properties, PathLight, The SOLD Project,

Christmas Letter

I was once known for my hilarious Christmas letters. Or at least I thought they were funny. But life got busy, not to mention less than rosy all the time, and hilarity sometimes turned into the mundane. It can be hard to muster the energy to put out a Christmas letter, much less one with humor.

This year, I stepped back from the brink of seriousness and added a few light touches of humor. Nothing that will cause a belly laugh … but certainly not as serious as in the recent past. I hope you enjoy it.
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Dear Friends …

Family,

Thanksgiving Grace

Bless, O Lord,
this food we are about to eat;
and we pray you, O God,
that it may be good
for our body and soul;
and, if there is any poor creature
hungry or thirsty walking the road,
may God send them in to us
so that we can share the food with them,
just as Christ shares His gifts
with all of us.
Amen.

Graces, from Celtic Daily Prayer…

Family,

Goble Family History

I wrote the article below for an upcoming issue of the Goble Family Association newsletter. Yes, there really is such an organization! They were extremely helpful when we did our genealogical research, and they were kind enough to ask that I submit this article. It’s longer than a normal blog post but worth reading all the way to the end.

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Every day for twenty-five years I worked side by side with my father (Ernest Goble, 1922-2006) at our family real estate company. It was an honor to spend that time with him, and I am thankful for the …

Family, Goble Properties, Junkyard Management,

Taking Good Solutions Too Far

My father built a mobile home park in the early 1970’s. Seemed like a good idea at the time — the land was cheap, the location was near a lot of blue collar jobs, and construction costs were minimal.

But he had a hard time getting anybody to move into the park.

He found a solution by buying mobile homes from the factory and moving them into the park himself. Then he’d sell the mobile home all ready to go. The buyer didn’t have to deal with permits, utilities, setup, transportation, etc. The park began to fill up this way …

Family, Goble Properties, Junkyard Management,

Goble Lane

I love this picture. Take a close look and you’ll see three wrecking yards, with metal buildings mixed among them. You’ll also see a small mobile home park in the midst of construction (about half the trailers are in place).

This is Goble Lane, in San Jose, circa 1960 or so. My Dad built the metal buildings and eventually owned all three wrecking yards plus the mobile home park. It’s all gone now, of course, torn down for retail spaces and condominiums. But it was the anchor of Goble Properties for a couple of decades.

I spent a lot of …