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Random Thoughts

Cyber Monday

Tomorrow is called Cyber Monday because the online shopping sites are running special promotions. If you are going to shop anyway, why not shop through my blog? Amazon will give me a small percentage of the sale, which I will then donate to PathLight. It’s a win win for everybody.

And it doesn’t have to be just this Monday. You can do this all season long. Actually, all year long, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s a simple and easy way to put a few dollars into the hands of a good organization doing some incredible …

Random Thoughts,

The Grace Challenge

My friend Steve Bagdanov has a great blog that you should follow. This month he’s doing a series on gratitude, and each day there is an interesting new post that will get you thinking about grace and thankfulness. Steve asked me to write a post for one of the days, which I did, so I thought I’d share it here as well.

I’ve known Steve since 1977 when we both showed up as first year students at Westmont. We quickly became close friends, but as the years went by we had kids that needed to be raised and vocations that …

Family, Random Thoughts,

Racing!

Last week I had an unbelievable experience. The Simraceway Performance Driving Center (formerly the Jim Russell School) has a one day lesson at the famous Sonoma Raceway. My son Jedd and I spent the day learning how to hit the apex of a corner, glide through a slalom, and brake hard before a tight turn. We did all of this in my Porsche Carrera S (it’s the white one in the videos below).

The day began with classroom instruction, but it wasn’t long before we were practicing turns in the parking lot. I never could get the one turn …

Random Thoughts,

Election Day

It’s election day. This is a day that is filled with our best, our brightest, our greatest. It is a time of reflecting on our past, being honest about our present, and longing for a better future. It should be a time when our country comes together and celebrates the miracle of freedom.

Unfortunately, it is also the day that we as flawed citizens choose our flawed leaders. It is the day that we as people of faith feel torn between allegiances. Sometimes our personal viewpoints do not align with our spiritual aspirations, which is part of our flawed existence. …

Random Thoughts,

Flying Hobbits

Anybody who knows me will expect that sooner or later The Hobbit will show up on my list of 25 Books That Influenced My Life. And it will, eventually, as the numbers rise over the months ahead. Until that time comes, this flight safety briefing from Air New Zealand will satisfy Tolkien fans. Trust me, you’ll smile more in the five minutes it takes to watch this video than you will for the rest of the day. You’ll also want to get on a plane and fly to New Zealand.

Oh, and if you subscribe to this blog via …

Random Thoughts,

Fifty Worst Cars

Yesterday I posted the Fifty Best Cars, so it seemed fair to post the exact opposite today. I think the list is fairly good but has one major flaw: the #2 car was not nearly as bad as they say. Of course, to be fair, I owned one!

So what do you think? A good list? What’s missing? What should be off the list? Click the photo below to see the list.…

Random Thoughts,

Fifty Best Cars

Came across this article and figured it was an appropriate post for a blog titled Junkyard Wisdom. So what do you think? A good list? What’s missing, or what should not be on it? How many have you owned? Click the photo of the car below to see the list.…

Apocryphal, Random Thoughts,

Baseball and the Giants

I posted this back in 2010 just before the SF Giants won the World Series. Seemed appropriate to post it again considering that they won again! Woohoo!!! So here it is:
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It was a beautiful summer Sunday. My father had promised that we would go to Candlestick and watch the Giants play, my first memory of seeing a live professional game. It was probably 1965, and I was perhaps 6-years old, so my memory of details could easily be mistaken. But I think they were playing the Dodgers that day. Or at least I want to believe that.

To …