Random

...Obsessed with opulence, Beverly Hills is starting to convert sidewalks from concrete to granite -- $850-per-linear-foot.

...The air marshals have a new dress code that allows them to blend in. Perhaps common sense is returning to America.

...Brandon Bowers, the man who made me famous in Turlock has a new job. Well, he didn't exactly make me famous but he did give my blog some unusual exposure when he started printing portions of it in the Turlock Journal. Brandon recently accepted a new position as the online editor for the Merced Sun-Star. What a great new opportunity for a creative and innovative editor.

...The worst part of the transition is waiting -- waiting for the old house to sell, waiting for the right car to come along so that we can buy some wheels, waiting for the right house in the right spot so we can buy another place to live... Well, at least I'm no longer waiting for Cheryl to join me on Guam. That makes things a lot easier.

...Guam is a place of many contradictions. The cost of living is extremely high -- but taxes are relatively low. The cost of purchasing a car is higher than on the mainland but as Melissa Heck, our new dean of women has discovered, the cost of maintaining an automobile is relatively low. The cost of a driver's license here is only $5 (compared to $26 in California).

...In spite of the laid back island attitude Guam is the first US territory to be declared both TsunamiReady and StormReady. We do seem to be more disaster aware here than anywhere I've ever lived. People actually store food and water. The houses are concrete bunkers. Storm alerts are taken seriously. I suppose that's what a little experience will do for you.

...I'm bummed. As of yesterday astronomers have stripped Pluto of its status as a full planet. What did Pluto ever do to deserve this? And what else that Mrs Stelling, my fourth grade teacher, taught me is going to turn out to be wrong? Poor Pluto. Everyone wants to pick on the underdog.