Back on Mission I am writing this in the few days before Kim and I leave our little hilltop to head north for a postponed trip to Mendocino with our friends Frank and Loretta. We initially planned this trip in the midst of my obsession about the Mission trail through California. We have already visited seven of the missions (San Diego Alcala, San Luis Rey, San Juan Capistrano, San Gabriel Arcangel, San Fernando Rey, San…
Planting Seeds I have set up this week to be a getaway week because I will be traveling next week. It is always more relaxing if I do not have too much hanging over my head when I am undertaking a road trip. That isn’t an unusual sense and many would share that preference, but being the high-focus person that I am, it is an especially important alignment for me. I am one of those…
Normal is as Normal Does Last night we had dinner at C-Level, which is a nicer restaurant on Harbor Island in North San Diego Bay. It is near the airport (SAN) and across the Bay from North Coronado Island, where the U.S. Navy haas a large base that constitutes its major West Coast presence. This restaurant is notable to us both because we like it for its setting and food and because it is the…
How Much is Too Much Now that I have done my “Year in Provence” year on this hilltop, I am faced with the ongoing issue of where to stop and enjoy versus keep improving. It is a very personal decision. Have you seen those quirky houses that someone invariable does a segment on. The sea shell house that has sea shells imbedded in concrete, stone walls and stucco walls is one I recall. The Who…
Taxes My youngest son just called me. He is doing his taxes on TurboTax and he had a question about some trust income and a K-1 that he had received that showed some foreign-source income. His question was whether he should include it or not in his return. I gave him my best answer to his questions to the best of my understanding as to how he should present his taxes to the IRS and…
Sunstruck Moonstruck is a whimsical name that has the right elements of frivolity, craziness and enlightenment. I like the thought of being moonstruck. But if I were inclined to be accurate about this house on the hilltop here in Northern San Diego, I should have called it Casa Sunstruck. This is certainly a place of great sunshine and that season is just now beginning. Whatever rainy season there was just skipped on by us and…
Catching Up I have had a slightly more busy week this week since we have had house guests for a few days and the finishing of the deck project has caused me more work than normal in terms of getting things arranged as we like them. This is work that cannot be delegated as it has to do with how we like to live our lives in our space. As such, I have been busier…
Gentleman in Waiting It’s a funny thing in the expert witness game, the generally accepted view is that an expert’s ability to write extensive and factually accurate reports and rebuttals, all properly referenced and footnoted, is one level of proficiency. Being analytically astute, compelling and hard-charging are all attractive attributes but the analytical and written work constitutes only one level of proficiency as an expert. Please understand that these are very long and involved reports…
The Bucket Brigade It began as a description of a firefighting technique where manual passing of buckets was used to maximize water deployment to put out fires. It became a metaphor used to describe processes that are either highly manual or involve many individuals to mobilize materials from one place to another. For some reason, many of my efforts here on this hilltop seem to involve the actual or metaphorical use of a bucket brigade.…
Wildflowers What is the attraction of wildflowers? I have recently gotten it in my head that I want to plant some wildflower meadows on my property. I can’t really say what the genesis of the idea was other than I have always had an infatuation with wildflowers. I must not be the only one since when I went online I found many places to buy wildflower seeds. The site I chose had varieties that were…