Goodies

And they say there is no Santa Claus.

Well, it was not exactly Santa visiting but we've got a completely surprise visit from our next door neightbour who brought us some good stuff. Some items were old and antique quality, others were from the goodwill store to where they will shortly return...

Anyway, it was so much fun. Among the things we've got are a spice rack, a box that smells like incense, 2 brass holders, 2 wooden cups (monkey paws), 2 orange dice, an old (but working) telephone, an answering machine (Casio!), a bunch of old audiotapes and a big TV set. How about that? Our good neighbour is moving. And we did not even know the guy very well, just chatted a couple of times.

I'll post the picture of some goodies tomorrow. Until then.

To The Beach

I wanted to see the famous County Park Encinitas beach. It looked good on the map. I might have been there about 10 years ago but I don't remember. So we drove there.

The beach was actually very nice. The water was worm that day and there were lots of surfers there. There is a winding path leading down. You can watch the surfers riding the waves.

Now Encinitas is a very strange town, unlike most of them. It has merchant's row running along the coastal Highway 101. There you have yoga studios, fancy (and not so) cafes, restaurants, gift shops, you name it. There are also some small businesses situated on quiet residential strees, a block towards the ocean from the main highway. And there are some streets with prosperous houses build along the coast, a block or two from the ocean.

That's all we used to see. However, if you take one of the streets going inland, you'll discover that the rest of Encinitas is just an ordinary small American towns. No fancy shops, the usual chains like McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Supercuts and the rest of the, There are like 3 or 4 dealerships in the town that small. People sure love their cars. The streets are wide and there are parking lots with plenty of space.

(Sigh) But then, that's all there is there, isn't' it? People want convenience and that means driving the car to your destination and walk as little as possible. I presently work in the town that consists of nothing but huge shoppping centers that are built in a row: one after another with no space in between. That town used to be cow pastures not so long ago. Old time residents still remember that.

A town with no history.

Folk Art

Orange Peel Flower on Lettuce Leaf. Vallarta Supermarket Deli Department, Escondido, CA.
(Tomasito Photo)

Art by ordinary people is such a pleasure to see.

I absolutely LOVE it when someone--like a delicatessen butcher--decorates his work (like meatloaf in the above photo!) with handmade creations--don't you?

It gives me a feeling of hope in our prefabricated, prepackaged, more and more sterile world.

Life is short--use it creatively.

Bosses, your employees are human beings--let them express themselves in the ways they find beautiful even when they are on the clock and some of their happiness might come back to even you!

Tomasito 2009


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Quail Gardens

Rain Forest Area

Quail Gardens is a botanical garden in Encinitas, CA. It is very big. The tickets are quite pricey, which is kind of funny considering it's a non-profit organization. I have noticed lately that "non-profit" means expensive. They have one day free (you still have to pay the parking fee but it's only a dollar).

Anyway, there was quite a crowd there. I guess not many people want to pay full price. While the garden is big and has lots of different plants subdivided into regions by countries, continents and climatic areas like rain forest, tropical, etc. the majority of plants were not very well marked and that was disappointing. I have noticed the same thing in Turtle bay Park in Redding (another non-profit) though and its garden was much, much smaller.

Anyway, it's a good place to spend a couple of hours. But I would not like to pay $10 to see it.

The Last of the Beans

These are Anasazi beans. They look a little like black-eye beans.

This is a picture of the three Anasazi beans. They have a curious history. The beans were found by one of Tom's distant relatives who lives in the desert and likes to explore the land. Thank you, Gary. He sent us these ancient beans but since we have no land to grow them we send them to our friend Jerry who owns a small ranch. He planted them and they grew and produced the next crop of beans. These three beans are from this crop. Then we decided to send the rest of the beans to another relative who is a farmer. Well, sort of. He is interested in organic farming and actually lives on a farm.

These three beans were taken out of this batch. They will probably grow. I migh actually plant them and see what happens. The amazing fact is that the original beans are probably at least 70 year old and they grew. Bean are one of the easiest plants to grow and they almost always produce some crop. Even ancient Indian beans did.

The Best Salesman in the World

Hey, I sold some stuff today at work!

For most of you it's probably not a big deal, but for me it is. I upgraded 3 services just by talking to clients. The interesting thing is that they would not buy it until you talked to them. Today I was on the roll. Some day you talk to them and they don't want to buy. Other days you say the same thing and they buy. So if you try to sell and see no success, just continue the next time. Some days are better than others. Besides, it's the numbers game, anyway.

The book with the title that I put in the post headline is pretty cool. Anther good one is The Richest Man in Babylon. But nothing actually helps except practicing your skills again and again.

Take care.

Back Pain

My blog partner Tom got a really bad backache so he won't be updating his blogs for a while. He had this pain in the back before with about once a year frequency but each time it gets worse. So keep your spine flexible. Spine is a real tree of life.