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Last night, Sunday night, we took our son and daughter-in-law out for their birthday dinner. They chose Cafe Calabria, an upscale pizza place on 30th Street in central San Diego. 30th Street is in the North Park section of San Diego, which is a neighborhood that has attracted a lot of young people. However, the multitude of restaurants along 30th attract not only the young, but also the old, and the in between . . . and last night was no different, as Cafe Calabria was pretty full, considering that it was a Sunday night. 

I like 30th Street. I like the ambience. I like the food. However, we do not frequent 30th Street often as we would like, because I do not like the parking situation. 30th is a narrow two lane major thoroughfare through North Park, with parallel-park street parking on both sides of the street. If you are fortunate, you will luck out and find an open space somewhere on 30th within a block or two from your intended destination. Last night we were not one of the fortunate few, and ended up parking three blocks away on a crowded side street.

From my perspective, the City of San Diego should encourage the growth of businesses, especially restaurants, in these local neighborhoods. Sounds like common sense to me! So what is the next logical step for 30th Street in North Park? Obviously, drum roll, please! . . . get rid of the parking on 30th so that protected bike lanes can be put in! Our Mayor and our City Council think that this is a good idea.

Addressing this issue, Mayor Kevin Faulconer recently said, “Reducing our reliance on cars by bringing new mobility choices into our neighborhoods is critical to meeting the city’s Climate Action Plan and Vision Zero goals.”  Oh, now I get it!

As Sophie Wolfram, director of programs for the nonprofit Climate Action Campaign said, . . . we know that we need a connected network of protected lanes to meet our city’s climate goals.” The city’s climate goals include increasing the share of bike commuters in the city’s “transit-priority areas” to 6%by 2020, and to 18% by 2035.

So again, we, the citizens of San Diego, are apparently faced with a “pro-climate change” dictum being forced upon us by those higher-ups who know best, and who are basically saying, “It’s too bad for you residents of North Park . . . suck it up and join the team. If the businesses, especially the restaurants on 30th are forced to relocate because their clientele can no longer park anywhere close, so be it! And just to set the record straight, neither the Mayor nor the City Council actually know much about 30th Street, other than it is between 29th and 31st!”

B “You’re fat!”

A “I am not!”

B “You’re a fat clown!”

A “Am not.”

And on it goes. Sounds like a schoolyard argument between two second graders. If they were older, perhaps in high school, then the swear words would start to come out:

B “Listen, &#£¥, you’re a fat, annoying, and out of shape idiot!”

A “So what, you ¥§£*#*.”

And if in their twenties and thirties:

B “I challenge you to a push-up contest!”

A “A what?”

B “You heard me, you fat F***!”

A “What does a push-up contest have to do with what I asked you?”

B “Let’s go! Drop and give me ten!”

If in their fifties:

B “I am in much better shape than you!”

A “And how is that somehow relevant to what I asked you about?”

B “Come on, let’s go for a run, chubby.”

If in their seventies:

B “You have implied that my logical thought processes are not as not as good as they use to be.”

A “I am 86, and I know that I am not as sharp as I used to be. At 77 you are getting up there . . . close to me.

B “Well that’s you, and I am not you, pop. Let have an IQ test challenge!”

And finally if this exchange were to involve a politician, perhaps campaigning in Iowa:

B “You are a liar, old man!”

A “You’ve been a Congress for fifty years, and what good have you done for us?”

B “I’ve around for a long time, and I know how to get things done.”

A “I hear stuff on MSNBC, . . . 

B “You don’t listen to MSNBC. They do not say any bad stuff about me. Look I am not going to get into an argument with you, man. Look fat – . . . here’s the deal, here’s the deal, . . . “ 

A “Mr. Biden, you know what it looks like? You do not have any more backbone than Trump does.” I am an independent, and I will not be voting for you, sir.”

B “I knew that. You’re too old to vote for me.”

The latter exchange occurred, almost verbatim, on 12/5/19 at a campaign event for Joe Biden (B in the last paragraph) in New Hampton, Iowa. Gentleman A, a retired farmer, was trying to ask candidate Biden a question about his son, and Joe obviously did not appreciate the question. In the next six months this exchange or just selected parts of it will be played over and over, although probably not on MSNBC. After that it be no longer necessary, as Sleepy Joe will be out, and 12/5 will be known as the start of Biden’s Waterloo. Calling a politically independent senior citizen fat and old, was not a smart move, Joe!

Today’s piece is specifically for those who think that this blog is purely a slanted political far-right piece of crap . . . I maintain that it is always not a piece of crap. I thought that it might be nice to escape from all of this impeachment nonsense, and go solely for an educational piece. To start, especially for those of you who do not live in California, a little bit of basic geography.
California is very similar to a rectangle – very long and relatively narrow. There are mountains to the east and the long arid San Joaquin Valley in the center. It is in this valley that the majority of crops are grown, and crops equal food. (As you drive through this Central Valley, there are multiple signs that stress that water is the key to growing food, and that when the water is cutoff, bad things happen, not only to farms but also to jobs. We can all thank the Democrats in this state for the sad situation in the Central Valley.) But I digress! 

Throughout the length of the state, from the top to the bottom, including through the Central Valley, runs Interstate 5. However there is a problem for I-5 when it transitions from the Central Valley to Los Angeles. That problem is the steep Tehachapi Mountains which separate the Central Valley from the basin in which Los Angeles sits. In 1970, the long awaited solution to getting across the Tehachapis was finished. Since then I-5, an eight lane divided highway, (four lanes traveling north separated from four lanes traveling south) provides a way that cars, trucks, and buses can now go up, over and through the Tejon Pass, which sits at just over 4100 feet in the Tehachapi Mountains. (Actually at the junction of the southwestern Tehachapi Mountains and the San Emigilio Mountains.) The locals call this “The Grapevine.” Interestingly this nickname was given to this area because of grapes growing in the area, and not because of the winding traversing roads that use to be used. Technically “The Grapevine” refers to the steep 5.5 mile grade at the northern end of Tejon Pass, although what most locals call “The Grapevine” is the entire eight lane divided highway from the Santa Clarita Valley, up, over and through Tejon Pass, down to the San Joaquin Valley south of Bakersfield. Tejon Pass is just over 4100 ft. elevation, and gets hot in the summer and gets closed oftentimes in the winter because of snow. Yes, The Grapevine was closed on the night before Thanksgiving because of snow. It is 6.5 miles from Fort Tejon to the bottom of Grapevine Grade coming down northward after Tejon Pass, and this is potentially the most dangerous area for accidents with inclement weather. Last week while driving south, just starting up the incline, there was a horrendous backup of traffic on the northern downslope. I estimated that the backup was at least 20 miles. Twenty miles of nobody moving across all four downhill lanes. That backup was apparently due to jack-knifed semis on the downhill side because a wind gust blew one semis across a lane line into a second semi. The problem for these travelers is that once they are past Hwy 138, there is no way to get off . . . ”Oops, Google did say there was a backup on The Grapevine, but OMG!”
I now know a lot more about “The Grapevine” than anybody will ever need to know, but wasn’t it fun, not talking about politics? BTW:”Tejon” means “badger,” as one of the early explorers to the area found a dead badger near the bottom of the pass. (Another useless piece of information, except possibly on your future Jeopardy appearance.)

While driving back and forth to Sacramento over the Thanksgiving holiday, I pondered what would happen to holiday travel if the liberal supposition of having five million Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) on the road in California by 2030 were to come true. From my house in San Diego to just outside of Sacramento, where my daughters and their families live, is 565 miles one way. It typically takes from nine to eleven hours to traverse these 565 miles, including the stopping for 30-60 minutes to get gas and food. The average speed during the long stretch of driving on I-5 in the San Joaquin Valley is 70+mph.
For a trip like this traveling by ZEV has a few basic problems. The most obvious problem is the distance that a ZEV can go on a charge. A new Nissan Leaf can get close to 200 miles on a charge, while a moderately expensive Tesla can get approximately 300 miles on a full charge. This translates into stooping 2-3 times to recharge the battery if you fully recharge each time that you stop. In addition, charging the battery does not occur instantaneously. At a Tesla Super-charging station it takes 30 minutes for a 170 mile super-charge,and if the ZEV is being charged at a standard  220 volt charger, it could take up to 10 hours for a full charge. Assuming the best possible scenario (30min of super-charging for 170 miles in a new ZEV), the recharging time would add close to 2 hours for this standard trip, compared to 0.5-1.0 hours for a gasoline powered car. However, obviously this down time of only close to two hours assumes that there is no wait at any of the charging stations. After personally observing the number of cars on the road for this Thanksgiving holiday travel, the chance of driving up to an empty charging station is nil. “Wait your turn in line like everybody else!”

Likewise, this estimated optimum mile capacity per recharge is for new ZEVs and is not nearly as good for the older used models. What percent of Californians can afford a new $60k Tesla . . . not many who are driving the 565 miles, instead of flying. As many of you are probably aware, a charge will provide for the maximal number of miles as long as the ZEV is not traveling over 60 mph. For every 10 mph over 60mph about 50 miles of potential distance is sacrificed. Trying to keep your speed at 60 mph on I-5 in the San Joaquin Valley or while going down the Grapevine can only be considered a suicide gesture!

I could go on, but my point is that thousands of ZEVs cannot be driven expeditiously for any significant distance during the times when one expects significant holiday traffic. Note that I said “thousands,” and not millions. Those liberal dreamers who envision 5 million ZEVs by 2030 have never driven from San Diego to Sacramento, or possibly have not even driven from San Diego to Los Angeles!

Well, he did it again! On Thanksgiving the President made a holiday visit to Afghanistan to surprise the troops stationed there. As you probably recall President Trump made a surprise post-Christmas visit last year to Iraq.About a week ago Vice President Pence made a surprise visit with his wife to Al Assad Air Base in western Iraq. It was from this base that American Special Forces launched an operation that led to the death of the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Among other things the Vice President and his wife, Karen served a Thanksgiving meal to the troops stationed there. As I am sure you all remember, last year President Trump and his wife, Melania, surprised the troops in Iraq and served them a Christmas meal.  I thought, ”What a nice tradition. Last year, the President, and this year the Vice President, each making the arduous trip with their wives to surprise the troops.

”But wallah! A trick play as President Trump surprised everybody with his secret 12 hour flight to Afghanistan to surprise the troops at Bagram Air Field on Thanksgiving. His first stop was the dining hall where he served turkey and thanked the troops. Before he began the long journey back to the states, he spent about three and a half hours on the ground for this holiday visit . . . the best I can tell that is three and one half hours longer that any holiday visit to the troops by the prior President. 

“Strong work again, Mr. President!”

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the parking lots at the local shopping centers were almost full, as were the freeways. In addition, when we went for an early dinner at 4:30, Chili’s was also nearly full. And Costco . . .OMG! I felt that these recent observations were more that just serendipity, because at this time of the year, I usually come out with my answer to the question,”What am I most thankful for?”

This year my answer is fourfold:

1.) I am thankful for my health without which I would not be writing this.

2.) I am thankful for my wife, my family, and my friends without which I would not be happy.

3.) I am thankful that I live in the United States without which neither of the above   would be possible.

But back to my original recent observation. Why are the freeways, the shopping, malls, and the restaurants at near capacity? Anyone who is reasonably observant can answer that question . . . “It’s the economy, stupid!” ( A phrase originally used by Clinton strategist, James Carvelle back in 1992.) 

And why is the economy doing so well? Again anyone who is reasonably observant can answer that question . . . “It’s because of President Trump, stupid!” President Trump recently hit the bull’s-eye when he said, “People are working, they’re making money.” Right on Mr. President. People are out en masse, spending money, because people are now working and making more money (wages up again – 2.9% for the year). Why? Obviously, again the answer is . . .  President Trump! And this did not just start this week or this month, but the strong economy and its benefit to workers has been going on since shortly after Trump was elected almost three years ago. According to MSNBC back in Jan. 2018, the Employment Cost Index, a measure of salary and benefit costs, was up 2.6%, which was tied for the best since 2007, which gave President Trump the best wage gains since the Great Recession, thus easily topping any gains during President Obama’s entire term. 

In Chili’s and at the shopping malls, there was a potpourri of Americans, black, white, and brown. There have never been more Black and Hispanic Americans in the workforce, as was demonstrated by the Labor Department’s recent job report.  The jobless rate for Hispanics hit a record low of 3.9% in September, while African Americans maintained its lowest rate ever, 5.5%. The Hispanic women unemployment rate was 3.8% in September and the Black adult women jobless rate was 4.6%.Another bright-spot of the report was the overall unemployment rate. The jobless rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 3.5%, its lowest reading in 50 years. 
Not only are Americans spending, but they seem happy about it. Fifty-seven percent of Americans approved of President Trump’s handling of the economy, up from 53% in August, and 50% in May.
Oops, I seemed to strayed a bit from Thanksgiving and those things that I am most thankful for:
4.) I am thankful that Donald Trump is President.
In addition, I would surmise that a lot of Americans, those on the freeways, those at the malls, and those at Chili’s are also thankful that Mr. Trump now resides in The White House.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“It’s a long way to Tipperary.” No I am not talking about the song that is associated with WWI about a British soldier longing for his sweetheart in Tipperary. Neither am I talking about Snoopy who fancied himself a World War One flying ace. In one cartoon Snoopy is walking so long a distance to Tipperary that he lies down exhausted and notes, “They’re right, it is a long way to Tipperary.” Snoopy aside, here I am talking about the fact that it’s a long way to the initial caucuses and primaries for the Democrats, and they have a problem. Mayor Pete of South Bend, Indiana is in the lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Keep in mind that South Bend is only the fourth largest city in Indiana, and if Norte Dame we’re not located there, no one would have a clue that it was even in Indiana. The last Democratic debate was boring, and no one even took a potshot at the mayor! I guess that tells everyone how significant his candidacy really is, as typically those on the debate stage will go after whomever is in the lead, but for Mayor Buttigieg . . . nada! The only semi-exciting part was the cat-fight between Kamala Harris and Tulsi Gabbard, but neither of them are polling well. Warren was exceptionally quiet, except for saying that to be a Democrat, you had to be pro-abortion! Think how that is going to go over with the millions of Catholics who typically vote Democrat! Sanders was . . . typical Bernie, but did not impress anyone other than himself. The good thing for the Dems, is that he has not had another heart attack! Booker and Klobuchar reportedly did well. (I say reportedly because I busy that night and did not watch this debate!) Neither of them have much of a chance, so “who cares!”

Biden got snickers from the pro-Democrat audience when he talked about punching out those who are guilty of spousal abuse . . . “nice choice of words, Joe!” Joe also told Cory Booker, “I’m as black as you!” Sleepy Joe is reportedly at the top of the National polls, even though his son, Hunter, is getting way more headlines, including his most recent paternity test that showed that he is the father, even though he denied it. The other Joe problem is Ukraine. This problem will not go away and will only get worse if this impeachment fiasco goes to the Senate. 
Right now for me the most riveting question is: Which got the lower T.V. ratings . . . the impeachment hearings or the last debate? I doubt that I will be seeing those results in my local newspaper!  However, my newspaper does have a Peanuts cartoon strip. Maybe the Dems could get Snoopy to throw his hat into the ring, as he would add a lot more interest and zip to their debate stage. On one occasion, Snoopy walks along and begins to sing the Tipperary song, only to meet a sign that reads, “Tipperary: One Block.” Yes, it certainly is a long way to Tipperary, but unfortunately for the Dems, it is getting shorter. Snoopy could probably do better than Yang . . .who is Yang anyway?

This afternoon while at the gym I saw multiple clips of Joe Biden speaking at a town -hall in Iowa. If you haven’t seen any of these clips, you should tune in to CNN, or MSNBC. I could not hear what “Sleepy Joe “ was saying, but the sparse crowd was clapping only sporadically, and some were not applauding at all. I could tell by looking at the crowd seated behind him, that they were not paid enough to be there . . . Joe and his staff could not have been too pleased!

Now while Joe prides himself as being the darling of the African-Americans, interestingly, there were no African-Americans that I could see in the sparse crowd behind the ex-vice president’s speaker’s dais. They were all Caucasian, and I saw only two youths (under twenty-five). To his credit, Joe was wearing an American flag pin just below the left lapel of his suit jacket. Something that is often missing from his liberal cohorts.

To sum it up, Joe’s Iowa “crowd” was white, bored, and old. Not exactly the type of support that is going to carry Sleepy Joe to victory. As I was watching this in Iowa, I could not help but compare the crowds at Trump rallies to those at this Iowa town-hall. Those at Trump rallies are uber enthusiastic, and they constantly stand and consistently applaud just about everything that the President says. There are  no cardboard cut-outs. When comparing both the crowd’s size and the enthusiasm of the crowd, I cannot imagine Sleepy Joe coming close to Donald Trump, much less winning in a head-to-head election! Perhaps the best thing would be to forget about Ukraine, and just let Sleepy Joe bore all of his supporters to death!

Since Chick-fil-A has been in the news lately, I thought that it would be appropriate to talk a bit about its founder, S. Truett Cathy.According to the Washington Post S. Truett Cathy’s restaurant chain just “blew past Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and Subway as it moved up the ranks from the seventh-largest restaurant chain in the United States to become the third.” The restaurant chain is Chick-fil-A, and S. Truett Cathy, now deceased, was its founder. Again from WaPo, “The company is not without challenges, from its faith-based decision to remain closed on Sundays (making things problematic for locations in airports and sports stadiums) to its management’s statements in opposition to same-sex marriage, which prompted boycotts and “kiss ins” organized by GLAAD.”
The only national stores that I am aware of that are closed on Sunday are Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby. According to its founder, Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays to allow the employees to attend church and spend time with their families. Mr. Cathy was a member of the First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Georgia, and taught Sunday School there for more than 50 years. He said that the Bible is his guide-book for life, and this is most likely why he was opposed to same sex marriage. According to the LGBQ backers this made Mr. Cathy a bad person, and this subsequently made me look into some of the other things he had done, and at some of the books he had written. Mr. Cathy had a Leadership Scholarship program for Chick-fil-A restaurant employees, which has awarded more than $23 million in $1,000 scholarships in the past 35 years. In 1984, Cathy established the WinShape Foundation, named for its mission to shape winners. In addition, Cathy fostered children for more than 30 years, and he received the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2008. Because of his vast philanthropy, he does not appear to be a bad person to me, but merely disagrees with LGBQ. In my review of S. Truett Cathy’s accomplishments, I came across some of his interesting quotes, which I thought I would pass on: – “Food is Essential to life, therefore make it good.”  – “We’re not just in the chicken business, we’re in the people business.”- “There’s no such thing as business ethics, only personal ethics.”- “I realized the importance of doing a job and doing it right. Pleasing your customers       and enjoying what you’re doing.”- “We’re not limited to traditional media for advertising. Some of the strongest  messages can be delivered for free. I carry a big Chick-fil-A shopping bag whenever  I travel.”
Perhaps from these quotes one can understand why the American Customer Satisfaction Index has rated Chick-fil-A the No. 1 company for the past four years.

At which point do Democrats become embarrassed with the workings of those that represent their party . . . notably Adam Schiff? Here I do not mean all Democrats, as there are at least two, and perhaps up to four different species of Democrats.
First we have the far-left Democrats from the Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders mold. They pay no attention to logic or common sense. Their pitch is based entirely on emotion, and so there is no way to have a rational conversation with any of them. Does this group ever become concerned by the far-out nonsensical tenets that are being pushed by similar far-lefties? No! Open borders, Medicare for all including illegals, post-birth “abortion,” violence against police, etc. . . . nothing is too extreme for this group. Can they be embarrassed? Apparently not.
The second group is basically Democrat-by-default, as President Trump is so offensive to them that they are forced to be “anti-Trump Democrats.” Does this group ever get embarrassed? The answer here is a conditional “No,” as they are never embarrassed by anything that is anti-Trump, but I supposed they can be silently embarrassed by other things . . . however their anti-Trump feelings are so strong that they find a way to make just about everything to be tangentially anti-Trump despite things that point in other directions.
The third group are what I would call “J.F.K. Democrats,” meaning that they believe in what the Democrat party used to believe in. “My parents and my grandparents were Democrat; my whole family is Democrat, and so I will always be a Democrat.” Most of this group are blind to what the Democrats actually stand for today, or worse, they choose to ignore what the Democrats stand for today. They vote Democrat reflexively. Are they sometimes embarrassed by the 2019 Democrat Party beliefs? I believe they are . . . but for the most part, they stagger into the voting booth, close their eyes, bite their tongue, and pull the “all Democrat” lever, because that is how they were raised. However I suspect that they do become secretly embarrassed when faced with some of the far-left policies that are almost the new “Democrat core beliefs.”
The final group are those that are now “independents,” having “switched over” from being called Democrats. This is the most likely group to be embarrassed by some of the things that the Democrats say and Adam Schiff does. This is the group of voters that are “uninterested” about the impeachment inquiry. They are suspicious of the secretive nature of the whole process, with hours of witness testimony behind closed doors with only select portions being leaked.
Any rational non-leftist, non non-Trumper Democrat would have to be embarrassed by this faux impeachment charade. Hopefully this embarrassment will carry over to 2020, both for the “JFK Democrats,” and the recently converted independents.