Back from LA

Spent the weekend down in the land of the cars and home of the stars.

Had a wedding to attend to on Saturday - eldest son of my best childhood friend got married to his sweetheart of 7 years. 1 down 2 to go. After seeing all the hoopla and other behind-the-scenes goings on, youngest son says when the time comes he'll just elope.

Sunday the 5 of us ventured on out from our Woodland Hills cottage to the "happiest place on earth". Spent more time in line getting in the frigging parking lot than waiting for any official ride. Best - Carousel. Worst - Toon Town's Roger Rabbit (too loud and scary). Saw all the main characters, with some up close & personal time with Pluto, but seeing Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pooh & Tigger was good too!

Seattle has a lot in common with Disneyland. They have Space Mountain, we have the Space Needle. They have the Matterhorn, we have Mt Rainier. They say they're the "happiest place on earth", we say we're the "most caffeinated place on earth." Lot's of similarities you probably could confuse the two - especially this weekend when the weather was in the 80's both places.

Now taking 3 kids under 3 wasn't recommended - I must say that we managed not to lose anybody (for too long) and didn't suffer any meltdowns or tantrums.

Favorite adventure - was plane ride home this afternoon as all 5 of us caught up on nap time (3 youngsters almost from the time wheels hit the wheel well after liftoff from LAX until touchdown at SEA).

Credit Cards?

Are Diners Club & Carte Blache still in existence and an acceptable form of payment?

In Lost Wages once again and in the shadows of the Wynn Resort and their sister hotel Encore (shouldn't it be named Lose?) is the tiny Somerset Motel. They still have the fading old signs for DC & CB out on the street - is that supposed to attract business?

Nostalgia anyone?

Carlin - part 2

NBC will host a fitting tribute to George by running the first episode of SNL (which was originally called NBC's Saturday Night) this Saturday June 28th. Which I'm sure will be way more funny than a 90-minute showing of a live memorial service; although with the guests commemorating George in fair fashion that might be pretty funny actually.

Since most of us missed this first episode (season?) - I was a freshman in college and doing something way more important than watching TV on Saturday nights - it'll be interesting to see how the show started. Set your DVR's and enjoy.

$3

Who checks - YES - on your IRS 1040 form where it asks "Do you want $3 of your federal tax to go to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund?"

And why?

best book I'm too scared to read

Carlin

I'll betchya the FCC won't be allowing any derivitive of NBC to do a 90-minute show on his memorial service (even though he was the first host of SNL in '75).

So catch it here - the Seven Words you can't say on TV, and go outside and swear a good one for George you MotherF@#*ers!

Laundry Lint

Why is it always the same color?

Russert

With the end in sight for all the grief, sorrow, hoopla, insight, TV specials, magazine articles, remembrances, memorials and tributes; the overkill is finally dying down (pun intended) . Now I understand Idaho is considering trying to perpetuate the honor by renaming their famous potatoes.

PH?

Saw these encircled letters on the side of a large building on the strip in Las Vegas today (with no other obvious markings, at least on the east facing side).

I mentioned to my fellow co-workers in the van while driving to the airport,"what the ffff is that building?" They stared at me with no amusement whatsoever; as in deer in the headlights look. [If ‘h’ is behind ‘p’, ‘ph’ is pronounced ‘ff’ - so here I am again explaining my attempt at the joke once again]

Then I said, "I wonder if it's properly balanced?" Again same response.

Wonder where the humor switch is on these folks so I can turn it on?

Starbucks verses Exxon-Mobile

With a gallon of gas now about equal to a cup of foo-foo coffee I thought maybe I'd look further into which is poised to succeed in the future. [disclaimer - never take investment advice from an airline pilot]

According to the Telegraph (Britain's leading newspaper) 'Two billion cups of coffee are drunk every day around the world. Coffee is now the second most widely traded commodity, after oil, with a total estimated value of $140 billion."

So I think it's fair to compare the two side-by-side. P/E ratios typically are usually only comparable to those within the same industry - but I've listed them here anyway as they're both consumable liquids with a huge demand.

Cup O-foo-foo SB Coffee:
venti mint chocolaty chip = $4.70 (approx. $65/gallon)

Gallon O-Gas:
Nationwide - $4.078
Washington - $4.318

Top calories:
venti (20-ounce) mocha with whole milk - 3010 calories
gallon of gas - 30,000 calories

Gross Revenues:
Starbucks - $9.9 B
E-M - $404B

P/E ratio:
SB - 21.07
E-M - 11.32

Market Cap:
SB - $13.2B
E-M - $465B

Stock Price:
SB - $18.12 (52 week high $28.62 low $15.59)
E-M - $88.62 (52 week high $96.12 low $77.55)

CEO Salary:
SB - $1.2M (2.4M bonus)
E-M -1.16M (1.25M bonus)

IMHO Starbucks has great expectations for the future (as is reflected in their P/E ratio) and folks are always willing to spend extra to give them the feeling of being part of something special.
There is nothing special about a gallon of gasoline, as it will only be used to propel you a certain distance down the road (depending on your vehicle's efficiency). And nobody hangs around a self-serve gas station any longer than absolutely necessary.

Exxon-Mobile will certainly have to change its business model within the not to distant future to meet the demands and growing expectations in the energy and transportation industries.

Starbucks on the other hand, just needs to keep cranking out the good vibes and creating a feeling that we belong, AND it's good for you!

Whether too much is riding on Howard's shoulders (the SB BOD must think he's earning his salary & bonus better than Mr. Oil Tycoon) or does he let his 172,000 employees initiate some buzz remains to be seen. But in the long term how can they go wrong? Folks have been drinking coffee a lot longer than they have been consuming petroleum products - and will for a long time after the end of the dinosaur era is fully depleted.

Another blow to Levi??

The ToC has announced a marketing scheme with ASO.

What this will do to Astana and other teams and/or racers not on the cleared list or on the outs with the top French promotor, only time will tell.

One thing this will do - it will not help put the ToC on the best terms with the UCI.

But I don't even play tennis?

Right elbow to be specific - Lateral Epicondylitis is the official name. How I got it I'm not sure but it sure isn't any fun.

I also was diagnosed a few years back with a slightly torn medial meniscus in my left knee. That bothers me a little walking and a lot running - so I don't run anymore. I can tell it's there after a hard training session, especially seated tension intervals, but for the most part cycling doesn't aggravate it to the point of any notice.

Doc says the tennis elbow will go away slowly on its own - that's not the case with my left knee. If I was younger it might heal itself - but for an aging guy like myself - it's only going to get worse.

The good news is when I decide to get the knee fixed - which I was holding off on until my Summit the Sun event was over (now postponed) - I'll get back to running. Which is something that I really miss, requires a lot less to haul around or get prepared for than cycling, and can do just about anywhere.

It's a bitch getting old.