Blessed-Family Blog

Dear Dad,

Dad

Sharing some funny one-liners, some of them are old, but still funny.  Have a cheerful day!

EVER WONDER

- Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

- If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

- Why is it that doctors call what they do “practice”?

- If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

- Why women can’t put on mascara with their mouth closed?

- Why don’t you ever see the headline “Psychic Wins Lottery”?

- Why is “abbreviated” such a long word?

- Why is it that to stop Windows, you have to click on “Start”?

- Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

- Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

- Why isn’t there mouse-flavored cat food?

- When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?

- Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

- Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

- You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don’t they make the whole plane out of that stuff?

- Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

- Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

- Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?

Just came back from a very informative session about all the “CA State Initiatives” provided by “Silicon Valley Votes!“.   The two speakers from League of Women Voters and their material were excellent, providing non-partisan overview of each of the state ballot measures.

Yeah, it was tough going to a seminar after work on a week day, but I really felt it was worth it.  I will be making much more informed decisions when I cast my vote this time.

They have another session on 10/19/08.  For more information, check out the upcoming Events at their website: http://www.svvotes.org 

Article about a DUI suspect who farted at police officer charged with battery.

It’s not very nice, but it was a funny article Josie posted on Facebook.  Everybody good a good laugh.  It reminds me of Bob Deaton’s book, Never Say Excuse Me Louder Than You Burp.

Just read a very facinating article and video about cause of different forms of cancer and their relationship to Fungi/yeast.  The video is Doug Kaufman interviewing Italian Oncologist Dr. Tullio Simoncini, and the article is an in depth commentary and background from Dr. Mercola.

Dr. Tullio’s book: “Cancer is A Fungus” is not available on Amazon, but several other cancer books referenced Dr. Tullio’s work.

We went to Brentwood on Saturday 6/14 for some family fun picking fruits. We visited 3 farms: Baccini’s for peaches, Chan’s for strawberries, Nunn Better for cherries. Overall, it was a good experience, however, we think Brentwood farms can take a few lessons from Casa de Fruita and Napa wineries to make a “richer” experience for themselves and the visitors.

We had brunch at Perkos Cafe and Grill (7 of 10). The place was ranked as the local top favorite cafe every year. The food was ok, price was higher than what I’d expect to pay at a ‘farming town’ (about $50 for 4 people).

Baccini’s peach picking was fun & delicious (7 of 10)

• This was the first farm we visited, it was on our top list based on the U-pick map. We were hoping to pick cherries, but they ran out already, and only had peaches left. We went in anyway, it was fun. The peaces were juicy and delicious. We picked a bunch and it only cost about $10. There was no minimum.
• The people were nice. We asked about cherries, they were kind enough to direct us to “Nunn Better” at the other side of the town.

Chan’s Fruitstand did not stand a chance (2 of 10)

• On the way to “Nun Better”, we stopped by Chan’s Fruitstand since they had nice big strawberry signs which sounded fun.
• As we got closer, it did not look very friendly… minimum 2 lb per person, “no stealing”, blah blah blah. We were turned off from the negative ‘rules’.
• If we don’t even know how the strawberry looks like and tast like, how can we promise to pick 2 lb per person? Strawberries rots quickly, how can we consume 8 lbs in a couple of days? We left without trying.

Nunn Better is better (8 of 10)

• We finally got to Nunn Better. There were lots of cherry trees, with lots of ripen & sweat cherries within reach. There are also many ladders to reach to the higher branches. It was great.
• We ate a bunch, had a spitting contest. We also picked a lot so we can took some back to share with church friends and coworkers. Everyone had a great time.

Brentwood - Overall, Brentwood farms can take a couple of lessons from Casa de Fruita and the Napa wineries. Why stay at the bottom of the “fruit-chain?” Here are some ideas/suggestions:

• target families with kids
• make it educational for different age groups with some informational stuff like: different types of cherries, growing process, etc.
• make it (more) fun
• make more money with some value added services: how about some water; some place to wash the fruits; nice restrooms; a cup of coffee with fresh fruit pie; cherry, peach or strawberry icy drink on a hot day; fruit jams, fruit cakes, fruit … (think Casa de Fruita)
• link multiple farms together (like what we did) and make it a whole day “experience”

Overall, it was a fun day picking cherries and peaches at Brentwood for the family.  The area can take a lesson from Napa or Casa de Fruita and make it a richer experience for the visitors.

Got this “Free Laptop” email, it smelled like a chain letter, so I looked up Urban Legends, and sure enough, it was a hoax that has been around since 2/2007.

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Subject: Laptops

Here are some resources to understand your credit score, what it means, and how to improve the score:

• What’s in the FICO score:
• Payment history
• Amounts Owed
• Length of Credit History
• New Credit
• Type of Credit used
• CBS News Viedeo: Do you know your FICO Score?
• Understand your FICO credit score:
• 330 - 619: Poor credit. In banker jargon a person with a score in this range is considered a “Credit Leper.”
• 620 - 659: Sub-prime financing will be available to you.
• 660 - 720: Prime financing will be available to you.
• 721 – 750: Prime - x% may be available to you. That is, you may be able to get interest rates on loans that are even lower than the prime rate.
• 751+: Excellent credit. May enable you to get even lower prime -x% interest rates depending on the credit type you’re utilizing.
• Here’s an look at credit scores among the US population in 2003:
• Up to 499: 1%
• 500 - 549: 5%
• 550 - 599: 7%
• 600 - 649: 11%
• 650 - 699: 16%
• 700 - 749: 20%
• 750 - 799: 29%
• Over 800: 11%
• Tips on how to increase FICO scores at: myFICO.com and about.com
• Here are some mortgage/loan calculators at: bankrate.com and interest.com
• Money/CNN: Trick to get a mortgage fixed (6/08)

Got a nice 15% off coupon so we decided to check out the Willow Street restaurant. We sampled a variety of dishes:

• Hawaiian pizza
• Willow Street Burger
• 2 pasta dishes

The price was reason consider it is a nice restaurant at a prime location (Westgate, San Jose). Sunday special burger (served on pita bread), and pasta dinner deal with 1/2 salad, 1/2 pasta and desert were excellent deals for the recession. The only problem was the taste was just ‘average’, all dishes were kind of ‘bland’.

The highlights were:

1. fries that came with the Willow Burger, it was deliciously fried with garlic, parsley, and salt. It was great, but I can only take about 10-15, it got a little too oily.
2. the chocolate dessert, all of us agreed that it was very good.
Score: 7 out of 10
Price: $53.29, dinner for 4, 2 soft drinks, with 15% off coupon, including tax & tips
Address: 1554 Saratoga Ave, San Jose
Web: willowstreet.com
Phone: 408.871.0400

Check out the CNN report on “FDA urged to ban 8 food dyes“. Highlights:

• Advocacy group seeks ban on 8 artificial food colorings, citing ADHD link in kids
• FDA disputes the group’s assertion
• Dyes used in countless foods and sometimes to simulate fruit, vegetable color
• Targeted: Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, Yellow 6

Source: CNN.com