Local Nature Photographer Says Winter Sunsets Are The Best

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Ventura County is so close to the ocean, yet most of us don't usually get down to the beach often enough. Now, with winter bearing down on us, we surely won't make it down to the beach.  That's too bad, because winter sunsets are the best according to local photographer Greg Clure.

Why winter?  Ventura County beaches are mostly south facing, which means during the summer when we are more likely to be at the beach, the sun is difficult, if not impossible, to include in your sunset photos. The sun is too far north.

With the approaching Winter Solstice (December 21st) the sun's path across the sky travels a more southerly route. As each day goes by up to this date as it reaches its southern most path and then begins to move north each day thereafter.  As a result, you will be much more likely to capturing a beautiful sunset photo during the winter. Winter also means fewer people at the beach, so you'll likely have your favorite beach all to yourself.

Clure shares three of his local sunset images taken during winter below.  Greg adds, "When taking sunset images that include the sun, be sure to meter the bright sky near the sun but don't include the sun and you will generally get the best exposure for the entire scene."  If you would like to see larger versions of the images below or other fine art images of nature, visit Greg's website at www.gregclurephotography.com.

Tattoos - A Sure Sign of Youth

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The economy has been in the doldrums for awhile now but one growth industry, as far as I can tell, is the tattoo business.

As someone just barely into the Baby Boomer (age 46 to 64) group, I've never quite understood why one would feel a need to permanently imprint something into their skin. Heck, I must be an old geezer, as 85% of my fellow geezers, according to a 2010 Pew Research Center study, "Millennials: A Portrait of Generation Next," have never had a tattoo on their bodies.

On the other hand, in Pew's January 2010 phone survey of 2,020 adults, fully 38% of 18 to 29 year old "Millennials" have tattoos. Wow! And fully 50% of tattooed Millennials have 2 to 5 tattoos and 18% have 6 or more! We're talking a major growth industry here.

The Pew Report also indicated those Millennials not attending college were much more likely (47%) than Millennial college attendees (30%) to have tattoos. And Democratic/Independent leaning Millennials are more likely than Republican Millennials to have tattoos (44% vs 31%).

Gen Xers (ages 30 to 45) have a 32% tattoo rate, while only 6% of the age 65+ "Silents" group (not exactly sure where they get that name from) have tattoos.

Yes indeed, the tattoo industry has indeed been a growth industry over the years. According to the website vanishingtattoo.com, in 1936 Life Magazine indicated 6% of Americans had tattoos, whereas a 2003 Harris poll determined that grew to 16%. Heck, when us Baby Boomers hit the dust, that rate could grow to 35%, 40% or more!

So if you are an old dude like me and you'd like to feel young, consider getting a tattoo. As for me, I'm seeking ways to take advantage of this situation...I wonder just how many of those Millennials will regret some of those tattoos. Perhaps the tattoo REMOVAL industry will be the next big investment opportunity!

"Sandwiches to the Rescue" - A Firefighting Vignette from Gail Small

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A timely vignette from Gail Small, co-author of "Joyful Volunteering: Making a Difference." With the record heat and fire dangers (including a fire that has burned through the night in Thousand Oaks), Gail shares this positive story to look at the positive and applaud our firefighters for all that they do. 

Sandwiches to the Rescue

It was the fall of 1993 when the skies of Newbury Park, California, and surrounding areas became dark billowing clouds of gray. In the near distance, we could see the raging flames and other effects of the out-of control Malibu fire. The smell became stronger, and the haze in the air increased. No one could play outside because of the awful air quality.

As a teacher, I had to decide what to do with my students on those fiery days. What was I to do? I sent home a letter to parents and asked them to send supplies for making lunches, although I actually was hoping I would receive magic ingredients and a solution to my dilemma. The minutes, hours, and days needed something different and unique, and my basic idea was pretty simple: we would make sandwiches and fun food, hoping that the smell of cooking would sweeten our days and that our worries about what was going on outside would be gone from our minds for a little while.

The next day was full of surprises and possibilities! Wonderful ingredients from home pantries made their way into our classroom. We had interesting discussions while we talked about quantity, equivalents and creative cooking. We played music, and our spirits were revived by the comfort of doing something unusual at school.

Sandwiches are ideal for lunch because two pieces of bread can be the home for many a filling. Cheese, butter, and meats and brown, white, and rye breads were combined so that even the fussiest eaters

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Three Volunteering Vignettes

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Three Volunteering Vignettes

By Gail Small

Who knows what avenue volunteering might take you?  Sarah Glaser volunteered in the kelp forest tank at Birch Aquarium at Scripps. She dove down under to clean the 70,000 gallon kelp forest tank.  Her nemeses were the moray eels who tied themselves up in knots around the vacuum connector. Sarah wondered if one of them would bite her as who knows what might happen when volunteering.  She graduated to wearing a communication mask to speak to audiences during live shows as she retrieved a bucket of food and fed the fish by hand. Something did happen! It was on her last day as a volunteer diver that an audience member named Cullen asked the question. And I quote, “Will you marry me?” This volunteer had a once in a lifetime experience!

Brian in Australia one day had an idea to be a clown to amuse and help others. He created an outfit with colorful funny-looking clothes. And so, the Fatso Fun Show began. He did silly things to bring laughter to others. He could not find bright oversized shoes and thought that not a problem. So he volunteered bringing cheer with his unusual clown shoes homemade from scraps all connected creatively with bright purple paint. One day while volunteering, Brian described to a lady he just met how he made his clown shoes the best that he could. It was months later, just before the holidays, when to his surprise she arrived with what Brian describes as, “the most magnificent pair of multicolored leather clown shoes.” They were blue, red, yellow and green with big black toes and lined with soft blue leather. This woman who seemed to come out of nowhere said, “They are a gift for you. The reward for me is to see and hear your reaction and know

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Visit the SSA Website to Estimate Your Social Security Benefits in Just Minutes

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Interested in finding out what your estimated Social Security benefits will be? You can do this online in just a few minutes at www.ssa.gov. You will just need to provide your Social Security Number, Date of Birth and Mother's Maiden Name (and thus I'd suggest doing this at home...not on an unprotected WiFi Internet line).

All you do is visit www.ssa.gov website and click the "Estimate Your Retirement Benefits" link. After providing your personal information, the calculator tells you your estimated monthly benefit at age 62 (early retirement...and reduced benefits), 67 (full retirement) or age 70. This estimate is based on your actual earnings history.

Generally, if you wait until full retirement at age 67, your monthly payment will be roughly 40-50% greater than if you take early retirement. If you wait another 3 years, your payment will be another ~25% higher than normal retirement. All told, the 8 year difference (62 to 70) results in about a 75-80%

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Painfully Perplexing Password Policy

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I have over 250 websites where I need login/password combinations, most of which are pretty basic and never make me change the password (not to say I shouldn't change it...I should, but I don't, like most of you no doubt). But I think I've come upon the most complex, convoluted password policy ever.

This is painful!

  • At least one uppercase or lowercase letter (easy)
  • At least one number (easy)
  • At least one special character, like ! @ $ % * ( < (OK, no prob)
  • Contain no more than 2 identical consecutive characters in any position from the previous password (now this is getting painful)
  • Contain a non-numeric in the first and last positions (what the?)
  • Not be identical to the User ID (makes sense)

It is recommended that passwords should not:

  • Contain any dictionary word (OK, time to whip out Webster's)
  • Contain any proper noun or name of person, pet, child or fictional character (sorry Snoopy)
  • Contain social security number, birth date, phone number or other readily guessed info (how about my wife's measurements?)
  • Contain any simple patter of letters or numbers, such as qwerty or xyz123 (how bout xyzpdq!?)
  • Be any word, noun, or name spelled backwards (darn it, I wanted to use REDRUM!)

Geez. This takes all the fun out of password creation!! And to think every 60 days I get to read through these rules again to create a new password!

Ventura County Residents Can Finance Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects via Property Tax Bill!

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The CaliforniaFIRST Program (AB 811) allows property owners to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on homes and businesses. For participating property owners, the cost of the project is repaid on your property tax bill over up to 20 years. Financing eligibility is based on the value of your property and the current status of property tax payments, not personal credit. 

The County of Ventura is one of 14 California counties that will be participating in the CaliforniaFIRST Pilot Program! This pilot program is schedule to launch this fall!

Under CaliforniaFIRST, the property owner repays the cost of the clean energy project through a line item on their property tax bill. The minimum financing amount is $5,000. The maximum financing amount for residential property is $75,000. The maximum financing amount for commercial property varies based on property value. The repayment period will be between 5 and 20 years. The interest rate will vary based on market conditions.

Participating in the CaliforniaFIRST program gives Ventura County an opportunity to help both the community and the environment. With rising prices in electricity, gas, and water, this program will allow property owners an opportunity to access investments in technologies that will likely protect them against rising utility costs.

Loans are entered into voluntarily and transfer to the subsequent owner (INTERESTING!) upon sale and have superior lien status above one’s primary mortgage.

Learn more by visiting www.renewfund.com/node/223 and www.californiafirst.org. Sign up to be notified when the program is available at www.californiafirst.org/signup.html.