U.S. Postal Service Looking to Make Dramatic Changes to Survive

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The U.S. Postal Service announced today that unless legislation is passed this month, it is on the brink of default on its obligations. They say they need to cut operating expenses by $20 BILLION a year by 2015 to survive.


The Postmaster General spoke today to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Here are some of the challenges the USPS would like to address with the help of Congress:

Retirement Benefits: By law the USPS is forced to contribute $5.5 billion each year to fund retirement health benefits of future retirees (in addition $2.5 billion for current retirees). The USPS would like to change this requirement.

Delivery Frequency: USPS wants to be able to be able to control delivery frequency...e.g. perhaps 5 days per week instead of 6. USPS states that in surveys, about 75% of the American public (up from 50% 2 years ago) favors cutting back service rather than cover l

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Random Encounter with the 4th Annual West Valley Memorial Ride on Saturday, Aug 27th

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The 4th Annual West Valley Memorial Ride took place this past Saturday, August 27th. I had never heard of the ride nor knew what it was when I happened upon it but later discovered this event is organized by Officers of the West Valley Division of the Los Angeles Police Department who first organized the event in 2008 as a memorial to fellow officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

This event featured 400 riders and was orchestrated with the help of the California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Motor Officers of the Valley Traffic Division of LAPD.

After torturing my body on a brutally hilly and quite hot trail run called the Bulldog 25K, I was ready to get home, shower up and relax. But...NOOoooo...after pulling onto Malibu Canyon/Las Virgenes northbound toward the 101, there are legions of police officers on cycles and cars. First I thought it might be a 9/11 memorial, but realized it was too early for that. Oddly, I noticed cars of all shapes and sizes, like vintage 1960s police cars. I thought maybe budget cuts were forcing LAPD to cut back ha ha.

But then traffic was completely stopped for me and others before reaching the 101 freeway. The police officers were followed by motorcycles of all shapes and sizes. Thinking on my feet, uh, well, on my rear end, I grabbed my little camera and start videotaping, figuring I'd capture a few seconds of footage. But the cycles kept coming...and coming...and coming. I looked over at the 101 westbound and there was a steady flow of cycles coming to the Malibu Canyon offramp. Not a single car in sight.

I was determined to keep filming until the last motorcycle. So as a result there are over 7 minutes of footage below. Had I known about this I'd have taken high def footage on my Droid for a clearer picture. But in any case, this chance encounter was certainly a pleasant and fun surprise.

Kim Kardashian Marrying a Man With the Same Name as Her Mom, Names That Start with "K" and Other Random Thoughts

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Yesterday the kids and I had a terrific time in Santa Barbara, riding the Cabrillo Bike Path, visiting the Ty Warner Sea Center at Stearns Wharf, stopping by Alamada Park for its incredibly cool kids' play area as well as the awesome turtle and duck filled pond at Alice Keck Memorial Gardens before heading back back home. It was a perfect 70 degree day in Santa Barbara as fellow Conejo Valleyians baked away.

The traffic was fairly steady for about the first 10 miles coming out of Santa Barbara through Carpinteria before it cleared up for awhile, until we reached Camarillo, where we were greeted with another slow passage. For awhile we were driving directly behind the car pictured below.

It was getting towards 8PM and we had an action packed weekend (the prior day I ran a hot, hilly 25K race in Agoura before enjoying time with the kids in the pool then at Ventura Harbor Village (where it was also a perfect 70 degree kind of day). So I was pretty tired, in fact maybe getting a bit delirious. We all needed our beds.

But this Just Married car was in front of me for a good 15 minutes and my mind wandered. Long drives can do this to you. I thought, hey, maybe this car is being driven by Kim Kardashian and her new husband, Kris Humphries.  Obviously they wouldn't be driving a Toyota

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"Thinking Dreams" This Summer by Local Camarillo Artist, Chuck Trunks

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This latest piece by Camarillo artist Chuck Trunks depicts a girl who appears to be thinking about what summer has in store for her. Or maybe it is deeper than that. Trunks calls it "Thinking Dreams." I know it was inspired by ocean views in Ventura looking towards the Channel Islands.  See Trunks' other work on Conejo Valley Guide here.

Speaking of Ventura and the Channel Islands:

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Hits the Jackpot in Latest Work of Chuck Trunks

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This latest piece by Camarillo artist Chuck Trunks is entitled "Chimp Jackpot." He didn't tell me what that means, but one could surmise he's referring to the success of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which opened in theaters on August 5th and was the 4th highest grossing August movie opening in history. Chuck, who is one of the, well, no, THE most particular person I know, said this is a must-see movie. Very entertaining (the movie that is). The movie has grossed over $186 million worldwide in less than 2 weeks, which is kind of like hitting the jackpot I would say.  See Trunks' other work on Conejo Valley Guide here.

For movies in and around Ventura County, click here.

For upcoming movies around the community in Ventura County, click here.

Apes like to be in the outdoors, right? Here are local hiking trails.

There are several dozen farmers' markets in Ventura County and surrounding areas, many of which have fresh bananas, which I go ape for.

Kids like to monkey around? Here are some indoor play options for them.

The New Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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On July 16th, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County premiered the all-new, 14,000 sq ft  Dinosaur Hall. It rivals the world’s leading dinosaur halls for the number of individual fossils displayed, the size and spectacular character of the major mounts, including the world’s only Tyrannosaurus rex growth series, and the way that paleontology comes alive!

We visited this past weekend and it were impressed! There are over 300 fossils and 20 complete mounts of dinosaurs on display. Since this permanent exhibit is so new and popular, you will need to reserve a time slot. We stopped by on Sunday around 3:45 p.m. and the 4:15 p.m. time slot was available. After walking around the museum, we stood in line only about 10 minutes and were soon in.

This is a must-see. If you have young kids, another highlight of the Museum is Insect Hall. While you're down there, stop by the California ScienCenter next door!