Outlawing Trans Fats and Fast Food

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NOTE FROM CONEJO JOE:  THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON JULY 31, 2008 BUT WILL TAKE EFFECT TOMORROW, 1/1/10.

Last week Arnold signed AB 97, the California Uniform Retail Food Facilities Law, which outlaws trans fats from restaurant foods by 1/1/10 (with the exception of baked goods, which get a year reprieve to 1/1/11).  This makes California the first state in the nation to enact such a ban and makes use of trans fats a misdemeanor punishable by fines ranging from $25 to $1000 per infraction.

This is not so bad given trans fats, mostly liquid oils made into solid fats like shortening and margarine by partially hydrogenating them, are bad for you!  Consumption of trans fats as we know is linked to heart disease and related ailments.  No doubt this will make it more costly to eat out.  But think of all the savings in medical expenses down the road!  Not to mention, maybe it will create more jobs...for Trans Fat Cops!

McDonalds has stopped using trans fats by switching to Canola Oil blends.  Hot Dog on a Stick uses soy

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Yikes! Just Two Weeks of Year-End Tax Planning Remain!!

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2009 is nearly over! Time to start planning now for year-end tax savings!  Here are some last minute ideas.

Load up the 401k

If you are employee with a 401k plan and can increase your contributions, last minute, consider doing so if you can spare the $$.  This is a very simple way to decrease your 2009 taxable income while saving for retirement.  Maximum is $16,500 or $22,000 if you are 50 or older.

Time Your Expenses

If your income is higher than normal this year (or even if it ain't that high), consider the following to decrease your 2009 taxable income:

Property Taxes - Many of you paid the first half of your 2009-2010 property taxeslast week.  The remainder is due in mid-April 2010.  If you want to lower your taxes this year, consider making that additional payment by December 31st.

Mortgage Payments - Pay your January mortgage payment in December!  More interest expense to include in your itemized deductions.  This is a no brainer!

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Seven Tips to Get Your Home "Show Ready" in Seven Minutes!

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7 Tips to Get Your Home “Show Ready” in 7 Minutes

Note from Conejo Joe: Connie Tebyani is a Professional Home Stager, Interior Design Consultant and Owner of Platinum Home Staging, Inc. She is also the Preferred Interior Designer for Pottery Barn and a member of the Real Estate Staging Association.  Connie has lived in the Conejo Valley for 20 years with her husband and 2 boys.  Visit her website at www.PlatinumHomeStaging.com or 805.553.9952.

Every Thanksgiving, after we've gorged ourselves on stuffing and pies, we head to my sister's home in the desert resort city of Rancho Mirage. This year was no different except for one small...or rather, HUGE, difference...the house has been listed for sale. So inevitably we had to try to “live” in the home, but be ready to have it shown at a moment’s notice. As a Professional Home Stager myself, I was given a dose of my own medicine.

This was no small feat. It was not just my family of four, it was also my sister's family of four, their dog, our brother and our mother in a 4,000 square foot home.  I must admit that some of these suggestions will take some forward thinking and planning ahead of time to implement.  Some are habits that are going to need to be formed, others are bad habits that will need to be broken.

1) Starting with a clean house is a MUST!  This house started out spotless, and we needed to keep it that way! One thing that we all had to get used to was to make your beds every day, the very second you get up.  I don't mean pull the comforter up so high that it simply covers the pillows and leaves all the sheets in lumps underneath - make it right, make it beautiful, it will be done for the rest of the day.

2) Got kids? If you have an outdoor space or table (weather permitting) where they can do their crafts, legos or even homework it would be ideal and it gets them out of the house.  Put a table cloth or sheet on the table which gives them a clean surface even if the table is not.  Should a realtor come knocking, you can simply fold everything up into the table cloth and pack it away quickly.  If the weather in your area does not permit this, the same idea can be used indoors.  By placing a large towel, sheet or blanket on the floor kids can still spread out but all the tiny little lego pieces, crayons (or whatever) can be collected and dumped into their collection box in seconds.

3) Run your dishwasher every night, or every other night if not full.  In the morning, empty the dishwasher while your coffee is brewing.  This way you can load all your empty dishes into it throughout the day as you use them, never leaving a dirty dish to be seen in the sink. Or another option would be to use paper plates and plastic cups. Yep, I said it; paper plates and plastic cups. If you don't have a dishwasher (or even if you do) if you're not entertaining and it's just you and the kids, why not?  Just make sure they go into your recycle bin at the end of the week and not into the local landfill.

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A Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Train Ride to Santa Barbara

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This Thanksgiving my wife decided we would do something different with our young boys.  Forget about cooking and gorging ourselves in the comfort of our own home.  Forget about the relatives and the cleaning.  Forget about football games and carving.  We took the train to Santa Barbara!

Now taking the train from Camarillo to Santa Barbara is not exactly cheap.  For a family of 4, reserved coach seats put me out $108 round trip.  But this was about the experience of riding the train, not saving money.  (That said, it was definitely nice not worrying about parking and paying for parking in Santa Barbara!)

The Camarillo train station is at 30 Lewis Road. Parking was free. Taking the train was an adventure for us clueless suburbanite autobots used to our cars. We nearly missed the train because we didn't know which side of the train tracks to wait at.  Thinking our train would be on the east track, a more savvy individual informed us the other side was closed. So we literally ran up the path back to the other side with one gal who also had been waiting for the train. The train came a few minutes later and we hopped on.

We sat down near the gal who had run with us. Minutes later the ticket collector came by and it quickly became apparent she had no ticket for the train. My wife and I looked over and without discussion, we whipped out $20 to pay for her ticket. A small Thanksgiving good deed.

The train ride went by quickly. It was definitely a fun experience as we rode through Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria and took in sights of the Pacific Ocean.  In about an hour we were in Santa Barbara.

So this is what we did the rest of the day, leading up to a 7 pm return train ride:

  • Rented a quad bike at Wheel Fun Rentals on State Street

  • Rode the quad through Chase Palm Park up Cabrillo Boulevard past the lagoon to Stella Mare's Restaurant for a 1pm Thanksgiving feast.  Let me tell you, my wife and I were READY to eat after burning off calories on that bike!

  • Enjoyed a 3 course Thanksgiving meal.  The main course options were (of course) turkey, prime rib and salmon.  I had the salmon and it melted in my mouth.  The rest of the crew had turkey and it was delicious.

  • We burned some calories in the 70 degree weather by riding the quad back, stopping by Chase Palm Park, running around at the playground and visiting the carousel.

  • Hung out by the beach near the pier, dipped our toes in the water, walked onto the pier for ice cream and headed back up State Street.

  • Walked up State Street and had a snack at Baja Sharkeez, walked back to the train station, played Red Light, Green Light, Simon Says, Tag and other games until the train arrived.

What an unbelievably beautiful day it was!  There was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was in the low 70s.  There were NO CROWDS in Santa Barbara!  I have to thank my wife for starting what may well be a new tradition for us!

And I ended the day tired...and HUNGRY! Yes, believe it or not, I think we actually burned off more calories than we consumed! What a great feeling!

Seven Ways to Prepare Your Home for Holiday Guests

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7 Ways to Prepare Your Home for Holiday Guests

The holidays are coming and for many this means that there will be family visiting from out of town or even out of state.  Make your guests feel welcomed and keep them comfortable during their stay by following these simple inexpensive tips.

  • Call them ahead of time and confirm everything: Estimated time of arrival, driving or flying, should you arrange for transportation  to and from your house?  Asking simple questions will let them know that you are excited about them coming (even if secretly you really might not be).
  • If they are going to be staying at a hotel arrange with the concierge to have a simple note and maybe a gift basket waiting for them in their room.  There are many micro-vineyards in the Malibu mountains, maybe treat them to a private label bottle of wine or simple seasonal fruits and snacks for them while they stay. 
  • If your guests are staying with you in your home, you might want to ask them ahead of time if they have any special needs or requests.  In all honesty most guests will say, “No” but it’s always nice to ask. But maybe your new daughter-in-law is allergic to cats, or your Great Aunt is a heavy smoker.  Asking them some simple questions will put both you and your guest as ease so that there are no “surprises” to have to deal with at the last minute.  This would also be a good time to see if they are making other plans with family and friends while they are in the area.  This will better enable you to plan your schedule without making them feel that they are intruding.
  • Think of the room as if you were the guest.  Is the “Guest Room” really your office, your sewing room or a catch-all room for excess stuff?  Clean out the room, make sure that the bed, sleeper sofa or even the couch, if that is whe
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Bore Your Twitter Followers to Death With These Seven Practices!

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Twitter is a great way to connect with people.  I've met some fascinating people via http://twitter.com/ConejoJoe and I've made dozens of friends and acquaintances through Twitter. I'm also doing business with several fellow Tweeters and have helped some Twits finding jobs.

People join Twitter for various reasons (networking, selling, curiousity, meet people, share info, obtain info, etc.). Tweeting on Twitter is hard work. I'd say roughly 50% of my 600 or so "Followers" never post anything (that's not to say they aren't checking out others' tweets).  Another 25% post rarely.  The other 25% post regularly.

Most Twitter postings are boring, mundane and irrelevant. Often I paying attention or stop following fellow Twitter users as a result.  That's not to say that I, the infamous Conejo Joe, have been immune to such practices...in fact, I'm sure many people think I should just shuddup!

But as a prolific Twitter user, I feel it is my duty to share these 7 Twitter Practices That Will Bore Your Followers to Death!

Constantly Promote Your Product

"Eat at Joe's Restaurant" "Joe's has great BLT sandwiches!" "Visit Joe's at www.joesrest.com" "Joe's is open 7 days a week!" "Can't beat Joe's for breakfast!" "Joe's has the best omelettes in town" "Come visit Joe's"

You get the picture. I've seen this many a time. If all you do is promote your product, people will tune you out! Nobody signed up for Twitter looking for advertisements!  Mix is up a bit, interact with people, talk about something interesting, for pete's sake!

Say the Same Thing Over and Over Again

Some people set up robo-tweets that tweet the same thing over and over again, spaced out.  Booorrrring!  Originality goes a long way in Twitter. So don't do this or you'll lose people.

Publicly Thank People for Retweets

I know I'll get pushback on this because so many people do it.  But if someone "retweets" your message, do you really have to publicly thank them for it? It's nice and all but the rest of us don't really need to hear you thank them. How about thanking them via Direct Message?  Or better yet, take the time to review their postings and return the favor!

Send Me a Direct Message After I Start Following You

"Thanks for the follow! I look forward to connecting!" "Welcome to our Twitter account!" "Hi, check out this service at.." Every time I get a DM, the message goes directly to my cell phone as a text message. I hate that. If you really want to lose me as a follower, send me a DM immediately after I start following you.

Constantly Complain and Whine

"I hate my job" "It is too cold outside" "I'm sick" "My job sucks" is an excellent way to get people to tune you out.  Nothing wrong with some occasional venting of course. But to do so regularly really is demotivational to people following you.

Post Mundane Thoughts of No Particular Interest

"I ate a delicious chicken sandwich for lunch" "I'm flying to Peoria today" "Good morning everyone" "My pillow is fluffy" "I'm at Starbucks" "My shoelace broke this morning"

Yes, thank you for sharing.  Now go get a life and find something interesting to say, why doncha!?

Long, Boring Public Interchanges

"You going to the Tiddly Wink Convention in San Dimas?" "Yes, and you?" "I'll be there Friday" "We need to hook up" "Yes, where should we meet?" "Will Joe Schmoe be there?" "Yes, let's try to hook up" "OK"

ZZZZZZZ.....come on Tweeters! You really think other people want to hear this stuff?  Of course not. This is the equivalent of talking loudly on your cell phone in a restaurant. Use the Direct Message feature for one on one conversations....paleeezzee!

Like I said before, I'm not claiming to be a perfect angel with regard to these Twitter practices. But think about what you share in Twitter...is it really something the world needs to hear?

Be interesting. Be unique. Interact with people. Ask questions. Share useful information. Selectively retweet other posts you find to be standouts. Be funny. Now these are some practicies that will develop long-term relationships in Twitter and beyond!