Bullets and Bullion

• I read that investors are snatching up gold coins and bullion at a brisk pace and that gold is headed above $1000 an ounce. This despite flagging demand for jewelery and all those people calling to sell their gold. This unhinging financial system has the world's currencies losing their luster. I'm not sure where the 'safe money' really needs to go. Personally I would invest in practical tools and skills... dollars and euros may not be worth much, but you can't eat gold either.

• Yesterday at Drive Current we tested water and tested Jason. The findings were fascinating - Jason likes his particular brand of bottled water, and in a blind taste test including his water, tap water, other brands of bottled water, water from a different part of the city and solar distilled water, Jason can find his water. His water also happens to be significantly less pure than several of the waters tested.
• I've said it before, I don't use words lightly: the most appropriate word I can think of to describe my mother's 60th birthday* party is fabulous. And it was, perched on a hill overlooking the Pacific, family and friends, a rap from one son, and a blog post word dedication from the other:
  It was an evening worthy of a fabulous woman. Happy birthday mom.
  *(technically it was my father's birthday as well)
• I went to the National Auto Dealers Association (NADA) Convention in New Orleans last month. Fewer attendees and a more serious undercurrent as compared to previous years; the people there were there to work. I left feeling upbeat that the market - entrepreneurs, intelligent people, hard workers, disruptive geniuses, gutsy investors - will bring the change that Washington can't bring. If we do fall into a depression all bets are off, but I left feeling upbeat that we shall overcome.
• I went to Madrid over Christmas and New Years. San Diego to Spain. Via San Francisco, London and Lisbon. Thank you United miles. I have since begun using my American Airlines credit card and simultaneously stopped caring about miles...
  
• Flying over Spain in a small craft (via Portugal) at a lower altitude, one can appreciate just how 'discreet' are the cities and towns of the country; they all stop at one point and just become fields and pastures, even Madrid. It's surprising to see when you're accustomed to flying over LA for half an hour looking at houses and buildings before the pilot comes on to say, "Hello, this is Pilot Richardson again, folks. We'll be making our initial decent into LAX in approximately 10 minutes. The flight attendants will be coming by shortly for a final check."
• There is a good team taking shape in Spain. An electrical engineer, an architect, a mechanic, a safety regulator, a gardener, a software engineer, and a mayor. By 2014 there will be an apartment building in Spain with a fleet of electric vehicles in the basement and the following sign above the door:
  A SU CACA
  "lo llevamos crudo"
  And there will be date trees. And free shampoo. Pizza coupons for a year and a free backpack. It will be wonderful.
• There is a good man on the ground in London. We broke bread and washed our nasal passages together.
  
• We have a new conference room with a place at the table dedicated to a remote person. There is a screen so you can see their face and they control a movable camera remotely which means they can literally turn from one person to another and ask a direct question. The world is shrunk - bring on the universe.
  
• The house is DONE! Inspected, permitted, signed, sealed and delivered. I expect to have a dedication of the 264 square foot Wayne Harris Wing some time in the spring. It wasn't easy. In fact, it was somewhat hard. For a while I was mad at Ernie and felt abandoned, then I was mad at Jose and felt abandoned, then I met Hector, the handiest man I ever have known and now i have insulation underneath my house and a fence around the pond.