Bulldog and T.V.

This never gets old for me. Aside from watching Hockey and sometimes football he loves to watch certain programs. Last night he was into Skull Island King Kong.  It is funny to see what catches his eye. 

The Bulldog and the Golden Knights

This is what happens when the bulldog watches the Golden Knights and it goes into overtime and the bulldog just can't handle the excitement. 

Then to get himself up for the next game he has to have nutrition namely protein to get his excitement level back.  Of course Emma who never watches a game is not gonna let him get some steak without her getting a share. 

Here it is

Here is the start of the new Turtle pond with help from Bulldog who apparently thinks the pond is his. Should be completed within the next few days with water fall, etc... 

The Bulldog and T.V.

Truly ironic that my bulldog loves T.V. He will watch hockey, loves the game show channel not sure why? He is not into horror flicks. I found that out rather quickly watching an old friday the 13th I thought the dog was going to have a heart attack, does not like masks on people or people chopping people up. He had nightmares. Hilarious to think a dog would react this way. He has no interest in the dog channel. He loves to watch dog the bounty hunter not sure why? The picture below shows him on the couch with Apollo and Auggie it may look like they are all watching T.V. the reality is only the bulldog was watching. 

The New Place

 It has been a while since I have had time to post something new. New place in Henderson and Baby cat had to lay the law down on Apollo 1.  As you can see in the picture. Hope everyone is doing well. The new place has had snow and rain. The dogs, cat, turtles and bird are loving it. 

New Year

Happy New Year to one and all. The dogs and cat are in Los Angeles for the holidays and are headed back home next week. Emma was the talk of the town with her injured leg and the pampering has not stopped. The Bulldog took 2nd as my parents and brother refer to him as meathead due to his large head and they gave him his own small sofa to sleep on. Apollo 1 the pup of the bunch is my dad's favorite as he is still a pup and just has lots of fun. Wolfie and Auggie bring up the rear as very good dogs and have a new friend in Amber my parents dog. Babycat she hangs with the dogs by day and then into the garage at night so she stays safe. This picture shows Bulldog on his new claimed Sofa.

This picture shows Auggie, Bulldog and Emma Chillin after Christmas eve.

Look what I found?

This is from 2016 and features Emma D, Auggie (jaws) and the one and only little Spike. In the background you will see a bulldog that is Beau Regard. For the spirit of the Holidays this one will have to do. Both Emma and Auggie have no gray. This may have been Christmas morning looks like gifts had been opened and the dogs were resting on someone. This was the music room so the drums, guitars and keyboards were probably to the right of Auggie as I see the CD cases in front. Eventually I will find the music pictures and post them. Happy Holidays to one and all and a prosperous New Year to everyone.

Treats did not work.

I tried to get them to pose. I even used some treats and it was to no avail. Baby cat saw the clothes and said no way out of the room, Wolfie was like not me, Apollo nothing fit, Auggie said I am out of here (I call him Jaws when he does not want to do something) Bulldog looked like he had a toothache as he kept pulling the tassel off and poor Emma with her bad leg could not get away so she had to try her bells on. She was the only one in the spirit that allowed me to snap a picture. So from Myself, Emma and everyone else which includes the birds and turtles have a safe and Happy Holiday Season.

As the end of the semester is near.

First let me say thanks for all the well wishes for Emma D. She is doing well. Still a little shaky on her back leg. I believe she may have been hit by a bike or a car that did not see her in the dark. She is getting back to normal. My eBay site is 30% off for the remainder of December. With that said I found some of the Christmas outfits for the dogs and cat, so I am going to try to dress them up for a picture. Apollo 1 and Bulldog may not have a sweater or outfit as they were much smaller back then. Getting them to pose together for a group picture will be a challenge. I want to wish everyone Happy Holiday's and a fantastic New Year. I can't believe the semester is over next week. Everyone in this class has been terrific and has enlightened my life. Professor Wu is one of the most diligent about his student's success and has made this class one of my favorites. I hope everyone will continue to follow their goals and ambitions as I know I will. Hopefully I will see some of you in other classes over the upcoming semester. 

Emma D

This is supposed to be the happiest time of the year! Close to being the worst for me. Emma D my smallest dog the black Chihuahua had a horrible accident that about killed her. The little girl was raised by a Bulldog so her spirit is very strong. It was touch and go for a couple of days. She got out through the side fence of the house I am staying at. She somehow got caught in the fencing and ripped the top of her head then proceeded to climb back under the fencing mangling her leg. All the time my Bulldog and Apollo1were trying to clean her up. When I got home I noticed the bulldog holding something down and cleaning it. At first I thought he was playing with a toy until I saw the blood  and realized he was trying to clean up Emma. I grabbed her and wrapped her in a towel and started for the vet. I thought for a minute and decided I could do what the vet would do so I cleaned her up checked for broken bones none that I could see or feel. She was not screaming in any pain which would tell me something was broken or cracked. She kept falling over and that was an issue. I do know that most dogs when they have a sprain will not put weight on the paw Emma was putting weight on her paws which told me that the Bulldog and Apollo were too heavy in holding her down while cleaning her. So I decided if she did not change overnight then off to the vet and the million $ bill to save Emma.  Through the night I could feel Emma lean against me to sleep and she would move around which meant she was doing a bit better. Today was a great day she ate, drank and pooped all day which tells me she is getting better. I still have her somewhat separated from the others so they don't accidentally step on her. If she tries to run fast she is still losing her balance not as much as the past couple days. As I said earlier she was raised as a pup with Jasmine my original Bulldog, she would imitate everything from Jazzy, how she would stand, walk, eat etc.. Emma D feels she is a Bulldog at heart and is in charge of Apollo 1, Bulldog, Wolfie and Auggie. The pictures show the top of her head where she opened it up. She will be fine. If you are wondering the D stands for dog. Christmas will be good. 

 

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving came and went. First time in 60 plus years I had it alone. Do not feel bad for me. I enjoyed it. Me and the Dogs had Chinese take out.  Chicken fried rice and sweet and sour chicken and the cats also shared in the feast. The turtles they are more into goldfish. In 2007 I was in Oahu on vacation with the wife and friends. We were doing the tourist thing going to the 7 or sacred falls (Tiffany you might know that one better than me), then a little wine tasting and a tour of the back Island. Carla and Louis were with us and we were leaving the falls area. Carla was in front Jennifer was behind her both were wearing white pants on this fine morning. Louis was behind the girls when it happened. I had just stopped filming the falls when I heard Carla scream, as I turned to see what was happening. Carla started to slip. Jennifer tried to grab her and Louis he started to grab them both and realized he would be in the same situation so he let go and down went Carla and Jennifer covered in mud and water.  I started to laugh so hard I was crying. It looked like something from a cartoon show only in slow motion. Both Carla and Jennifer had a look of this really did not happen as water and mud was all over their hair, face and clothes. For the remainder of the tour, the bus driver kept asking how long have you been married? Carla and Jennifer could not believe I would laugh this hard. The people on the tour could not help but laugh because I could not stop. And the looks Jennifer and Carla would give me made me laugh even more. After a few hours they were laughing about it. To this day Carla says Ay Condie.

What will I write on this piece of paper?

I have written about music. I have written about the class. I have written about me. What is next? How about my Kids? I have 4 grown up kids. The eldest is Kristin lives  in Idaho married with one son. She got her Bachelors degree from San Diego State in Business. First one in the family to do that. Very proud of her accomplishments. Kristin works for Red Fin Real Estate and has been the number one sales person in the state. The Eldest son is in Kansas just got his Bachelors degree in History this year. He is now working towards his Masters starting next semester in the same field. He wants to be a historian in the museums. He works full time at Krogers in Kansas.Very proud of his accomplishments. The middle son just got out of the Marines after 4 years. Jonathan is living in Oregon. He is working full time and is working on school for IT classes. Very proud of his duty to our country and his accomplishments to date. Last but not least is the youngest Joseph or Joey as we call him. He lives with his girlfriend in San Diego. We rarely see eye to eye. Down inside he is the person who will give you the shirt off his back if he knows it will make a difference for you. He and I had many adventures when he was young and hopefully he will remember them. The one that comes to mind is when he was about 13 he was all over me about teaching him to drive. We lived in Shelter Valley in California. At the time his mom was real sick and recovering. So I decided it was early afternoon beautiful cool day let's take the dogs and go driving out in the desert hills. We went in the Suburban not a 4WD and Joey was having a great time so were the dogs. We were about 5 miles off the main road and we had been out for almost 3.5 hours I said lets start back. So I told Joey pull up ahead and I will take over and turn us around so we could head back. Joey stopped up ahead and we switched seats and I started to turn the vehicle to turn around. What I did not know across from us was very soft sand and the weight of the suburban would cause us issues. When I turned the vehicle all of a sudden the passenger side went down into the sand well above the wheel and axle. Joseph asked Dad what are we going to do? We were at least 5 miles in and daylight was fading as we were in fall. I said Joey we cant hike out it is going to get dark quickly and too many dogs and I only brought a couple of leashes. When it gets dark someone will come looking for us. The way the vehicle was sitting we were against a mountain so when I would flash my lights no one could see us. We would let the dogs go to the bathroom every couple of hours but we had coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions everywhere. We would often see mountain lions and bobcats and the coyotes they were not afraid of us. The cell phones were no help no signal. About 9pm a storm came in with rain and wind and everything else doing us no good for the vehicle I was kinda hoping for a flash flood as that might free us from the sand. All this time I could see the road from where we were they could not see us because of the hills, but we could see search vehicles and CHP vehicles go up the different trails. It was 11:45 pm almost 12 hours later from the start of this adventure that a CHP officer pulled up behind me and said your wife sends you her greetings. He said lets get you out of here and we will worry about the vehicle tomorrow. I said no can you please use your winch to pull me out. He said it will rip your bumper right off I told him I was willing to take that chance and would not hold him responsible. He agreed so in the rain we hooked it up and he said whatever you do not stop or slow down. Well, long story short we got home around 2 in the morning and my wife was like what in the heck happened? We told her and she just laughed. What an adventure.  Joey said mom it was dads fault if he had let me turn the vehicle around this would not have happened. Go figure.

4th Quarter Dash

For most of us, this upcoming time of the year is the most Wonderful Time Of The Year (no pun intended). For me I ran stores for over 30+ years. September - December was the 4th quarter and I was the quarterback and we would always score and win.  Most years the holidays were spent at the store while the kids and wife would do most of the shopping and I would be working. It was not till mid 2000's  that I really got a break from it and started my own businesses and had normal holiday celebrations. Notice I don't say Thanksgiving or Christmas because in retail we had to be wary about what everyone celebrated. Especially employees. For those of you that do not know in the 80's cabbage patch dolls were the rage and saw people push people to the ground or fight someone to get the last doll. Since my store was right next to Los Angeles International Airport I would get stars or sports figures who would call or come to the store to see if I could get them a doll or iPod. it was crazy! I can honestly tell you I don't miss the black Friday sales or the after Holiday's sales I have seen it all. What I can say is it is fun for me to watch people and see the smiles on the kids.  Families laughing and having a good time. I can also take pleasure in walking into a store and seeing that some other poor fool is in his/her fourth quarter and they are trying to score. That puts a smile on my face.

Lyrics Are Powerful

This is the time of the year that I reflect on my past good or bad.  As most of you know music is my forte. Play it, listen to it, maybe work on something new. I heard a song today on my Ipod which has over 5000 songs on it. I never listen to the radio. Had not heard this song in some time and it made me think about life. Why I like the song is the reflection the person has of the past. If anyone has a song that fits your life share it. I have plenty of others that are more cheerful dare I say. This was recorded in the late 60's early 70's by Roy Clark. Many Artist have recorded the song over the years l like this version the best.  Keep in mind I played hard rock music Kiss style, Prince style and this is what I relax to. Go figure. 

Seems the love I've known has always been
The most destructive kind
Yes, that's why now I feel so old
Before my time.

Yesterday when I was young
The taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue.
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game,
The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame.
The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned
I'd always built to last on weak and shifting sand.
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of the day
And only now I see how the years ran away.

Yesterday when I was young
So many happy songs were waiting to be sung,
So many wild pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see.
I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out,
I never stopped to think what life was all about
And every conversation I can now recall
Concerned itself with me and nothing else at all.

--- Instrumental ---

Yesterday the moon was blue
And every crazy day brought something new to do.
I used my magic age as if it were a wand
And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond.
The game of love I played with arrogance and pride
And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died.
The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away
And only I am left on stage to end the play.

There are so many songs in me that won't be sung,
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue.
The time has come for me to pay for
Yesterday when I was young...

What time of the year is it?

November is a tough month. This year we have voting. We have the start of the holidays coming up. I encourage everyone to get out and vote. Not worried about parties. Get your voices heard! Make a difference in your state or community. Then we have the first big holiday called T-day or Thanksgiving. This year I will indulge in chicken. Just kidding. I saw two frozen birds in the freezer. After T-day we get into the happiest time of the year or so the song says. Since September I have seen more Christmas goods than Halloween goods in all stores. No matter how you look at it ready or not the holiday season is upon us. For stress relief we have school and work. Everyone have a great start for the upcoming season. I look forward to seeing all of you at school. Keep up the great work. For the holidays I will post some pictures of the dogs in holiday attire. The cat, well she is not as easy to dress up. I can guarantee you she will be at my feet when the Turkey is done.

The Pets are all here

Baby Cat

Aside from everything else that I do. I have a small farm. To put it mildly there are 5 red eared sliders (turtles) in my back pond. Ages 2-7 years old. I have 2 parakeets, 2 cats one is 16.5 years old Cali is her name. The other is baby cat and she is about 4 years old. I have 5 dogs, Emma the chihuahua 12, Auggie the chiweenie 14, Wolfie the mix 4 , Bulldog the English Bulldog 7 and Apollo 1 the 11 month old German Shepherd pup. It may sound like a lot it really is not. The dogs for the most part are very quiet, only bark when something really startles them like the doorbell on the T.V. The cats you don't even know they are there. The turtles well they are in a pond swimming and sunning themselves. They do come up to me when I walk out to feed them. It is nice to come home to the animals as they are always excited to see me, probably for food. When I lived in Ramona California I really did have a farm complete with 17 horses Mustangs to be exact they were all mine. A donkey named George, A potbelly pig named little pig (She was not that little), dogs, cats and chickens. An animal lover I am. They will travel with me sometimes if not to hot. They go to the dog park to run and they do have a big yard to play in. I think baby cat is into music she sleeps in my bass drum all the time. Snickers is the white chihuahua pictured above with the others she is no longer with me.

All Dogs

Turtle Pond

Working for a living

For those that don't know I work everyday and go to school 4 days a week. This class is really helpful in both my work and schooling. In my work a better understanding of how and where everything comes from and is formatted so I can view, watch or reply. In school for reports, graphs and presentations. I can't thank Professor Wu enough for his guidance and indulgence of my ignorance at times. I know it must be frustrating. To the class everyone is so much fun to be around. The class throws out so many ideas and ways to overcome issues. I look forward to our Saturday morning class. To everyone let's keep it going and finish strong. 

Themes and Style Sets 4.9.2

Using 4.9.2 Themes and Style Sets is a blast for me. Now, that I completely understand how to use it.  In the past for one of my sites it was always trial and error. It would be a pain in the neck having to center or group words into a banner. Now, it is a piece of cake. I am loving this class and everything I learn. I will be using all of this in the future. The information everyone in class shares will be valuable for the future. Let's keep it going class. This is fun.

Those Favorite Printers 2.1.9

Imagine the digital age with no printers? What if we had to describe everything to everyone? could we?  based on our weekly quizzes I know I can't. lol. Printers make our work today so easy. We can print out reports to analyse. Print graphs for work, we can print out agendas for the week to employees or students. Printers make our lives so much easier. Ah, which one should we get? black and white, Color, inkjet or laser. Should we have one that faxes, copies, scans or more? What price should we pay? is under warranty? What am I going to use it for? Many questions to ask and consider.  In the end we get the printer we need.  

Digital Sound & Video 1.1.9

In the late 80's a band I was with did some recording at a little studio located in Hollywood. The studio was 24 track, state of the art to us. At the time we were laying down 5 tracks over a 2 week period. The sounds were awesome and they were on tape. Today they record digitally with 0's and 1's and wow what a difference in sound quality. For the first time you could hear the clarity of the guitar, drums, keyboards and horns without hiss. Today you can actually hear where a song would be overdubbed with a take from another version of the same song. One of my favorites is The Beatles song She Loves You, listen to the Lp version and then listen to the Digital CD version you can clearly hear the overdubbed edit onto the original version. On the video side the pictures are crystal clear. Example look at Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs look so real and then look at an original 60's movie where the dinosaur looks so fake. I am not saying that I don't appreciate the originals. I love the old movies and music. Digital has given us a new look and sound. Let me know what you think?

My Motivation

In 2001 I hired a young man by the name of Jeff Ross. After his first year I realized this young man was going to be a valuable asset to our company. Jeff treated everyone with respect. Some days Jeff would come to me and say boss can I borrow $5? I would always say yes. I realized later what he was doing. When he saw a homeless person struggling on the street with no food, water or clothes Jeff would help them out. It was not unusual for Jeff to bring his old clothes too many of the homeless around El Cajon, California. Every Halloween he would make a haunted house specifically for little kids to enjoy dressed as Dracula and handing out candy. Thanksgiving and Christmas he would decorate for everyone to enjoy. He lived life to its fullest. He had a passion for life and tried to help everyone who was in need. In January 2005  I was leaving the store to go on vacation my last spoken words to him. Jeff will we be going to a wedding in Las Vegas this summer? He smiled and said maybe! He said enjoy your vacation boss we won't bother you. On January 16th 2005 Jeff was killed. The police believe it was a gang initiation wrong place, wrong time. It has been seventeen years since his death. This young man left such an impression on me. I always considered him a son. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him or his zest for life. How he treated everyone and wanted to be treated by others. Jeff was rich with life. It is not very often that we run across a person like this. I motivate myself by his ideas and values. Jeff may be gone but his legacy is still here with everyone he touched. Let me know if there is someone other than a parent, grandparent or sibling who touched your life?

The Little Drummer Boy

I played drums from the 1970's until the early 2000's. At one time having as many as 10 cymbals and numerous drums that looked good. (overkill) the reason I mention this is not as a musician. I mention it for time management. When I played drums I was also an Executive Manager for one of the largest retailers in the world. Working a 10-12 hour day. I would then go to recording sessions from eleven o'clock in the evening until four o'clock in the morning. On Friday's and  Saturday's we would play gigs at the Rainbow, Whiskey and the world famous Troubadour in Hollywood. If you are wondering? we never got signed to a label. I would also manage my daughters travel softball team. At times I used to joke about how we played more games in a month than the San Diego Padres. It sure seemed like it 3-4 games every weekend and more when were winning. Years later I would coach all 3 boy's soccer and baseball teams and work full time. It always seemed like everything fell into place and coaching would take up most of the afternoons and weekends while music took up late evenings and early mornings. I am not saying I have the answers to time management. I was focussed and prioritized everything. Some twenty years later I am finding myself motivated and wanting to challenge the world. I enjoy everyone's motivation and attitude for this class. Let's keep it going.

Candido's Philosophy

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am in school. I have a basic philosophy that I would like to share with everyone. Use your time wisely, don't lose focus of your goals and alway's live life to its fullest. Remember we are only here for a short time so take advantage of it. With that I hope everyone has a great semester.

Introduction

Hi Everyone,

This is all new to me first blog I have ever done. The bulldog represents my personal business ventures. Starting with ECAT98 Preservation and ECAT98 eBay, Ecat was derived way back in the 80's when a cat I had was named Elvis of course after Elvis Presley and because at that time there was a album for those who can remember those things named ECAT on purple vinyl (cool) I used to call the cat ECAT instead of Elvis. For next 16-20 years that name had alway's stayed in our family long after the cat had passed. I resurrected it a few years ago when coming up with new business ventures and low and behold they were available. Ecat is now associated with my bulldog. I have several other friends of his including, Apollo (German Shepard pup), Auggie (mix) and yes there is a cat, Babycat, and she is friends with the dogs. You will sometimes see them on the eBay site. I grew up in Southern California for those familiar with the Santa Monica Airport I lived less than a mile from there. I attended Venice High School (if you have ever seen Grease you will know the school) and when I graduated in 1976 I attended Santa Monica City College for about 2 years leaving because I got into a job that made me what I am today. So for the next 43 years I spent playing music (I play the drums) raising 4 kids and working of course not all by myself.  The daughter graduated from SDSU with a Bachelors in business and living and working in Idaho, the eldest boy is working on his master's degree for History I know it has to do with Curator of some sort and living in Kansas. The middle boy is the only other musician as such playing the bass guitar and lives in Oregon. The youngest is working and living in San Diego.