October 2011, Volume 13, Issue 3

BALBOA ISLAND CALENDAR

SATURDAY NOV 5, 2011 FALL BACK—Set your Clocks Back Before You Go To Bed
SUNDAY DECEMBER 4,2011 33rd Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk 11am—4pm Buy Tickets here : http://www.cdmchamber.com/events/christmas_walk.asp
SUNDAY DECEMBER 4, 2011 Tree Lighting, Santa, Arrival of Snow . . . . Marine/Park Avenue 4:00 pm
SUNDAY DECEMBER 11, 2011 Holiday Home Tour 11 am - 4 pm
DECEMBER 14-18 , 2011 Newport Harbor Boat Parade http://www.christmasboatparade.com
MAY 5, 2012 ALL ISLAND GARAGE SALE 7:30 am—3:00 pm In The Alleys!! Info 949.422.8570

SHOOTING THE BREEZE. . . . Carolyn Carr
I am a very lucky person. I have learned I have options—and the biggest option I have in life is not to let the things around me affect what is happening inside me. My mentor taught me that—and the really great thing is I am still teachable at 65 years old.

A friend of mine who visits Balboa Island always says, “There are two newsletters—one about the president on the BIIA and one about Carolyn.” I was going to try not to make this be about my story, but I don’t have a lot to write, if not about my own weird and incredible experiences. I have done some really strange things in my life—like the time I took a taxi cab from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Metro Detroit Airport—because I overslept and missed my train—it cost $165.00 in 1964!!! That would be very cheap now.

Another weird fact was that I lived next door to a German physicist who invented the process for metal that made possible the oxygen tanks for the men on the moon—and the tiles on the space shuttles. Who knew—my ex-husband apparently! My parents friend’s were pharmaceutical company owners, automobile company owners—but to me they were just people.

Which brings me to my story for this month.

When I moved here in 1976 I needed a job. I answered a little ad in the Daily Breeze in Hermosa Beach for a secretarial position at a company called Western Magnum Corporation, owned by a man named Dale Cox. They made printed circuit boards. I often had to do inventory because I had a bright, but lazy boss named Doug. Doug often came in late and had me do his work. The upside was
I learned the difference between a resistor and a transistor and a semiconductor and how to assemble a pc board. I also met the people who bought circuit boards assembling equipment from Western Magnum.
One of their clients hired me when my ADHD did it’s usual stuff and Dale had to fire me. I would finish my work in 10 minutes of every hour and spend the other 50 minutes causing havoc. We now know that people, like me, with ADHD make lousy employees, but great

entrepreneurs. My new boss just let me run his company until it was bought out by a larger corporation in the early 80s. In the meantime I had a lot of fun learning ho , , , , , ,. ,.Zxcx9w to make transformers and printed circuit boards and car stereos for Sanyo And I learned how to use my BBA to run a business.

Dale Cox and I have remained friends. We used to meet every year at Nepcon—the huge and wonderful electronics trade show in Anaheim. Nepcon, like everything electronic, has now moved to Japan, China and Korea. We saw it coming when the Asians with the huge automated machinery started arriving at Nepco.

Dale is now in his 90s and has sold Western Magnum. Last year after I called him on his birthday in December I started getting little stories in the mail. Parts of a book he was writing. They made me laugh out loud—at 4 am! The story is about his experiences in World War II as a pilot and is called Top Secret Flight http://www.topsecretflight.com Great Book—I recommend it.

Dale is also the subject of a book being released this month called Selecting the Mercury Seven by Colin Burgess. Dale was the oldest of the original group of 32 men selected to try out for the 7
coveted positions. His age was against him.

Once again, I just knew the person—I just knew we were friends—I had NO IDEA who he “was”. Just that I liked the man, a man who taught me the value of taking vitamins (he still has his pilot’s license), a man who I talked to on the phone every year on his birthday when we stopped meeting at Nepcon, a man who always asked me how many friends I had in my address book and a man who was always willing to meet for lunch in Los Angeles.

Now I know a lot more about Dale—does it change our relationship—not at all. I respect him even more because of his humility. Outside of telling me his car used to belong to some female movie star I didn’t know much about his personal life. And he taught me an extremely valuable lesson—I already know about myself—ask questions about the other person! As Lou Holtz says
“I never learned anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.”

SCAMS ARE EVERYWHERE—TWO NEW ONES
Grandparents Scam—Lee Boggs, local resident of Little Island, received a call at 10pm—the connection was extremely poor. “Help,” said someone who identified himself as his grandson, “I have been in an accident in New York City while drinking and I am in the hospital and if I pay for the damages to the other car the police will drop the charges.” “Wire me money”. Lee was suspicious—his grandson
doesn’t drink, and he didn’t think he was out of town.
Lee hung up the telephone and called his daughter who confirmed that indeed his grandson was safely at work in Santa Monica. Theses scammers used to use this ploy on the internet—now they are targeting older Americans who cannot hear very well. Be Very Wary—never send money unless you are SURE you are sending it to the right person.
Debt Collection Scam—There are few things more intimidating that a telephone call from a collection agency. Some scam artists have been using that fear to bully people into giving up their debit or credit card numbers on the telephone—then draining their bank accounts or putting charges on their credit cards.
The Better Business Bureau said in a recent alert that in some instances the callers have personal information about the target including actual debts, making the call seem legitimate.
The bureau recommend that anyone who receives a suspicious call about an outstanding debt demand written proof of the debt and never provide bank or credit card information over the phone until making sure the firm is legitimate.

A MUCH BELATED THANKS

A Huge “Thank You” to Lori Everson for organizing all the neighbors (Friends of Pearl Avenue) for the “Spirit of America” entry in the Balboa Island Parade this year. Our Floats were Courage, Charity and Hope. Neighbors who participated were Jack Owens, Milton Viel, Lynn Franklin, Laverne & Pat Clough, Jim Levine, Celeste and Bob Dennerline and Holly Boyd. The residents who participated have lived on Pearl for as long as 60 years.

After all money is a fiction which only exists because we believe in the ‘good faith ‘of the banks—what happens when we don’t? . . . . . Helen Ann Townshend

PLEIN AIR WINNERS
The Debra Huse Gallery is pleased to announce the winners of the Plein Air Invitational:

1st Place Winner
’Balboa Bouganvilla’
Original Oil by Terry Masters

2nd Place & Artists’ Choice Winner
Last Ride’ Original Oil by Larry Moore

YEARLY RENTAL NEEDED
22 Year Residents of Balboa Island.
Need two bedroom —we can move any time end of October through end of December, 2011.
Older couple—EXTREMELY clean and quiet.
One old cat named Magic who loves everyone!
Motivated to make your property look great!
Call Mike or Carolyn 949.675.3456

ATHLETIC DAILY TRAINING NEWS . . . Shannon Ferris
Each year hundreds of thousands of Americans will have a new or recurrent coronary attack. One dies every minute. The American Heart Association has recommended seven health and behavior factors that can add to the quality of your life.

The AHA calls it “Life’s Simple 7!”
Don’t Smoke
Maintain a healthy weight
Engage in regular physical activity
Eat a healthy diet
Manage blood pressure
Take charge of cholesterol
Keep blood sugar, or glucose, at healthy levels.
More next month from Shannon—in the meantime contact her at SCC Training http://www.yourwellnesshub.com 949.413.4210 and start exercising on a regular basis with Shannon’s assistance!

BALBOA ISLAND BULLETIN BOARD
PUT YOUR AD HERE. Also Uploaded to http://www.balboa-island.com

FOR RENT
ROMANTIC & CHARMING ISLAND HOME FOR YEARLY LEASE:
2 Bedrooms + Sleeping Loft, 2 Full Baths. Master Suite with Fireplace, 2nd Fireplace in Living Room, High Beamed Ceilings, Skylights, French Doors & Windows, Lots of Brick & Wood Throughout. Totally Refurbished. New Refrigerator, Dishwasher, Microwave. Self-Cleaning Oven. Washer/Dryer Available . Private 1-Car Garage w/Storage. Sunny Brick Patio. Gas Hookup for BBQ. Quiet End of Island.
AVAILABLE NOW . . . . $2950.00 NO SMOKING ON PREMISES.
Would Consider 1 Small Pet w/Additional Pet Deposit.
Ideal for Couple or Single Professional.
Call Angela Owner/Realtor 949.466.4457 or 949.723.0653

Note: Please Check with Owners as to Current Rental Prices—They Can Vary Seasonally on Balboa Island!!!

FOR SALE
Still on Balboa Island and there is a huge stock of NCAA, NFL, MLB and NBA Gnomes, Flags, College Doormats, Luggage Tags, Flags, Mugs, Chip Clips, etc. Also Balboa Island Aprons designed by a local resident and License Plate Frames Call Carolyn @ 949.422.8570 and I’ll tell you where!

GOOD READING:
NEW BOOKS:
Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape The Rest of Our Lives . . .
Annie Murphy Paul
The Deal From Hell: How Moguls and Wall Street Plundered Great American Newspapers . . . James O’Shea
The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent A Year Trying To Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun . . . Gretchen Rubin
OLD BOOKS—Still Great
Ishmael . . . Daniel Quinn
The Ragman’s Son . . . Kirk Douglas

ISLAND LIGHTS
Time to think about Christmas and the Holidays. Time to think of Damon Burris and Mike McCleur and
ISLAND LIGHTS for Fabulous Lighting and great service to keep them burning all season long. Residential or Commercial Please Call them at 949.903.9018 or 949.307.8613

BEAUTIFUL NAILS WITH SHELLAC GEL
Lisa Benedetti, who has been my manicurist for 17+ years, recently suggested I try Shellac Gel It is a new product that she applies instead of expensive “fake” nails and it lasts, chip free, for a minimum of two weeks. Some of her clients have even gotten 5 weeks of wear with a lighter color so the nail regrowth isn’t as noticeable!! This product does not harm your nails the way acrylics do. All This for much less than you would pay for a set of acrylics. Only $30.00
Lisa is always a wealth of information as we talk and she does my manicure and pedicure. This is a good thing since it takes a while!
Lisa is an extreme coupon clipper—goes to the store—buys a basket of groceries— ends up paying very little by using coupons and shopping at stores that send you cash back—like Ralph’s. Lisa also has two Chihuahuas whose names are somewhere on my hard drive
I should remember—she loves them very much!! Call Lisa at Salon Ecco, 270 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 714.557.2234

THE BEST WORDS???

Former Texas governor, Miriam “Ma” Ferguson, declared when she opposed the teaching of foreign languages: “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it’s good enough for us.”

When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white man came, an Indian said simply, “ours.” . . Vine Deloria, Jr.

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Island Breeze Newsletters

October 2011, Volume 13, Issue 3