Tuesday, December 31, 2013

(empo-jooryst) Happy new year?

It occurred to me that I had not recently provided an update on the results of my jury alternate service, although I've briefly discussed it elsewhere.

When I last discussed the matter in August, the defendant was scheduled to be in court for sentencing on October 18.

Well, on October 18, sentencing was rescheduled to November 8.

On November 8, sentencing was rescheduled for next year, to January 24.

As I said elsewhere: "If all goes well, the defendant will be sentenced before he dies of old age."

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Positive examples of fiduciary duty - Jeannette Ewing and Garner Powell

I recently posted something in my business blog about two real estate agents who are alleged to have violated their fiduciary duties. Note to aspiring real estate agents: if you are selling a home, you should not have sex with someone in the home that you are selling if the owners are not present. (Or, frankly, even if the owners ARE present.)

I began the post by talking about the real estate agents that I have known, all of whom have been thoroughly professional. I mentioned that I had personally worked with two real estate agents - and their example shows the fiduciary duty to which real estate agents should aspire.

Many years ago, I was buying a home, and Jeannette Ewing was my real estate agent. The seller's agent was Garner Powell. During the final weeks before the home closed, Ewing had to be out of town for a brief period. She told me that during that time, if there were any issues, I should feel free to go directly to Garner Powell with them.

Think about that for a moment. Technically, Ewing and Powell were on competing "sides" of a transaction. Yet, their duties dictated that they not only be able to represent their clients, but also the clients on the other "side."

In the best of...um, cases, this type of behavior should be seen in many industries. For example, if you are in court, both the prosecutor and the defense attorney have a mutual duty to uphold the law; for example, if a prosecutor finds out something that exonerates the defendant, it is the prosecutor's duty to reveal that.

In the end, no crises occurred during Ewing's absence, so I didn't need to call upon Powell.

I last saw Garner Powell in 2007, when he was one of the speakers at an Ontario City Council hearing on the proposed Walmart. Powell opposed the Walmart.

Sadly, in the course of writing this post, I learned that Powell did not live to see the final result of the Walmart battle. Powell passed away in 2010. Incidentally, that's when I learned that real estate was his second career - his 20 years in real estate were preceded by a 30 year career with the Continental Baking Company.

Jeannette Ewing, however, is still available to meet your residential real estate needs.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Jeff Pope a/k/a .@JeffPopeRadio will be broadcasting from San Jose as part of #PopeAndMarla - but there is the Internet

You will recall that a few days ago, I noted that Jeff Pope was about to start a new radio job, location unknown.

Now, he has announced where that job will be.

Dear FRIENDS!! After being heard on IE radios for (counting my fingers) 24 years - including 99.1 KGGI, X103.9 and even Cal State San Bernardino - I have accepted a major opportunity to do mornings in SAN JOSE, the 10th biggest city in America! Thanks SO much for all the love and support, and I truly appreciated being part of your morning routine! But, mostly, thanks to Jesse Duran for taking a chance on me 13 years ago; and to Evelyn Erives Laudenslager for being an awesome radio wife for 11 of those years. And to my REAL wife Sarah Turnbull for being my biggest fan! (And don't worry REIGN/FURY fans - I will be flying in for most games. Gotta love 65-minute flights!) #Mix1065 #PopeAndMarla #KingsFanInSharksCountry www.mymix1065.com

The "Marla" in the hashtag is Marla Davies, current morning DJ at Mix 106.5. Pope will be stepping into a very emotional...um, mix. Marla Davies' former co-host, Bill Kelly, passed away last summer. But Pope certainly has the capability to navigate this situation.

And if you have doubts about Pope's ability to navigate tricky situations, bear in mind that in the more formal press announcement of Pope's hire, he managed to praise the sport of hockey without mentioning the names of any teams whatsoever (cough - Kings - cough).

And yes, http://www.mymix1065.com/ has a "Listen Live" button if you want to hear Dumbass of the Day in its Northern California glory. And the station is also available on TuneIn.

Friday, December 6, 2013

If this is "futuristic," then we in the Inland Empire live in the future

I previously read this:

Two small Northeast airports, Syracuse and Atlantic City, have installed futuristic unmanned portals to replace security officers at the airports’ exit points. The move, which will add a few seconds to the end of passengers’ trips as they exit the airports, is estimated to save airports millions of dollars in wages over time....

Travelers are directed to step into the cylinder pods and wait as the door slides shut. After a few seconds, a second door slides open with a voice instructing passengers to “Please exit.”

By the way, I've flown into the Atlantic City airport, but I don't recall going through such a portal; perhaps they hadn't been installed yet.

But I have been through such a portal...when visiting a bank here in the Inland Empire. I don't think the portal employed voice commands, but I do recall entering the portal, having the door close behind me, and then being able to go through the second door.

Such technology makes sense for banks, who always have to deal with the possibility of someone entering the bank, making an unauthorized withdrawal, and then departing. I would presume that any bank robber with smart would avoid a bank with such portals.

But I wouldn't call the portals "futuristic."

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Good news - maybe - for Jeff Pope fans

I've been listening to Jeff Pope on and off since BEFORE he was on KGGI. (Those with long memories will recall that he used to do traffic for X103.9.)

Well, Pope lost his job at KGGI several months ago, and his fans have not been happy since (unless they attend a lot of minor league hockey games).

Fans, have heart. Pope just posted this comment on his Facebook page (as a comment to a post about his niece finding Pope in Google auto-complete):

Back on the radio in the New Year.

But will his new station be one that you can pick up in the IE?