Hearst Castle

I'll have to post pictures later when I figure out how to get them from my Blackberry. Why was I taking pictures with a Blackberry when I have a 10 megapixel digital SLR camera with three lenses? Well, I carried the 10 pounds of photography around the castle, but none of it does any good when your memory card in your car!!! I realized that it wasn't in my camera when I got on the bus, but was told there wasn't time for me to go back and get it. Note to self, when you view pictures on the computer (which I did the night before), always put the card back in the camera when you are done!!!

Route 1 Coastal Drive

Today, I drove down Route 1. I stopped in at Carmel-by-the-Sea and walked along the beach. I could see the Wal-Mart First Tee Open being played at the Pebble Beach Course. On my way back down the beach, I was the little girl below flying a kite with her mom. I thought it was a cute picture and the kite posed just right!

I was amazed how many dogs were at the beach and in town in Carmel. These two were having fun playing in the water.

The pictures below are at San Simeon.

Creative Photography Retreat

Thursday evening was the kickoff to CPR (Creative Photography Retreat). Lisa Bearnson was the keynote speaker. It was fun to take classes from several of the teachers as I already a little about each of their work. I was disappointed that I forgot to take Erin Manning's book with me to the retreat to get her to autograph it. We had a scavenger hunt where we were supposed to take pictures of certain items and use the techniques that we learned for the pictures. There was also a "best of San Jose" contest. It was amazing to see the incredible talent of some of the people.

Happy Birthday!

Today, I took one of my friends to California Pizza Kitchen for a birthday meal. They have GREAT salads there. My friend got the Mediterranean Salad and I got the Thai Crunch Salad (and had them add avocado). Not my pictures!

Plant Tour

One of my friends came to visit me today and I had the opportunity to give him a tour of where I work. I work in such a fun industry that I enjoying sharing the whole process with others. How would you like to be out on a boat in these kinds of seas? Not my photos from a fishing tournament that some of our boats were in, photo credits on photos.

A Lost Briefcase

This evening, when I was getting ready to leave work, our South American Salesman stopped by to discuss the layoffs that we had today and to find out how he could get the sales specs for some of the boats that we are selling. He arrived yesterday, with a potential customer from Venezuela, to look at one of the boats. As there was no one else still at work that could pull the information, I said I'd gather the information as he and the customer were flying out tonight. A little while later, I took him the specs he needed. The customer returned from looking at the boat and said that his briefcase was missing. As we had a layoff this afternoon, and he left it on a chair in the hallway, I was very concerned that maybe it was stolen. We looked throughout the office, but couldn't find it. His passport was in the bag. The salesperson had a bag, so it appeared that only one bag was missing.

I went back to my office and said a prayer that we could find the briefcase as at this point, it would really take a miracle to find it. When I went back, people were still looking around. The salesperson went into his bag and pulled out a phone and charger that weren't his. He then checked the computer only to discover it wasn't his either. The customer said they weren't his. Okay, now there were two bags missing, a laptop, blackberries, passports and any other personal information that is kept in a "safe" place. The phone in the bag had the name of a person that was laid off today. I then had a thought to call our IT person. I asked the IT person if the laid off person had turned in their computer before they left, or brought it back later. He said the HR manager had called him to say that the laid off person had turned in her bag and could he lock it up. He had gone to the chair, picked it up, then locked it up in the computer room. I signalled for the customer to follow me and gestured there was a small chance of finding it.

Problem #2, the IT closet was locked and only three people have keys to it. One person I didn't have a phone number for, the IT person was at home 50 minutes away and the third person was on the east coast. I said another quick prayer, put my key the lock and the door opened right away. A month ago, when we had a prior layoff, my office key had been replaced and I had been given a second key. This second key worked, but my master key doesn't. I saw a couple bags in the closet and held a smaller one up for the customer to see. A huge smile spread across his face and he nodded. There are times when it doesn't matter if you speak the same language, you can still communicate. He then turned back and pointed to his arm...it was full of goosebumps, we both laughed. What a relief! The salesman's briefcase was in their too. I shared that finding the cases was an answer to prayer. How nice to know that God cares about small things in our lives. The customer liked the boat, I don't know if he'll actually end up buying it, but I'm glad his experience at Cabo ended up positive.

Happy 87th Birthday!

On Sunday, I went to Forest Lake Academy and went to the surprise 87th birthday party for Susie Davis. It was fun spending time with some of my friends from Cocoa and getting to see the children I used to teach in Sabbath School when I live there.

One Day Church

At ASI, the One Day Church concept was introduced. Currently, more than 100,000 SDA churches are needed around the world. Some people got together to develop a church of galvanized steel that can be errected in less than a day for about $3,000. Once the steel framework is completed, then local churchmembers can finish the walls and interior floor in a manner consistent with local customers. This can be bamboo, canisu reeds, matting, bricks or other suitable material. For more information, visit http://www.onedaychurch.org/. The picture below is just a small scale of the church. The actual church will seat about 125 people.

ASI - Tampa, FL

What a great time I had by going to ASI. The meetings were inspiring and it was fun to spend time with family and friends. Friday evening, the children and young people had the program. Some of the youth had been in the area for several months.

Laguna Beach

Today, a friend and I went to Laguna Beach. As we walked on the side streets, there were a lot of entrances to get to the little coves along the shore. It was great day. When we first arrived, it was very cloudy, but after awhile, the clouds left and the sun came out.

Earthquake

Today, we had an earthquake in southern California. We definitely felt it at work. I sure the cats were quite surprised by the ground shaking, but they seemed fine when I got home...demanding supper as usual.

Lake Arrowhead

Late this afternoon, I went to Lake Arrowhead with a friend. It was so much cooler than in the valley. What a great place to spend the early evening.

Farewell

Today was our Engineering Manager's last day at work. We had a farewell dinner at work and I made Mississippi Mud Brownies. They were a big hit!

Pasta Salad

I tried a new recipe for pasta salad. It is really colorful with green broccoli, orange carrots, red grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, black olives, green celery, orange cheese, vege turkey, fresh dill and tri-colored pasta. It tasted really good too!

Happy July 4th

I had never taken pictures of fireworks before, so here is my first attempt.