Interesting.  A museum to the go-go “aughts” that we all lived through recently.  Big nice resort slung along the craggy coast of Palos Verdes near what Angelinos call “the south bay”.   Word has it that one of the big guns that left Starwood has the $500M note on it.  Desperate times.  Cheap rates for the time being.  Go get it.

In those same go-go aughts, we went to a lot of these types of resorts.  My fave being Hualalai on the Kona coast big island style.  Terranea wants to be that place.  Someday it might.  The polish isn’t there.  The Four Seasons allure and hushed quiet delivery of basically everything you do isn’t there.

The main difference between an acme named resort (anything without a badge of luxury) and a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton is just like the difference between the sound proofing being much thicker and what I call “small edges”.

You see, just (NOT) like you, I look along the baseboards as I walk around and I notice if the team got the small stuff.  At the Four Seasons, they always do.  At places like Terranea they are too busy paying the bills to get there.  I notice how many little kid band-aids I see along the edge of the pool.  The other guys never miss them.

I digress.

The visit was good.  The restaurants ok.  If you stay more than 48 hours, you get bored with “Nelson’s”. It has the veiw and firepit.  It also has a wait staff that is primarily “college I don’t care”.  Lots of waiting around to get some simple food.  But gosh oh mighty do you get a twing if you like or have anything to do with “Sea Hunt” and Mike Nelson’s travails as a scuba diving special-guy.  I loved that show.  My brother did too.  I sent a bunch of the picture of Mike to him while I was there.  We then watched a bunch of Hulu when we got home.  The old “Marine World” was situated on this same craggy coast years back and Sea Hunt used the aquarium for lots of underwater work.

The main bar was nice and twinkly with jazz but VERY expensive.  A single espresso is $5.  Watch for the double $10 one.  Whiskey neat $20.

I digress.

The boy lost his favorite bear there.  Put between the sheets to keep kid bro out of it.  I did my major topple everything in the room before I cleared out but never got between the sheets on his separate bed.  Awful but a lesson we had been trying to teach on all things that want to come out of the bedroom and follow us around.  This time, we gave in and of course catastrophe!

Called.  Emailed.  Dug around and called the basement departments. Almost drove there to get into myself.  Got a nice connection to the GM and she worked hard in all areas to find “Remy”. 

No dice.

Got a card today with $50 to ToysRUs.  Not the same but a very nice gesture.  The boy can have his favorite bear replaced…. or maybe a new DS game.   So, I’d say try Terranea.  For LA, it’s the best place to get away without driving 2 to 5 hours for Santa Barbara, Big Sur, San Diego, or north.

Other parts not to miss: The bird wrangler.  He has a golf cart loaded with a Hawk, an Owl, and a few other predatory birds.  Keeps the roofs clean ya know?  The pool for kids is good.  The slide so-s0.  Runs along the paths are good but the first time you will keep it slow.  Then go out again and get it on. Food?  Like I say, pretty good.  They had a seafood buffet one night.  Dunno how that makes them an “eco resort” — lots of waste of seafood and mini-desserts — but it was good, especially the King Crab.  (RIP – Deadliest Catch guy…)

My bet is on the DS game.

• Change morning routine completely.  Feed the cat backwards.  Delay the first coffee.  Not check my bank balance before 8. Read the daily business digest and reflect on how it works into my future.
• Choose and complete my fourth marathon. Maybe with Johnny Lassig?
• Break PR of 3:58 and make it 3:43.
• See Jamie Cullum in concert.
• Kiss my wife more.
• Kiss my kids more.
• See Pat more.
• Hug people more.  Even the stranger.
• Say I love you all the time.  Even to the mailman.
• Shed some lb’s.  [see marathon note]
• Increase my net worth by 15%.
• Increase my true friend base by 100%
• Shed friends that aren’t true but be available to them.
• Live by Charles’s rules all the time and admonish myself when I don’t.
• See Lars hit a homer over the fence this year.
• See Auge find his athletic prowess and where it will serve him best – for now.
• Build an Advisor List.  The outer edge of my inner circle. Have a secret motion or handshake.  We’ll go places afterward.
• Attend a perfect wedding in May.  Where else?  Maui.  …Perfect.
• Buy a junk car to undo and rebuild with Lars.  Yes, put in my driveway under my carport.  Yes, who cares.
• Take boys to Washington.  Pull strings so we meet Obama.
• Eat less sugar.
• Eat more good stuff.
• Drink way more water. [see marathon note]
• Drink less Stella.  [sorry girl]
• Go on set with @bcbcbc and have a meaningful job when I’m there.
• Finish my plan for the biggest, baddest family “event” and execute it in Summer 10.

Stay tuned.

Happy new year everyone!  Your readership is very much appreciated and not without notice.

Moreover, it was  a short respite to refresh.  To reset.  Check the oil.  Turn the motor to hum for a bit while we take note.  The other world is still out there.  The maitais are still great.

One thing I can say without hesitation is that, when I look in all directions — high, low, and in between — everyone has problems.  But I want to call them challenges and adjustments instead.

The world is a new place indeed.  The people I know that have jobs have new things in their back pocket like new expenses created by their government.  Some of the others I know that have jobs, have nothing to show for their hard work except some nice emails from the boss 11 months ago and their bosses are running for the hills to stay alive.  Those of us that have jobs, a little to show, but no interest in letting it continue, want more.

Right before I left, I attended @danielpink’s keynote on Motivation at @dwellondesign.  It’s great.  I took a look at the Keynote (the presentation software) that I borrowed from Dan and it’s really amazing and certainly true.  I don’t have worldwide permission to show it to you but I (or Dan) will have it out soon.  Basic premise is that we are all driven by the INTRINSIC, not the EXTRINSIC.  In other words, our bodies and souls are fed by doing the right, complete, and just thing.  This is true in business as well as general life.  His findings will all be examined in a new book to come out soon.  I urge you to run and get it.  The better results like Google and Zappos rule the day.  Those folks don’t fill office elevators with bad corporate vibe.

This was a message that I brought with me on the plane and took hold of over the course of my trip.  It’s that, thanks to a new economy and forced actions by unbridled and scared parties (read: banks), we are making new choices.  It’s awesome really.  I hate the pain of a new dentist, but boy you sure look great when the pearlie whites are finished. I’m in this deep but I’m winning the battles and will win the war.  Sure, it’s hard, but fun at the same time.

That’s really the only tack we can take right now.  Every bastard (and I’ve spoken to everyone in my wallet) in the banking system is not interested in you anymore.  Their drugs are dried up so now they are just back to selling to the few that can afford it.  The rest of us are modifying and adjusting.  Some of us are buying cool, but smaller, less bells and whistlesee cars.  Some of us are putting more time into volunteer work.  Some of us are adjusting our outlooks and minding the store.

I urge you to not let your small window of adjustment go by.  If you have a modification to do on a mortgage or if you have a credit card with a rate over 10%, then get on a plan and get it down.

If you need help, drop me a line.  I do mods for people I like for free.  Maybe I’ll like you.

In the meantime, get ready for some great news from the Hothead in the coming moths.  My charity effort Runforcollege.com and some side fun @ Bigflap.com are going to rock your world.

The folks at DFW TSA told me that they will be up and running by Fall.  LAX will be set end of summer.  They’re all coming on board.

Cut to the front of the line — even with kids.  Sometimes, like at SJC, we walk by hundreds of folks.

They are also getting into the game — literally.  Soon, most sports arenas will accept Clear.

Take advantage of these codes now.  Once used, they expire.

Thank You Dear Hothead, We want to thank you for your membership in Clear. We have heard from members like you that Clear has made a positive difference in your travel experience, from that time you arrived late to the airport and still made your flight, to the time you spent 30 extra minutes with your best client, unconcerned about the wait time in the airport security line. With the busy summer travel season fast approaching, we thought that you might like to share the Clear experience. With that in mind, we are offering you three complimentary 3-month gift memberships in Clear to give to travelers in your life who will use and value the program like you do. By entering the following codes at flyclear.com/3months, your recipients will be able to experience a trial membership of Clear. Code 1*: 3MNTH353KH6S Code 2*: 3MNTH3LUSB28 Code 3*: 3MNTH33ZAWWN Again, we thank you for your membership, and appreciate your business. Sincerely, Molly Greenberg Marketing Director, Clear *Note: Code is good for a one time use only and is valid for new Clear memberships. Cannot be used to extend current memberships. Must be redeemed at flyclear.com/3months.

You should too.

If you have kids under 11, they can roll through the line with you.  Any kid over 11 needs their own clear pass.

If you live in the LA area, get on it now before Hollywood finds out. There aren’t any clear stations at LAX but there will be soon.  I am finalizing my papers at another airport.

It’s one of those “wish I’d thought of that” ideas and after running through their site, a great execution for sure.

Use this code for a month free. DSCAM1158303

What if your law firm or dry cleaners had this sign in front of it’s doors or in two or three of the best parking spaces available? Do you think that others just passing by might try your business if they later needed a lawyer or a new dry cleaner? I would and most of the people I know would. It reeks initiative to bring about a welcome first visit and I think virtually any business that needs new customers or clients should think on these terms. In fact, I think that once you give them a great place to park (in places like LA especially) they will be 100% more receptive to your upsell ideas.

How you deliver post intro… well – that’s the hard part.

People often wonder why I have a UNOY license plate. 

There’s a reason for it as in I everything I do [mostly :)].  It’s a tongue in cheek nod that means before you ask yourself a stupid question (as to how you got into a certain mess), you might be honest with yourself and say “I know why”.  The hothead is no different, hence the reason he has the plate.

98% of my customers that have an odd bad check in our files, say “I KNEW that was a weird deal!”.  Life is the same all around isn’t it?  When you cut a corner, it will come back to haunt you — gaurantee it.

Today it’s about the cancellations of 1000 American flights over three days. 

It’s a new environment we live in.

Uknew Airlines.  Unew that utilizing an overburdened infrastructure and the application of planes that are past their prime would be problematic.  Been on a Super 80 lately?  They’re smelly, stunk out and in need of dire replacement. Oil (the new enviornment element) won’t allow a change now.  Too late.

Weguessed.  Weguessed the over-burdened financial markets would become over-cautious and their fears would spill over into many other verticals.  In effect, everybody is running scared.  The FAA is just like your local mortgage bank.  They are going to look at your application (in this case repair reports) much closer.  It will take weeks to approve a wire harness measurement instead of doing it over a cocktail at the airline commissary.  Southwest blew the cushy cover which is no different that the mort apps that flew through over a long weekend at the lake.

This is only the beginning.  Buckle down.