Living in Contra Costa County

Friday night and Saturday I took three of my boys to the Royal Rangers Father Son Campout.  The annual Father Son Campout is not too intensive and is really designed to get the dads together and to get the younger boys on a campout. 

We took the boys over to Lake Del Valle in Livermore.  My 13 year old came to help me heard my younger boys.  I allowed my 11 year old to opt out for baseball (He plays Fall ball), but the real fun was for my 6 year old and 5 year old.  Those two have been dying to go camping and they don't care where; to them it was cool.

I got there early so the kids could ride thier bikes and fly a kite.  Then I helped set up the kitchen.  There was a lot of good food (but I stuck to my diet) and a great camp fire.  Being the oldest my 13 year old was placed in charge of building the camp fire and it gave me a chance to review knife and Axe skills with him; as well as fire building skills.

The next day after a big breakfast the kids did some crafts, we had a devotional, played some games, lunch and then back home.

Time for Fall Ball.

If you follow my post you know my kids are baseball players, at least in the spring. Well as fall rolls around my five and six year old are getting ready for flag football while my big boy has started Junior High Wrestling, but my 11 year old Corbin is sticking with Baseball.

The Mighty Corbin at Bat!

Yep the fall classic is more than just the World Series. Youth baseball leagues around the country have Fall Ball. Usually the season is shorter and there are not as many kids. If you live in an area with a lot of different youth leagues only a few my offer it and sometimes the leagues rotate it.

Corbin played in the Continental Little League that covers parts of Concord and Walnut Creek and the Continental Little League is hosting the Fall Ball in that area. Oddly enough the only one line info I can find is at the Walnut Creek Little League site.

(Just got an e-mail from Continental Little League.  You may link the fall ball info here.)

The season is only 10 weeks. Two weeks of training, but what the heck most of these kids just finished playing in June then an 8 game season with one game and one practice a week. The games are on Saturdays.

I love baseball and I am looking forward to seeing some of Corbin’s games. More on the other fall sports latter.

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What is going on in the lending market place is an example of why the Government needs to keep hands off.  I do not want to go back over the past - we can and have hashed that one around too long, except to say the government was part of the problem from day one.

What I want to talk about is Today and the problems in the lending market and business in general.  In most industries when there is an innovation or some new market develops everyone hops on it.  People and products come out of the wood work to capitalize on it, make it better, and capture this new market share.

In the old days each lender had it's niche.  They figured out a way to make money (at least they thought and may have in the short run) with some select market and jumped on it.  They had a program that no one else had.

It is the same in other businesses.  I worked for Progressive in the early 80's before anyone heard of them. (Wish I had hung on to that job and the stock options!)  We insured two things:  Motorcycles and Drives we liked to call (and not in public), "Cream of the Crap."  When most other companies had a few underwriter categories on motorcycles progressive had hundreds and had broken it down into great detail.  New Motorcycle owners where more likely to have an accident, and 3 to 6 months after getting the motorcycle; things like that.  We knew who was going to have an accident before they did.  We also took drivers with one DUI and charged them a fortune for insurance when know one else would touch them.  Middle aged people with one DUI were not viewed as likely repeat offenders.

Anyway, we covered the new rules allowing people to borrow against the tax credit for a downpayment in many post.  I even posted trying to find out who might do this type of loan.  So far NO ONE.  Where is the innovation, the market niche.  Even if these loans are small and due to other issues do not get made often you would still develop relationships based on a unique product.

In this regulatory environment it does not pay to innovate.  Who wants to be accused of being risky.  This is bad for America.  This attitude is beginning to permeate business and our culture.  It is not just banks and this crises.  It is what law suits are doing and fear of any failure.  We have too many profits of doom willing to point out others errors.  Usually these profits of (Yes I use the term Profits rather than Prophet) are doing so to make money and grab power.

• This is the Country that went from a few scattered settlements on the east coast to a continetnal world power in 100 years.  Now we have a President who goes on the World Apology tour. 
• This is the country that went to the moon and now cannot get out of low orbit.  India will be to the moon before we get there again. 
• We have the greatest Military the world has ever known.  But now they give enemy combatants the Miranda Rights and wait for the lawyer to show up.  (For all the talk about international law and the Geneva Convention - both those documents give us the right to execute these individuals and there is nothing about Miranda Rights in there).
• This is a country that allows (and even feels they have a right) third world tin dictators to build nuclear weapons under the guise of power plants.  However, we cannot build Safe and Secure Nuclear Power Plants in our own Country.  Just how are we going to power all those electric cars?
• This Country has the cleanest and best environmental record of any major country, but we are stopped from using clean coal, drilling for oil, and using our abundant natural gas. 

Let's stop the whining and finger pointing and get back to work.  We have made mistakes and will make more.  Every innovator does.  Get the government out of the way and let loose the potential of the American People.  Oh and let's rehab lawyers into honest work! (Repeat after me - Would you like fries with that?)

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My kids are part of a great group called Royal Rangers. Royal Rangers is a ministry put together by the Assembly of God Church, but is used by many independent churches too. In short think of it as something like Boy Scouts mixed with bible study and a focus on Christian Living.

Rangers at Fort Ross

I was an Eagle Scout and The Boy Scouts of America was very important to me. However, as a parent I wanted my kids to have the same experiences I had in the outdoors and to learn the same skills I did, with training in the Bible and Christian Living. The Boy Scouts has an excellent program and some churches combine it with youth education. But the AG has Royal Rangers so that is the direction we went.

In Royal Rangers the boys are divided into age groups. Ranger Kids (5-7), Discovery Rangers (8-10), Adventure Rangers (11-13), and Expedition Rangers (14-17). As a Discovery Ranger the boys begin to work on the Gold Eagle Award, much of which can help them advance towards the Gold Medal of Merit that they start on at the Adventure Level. The Gold Medal of Merit is the equivalent of the Eagle Scout Award. My oldest son is a Gold Eagle and working on his Gold Medal of Merit. Son # 2 is getting his Gold Eagle by the end of the summer.

My 3rd son is in Ranger Kids and son 4 joins him in Ranger Kids this fall. To earn these awards the boys working on Merits that cover a number of issues, including camping, hiking, compass, fishing, dog care, first aid, etc. There is also a series of Bible Badges. There are hundreds of badges. There are also a number of leadership training programs.

We have a number of activities and camp outs, including the Pinewood Derby, Father Son Camp out, Snow Camping, Back Pack Trip etc.. My oldest son is off to 5 days of Ranger camp today. Son # 2 is in the baseball playoffs and cannot go.

We are part of Outpost 5 at Calvary Temple in Concord, although we attend another church. Calvary Temple is in a unique place. It startles the hill between Central Contra Costa County and East Contra Costa County.

If you are looking for a fun and exciting program for your son come on by or give me a call.

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I am one of the co-chairs for the Contra Costa County Fraud Symposium Coming up on Wednesday June 24. It is at 10:00 AM at 602 W 2nd Street in Antioch, CA.  The doors open at 9:30 AM and it last till noon.  It is open to professionals in the area of housing and the general public.

There are a number of high level speakers from the Government.  The panel will be moderated by the county assessor Gus Kramer.  If you are in this area please reblog and pass the word.