Trash Burning At Pelican Hill

Newport Beach Fire Department responds to fire in

Trash Truck at the Arches of Pelican Hill.

Under the elegant and posh massive arching gates (created to imitate Roman aqueducts or grand Italianate structures) a fire started inside the belly of the trash pickup. Garbage was strewn all over the street, which was blocked by numerous fire trucks that responded. I’m surprised the event was not reported in the O.C. Register, as the smell could be detected from the top of Newport Coast. The odor of rotting and burned junk- not what Newport Beach real estate needs today…The good part of the morning’s event was seeing those handsome Newport Beach firemen working with great care to douse the smoldering flames. It is assumed someone packed fireplace ashes in their Hefty bags.

Lancaster Community Hospital Kicks a Man who can't move to the Curb

Al Smith is not famous; he is a nice guy who came upon hard times. Al is homeless and went to Lancaster Community Hospital last week when he had weakness in his legs. The hospital performed surgery on Al and they say they removed a cancerous tumor on his spine. Al walked into the hospital and now is a paraplegic. Lancaster Community hospital Director Bob Trautman is unavailable for comment as the hospital plans to kick this man to the curb (who can’t walk, can’t eat, and can’t release his own bowels.)


I know Al because he did some work for me a year ago. Al is a quiet person who would not complain. Hospital personnel told him the have a social worker processing his Medical, but it is not completed for an unknown reason. I asked the hospital receptionist would she treat her dog this way?

No shelter will take him because the amount of care he needs ( he has numerous tubes in and out ) is far beyond their means.

HOME OWNER ASSOCIATION Run just like Peoples Republic?

Home Owner Associations wield sole absolute power over residents. Is the Owner of K. Pacific a parallel to Hu Jintao of China?

     Laguna Niguel was originally planned by developers who turned over the maintenance of landscaping, pools, and a variety of open areas to owner run ‘Associations’.  There is no uniformity or legal sameness in the original written ‘Charters’. The first Home Owner Associations were often run by well meaning residents who were unpaid.  Associations collected large sums of money and faced the whining and complaining of a small few. Early do-gooders moved out of those positions after learning it was far easier to lay low and avoid pettiness. Associations hold elections, which often the majority owners never voted in new officers (in some complexes the process vague or difficult). From this grew a new crowd of Boards, cropped with their own agenda. It is not accidental that the guy whose brother owns the largest landscape contractor in the County or the Construction Roofing/decking Corporation gets the seat on the Board. Some Associations later turned accounting over to professional management companies because of fraud, bad math practices and lawsuits.  There is no legal licensing requirement to run a HOA. Some have completed classes on the legal aspects of HOA’s. There are two California organizations, which provide newsletters and informational support.

   Still today, secret contracts are granted to the buddy in the business in the millions of dollars.  An Association will have rules, CCR’s Budget and Bylaws but each complex will has separate rules, which may or may not be followed. There is no uniform enforcement but by the professional management company who can arbitrarily decide permits and file legal actions without cause. And who foots the legal bills? Answer: every resident in the tract.

   Residents of Mission Hills community are currently outraged by the removal of 328 trees for a cost of nearly fifty thousand of their hard earned dollars. The Management Company and the Association seem unavailable for comment. By the next Board meeting date, the trees will already be cut to the nub. Someone might say Eucalyptus gum trees aren’t native. They are fast growing trees that are a fire hazard, fall hazard and whose leaves and trunks are so toxic that they cannot be burned without a toxic hazard permit. I had a full grown Eucalyptus fall on my car at my office (thanks Koll Company who had 3 felled trees in same lot over seven months- Koll Co. claims to not be responsible for their deferred maintenance. I asked them to post a sign saying the trees are a hazard to life and limb- they did not). Others in the community like the privacy or the sounds of rustling winds through the branches. Still more will complain that now the Board has removed the habitat for possums, coyotes and critters we are seeing more of these now disturbed in the canyon and as road kill.

   So why does only one family want to speak with the Orange County Register when they all are complaining in their front yards?  Is it fear of the big bad Board?  Perhaps the Homeowners go to the next meeting and say, we aren’t paying the unauthorized fifty thousand dollar bill?

  Don’t worry, there will be another lawsuit. Only the lawyers appreciate apartheid life behind the Orange Curtain. Buyers beware before you buy in an HOA.  Condominium Associations in all the sand states are far worse; some have no fire insurance policy for the community building.

Revolutionary Green Home and Office

     Revolutionary Green Ideas for Office and Home aren't that difficult or costly. I’m thinking about oil/ OPEC/Crude spilling in the Gulf and the best answer to being greener today is to cut our consumption by forty percent. I don’t just mean gasoline; I am talking about cutting our electric, gas, trash and water usage.

   My local water company (Moulton Niguel Water in Lguna Niguel) asked residents and businesses to cut water usage by 20% during a severe water shortage. My household cut our water down by thirty eight percent, and I have several teenagers at home. My father used to make us take "military showers", there were so many of us if you didn’t the small house water heater would never have regenerated enough hot water. This sounded crazy to my children who are accustomed to relaxing in the hot shower until the tank runs out. A military shower was defined as, ten second rinse and soap the washcloth; turn off the water and lather and shampoo then 2-minute rinse in hot.  That was unreasonable considering I had established a trend and belief that taking a long shower was somehow a luxury that they deserved.

   I used a kitchen timer with a buzzer, and if they take a shower in less than five minutes they get a dollar. I know a bribe, but it worked and changed their concept of hot water relax. If they want to be leisurely they take a bath in less than 3 inches and sit until they are pruney.

   I installed displacement toilet dams in toilet reservoirs. Placing one or two plastic containers filled with stones (not bricks you will have a rusty colored toilet) in the toilet's reservoir will displace about 4 liters of water per flush. I am not a big supporter of low flow toilets because in California they are required but many users end up flushing multiple times to accomplish the goal. I may not be so prudy and will refrain from the 1980’s slogan about it being yellow.

   I love to garden. The idea of not having spring flowers everywhere was a sacrifice I wasn’t willing to cut. I compromised and mulched more and turned the sprinklers on the grass areas off and only water the flowers and pots. I recycle much water from household use and only use a spray cut off nozzle for any cleaning. Our water bill went down $380 a month, even with the dollar bribes I'm ahead because I'm an ATM machine anyways isn't every parent?

So how do we apply the concept larger? Just don’t buy as much. Don’t buy products with large part only packaging. This saves time, space, and clutter.

   In the office it is more difficult to convince a team to cut back for the good of being “green”.  There are a couple simple tips that can make a business not only save money, save in trash and perhaps benefit the whole.

   When you leave your desk Turn off equipment when it's not being used. This can reduce the energy used by 25 percent; turning off the computers at the end of the day can save an additional 50 percent.

   Communicate by email, and read email messages onscreen most can be saved in folders without the need to print them. Organizing the folders by project can allow you to access information at the keyboard without sorting through junk.

   Reduce fax-related paper waste by using a fax-modem and by using a fax cover sheet only when necessary. Many Fax-modems are free and allow documents to be sent directly from a computer, never requiring a printed hard copy.

   Produce double-sided documents.

   Do not leave taps dripping; always turn off tightly. (One drop wasted per second wastes 10,000 liters per year.)

   Be a hero. Don’t make a pot of coffee only for you, be friendly and generous and ask if others want a cup.

Being green does not require huge time or cash, just awareness that we are all responsible.