Memorial Weekend

After a great week teaching (supervising) at Hubbard College, on Friday night I had a pleasant and relaxing visit with my friend Katie Botha at Kingsley Manor.

Saturday morning I had to turn down an invitation for breakfast from friend Suesan Walker (and her family visiting from Las Vegas) as I work Saturday mornings at the college.

Saturday night I went with my friend Sue Zenger, to the 59th Anniversary of the release of the book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. This book has now sold over 21 million copies and due to all his other books as well, the author, L. Ron Hubbard, was declared the most reviewed author in the world in 2009 and now has just been declared the most published author on Earth by Guinness World Records.

As it was a long weekend I came home from the event and got right to bed. I got up early and left town for a two day adventure.

I drove south on Interstate Freeway 5 all the way to the Mexican border - but turned off on the last USA exit before crossing the border and had a quick look at the huge modern America Mall, where Mexicans, crossing over the boarder by foot can shop.

Then I made my way to the coast to continue my plan of seeing the entirety of the California coast. I was stopped by border security from going on my planned route (right along the USA side of the boarder) to the coast - they told me it was too dangerous due to drug smuggling and I should go back to the next Freeway exit. Not being one who is easily stopped, I found another route and went to the coast as planned. It was blocked off to vehicles the last half mile so I had an energetic walk, stepping round a brown snake (photos of course) and reached the miles-long white sand Border Beach - totally deserted of anyone but myself - and I could see Mexico in the not too far distance. Back to the car I made my way north up the beautiful California coast.

The first real city I encountered was Coronado with its beautiful white sand beach, pier, shops, parks, and one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever seen - huge, in immaculate shape, in the colonial style with towers, a lighthouse structured restaurant and lots of adjoining cottages - and all of it right on the beautiful beach. I got two hours of sun on the beach there.

Traveling on, I reached the magnificent city of San Diego with it's beautiful skyline and high, long, harbor bridge across a magnificent harbor where there were two wonderful sailing ships and the aircraft carrier Midway as an memorial museum. There, also, is San Diego's awesome, huge, convention center.

On up the coast to Harbor Island where it became to dark to see much, so I got on the Freeway and went back north a short way to La Jolla, got myself a meal, went to a movie (X-Men Wolverine), and set up to sleep in the back of my Volvo wagon in the parking lot of a 24 hour Ralph's store with good bathrooms - and where it was safe! With the back seats folded down I have 8 inches of foam rubber on the floor and a sleeping bag, pillow, comforter and curtains for privacy.

After a good nights sleep I was up and south a short distance to Harbor Island (where I ended the previous day). Then up the coast past mile upon mile of beautiful, long, wide, white sand beaches.

I reached Cabrillo National Monument and Sunset Cliffs National Park and discovered that the Monument is a memorial and there are tens upon tens of thousands of military graves with white markers in perfect lines on perfect green grass. Coincidentally, I was there right on Memorial Day - I couldn't have planned it better. I heard a gut-wrenching address by "the American Flag" spoken by a man with a magnificent voice. Looking at all those graves (and as many memorial plaques on walls) I couldn't help but feel anger at idiot leaders who are so incompetent they can't solve problems by communication and have to resort to the barbarity of war - and even more anger at those who feel war is necessary as a form of population control.

I traveled on north up the beautiful coast - beach city after beach city. Pacific Beach has a very unique hotel - right on the pier with little bungalow rooms along each side of the wide pier out over the water.

I visited Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and went for an hour and a half walk at Torres Pines State Reserve - beach and nature trails - and finally made the city of Carlsbad before it became too dark to see much and I got back on the Freeway for home.

What a magnificent state this southern coastal state, California, is! Beautiful beaches, marinas, yachting, bike trails, walking tracks, sports fields, sports courts, fishing piers, beach stores, picnic areas, statues, fountains, restaurants, hotels, amusement parks, skating parks, surfing, hang gliding, para sailing, kite flying, swimming, hot-air balloons and huge varieties of flowers and trees - dominated by the tall, tall, California palm and the bougainvillea in a great variety of colors.

I arrived home after 10:30 pm and sat down to make this entry while it was all fresh in my mind. Now it's time to catch up on my emails - which I have not seen since Friday.

Love,
Barry

Sunday is Play Day

I set off the morning of Sunday May 17, 2009, at 9:30 am - going on the Interstate 5 Freeway South, then took the 605 West to Seal Beach which is where I had left my coastal adventure the previous Sunday.

After I left the freeway, can you believe it, I drove by a park where there was a cricket game in progress - a very rare happening here in the USA - so of course I had to stop and take photographs.

Then I continued south on my tour of the Southern California Beach Cities - Seal Beach, Manhattan Beach, Sunset Beach, Balsa Roca and its State Beach (also walked the adjacent Balsa Roca Nature Reserve and saw a rattle snake), Huntington Beach, Balboa (and drove over to Balboa Island - crazy slow traffic), Newport Beach (very classy) and finally Corona Del Mar (Crown of the Sea) where there was another nature reserve at the beach and I took photos of nesting Pelicans.

It's interesting that it's almost like one huge, long, wide beach all the way down the coast and each city builds a rock breakwater out into the ocean to mark where their beach begins and then another to mark where it ends. It's almost unbelievable the huge expanse of beautiful quality sand - it just goes on and on and on for mile after mile after mile.

Beautiful beach homes back onto the beaches and almost all of these Beach Cities have a pier going out into the water with stores and restaurants etc and of course I had to stop and walk all the piers just in case I might have missed something interesting.

I walked around two arts and crafts fairs on the way down also.

I took a lot of photos of beautiful flowers and wonderful houses too.

I finally was so tired I turned towards home at 6:05 pm and found the I. 5 Freeway much further south and had a good fast run home and was back here by 7:40 pm last night.

I made dinner, did some study, had a happy talk on the phone with my friend Sue Zenger and went to bed.

So the cobwebs are blown and I'm ready for another week's work.

Love,
Barry

End of the week

The three day communication course, May 13 through 15, went wonderfully well on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - with 30 brand new people now fully knowledgeable in the secrets on how to communicate without causing upsets, how to patch up upsets and how to accomplish what they want to accomplish with smooth, clear acceptable communication.

Yesterday morning, Saturday May 16, I was back with my students at Hubbard College of Administration from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, and then after work there I went to Kingsley Manor to visit my wonderful South African friend, Katie Botha. Katie had her 79th birthday on 4th of May and on the morning of that day I had emailed her a photograph of a birthday wish I had scratched in the wet beach sand, "Happy Birthday Katie". She loved it so much that she had me mount the photograph on a nice backing so she could hang it in her room. I took that and the shopping I had done for her at her request and had the usual very pleasant visit with her, ending off with a "touch assist" to help her physical condition.

Then at home I made a dinner of wild-caught New Zealand fish (which I get from "Whole Foods") and prepared a picknic luch for today.

Today Sunday is my day to play. I am just now setting of with my nap-sack and picnic lunch and my camara for a day exploring the California coast - going to some area I have not been before and hoping for lots of sun and lots of great photographs. I'll write about it tomorrow morning whan I am recovered!

Love - Barry

Management Success!

Today I began the 3 days I take away from Hubbard College each month to help run the large Communications Course at a company called Management Success!

We started 30 new people on the Communications Course and it was a happy, high-action time as they learned and practiced the individual parts of the communications formula.

(Without a doubt, I am one of the most experienced people on this Earth at teaching the various aspects of communication - having personally delivered many hundreds of Communications Lectures and supervised thousands and thousands of students through the Communications Course.)

Management Success is a wonderful company that trains and consults the owners and staff of automotive repair shops and collision repair shops, using L. Ron Hubbard's amazing management and administration technologies. ( www.Management Success.com )

The Communications Course is a three day course, so I have two more joyous days to look forwards to at Management Success - and then I will be back to my wonderful daily job, teaching at Hubbard College of Administration. (I miss my wonderful students there already.)
( www.HubbardCollege.org )

Love,
Barry

A day teaching at the College

Hi all,

Today was a normal, rewarding Monday working with my students at Hubbard College of Administration International here on Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, California, USA.

I have students from: USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Holland, Taiwan, Lebanon, Russia and Albania.

They are wonderful young people working on obtaining their degrees before going back to their states or countries to apply the Hubbard Management and Administrative technologies and improve their family businesses and their states and countries.

There is nothing more wonderful than to watch a vital young mind light up with a new awareness that projects into the future the ability to change conditions for the better.

We have had two full college degree completions in the past two weeks.

I love my job.

Love,
Barry

Star Trek

Today, Sunday, May 10, 2009, my good friend Joe Lin took me to see the movie, Star Trek (and then for a meal at the B&J Brewing Company in Burbank).

Wow! What an amazingly exciting movie Star Trek is. I just loved every moment of the fast paced action and wonderful special effects in space (and the triumph of good over evil of course).

It's a prequel to the earlier Star Trek movies, about earlier times than those, - but I think it's better than all of the others.

It was a great day.

Love,
Barry

Greetings!

Hello there!

I'm a Kiwi in the USA and thought it would be nice if friends and relatives in my homeland of New Zealand (and elsewhere) could stay up-to-date with my activities here in sunny California.

Consequently, I have decided to brave the new world of social networking and create this blog, so that one-and-all can access it to find out about my most recent activities.

By going to www.FunBarry@BlogSpot.com at any time you can check and see if there is anything new and exciting that I have been up to.

Lots of love to all,
Barry