Thurs.-Mon., July 23-27, 2026
Another five days of Summer gone with lots of ups and one down.
We start with a trip to the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Ventura to purchase . . .
. . . these three most necessary, small
and easy to carry books about these
great Eastern European cities that
we plan to visit sometime soon
Shopping makes me hungry, so . . .
. . . I ordered an excellent tri-tip
sandwich at this spot in Ventura
Their baked beans were top-notch as well.
On Saturday, we were socially active starting with a housewarming party at the refurbished home of Tom and Lupe FitzGerald in Camarillo.
We had a wonderful time dining and wining with friends but we had to cut this fun time short.
You see, we also had our granddaughter Mary's 11th birthday party to attend.
Michael dressed up as his
Father-in-Law Tito
About to get slaughtered by Jacob
who is becoming quite good at chess
Grandparents, aunts, uncles and
cousins were on the patio
A delicious cake
Mary was efficient at blowing
out the candles
11 going on 23
Jacob is now MORE than
a full head taller than Laurie
Who isn't, come to think of it.
Mary should pass Laurie in
height by 3:13 p.m. next Thursday
The combined Contreras and
Perez male family members
The combined Contreras and
Perez female family members
Sunday was a sad day at
this iconic restaurant in Burbank
Laurie's cousin, Dianne Silvestri, who grew up in Burbank with a family who enjoyed eating here, had passed away recently at the age of 78.
On this day, Dianne's family and friends gathered at the Smoke House to celebrate her amazing life.
Dianne's son Brian and daughter Kate were wonderful in eulogizing their mother. No easy emotional task to say the least.
While we enjoyed seeing Laurie's cousins and their families, meeting under these circumstances is always difficult as well.
On Monday, Jacob and his Camarillo H.S. Scorpions' Frosh football teammates had their first practice in helmets.
They don full pads for the first time this coming Thursday.
Pre-practice tone setting talk
Jacob doing a dynamic stretch
Part of the three station Tackling Circuit
More tackling
Tracking a ball carrier's near hip
DB Footwork Drill
DE Jacob with a GREAT reaction
to his coach's foot movement
Good get-off got Jacob to the
turn first by a large margin
Same drill going the other way
They're off!
LB Strike Drill
DL Rip Drill
DL Coach demonstrating
Slow and steady learning technique
Good rip through
Jacob starting . . .
. . . dipping . . .
. . . and ripping
A good two hand swipe move
DB stance, movement . . .
. . . and intercepting
Back to the DL
Hand to hand combat in the DL
is a must on every down
A power move
Pursuit Drill
Those eyes are FOCUSED!
Team Time
Scout RB in the open
Jacob at WR vs. Man Coverage
He used his DE swipe drill techniques to easily defeat this DB's jam technique and get off the line easily.
OL hard at work on the sled
Good arm extention
A receiver receiving
RB Footwork Drill
Exploding out of the same drill
WR concentration drill
Four Hands, One Ball
Certainly distracting but
is it legal?
Nice catch
Jacob at standup DE
Nice cut by this RB
Blockers in front is a good thing
for any RB
Jacob getting upfield
to force the play back inside
Nice catch
The calm . . .
. . . just before the STORM!
The Club
A good looking WR with both
size and speed
It was a good practice with full pads now just three days away.
After practice, Jacob joined me for dinner at Estabalos Market. He loved his chicken burrito and I was most happy with my torta al pastor.
When I dropped Jacob off at home, I also had a gift to deliver.
The black, high-top Converse
All-Stars that Mary wanted for
her 11th birthday
Laurie had ordered them via Amazon but they did not arrive until the day after her birthday party.
Vanessa had a gift for me too,
what could it be?
AWESOME!
During the Biden Administration, belly button lint reached a peak price of $3.28/lbs. in the famed Tacoma, Washington lint markets.
I wonder how much that price has dropped under the stewardship of Our Glorious Leader?
On to football news . . .
The Cal Lutheran Kingsmen
2026 DIII Football Schedule
In order, there are non-conference games at Pacific Lutheran and vs. Puget Sound.
Then comes the rugged seven game Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) slate vs. Redlands, at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, vs. Azusa Pacific, vs. Pomona Pitzer, at La Verne, at Whittier and vs. Chapman.
It is good to see both Azusa Pacific and Whittier restarting their football programs this season. Azusa Pacific dropped their football team in 2020 and Whittier did the same in 2022.
Solid looking L.A. Rams
1960s era alternate helmet
While the entire European Football Alliance had the weekend off, the American Football League of Europe played three games, all of them massacres.
The Wroclaw Panthers (7-2)
by 30 over the Alpine Rams (1-7)
No surprise.
The Rhein Fire (6-2)
by 56 over the Paris Lights (2-6)
The Vienna Vikings (9-0)
by 62 over the Alpine Rams (0-8)
Three good teams, two average
clubs and three poor squads
Four weekends of AFLE play are
left in the 12 game regular season
Only the Firenze Red Lions are mathematically out of the hunt for one of the four post-season playoff spots.
Thoughts from the net . . .
Pray for Sicily
France and Spain are ablaze as well.
"Climate change is a hoax." - Our Glorious Leader
Sounds like a fun way to
get in some much needed steps
Muslims (Al-Andalus)
From 711 to 1492
"A golden age of science, culture, art, agriculture and architecture."
Not to worry, the Catholic's Reconquista finally forced the Muslims and their nefarious ideas off of the Iberian Peninsula.
Good riddance.
Advances in science, culture, art, agriculture and architecture alone are indeed a good reason for expelling these infidels once and for all!
