Another Mobile Device Post

My 5 year old daughter said to me as we were leaving a trade show, "Daddy that man looks like a statue." I turned around and saw what looked like 4 statues as 3 men and a lady stood in place starting at their devices.
I was born in NYC as many of you may know and the first thing I think of is, man, no one is really looking. If you lost or dropped something, a crime occurs or is about to occur and that person would not witness that our have the experience of walking down the street having a conversation with your friend, loved one or child. Instead we are somewhere else. In between our brains electric spark and the interconnected webbings of the online world.
Alls we need now is to find a way to plug in the Heart, Minds and Souls of all those we Love. Maybe this way we can be more truly connected.
Don't ever forget the True meaning of being connected to someone! Write them a hand written letter, call them on the phone and hear their voice's aches, pains and excitement. Go ahead and touch them. Just make sure they Love you back and feel as connected to you as you to them. Otherwise they may connect a fist to your face :).

Protect Your 10 Digit # or Become a Victim!

We have always been told to protect our social security number, but every day it becomes increasingly important that we limit to whom and where we present our 10 digit mobile number. It's not just identity theft as if that's not bad enough, but with access to your device for example someone can see pictures, texts, sites visited and potentially the power to turn on your camera and gps and watch you remotely from somewhere else while you think you're safe at home. Access through your device is access to you not just your data.

With those 10 digits I remember using Google locate with Co-workers and we saw how it could easily pinpoint and potentially access people's phones. Other methods could be potentially through some hack, a new hire at some service provider or even a motivated, placed and grown infiltrator and those are just some of the obvious.
So careful unless you're like a family member of mine who changes phone numbers every month you better treat your mobile number with respect and protect it as if your life depended on it.

Why I Do What I Do

Listen to Mark Plotkin (PhD & Ethnobotanist studying the relationship between people and plants) talk about some of what inspired me to be a part of the T.R.E.E.center. He is also author of 'Tales Of A Shaman' s Apprentice ' as well as 'Medicine Quest: In Search Of Nature's Healing Secrets'.

Mark Plotkin: What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t #TED : http://on.ted.com/r0KYP

Find Your Target, Focus/Visualize It & Poof!

You don't know how many times but I will tell you that so many times and lately several times a very short time frame which spurred me to write this life lesson,  but so often I have been in a place looking for something I usually don't focus on many other features or other items, but what I think is this image of the thing I'm looking for at moment. Now those other items in the background don't get looked at and if I an looking for then later I won't remember that it may have been next to the first item I was looking for and found because I was not looking for that ornery item in the first place so then I never saw that object. it will continue to be unfounded until I focus on it visualize it and go and find that particular item probably in the same place that I looked 10 or 15 times yet I wasn't looking for that particular item so again I never found it leading me back to the original lesson and idea which is whatever it is that you want in life if there is something you are looking for focus, visualize it in your mind and then you can and you will find it. Otherwise unless someone tells you about it it just randomly pops up or you'll just essentially be doing whatever someone else puts in your face in your head in your way and leaving someone else to manipulate your thoughts your motivations your actions .

Think about it. (Special Ed.)

Now, do you see it? In the picture below.

Don't Let Sodium Bicarbonate Scare You. It's Your Friend.

I am so glad I found this out. We are working hard in the Peña family to eat better and better and we must say that our weakness is the frying pan, but along with the obvious also come the oven wall oil/grease drips and the grease grill-filter covering our fan over our oven turns brown and so the guilt makes us fork up between $11-$23 for a new one several times a year. Not anymore...
You only need:
water holder (bucket, pot, etc)
water
old toothbrush
sodium bicarbonate A.K.A. baking soda, water softener

Get yourself a small bucket, plastic pan or even a pot fill it with the hottest water your faucet will give you (careful don't burn yourselves, doesn't have to be boiling)

Add a little baking soda ( I used 1 tablespoon for 1 gallon)

Sit your greasy oven grill-filter half way into the solution and lightly brush off the grease. Extremely easy. The tough part is disposing of the greasy water later.

Pour the dirty water into an old cleaned out juice or milk container, cap it and label it. Put it with your recyclables or drop it off yourself to the nearest Bio-diesel station or other recycling station and they will separate it and most likely reuse it.

Stuck Between A Rock & A Hard Place...

Stuck between a rock and a hard place that will also make you pay $500 in fees.
It's a hard place to be, but I guess I earned it. Per the video uploaded by the city of Menlo Park, California for whatever reason my attention must have been somewhere other than the yellow light for 1 - 2 seconds. I only experienced 2 seconds of the yellow light so I was not motivated to speed up or slam on my brakes. I cruised across the intersection at 37mph (they say) in a 35mph zone. I don't remember being preoccupied with anything at the time other than driving that would have made me miss 2 seconds of yellow light. I did NOT expect the light to turn red that quickly, which did leave me with a citation in the mail. I still haven't seen the actual monetary damage, but my previously mentioned fee estimate is a good average. The city says it's for safety sake since they say red light running in Menlo Park has contributed to 20% of their injury accidents and 17% of fatalities. Though I and at least one other individual feel that the placement of cameras, timing of lights (should be longer yellow) are adding to the increased potential of rear-end vehicle accidents. I am curious to see what their data says though I don't trust the videos they uploaded on their site (Photonotice.com). The site states next to the video:

"Due to formatting constraints this video is a representation of the original evidence and is not intended for court purposes.

The video you are viewing on this website is provided as a courtesy and convenience to you. The video is in no way purported to be a true and correct copy of evidence that will be presented in court. The format has been modified to provide a higher level of security and as a result may display slightly different than the original captured video. If you do want to view the original video please contact the citing agency located on your notice and follow the instructions for viewing the evidence from their location."

I strive to be and have improved my driving habits. I am even more mindful when driving with my children, but nonetheless always mindful.
Yes, there is a sign (In the middle of the busy commercial street on the curb) warning of "Photo  Enforced" red lights, doing their part in "openly telling you", but my dissatisfaction is the methodology. I am not a person looking to take advantage of the law, nor am I prone to cause accidents, but yet there seem to continually be people running the lights by accident or because the time lapse between changes in so minimal. A setup maybe not, but I am sure they definitely don't mind the extra income. That's the ethical malpractice that money $ creates, along with some drugs and other vices, but that's another post. Off to go make a few extra hundred bucks to make up for the hit and be thankful that it wasn't an actual accident or otherwise. Be extra cautious when crossing these intersections in Menlo Park, California cause someone/something will be watching.

• Bayfront Expressway at Willow Road
  
• El Camino Real and Ravenswood Avenue
• El Camino Real and Valparaiso Avenue

 Here is their site:

This happened several months ago and if you run into this situation the next best thing is to at least make a court date, which can buy you some time if you need it, but it usually results in a slightly lowered fine. Mine along with many others there receives a $100 discount, worth the gas and time.

BLACK

I have always first thought of myself as Dominican as most people had come to identify me for 25+ years and I would have accepted Hispanic, Latino or Spanish (wrongly so). Spanish being from Spain. Just because we speak Spanish doesn't make us Spanish. Anyhow after moving to California it became much more apparent that being Dominican wasn't obvious to most Bay area folks. It's not their fault either. Most have never seen more than two or three Caribbean Latinos in the same place at the same time, so I am not surprised and have come to enjoy the daily look I get when I confidently communicate in Spanish.
In my 10 years here I have almost always been considered African American unless I come across an X-resident or someone who has traveled to the New York metropolitan area. I've learned to expect that, but the strangest part is when I identify myself as a Spanish speaker the automatic response is usually, "so you're Mexican?" Mainly caused by ignorance as mentioned before, but I'd almost rather them just say, "so what are you?" And that is a serious question. People here are not used to seeing Caribbean Latinos, but there are plenty of dark skinned Mexicans and other dark skin Latin Americans so it shouldn't be a surprise right? Not to mention all of the blonde hair, blue eyes Spanish speaking Mexicans, Spaniards, Southern Latin American or Spanish as a second language speaker as there are more and more every day. Wouldn't you also figure that it could function the other way around? Even the island is hard for people to place correctly. Folks usually remember Cuba and Puerto Rico, but often forget us in between. You forget the tasty meat, crispy lettuce, tomatoes, etc in the middle? Just kidding, I guess we are only as important as we make us.
Oh well, its fun though watching the expression on their faces when I start a conversation with a Spanish speaker and I know it will be the same reaction my children will get when they speak the language to others in the future regardless of what people call them they will be speaking Spanish confidently.