Day 22

California.....Here I come. Live from the beautiful city of Ontario, CA, 40 miles East of Los Angeles. I am out here for a sales meeting for my client's west coast operation. I was lucky enough to fly through Denver and have about a 2 hour layover and was fortunate to get to spend an hour or so with the great Cousin Steve himself, flying east to Ctown with a stopover in Chicago. We don't spend nearly enough time together, but that hour seemed too quick. Steve is ever the talker. My man can't stay on one subject for more than 5 seconds. Luckily I'll be headed for ctown this weekend as well and we will have plenty of time to chill.

Back to California. I am here for a day and a half and typical of my luck, it is 55 degrees and cloudy. The good news is that there is an In & Out Burger and Chik-Fil-A right across the street from my hotel. But I digress. California is such a unique and magnificent state. San Diego has the best climate in America, its always 75-80 and sunny with little humidity. I love the surfer/beach vibe of the people there. Its so laid back and chill. Go 2 hours North up the 5 and you run into L.A. Talk about a crazy place. I have spent quite a bit of time in the greater Los Angeles area. My boy Fritzer lived there for 4 years right after college. I visited him a couple of times and had an absolute blast. I was 22-24 years old and at the height of my going out the sceny places at that time. But what they say about LA is true, it is very status driven. If you aren't "in the business," or have the money, you are pretty much a nobody there. We were just in Beverly Hills for a wedding a few weeks ago. Leah and I walked the streets and couldn't believe how image conscious everyone is in that city. Its amazing. The Hollywood lifestyle is almost like living in another country. Compare that to living on a farm in Kansas and its hard to imagine its the same country.

Drive even farther north up the pacific coast highway and you run into my favorite city, San Francisco. Talk about a totally different vibe than LA. Its so diverse, the people to me are so real, the architecture is so unique and amazing, and the views are breathtaking. The weather is strange as well. It could be 75 and sunny during the day, and winter coat weather at night during the summer. Reminds me of a story my dad once told me. He was in SF for work in the early 80's, and as always, decided to go to a baseball game. Walking in the Candlestick Park, the usher said to my dad "you must be from out of town" and my dad said surprisingly "actually I am, how did you know?" The usher said "the short sleeves." He said he was so freezing he had to go buy a sweatshirt from the souvenir stand. I just love San Francisco. It doesn't hurt that my boy Mez lives there, as do two of my favorite cousins......

Song of the Day: "Something" by The Beatles. Frank Sinatra once called this "the greatest love song ever written."