Simi Valley Residents Featured in 25th Anniversary Shark Week "Sharkzilla" Episode

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The last few years I've had several home remodeling projects managed by Sean Tohill of All Trades Ready Construction. Sean's a really nice guy and he and his team did some great work at my house.

Sean frequently mentioned his wife, Lisa, had a passion for unearthing fossils out in Bakersfield and that they spent many a weekend up there. But we never talked about it in detail as cabinetry, mirrors, tiles and bath fixtures represented the main topic at hand.

Two weeks ago he told me, "Make sure to watch 'Sharkzilla' on the Discovery Channel's 25th Anniversary Shark Week! You and the kids will get a kick out of it!" The Sharkzilla episode first aired this past Monday night. I recorded it and watched it the next day. HOLY MEGALADON! He didn't tell me that he and Lisa would be PROMINENTLY FEATURED in the show! They were great!

Shark Week 25th Anniversary sign and massive 6 foot tall megaladon fin temporarily on display at the Tohill residence in Wood Ranch!

Sharkzilla features the cast of Mythbusters and a team that constructed a MASSIVE 52 foot long megaladon shark that lived 15 million years ago. This gigantic creature wiith 8 foot wide mechanical jaws was brought to the sand next to the Ventura Pier to a cheering crowd.

So, where did Sean and Lisa Tohill come in? The Mythbusters team learned that the Tohills own an 85 acre White Whale Quarry in Bakersfield. Yes, 12 to 15 million years

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What's Not to Love About the Ventura County Fair!? 137th Edition Now in Session!

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The 137th Ventura County Fair is off and running! This year's theme is "Rides, Ribbons and Rodeos" and visitors will certainly find plenty of that...and much more!  Some of the things you'll find here...games, rides, contests, music, rodeo, motor sports, mariachi, pony rides, goats, bunnies, chickens, vendors, kids' crafts, gems and minerals, agricultural exhibits, educational exhibits, every type of fair food you could imagine, photo opps and everything in between! Visit www.venturacountyfair.org for a complete event lineup!

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How To Make a General Donation to the United States Government

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For those of you who have done well in the stock market (the S&P 500 has nearly doubled in the last 3 years), won the lotto or lucky enough to be an original investor in Facebook stock, we know you've been wondering how to give back to all of us. Right!?

Well, the Financial Management Service (FMS), a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, is here to help out. They outlined how citizens an make a donation to the U.S. government!

From www.fms.treas.gov/faq/moretopics_gifts.html:

Gifts to the United States Government

How do I make a contribution to the U.S. government?

Citizens who wish to make a general donation to the U.S. government may send contributions to a specific account called "Gifts to the United States." This account was established in 1843 to accept gifts, such as bequests, from individuals wishing to express their patriotism to the United States. Money deposited into this account is for general use by the federal government and can be available for budget needs. These contributions are considered an unconditional gift to the

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Presidential Elections - Can I Buy a Vowel? Obama, Adams, Eisenhower, Oh My!

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Conejo Valley Guide generally does not cover politics as we like to focus on things to do throughout  Ventura County and adjacent areas. And this post really is not political in nature. It is more along the lines of "useless yet potentially amusing information."

Barack Obama is running for re-election in 2012. If he loses, this would be the first time since 1828 that a President whose last name starts with a vowel loses a re-election. After one term in office, John Quincy Adams (like Obama, a Harvard graduate) lost to Andrew Jackson, considered the first Democratic President. Also notable (ok maybe not) is that Obama honored another Quincy...Quincy Jones, with a National Medal of Arts in 2010. The Obama/Quincy connection.

If Obama wins his re-election, he'll follow in the footsteps of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, who demolished Adlai Stevenson with 86% of the electoral vote. Obama also has something in common with Eisenhower. He received his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1983 whereas Eisenhower was President of Columbia from 1948 to 1953.

Truth be told, there have not been a lot of Presidential candidates whose last names begin with a vowel. In fact, while 19% of the letters in the alphabet are vowels, less than 10% of thos

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12 Alternative Ways of Getting to Google, Facebook and Yahoo

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According to Internet traffic measurement company Quantcast, three of the top five visited websites are Google, Facebook and Yahoo (YouTube and Twitter are the other two. The typical way most of us get to these sites are Google.com, Facebook.com and Yahoo.com.

The ever inquiring minds here at ConejoValleyGuide.com, after a recent typographical experience, discovered that there are numerous ways of getting to these sites. Now while most of us have the sites either bookmarked or memorized in our browser history, here are some alternative ways of getting to them:

Google

Facebook

Yahoo

Yessir, come to Conejo Valley Guide where you will find uniquely and marginally useful information!

Crossing Contrails in Conejo Valley Today

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The kids and I were at Lang Ranch Community Park this afternoon when I looked up and saw these pretty spectacular contrails in the sky. It was a beautiful, sunny day but the air was fairly cool. I've read contrails last longer when there's higher moisture in the air, which at 66% humidity today was definitely the case (and apparently we finally have a cold and windy winter storm coming on Monday).

This contrail cross was seen in the direction of Cal Lutheran University. Perhaps someone was trying to make a statement. Others thought perhaps this was an X, marking the Conejo Valley as "the spot" that we all enjoy living at.