Camarillo Passes More Restrictive Smoking Regulations Effective May 28th

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On April 28th, the City of Camarillo adopted a new Ordinance 1053 that extends smoking restrictions in the city, joining other local cities of Thousand Oaks, Moorpark and Calabasas in an effort to clear the air for non-smokers.

Here are some of the restrictions. Visit the City of Camarillo website for more information about the new law.

Public Places: Wherever the public is permitted or invited, indoors or outdoors, including streets and sidewalks if: 1) they are designated “No Smoking” by City Council Resolution, 2) they are part of a public event, or 3) they are within 25 feet of a no-smoking area.

Dining Areas: Any location, including streets and sidewalks, established for and used by the general public for the consumption of food or drink. This includes bar and restaurant patios, sidewalk cafes, food booths at public events, etc.

Recreation Areas: Any area open to the public for recreational purposes, whether publicly or privately owned and regardless of any fee requirement. This includes all parks, playgro

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Don't Get Ripped Off! 5 Helpful Travel Tips From Our Recent Trip to Tahoe

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During Spring Break we decided to take a 3 day excursion to Lake Tahoe to play and ski in the snow.  We stayed and played at Northstar in North Lake Tahoe and had a blast!

There were four of us; 2 adults, 2 kids. We decided to fly from LAX to Reno as a test to see how our 4 year old would behave on his first flight.  Overall, it went o.k. (though don't ask the guy who sat in front of him). We learned a lot on this very first trip involving more than just driving our car somewhere.  Let me summarize what we learned:

Don't Stuff Too Much Into a Big Suitcase

We have two BIG suitcases and the rest are small enough to be carry-ons. My wife refused to use the 2nd big suitcase because it was "dirty." I said no problem, I'll take MY stuff out of the big suitcase and repack it into the allegedly dirty bag. She refused and instead made me stuff everyone's ski clothes into the one big bag...I had sit on the suitcase to zip it up.

Sure enough...the bag weighed 56 lbs and Southwest charged us an extra $50 EACH WAY for the bag because it weighed more than 50 lbs. It made no difference that the 4 other bags weighed 10 to 20 lbs.  They don't take an average as I so begged them to do. I was pissed. But...cha ching...had no choice but to fork over the $$.

Don't Buy Auto Rental Insurance if You Don't Need It

I did not make the mistake of purchasing the $10/day Loss Damage Waiver from Hertz as I'm covered by my own personal auto insurance AND my American Express card offers this coverage for free. So don't waste money on this insurance if you don't need it.  Do your homework and don't throw away $$.

Don't Wait to Fill Up the Gas Tank on Your Rental Car

So we checked out of our hotel and drove back to Reno. I thought it would be fun to stop by the Circus Circus so the kids could play some games in

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Anyone Else Notice the Penny is Looking Different These Days?

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I was at Costco grabbing a bargain (and quite nutritious) lunch of a hot dog and Coke and noticed that the shiny pennies I received in change looked different. Sure enough, these brand spanking new 2010 pennies had a redesign on the back.

The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 among other things authorized a redesign of the back of the penny in 2010 to reflect Abraham Lincoln's preservation of the U.S. as a single and united country. So the backside of the penny now displays a shield with 13 vertical stripes representing the 13 original states in union. The familiar E PLURIBUS UNUM is retained to indicate "out of many, one."

These new pennies are composed of 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc, roughly the same composition they have had since 1982.  Prior to that they has been 95% copper and 5% tin/zine since 1909. Apparently the pre-1982 95% copper pennies are worth more than 2 cents each due to their copper value. However, don't even think about it...since 2006 there have been laws that criminalize melting pennies/nickels for their content,

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Local Ojai Resident Son/Father Team Up to Publish "The Promise Doctrine"

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Craig Womack / Jason WomackJason Womack is a local Ojai resident known for traveling around the world training people how to master workplace performance (in fact, a previous employer of mine hired Jason to train our management team and to teach productivity at a large conference). Craig Womack has nearly 40 years of executive experience in the consumer product industry. This father and son team combined forces to publish "The Promise Doctrine," an easy to read guidebook help us keep our commitments!  I asked them 10 questions about the book and Craig provided me these answers.  For more information and to buy the book, check out www.thepromisedoctrine.com.

1. Tell me what The Promise Doctrine is about in 1 sentence.
The Promise Doctrine is a guidebook and system that readers can use to choose, manage, and accomplish what they are truly committed to, in life and at work.

2. Why did you decide to write The Promise Doctrine?
We came up with the idea for The Promise Doctrine as we listened to our peers, employees, friends, and family discuss how “hard it is, to do it all.”  

3. What prompted you to team up with your dad in writing the book?
When we took on this project, a writing collaboration between father and son, we knew that we wanted to explore the dynamics of promise keeping. Publishing our book was the best way we knew of to share the importance of promise keeping with the world. First, we see each other as equals, with distinct strengths to share and learn from. Together, we were able to merge our backgrounds in business and in education, and bridge a generational gap that drives most people crazy. We did this through honest communication, regular check ins and meaningful acknowledgment of milestones along the way. These are principles we share and have lived by in our executive and teaching lives.

4. Is the book geared towards certain people or ages in particular? In other words, who should read this book!?
Our enthusiastic answer is: “EVERYONE should read this book”. We geared the book towards four broad target audiences:

  • Results driven individuals and leaders who realize the power of a promise made and a promise kept
  • Executives who lead successful companies
  • Leaders and teachers who promote sustainable communities
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Confessions of a Germaphobe: Ten Things I Like Least About All-You-Can-Eat Buffets and Salad Bars!

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Don't get me wrong. I LOVE all-you-eat places! I'm a big fan of Souplantation and visit the Camarillo location at least 5 times a month (also in  in Simi Valley).  They have a huge salad bar, a wide variety of soups, breads and pastas and a dessert selection that includes frozen yogurt machine (mmmm!).

Recently Souplantation introduced an automated hand sanitizer at the salad bar line.  I applaud them for that. Most people don't seem to use it (I did and it squirted so much foam into my hand that I had to wipe the excess off on my pants), but is a nice gesture for those concerned with the spread of germs. 

I'm a bit on the germaphobic side myself and the sanitizer brought to mind...Ten Things I Like Least About All-You-Can-Eat Buffets and Salad Bars...based on my wealth of observations and experience at the local Souplantation.

  1. Tong Tosser:  The servers all wear gloves yet the 974 people visiting the salad bar all handle the tongs with their bare hands. So when pimply Joe Teenager flings the tongs completely into the rice pilaf, I generally move on to the next item.
  2. The Snacker: The snacker can't wait to eat. He's tossing olives, sprouts and garbanzo beans into his mouth, crunching, smacking his lips, talking and spewing little bits of food as your appetite shrivels. There goes my appetite.
  3. Kiddy Loiter: It's great bringing kids to the salad bar!  But yechh, please keep their icky (and I say that lovingly...I've got kids myself) hands outta the croutons!
  4. Boogie Man: Picking your news is OFF LIMITS at the salad bar. Yeah right, that was more than a
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BOGOPOD: Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts in the Conejo Valley!

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UPDATE: BOGOPOD apparently is no longer in operation.

Happens all the time.  I get some coupons in the mail, tear a few out and place them on the desk or behind a magnet on the fridge.  But when I want to use the coupons, I can't find them, they have expired or I'm somewhere else.  Frustrating!

But there's BOGOPOD! www.BOGOPOD.com  provides online "Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts" coupons for local Conejo Valley area businesses! 

Visit BOGOPOD.com for an extensive list of discount coupons for restaurants, shopping, kids, activities, home improvement, services and much more.  All you do it find the coupon, click it, print it and start saving money!  No signup, no cost!  I love the fact that you don't have to download special software to print the coupon.  There's also a search function on the BOGOPOD website that shortcuts the process of finding what you're looking for.

Now on a separate but related topic of saving money, check out "Places Where Kids Can Eat Free in Ventura County"  here on Conejo Valley Guide to find places where you can dine out and not pay for your kids' meals!