Eggs "N" Things is Landslide Winner in Recent Breakfast Eatery Poll

We frequently run drawings on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook page where folks are asked to comment to enter. In one such recent drawing, we asked the question, what is your favorite local breakfast eatery. Within the 9 hour comment deadline prior to the drawing, 140 people responded to the open ended question.

Eggs "N" Things is located in Camarillo (pictured here), Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and VenturaTo me it wasn't a surprise that Eggs "N" Things was the top vote getter. My family has enjoyed Eggs "N" Things for years.  With locations in Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Ventura and Simi Valley this local eatery  that has served our community since 1974 received an amazing 25% of all votes! A landslide! Learn more about Eggs "N' Things at www.eggsnthings.net.

The next three top vote-getters were Side Street Cafe in Newbury Park (www.sidestreetcafenp.com), Jinky's Cafe in Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks (www.jinkys.com) and Stella's Restaurant in Newbury Park (www.stellasgourmetrestaurant.net). These eateries each received 5 to 8% of the vote.

Closely following, with 4% of the vote, were Country Harvest in Newbury Park (www.countryharvestrestaurant.net) and Breakfast Cafe, with locations in Oak Park and Camarillo (www.facebook.com/pages/The-Breakfast-Cafe/294939383897705).

Honorable mentions go out to the following eateries that were mentioned at least several times: Denny's, Pickles Deli, Brent's Deli, Marmalade Cafe, P&L Burger, Cronies, Harold's House of Omelettes, Mimi's Cafe and Waypoint Cafe.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SCOOP ON NEW RESTAURANTS IN AND AROUND VENTURA COUNTY

AND HERE FOR RESTAURANTS THAT HAVE CLOSED THEIR DOORS IN RECENT YEARS

Denny's

Pickles

Harold's

Mimi's

Cronies

Waypoint

P&L

Brent's

Marmalade

Debunking the Blog Post That Says Thousand Oaks is the 2nd Snobbiest City

Over the last few days I've noticed quite a bit of buzz about a recent blog post on a real estate website called "These Are The 10 Snobbiest Mid-Sized Cities in America." The reason people have been sharing the post is that Thousand Oaks is ranked #2 on the list.

Huh? Snobby? I feel compelled to respond.

How do they define snobby? According to Merriam Webster online, a snob "is someone who tends to criticize, reject, or ignore people who come from a lower social class, have less education, etc."

But how do you actually measure this in order to to determine which cities are the "snobbiest?" The blogger chooses eight "sorts of things snobs would like." She decides that a city is snobbier if residents have higher incomes, higher home prices, more education, private schools, art galleries, performing arts and country clubs and less fast food eateries per capita.

Talk about arbitrary.

She looks at these factors only "for 100 mid-sized cities." Why just 100 cities? What is mid-sized? 50,000 people? 100,000? She doesn't say. Given there are well over 9,000 cities in the U.S., limiting yourself to just 100 is also arbitrary. From what I could gather, the 100 cities are roughly in the range of 125,000 to 210,000 residents. That leaves out cities like Beverly Hills, Calabasas and Santa Barbara. And well over 9,000 other cities.

If I were measuring snobbyness, a survey of residents would be in order. This blogger did no such thing. Fast food restaurants? Somehow out of the 100 cities on the list, Thousand Oaks ranked 16th lowest in terms of fast food eateries per capita. But the underlying data from "the 2010 Census" is not provided. I can count at least 50 fast food places in the Conejo Valley. I'd love to see her underlying data. Heck, we've got 3 McDonald's,10 Subways, 2 Chick-fil-A's. How is that snobby?

How could a city with a Chuck E. Cheese's be called the 2nd snobbiest "mid-size" city!!??And how could a city with both a Chuck E Cheese's and a Hooters be the 2nd snobbiest city?

Each of the eight factors are equally ranked. Thousand Oaks ranked 3rd out of 100 in median home price and household income. Yes, it costs a lot to live here in paradise, which means we need to earn more to pay for it. Does that make us snobbier? Fully 25% of the ranking is based on these two factors. Six of the "top 10" cities on this "snobbiest" list are in California...largely because, yes, it costs more to live here. Does that make us snobby?

One of the 8 factors is "country clubs per capita." Sheesh, most people I know have never been to the Sherwood Country Club or North Ranch Country Club. Yet we are called snobby because they are situated here.

And of course we are ranked 8th lowest in terms of percentage of residents with college degrees. Obviously more education equals snobby, right? Most college graduates I know show no signs of snobbyness. Heck, I don't think I became a snob, or snobbier, when I received my master's degree. Or maybe I did!? Hmm, I'll have to ponder that as I look for my Grey Poupon.

Movoto is a real estate website that generates traffic with nonsense posts like this one. The fact that I'm writing about it means they are doing a great job at attracting attention.

COMPILATION OF FUN LOCAL TRAILS AND HIKES IN VENTURA COUNTY

Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers Highlight Their Favorite Date Night Eateries

Recently we ran a drawing on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook page where we asked folks to indicate their favorite "date night" restaurant in the Conejo Valley or anywhere in Ventura County. There were nearly 150 entries in the one day drawing and the following restaurants were the top 10 mentions.

Top vote getters in a recent survey for "date night" eatery were Mastro's and The Melting Pot!1st Place: Mastro's Steakhouse and The Melting Pot (tied with 11 votes each)

3rd Place: Holdren's Steakhouse (10 votes)

4th Place: Paul Martin's (9 votes)

5th Place: Wood Ranch BBQ (8 votes)

6th Place: Blue Stove at Nordstrom (7 votes)

7th Place: Lure Fish House (6 votes)

8th Place: Bandits BBQ, Cho Cho San and Café Firenze (5 votes apiece)

Honorable mentions with 2 or more votes include Cheesecake Factory, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, Ladyface Alehouse, The Grill on the Alley, Buca di Beppo, Outback Steakhouse and PF Changs.

Mastro's was no surprise to me. The Melting Pot had a surprisingly solid showing, with some very strong supporters. Paul Martin's, which opened in Westlake Village in December 2012, also has a very healthy showing of fans. Lure Fish House originated in Camarillo in December 2010 and has expanded into Westlake Village and Ventura. Cafe Firenze in Moorpark made a solid showing too.

Previously we ran a separate drawing asking followers their favorite family restaurants. Check it out at this link.

Quicken Loans and Warren Buffett Team Up For the 2014 NCAA March Madness "Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge"

According to a post on WarrenBuffet.com, Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway and Quicken Loans have teamed up to offer $1 billion to someone who is able to pick a "perfect" NCAA March Madness bracket. Registration for the Quicken Loans Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge opens up on March 3rd.

What is a perfect bracket? That means picking the correct winner of every single game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament that begins on March 18, 2014. Berkshire Hathaway is ensuring the grand prize. I think they're good for the money, given the company has over $200 billion in net assets (assets less liabilities) as of September 2013.

The chances of winning are 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808, which in words is nine quintillion, two hundred twenty three quadrillion, three hundred seventy-two trillion, thirty-six billion, eight hundred fifty four million, seven hundred seventy-five thousand, eight hundred and eight. This actually gives me some incentive to play POWERBALL, with its much better chances of winning the prize at 1 in 176 billion!

Is this really $1 billion!? Well, kind of. If you take the winnings over 40 years, you'll receive $25 million each year. Or you can take a lump sum of $500 million up front. I think I'd go with that option. Of course, if there are multiple winners, you'll split the proceeds.

Quicken Loans is also giving away $100,000 to the top 20 scoring brackets! They are capping contest entires to the first 10 million registrants, thought they may expand that at their discretion. The contest is open to legal, 21 and older residents of the U.S. and District of Columbia.

Follow the Quicken Loans Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge Facebook page at www.facebook.com/notes/quicken-loans/quicken-loans-billion-dollar-bracket-challenge-short-form-rules/10152185833560489 for details and official rules.

U.S. Mail First-Class Letter Rates to Increase by Three Cents on January 26, 2014

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) announced on Christmas Eve that it was approving a U.S. Postal Service request for a 3 cent increase in first-class mail single letter rates effective January 26, 2014. This will increase the price of stamps from 46 cents to 49 cents, or 6.5% (though I'm puzzled by the PRC press release that indicates an increase of 6.0%, which, if you do the math, is incorrect...maybe they need to hire me and my calculator).

This is a pretty significant increase, well in excess of the Consumer Price Index change that is typically uses to justify rate increases. The reason for this is that they are seeking to offset what they call "exigent" losses during the "Great Recession of 2008-2009." 

I had to look up the word "exigent" as it is not part of my limited vocabulary. According to Merriam Webster online, exigent is defined as "requiring immediate attention or action." OK, I guess I could have figured that out.

The PRC indicates that this increase is "temporary" however as it has determined that 25.3 billion pieces of volume were lost between 2008 and 2011 at a loss of $2.8 billion and that this temporary increase in excess of inflation would be put in place until the lost revenue is made up. This could be a few years.

Previous first-class letter rate increases were 1 cent in January 2013, 1 cent in January 2012 and 2 cents in May 2009.

This next month is probably the best time ever to stock up on "Forever" stamps to be the 6.5% price increase. If you don't use mail much, I suspect this will not have too big of an impact on you. If you do plan to mail a lot of stuff these next few years, it is exigent that you stock up soon.