SWCAMBORNE

This morning we had a Mango for breakfast.  It was good but it wasn’t as good as the time we were in Maui in June.  The little house we rented was in a mango grove and the ripe fruit were falling out of the tree.  Oh my they were delicious.

There is an opportunity in this dichotomy.  Organize tours that are like wine tours but are focused on fresh food.

• Georgia in Peach season
• Illinois in Corn season
• Southern California in Strawberry season
• Maui in Mango season
• Cherries
• Plums
• Olives

Perfect foods are hard to find.  People with disposable income will pay to find them.

On the way back from our excellent trip to Italy we stopped in the UK.  The weather was perfect and we had time to go to Walthamstow and meet our new grand nephew, Nicholas Burrow.  Nicholas is the son of my nephew Robert and his lovely wife Theo.

It was well worth the visit.

Nicholas already has a hobby.  He, like his father before him, collects “moosobelia.”

Click for more Photos on Flickr.

In 2006 my brother Tom sent me a Roundabouts of Derby calendar.  It is the kind of thing I like, off-beat and quirky.

I wrote about it at the time on the blog.  In December I made a calendar for the family using Shutterfly.  So I was thinking about calendars when we went to New Mexico and had the idea for The Mobile Homes of New Mexico” calendar. It was not that well received so now I have a list of ideas for quirky calendars:

• Trailer Parks of Southern California
• Strip malls of Las Vegas
• Trash Cans of America (get a picture of a galvanized trash can before they are all gone)
• Hospital waiting rooms of the world
• Dead house plants
• Abandoned Subdivisions of Arizona

What I’m trying to illustrate here is how by having an open mind ideas can combine,  recombine and morph into new idea and if you let the process go on long enough one of the ideas will turn out to be a good one.  One of the important things is to be testing the ideas with others, getting their feedback, adjusting and then retesting.

This is a roundabout near my brothers home.  Here are some samples of my new ideas:

January (Trash Cans of America)

February (Trailer Parks of Southern California)

California is talking about banning trans fats in foods served in Restaurants.  I smell Nanny State.

A city in Northern California is talking about banning toys in kids meals.  Nanny State Alert.

A friend asked me; Why doesn’t the government do something about the pension crisis or the entitlements problem?

My answer: For a Politician it is far easier to be the Nanny than it is to be the Responsible Adult.

I’m collecting “Nanny State” data points.  If you have some send them in.

More Nanny News

We know about economies of scale from Adam Smith and the famous pin factory.  As you make more of something the per unit cost goes down.

But when an organization get past the optimum size dis-economies of scale start to set in.  Airlines are an obvious example.  American, Delta and United are more expensive and give worse service than Southwest.  Here is a link to an article about Dis-economies of Scale.  In case you want to see if I’m making this up.

Government is another area were we might be seeing dis-economies of scale.  I was reminded of this when I wrote a recent piece about Costa Rican Entrepreneurs.

The US used to be subdivided into 50 states that had a lot of autonomy.  Now more and more of what goes on is dictated by Washington.  It is big and cumbersome.  And even if it has the best of intentions it is too large to be nimble.  Countries like Costa Rica and Singapore are smaller and faster with less bureaucracy.  They may have a competitive advantage in the world for the next few generations.

I found this mystery pod on the ground outside Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.

It turned out to be the dried and twisted seed pod of a Wisteria vine.  This is an example of Backyard Scuba.  If you look at anything with wonder you will see wonderful things.

Here is a proposal for an economic indicator to consider.

When geese are running wild around residential neighborhoods the economy is okay.  If they start to vanish it is a sign of a serious recession.

A few more pictures from our excellent trip:

Poppies in bloom in Tuscany

We let sleeping dogs lie (but took their pictures)

Portofino with the Rolex crowd

A trial photo from an excellent trip so far.

Siena was a bit rainy but very beautiful.

When you are in Maui go up to Napili for breakfast at the Gazebo Restaurant.  The people who run it do a booming business and have a good sense of humor.  There is often a line so they have a sign:

If there are not busy it reads:

And if you flip the sign one more page it reads:

It even gets a chuckle out of people who have been waiting in line for 45 minutes to eat breakfast.  They serve good food and have a great view but what makes the place unique is wonderful attitude of the staff.  The clever sign is just a symbol of that attitude.