Letter to Red A

Dear Red A,

I hope this letter finds you and the family doing well ( Always proofread. I originally had the last 4 words of the opening sentence as the family dong well. Well, that too, I guess. ) - Yes, I know you are now domiciled in California, but as I said, "I hope." As for myself, I have set a strict vacation regimen and have stuck to it: Coffee shop; newspapers; crosswords; Vista willing, go online; ride bike 4 miles; find a watering hole; watch sports; go home.

I changed it up a bit this last weekend when my mother decided to have a garage sale. Not a lot of fun, but not too bad either. While sitting guard outside in the delightful 107 degree heat and fending off bids on the lawn guy's lawnmower (while he was using it), I entertained myself by saying things like " I don't know. Ask my mother," and "Please don't go inside the house."

It wasn't enough to fully engage me, though, so I took a quick break to go to the store in search of a newspaper that wasn't the USA Today or the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (yes, Avalanche). These two rags hide news-like items amid half-page ads and teasers for upcoming news-like items. Sorta like a 30-page Word Search. I was offered two choices: a $6 NY Times or a $2 Wall Street Journal. I took the WSJ.

Stay with me, Red A. I'm getting to my point. Before you left Taiwan, I remember you saying something about looking to set up some sort of business in Sacramento while continuing with the Taiwan one. My first question is this: Do you know that Sacramento is part of California? I ask this because I recall you always replying that you were from Sacramento, not California, when asked. Wikipedia confirms this: you are living in the 31st state known as California (hard C). Why bother with this piece of arcane trivia? Because you are a businessman, and I feel that you should be aware of some items I came across reading the paper. If you are already aware of them, maybe you can help me to understand. If you aren't, well, then good luck.

The first news item said that the state government is asking 2,000 of its vendors to cut their contracted rates by as much as 15%. Question: How many mulligans is the state government awarded? Furthermore, the government is paying many vendors in IOUs that are not being accepted by a lot of the vendors' banks. Question: Could we organize a group to buy up the IOUs for pennies on the dollar and then become owners of California when the government is unable to pay? Or would they claim another mulligan (again, the number of constitutionally allotted mulligans is crucial to this plan)?

Item Two concerns a business called Creators Syndicate, based in Los Angeles ( Wikipedia says this place is also part of California. What are the chances?). Rick Newcombe, owner/founder or CS, and the city had a dispute in 1994 over the tax classification of his business. CS won a ruling for a much lower rate than the city wanted and everything was okey-dokey until 2007. Then, Mr. Newcombe explains,

"Everything was fine until the city started running out of money in 2007. Suddenly, the city announced that it was going to ignore its own ruling and reclassify us in the higher tax category. Even more incredible is the fact that the new classification was to be imposed retroactively to 2004 with interest and penalties. No explanation was given for the new classification, or for the city's decision to ignore its 1994 ruling.
Their official position is that the city is not bound by past rulings -- only taxpayers are."

Wow! Another mulligan and this time they get to change the scorecard too! Question: Is it too late to change the far western route of the border fence?

As a businessman extraordinaire, I am sure that you will find a way to confront and overcome these shenanigans (U-Haul is nationwide). Well, that's all for now. I'm off to establish First Contact with my friends after only 2 weeks.

Sincerely,

J-Hole