Salvador

This past week Kellen and our fellow partners are in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. We’re here involved in some sort of mischief; and why should we be different than any other American who has been involved in wayward behavior down here for centuries? At least nobody has died because of us. Yet.

It’s funny that I was warned by everyone to “be careful” after telling them I was coming here. While there is crime here and some tough neighborhoods, I haven’t felt at all unsafe. I wonder why people never tell me to “be careful” whenever I tell them I am traveling to Los Angeles. I didn’t even get expressions of concern when I went to Ukraine last year and that place is scary.

It’s funny how we hold a certain perspective about places. San Salvador has terrific restaurants, a vibrant nightlife (so I hear), and several beautiful new malls. There is also abject poverty and the remnants of displacement from a 12-year civil war (in which the U.S. was able to sell off spare military hardware), a devastating earthquake, and recent flooding from the hurricanes that seemingly hit the U.S. and nowhere else, as far as the media is concerned.

But they’re nice people, friendly and helpful, and very proud of their country. El Salvador is doing well by a lot of standards. It is the most stable and economically strong country in Central America and its people haven’t learned to hate Americans yet (in fact they have 600 troops supporting us in Iraq).

Salvadorans have much to be proud of and as long as they continue with their reforms and work at closing the gap between rich and poor, El Salvador has the chance to become the Latin American version of Ireland’s success story of the Seventies and Eighties. And for those of you still stuck in winter; it about 85 with a cool breeze every day.

However that does sound like gunfire down the street, or, optimistically, fire works. The body count tommorow will tell the story.

The Kids Are Alright

Some people never get the joy and honor to work with your kids. I worked with my dad for a while and I am not sure he thought of it as an honor. There seemed to be a lot of yelling and screaming while I was in his employ, not too many raises that I didn’t have to beg for, and a lot of grumbling about him having to re-do my work ( I have got to get over this).

Of course my dad didn’t have Kellen working with him, he had me. And I consider myself lucky to have had the last year with Kellen at my side. In my 26 years as an employer, I have never had a more eager, honest, tough-minded, bottom-line-oriented, and intelligent employee. Not the least to say he’s a great guy to be around.

When he first suggested working for me, I think it was because he had just graduated college and needed to get a job before he figured out what he wanted to do. He has become involved in every one of my business schemes, from my old crappy domestic political company, to my international business, to the new business I have started with an old friend Tom (and, I am happy to say, Phil – pictured below – has just joined).

He’s often quiet at meetings but you know the mind is working all the time. Behind his back he has been given the name “Hoover” because he sucks up all that can be known about a subject and can recite it back more adeptly than the original. He has a tremendous grasp of business (not bad for a History major) and I often turn to him for advice. And his advice is always good. I am very happy to learn that he wants to stick with my businesses and eventually kill off Fredo and take them over. I couldn’t be happier about it.

If you have a kid and he asks for a job, I highly suggest taking them up on it. What other prospective employee can you get a lifetime resume from?

As for Emily – and I have to explain that she is so competitive with her older brother that it needs to be noted she is second in this post due to a flip of the coin – she is scheduled to graduate with a degree in Communications from Sacramento State University in May. However, she has already picked up a fulltime job with Maloof Sports and Entertainment, owners of the Sacramento Kings and Monarchs. She will be a marketing and media relations assistant (that doesn't sound as important as it probably is), primarily for the Monarchs.

She worked as an intern with the Kings and Monarchs while going to school and is one of the few to get a fulltime position after interning. She’s also one of the few among her peers who have been able to get a job in her chosen profession, which is even more impressive due to the competition for jobs in the sports communications world.

As icing on the cake, she will be featured in Elle Magazine in an article about interesting jobs for young professionals. The picture above will be in the magazine.

I know this post is beginning to sound like one of those bragging letters you get instead of pre-printed sentiments from someone else around Christmas time. Mrs. Laz and I had always wanted to write up our own Christmas “brag” letter in which we would announce that “we’re thankful this year because Kellen finally made parole” and “Emily’s six-year marriage to her cousin is going well and her fourth baby actually turned out normal.” But we stuck to the standard ones out of decorum and good taste. Just the same, we are both very proud of our kids with what they have achieved and what great people they both are.

She is an incredible person, witty, and beautiful. She's a pretty big deal and has many leather-bound books and her residence (our back bedroom) smells of rich mahagony. She told me to write all that.

Ringing In The New Year

Mrs. Laz and I spent New Years with our old friends Skip and Linda and Phil and Jill. Skip, Phil and the Lazer have been friends since we were 14, which is either a testament to their patience or they are as weird as I am.

Skip lives in suburban San Diego and Phil just moved back to the area so it made sense to have us all get together and welcome in the welcome New Year.

Just after Christmas, I was whining to Kellen that it would be nice to see 2005 in the rear window. He told me that there were plenty of sad events that happened in our family this past year, but there were happy things too. We were able to travel a lot together, our business remained successful, we met new friends, and we all had each other. A most interesting perspective and one that can only come from a younger person who hasn’t had the chance to have all the optimism reasoned from him.

Well, I do believe I will take the optimistic point of view for 2006 and know that everything will turn out well for me, my family and my friends.

Oh, and on the two photos, Skip, Phil and I were attempting to recreate the magic of 29 years ago. The first (in case you don’t notice) is a picture of the three of us at the half-century mark. You can see that the years have not been kind to Phil’s hair, Skip’s forehead (and, not pictured, his colon), and my big fat ass. Of course Linda took the photograph and I have heard it said that a bad picture angle can put 20 pounds on someone. This must be the case and not the pounds of chocolate I had for the holidays.

The second picture is when the three of us were celebrating Phil’s 21st birthday in 1977. For seasoned readers you will note this picture has appeared before on the blog. Phil had this picture on his desk at home so the three of us made our best stab at looking like three 21-year-old gay lovers again. Sure hope we pulled it off. And, yes, I was an idiot back then. But not anymore, right?