Podcasts about buena park

ICYMI: Hour Three of ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – “What's Up” with regular guest contributor Nick Pagliochini delving into everything the Southland has to offer; from Universal Mega Movie Summer at Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott's Summer Nights at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park; to the ‘Power of the Arts Festival'/‘Ocean Encounter' at the Discovery Cube and the San Diego County Fair! Want to learn more? Check out Nick on socials @NickPagliochini, @ThisWeekendWithNick and @15MinuteFooodie … PLUS – Tragic FloriDUH news & Final Thoughts - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app & YouTube @MrMoKelly

ICYMI: ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – “What's Up” with regular guest contributor Nick Pagliochini delving into everything the Southland has to offer; from Universal Mega Movie Summer at Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott's Summer Nights at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park; to the ‘Power of the Arts Festival'/‘Ocean Encounter' at the Discovery Cube and the San Diego County Fair! Want to learn more? Check out Nick on socials @NickPagliochini, @ThisWeekendWithNick and @15MinuteFooodie - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app & YouTube @MrMoKelly

Host Matt Kirchner sits down with Maroun Nehme, Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics teacher at Buena Park High School in California. Maroun has built one of the most impressive high school mechatronics & robotics programs in the country—complete with a structured 3-year pathway, hands-on labs, and SACA and FANUC certifications that prepare students directly for today's workforce.But the learning doesn't stay inside the classroom. Maroun leverages the power of social media, videos and events to turn his students' achievements into powerful stories that resonate with parents, employers, and the broader community—growing support and enrollment year after year.Listen to learn:How a high school built an industry-aligned, 3-year pathway in advanced robotics and mechatronicsWhy third-party certifications—especially hands-on—are a must for real career readinessHow offering honors-level CTE courses attracts both college-bound and career-focused studentsWhy social media became the program's most powerful tool for enrollment, engagement, and advocacyEducators: Get tips for how to start a CTE program like Buena Park's, AND how to harness the power of social media for your program!3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. Industry certifications should be foundational—not optional—in high school CTE programs. At Buena Park High School, students earn SACA, FANUC, and Amatrol certifications across a 3-year advanced robotics and mechatronics pathway. These credentials aren't just test scores—they're tied directly to hands-on skills that industry demands, giving students tangible proof they're workforce-ready.2. Offering honors-level credit in CTE courses attracts a wider range of students and elevates program credibility. Maroun intentionally made the second and third years of his program include honors-level courses to appeal to college-bound students who care about GPA and academic rigor. It sends a clear message: hands-on technical education is for all students.3. Strategic storytelling is one of the most effective tools for growing CTE programs. By showcasing student certifications, projects, and success stories on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at community events, Maroun built recognition from city leaders, employers, parents and school administrators. One student-led video even helped redefine how people perceive technical education in his district.Connect with the Maroun and BPHS ARM Program on Social Media:Instagram  |  X  |  LinkedInResources in this Episode:To learn more about the Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics (ARM) program, visit their site!Other resources: Visit the official show notes page to access more resources!We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

Kristina Bernarducci and Joe Lynch discuss delivering the drinks: streamlining beverage transportation. Kristina is the Director of Operations at Bettaway, a privately held, family-owned Supply Chain Services company headquartered in South Plainfield, New Jersey. Kristina and the Bettaway team are big supporters of Wreaths Across America.  About Kristina Bernarducci Kristina Bernarducci isn't just building partnerships—she's building community. As Director of Operations at Bettaway and Director of Business Development at PalletTrader, Kristina brings energy, creativity, and a drive for results to the world of logistics and supply chain. Her approach blends data-driven strategy with a human touch, helping companies solve complex problems while creating space for collaboration. With over a decade of experience in operations, Kristina is known for turning opportunities into long-term growth. She's led high-impact initiatives, scaled client relationships, and helped new brands get their product to market. Kristina is a passionate philanthropist and channels her influence into causes that matter. She plays an active role in campaigns like Wreaths Across America and supports initiatives for organizations such as WeMake, which empowers adults with autism through creativity and inclusion. Whether she's hosting charity golf tournaments or hosting Rutgers University Supply Chain students with a tour of the manufacturing facility, Kristina believes business should always be a force for good. About Bettaway Bettaway is a privately held, family-owned Supply Chain Services company headquartered in South Plainfield, New Jersey. Founded in 1981, Bettaway has evolved from a local beverage distributor into a comprehensive logistics provider. The company operates five distinct entities that collaborate to deliver end-to-end supply chain services: Bettaway Traffic Systems, Inc.: Provides third-party logistics (3PL) services, offering clients a complete managed services solution. Bettaway Pallet Systems, Inc.: Offers national pallet management services, acting as a single source for pallet supply, retrieval, and tracking. Bettaway Beverage Distributors, Inc.: Operates a modern, technologically advanced fleet of 150 tractors and 900 food grade dry vans, providing dependable support to logistics and pallet divisions. Bettaway West, Inc.: Expands the company's reach with assets and an office in Buena Park, California. BevDS: equipped to handle e-commerce fulfillment, variety packing, and distribution services. Committed to community engagement, Bettaway supports various organizations, including the Douglas Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutgers University Center for Adults with Autism and Wreaths Across America. About Wreaths Across America Wreaths Across America is an American nonprofit organization established in 2007 by wreath producer Morrill Worcester, assisted by veterans and truckers. Its primary activity is distributing Veteran's wreaths for placement on graves in military cemeteries. In December 2008, the United States Senate agreed to a resolution that designated December 13, 2008, as Wreaths Across America Day. Subsequent National Wreaths Across America Days have been designated on the second or third Saturday of December. What began in 1992 with a trailer load of wreaths, decorated by volunteers and laid at the graves of fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery has now become a national organization with over 3,700 participating locations – all focused on the mission to REMEMBER the fallen; HONOR those who serve; TEACH our children the value of freedom. Key Takeaways: Delivering the Drinks: Streamlining Beverage Transportation Kristina Bernarducci and Joe Lynch discuss delivering the drinks: streamlining beverage transportation. Kristina is the Director of Operations at Bettaway, a privately held, family-owned Supply Chain Services company headquartered in South Plainfield, New Jersey. Here are some challenges that Bettaway faces in streamlining beverage transportation: A Legacy Built on Beverage Expertise: For decades, Bettaway has been a leading force in transportation and logistics, carving out a specialized niche within the intricate world of the beverage supply chain. Strategic Partnership with Arizona Ice Tea: Bettaway's long-standing and crucial partnership with Arizona Ice Tea underscores their ability to handle the high-volume and specific logistical needs of a major beverage producer. End-to-End Solutions Tailored for Beverage: From managing vast inventories to ensuring timely distribution, Bettaway provides comprehensive logistics solutions that are specifically designed to support the unique demands of the beverage industry, as evidenced by their work with Arizona Ice Tea. Driving Efficiency Through Innovation: By employing advanced technology and data-driven insights, Bettaway optimizes transportation routes and streamlines warehouse operations, ensuring cost-effective and efficient delivery of products like Arizona Ice Tea. Unwavering Commitment to Quality and Compliance: Understanding the importance of product integrity, Bettaway maintains rigorous quality control and adheres to all necessary regulations, safeguarding the consistent quality of beverages like Arizona Ice Tea throughout the supply chain. Extensive North American Reach: Bettaway's robust network across North America provides the scale and flexibility required to effectively distribute high-demand beverages like Arizona Ice Tea to a wide range of markets. More Than a Vendor, a Strategic Ally: Bettaway operates as a true partner, working closely with clients like Arizona Ice Tea to understand their evolving needs and provide customized logistics strategies that contribute to their continued success. Wreaths Across America is an American nonprofit organization established in 2007 by wreath producer Morrill Worcester, assisted by veterans and truckers. Its primary activity is distributing Veteran's wreaths for placement on graves in military cemeteries. Learn More About Delivering the Drinks: Streamlining Beverage Transportation Kristina Bernarducci | Linkedin Bettaway | Linkedin Bettaway Pallet Trader Wreaths Across America Pallet Trader | Linkedin Going Private: Shippers Strengthening In-House Fleets Bettaway Enters Third Year Partnering with We Make Supporting Innovative Jobs Program for Adults with Autism Freight markets at “equilibrium” have truckers, shippers cautiously optimistic The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube

Join host Andrew Stotz for a lively conversation with Cliff Norman and Dave Williams, two of the authors of "Quality as an Organizational Strategy." They share stories of Dr. Deming, insights from working with businesses over the years, and the five activities the book is based on. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.2 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, we have a fantastic opportunity to learn more about a recent book that's been published called "Quality as an Organizational Strategy". And I'd like to welcome Cliff Norman and Dave Williams on the show, two of the three authors. Welcome, guys.   0:00:27.1 Cliff Norman: Thank you. Glad to be here.   0:00:29.4 Dave Williams: Yeah, thanks for having us.   0:00:31.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, I've been looking forward to this for a while. I was on LinkedIn originally, and somebody posted it. I don't remember who, the book came out. And I immediately ordered it because I thought to myself, wait, wait, wait a minute. This plugs a gap. And I just wanna start off by going back to Dr. Deming's first Point, which was create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service with the aim to become competitive and stay in business and to provide jobs. And all along, as anybody that learned the 14 Points, they knew that this was the concept of the strategy is to continue to improve the product and service in the eyes of the client and in your business. But there was a lot missing. And I felt like your book has started really to fill that gap. So maybe I'll ask Cliff, if you could just explain kind of where does this book come from and why are you bringing it out now?   0:01:34.5 Cliff Norman: That's a really good question, Andrew. The book was originally for the use of both our clients only. So it came into being, the ideas came out of the Deming four day seminar where Dr. Tom Nolan, Ron Moen and Lloyd Provost, Jerry Langley would be working with Dr. Deming. And then at the end of four days, the people who some of who are our clients would come up to us and said, he gave us the theory, but we don't have any methods. And so they took it very seriously and took Dr. Deming's idea of production viewed as a system. And from that, they developed the methods that we're going to discuss called the five activities. And all of our work with this was completely behind the wall of our clients. We didn't advertise. So the only people who became clients were people who would seek us out. So this has been behind the stage since about 1990. And the reason to bring it out now is to make it available beyond our client base. And Dave, I want you to go ahead and add to that because you're the ones that insisted that this get done. So add to that if you would.   [laughter]   0:02:53.0 Dave Williams: Well, thanks, Cliff. Actually, I often joke at Cliff. So one thing to know, Cliff and Lloyd and I all had a home base of Austin, Texas. And I met them about 15 years ago when I was in my own journey of, I had been a chief quality officer of an ambulance system and was interested in much of the work that API, Associates of Process Improvement, had been doing with folks in the healthcare sector. And I reached out to Cliff and Lloyd because they were in Austin and they were kind enough, as they have been over many years, to welcome me to have coffee and talk about what I was trying to learn and where my interests were and to learn from their work. And over the last 15 years, I've had a great benefit of learning from the experience and methods that API has been using with organizations around the world, built on the shoulders of the theories from Dr. Deming. And one of those that was in the Improvement Guide, one of the foundational texts that we use a lot in improvement project work that API wrote was, if you go into the back, there is a chapter, and Cliff, correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's chapter 13 in this current edition on creating value.   0:04:34.3 Dave Williams: In there, there was some description of kind of a structure or a system of activities that would be used to pursue qualities and organizational strategy. I later learned that this was built on a guide that was used that had been sort of semi self-published to be able to use with clients. And the more that I dove into it, the more that I really valued the way in which it had been framed, but also how, as you mentioned at the start, it provided methods in a place where I felt like there was a gap in what I saw in organizations that I was working with or that I had been involved in. And so back in 2020, when things were shut down initially during the beginning of the pandemic, I approached Lloyd and Cliff and I said, I'd love to help in any way that I can to try to bring this work forward and modernize it. And I say modernize it, not necessarily in terms of changing it, but updating the material from its last update into today's context and examples and make it available for folks through traditional bookstores and other venues.   0:05:58.9 Andrew Stotz: And I have that The Improvement Guide, which is also a very impressive book that helps us to think about how are we improving. And as you said, the, that chapter that you were talking about, 13, I believe it was, yeah, making the improvement of value a business strategy and talking about that. So, Cliff, could you just go back in time for those people that don't know you in the Deming world, I'm sure most people do, but for those people that don't know, maybe you could just talk about your first interactions with Dr. Deming and the teachings of that and what sparked your interest and also what made you think, okay, I wanna keep expanding on this.   0:06:40.0 Cliff Norman: Yeah. So I was raised in Southern California and of course, like many others, I'm rather horrified by what's going on out there right now with fires. That's an area I was raised in. And so I moved to Texas in '79, went to work for Halliburton. And they had an NBC White Paper called, "If Japan Can, Why Can't We?", and our CEO, Mr. Purvis Thrash, he saw that. And I was working in the quality area at that time. And he asked me to go to one of Deming's seminars that was held in Crystal City, actually February of 1982. And I got down there early and got a place up front. And they sent along with me an RD manager to keep an eye on me, 'cause I was newly from California into Texas. And so anyway, we're both sitting there. And so I forgot something. So I ran up stairs in the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel there. And I was coming down and lo and behold, next floor down, Dr. Deming gets on and two ladies are holding him up. And they get in the elevator there and he sees this George Washington University badge and he kind of comes over, even while the elevator was going down and picks it up and looks it up real close to his face. And then he just backs up and leans, holds onto the railing and he says, Mr. Norman, what I'm getting ready to tell you today will haunt you for the rest of your life.   0:08:11.8 Cliff Norman: And that came true. And of course, I was 29 at the time and was a certified quality engineer and knew all things about the science of quality. And I couldn't imagine what he would tell me that would haunt me for the rest of my life, but it did. And then the next thing he told me, he said, as young as you are, if you're not learning from somebody that you're working for, you ought to think about getting a new boss. And that's some of the best advice I've ever gotten. I mean, the hanging around smart people is a great thing to do. And I've been gifted with that with API. And so that's how I met him. And then, of course, when I joined API, I ended up going to several seminars to support Lloyd Provost and Tom Nolan and Ron Moen and Jerry as the various seminars were given. And Ron Moen, who unfortunately passed away about three years ago, he did 88 of those four day seminars, and he was just like a walking encyclopedia for me. So anytime I had questions on Deming, I could just, he's a phone call away, and I truly miss that right now.   0:09:20.5 Cliff Norman: So when Dave has questions or where this reference come from or whatever, and I got to go do a lot of work, where Ron, he could just recall that for me. So I miss that desperately, but we were busy at that time, by the time I joined API was in '88. And right away, I was introduced to what they had drafted out in terms of the five activities, which is the foundation of the book, along with understanding the science of improvement and the chain reaction that Dr. Deming introduced us to. So the science of improvement is what Dr. Deming called the System of Profound Knowledge. So I was already introduced to all that and was applying that within Halliburton. But QBS, as we called it then, Qualities of Business Strategy was brand new. I mean, it was hot off the press. And right away, I took it and started working with my clients with it. And we were literally walking on the bridge as we were building it. And the lady I'm married to right now, Jane Norman, she was working at Conagra, which is like a $15 billion poultry company that's part of Conagra overall, which is most of the food in your grocery store, about 75% of it. And she did one of the first system linkages that we ever did.   0:10:44.5 Cliff Norman: And since then, she's worked at like four other companies as a VP or COO, and has always applied these ideas. And so a lot of this in the book examples and so forth, comes from her actual application work. And when we'd worked together, she had often introduced me, this is my husband, Cliff, he and his partners, they write books, but some of us actually have to go to work. And then eventually she wrote a book with me with Dr. Maccabee, who is also very closely associated with Dr. Deming. So now she's a co-author. So I was hoping that would stop that, but again, we depend on her for a lot of the examples and contributions and the rest of it that show up in the book. So I hope that answers your question.   0:11:28.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, and for people like myself and some of our listeners who have heard Dr. Deming speak and really gotten into his teachings, it makes sense, this is going to haunt you because I always say that, what I read originally... I was 24 when I went to my first Deming seminar. And I went to two two-day seminars and it... My brain was open, I was ready, I didn't have anything really in it about, any fixed methods or anything. So, for me, it just blew my mind, some of the things that he was talking about, like thinking about things in a system I didn't think about that I thought that the way we got to do is narrow things down and get this really tight focus and many other things that I heard. And also as a young, young guy, I was in this room with, I don't know, 500 older gentlemen and ladies, and I sat in the front row and so I would see him kind of call them on the carpet and I would be looking back like, oh, wow, I never saw anybody talk to senior management like that and I was kind of surprised. But for those people that really haven't had any of that experience they're new to Deming, what is it that haunts you? What is... Can you describe what he meant when he was saying that?   0:12:42.9 Cliff Norman: I gotta just add to what you just said because it's such a profound experience. And when you're 29, if most of us, we think we're pretty good shape by that time, the brain's fully developed by age 25, judgment being the last function that develops. And so you're pretty well on your way and then to walk in and have somebody who's 81 years old, start introducing you to things you've never even thought about. The idea of the Chain Reaction that what I was taught as a certified quality engineer through ASQ is I need to do enough inspection, but I didn't need to do too much 'cause I didn't want to raise costs too much. And Dr. Deming brought me up on stage and he said, well, show me that card again. So I had a 105D card, it's up to G now or something. And he said, "well, how does this work?" And I said, "well, it tells me how many samples I got to get." And he says, "you know who invented that." And I said, "no, sir, I thought God did." He said, "no, I know the people that did it. They did it to put people like you out of business. Sit down, young man, you've got a lot to learn." And I thought, wow, and here you are in front of 500 people and this is a public flogging by any stretch.   0:13:56.1 Cliff Norman: And it just went on from there. And so a few years later, I'm up in Valley Forge and I'm working at a class with Lloyd and Tom Nolan and a guy named, I never met before named Jim Imboden. And he's just knock-down brilliant, but they're all working at General Motors at that time. And a lot of the book "Planned Experimentation" came out of their work at Ford and GM and Pontiac and the rest of it. And I mean, it's just an amazing contribution, but I go to dinner with Jim that night. And Jim looks at me across the table and he says, Cliff, how did you feel the day you found out you didn't know anything about business economics or anything else? I said, "you mean the first day of the Deming seminar?" He said, "that's what I'm talking about." And that just... That's how profound that experience is. Because all of a sudden you find out you can improve quality and lower costs at the same time. I'm sorry, most people weren't taught that. They certainly weren't taught that in business school. And so it was a whole transformation in thinking and just the idea of a system. Most of what's going on in the system is related to the system and the way it's constructed. And unfortunately, for most organizations, it's hidden.   0:15:04.2 Cliff Norman: They don't even see it. So when things happen, the first thing that happens is the blame flame. I had a VP I worked for and he'd pulled out his org chart when something went bad and he'd circle. He said, this is old Earl's bailiwick right here. So Cliff, go over and see Earl and I want you to straighten him out. Well, that's how most of it runs. And so the blame flame just takes off. And if you pull the systems map out there and if he had to circle where it showed up, he'd see there were a lot of friends around that that were contributing. And we start to understand the complexity of the issue. But without that view, and Deming insisted on, then you're back to the blame flame.   0:15:45.1 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And Dave, I see a lot of books on the back on your shelf there about quality and productivity and team and many different things. But maybe you could give us a little background on kind of how how you, besides how you got onto this project and all that. But just where did you come from originally and how did you stumble into the Deming world?   0:16:08.9 Dave Williams: Sure. Well, sadly, I didn't have the pleasure of getting to sit in on a four-day workshop. Deming died in 1993. And at that time, I was working on an ambulance as a street paramedic and going to college to study ambulance system design and how to manage ambulance systems, which was a part of public safety that had sort of grown, especially in the United States in the '60s. And by the time I was joining, it was about 30 years into becoming more of a formalized profession. And I found my way to Austin, Texas, trying to find one of the more professionalized systems to work in and was, worked here as a paramedic for a few years. And then decided I wanted to learn more and started a graduate program. And one of the courses that was taught in the graduate program, this is a graduate program on ambulance management, was on quality. And it was taught by a gentleman who had written a, a guide for ambulance leaders in the United States that was based on the principles and methods of quality that was happening at this time. And it pieced together a number of different common tools and methods like Pareto charts and cause-and-effect diagrams and things like that.   0:17:33.1 Dave Williams: And it mentioned the different leaders like Deming and Juran and Crosby and others. And so that was my first exposure to many of these ideas. And because I was studying a particular type of healthcare delivery system and I was a person who was practicing within it and I was learning about these ideas that the way that you improve a system or make improvement is by changing the system. I was really intrigued and it just worked out at the time. One of the first roles, leadership roles that emerged in my organization was to be the Chief Quality Officer for the organization. And at the time, there were 20 applicants within my organization, but I was the only one that knew anything about any of the foundations of quality improvements. Everybody else applied and showed their understanding of quality from a lived experience perspective or what their own personal definitions of quality were, which was mostly around inspection and quality assurance. I had, and this won't surprise Cliff, but I had a nerdy response that was loaded with references and came from all these different things that I had been exposed to. And they took a chance on me because I was the only one that seemed to have some sense of the background. And I started working and doing...   0:19:10.1 Dave Williams: Improvement within this ambulance system as the kind of the dedicated leader who was supposed to make these changes. And I think one of the things that I learned really quickly is that frequently how improvement efforts were brought to my attention was because there was a problem that I, had been identified, a failure or an error usually attributed to an individual as Cliff pointed out, somebody did something and they were the unfortunate person who happened to kind of raise this issue to others. And if I investigated it all, I often found that there were 20 other people that made the same error, but he was, he or she was the only one that got caught. And so therefore they were called to my office to confess. And when I started to study and look at these different issues, every time I looked at something even though I might be able to attribute the, first instance to a person, I found 20 or more instances where the system would've allowed or did allow somebody else to make a similar error.   0:20:12.6 Dave Williams: We just didn't find it. And it got... And it became somewhat fascinating to me because my colleagues were very much from a, if you work hard and just do your job and just follow the policy then good quality will occur. And nobody seemed to spend any time trying to figure out how to create systems that produce good results or figure out how to look at a system and change it and get better results. And so most of my experience was coming from these, when something bubbled up, I would then get it, and then I'd use some systems thinking and some methods and all of a sudden unpack that there was a lot of variation going on and a lot of errors that could happen, and that the system was built to get results worse than we even knew.   0:21:00.7 Dave Williams: And it was through that journey that I ended up actually becoming involved with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and learning about what was being done in the healthcare sector, which API at the time were the key advisors to Dr. Don Berwick and the leadership at IHI. And so much of the methodology was there. And actually, that's how I found my way to Cliff. I happened to be at a conference for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and there was an advertisement for a program called the Improvement Advisor Professional Development Program, which was an improvement like practitioner project level program that had been developed by API that had been adapted to IHI, and I noticed that Cliff and Lloyd were the faculty, and that they were in my hometown. And that's how I reached out to them and said, hey can we have coffee? And Cliff said, yes. And so...   0:21:53.1 Andrew Stotz: And what was that, what year was that roughly?   0:22:00.3 Dave Williams: That would've been back in 2002 or 2003, somewhere in that vicinity.   0:22:02.0 Andrew Stotz: Hmm. Okay.   0:22:06.8 Dave Williams: Maybe a little bit later.   0:22:06.9 Andrew Stotz: I just for those people that are new to the topic and listening in I always give an example. When I worked at Pepsi... I graduated in 1989 from university with a degree in finance. And I went to work at Pepsi in manufacturing and warehouse in Los Angeles at the Torrance Factory originally, and then in Buena Park. But I remember that my boss told me, he saw that I could work computers at that time, and so I was making charts and graphs just for fun to look at stuff. And he said, yeah, you should go to a one of these Deming seminars. And so he sent me to the one in... At George Washington University back in 1990, I think it was. And but what was happening is we had about a hundred trucks we wanted to get out through a particular gate that we had every single morning. And the longer it took to get those trucks out the longer they're gonna be on LA traffic and on LA roads, so if we can get 'em out at 5:00 AM, fantastic. If we get 'em out at 7:00, we're in trouble. And so they asked me to look at this and I did a lot of studying of it and I was coming for like 4:00 in the morning I'd go up to the roof of the building and I'd look down and watch what was happening. And then finally I'd interview everybody. And then finally the truck drivers just said, look, the loaders mess it up so I gotta open my truck every morning and count everything on it. And I thought, oh, okay.   0:23:23.7 Andrew Stotz: So I'll go to the loaders. And I go, why are you guys messing this up? And then the loaders was like, I didn't mess it up. We didn't have the production run because the production people changed the schedule, and so we didn't have what the guy needed. And so, and oh, yeah, there was a mistake because the production people put the product in the wrong spot, and therefore, I got confused and I put the wrong stuff on by accident. And then I went to the production people and they said, well, no, it's not us. It's the salespeople. They keep putting all this pressure on us to put this through right now, and it's messing up our whole system. And that was the first time in my life where I realized, okay, it's a system. There's interconnected parts here that are interacting, and I had to go back into the system to fix, but the end result was I was able to get a hundred trucks through this gate in about 45 minutes instead of two hours, what we had done before.   0:24:18.8 Andrew Stotz: But it required a huge amount of work of going back and looking at the whole system. So the idea of looking at the science of improvement, as you mentioned, and the System of Profound Knowledge, it's... There's a whole process. Now, I wanna ask the question for the person who gets this book and they dig into it, it's not a small book. I've written some books, but all of 'em are small because I'm just, maybe I just can't get to this point. But this book is a big book, and it's got about 300... More than 300 pages. What's the promise? What are they gonna get from digging into this book? What are they gonna take away? What are they gonna be able to bring to their life and their business that they couldn't have done without really going deeper into this material?   0:24:57.7 Cliff Norman: Dave, go ahead.   0:25:01.4 Dave Williams: Well, I was gonna joke by saying they're gonna get hard work and only half because this is just the theory in the book and many of the... And sort of examples of the method. But we're in the process of preparing a field guide which is a much deeper companion guide loaded with exercises and examples of and more of the methods. So the original guide that that API had developed was actually about an eight... Well, I don't know how many pages it was, but it was a thick three inch binder. This, what you have there is us refining the content part that explains the theory and kind of gets you going. And then we moved all of the exercises and things to the field guide for people that really wanna get serious about it.   0:26:00.3 Dave Williams: And the reason I say hard work is that the one thing that you won't get, and you should probably pass it if this book if you're on Amazon, is you're not gonna get an easy answer. This is, as a matter of fact, one of the things that emerged in our early conversations about was this project worth it? Is to say that this is hard work. It's work that a very few number of leaders who or leadership teams that really want to learn and work hard and get results are gonna embark on. But for those, and many of our clients, I think are representative of that, of those people that say, gosh, I've been working really hard, and I feel like we could do better. I feel like I could make a bigger impact, or I could serve more customers or clients.   0:26:44.0 Dave Williams: And but I am... And I'm in intrigued or inspired or gotten to a certain point with improvement science on my own, but I want to figure out how to be more systematic and more global and holistic at that approach. Then that's what QOS is about. It builds on the shoulders of the other books that you mentioned, like The Improvement Guide which we talked about as being a great book about improvement, and improvement specifically in the context of a project. And other books like The Healthcare Data Guide and the Planned Experimentation, which are also about methods, healthcare Data Guide being about Shewhart charts, and Planned Experimentation being about factorial design. This book is about taking what Cliff described earlier as that... I always say it's that that diagram that people put on a slide and never talk about from Deming of production views as a system and saying, well, how would we do this if this is the model for adopting quality as strategy, what are the methods that help us to do this?   0:28:01.3 Dave Williams: And this book breaks that down into five activities that are built on the shoulders of profound knowledge, built on the shoulders of the science of improvement and provide a structure to be able to initially develop a system, a systems view of your organization, and then build on that by using that system to continually operate and improve that organization over time. So the book describes the activities. The book describes some of the things that go into getting started, including being becoming good at doing results-driven improvement, building a learning system, focusing in on the things that matter to your organization. And then working towards building the structure that you can improve upon. The book creates that foundation. It provides examples from clients and from people that we've worked with so that you can see what the theory looks like in practice get, kind of get a flavor for that. And we hope it builds on the shoulders of other work that I mentioned in the other books that compliment it and provides a starting point for teams that are interested in taking that journey.   0:29:26.5 Andrew Stotz: And Cliff, from your perspective, if somebody had no, I mean, I think, I think the Deming community's gonna really dive in and they're gonna know a lot of this stuff, but is gonna help them take it to the next level. But for someone who never had any real experience with Deming or anything like that, and they stumble upon this interview, this discussion, they hear about this book, can they get started right away with what's in this book? Or do they have to go back to foundations?   0:29:49.6 Cliff Norman: No, I think that can definitely get started. There's a lot of learning as you know, Andrew, from going through the four-day to understand things. And I think we've done a pretty good job of integrating what Dr. Deming taught us, as well as going with the methods. And one of the things people would tell him in his four-day seminars is, Dr. Deming, you've given us the theory, but we have no method here. And he said, well, if I have to give you the method, then you'll have to send me your check too. So he expected us to be smart enough to develop the methods. And the API folks did a really good job of translating that into what we call the five activities. So those five activities are to understand the purpose of the organization.   0:30:35.6 Cliff Norman: And a lot of people when they write a purpose, they'll put something up there but it's usually we love all our people. We love our customers even more. If only they didn't spend so much, and we'll come out with something like that and there'll be some pablum that they'll throw up on the wall. Well, this actually has some structure to it to get to Deming's ideas. And the first thing is let's try to understand what business we're in and what need we're serving in society that drives customers to us. So that word is used not need coming from customers, but what is it that drives them to us so we can understand that? And then the second part of that purpose needs to define the mainstay, the core processes, the delivery systems that relate directly to customers. And just those two ideas alone, just in the first activity of purpose, most people haven't thought about those ideas.   0:31:27.8 Cliff Norman: And can somebody pick up this book and do that? Yes. And that will answer a big challenge from Dr. Deming. Most people don't even know what business they're in, haven't even thought about it. And so that we... That question gets answered here, I think, very thoroughly. In this second activity, which is viewing the organization as a system contains two components that's viewing the organization as a system. And that's difficult to do, and a lot of people really don't see the need for it. Jane Norman reminded Dave and I on a call we did last week, that when you talk about a systems map with people, just ask 'em how do they know what's going on inside other organizations, other departments within their organization? How do they know that? And most of us are so siloed.   0:32:11.2 Cliff Norman: Somebody over here is doing the best job they can in department X, and meanwhile, department Y doesn't know anything about it. And then three months later the improvement shows up and all of a sudden there's problems now in department Y. Well, somebody who's focused on the organization as a system and sees how those processes are related when somebody comes to a management meeting said, well, we've just made a change here, and this is gonna show up over here in about three months, and you need to be prepared for that. Andrew, that conversation never takes place. So the idea of having the systems map and this book can help you get started on that. The second book that Dave was just talking about, there are more replete examples in there. I mean, we've got six case studies from clients in there than the practitioners and people who actually are gonna be doing this work.   0:33:01.7 Cliff Norman: That's gonna be absolutely... They're gonna need that field guide. And I think that's where Dave was coming from. The third activity is the information activity, how are we learning from outside the organization and how do we get feedback and research into the development of new products and services and the rest of it? And so we provided a system there. In fact, Dave took a lead on that chapter, and we've got several inputs there that have to be defined. And people just thinking through that and understanding that is huge. When Dr. Deming went to Japan in 1950, he was there to do the census to see how many Japanese were left after World War II. And then he got an invitation to come and talk to the top 50 industrialists. And he started asking questions and people from the Bank of Tokyo over there and all the rest of it.   0:33:52.4 Cliff Norman: And Dr. Deming says, well, do you have any problems? And they said, what do you mean? He says, well, do customers call up and complain? And he said, yes. And he says, well, do you have any data? And he said, no. He says, but if they complain, we give them a Geisha calendar. And then Dr. Deming says, well, how many Geisha calendars have you given out? So it's like, in 1991, I'm sitting here talking to a food company and I asked him, I said, well, you get customer complaints? Oh yeah. Do you have any data on it? No, but we give 'em a cookbook. I said, well, how many cookbooks are you giving out? So I was right back to where Deming was in 1950, so having the information activity, that third activity critical so that we're being proactive with it and not just reactive.   0:34:43.7 Cliff Norman: And so I think people can read through that and say, well, what are we doing right now? Well, I guess we're not doing this and move on. Then the fourth activity is absolutely critical. This is where you know that you've arrived, because now you're going to integrate not only the plan to operate, but a plan to improve. That becomes the business plan. For most people in business plan they do a strategy, and then they have a bunch of sub strategies, and they vote on what's important, and they do some other things, and then a year later they come back and revisit it. Well, what happens here is there's some strategic objectives that are laid out, and then immediately it comes down to, okay, what's gonna be designed and redesigned in this system? Which processes, products and services are gonna be designed? 'Cause we can all see it now, Andrew.   0:35:31.6 Andrew Stotz: Mm.   0:35:31.6 Cliff Norman: We can, it's right in front of us. So it's really easy to see at this point, and now we can start to prioritize and make that happen on purpose. As an example when Jane was a vice president at Conagra, they came up with five strategic objectives. Then they made a bunch of promises to corporate about what they were gonna do and when they were going to achieve it. When she laid out the systems map for them, they were horrified that over 30% of the processes that they needed to be having precooked meat didn't even exist. They were gonna have to be designed. And so Jane and I sat there and looking at 'em and said, well, if you'd had this map before you made the promises, would you have made those promises? No, no, we're in trouble right now. I gotta go back to the CEO of the holding company and tell 'em we're not gonna make it.   0:36:22.4 Cliff Norman: But there's a whole bunch of people that sit around in goal settings. We're gonna do this by when and have no idea about what they're talking about. So that's a little bit dangerous here. And then the fifth activity, it's probably the most important. And where I want people to start, I actually want 'em to start on the fifth activity, which is managing individual improvement activities, team activities. And what I mean by that is, nothing can hold you up from starting today on making an improvement and use the model for improvement. The three basic questions, you can write that on an envelope and apply it to a project and start right away. Because learning the habit of improvement, and when you identify, and this is typical in the planning process, again, a chapter that Dave took a lead on in the planning chapter.   0:37:03.8 Cliff Norman: When you lay that out, you're gonna come up with three to five strategic objectives, but that's gonna produce anywhere between 15 and 20 improvement efforts. And when people start three improvement efforts, and they see how difficult that is to traffic through an organization, particularly if you have a systems map, makes it a lot easier. If you don't have that, then there's all sorts of things that happen to you.   0:37:21.3 Andrew Stotz: Hmm.   0:37:22.8 Cliff Norman: But the, the idea of that all coming together is critical. And where you... Where that really shows up for the reader here is in chapter one. So Lloyd Provost took a lead on chapter one. If you read chapter one, you got a pretty good idea of what's gonna happen in the rest of the book. But more importantly, in that book, in chapter one, there's a survey at the end. And every time we give this out to people, they feel real bad.   0:37:48.1 Cliff Norman: And well, Cliff, any, on a scale of one to 10, we only came up with a four. Well, what I would tell 'em is, if you can come up with a four, you're pretty good. And those fundamentals have to be in place. In other words, the management needs to trust each other. There are certain things that have to be in place before you can even think about skating backwards here. And quality as an organizational strategy is all about skating backwards. The people who don't have the fundamentals can't even start to think about that.   0:38:15.0 Cliff Norman: So that survey and the gap between where they are at a four and where they're going to be at a 10, we've integrated throughout the whole book. So as you're reading through the whole book, you're seeing that gap, and then you have a good plan forward as to what do I need to do to get to be a six, an eight, and what do I need to do to finally arrive at a 10? Dave, why don't you add to what I just said there, and I gotta turn on a light here, I think.   0:38:39.2 Dave Williams: Well, I think one of the things that, and Cliff has probably been the one that has helped me appreciate this to the biggest degree is the role in which improvement plays in quality as an organizational strategy. So, I mean, I think in general, in our world, improvement is seen as kind of like a given, but in our case, what we've found is that many times people are not working on the things right in front of them or the problems in which they have, that they are on the hook... I like to say, are on the hook to get accomplished right now. And like Cliff mentioned, many of my clients when I engage with them, I say, well, what have you promised this year? And they'll give me a list and I'll say, well, okay, what are you working on to improve? And they'll be working on projects that are not related to that list of things that they've got to affect. And so usually that's a first pivot is to say, well, let's think about what are the things that you're working on or should be working on that are either designing or redesigning your system to achieve these strategic objectives.   0:39:48.8 Dave Williams: And the reason to put the attention on that fifth activity and get people working on improvement, there's a good chance that the improvement capability within the organization currently isn't to the level that you need it, where you can get results-driven projects happening at a clip that will enable you to chip away at 20 projects versus four in a year. And that it's not well integrated into the leadership, into the support structures that you have. In addition, if you're trying to use improvement on things that you're on the hook for, and Cliff noted, especially if you've got a system map while you're on that journey, you're gonna start to pick up on where the disconnects are. Similar to your example, Andrew, where you were describing your experience working backwards in the process, you're going to start to recognize, oh, I'm working on this, but it's linked to these other things. Or in order for me to do this, I need that. Or... And so that amplifies the project to be kind of just a vehicle to appreciate other things that are interconnected, that are important in improving our work together.   0:41:05.1 Dave Williams: And so I think that that's a critical piece. I mean, I sometimes describe it as the disappointment that people have when they open QOS because they want to have a new method or a new thing to work on. I said, well, there's a lot new in here. And at the same time, we want to build on the shoulders of the fundamentals. We want to build it because it's the fundamentals that are going to be able for you to activate the things that are necessary in order for you to skate backwards, like Cliff was describing earlier.   0:41:36.2 Cliff Norman: I got to add to what Dave was saying because this actually happened to me with a... I'm not going to mention the name of the company, but it's a high-tech companies worldwide. And we got up, a good friend of mine, Bruce Bowles, and we were introducing the idea of quality as an organizational strategy. And one of the guys in the front row, he says, Cliff, this just sounds like common sense, why aren't we all doing this? I said, that's a real good question. Let me put that in the parking lot here. So I put it up on a flip chart. And so we went through the idea of... We were working on Shewhart control charts. And so we showed him one of those. And at the end of all that, he raised his hand and I said, yeah, he says, Cliff, this is hard. I said, well, let me put that up here. This is hard. Then we went through the systems map and he says, look, this is hard. By the end of the two days, it was, this is hard, this is hard, this is hard, this is hard. This goes back to what Dave was saying earlier about once you open this page, there's some work that takes off, but more importantly, there's something new to learn here.   0:42:40.3 Cliff Norman: And that's frustrating to people, especially when they've got to quit doing what they've done in the past. It's what Deming says, you got to give up on the guilt and you got to move forward and transform your own thinking. So there's something here for the management to do. And if they're not willing to do that work, then this is probably not a good thing for them. Just go back to the blame flame and circling org charts and that kind of stuff and then wonder why we're losing money.   0:43:11.8 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, and I think that that's one of the things that we see in the Deming community is that, why are people doing it the way they are, dividing things up and doing KPIs and saying, you take care of that. And we're gonna optimize by focusing on each... We see how that all kind of falls apart.   0:43:27.9 Cliff Norman: It all falls through reductionism.   0:43:29.8 Andrew Stotz: [laughter] Yeah.   0:43:32.5 Cliff Norman: It doesn't understand the system, yeah.   0:43:32.5 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, so what I want to do now is I was just thinking about a book on my shelf called "Competitive Strategy" by Michael Porter. And there's a whole field of study in the area of strategy for businesses. Now you guys use, and you explain a little bit about the way you come up with... Why you come up with organization rather than let's say company as an example. But let's just talk about strategy for a moment. Generally we're taught in business school that there's two main strategies. One is a differentiation strategy. I like to teach my students like Starbucks. It's very differentiated from the old model. And you can have a low cost strategy, which is like McDonald's, where it's all about operational efficiency.   0:44:18.4 Andrew Stotz: And those are two different strategies that can get to the same goal, which is to build a strong and sustainable business that's making a good profit for the employees to get paid well and for shareholders. And so for somebody that understands some of the foundations of typical strategy, it's hard for them to think, wait, wait, wait, what? You're just talking about just better quality is the strategy? How should they frame this concept of quality as a strategy in relation to what we've been taught about low cost and differentiation and other types of strategy? How do we think about this book in relation to that?   0:45:03.2 Cliff Norman: When Deming wrote his book, his very first one of the four "Out of the Crisis", which was the whole idea about quality and competitive position. But he was kind of answering that. And at that time, what we had is we had three companies in the United States that were going at each other, Ford, GM, and Chrysler. And they'd call each other up, well, what are you doing this year? Oh, we're making cars that don't work. Sometimes they break down. That's why we have Mr. Goodwrench to repair them. That's an extra revenue source for us. As one of the executives that are challenged, a colleague of mine, he said, you don't realize how much money we're gonna lose here taking the repair business out because we make a lot of money out of repair. So making cars that don't work has been a good revenue stream for us. Well, all that works out great, until somebody shows up like Toyota that has a car that works and doesn't need to be repaired by Mr. Goodwrench all the time.   0:45:58.8 Cliff Norman: So the mind shift there, and what Dr. Deming was saying is that he was focused on the competition's already licked. And I don't think Porter's thought about that very much, not to be overly critical, because I'm an admirer of his, but the idea of focusing on the need and why is that customer coming to us so that we make a journey, and the Japanese call that being in the Gemba, being in the presence with the customers as they use the product or service and doing the research and the rest of it. And then coming back and then redesign that product or service so that it not only grabs the current customer, but we start thinking about customers that are not even our customers and innovate and actually come up with a design that actually brings new customers to us through products and services that we haven't thought about yet. So if I show you three products just to make a picture of it, we often show like an abacus, which was a hand calculating machine about BC. Then there's a slide rule that came out about the same year that Columbus discovered America. And that was good till about 1968.   0:47:06.0 Cliff Norman: And then the calculator, the handheld calculator came out. Well the need for all three of those products is to do handheld calculations. So we've had that need since BC. Now in 1967, K&E Calculator was making that slide rule, which I used in junior high school. If you'd have come up to me and said, Cliff, what do you need in the way of a better slide rule? I said, well can you get me a holster for it? 'Cause I don't like having to stick me in the face. I put it in my pocket and it sticks me in the face. And if you can give me a holster for that, that would be my view of that. I wasn't about to come up with the TI calculator. That wasn't gonna happen. Not from Cliff. It's gonna come from an engineer at TI. Now, K&E Calculator, if they'd been doing research in the marketplace and saying, is there something that can totally disrupt us going on here? Rather than just looking at figuring out a way to make the K&E slide rule better, they might've discovered that.   0:48:07.0 Cliff Norman: Most people don't do that. They just go back. They just lose their business. And it was interesting in '67, their annual report put out, what's the world gonna look like 100 years from now? So they had dome cities, they had cars flying, they had all sorts of things going on that were great innovations, but they didn't have the TI calculator in there, along with the HP calculator. And that wiped out their business. And so if people understand the need, and that's what Dr. Deming is getting at, he says, they really haven't thought about what business they're in. So why are the customers coming to us? He says, no customer ever asked for pneumatic tire. No customer ever asked for a microwave oven. That came from people with knowledge that were looking at how the customers are using the current products and services and say, now, is there technology innovation going on that we can actually do a better job of providing a better match in the future?   0:48:56.9 Andrew Stotz: And can you explain why you use the word need as opposed to want?   0:49:06.5 Cliff Norman: That's a good question. The idea is that there's a need that's constant in society. So that need of having to do handheld calculations or needing healthcare or to pay bills, that need is constant throughout civilization. And so if I want something that's interesting, that might be the match. That might be something to do with some features what I'm offering and so forth. I'd like to have this, I'd like to have that. But the need and the way we're using that is it doesn't come from customers. It's what drives customers to us. And it's always been there. It's always been there. Need for transportation, for example. Whether you're walking or driving a bicycle or a car or a plane.   0:49:53.6 Andrew Stotz: And Dave, how would you answer the same question when you think about a person running a business and they've had many strategy meetings in their business, they've set their corporate strategy of what we're doing, where we're going and that type of thing. And maybe they've picked, we're gonna be a low cost producer. Thailand's an interesting one because Thailand had a ability to be low cost producers in the past. And then China came along and became the ultimate low cost producer. And all of a sudden, Thai companies had a harder time getting the economies of scale and the like. And now the Chinese manufacturers are just really coming into Thailand, into the Thai market. And now it's like, for a Thai company to become a low cost leader is almost impossible given the scale that China and the skills that they have in that. And so therefore, they're looking at things like I've got to figure out how to get a better brand. I've got to figure out how to differentiate and that type of thing. How does this... How could this help a place like that and a management team that is struggling and stuck and is looking for answers?   0:51:07.0 Dave Williams: Well, I go back to what Cliff said about that many organizations don't pause to ask, why do they exist? What is the need of which they are trying to fulfill? Much of my background involved working in the service industry, initially with public safety and ambulance systems and fire systems, and then later in healthcare and in education. And in many of those environments, especially in places where in public systems where they've been built and they may have existed for a long time, when you ask them about what are they trying to accomplish as an organization or what is it that they... The need that they're trying to fulfill? Typically, they're gonna come back to you with requests or desires or wants or sort of characteristics or outcomes that people say they expect, but they don't pause to ask, like, well, what is the actual thing of which I'm trying to tackle? And Cliff mentioned like, and we actually, I should mention in the book, we have a list of different strategies, different types of strategies, all the different ones that you mentioned, like price and raw material or distribution style or platform or technology.   0:52:30.9 Dave Williams: There's different types of strategies, and the one that we are focusing in on is quality. But I think it's important for people to ask the question. Cliff mentioned transportation. There's a number of different great examples, actually, I think in transportation, where you could look at that as being an ongoing need as Cliff mentioned from the days when there was no technology and we were all on foot to our current day. Transportation has been a need that existed and many different things over time have been created from bicycles, probably one of the most efficient technologies to transport somebody, wheels and carts. And now, and you were referencing, we've made reference to the car industry. It's a fascinating experience going on of the car world and gas versus electric, high technology versus not, autonomous vehicles. There's, and all of them are trying to ask the question of, are there different ways in which I might be able to leverage technology to achieve this need of getting from point A to point B and be more useful and potentially disrupt in the marketplace? And so I think the critical thing initially is to go back and ask and learn and appreciate what is that need?   0:53:58.6 Dave Williams: And then think about your own products and services in relation to that. And I think we include four questions in the book to be able to kind of think about the need. And one of those questions is also, what are other ways in which you could fulfill that need? What are other ways that somebody could get transportation or do learning or to help sort of break you away from just thinking about your own product as well? And that's useful because it's super tied to the system question, right? Of, well, this is the need that we're trying to fulfill and these are the products and services that are matching that need. Then the system that we have is about, we need to build that and design that in order to produce, not only produce the products and services that match that need, but also continually improve that system to either improve those products and services or add or subtract products and services to keep matching the need and keep being competitive or keep being relevant. And maybe if it's not in a competitive environment where you're gonna go out of business, at least be relevant in terms of the city service or community service, government service that continues to be there to match the need of the constituents. So I think it's a really important piece.   0:55:17.0 Dave Williams: It's that North star of saying, providing a direction for everything else. And going back to your original comment or question about strategy, and many times people jump to a strategy or strategies or, and those might be more around particular objectives or outcomes that they're trying to get to. It may not actually be about the method or the approach like cost or technology that they may not even think that way. They may be more thinking about a plan. And I really encourage people to be clear about what they're trying to accomplish and then start to ask, well, how's the system built for that? And later we can bring a process that'll help us learn about our system and learn about closing that gap.   0:56:05.1 Cliff Norman: Yeah. Just what I'd add to that, Andrew, because you mentioned China, a few other countries, but I think the days are coming to an end fairly quickly where somebody can say, oh, we can go to this country. They have low wages, we'll put our plant there and all that. There's a lot of pushback on that, particularly in the United States. And if that's your strategy, that hadn't required a lot of thinking to say the least. But in 1966, over 50% of the countries in the world were, let me rephrase that, over 50% of the population of the world lived in extreme poverty. So there were a lot of targets to pick out where you want to put your manufacturing. And in 2017, and you and Dave were probably like myself, I didn't see this hit the news, but that figure had been reduced from over 50% down to 9%. And all you have to do is just, and I worked in China a lot, they're becoming very affluent. And as they become very affluent, that means wages are going up and all the things that we want to see throughout the world. And I think that's happening on a grand scale right now, but you're also getting a lot of pushback from people when they see the middle class in their own country, like here in the United States, destroyed, and say, I think we've had enough of this. And I think you're gonna see that after January. You're gonna see that take off on steroids.   0:57:31.7 Cliff Norman: And that's gonna happen, and I think throughout the world, people are demanding more, there's gonna have to be more energy, every time a baby is born, the footprints gets bigger for more energy and all the rest of it. So it's gonna be interesting, and I think we are going into an age for the planet where people as Dr. Deming promised that they'd be able to live materially better, and the whole essence of this book is to focus on the quality of the organization and the design and redesign of a system to a better job of matching the need and cause that chain reaction to go off. When Jane and I went over to work in Sweden, Sven Oloff who ran three hospitals and 62 dental clinics there and also managed the cultural activities and young shipping. He said, Cliff, I report to 81 politicians. I don't wanna have to go to them to put a bond on an election to get more money for my healthcare system, I wanna use Dr. Deming's chain reaction here to improve care to the patients in my county and also reduce our costs. A whole bunch of people that don't even believe that's possible in healthcare.   0:58:39.9 Cliff Norman: But that's what Sven Oloff said that's what you're here for. And that's what we proceeded to do, they launched about 350 projects to do just that, and one of their doctors, Dr. Motz [?], he's amazing. We taught him a systems map, I came back two months later, and he had them in his hospital on display. And I said, Motz, how did you do this? He said well Cliff, I'm an endocrinologist by education as a doctor, of course, that's a person who understands internal systems in the body. So he said the systems approach was a natural for me. But I'd like to say it was that easy for everybody else, that systems map idea and as you know, being in the Deming seminar, that's quite a challenge to move from viewing the organization as an org chart, which has been around since Moses father-in-law told him, you need to break up the work here a little bit, and the tens of tens reporting to each other, and then of course, the Romans took that to a grander scale, and so a centurion soldier had 100 other soldiers reporting to him. So we've had org charts long and our federal government took that to a whole new level.   0:59:46.1 Cliff Norman: But the idea is switching off the org chart from biblical times to actually getting it up to Burt [?] about 1935 and understanding a system that's kind of a nose bleed in terms of how much we're traveling there to get us into the 21st century here.   1:00:04.0 Andrew Stotz: And I left Ohio, I grew up outside of Cleveland, and I left Ohio in about 1985, roughly. And it was still a working class, Cleveland had a huge number of jobs and there was factories and all that, and then I went to California, and then I moved to Thailand in 1992. So when I go back to Ohio now, many years later, decades later, it's like a hollowed out place, and I think about what you're saying is... And what's going on in the world right now is that I think there's a desire in America to bring back manufacturing to bring back production and all of that, and that's a very, very hard challenge, particularly if it's gone for a while and the skill sets aren't there, maybe the education system isn't there, I talk a lot with John Dues here on the show about the what's happening in education and it's terrifying.   1:01:05.9 Andrew Stotz: So how could this be... Book be a guide for helping people that are saying, we've got to revitalize American production and manufacturing and some of these foundational businesses and not just services, which are great. How can this book be a guide?   1:01:25.8 Dave Williams: One thing I would say that I think is interesting about our times, many times when I reflect on some of the examples that you just provided, I think about how changes were made in systems without thinking about the whole system together. And there may have been changes at various times that we're pursuing particular strategies or particular approaches, so it may have been the low-cost strategy, it may have been to disrupt a marketplace. And oftentimes, they don't think about... When somebody's pursuing one particular view, they may miss other views that are important to have an holistic perspective. One of the things that I appreciate about QoS in the methods and overall as a holistic view of looking at organizations that it's asking us to really think initially about that North Star, what we're trying to do, our purpose, and what are the tenants. What are the things that are important us, the values...   1:02:38.7 Dave Williams: That are important to us in pursuing that particular purpose? And in doing that, really thinking about how does the system work as it is today, and if we make changes, how does it move in alignment with the values that we have and in the direction that we wanna go? And appreciating, I would say, part of the value of the scientific thinking that is in the Science of Improvement is that it encourages you to try to see what happens and appreciate not only what happens in relation to the direction you're trying to go, but also the... Have a balanced view of looking at the collateral effects of things that you do, and I think that systems do is really important there. So I think from that perspective, the quality as an organizational strategy brings a holistic picture into these organizations, or at least...   1:03:45.1 Dave Williams: To be paying attention to the system that you have, maybe the direction you wanna go, and what happens as you... What are your predictions and what do you see when you study the results of making changes in the direction of the vision that you have. And I think that's at a high level that is one of the ways that I think about it. Cliff, how would you add on there?   1:04:09.1 Cliff Norman: Your question made me think of something that happened about two years ago, Jane and I got a call from a lady that worked for her in one of the chicken plants, and she said, Jane, I had to call you because I need to order some of those Shewhart charts. But what happened today, you should have been here and Jane said, what... She said, Remember that 10 year thing we buried in the ground that we're gonna open up in 10 years, and she said, yeah, said, well, we opened it up today, and the new plant manager was here, and those Shewhart charts came out, and he looked at the costs on them. He said, you were operating at this level? She said, yeah, routinely. And he said what happened? He said, well, they had new management come in and they got rid of the charts, that's the first thing they did, and then gradually they try to manage things like they normally did, and then they forgot everything that we had learned. And that's kind of where we are right now.   1:05:11.0 Cliff Norman: So just think of that a decade goes by, and it just as Dr. Deming said, there's nothing worse than the mobility of management, it's like getting AIDS in the system. And they basically destroyed their ability to run a low-cost operation in an industry that runs on 1 or 2%. And when you watch that happen and understand that we still have food companies in this country, and we have to start there and start looking at the system anew and start thinking about how it can actually cause that chain reaction to take off, and that comes from focusing on quality of the system. And then as Dr. Deming says, anybody that's ever worked for a living knows why costs go down with two words less rework, but instead of people will put in extra departments to handle the rework. Next thing they start building departments to handle...   1:06:01.8 Cliff Norman: The stuff that's not working because the system they don't understand. So that was a... What do they call those things, Dave, where they put them in the ground and pull him out?   1:06:11.0 Dave Williams: Time capsule.   1:06:13.4 Andrew Stotz: Time capsule yeah.   1:06:13.5 Cliff Norman: Yeah. Time capsule. The a 10-year time capsule.   1:06:19.2 Andrew Stotz: It's a great, great story. And a great idea. We had a company in Thailand a very large company that the CEO of it came upon the idea of the teachings of Dr. Deming and over time, as he implemented it in his company, the Japanese Union of Scientists have their prize and his company won that prize and then he had about 10 subsidiary companies that also were doing it and they also won over time. And so Thailand is actually is the second largest recipient of the Japanese Deming Award outside of India. But he left and he retired and another guy took over, a very bright guy and all that, but he threw most of that out and focused on newer methods like KPIs and things like that. And just at the end of last year, maybe six months ago, they reported a pretty significant loss, and I was kind of made me think how we can spend all this time getting the Deming teachings into our business, and then one little change in management and it's done.   1:07:26.9 Andrew Stotz: And that made me think, oh, well, that's the value of the book, in the sense that it's about building the concept of quality as a core part of strategy as opposed to just a tool or a way of thinking that could go out of the company as soon as someone else comes in. Go ahead, Dave.   1:07:41.9 Dave Williams: I was gonna say, Andrew, you raise a point, I think it's really, really important and Cliff mentioned this in terms of the problem of mobility of management. One thing that I don't know that we outline probably in dark enough ink in the book is the critically important piece of leadership, building the structures and the capability. I know we talk a little bit about it, but doing it in a way that both builds up the people that you have... So Cliff emphasiz

2025 is here and so is the RETURN of the MINDLESS HORROR PODCAST! We are back with another TAKEOVER MONTH here on the Nights of Horror, kicking the New Year off right with the start of our CarnEVIL Takeover with none other than the Nerd Clown herself, LuLu aka Audrey! We talk about her love for haunt and her new love for horror as she talks about her years at Seaworld's Howl O Scream in San Diego and Knott's Scary Farm in Buena Park! All this and much more on the 2025 DAY 1 edition of the Mindless Horror Podcast!

 In the twelfth installment of this educational series, Shelly & Noe Valladolid talk about how a small, roadside berry stand in Buena Park, CA eventually grew to become one of America's most popular theme parks Throughout this episode, listeners will learn about: How an abandoned berry plant found in a ditch became a thriving family business How the tea room at Knott's Berry Place eventually transformed into Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant How was the piece for Knott's “Ghost Town Village” acquired Which piece of the Roaring '20s is still in operation within the Park How did Knott's annual Halloween Haunt hard ticket get its start Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jacob Stoller and Andrew Stotz discuss the myth that managers need to know everything in order to manage. What happens when you ask non-managers for feedback? TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.2 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we continue our journey into the teachings of Dr. W Edwards Deming. Today I'm continuing my discussion with Jacob Stoller, a Shingo-Prize-winning author of The Lean CEO and also Productivity Reimagined, which explores how to apply the Lean and Deming management style at the enterprise level. The topic for today is Myth Three: The Top-down Knowledge Myth. Jacob, take it away.   0:00:31.2 Jacob Stoller: Okay. Great to be here again, Andrew. And, yeah, the myth we're gonna talk about is this notion that managers can make their workers and their people more productive by telling them exactly what to do. And that's surprisingly prevalent in the workplace. But I wanna start out by just saying how this relates to the other myths that we were talking about, 'cause we started with this, what Dr. Deming calls the "pyramid," the org-structure type or...   0:01:08.9 AS: Organizational chart.   0:01:09.9 JS: Paradigm idea, yeah, the organizational structure that says that everything is a independent component, right? You got your different departments, they all work independently, we optimize each, and we optimize the whole, right? So, from that, it naturally follows. And we did Myth Number Two that we can follow financial logic, 'cause financial logic fits nicely into that structure. And of course, we saw last time that all the shortcomings and problems you get when you follow that kind of thinking. So, the third myth is we get to top-down knowledge. And again, that follows from the pyramid structure. If it were true that interdependent components weren't interdependent, that everything could act independently, it would certainly follow that you could have knowledge about those components taught in school and that it would all make sense. I think it's the interdependence that really shoots that whole thing down of top-down knowledge. So... Sorry. Yeah.   0:02:16.3 AS: Go ahead.   0:02:18.8 JS: I wanted to start with a bit of a story just to illustrate how prevalent this is. I was doing a workshop with a small excavation company, and we were looking at ways to make them more effective and serve more customers, grow more effectively, and stuff like that. I did an exercise with them, and we looked at where maybe the waste was taking place the most. And they were driving trucks around a lot. This was a rural area, so there was a lot of mileage that was perhaps being wasted. So, we did an exercise with tracking value and non-value mileage. If you're going to a customer, that's adding value. But if you take a detour to have lunch or something, well, that doesn't add value to the customer, right?   0:03:08.8 JS: So, we were exploring those things, and that exercise worked out really well. They made some big changes, and it actually really helped the company grow. They started posting little notes in the trucks talking about, "Remember, value versus non-value." They were tracking it. And it was really interesting. But the success was largely due to one participant. And I'm sure you've seen this, Andrew, in workshops where somebody really seems to get it. And he had all these ideas, a very, very thoughtful guy, and we were just writing down his suggestions. He had a lot to do with that. But after the workshop, I sat down with him when we were chatting, and he told me that he'd been in the construction business for 15 years, and nobody had ever asked him for his opinion about how work was done. Never.   0:04:04.7 AS: Incredible.   0:04:07.1 JS: I was just stunned by that. This guy was so good. [laughter] When you think about that, it's pretty typical. And I think it's really, people are, managers are taught that it's their job to tell people what to do. And often that puts them in a tough spot. Often they have to be in a role where maybe that they're not that comfortable, because maybe they know deep down inside that there's a lot of knowledge out there that they're not aware of.   0:04:41.3 AS: Yeah, it's interesting. It reminds me when I was a first time supervisor at Pepsi, and I worked in the Torrance factory in Los Angeles, in Torrance, California, and then I worked in the Buena Park factory. And at Buena Park, I was given control of the warehouse. In both cases, I was a warehouse supervisor.   0:05:02.9 JS: Right.   0:05:03.1 AS: And I remember I worked with the union workers who were all moving the product all day long. And I just constantly focused on improvement and that type of thing, and talking to them, and trying to figure out how can we do this better, faster, cheaper and with less injury and all of that. And when I left, it was two years, it was maybe a year and a half that I was at that facility. And one of the guys that had been there, he said... He came up to me, he said, "25 years I've been here, and nobody really listened to us the way you did."   0:05:41.0 JS: Oh, wow. Well, that's a hint.   0:05:41.8 AS: And it just made me realize, "How can it be?" Now, I know Pepsi was taking first-time graduates out of school and putting them in this job, and... I don't know. But I just was... I was baffled by that. So, at first blush you would think you'd never hear that. People are always talking, but people aren't always talking. That's not that common.   0:06:03.1 JS: Yeah, for sure. And it's so really deeply entrenched in the system that it's very, very hard to break. One of them, I talked to a couple of companies that actually went through transformations, and this was with Lean, where they transformed their managers as a lot of Lean companies do. And I know Deming companies do this as well, where they changed their role from being someone that tells people what to do, to somebody who actually is a coach and an enabler, and draws people out and uses their knowledge and encourages them to solve their own problems, whether it's PDSA or whatever methods they support. And both of these companies lost half their management team through that transition. But both of the leaders admitted, they were honest enough to admit, that the reason why they lost the managed, they blamed themselves. They said, "It's 'cause we as the top leaders didn't prepare those people for the change." So, that was interesting as well.   0:07:17.6 AS: I want to go back and just revisit... Myth Number One was the myth of segmented success. The idea that, "Hey, we can get the most out of this if we segment everybody and have everybody do the best they can in each of those areas." Dr. Deming often said that we're destroyed by best efforts. And part of that's one of the things he was saying was that it doesn't work. Segmented success doesn't maximize or optimize the output for a system. The second one was the myth of the bottom line, and that was the idea that just measuring financial numbers doesn't tell you about productivity, and just measuring financial numbers doesn't give you success. And then the third one was, that we're talking about now, is the Myth Number Three, is top-down knowledge myth. And so, I'm curious. Tell us a little bit more about what you mean by "top-down knowledge myth."   0:08:17.7 JS: Essentially it's knowledge from outside the workplace being... How do I wanna say it?   0:08:26.0 AS: Pushed down. [laughter]   0:08:28.0 JS: Pushed down, imported, or imported into the workplace, imposed into the workplace. It's really that idea that something from outside can be valid. And it certainly can, to a degree. You can have instructions on how to operate a machine. You can have all kinds of instructions that are determined from outside, but there's a limit to that kind of knowledge. And when you really wanna improve quality, it really does take a lot more input. But I think there are many... This is one of the myths I think that there are very many different sides to. And one of the sides is that what I call the... It's related to variation, but it's really what I call the "granularity problem." And it's the fact that problems are not these nice, big omnibus types of items that a manager can solve. They tend to be hundreds of problems, or thousands.   0:09:37.0 JS: And so, when you've seen transformations, for example, in hospitals, I think that's an environment we can all understand, again, it's because of many, many different improvements that they become better. One example that I was given is, let's suppose you have a medication error problem. That's really, really common in hospitals now, right? But medication error is, it's not one thing. It could be because of the label, labeling on the bottles. It could be the lighting when people are reading the medications. It could be the way they're arranged on trays. It could be the way they're stored. It could be in the supply chains. The really successful healthcare transformations have been by getting thousands of improvements. And I mean literally thousands of improvements from employees who live with those processes every day. Managers can never [chuckle] know all these hundreds and thousands of things, especially, they can't be everywhere. So, really, the answer is that you do need an army of problem solvers to really get the kind of excellence that we want.   0:10:56.0 AS: Dr. Deming had a quote that he said which was, "A system cannot understand itself." And he's talking about, you got to understand... Sometimes it takes someone from outside looking at the system. And that's different from what you're talking about, which is the idea of someone at the top of the organization saying, "I know how to do this, here's what you guys got to do, and here's how you solve it," without really working with the workers and helping understand what's really going on. And I think what you're saying in this too is the idea that people who are empowered at the work level to try to figure out what's the best way to organize this with some support from above, that's management in that sense is a supporting function to give them ideas. If there's a person that understands quality or Lean, or they understand Deming's teachings, then that outside person can also give that team resources and ideas that they may not typically have. But the idea that a senior executive could be sitting up at the top of the company and then being able to look down and say, "Here's how to do each of these areas," is just impractical.   0:12:12.3 JS: Oh, yeah. And I think Dr. Deming was... He was giving managers, I think, a very challenging task to understand systems and to know, 'cause you're responsible for the system if you're management. So, you really have to know when you have to be constantly getting feedback from people who are working in the system and trying to improve their work within the system. So, yeah, it's got to be a definite give and take. And in Lean, they call that "catchball," where there's a constant back and forth between the managers and the workers in terms of the problems they're having and what needs to be done to help them. So, yeah, it's very tuned in to each other.   0:12:55.0 AS: Yeah, and I would say, from my experience in most companies, management's not really trying to help them. Each unit's fending for itself and trying to figure it out, and they're not really getting that much support from management. And so, the idea being that with the proper support and encouragement to learn and improve, the teams that we have in our businesses can achieve amazing things. And this goes back to also to the concept of intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic. And I think what Dr. Deming, what was appealing to me about Dr. Deming when I first started learning about it, was he was talking about "unleash the intrinsic motivation of people, and you will unleash something that is just amazing." And the desire to improve is going to be far better than... And that's why sometimes he would just say, "Throw out your appraisal system," or "Throw out these things, get rid of them," because what you'll find is you're gonna unleash the passions and desires and the intrinsic motivations. And so, that's another thing I'm thinking about when I'm hearing Myth Three: The Top-down Knowledge Myth. It just, it doesn't unleash that intrinsic motivation.   0:14:16.8 JS: Well, it's interesting, this thing was really studied by the Shingo Institute, where they, they, about, as I think you may know, they give out something called the "Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing." They also give prizes for books too, which I was fortunate to receive. But they had for years been giving the Shingo Prize to excellent manufacturers leading up to 2007 or so. But they found out that most of the people that had got the Shingo Prize had essentially fallen off the ladder. So, they did a very detailed study, interviewed all kinds of organizations: Ones that had fallen off the ladders, so to speak, and ones that had actually maintained the kind of excellence that they had won their prize for.   0:15:20.5 JS: And they found that the ones that had fallen off the ladder had a top-down engineered approach, whereas the ones that had been successful were much more respectful of their people and getting a lot more feedback from the people, the sort of the respect-for-people-type idea that Toyota has. So, really, what they were saying is that the top-down approach, you might be able to fix up your factory and get really good ratings for a while and you have great processes, but in the long run it's not sustainable. So, they changed their criteria so that now, to get a Shingo Prize in manufacturing, you really have to show culture; you have to show how you're listening to your people, the whole thing. So, it's very different now.   0:16:12.0 AS: Yeah. And it's interesting, we have a company in Thailand that the company and its subsidiaries won the Japanese Deming Prize. And there was 11 companies total in this group that won the prize at different years as they implemented throughout the whole organization. And then a couple years later, the CEO resigned. He retired; he reached the end of his time. And the new CEO came in. He wasn't so turned on by the teachings of Dr. Deming, and he saw a new way of doing things. And so, he basically dumped all that.   0:16:57.0 JS: Oh, really?   0:16:57.8 AS: And it's tragic. It's a tragic story. And the lesson that I learned from that is, one of the strengths of a family business is the ability to try to build that constitution or that commitment to "What do we stand for?" Whereas in a publicly listed business where you're getting turnover of CEOs every four, six years, or whatever, in just the case of Starbucks recently, we just saw turnover happen very, very quickly. And the new CEO could go a completely different direction. And so, when I talk to people about Deming's teachings, I say that family businesses have a competitive advantage in implementing it. And I think Toyota is the ultimate family business in Asia, right?   0:17:50.9 JS: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, pride in the family name, and that's... Yeah, and a lot of the interviews I did were businesses like that, where there was a desire to do more than make money, to have a purpose, sustain the family name and that kind of thing. So, yeah, for sure.   0:18:10.0 AS: So, let's wrap this up with you giving us a final recap of what we need to be thinking about when it comes to the Myth Number Three: The Top-down Knowledge Myth.   0:18:24.0 JS: Okay. Well, I think essentially people need to understand that there are limits to what a manager can actually know. And I think the healthcare example, this illustrates that very well. I think they also need to understand that what you ultimately want if you wanna maximize productivity is team productivity. It's the productivity of the group. And people are motivated. You were talking about intrinsic motivation. Part of that comes from actually working together as a team. So, you need to create the kind of trust where information flows freely, and where somebody doesn't hoard their own knowledge but is willing to share it with others, because they don't feel they're in competition with each other. So, again, that's related to driving out fear. So, everything's really interrelated. But I think we have to accept knowledge as something part of a shared collaborative work environment, where everybody wins if knowledge flows freely. And people have to be willing to admit that what they've learned in the past, what they've learned in school has limits in how it can be applicable. And those limits have to be respected. And you have to be willing to listen to every employee, not just the ones that have degrees.   0:20:00.8 AS: All right. Well, that's a great recap. And, Jacob, on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I wanna thank you again for this discussion. And for listeners, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. And you can find Jacob's book, Productivity Reimagined at jacobstoller.com. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming: "People are entitled to joy in work."

Pillow Fright Besties Kay and Ama speak with haunt masters Daniel Miller and Gus Krueger in this very special bonus episode! Listen along as they chat about their first horror movie experiences, becoming top scenic designers and maze engineers, and unveiling their creative process behind iconic mazes such as  Asylum, Wax Works, and new mazes Widows and Eight Fingers Nine: The Boogeyman! Knott's Scary Farm runs from September 19th to November 2nd in Buena Park, California. See you in the fog! Subscribe to our YouTube channel for visual podcast episodes and more! If you enjoy our content and would like to support us, join our Patreon where you will find uncut episodes, bonus content and more!Follow us on socials:InstagramTikTokLetterboxd Pillow Fright theme by Brandon Scullion

​​Welcome to You Haven't Blanked That! It's Robert Zemeckis Month. This week we talk about Used Cars. We talk about loving this movie despite its flaws, other movies written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, Red Cars, The Goods, Small Town, Buena Park, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Svengoolie, spinning back the odometer, Worst Used Car Experience, wackiness, a mile of cars, 1941, it doesn't look funny, Lenny and Squiggy, Corey Feldman What We Are Blanking: Midnight Suns (videogame), Card Sharks (videogame), Ms. Pat, Mike Watt, Dark Tower, There Will Be Blood, ​​Opening theme by the Assassins ​​Closing theme by Lucas Perea ​​ For more info, click the link bio or below. https://linktr.ee/yhblankthat Email: Yhblankthat@gmail.com

Bret Lott knows how to make a woman cry. Possibly a man, too, but I'm not sure. I know he's cried (sobbed, he admitted) when reading Leif Enger's book, Peace Like a River. I already liked Bret Lott but that made me like him even more.  Bret Lott, award-winning author of now 16 books (both fiction and non-fiction) didn't start out to become a writer and, in fact, met obstacles along the way. I'm glad he persevered; if you've read Jewel, one of Oprah's Book Club selections, then I'm sure you're glad as well. He wanted to ride a horse and be a Park Ranger. Grateful that didn't pan out.  Fun sidenote: Since I'm also from Southern California, it was a delight to find out that Bret used to work at Knott's Berry Farm at the candy apple booth and once-a-month he made waffles for Mr. Knott.    Bret is giving away a signed copy of his latest book out this month entitled: GATHER THE OLIVES, On Food and Hope and the Holy Land  - comment below or on social media to be entered! Born in Los Angeles in 1958, Lott grew up in Buena Park, CA and Phoenix, AZ before returning to California to live in Huntington Beach, CA. He met and married his wife of 40 years, Melanie Swank Lott, at First Baptist Church of Huntington Beach/Fountain Valley. A graduate of Cal State, Long Beach(1981), Lott headed to Massachusetts for graduate school at UMass Amhurst. He received his MFA in 1984 and landed his first teaching position at Ohio State Univ. In 1986, Lott joined the English Department at the College of Charleston, where he is now a tenured professor and director of the new MFA program and leads writers retreats to Italy. Find out more about his writing retreats here: https://bretlottwriting.com Be sure to comment below to be entered to win: Gather the Olives. Some gems: The difference between a good writer and a bad writer: the bad writer says, "Here I am, I have something to say." The good writer writes a good story and you're not aware he or she even exists. I write to try and understand things, why people do what they do and what happened to their lives. I shared a short story with a girl I liked. She wasn't impressed. I knew right then that I loved her.  Jewel was based on my grandmother's life. She had 6 kids and the 6th, my aunt, was Down Syndrome.  You're given what you're given in life; the writer's job and joy is to write the pages torn from that life and try to understand it better. The best art fills us with wonder and glory and mystery and beauty which are all manifestations of God.   

Mark Collins is an associate pastor at Authentic Community Church in Buena Park, CA, and he's been in ministry for over 20 years.  He has helped men achieve success at various levels of their Christian walk, and he's the author of the book Life Mastery: Living Life by Design, Not by Default. To find out more about Mark and contact him: Email: mark@freedom-for-life.net  Website: https://courses.freedom-for-life.net/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreedForLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_freedomforlife_/ -------------------------  If you want to help us transform the lives of even MORE MEN for God's glory, please take a minute to leave us a helpful REVIEW on iTunes: http://www.rmcpodcast.com and SHARE this podcast with any young man (or men) you're mentoring or discipling. And make sure you don't miss an interview episode by signing up for our Man-to-Man eNewsletter at http://www.RealMenConnect.com, and grab your FREE copy of the Real Men Victory Tracker.    Talk with Dr. Joe 1-on-1: Are you stuck? Want to go to get your faith, marriage, family, career and finances back on track?  Then maybe it's time you got a coach. Every CHAMPION has one. Schedule an appointment to chat with Dr. Joe on how we can help you spiritually love and lead your family better and become the hero of your home.   Dr. Joe takes on only a few Breakthrough Calls each week to help you with your faith, marriage, work, and financial challenges.  The call is FREE, but slots are limited to ONE call only.  NO RESCHEDULES.  Just click on the link below and select the BREAKTHROUGH CALL option to set up an appointment: http://TalkwithDrJoe.com  If no slots are available, please check back in a week.   Also join us on: Join the Real Men 300: http://www.RealMen300.com Facebook Group: http://www.realmenuniversity.com/ YouTube: http://www.RealMenTraining.com Facebook: @realdrjoemartin Instagram: @realdrjoemartin Twitter: @professormartin  

The guys are LIVE at Rock and Brews in Buena Park for the 1st Stop of the PMS Summer Tour. St. John Bosco Football Coach Jason Negro. Great Sports Talk.

We're thrilled to have Roger Luri back on the show with his extensive expertise in building multifamily housing and mixed-use development projects!Today, Roger shares their current focus market, his advice for new investors and developers, what his book and coaching program offers, and his perspectives on what's going on in the market and economy today!Key Points & Relevant TopicsThe difference between buying an existing and building a new multifamilyRoger's advice on successfully building a new multifamily Insights on the current banking system, economy situation, and housing marketWhat to consider when choosing a market for new multifamily constructionRoger's motivation behind writing his book “Don't Buy Multifamily! BUILD IT”What limited partners can expect in a new development dealThe future of the real estate market in the coming yearsResources & LinksRoger's first episode: SA458 | Shifting Your Perspective on Multifamily and Real Estate DevelopmentRoger's book: Don't Buy Multifamily! BUILD ITApartment Syndication Due Diligence Checklist for Passive InvestorAbout Roger LuriRoger has developed and built over $30MM in new construction residential and mixed-use properties in the Chicago market. His new book “Don't Buy Multifamily! BUILD IT” tells you how it's done and why it's one of the most rewarding ways for investors to build wealth, year after year. “Growing up in Chicago, he was always fascinated by architecture.After a career in commodities & securities at the Chicago Merc in the 1980s, he started out in real estate in 1987 putting together limited partnerships for historical tax credit rehabs in Chicago's Buena Park neighborhood.Through the early 90's, he focused on marketing condo conversion projects on Chicago's North Side and in 1994 he developed and built his first new construction 6 unit condo project in Buena Park. In the late 90's and through the 2000's, his companies focused on architectural design, development, construction and marketing of great condo projects and a large luxury single-family homes in Old Town, Buck Town, Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast as well as the Portico Townhome Project in the West Loop.During this time from 2005-2010, he also served as a Director and Head of the Real Estate Committee on the board of Ravenswood Bank in Chicago's Lincoln Square.Serving on the loan committee of a community bank specializing in construction lending during the development heydays of the early 2000's and credit crunch of 2008-2010 afforded a unique perspective and many lessons about risk and risk mitigation. He learned in the trenches, which deals are likely to run into troubles and which will stay strong if the market hits a rough patch.With extensive experience in multifamily residential and mixed use development through several market cycles, he's now focused on growing his private equity real estate firm. They partner with accredited LP investors. Their focus is to develop and build a portfolio of prime residential and mixed use properties.Get in Touch with RogerWebsite: https://ld2development.com/ To Connect With UsPlease visit our website www.bonavestcapital.com and click here to leave a rating and written review!

We are back in Uptown to talk about the neighborhood of Buena Park. We had a chance to speak with the author of the Images of America book Chicago's Uptown, Jacob Lewis-Hall. Jacob also runs the very cool Instagram page, Then & Now Chicago. Make sure to pick up his book and learn more. Tune in and rock with us!Discover The Power of Sound!Keeping a consistent sound in how you present your company really is the "hidden gem"...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the Show.Check out our new merch!! https://www.77flavorschi.com/shopAlso, catch Dario on the new season of Netflix's "High On the Hog" here!!If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at ⁠media@77flavorschi.com⁠ WATCH US ON YOUTUBE ⁠HERE⁠! Visit our website ⁠https://www.77flavorschi.com⁠ Follow us on IG: 77 Flavors of Chicago ⁠@77flavorschi⁠ Dario ⁠@super_dario_bro⁠ Sara ⁠@TamarHindi.s

Welcome to another compelling episode of Beyond the Letter. Join us as we sit down with Sean Fenner, a die-hard fourth-generation Dodgers fan from Long Beach, Samuel Rodriguez and Pastor Will Chung. Will Chung is the Lead Pastor of Beloved Church in Buena Park, CA and Samuel Rodriguez has led and trained hundreds of Youth via the organization Circuit Riders who also resides here in California. We delve into the meaty topic of recent controversies involving the Dodgers, their decision to have trans nuns at their opening ceremony, and the subsequent return of their Christian Day. We pull apart these events, the backlash they received, and what it signifies about faith in the public sphere. This episode isn't just about baseball, though. We dig deeper into societal issues, particularly pertaining to how Christians can engage with these controversies while holding true to their beliefs. We recount our experiences with brands like Disney and Starbucks, and how we tread the delicate balance between our convictions and everyday life. We highlight the importance of open dialogue with family, especially around topics like the LGBTQ+ community. We also examine the pressure to succeed early on, the perils of social media, and the need to prioritize God's anointing over fame. Finally, we delve into leadership, humility, and the significance of empowering others.This conversation will surely leave you deep in thought and introspection. Don't forget to share your thoughts with us! -- Connect with Pastor Will Chung https://www.instagram.com/willkchung/?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA%3D%3D -- Connect with Pastor Sean Fenner https://www.instagram.com/seananthonyfenner?igshid=MTNiYzNiMzkwZA%3D%3D -- Connect with Samuel Rodriguez https://www.instagram.com/samuelmrod?igshid=MTNiYzNiMzkwZA%3D%3D -- Don't forget to stay connected with us: Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4OvpFp9OB9_DgVdVVbXhFg Instagram https://www.instagram.com/beyond.theletter/ Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/discover/beyond-the-letter -- Have a question? Submit it TODAY, by clicking the link below! ***SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION HERE: https://alfc.church.ai/form/BeyondtheLetterQA -- Get to know the team: @amesa https://www.instagram.com/amesa/ @verlonbakerofficial https://www.instagram.com/verlonbakerofficial/ @chelsiebaham https://www.instagram.com/chelsiebaham/ @nancysnavas https://www.instagram.com/nancysnavas/ @alizee.kayy https://www.instagram.com/alizee.kayy/

This weeks episode from Urban Valor features Robert Wood. Born in Bellflower, California, and raised in Buena Park, Robert's life was forever changed when his mother saw his bullet-riddled car on the news. Faced with a life-altering decision, Robert chose the path of Valor, enlisting in the Marine Corps over moving to Mexico or attending college out of state. His life in the military saw him become a skilled Radio Operator with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance, where he became good friends with Jaime Nicholson, a fellow Marine. We find ourselves taking an emotional in this episode as Robert recounts Jaime's untimely death, a loss deeply intertwined with the challenges of mental health after military service.Post-Marines, Robert's service continued as a firefighter at Camp Pendleton, confronting the harrowing reality of active-duty self-inflicted deaths.Do NOT miss this POWERFUL New Episode of Urban Valor! 

Hey BTL Fam! We are here and thankful for a new week and a new episode! Today we have a NEW GUEST. He is not new to the podcast, but he is new to the table. Help us welcome, GABE!! Gabe directs behind the scenes for the podcast and just wait until you hear him at the table!In addition to Gabe, we have Pastor Will Chung, the Lead Pastor of Beloved Church in Buena Park, CA, the people's padre, Adam Mesa and Chelsie. We haven't had a debate in a while, so we thought, we'd have another! This episode unfolds a profound conversation revolving around the complex role of language and representation in contemporary Christianity.Another contentious yet intriguing subject discussed was the use of cussing in Christian communication. Yes, we said CUSSING. The conversation evaluated reactions to Tim Ross's use of cuss words in his podcast, assessing whether this communicative approach could potentially attract people to the faith. The discussion also reflected on historical instances such as Paul's use of a cuss word in the Bible for emphasis. This thought-provoking episode encourages self-reflection, understanding, and dialogue, reminding us of the need for compassion, conviction, and clarity in our approach to evangelism and the necessity of recognizing and addressing the power of language within Christianity.So, grab your tea or coffee and join us in this weeks conversation.--Get connected with our guests:Will Chung https://www.instagram.com/willkchung/?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA%3D%3D--Don't forget to stay connected with us:Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4OvpFp9OB9_DgVdVVbXhFgInstagram https://www.instagram.com/beyond.theletter/Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/discover/beyond-the-letter--Get to know some of the team:@amesa https://www.instagram.com/amesa/Gabe - does not have instagram@chelsiebaham https://www.instagram.com/chelsiebaham/@nancysnavas https://www.instagram.com/nancysnavas/

Three women in LA share their reasons to forgo parenting: more freedom, more travel, and more time to focus on their careers and passions. What's up with the Dodgers? Despite winning 100 games during the regular season, again, the Dodgers' were eliminated in the first round, again. Along Beach Boulevard, from Rosecrans to Orangethorpe, is Buena Park's Koreatown, a name that's only been official for a few weeks.

W sierpniu 2009 roku mieszkaniec stanu Kalifornia przypadkowo natrafił na wstrząsające znalezisko w kontenerze na śmieci. W walizce porzucono ludzkie zwłoki. Była to młoda kobieta, która zginęła w brutalny sposób. Sprawca okaleczył zwłoki tak, by uniemożliwić śledczym dokonanie identyfikacji denatki. Wkrótce okazało się, że to popularna modelka, powiązana m.in. z Playboyem.

Have you been involved in a recent car accident? You'll be back on the road in no time with Carmona's Collison Repair (714-871-3237) auto body repair service. Learn more at https://www.carmonascollision.com/ Carmona's Collision Repair City: Fullerton Address: 633 W Williamson Ave, Website https://www.carmonascollision.com/ Phone +17148713237 Email carmonacollision@yahoo.com

In today's episode, we discuss GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA. This massive wooden coaster celebrates it's 25th birthday in a few months. But it wasn't always so loved. Join as we discuss the history of Ghost Town, Colossus vs. GhostRider, and...Brazilian Ipe wood? Follow along with the podcast on our social media platforms: Twitter/X: ⁠⁠twitter.com/airtimetraveler Instagram: ⁠⁠instagram.com/airtimetraveler

This time, we are back with a double dose of Halloween spirit.  First, we return to Force of Nature Productions for their immersive haunt experience, Arcanum.  Then, we journey back to Buena Park for the latest iteration of Pirates Dinner Adventure: VamPirates.   Listen in and enjoy!   Please, consider joining The Parks and Cons Crew, https://www.patreon.com/ParksAndCons!

ICYMI: Later, with Mo'Kelly Presents – Thoughts on businesses demanding employees return to the office AND the ongoing season of ‘strikes' in California…PLUS – KFI Reporter Kris Adler joins the program with an in-depth look at the Medieval Times, Buena Park strike - on KFI AM 640 – Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

Welcome to a spine-chilling episode of The Dark Theme Park Show! Join your hosts, James H. Carter II and Josh Taylor, as they take you on a thrilling journey through the Knott's Scary Farm Nightmares Revealed event that sent shivers down our spines on August 24, 2023. Get ready for the ultimate fright-fest as we dive headfirst into the full scoop on the upcoming 50th anniversary season of Knott's Scary Farm, set to unleash its horrors at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA, starting on September 21st. We've got all the juicy details on the brand new mazes and bone-chilling shows that will leave you trembling with excitement. But that's not all! We had the spine-tingling opportunity to talk with Knott's Scary Farm Producer Chris Do and Show Director K.C. Gussler, who shared  insights into what to expect from these brand new mazes and shows, giving us a glimpse into the nightmares that await. We'll also take you through the other hair-raising attractions at this event, including a lights-on walkthrough of the "Origins: Curse of Calico" maze, a deep dive into Knott's Scary Farm's rich history, a behind-the-scenes scare actor makeup demo and wardrobe display, a meet-and-greet with the Keeper, an exploration of the highly immersive Scary Farm Legacy Store, and a tantalizing preview of the exclusive food and spine-chilling merchandise set to haunt this year's event.

For the past three summers, the lakefront near Buena Park on the North Side has been home to a popular event: Friday Morning Swim Club. It started with a handful of friends and grew exponentially — nearly 3,000 people participated at its peak this summer. Reset talks with reporter Katie Anthony, and Megan, an attendee, about the popular swim club and what led to its cancellation.

In this insightful episode, we sit down with Dr. John Jackson, the dedicated president of Jessup University. Amid the complexities of leading a conservative evangelical institution in California, Dr. Jackson provides a rare glimpse into the pressures and tensions he navigates. He highlights the importance of community engagement, advocacy, and the essential role of grace in conversations. Moreover, he elaborates on the university's active role in community service, emphasizing the value institutions like Jessup bring to their surroundings.Additionally, listeners are treated to an overview of his latest work, "Grace Ambassadors." Dr. Jackson underscores the urgency of living out one's faith authentically every day and the immeasurable power of relationships in leadership. His poignant reflections and practical advice are sure to resonate with our diverse audience, encompassing Christians, atheists, liberals, conservatives, and many more. Dive into this episode for a profound exploration of faith, leadership, and community dynamics.Guest Bio:Dr. John Jackson is the sixth President of William Jessup University. Since becoming President in 2011, John has led the University to triple in size, add Math, Sciences, Arts, Graduate Programs, and Online Programs and become regionally and nationally ranked. John has demonstrated strong communication, strategic and organizational leadership skills in his work with national and global organizations and ministries. Dr. Jackson has also written and co-authored ten books on leadership and spiritual formation and is a sought after speaker and consultant.Prior to joining William Jessup University, John served as the Executive Director of Thriving Churches International and as a Lead Pastor of Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California. He was the founding pastor of LifePoint Church in Minden, Nevada, and previously was the Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest (now Transformation Ministries) where he was responsible to serve more than 270 churches in four western states and served on nine corporate boards. John also served as the Senior Pastor and in several staff roles at First Baptist Church of Oxnard and as the Youth Pastor at First Baptist Church of Buena Park. Dr. Jackson earned both his Ph.D. and M.A. in Educational Administration and Organizational Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; M.A. in Theology (Christian Formation and Discipleship) at Fuller Theological Seminary; and a B.A. in Religion (Christian History and Thought) from Chapman University. Dr. Jackson is married to Pamela Harrison Jackson and they make their home in Northern California; they have 5 children, and 5 grandchildren.Support the showTo learn more about the show, contact our hosts, or recommend future guests, click on the links below: Website: https://www.faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/ Faithful Host: Josh@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com Political Host: Will@faithfulpoliticspodcast.com Twitter: @FaithfulPolitik Instagram: faithful_politics Facebook: FaithfulPoliticsPodcast LinkedIn: faithfulpolitics

It's the season of unions, and we've found a union story that's nearly mythic. In February, performers at the Buena Park, CA, location of the Spanish-chivalry-dinner-theater-experience Medieval Times went on strike. They claim dangerous working conditions, low pay, sexual harassment, and unacceptable treatment of the horses all contribute to a work environment that is (might as well just say it) medieval.  In this episode, we talk to union organizer and strike captain Jake Bowman about living out the modern metaphor of a peasants' revolt, joining a union with The Rockettes, and why it's still cool to be a knight even if life and limb hang in the balance. Forsooth it is verily an episode about the state of labor in Ye Olde United States!

Voguing is a dance style created by Black and Latino queer communities that went mainstream in the ‘90s, when big acts like Madonna started incorporating the style into their work. WBEZ podcast host Erin Allen reached out to Reset because she was struggling to find a place in Chicago that taught the dance style. For our “Lost & Found” series, Reset got in touch with TEXTUREDance in Buena Park to learn about voguing's roots and a few moves to boot.

Hey BTL Fam! We are here and thankful for a new week! Today we have NEW GUESTS who drop some wisdom left and right. Help us welcome, Will Chung and Samuel Rodriguez. Will Chung is the Lead Pastor of Beloved Church in Buena Park, CA and Samuel Rodriguez has led and trained hundreds of Youth via the organization Circuit Riders who also resides here in California.We jump into a conversation about what cancel culture is and if Christians should take a part of it; on top of other topics that include ministry, accountability and more!So, grab your tea or coffee and join us in this weeks conversation.--Get connected with our guests:Will Chung https://www.instagram.com/willkchung/?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA%3D%3DSamuel Rodriguez https://www.instagram.com/samuelmrod/?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA%3D%3D--Don't forget to stay connected with us:Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4OvpFp9OB9_DgVdVVbXhFgInstagram https://www.instagram.com/beyond.theletter/Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/discover/beyond-the-letter--Get to know some of the team:@amesa https://www.instagram.com/amesa/@chelsiebaham https://www.instagram.com/chelsiebaham/@naaneki https://www.instagram.com/naaneki/

Episode 273: On August 15, 2009, the mutilated body of Jasmine Fiore, a 28-year-old Playboy model and aspiring actress, was found stuffed into a suitcase and discarded in a dumpster in Buena Park, California. The investigation quickly led to her husband, Ryan Jenkins, a Canadian real estate investor and former contestant on the reality TV show “Megan Wants a Millionaire.” As the investigation progressed, a disturbing picture of domestic violence and jealousy emerged. It was revealed that Jenkins had a history of abusive behaviour towards Jasmine, and the couple had a tumultuous relationship. The motive for the murder appeared to be jealousy and control. Ryan Jenkins fled to Canada, and an international manhunt was launched to apprehend him. However, on August 23, 2009, Jenkins was found dead in a Hope, British Columbia motel room. He had completed suicide by hanging himself. This case generated widespread media coverage and sparked discussions about domestic violence, the dark side of reality TV, and the importance of raising awareness about toxic relationships. The tragic death of Jasmine Fiore served as a grim reminder of the dangers of domestic violence and the need for intervention and support for victims. Sources: Police: Violent Struggle Before Model's Murder — YouTube Ryan Jenkins | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers Grim Reality: Jasmine Fiore and Ryan Jenkins — Introduction — Crime Library Swimsuit Model's Suspected Killer Husband Found Dead - ABC News Friends of Murdered Model, Jasmine Fiore, Tell Her Story - ABC News Friends mourn former swimsuit model, Bonny Doon native - Santa Cruz Sentinel Jasmine Lepore Fiore (1981-2009) - Find a Grave Memorial ‘The Playboy Murders': Model's breast implants helped ID vic Playboy model Jasmine Fiore's reality TV millionaire husband Ryan Jenkins remains ‘on the run' after her death | Daily Mail Online Blood found in car of slain model, say police | CTV News Ryan Jenkins' Suicide Note: Love, Anger for Jasmine Fiore (Photos) - CBS News The Playboy Murders: What happened to Jasmine Fiore? Private memorial held in Calgary for Ryan Jenkins | CTV News Police Discover Ryan Jenkins' Suicide Note | Blog Archive | Vh1 Blog Slain model's ex-husband has assault record | CBC News Thunderbird Motel RCMP know woman who helped Jenkins - The Globe and Mail Father of fugitive says he will talk | CTV News Ryan Jenkins Death Rack/ Coat Rack (Item ID: 102251, End Time : N/A) - Ghouls Like Us Wayback Machine — Collective Intelligence vs. Straightline International Friends and family portray two very different Ryan Jenkins after murder, suicide - Red Deer Advocate Reality TV contestant suspected of murdering his ex-wife found dead | US news | The Guardian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A movement to bring tenant protections Southeast LA started with conversations about a very different topic: family planning. James Kim's new fiction podcast “You Feeling This?” focuses on love and connections in LA. The stories are about real Angelenos who live in Montebello, Long Beach, and more. Many motels along Beach Blvd. are now known for prostitution and drug dealing. Anaheim, Buena Park, and Stanton are looking to revitalize the strip.

It Takes a Village... or Two! In this week's episode, we explore the profound truth behind the saying, "it takes a village," as we journey to two exceptional and unique villages! We kick off with a heartwarming visit to Give Kids the World Village, an enchanting 89-acre non-profit resort located in Kissimmee, Florida. This magical haven offers cost-free, week-long vacations to critically-ill children and their families hailing from all corners of the globe. Our co-host, Jessica Gardner, chats with Brandon Thom, the Senior Director of Development at Give Kids the World Village, unveiling the heartening and inspiring stories behind this extraordinary initiative. We then teleport to the vibrant Fiesta Village nestled within Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA, where Jessica meets with Creative Producer, Jim Clark, and Producer, Chris Do, amidst the jubilant atmosphere of the media event commemorating the grand reopening of this re-themed land. This not-to-be-missed conversation covers the reimagined attractions and tantalizing cuisines offered by the newly introduced restaurants. Here's what awaits you in this episode: [01:35] - Meet Brandon Thom [01:52] - The Inspiring Journey of Give Kids the World [06:34] - Coasting for Kids: Events & Advantages [07:50] - Fiesta Village's Grand Reveal ft. Jim Clark & Chris Do [08:05] - Getting to know Jim Clark [17:43] - An Introduction to Chris Do [24:50] - Wrap-up & Final Thoughts  Join the team of ACE volunteers! Volunteering offers different ways to share your talents by: Having an impact on the future of ACE Providing opportunities for rewarding experiences Developing friendships in a small group Learning new skills or sharing your talents with ACE Share your ideas and thoughts about this podcast via email: podcast@aceonline.org. Visit ridewithace.com to learn more about the non-profit organization American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE).   Podcast Volunteer Team  Hosts: Jessica Gardner & John Davidson Producer: Derek Perry Editor: Bob Randolph Show Notes: Liz Tan  Project Manager: Corey Wooten

Good Saturday morning, or I guess Sunday for you, from Buena Park, California, where the Knott's Berry Farm rollercoaster shushes past every few minutes, accompanied by screaming. It's like being in a Jordan Peele movie! Being in Los Angeles reminds me of coming to Los Angeles, which reminds me of Tim and what, as a rural Oklahoma boy, he wanted with every meal, an item a New York City ate maybe twice a year, at the holidays, namely: Gravy.But not this kind! Cleaning out my mom's pantry earlier this year I found a can of this and, more as a science experiment, decided to see what might be done with it. After adding salt, pepper, a splash of sherry and some butter, my best solution was to pour the stuff down the drain, really, save yourself the trouble (and the money!) and make homemade, recipe in episode notes.As I relate in the episode, I met Tim Sampson on the PBS miniseries Roanoak, about the lost colony thereof. I am not sure whether this opening canoe scene is the same one I tell you about, the one where Tim saved me from drowning. But maybe!I mention here that, after Tim and I fell in love, I followed him out to California. I bought a used station wagon in upstate New York and slept in truck stops on my way west. My first stop was somewhere west of Pittsburgh. It was late, and the all-night diner was open. I sat at the serpentine counter and ordered a grilled cheese and watched the waitress pout coffee for a man in a Carhartt (or similar) jacket and watched them quietly talk, watched as she lingered holding the coffee pot. My impression was that there was intimacy here, maybe not a relationship so much as a conversation picked up each time he stopped in. Or maybe it was just this one time. Maybe this was her gift, her job. I am sure I had some sort of reading material that I ignored as I watched them.It was not until four years later that I wondered whether I always somehow knew the work I was headed for. By that time, the drive cross-country yielded what's below.Episode notes: “The neighbors at Curson Avenue in West Hollywood were mostly Armenian, including the dozen or so housedress-clad older women in the apartment complex next door, women who would verily ululate at our fence when they realized we were having another get-together for two hundred. On the other side was a two-story complex where my brother's friend Todd lived. Todd was a plumber who shared an apartment with his mother-in-law, an Armenian widow in black, and his SoCal, short-shorts-wearing wife. At twenty-four, Todd already had two kids, the first born blind. Todd spent every afternoon in our yard smoking pot, and that's where he was when his wife banged open the screen door and stood on their balcony. “TAHD!” she screamed, “I'M PREGNANT AGAIN!” “Cool,” Todd squeaked, trying not to exhale. - “Meet the Neighbors,” from Forty Bucks and a Dream, Stories of Los Angeles, by Nancy RommelmannDances With Wolves was a pretty massive cultural event, especially so for Native actors, as many more historical westerns were about to be made and provide employment.Many of these young actors started down to LA from the rez, some of whom wound up hanging at the home in Hollywood where Tim and I lived with our baby girl.These included Rodney Grant and the late Steve Reevis. Tantoo Cardinal had appeared in an earlier movie with Tim called War Party.Will Sampson talking about how all the Indian heroes for kids are dead. I've told the story (scroll down) of how my daughter Tafv wound up playing the part of “Gram” on Reservation Dogs. The below does not include her opening scene with Lily Gladstone:Tafv went on to set decorate an independent film called Fancy Dance, which also stars Lily, who also stars in another movie you might have heard of.You see this trailer, and her appearance in Rez Dogs, and it does not need to be explained that her acting is otherworldly. Writing about Josh Drum and all the other young Native actors who passed through our home and whom I cooked and cooked and happily cooked for, in 1990-1992. “Taking My Ex Back In (for His Own Good),” by Nancy Rommelmann (New York Times “Modern Love”)I cannot carve out the video of Tim going “Mmmm!” but it's here, scroll through. The second to last image is from our daughter's wedding day, when we knew Tim was terminal. Okay okay, let's make some gravy. It's flexible, just remember the ratios and up them depending on how much you want to make:2 tablespoons fat or meat drippings, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 CUPS stock or other liquids. (I accidentally said tablespoons in the audio.) You can play with this in any number of ways; add some wine or sherry or fresh-chopped herbs. It's super-easy and makes dinner festive!GravyAdd chicken fat or beef drippings to a frying pad. Heat over medium heat until bubbly. Using a rubberized whisk, add flour. Cook two minutes, stirring constantly, until flour takes on a bit of color. Add about a 1/4 cup of liquid and whisk, Mixture will seize up. Add another 1/4 cup and keep whisking until gravy loosens. Continue adding and whisking until you have a smooth gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste.Gravy is very flexible! Using cream for up to half your stock in a beef gravy is lovely.And please, I beg of you, send me your best biscuit recipes xx This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Buena Park School District Technology Teacher on Special Assignment Andy Osborn discusses the District's technology curriculum, the District partnership with Apple, and the end-of-year Innovation Showcase, where Buena Park teachers and students share their tech projects with the community. 

Roger starts by discussing how he found a niche in New Construction and jumps into lessons learned throughout the years. Leaning on his decades of investing experience, he's able to provide insight on red flags leading up to the last housing crash and discuss the emergence of north side neighborhoods like Uptown, Edgewater, and Buena Park. Roger breaks down how he identifies areas where new construction is profitable and summarizes the key players of your real estate investing team. Roger closes by pulling out the crystal ball and sharing a bullish outlook on Chicago! If you enjoy today's episode, please leave us a review and share with someone who may also find value in this content! Connect with Mark and Tom: StraightUpChicagoInvestor.com Email the Show: StraightUpChicagoInvestor@gmail.com Guest: Roger Luri, LD2 Development Link: Roger's LinkedIn Link: Don't Buy Multi-Family! BUILD IT (Roger's Book) Sponsors: Midwest RE Networking Summit and NEGC Remodeling ----------------- Guest Questions 02:24 Housing Provider Tip: Leverage Google Earth as a due diligence tool when purchasing property! 04:19 Intro to our guest, Roger Luri! 07:41 Finding a niche in new construction! 11:28 What red flags did Roger notice leading up to the last housing crash? 14:39 Working with neighborhood groups when redeveloping property! 16:24 Seeing Development in Uptown, Edgewater, and other North Side Neighborhoods! 21:42 Determining locations where new construction is profitable. 25:46 Keys to building a solid real estate team! 32:00 Roger compares rehabs and new construction! 41:02 How to set up Joint Ventures? 43:25 Roger's outlook on Chicago! 46:45 What is Roger's competitive advantage? 47:44 One piece of advice for new investors. 48:31 What do you do for fun? 49:12 Good book, podcast, or self-development activity that you would recommend? 50:17 Local Network Recommendation? 51:02 How can the listeners learn more about you and provide value to you? ----------------- Production House: Flint Stone Media Copyright of Straight Up Chicago Investor 2023.  

A new business focused on training formerly incarcerated people is now diverting thousands of pounds of clothes from landfill each month. Director Colin K. Gray's “Unzipped” follows housed and unhoused residents of Venice, California in the struggle for the soul of the neighborhood. Renters and activists in Buena Park have put a measure in front of the City Council to make them just the second city in Orange County to enact rent control.

Support the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Workers: https://cwa-union.org/support-striking-pittsburgh-post-gazette-workers  We start this week's episode checking in with the strike at Temple University, which may end this week as workers are voting on a potential agreement. We got big news that the country's longest strike at Warrior Met coal appears to be heading for an end as the union proposed returning to work. Recent attacks on farm workers in California have exposed the horrific living conditions these vital laborers face in our racist system. Tesla workers in Buffalo launched a union push with Workers United last week and faced immediate retaliation. Medieval Times workers in Buena Park, CA have struck against the company's illegal retaliation for unionizing. The owners of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have sunk so low as to begin suing the city for not being violent enough against picketing workers. A federal judge issued a nationwide injunction against Starbucks' campaign of illegal retaliatory firings. Education workers in Northern Virginia won the largest new bargaining unit of the year so far. Finally, 3000 grad student workers at USC have joined the academic organizing wave. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

GREETINGS, MORTALS! This is a special STRIKE episode with ERIN ZAPCIC. She performs as the QUEEN of Medieval Times in Buena Park, & as part of Medieval Times Performers United, she is on STRIKE. Learn why they're on strike, what it's like to work at Medieval Times, & some of the RANK INDIGNITIES they've suffered at the hands of the corporate ownership! Support them by: 1. Donating to the strike fund, if ye are able: https://gofund.me/7e7ed342 2. Signing their petition! It costs nothing but a moment of time, goes directly to the right people, & lets corporate ownership know the public is on the strikers' side: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-medieval-times-management-to-quit-breaking-the-law Sponsored this week by SOLIDARITY Find them also on social media as @MTUnited, with accounts for each branch (like Buena Park's). Be sure also to follow us @WizWorldLIVE on every platform, & watch our livestreams every Friday 8PM Pacific at twitch.tv/WizWorldLIVE for more magickal delights / wizardly labor journalism

THE THEME PARK DUO PODCAST: SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES, GOOGLE PLAY, STITCHER, iHEART RADIO AND SPOTIFY! On this weeks episode, Gabe and Nikki review Knott's Merry Farm 2022 at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Knott's Merry Farm is filled to the brim with delicious foods and incredible merchandise. Hear some hints and tips on how to best enjoy your time at the Farm. As well as some crazy tangents that may or may not lead to some crazy audio at the end of the episode. Come along with us on this crazy holiday podcast adventure! DRNXMYTH:  BUY DRINKS! Follow us on Social Media: @themeparkduo Follow UUOP: www.uuopodcast.com Check out our Shirts: Teepublic.com/themeparkduo Contact us: themeparkduo@gmail.com

In today's episode, we discuss Silver Bullet at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA. This steel inverted coaster has been thrilling guests for almost 20 years now...but do you know what once stood in its place? Join us as we discuss magical suspended ore carts, how many times a building can possibly be relocated, and...an old Baptist church from the 1870's? Twitter: twitter.com/airtimetraveler Instagram: instagram.com/airtimetraveler

On the 80th exhilarating episode of the Gung-Fu Super Bros. Podcast, Enrique, John, and Super Producer Stevens discuss Knott's Scary Farm in Buena Park, CA. Enrique watched more Stephen King movies and has something to share with the rest. John gives a very long synopsis of the history of the Halloween franchise and its newest installment "Halloween Kills." In the second half of the episode, the Super Bros. review the Gordon Liu vehicle "Shaolin vs. Evil Dead." A Shaolin Master and his two pupils escort a band of zombies to their final resting place. A jealous rival Master fools a town into believing they are cursed. The Masters face off only to be attacked by the newly resurrected Vampire King! Is this movie better than Kung Fu Zombies? Did Enrique enjoy this movie better than all the movies from A Chuck-vember to Remember? What happens that the end of this movie? Click that play button and get all the answers you need. Still not subscribed to the show or podcast? You should. Little Zombie Men already do. Want more Super Bros? www.linktr.ee/gungfusuperbros Our Socials: www.twitter.com/gungfusuperbros www.instagram.com/gungfusuperbrospod www.instagram.com/malofilms Leave us a voicemail at www.gungfusuperbros.com or on our Google Voice number 661-401-5941 to be part of our show. Don't forget to rate, review, or leave a comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. New episodes come out on Monday and Wednesday. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Pirates Dinner Adventure in Buena Park, California, and Orlando, Florida, are hosting Vampirates, a Halloween-themed family dinner show through Halloween. In the show, A ruthless crew of Vampirates crashes the annual Halloween Ball looking for a magical necklace. While this isn't a traditional haunt, I wanted to share this episode to show how other brands are developing Family Friendly Halloween content. Elsie from Sharp Productions conducted this interview with the team during the media night. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Jodi talks with Kathleen Treseder, Candidate for Irvine City Council, about climate change, fungi research, deforestation in Borneo, #MeToo UCI, and her experience as a political candidate.Dr. Kathleen Treseder is a UCI Professor, non-profit founder, justice advocate, community leader, and mother, who is committed to building a bright future for Irvine.Dr. Kathleen Treseder is the Howard A. Schneiderman Endowed Chair and Professor of Biology at the University of California, Irvine. For thirty years, she has led an internationally recognized research program and educated the next generation of scientists and college graduates. Kathleen Treseder worked her way through college and graduate school, earning an Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from University of Utah and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.In 2017, Dr. Treseder became a leader in the fight to make UCI a safer place for women, and has since founded and funded the Treseder Randerson Fund to support women and marginalized groups in Orange County.Dr. Treseder is also known for her local environmental leadership combating climate change and pollution. Kathleen co-founded OC Clean Power, a grassroots organization of over 30 non-profits, businesses, school organizations, and faith groups. With her leadership, they successfully lobbied Irvine, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, and Buena Park to found OC Power Authority, one of the largest renewable energy programs in California.https://www.kathleentreseder.comhttps://theliberaloc.com/2021/05/17/dr-kathleen-treseder-to-kick-off-campaign-for-irvine-city-council/https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/tresederlab/an-open-letter-about-sexual-harassment-and-retaliation-at-uci/https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/tresederlab/an-open-letter-about-sexual-harassment-and-retaliation-at-uci/https://www.ocweekly.com/a-dozen-uc-irvine-professors-express-himpathy-toward-disgraced-colleague-francisco-ayala/https://www.cityofirvine.org/environmental-programshttps://crimesurvivors.org/survivor-resources/#first-stepshttps://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledgehttps://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-diamond-age-or-a-young-ladys-illustrated-primer

During peak hours, in the 300 block of Brand Boulevard in the city of Glendale, in what is called “Metropolitan Los Angeles,” you might see a line of eager people making their way into Porto's Bakery & Café. You might see a similar scene in Buena Park, Burbank, Downey, or West Covina. Porto's is a many-splendored gift to the Southland. And it's not just the empanadas; it's the spirit of freedom and enterprise. Rosa and Raul Porto and their children brought this gift to America from Cuba a lifetime ago.

National Tresure Welcome to The Guys Review, where we review media, products and experiences.   **READ APPLE REVIEWS/Fan Mail**Mention Twitter DM group - like pinned tweet @The_GuysReviewRead emails theguysreviewpod@gmail.comTwitter Poll National Treasure Directed: Jon Turtletaub.   Writers: Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley Starring:  Nicolas CageDiane KrugerJustin BarthaSean BeanJon Voight Released: 8 November 2004 Budget: $100,000,000M ($154,735,839.07M in 2022) Box Office: $347,512,318M ($537,726,101.12M in 2022) Ratings:   IMDb 6.9(NOICE)/10 Rotten Tomatoes 46% Metacritic 39% Google Users 86%  Here art thine Awards My Lord Tucker the Wanker second Earl of Wessex. Lord of the Furries. Heir of Lord baldy the one eyed snake wrestler. Protector of Freedom units. Step Sibling with funny feelings down stairs. Entertainer of uncles.  Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2005NomineeSaturn AwardBest Action/Adventure/Thriller Film Best Supporting ActressDiane Kruger   BMI Film & TV Awards 2005WinnerBMI Film Music AwardTrevor Rabin   Jupiter Award 2005NomineeJupiter AwardBest International ActorNicolas Cage   Teen Choice Awards 2005NomineeTeen Choice AwardChoice Movie: Action Adventure   Undine Awards, Austria 2005NomineeUndine AwardBest Young Actress - Film (Beste jugendliche Hauptdarstellerin in einem Kinospielfilm)Diane Kruger   Visual Effects Society Awards 2005NomineeVES AwardOutstanding Models and Miniatures in a Motion PictureMatthew GratznerForest P. FischerScott BeverlyLeigh-Alexandra Jacob For the treasure room.  World Stunt Awards 2005NomineeTaurus AwardBest Overall Stunt by a Stunt WomanLisa Hoyle A woman hangs from the open door of a catering truck as it races through the streets. She ... More  Young Artist Awards 2005NomineeYoung Artist AwardBest Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young ActorHunter Gomez Best Family Feature Film - Drama Salutations from Sweden Happy 4th July to Y'all First time you saw the movie? Plot: The story centers on Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage), an amateur cryptologist with a mechanical engineering degree from MIT and an American history degree from Georgetown who comes from a long line of treasure hunters that believe in the legend of a fantastic treasure trove of artifacts and gold, hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States, and forgotten to all but a few. The first clue was given to Ben's great-great-great-great grandfather Thomas Gates (Jason Earles) by Charles Carroll, the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence, saying simply, "The secret lies with Charlotte." Using sophisticated computer arctic weather models, Ben, with his friend Riley Poole (Bartha) and financier Ian Howe (Bean), finds the wreckage of a Colonial ship, the Charlotte, containing a meerschaum pipe engraved with a riddle. After examining the riddle, Ben deduces that the next clue is on the back of the Declaration of Independence. While Ben sees gaining access to such a highly guarded artifact as an obstacle, Ian finds no problem in stealing it. In the standoff, Ian escapes and the Charlotte explodes with Ben and Riley inside, nearly killing them. They attempt to warn the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and Dr. Abigail Chase (Kruger) at the National Archives, but no one takes them seriously, believing it to be too heavily guarded to be under any threat. Ben thinks otherwise, however, and decides to steal it to keep it from Ian. Ben and Riley manage to steal the Declaration during a 70th anniversary-gala, just before Ian arrives. Dr. Chase, who is holding a replica, is kidnapped by Ian who thinks she has the real one, and Ben has to engage in a car chase to rescue her. As she will not leave without the Declaration, and Ben will not let her leave with it, she is forced to go along with them. Ben and Riley agree that the only place to hide from the police would be Ben's father's (Voight) house. Despite his father's disbelief in the treasure, Ben manages to reveal an Ottendorf cipher on the back of the Declaration, referring to characters in the Silence Dogood letters. The coded message in the letters leads them to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where they find special bifocals invented by Benjamin Franklin Gates inside of a brick from the building. Ben examines the back of the Declaration with the glasses, to find another clue. After a short chase, Ian gets the Declaration from Riley and Abigail, and the FBI arrests Ben, who has the glasses.When the FBI attempts to use Ben as bait to get the Declaration back, Ian arranges to have him escape by jumping from the deck of the USS Intrepid, into the Hudson River, a feat not too difficult for Ben as a graduate of the Navy Diving and Salvage Training Center. Using Ben's father, Riley, and Abigail as leverage, Ian forces Ben to interpret the clue on the back of the declaration, a reference to a secret chamber under the Trinity Church in New York City. When they arrive at a seemingly dead end, Ben's father makes up another clue to keep Ian going, telling him a lantern is the clue to the Old North Church in Boston, referencing Paul Revere's ride. Ian goes to Boston with his men, leaving everyone else to die in the caverns. After Ian leaves, Ben reveals there is another exit that must be through the treasure room. They find a secret passage into another chamber. To their disappointment, they find it empty, and assume that the treasure was already moved. However, they realize a secondary exit must have been created in case of cave-ins. Ben examines the walls of the room, to find a hole the shape of the pipe from the Charlotte. This lock opens a door into the true treasure room, containing artifacts from all periods of history. When they leave through the second exit and the FBI arrives, Ben discovers that the chief investigator, Special agent Peter Sadusky (Keitel), is a Freemason. Ben proposes to give the treasure to various museums around the world, with credit being given to the entire Gates family and Riley, with Dr. Chase not being penalized for the theft of the Declaration. However, Sadusky says that someone has to go to prison for the theft of the Declaration, so they fly to Boston, where Ian and his men are breaking the lock to gain entry to the Old North Church. FBI agents emerge from hiding and arrest them under charges of "kidnapping, attempted murder, and trespassing on government property." The U.S. government offers Ben and his friends ten percent of the treasure, but Ben only takes one percent and splits it with Riley. With his share, Ben and Abigail buy a mansion once owned by a man who knew Charles Carroll, and Riley buys a red Ferrari 360 Spider. The film ends with Abigail giving Ben a map and when he curiously asks what it leads to she just smiles a suggestive grin.  -Nicholas Cage figuring out the "riddle" on the boat with no context clues or anything was crazy.-Ian turns on Ben very quickly when it went from study the declaration of independance to steal it, and Ben wasn't game.-I always hate this, when Ian shoots the guard with the tazer, he passes out... not what happens with a tazer.-Who knows this much about cyphers?-Good chace, but would've brought more attention.-Why would Ian want to meet in NYC when they were already in Philly?-How would a 200 year old torch hold a flame like that?    Top Five Trivia of the movie: TOP 5On the back of the $100 bill, there is an etching of Independence Hall, and the time on the clock tower reads 2:22.The clock on the back of the early-2000s $100 bill (below) was officially documented as reading 4:10, though it does look more like the hour hand is pointing to the two, suggesting a time of 2:22. When the $100 bill was redesigned in 2009, the time was changed to 10:30; this new bill entered circulation in 2013. There is no evidence that either of these times were chosen for a specific reason.Independence Hall was not harmed in the making of this movie.Many of the scenes set in Philadelphia were shot on location, in such landmarks as Reading Terminal Market and the Franklin Institute. But one notable exception is Independence Hall. Rather than filming in the real building, a National Historical Park, the filmmakers substituted the brick-for-brick replica of Independence Hall at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Walter Knott had a love for American history, and his replica which was constructed between 1964-1966 was based on historical records, photographs, blueprints, and exact measurements. So, there was no need for Nicolas Cage to run around a real "national treasure" when a truly exact replica existed.The house of Pass and StowThe bell now known as the Liberty Bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack. It arrived in Philadelphia in 1752, but when the bell was struck to test the sound, its rim cracked. Authorities tried in vain to return the bell, so local founders John Pass and John Stow offered to recast it. Their first attempt didn't break when struck, but the sound was disappointing. So, Pass and Stow recast the bell again, and it was finally installed in the bell tower of the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in June 1753.As Ian discovers, the Liberty Bell no longer hangs in Independence Hall. It has its own pavillion across the street, the Liberty Bell Center, which opened to the public in October 2003.The final expansion of the crack in the Liberty Bell occurred on George Washington's birthday in 1846, and the Centennial Bell replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876.According to the National Park Service, the final expansion of the crack did occur in 1846, and the widening was actually an attempt to prevent futher cracking and restore the bell's tone. By order of the mayor, the bell rang in honor of Washington's birthday and cracked beyond repair.In anticipation of the centennial in 1876, a different bell was produced from four melted-down Revolutionary and Civil War cannons. The Centennial Bell was part of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, later recast to improve the tone, and hung in the bell tower ofIndependence Hall, where it remains today. This engraving from The Illustrated London News, 1876, shows the Centennial Bell "In the Belfry, Independence Hall.      5.  Broadway was called de Heere Street by the Dutch.           Originally the Wickquasgeck Trail, Dutch settlers renamed the route traversing Manhattan Island from south to north de Heere Straat, which means the Gentlemen's Street. Much of modern day Broadway follows these original roads. **TRIPLE LINDY AWARD** **REVIEW AND RATING** TOP 5Stephen:1 Breakfast club2 T23 Sandlot4 Back to the Future5 Mail order brides Chris:1. sandlots2. T23. trick r treat4. rocky horror picture show5. hubie halloween Trey:1) Boondocks Saints2) Mail Order Brides3) Tombstone4) Very bad things5) She out of my league  Tucker:1. T22: Tombstone3: Gross Pointe Blank4: My Cousin Vinny5: John Wick WHAT ARE WE DOING NEXT WEEK? Web: https://theguysreview.simplecast.com/EM: theguysreviewpod@gmail.comIG: @TheGuysReviewPodTW: @The_GuysReviewFB: https://facebook.com/TheGuysReviewPod/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYKXJhq9LbQ2VfR4K33kT9Q Please, Subscribe, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts from!! Thank you,-The Guys

Petros and Money are LIVE from Rock & Brews in Buena Park for Stop #2 of the PMS Chevy Summer Tour

Petros and Money are LIVE from Rock & Brews in Buena Park for Stop #2 of the PMS Chevy Summer Tour

Petros and Money are LIVE from Rock & Brews in Buena Park for Stop #2 of the PMS Chevy Summer Tour

THE THEME PARK DUO PODCAST: SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES, GOOGLE PLAY, STITCHER, iHEART RADIO AND SPOTIFY! On this episode, Nikki and Gabe chat about their recent trip out to Buena Park to visit Knott's Soak City! Right next door to Knott's Berry Farm, Soak City is a treasure trove of wonderful summer time fun! Hear about how we planned our day and find out some tips to make your trip easier when you go with your family. We also chat theme park news with Universal Orlando Resort opening escape rooms, Six Flags Magic Mountain announcing a new Annual Pass Program, Universal Studios Hollywood's Mario Kart attraction and Halloween Horror Nights news with Halloween! DRNXMYTH:  BUY DRINKS! Follow us on Social Media: @themeparkduo Follow UUOP: www.uuopodcast.com Check out our Shirts: Teepublic.com/themeparkduo Contact us: themeparkduo@gmail.com