UPDATE: CHICOS INVESTMENT SUCCESS

Upon reading my post yesterday about my $400 gain from Chicos stock (CHS), Jill correctly pointed out that $400 is pretty small potatoes. Relatively speaking in the world of high finance, she's right. Since what I invest is chump change relative to people older and wealthier than me, I'll restate my earnings.

To wit, I've had a 100% gain, including a stock split, in less than a year from my Chicos stocks. There.. that sounds better, doesn't it?

SCHOOL KIDS PICKING ALL THE OREGON RASPBERRIES

Mom and Jill went berry picking again yesterday after spending Monday in the kitchen putting up Sunday's marionberry haul. Raspberries were scarce Sunday and it appears that the same was true yesterday at West Union Gardens in Hillsboro. Apparently, many stay-at-home parents, desperate to keep their children entertained, have taken to the berry farms. Raspberries have been the hardest hit, so Mom and Jill still haven't picked many raspberries.

They did manage to accumulate two flats of Tulameen raspberries (link goes to Raintree nursery if you'd like to order a plant or two).

These things can be nearly as big as many varieties of cherry tomato and their flavor is very good. Their size, however, makes them very fragile and difficult to ship commercially so you have to find them in local markets or order plants and grow them at home.

Overall, 50 pounds of berries were picked yesterday for a grand total of 100 pounds. Yesterday's harvest also included boysenberries and tayberries.

Their flavor is less sweet and a little more "spicy" I guess is the best way to put it. I suppose you'll have to wait for the jam, jelly, syrup, pie filling and everything else Mom's making as I type this.

I believe they're planning a trip to Sauvie Island for berry picking tomorrow, so they're likely to pick raspberries AND blueberries out there.

MOM MEETS DUCHESS

We had a late-night visit to the barn in Damascus last night. Mom finally got to meet Duchess, who in turn showed off her nearly-complete summer coat. She also displayed her incredibly good behavior, minding her instructions and not being pushy when treats were offered. Unsurprisingly, we couldn't say the same for Duchess - sorry.. I couldn't help myself.

Mom's camera ran low on battery power, so we'll stop in again on the way to/from Bend and get some photos that Mom can take home with her.

DISAPPOINTING NEWS FOR TOM

Tom has been my northern California correspondent, reporting news of the growing effort to recall governor Gray Davis - link goes to a very critical view of Davis.. Tom is sure to enjoy it. I'd be going nuts if he was the governor of Oregon - like Ted "Kingpin" Kulongoski - but he's done wonders for economic development in Southern Oregon; California businesses are beginning to pack up in droves heading for Jackson County/Medford. "California leads the nation in small business creation under Gray Davis - all you have to do is start out with a big business..."

I have to apologize as Tom did send some interesting information about the recall campaign, but I received it at home and I didn't get to posting the info from there last night due to the trip to the barn. I'll post the info soon enough. Following, however, is a link to a California legal blogger who correctly predicted the campaign to recall Gray Davis. She made several new, related predictions yesterday and you can read them here. I'd say her conclusions are shockingly unsurprising and that most pundits have put the cart in front of the horse regarding Schwarzenegger's intentions. Every pundit claims Terminator 3 has effectively been the most expensive California governor campaign commercial for Ahnuld's Sacramento bid.

Unfortunately, I believe, they have it the other way around. I'd personally say that the Governor's race speculation game (has Arnold said anything concrete about it? - NO) has been the CHEAPEST movie promotion campaign in the history of Hollywood. Ahnuld makes movies and money, though in his case, the two haven't correlated in at least ten years. But he's definitely not an idiot and I'd say that when the next big blockbuster hits the screen and T3 fades into pay-per-view, Mr. Schwarzenegger will have profited handsomely from one of the lowest-overhead movie productions ever - spending but a sliver of the usual marketing budget. I further support this assertion with the fact that I haven't seen one Terminator 3 commercial on network television - we don't have cable - unlike pretty much every other summer movie out there.

Perhaps Ahnuld's business acumen is a compelling reason to elect him governor. Or perhaps he just needs to personally thank Gray Davis for being such a complete (sorry.. this is a G-rated site).