Fridays with Manny

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EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE

I like flowers, and not just to photograph.

Recently, I planted fifty multicolored tulips in our garden. However, there is one flower which I only like to photograph – dandelions. They are weeds and mess up our lawn. Until recently, the solution was to pull them up; however, the roots remain, and they come back. I finally decided to stop my bending exercises and bought a weedkiller, and it worked. But ironically, dandelions are edible weeds, every part of them. They are full of vitamins A, B, C and D, and have many health benefits. I like to drink tea made from dandelions and there is even a chocolate maker in San Francisco called Dandelion Chocolate. Folklore suggests that when you blow on a dandelion puff, your dreams and wishes will be carried on the wind to eventually come true.

We know in life, everything is relative. How about reverse mortgages? Some people have negative opinions about them, until they learn how they can help folks to retire. This is why I wrote a book titled, “Retirement Solutions for Smart People™. How to Accomplish Financial Comfort.”

In the book you will find how many people gain financial comfort after I’ve helped them get a reverse mortgage. Now they can afford besides other things, tea made from dandelions, as well as Dandelion Chocolate.

As I said, everything is relative. You will be able to buy the book on Amazon very soon. I will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, please enjoy the beauty of dandelions. And share it with a friend!

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Fridays with Manny

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I HAVE EXCITING NEWS TO SHARE!

In 2012, I wrote my first book, “The Mortgage Game. 5 C’s and How to Connect Them”. I have just finished working on my new book, “Retirement Solutions for Smart People.™ How to accomplish financial comfort.” This one, which is my seventh book, is both informative as well as an expression of my love of nature. As you can guess from the title, the book is addressing a specific audience – those who are retired or planning to do so; basically, most of the Baby Boomers, as well the children whose parents are retired. Like my current client, a woman whose mom has an in-home-support system and is running out of money, but has plenty of equity in her home.

It is up to you to decide who can benefit from my knowledge and experience in helping thousands of clients to find mortgage solutions. After reading many books which have the word “retirement” in the title, I wrote a book completely different in nature and scope. To make the book more attractive, I decided to include photographs of nature.

As you will see, it is a very special book. It is also the second book in the Solutions for Smart People™ series. The first one was “Mortgage Solutions for Smart People™”. As time progresses, I am planning to share with you, smart people, about other subjects as well. Meanwhile, you can see the book’s front and back covers and one of the images from the book. Please stay tuned to my announcements to find out when the book becomes available for purchase.

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Fridays with Manny

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Special Invitation to
The Bay Area Open Art
Black & White Photo Exhibition

If you’ve known me for a while and have been reading “Fridays with Manny”, you know that I am amateur photographer (“amo” in Spanish and Portuguese means “I love you”; thus, amateur photographer is a lover of photography).

I have been interested in photography since the age of fourteen, but I became a photographer when I got my first digital camera about fifteen years ago. Since then, my skills have evolved. After publishing four photo-story books and calendars, I am comfortable to call myself a photo-artist.

During these years only once I had an opportunity to show my photography. Therefore, when the opportunity came along to participate in the group show, I said “yes”. The theme is “Black and White Images”, and I’ve chosen fifteen flowers that I have photographed earlier.

The show is going to be one day only, on Sunday, October 15th,
at 1527 S B Street, San Mateo, CA 94402-2435
from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

Hope you will come to the show! Meanwhile, please enjoy these three images. They are not going to be on display, nevertheless I thought you might like them.

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Fridays with Manny

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I CANNOT KEEP SILENT

Usually, I write my essays about my encounters or something that has a positive tone. However, when I opened the latest issue of AARP’s The Magazine, which has nearly 38 million members, I was surprised to find an article there, titled, “The Oldest Hatred”. They were interviews by Jane Eisner, which described antisemitism in America. “Antisemitism has persisted century after century, with the murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust its most horrific incarnation. Some Americans may have thought this prejudice was fading away, but it has gained momentum once again. What to make of today’s attacks on Jews, and what can be done about it.”

I was born and grew up in Riga, Latvia, when it was part of the then Soviet Union, and antisemitism was a way of life. We all had to learn how to adjust to the reality – difficulty to get jobs or to be admitted to certain colleges, or how to deal with thugs who hated Jews and called them kikes (zhids). It was expressed by both Latvians, who at the beginning of World War II in collaboration with the Nazis, murdered about 25,000 Jews in Rumbula Forest, near Riga, as well as the Russians, who represented a third of Riga’s population. We left antisemitism behind in January 1972, when we immigrated to Israel. After settling down in San Francisco in August 1980, I discovered a manifestation of antisemitism at the UC Berkeley campus. Hatred easily penetrates society. There are approximately 7.6 million Jews living in the US, which is only 2.4% of the total U.S. population. In Israel, there are about 7.1 million Jews, which is 73.6% of the total population. Antisemitism is the oldest form of hatred. The Nazis murdered one third of the world’s Jewish population because of their hate. Haters hate anyone who is doing better or is different from them, and Jews are an easy target. In my opinion, haters cannot be changed; however, others can be educated. In many countries in Europe, discrimination of and hatred of Jews, is considered a crime. In the United States, we have freedom of speech. That means that we must speak up against the spreading of hatred of others and not follow cheap social media propaganda. Instead, we can focus on spreading understanding, tolerance, and love for one other.

After I finished this rather long essay, I came across an article in the San Francisco Chronicle titled, Racist remarks could spell end to public call-ins at City Hall”. I also saw on YouTube, a conversation between Elon Musk and Ben Shapiro with the participation of other important personalities about “Anti-Semitism and Free Speech” (have patience to watch/listen to the end).

These three roses contain seeds of beauty, which serve as a reminder of our task at hand. When we plant beauty with love and get rid of the weeds, we can have a beautiful garden.

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Fridays With Manny

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WHAT AGE IS GOOD TO START SURFING?

If you’ve been to the beach in San Francisco, you have probably noticed surfers, walking to or from the ocean with surf boards. Sometimes we drive to “Soul Grind Café” in Pacifica for lunch, which is located close to the beach, which seems to be a favored spot by the surfers.

When I asked a surfer friend what is a good age to start surfing, he said, “At an early age”. This came to mind during our recent vacation to Kauai. When we arrived to the Poipu area where we stayed for a week, I noticed the construction of an elevated podium close to our timeshare. The next morning at 7am, I went to watch a surfing competition for children below the age of fourteen.

176 girls and boys were registered to compete. When I asked a woman on the shore about her son, who was a good surfer, at what age he started, and how old he was now, she said, “he is now eleven, and he started at seven”. Online I learned that the best age to start is between seven and nine. But there are certain surfing camps that teach children as young as five years of age. These three images are of the brave kids I have encountered.

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Fridays with Manny

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CONGRATULATIONS,
AUTUMN IS HERE!

Looking on the calendar, I noticed that the start of the autumn falls on September 23rd this year. We may notice the change in the season as leaves on the trees begin to change colors before falling down, in preparation for winter. There are other significant things that happen in the autumn as well. On Sunday, September 24th, starts Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. Though it is a Jewish tradition to celebrate this important event by fasting and praying during the next day until the sunset, it relates not only to Jews, but to all of humanity, as we are all interconnected.

The service starts on Sunday night with a prayer called Kol Nidre, which means “all vows”. I had difficulty understanding how it is possible to annul any personal or religious oath or prohibitions made between ourselves and God for the next year; how to atone or to get rid of our bad actions from the previous year. And then it dawned on me; it is like the trees losing their leaves. Next spring, they will appear again, and the cycle will start all over. Similarly, as we cycle through the Yom Kippur holiday, we will atone, and the world can start a new cycle over again.

Before dealing with God, we need to ask forgiveness from people. I want to use this opportunity to ask for your forgiveness. If you have ever wondered why leaves turn from green to yellow and to red before falling down, you can read this explanation.

Meanwhile, please take a look at the beauty of these three images of leaves.

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Fridays with Manny

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HAPPY NEW YEAR 5784!

On the evening of Friday September 15, starts the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), which translates to Head of the Year. In the Jewish tradition, there are actually four New Years! This holiday has many meanings. It is called the Day of Judgement or the Day of Remembrance. As the name alludes, it is the start of a new cycle of our lives. It is also the prelude to the next event that happens ten days later, called Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It gives the Jewish people plenty of time to reflect on their lives, to prepare themselves for the final decision, when the Superior Judge, King, God, whatever you want to call it, will decide what they will be entitled for in the coming year.

During a festive dinner on Rosh Hashanah, which is celebrated for two days, one of the traditions is to dip a slice of an apple into honey and to wish each other a “Good and sweet year” as well as “May you be inscribed in the book of life”. There are quite a few stories related to this holiday. One of them is about a man who before the start of Rosh Hashanah, sat down with two note-books in front of him and started his prayer, “Almighty God, during the last year I was not always good and had quite a few transgressions”, and with those words he started listing from his first notebook. When he finished reading, he opened the second book. “Dear God, but you also did not fulfill everything that I expected from you”, and he started to read from the second notebook all the things which were not good in his life during the previous year. “And now if you will forgive me, I will forgive you and we will be even.”

While Rosh Hashanah has a specific Jewish connection, Yom Kippur is universally applicable, since on this Day, God makes decision related to all of humanity. As in every holiday, we decorate our homes with flowers. These three very special images are from me to you. Wishing you a very good and sweet year!

 

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Fridays with Manny

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COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

We recently went for a vacation to Kauai. When I mentioned it to some people in San Francisco, in phone conversations, their response was often, “Isn’t there a fire?” Actually, the fire was in Maui. Driving around, we noticed signs of support for the people in Maui outside of some buildings and in stores, we saw appeals to raise money for the victims of the fires.

On the beach, we met a young woman who escaped the fire in the town of Lahaina along with her eighteen months young son. We heard first-hand about the disaster from her. All her belongings burned down. She was emotionally shaken. Her other two children were still in Maui. She had a friend in Kauai, who lent her a car. People offered her money, and when she went to the store to buy groceries, the store owner did not want to take money from her.

However, for many of us life goes on. In the airport upon arrival, I met a man, who did not cancel his vacation because of the fire, but instead of going to Maui came to Kauai. We all go through misfortunes in our lives. As long as we are alive, let’s count our blessings. One of my blessings is to see beauty and to share it with others. One of nature’s beauties is the National flower of Hawaii – the Yellow Hibiscus.

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Fridays with Manny

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HOW TO FOCUS

A few weeks ago, I have shared my stories with you about two people who had a dream and how these dreams were realized. The first story is about our daughter Allona, whose book The Weaver became a bestseller on Amazon in a very short time. The second dreamer is Adar, whose dream to bring joy of good ice cream keeps growing. Both of them, and anyone else who accomplishes anything, used the most important ingredient — focus. Though I’m a focused person, I’ve learned the real meaning of what it really is from our labradoodle, Max.

For Max, life is in the ball. He probably thinks that it is me, who likes to play it. It doesn’t matter where we are, he brings me one of his balls, which he wants me to throw so that he can retrieve it until he gets tired. But Max has one incredible quality – the ability to focus on what he wants – the ball. When we go to the park these days, I no longer carry a ball. Max just looks at my left pocket, where I used to keep his ball, I show and tell him that I do not have it, and he immediately goes on the hunting expedition, sniffing every bush. Recently he went deep under a bush, and then pulled himself out with the ball in his mouth. After we play for a while, he usually leaves the ball in the park, perhaps for another dog to find it.  While thinking about this essay, I came across a video on YouTube about Elon Musk’s ability to focus and work very hard to reach his dreams. I strongly recommend checking it out.

Last week I shared with you some images of Max and his ball. I am sure some owners can make the same statement about their dogs’ ability to focus.

Enjoy these three images above and share this story with your friends!

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Fridays with Manny

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HOW SMART IS YOUR DOG?

Two dog owners bragged about their dogs. One said that his dog goes out, picks up the newspaper, tips the delivery boy and brings him the newspaper. “I know”, the other answered, “my dog told me about that”. This joke appeared in my book “42 Encounters with Laughter”. Most dog owners believe that their dogs are smart. When I googled “books about dogs smarts” the list was quite impressive.

When people interact with our labradoodle Max, most make a comment that he is smart. One of the books I saw online is “Your Dog is Your Mirror.” Am I really as smart as Max and as good looking? I have a book on my bookshelf titled “Inside Your Dog’s Mind. What They Really Think”, which has many articles where experts share their research and express their opinions. Last week I wrote about how Max teaches me to be focused. But I also had to learn his language, which is expressed with his paws, body movements and his big eyes. When I ask him where the ball is, he goes to the door and starts scratching it. Behind the door is the stick. Then with eyes he looks towards the cabinet. My job is to get on my knees and get it out with the stick.

When I am driving home, even before the garage door opens, he appears in the window with the ball in his mouth, and then waits on the top of the stairs to throw the ball down for me to pick it up and throw back to him. This was a game he invented. In the morning at about 6:15, he comes to my side of the bed, wakes me up and then goes back to sleep. Somehow he knows when I need to get up. The list goes on. And I am sure that you have your own stories about your pets. I decided to share images of dogs. I am not sure how smart they are, but they are definitely very cute.

Share and Enjoy!

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