Manny Kagan

  

Are You Ready to Retire?

Recently my name appeared in an article written by Dan Pine in the weekly publication called “J.”, titled “Animated S.F. group has been talkin’ Torah for 45 years”. “Manny Kagan, a Latvian-born mortgage broker and amateur Torah scholar, led the discussion, though the term “amateur” does not do him justice. At 71, Kagan is sharp and well versed in the Torah and its commentaries.” The article describes how a group of men and women, Jews and Christians, have gathered together every Friday for the last 45 years, to study the Torah. I am honored to be invited from time to time to lead the discussion. It was nice to see my name printed in the newspaper, but what struck me, was seeing my age in print. Even though I know how many years I’ve been around, I thought there was a typo. The number one had to be before the number seven. But then I remembered that after being married for 51 years, I think the math was right. When I checked the meaning of my age the Affinity Numerology website, I learned that “71 is a business-oriented number. A person with the number 71 tends to be focused on building things intended to last for many generations, whether material or social structures that have meaning.” This fits my intention perfectly. At the age when some people are considering to slow down – to retire, I am just starting the third chapter of my life. You will find more on this subject in the book I’m currently writing, Retirement Solutions for the Smart People. 5 Easy Ways to Enjoy your Golden Age.

The purpose of the book is to help my readers prepare for the last chapter of their life. While I am working on my manuscript, I will share with you some of my discoveries, books and articles I’ve read, for which I will create a separate website.

I hope that when you will follow me, your retirement might become more enjoyable, or you decide to follow my example and not retire at all, and to continue to live an active life as long as you can.

Meanwhile, I need your help.  When I finished working on my photo-book 42 Encounters with Dog Lovers, I wanted more people to learn about what it takes to become their dog’s best friend.  Please buy the book and help me to spread the word, and find my book at encounterspublishing.com or amazon.com.

P.S. I do not know if the dog loving people in my photos have already retired, or are just ready to.  I hope you enjoy these four images.

Cheers,

  

Can You Visit the Same “Bean” Twice?

When it comes to travel, it is a good idea to remember the words of the Greek philosopher Socrates, who was born in 544 BC, who said that “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he is not the same man”.

In other words, why travel to the same cities that we have previously visited? This time, I’m talking about Chicago. We have been here a number of times and are familiar with the downtown area and with most of the local attractions. Nevertheless, we are here again. The “Bean” I have mentioned in the title is a public sculpture, which is actually called “Cloud Gate”, and is the centerpiece at Millennium Park. It was designed by Indian born British artist Sir Anish Kapoor. The first time I photographed it was during our visit here in 2009. It was pouring rain and my image has a very dramatic look (You can see other images from that visit on my website). This time, since I am not the “same man,” my vision as a photographer has evolved, and my images of the “Bean” have changed as well.

My wife Elfa and I are staying in Chicago for four days, visiting with our friends whom we have not seen for many years, relaxing, shopping, eating and photographing, and just being together.

During our absence, Max stayed with his doggy sitter and I missed him. But the book “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers” with his image on the top, which I brought here as a gift for our friends, was a great success.

You can order your own copy at encounterspublishing.com or on amazon.com. Your purchase of the book can help give dogs living at dog shelters a second chance. When you buy the book, go to mannykagan.com and choose which shelter I can donate 10% from the sale price on your behalf.

P.S. Yes, I really enjoy visiting the same places again, especially when we have special friends whom we like to spend time with. The four images of the “Bean” demonstrate how much I’ve changed over the years as a photographer.

Cheers,

  

Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?

A few weeks ago I wrote about my visit to Muttville, where senior dogs were getting a 2nd chance. To be accepted into the Muttville shelter the “dog” has to be at least 7 years young. That means that those dogs learned all of their tricks and behavior from their previous owners. The question crossed my mind – “How do new owners teach those old dogs new tricks? Is there a time when dogs stop learning?

I read a story years ago about the Dogs of the Berlin Wall. After the wall was destroyed on November 9th, 1989, there was question of what to do with the thousands of German Shepherds and other large dogs, who were trained to attack people who tried to cross the Wall. About 1500 were retrained to become guard dogs in private residences. Two dogs were adopted by a family in Mallorca and lived their remaining lives in a happy environment. I did some research by check out some books on Amazon. There I found a book titled How to Teach a New Dog Old Tricks by Ian Dunbar”. A well-known dog obedience teacher and veterinarian Dr Dunbar who works and lives in Berkeley, CA wrote the book. (I used his quotes in my book, 42 Encounters with Dog Lovers) Then I also found another book How to teach Your Old Dog New Tricks by Ted Baer. Both books were written in the nineties; however I do not think much has changed since then.

Nevertheless I found one book that was written in 2015 titled, Learn Agile Software Development: How to Teach an Old Dog New Tricks by Lon Pedron. I also found a number of Youtube videos on the subject. Dogtime.com states, “It is never too late to teach an old dog new tricks! If you adopt an adult or even senior dog, you may be amazed at their ability to concentrate and learn new things. Adult dogs are often even easier to train than pups, simply because they have the ability to focus for a larger period of time.” This is very good news for so many dog lovers, as long as they are interested in teaching their older dogs. One of the ways to do it is to attend classes at the an obedience school, such as the one we took Max on Sundays; taught by a very experienced dog trainer Bob Gutierrez (he can be reached at 415-648-3647) and takes place at the Ace Dog Sports facilities at 677 Toland Place, San Francisco (not far from Cesar Chavez Street). They offers different levels of agility, training six classes for each level. Max is currently at level three and I consistently train him in between classes as well.

P.S. The four images are encounters during on my last visit to Muttville. After you buy 42 Encounters with Dog Lovers at www.encounterspublishing.com or amazon.com, you could visit this site www.mannykagan.com and choose the Dog Charity where I will contribute 10% from your purchase on your behalf.

Cheers,

  

The Meaning of Master Number 33

September 2018, signifies two important events in my business career. In September 1983, I joined mortgage broker company, Coldwell Financial.

For years prior to this, I worked as a industrial engineer or an operation manager. It was the first time I had to earn only a commission, as a salesperson and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. As it is turned out, thirty-five years later I became one of the first mortgage brokers in an industry that had not yet existed.

Two years later, in September, my wife, Elfa and I founded Pacific Bay Financial – the mortgage brokerage firm which has survived challenging economic conditions, and outlived most of the other mortgage brokerage companies which appears during those years. Thus, we found ourselves to be one of the first companies still in the mortgage business.

After the analysis of numbers using numerology, which I wrote about a few weeks ago, I decided to check what the two numbers 35 (the first year I got into the mortgage business) and 33 mean (the first year of we founded our company) mean.

On-line I learned that the numerological meanings of number 35 are motivation, creativity, imagination, adventure, vision and opportunity.

In the affirmative numerology I found that “35 is interests are concerned with material values and building significant works (Pacific Bay Financial Corp). But 35 does like to have fun, especially when it involves its creative aspects it’s practically for expressing its personal sense of freedom (“42 Encounters” book). According to angel numbers, there are other descriptions, but let’s examine the number 33. It is considered a Master Number (Master Teacher) and resonates with the energies of compassion, blessings, inspiration, honesty, discipline, bravery and courage.

The Number 33 tells us that “all things are possible” 33 is also the number that symbolizes “guidance”. Other Master Numbers are 11 and 22.

By adding 3+5 we are getting 8, whose key elements are power and strength. It is the combination of two world’s material and spiritual together in one point which is the symbol of infinity. By adding 3+3, we are getting 6. The most important influence of the number 6 is its loving and caring nature. Properly named the motherland number, it is all about caring, healing, protecting and teaching others. For this reason, the 6 is considered harmonious with all other numbers. No wonder that in the Torah’s story, it took God 6 days to create our world. If any of this trivia is interesting to you read more on-line

It was also on September 4^th, when I started writing “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers”. The number 42 has many interesting meanings, some of which I described in the introduction to my fist book “42 Encounters in San Francisco”.

At the same time, 4+2 equals 6, which I have written about before. In addition, the number 6 is the symbol of luck, the highest number of the dice.

P.S. I hope you find this information interesting. Perhaps by buying “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers” on encounterspublishing.com or amazon.com, I might be able to share some of my luck with you as well. I guarantee you and your friends will enjoy the book and today’s four selection of images from my encounters with the dog lovers. Enjoy and share with a friend.

Cheers,

  

What Is Love?

While working on my next book “Retirement Solutions for Smart People, 5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Golden Age”, I was doing research on what motivates people.  In a book titled, “Mind: A Scientific Guide to Who You Are, How you Got That Way, and How to Make the Most of it” by Patricia Daniels, I learned among other things that “Neuroscientists still don’t agree with one another on what love is.”

After being married to my wife Elfa, – for over fifty-one years, and still being in love, I cannot explain what I feel.  Nor can I put in words what I really feel when I express my love to my daughters. When our daughter Tamar married her husband David, my love was extended to him as well, as a new member of our family. And then a year ago,-our family expanded again by adding another member – our puppy Max, whom I love very much. There are also many other people in my life – men and women – whom I love.  Is it the same love?  Do we still feel love when we feel upset with someone?  I have no idea (nor do the neuroscientists). 

All of those thoughts crossed my mind during a recent visit to Muttville Senior Dogs Rescue Center, which I wrote about last week, and where I witnessed an expression of love for our four-legged best friends.  I was invited there to promote my new book. All the funding for the dogs’ rescue organization comes from private donations.  Therefore, I decided to contribute 10% from the sales of my new book “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers”.  During the four hours I spent there, I had the opportunity to experience an expression of what we call love for dogs.

Those who want to adopt a dog can go to Muttville.org to find their next best friend.  But to see the dog and to fill out the adoption paper work, one needs to come to 205 Alabama Street in San Francisco.  Every Saturday and Sunday there is a fenced tent in front of the building where employees and volunteers sit together with adorable, mostly small dogs.  During my stay there, one of the dogs managed to get out and started running in the street. At this moment, about ten of the handlers started chasing a very fast small creature.  To everyone’s relief, it was soon caught and shortly after was adopted by a loving family. At least sixteen dogs were adopted that day.  It was an incredible experience to see the expression of human love, which they get back from their new best friends.

P.S. When I started to write about Max, dogs and dog lovers, about a year ago, I had no idea that it would bring me the opportunity to witness the expression of love in such abundance.  These four images just give a glimpse of the whole experience, which will only keep growing.

You can see Sherri Franklin, the founder of Muttville, arriving with one of her eight loving friends and staff members and volunteers who work here mainly because they love dogs. You can also see the board where the name of a new adopter is recorded. The last image shows me and my book “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers” which you can order at Encounterspublishing.com or Amazon.com.

Enjoy and share.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile and Please Share It
With a Friend!

Cheers,