• Wildomar Ranked #6 in the State and #249 Nationally, Really?

I was doing some research on where California cities rank in relation to each other and this popped up. 

Please don't shoot the messenger as you fall on the floor laughing your derriere off. 

Seriously, for those of us who love our hometown of Wildomar, we aren't such homers as to think we're ranked number 6 in the state.

Read below to see what I'm going on about. I'll add some of my own photos of The W in between the words of bestplaces dot net.

Wildomar does have many beautiful settings.

Wildomar, CA is a small city located in Riverside County, California. 

So Far, So Good!

It has a population of 33,120 people according to the most recent census and is a great place to live. Wildomar is ranked highly in terms of livability amongst US cities, coming in at #6 in the state and #249 nationally according to BestPlaces.net.

The city also has a low crime rate and good air quality for its residents. 

No real arguments yet... other than the population number being off by 12%

I'm not even sure where this was located. 

This is where Pinocchio's nose sprouted a bird's nest

Based on their rankings, Wildomar has excellent amenities such as quality healthcare facilities, good schools, plenty of jobs and career opportunities, an abundant supply of housing options, and plenty of entertainment activities and outdoor recreation areas nearby. 

Beautiful skies in Wildomar happen in an endless variety of ways.

Overall, Wildomar is an excellent place to settle down with a high quality of life that makes it an attractive option for potential new residents or visitors alike.

I'm fine with the previous sentence.

Best Places ranks thousands of places to live based on analysis, data, and key statistics from the U.S. Census and our Best Places To Live Expert Insights.

https://www.bestplaces.net/rankings/city/california/wildomar

I'm guessing that this was written by AI, especially if you look at the other rankings where they have Wildomar listed.

The same goes for nearly everything else on the internet too. 

• Hmmm Vent Cleaning You Say?

I saw this very interesting YouTube video on vent cleaning the other day from a channel with over a million subscribers called Pleasant Green. It mentioned how that local Facebook groups are inundated with these types of ads. 

If you're a Facebook user, I bet you've seen more than a hundred just this year alone.

Then I happened to be in the Windsong Valley facebook group wanting to share a flyer regarding a park event and saw this ad.

Just a hardworking local that's new to the area putting in an honest day's work... right?

Then I thought about putting the phone number into the search engine (like in the video) and low and behold it came up as being part of two other Facebook ads for vent cleaning.

For some reason, our hero Chris wasn't listed in my search results. What are the odds that the same phone number would be used for other duct-cleaning businesses on the other side of the country... but wait, don't answer yet. 

One in East Haven, Connecticut, and the other in a place called North Stonington... also in Connecticut. Pretty cool coincidence, right? 

North Stonington was a closed group, but look what I found in the East Haven Facebook group.

Read the ad, it's verbatim the ad I found in Windsong Valley. That's luckier than being hit by three bolts of lighting in my book. 

I'm sure this is 100% legit and all that, but time for some serious caveat emptor/buyer beware. If you want your ducts cleaned and you're ready to part with $300, you might want to see if the people are who they say they are. 

This is when you need a real recommendation by a neighbor you actually know or the Murrieta/Wildomar Chamber of Commerce.

Like it was said in the video, some of these operators may actually be giving a great service, through an overseas call center (watch the video, it's well done). 

But why the pretense and the carbon copy wording about new to the area if you're above board, and licensed and insured? 

As can happen all too frequently, there tend to be people who want to go straight to the but what if card and start defending guys like this hard-working, ad-plagiarizing, doting father of two... go click on our friend Chris Brendo's Facebook page and there is no info on it. Other than he likes four things, all based in India. 

I searched "Suresh Lal" which happens to be the actual name of "Chris's" Facebook address... and none appeared to look related to the people in the profile photo.

Here's the link. 

https://www.facebook.com/suresh.lal.395669

Take it from The Patch's own Rookie of the Year in 2013, Rae Anne Resident... when going undercover with an online persona, be clever, but don't be too clever. 

The good times were rolling like there was going to be no tomorrow.

Rae Anne, along with about ten other characters, ruled The Patch for at least two months. Then my flooded house was finally repaired and I was allowed back out into civilized society. Not sure what ever happened to Cliff and his friends.

• Getting Tested For Covid 19

Today many of the local elected officials in the region descended on Storm Stadium (actually named The Diamond) to promote getting tested for Covid 19.

Use this link to get an appointment

L to R: Canyon Lake Mayor Jordan Ehrenkranz, Lake Elsinore Mayor Brian Tisdale, Menifee City Councilwoman Lesa Sobek, Lake Elsinore City Councilwoman Natasha Johnson, Canyon Lake City Councilman Jeremy Smith, Menifee Mayor Pro-Tem Matt Liesmeyer, Wildomar City Councilman Joseph Morabito, Murrieta Mayor Gene Wunderlich and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. 

Though it's not something I would have guessed I'd be needing to do back at the first of the year, here we are. 

Do I feel symptomatic? No, I don't feel ill at all. 

So then why get tested? I'll let Sheriff Bianco answer that one.

I arrived early and had a chance to take a selfie with our Sheriff, Chad Bianco... and if you're wondering, the answer is "of course I let him know that it was me that got his video to go viral a couple of weeks ago." 🙂

It's unbelievably important that we get a wide variety of testing. We need healthy, [non]asymptomatic people to test. It's all about numbers. If we only have sick people [being] testing, that we already know they're positive anyway, it appears that 90% of Riverside County is infected and sick. We know that's not the case

We need to get a wide variety of people tested. It's quick and easy. It's free. It's a good peace of mind too. We can all assume that we're not positive, but we can verify it with a test. I want to encourage everybody to come down and do it so we can put enough numbers into the data so we get a real picture of Riverside County, not what skewed numbers look like. 

  —Sheriff Chad Bianco, May 21, 2020

Below is the video link of him saying it in real time... the audio isn't the greatest, but it works. 

I've included a 6 minute video of the morning. It has the testing and the few moments I got in front of the local news cameras... because let's face it, the allure of the camera is too great to pass up. 

•                •                •

Be able to back up a car for a considerable distance in a straight line and back out of a driveway.

– Marilyn vos Savant 

Wildomar Rap is amazed at how a genius is delighted by basic skill sets.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• Viral Video Recap

Hey, it's Mother's Day... but you already knew that. I have a quick bit of no sports Sunday fluff to take up a small bit of your time.

It deals with the video I shared on Tuesday, May 5th 

No, it wasn't about Cinco de Mayo, it was of Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco giving a well crafted speech during the Board of Supervisors meeting. Take another look if your memory has already dimmed a bit.

My key takeaway was where he said he wouldn't be 'making criminals out of business owners and single mothers for exercising their constitutional rights', and there cannot be a "new normal"... any "new normal" is an attack on our basic rights.

Even before he was done speaking I knew that I wanted to share his words with the community. So I backed up the video, hit record and then uploaded it to the Wildomar Rap Facebook page (LINK to page). 

I then shared it in a couple of key Facebook community groups (What's Up Lake Elsinore/WULE and Wildomar Friends And Community/WFAC) and left it at that. 

Not long after that my FB notifications started pinging and didn't let up for about two and half days. As of about twenty minutes ago, it had eclipsed 400,000 views and 7,500 shares.

Link to the Sheriff's Facebook page.

There have been more than 29,000 reactions on Facebook, and as you can see below, the overwhelming majority were positive. 

Haters gonna hate.

Of course there is always going to be negative feedback... probably the same Philadelphia Eagle fans that booed Santa Claus. 

Wildomar Rap had about 300 new likes/follows, but one person simply couldn't stomach another minute of WR and hit the eject button, and another 57 people hit the "Hide all Posts" button because their delicate feelings didn't know what to do in the face of a strong Sheriff that took his oath to defend the US Constitution seriously during a time of highly questionable edicts from the governor. 

I also happened to upload a copy of it to YouTube as seen at the top of this blog. Even without advertising it, somehow it got 6,700 views, 150 positive reactions and over 40 comments just out of thin air.

It's safe to say that this video has been far more viral than Covid19 ever dreamed of being. (Don't you dare be offended that I mocked a virus that has no feelings. I did NOT mock any people that have had it, including my wife's two cousins in Toronto that died from it.)

As we know, the Sheriff's comment went viral all over the nation... and yes, I'm claiming partial credit for that. 

If it had been up to the local news outlets (other than Wildomar's number 1 trusted news source that is) do you think they would have played his entire comment?  Of course they wouldn't have.

I didn't see the entire clip at Press Enterprise, Valley News or Patch... did you?

The clip I made, and uploaded within 30 minutes of it being uttered, is what got this thing rolling. 

Am I trying to turn this into a "Dig W'Rap" moment? 

Of course! 

I'm savvy enough to know that this is a once in a lifetime moment never to come around again, and I'm going to share it with you... if you aren't keen on it, you can join those other 57 people and hit the "Hide all Posts" option. 

Like I've long said, nowhere is it written that Wildomar Rap is required reading. ☺

Again, Happy Mother's Day, and I hope you're all well.

•                •                •

A good idea will keep you awake during the morning, but a great idea will keep you awake during the night.

– Marilyn vos Savant

Wildomar Rap generally sleeps like a baby.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• To Face Mask or Not To Face Mask... That Is The Question

After Yesterday's marathon Board of Supervisors (BoS) meeting, I'm basically spent on the topic. Seriously, I had to feel for all of them since it was really nothing more than a fool's errand from the get go.  

Reminder: 
special bos Meeting Friday

---

• Here is a link to the livestream. The meeting is set to begin at 1:00pm. https://livestream.com/rivcolive/bos

How many different ways does it have to be told to you that the BoS does NOT have the power to overturn the governor and they don't even have the power to overturn the PHO? (Public Health Official, Dr. Cameron Kaiser)

All his decisions are final (until he says otherwise). You don't have to like it, few like it, I don't like it, but it's reality and you should learn it. 

I have a favor to ask

Is it ok if we demand a little more of ourselves, like knowing what we're shouting about, before the shouting commences?

Oh, and while you're at it, how about leaving the partisan nonsense out of it too? 

Sorry for sounding like a jerk here, but after what seemed like 100 people speaking way off base, demanding things that could NOT be delivered, a person can get a little testy. 

Back to the topic of masks/face coverings

Personal note: I've never believed that the serious medical concerns that my wife and I have should be shouldered by everyone else. 

A friend of mine asked if I would put some video together of the discussion of face coverings/masks that occurred during the meeting. 

The first video is of Supervisor Kevin Jeffries as he asks staff (Sorry, I don't know the person's name) about masks and Orange County not using them and having far fewer deaths from Covid. The answer from staff really had me scratching my head, but you listen and you decide.

Below is the portion of the meeting that Dr. Cameron Kaiser spoke to the BoS. I'm not going to summarize it, I invite you to invest the 13 minutes and watch it yourself. 

If you're concerned about this, you need to hear the facts straight from the horses mouth and not just from a series of banal memes posted by a frightened person on facebook.

Treasurer/Tax Collector Jon Christensen spoke over the phone. Though not as powerful as Sheriff Bianco, he made some very important points that you'll be interested in hearing. 

He reminded everyone, especially the school district personnel that called in to the meeting against the agenda item, when he said, "I'm kind of curious as to where they think this money is going to come from. They're all being paid. Money is coming into these districts... it comes from tax money."

Very sobering words to be sure.

The next part is what my friend was eager to share, but didn't know how to break down video. This is the doctor that most influenced Dr. Cameron Kaiser to add the face covering. Listen to his logic when it comes to the value of face coverings. 

You can always disagree, but doesn't it make more sense to base your disagreements on things other than emotions? 

While I was at it, I found a 60 minutes piece where Dr. Fauci talks about how masks on everyone are worthless... unless he's changed his mind since early March. In which case, doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

Here's a bonus video... the best three minutes of the entire 11 hour meeting. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

Wildomar Rap opinion time

Though I'm ready to remove the additional restrictions that Riverside County has added to the State's already burdensome "recommendations"/orders, as was echoed in several spots in the videos above, if it takes wearing masks to get the businesses open, give me a Miss Piggy mask and let's get on with it (and I hate Miss Piggy).

Getting all high and mighty, sticking to some strong willed ideal could very well prove correct in a court of law at some future date... but at what additional costs? How many more businesses would crash and burn in the interim? 

Just like I don't suggest fighting with cops (even when a person thinks they're wrong) I also can't imagine how foolhardy it is to fight with the Governor and lose everything in the process.

If being right is more important than staying in business, it's your prerogative to fight that windmill. For everyone else,  I suggest biding your time and following whatever orders the governor issues. 

Fight him in court another day when your business is safe from any ramifications he could throw your way.

•                •                •

"I don't bother trying to analyze things like that. Some things just are. The only thing we can control is ourselves. It's fine to give an attempt or two or ten to see if a problem can be sorted out, but it's 100% fruitless, and borderline insane, to keep trying to change the unchangeable."

– Joseph Morabito (in a recent text to his mother)

Wildomar Rap would say the same thing in a text, or a Facebook comment, to anyone that wants to ever invoke the WIN committee again... and yes, I'm mostly thinking of one friend in particular that can't let it go. ☺

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• Minor Rant (Bad Pun Intended)

It can be dismaying to see vandalism in any form, and additionally upsetting when it's more broadly aimed at the community as a whole. (Even if that's not what the perp was considering at the time)

At least one book that was destroyed near Windsong park. This photo was contributed by a local resident, and I was told that the image doesn't adequately portray the extent of the debris field.

Yesterday I was near Windsong park and saw several children's books that had been removed from the Free Little Library and thrown to the ground on the sidewalk down the street.

These two books weren't torn up, just thrown on the sidewalk near Gierson and Prairie. I rehomed them to the Free Little Library at DeJong's about half an hour after I picked them up. 

Who probably did this? 

Well, your guess is as good as mine, but if this was an office betting pool, I'd be laying my wager on a middle schooler (or someone a couple of years older that still has the cognitive acumen of a middle schooler), also one that doesn't get proper supervision at home.

Disrespect doesn't have to be taught, but it can flourish where proper parenting is lacking.

It's not necessarily an omen that this person will turn out bad (100% likely that it's a local teenage boy) because many responsible adults had periods of time of being a nuisance too. 

Everything has to be spelled out for some kids (I was one of those).

Back in the day I was in the category of being a thoughtless teenager too. 

My apologies to Pony League Baseball in Fontana, where in 1979 I removed all the light bulbs from the scoreboard... because, well, it was there and didn't have a screen to keep such numbskulls at bay.

Raising a child is a full time job, and even those doing their best can run into problems. Then add being a single parent into the mix, with three boys (Hi Mom), and the odds go up that the kids will get a little out of hand now and then.

Is this blog getting a bit preachy? 

Probably, but the rest of the community suffers when parenting is lacking... and I don't apologize for calling it out when it's as evident as this.

In a world where we hear accounts that parents of bullies are often found defending the indefensible, there is little that the rest of us can do without running the risk of being shouted down on social media for even bringing it up. Much less actually bringing such things to their attention, face to face. 

Yeah, no thanks. Though I'd rather you corral your little reprobate, far be it from me to put my nose on your bucket list of things to punch.

The days of Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best are long gone, where local kids respected their neighbors as much —or more— than their own parents. These days it's hard to even get eye contact and a "hello" out of kids. Obviously not ALL kids, but the majority to be sure. 

Oh well, we'll survive even if you allow your progeny to raise themselves... but will they? (Better keep SWAG's number handy, you'll probably be needing it the next 10 to 15 years)

To the good parents out there (which are most) I salute you for the work/time/effort you put into your kids... to the the ones that didn't fit into that category... thanks for nothing.

I will be interested in seeing if anyone will bother refuting some of my general points above. Being an apologist for antisocial behavior seems like such a waste of time... but is easier than doing the actual work necessary to produce well rounded community members. 

•                •                •

A series of minor incidents, mounting to a minor climax; the process of life. And yet, which one of us knows, or can suspect, how the smallest of happenstance may shape the pattern of our fate?

– EG Marshall (CBSRMT)

Wildomar Rap is most definitely the product of years' worth of minor incidents that serendipitously culminated into this digitized frenzy that you're looking at now. 

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• This Prop 13 Ain't That Prop 13

California will be having an election on March 3, 2020 and on the ballot is something called Prop 13.

I hate to be a jerk, but I can't believe how many uninformed and gullible voters there are in our area alone (Rush Limbaugh calls such people Low Information Voters). 

This post is flat out FALSE, yet still has had over four thousand comments and 39K shares.

The 2020 Prop 13 has nothing to do with property tax rates like Prop 13 of 1978 did. It's a bond issue and that's it. 

I urge all voters to learn what is actually on the ballot. 

Finally I had enough and commented about it. 

To the person that said, "Ok if you say so," no, it's the facts of the matter that are "saying so." 

You either want to be equipped with the truth, or you're happy just following the crowd on facebook without employing any critical thinking. It's your choice.

This bond measure is asking for $15 Billion in general obligation bonds. If you want to know what you're voting on, use this link for the details. 

I'll be urging a NO vote on the 2020 version of Proposition 13 because we just passed a similar bond in 2016, and it's time we slam the brakes on additional tax obligations.

As it turns out, the state restarts the proposition numbers every 10 years. 

Why? 
I don't know why. 

I'd be fine with either letting the numbers continue to climb to infinity and beyond, or affixing a letter to them every ten years. 

Example: Instead of using Prop 13 again, naming it Prop 13A or Prop 13,000... thing is, they didn't ask me what I thought so we have to deal with what they give us.

Californians last voted on a school facilities bond measure in 2016, which passed with 55 percent of the vote. The bond measure, titled Proposition 51, issued $7 billion for K-12 education facilities and $2 billion for colleges. 

Between 1998 and 2019, voters approved five bond measures for school facilities—Proposition 1A (1998), Proposition 47 (2002), Proposition 55 (2004), Proposition 1D (2006), and Proposition 51 (2016).

Watch the brief video below for an explanation about the 2020 Prop 13 and that it's not connected to the 1978 model.

However, there will be an attack on the 1978 Prop 13 in November. Here's a link to the actual proposition language.

It already has been given a less than forthright title by Secretary of State, Alex Padilla, but hasn't been assigned a proposition number yet. 

Property To Be Taxed Based On Fair-Market Value. Dedicates Portion Of Any Increased Revenue To Education And Local Services.

There is no mention that this would be the biggest tax increase in the state's history... which is the standard operating procedure for Sacramento.

Because of years' worth of duplicitous ballot titles, there is a move underway to remove that task from the secretary of state. Though I highly doubt such an endeavor will ever come to fruition.

In conclusion, please know what it is you're voting on and what it is you're posting about on social media. Remember all that noise about Russia and the 2016 election?

Take it from Mr. Yellow... I think. lol

Whether it happened on any level or not, if people weren't so eager to believe every headline they read on facebook, the point would've been moot from the get go. 

•                •                •

Well done is better than well said.
– Benjamin Franklin

Wildomar Rap prefers medium or medium rare, but there'll be no quarrels here. If Mr. Kiteflyer likes leathery steak, so be it. 

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.