Josh Kingsley

I spent the majority of last week California dreaming. Misty grew up in San Diego, and specifically in Rancho Peñasquitos (PQ to the locals). This trip was long overdue as the last visit was… I actually don’t remember… probably 2019. Like I said, overdue. It was great to get back to the West Coast and hang with the in-laws on their turf. Misty’s mom and step dad now live in a town called Ramona, which is up the mountain and quite rural northeast of San Diego proper. The real nice piece was Misty’s dad joining us for the weekend as well. He currently lives in Vegas, so my stop there was primarily to link up with him on the way to CA. Misty’s parents split up when she was 10-ish, but co-parented well and remain on very friendly terms. This a great for us in that we can have one combined group when we make the trip. I know others in the similar situation are not as fortunate.

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Good Ole Ramona

Ramona is a nice place. It’s a rural place in San Diego County that takes great pride in being rural. The population is 20K, but they lack things most towns of that size have. The best examples are Walmart (or some other retailer) and branded hotels. This helps keep a bit of the small town charm, but it ultimately means we end up staying in nearby Poway. The real nice part is the overall lack of chain restaurants in favor of local spots. That part I love. It’s always a joy to support a Main Street eatery. Ramona finally got Starbucks and Dunkin about 5 years ago after massive mind share battles. Many, myself included, view that as the first domino away from the small town to one with the traditional amenities.

The reality facing Ramona is they are one of the few places in San Diego County where normal people can buy a house. You cannot touch anything over a town home of condo for less than $1M.

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The population is going to continue to grow, and that town has some decisions in front of it. A big example aside from letting the chains in is the road to get there. The 67 runs from Poway to Ramona as a winding ride up a mountain. That area requires headlights during the day ($200+ ticket) and has the most in depth reflector system I’ve ever seen. What they do not have is a single light on the 15 mile stretch through pitch black at night. The other thing this road has is heavy traffic from about 7am to 10pm. This one is going to be interesting to watch.

More Cali Vibes

We mixed family time with 4 core activities this trip: eating Mexican food, exploring, Sea World and staying warm. The last one is garden variety gloating. San Diego weather is absolute perfection. Christmas and a beach are my favorite combination. Sea World season passes were the kids’ big Christmas gift. We have officially moved from toys and stuff to experiences with our kids. This year they got both a trip to Sea World and a guaranteed second trip that justifies the season pass. Now for the good stuff –> food!!

Misty and I have traveled to San Diego together for 15+ years. The constant in every West Coast trip is a stop at IN-N-Out for the best fast food burger on the planet, the Double Double animal style. The inconsistent focus on Mexican food is an epidemic miss. We have had our fair share, but have never made it a focus prior to this trip. The night after Sea World we stayed in Old Town. We took the kids on a walk through the area and made two notable stops. The first was breakfast at the Old Town Mexican Café. I cannot find it again, but we found a review that essentially said, “you walk in the door and see two old ladies making homemade tortillas, what else do you need to know?” The answer is nothing, sold. Our next stop was the Whaley House for a tour.

I recommend both places in Old Town, but one food stop towered above the weekend. Misty has raved and waxed nostalgic about California burritos, rolled tacos and carne asada fries as long as I’ve known her. We made a stop at Roberto’s on the beach, and wow do I get it. Make the stop and get the Cali burrito.

Further Up the Mountain

We took a trip to Julian on the 23rd, AKA Red Friday. Julian is a town about 30 minutes further up the mountain past Ramona, and it never came up before this trip. This is the longest trip we have ever stayed so it finally emerged as an option. Julian is an old mining town that has kept exceptionally rural and throwback, but it most noted for its apples. The first thing we did in town was visit the Eagle Mining Company and the High Peak Mine. High Peak is a gold mine you can tour. I love stepping back in history and this tour fit the bill impeccably. Misty and I were a little skeptical about the kids enjoying the tour, but they emerged fascinated by the mining process. Best of all, I repped the CHIEFS in a gold mine.

Our next stop was to the gem of the town, the Julian Pie Company. Holy huge pies this place is incredible. I took the kids candy mining while Misty stood in line for 45 minutes to buy a pie. That wait for a pie was over the top, obnoxious, and totally worth it. The mixed berry was the perfect end to a holiday meal.

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Rock Chalk!!

This is a heck of time to be a Jayhawk fan. The defending national champion men’s basketball team is trending like a repeat is on the table. Jalen Wilson is the real deal and the team is rolling. It’s a beautiful thing!! The football team takes it all to another level. College football is normally an ancillary event for me. I keep an eye on the standings, watch a little here and there, and lament the horrible Jayhawk record. That was not the case this season. Kansas capped their unexpected season with a classic in the Liberty Bowl. I wanted a win, but the 15 point 4th quarter comeback was a nice consolation. Lance Leipold kept his team fighting, and appears to finally be the answer at head coach. Looks like I have a new college football hobby to deal with.

An Uneventful Trip Home

Winter weather has a knack for messing up travel plans, so any flight plan including the Upper Midwest carries question marks. On top of the typical flying to Milwaukee factors we flew Southwest. Their current struggles are all over the news, social media and casual conversations. Every recent travel conversation includes the “you obviously didn’t fly Southwest because you got home on time” comment. Here’s the thing: we did fly Southwest on the 29th, and it was a great experience. The day did have Southwest’s scars from the previous week on full display. Our flight from San Diego to Denver had 45 open seats, and the one to Milwaukee had less that 20 total passengers. It will take some time for Southwest’s reputation to recover, but I expect it will. I absolutely love the airline, and feel for them at the moment.

I travel a ton and have many strong opinions on related subjects. My cardinal rule is eat local, not chains. A key thought is love for automation. I consider a trip where I pull out of my driveway, make a trip, pull back into my driveway, and talk to zero customer service people the ideal situation. Hilton digital key, Avis head straight to your car and checking in online is my speed. I have a map on my phone and I am quite good at researching food and drink spots, so no, I don’t need directions or restaurant recommendations, thanks. Another strong opinion revolves around having a realistic view and expectation of the

process. What I am really saying is that I have great patience with hotels and airlines, which is interesting because I consider myself quite impatient.

For hotels I have worked there and understand how hard every job in the building really is. My airline philosophy sums up by what is probably my favorite Louis CK bit. [Editor’s Note: please excuse the language.] I am a Greek god living the dream.

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My Love for Southwest

I don’t fly Southwest often these days. Covid wrecked every airline and pared down their schedules, and Southwest is often expensive or less than schedule ideal out of Milwaukee. My real traveling heydays occurred when I had a road warrior job. Southwest was my airline. I held a Companion Pass, which is as awesome as advertised, for a few years and once redeemed 250K points in a matter of 6-ish months. Southwest always got me for a few reasons. First, they recognize that people getting on planes are children and made us line up. Second, they always focused hardest of all airlines on arriving on time. Finally, they always hire people that care. That last one takes zero talent, but is the hardest employee gene to find.

There are some intense statements coming from senior Southwest people. This and this are good starting points. I mean, wow. The entire situation and employee comments resonate with me in many ways. More than anything I have worked for this company. Not Southwest, but places with the same types of challenges. The core issues appear to be focus on stock price and need for an entire system upgrade. Be less greedy and get a new system, sounds simple, but I know they are anything but. Southwest’s leaders are accountants and they are numbers people. I do empathize with them because I both understand how they think, and also because Wall Street and stocks do important things like drive the value of our 401Ks. It is virtually impossible to justify missing numbers in public companies. Infrastructure investments like new IT systems are almost impossible to justify because the ROI will not look good. We all work for somebody, and everyone at Southwest from the new guy to CEO are no different. It’s often easier and makes more sense to do your job and hit the numbers. Even if that means risking the heart and soul of the company, customers.

I am rooting for Southwest.

Couple Quick Soccer Sidebars

Most casual sports fans know the name Cristiano Ronaldo whether they watch soccer or not. He is as box office as it gets, and a Saudi Arabian club is paying $200M to have him in their shirt. That alone is wild. The truly wild thing to me is word on the street that Sporting KC almost got him first. This blew me away because SKC has never been on this kind of list. MLS is currently a second tier league, and essentially a retirement home for global stars. Thierry Henry and Andrea Pirlo are examples of players who killed it in Europe and came to the States to make good money against lower competition. Global stars heading this way typically pick the New York and LA type markets first. The consistent rumor of new is David Beckham’s Miami team sits in the next up spot for Leonel Messi. Kansas City, not so much.

Every year MLS makes a small step toward greater relevance. The current big 5 leagues are England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France. At some point other leagues will ultimately challenge this paradigm and most likely displace one of the 5. I expect France and Italy to Big 12/Pac 12 it and fight for relevance as MLS, Saudi and China leagues work to gain power. At some point the US and MLS will be a top 5 power league. It is absolutely huge if SKC can put itself at the top of the league. They are there from a culture and winning standpoint, but they have to be something of a destination to keep it. Patrick Mahomes is on it and going for big fish.

US Men’s National team Gregg Berhalter is taking bullets this week as news of a domestic violence report emerged. Domestic violence is reprehensible and Gregg’s described actions are no exception. However, the way this came to light stinks as well. One of the USMNT team member’s mom dug this up to punish the coach for her son’s lack of playing time during the World Cup. Bratty parent behavior like this is why no one wants to coach or officiate youth sports.

Another Week, Another Flawed CHIEFS Win

The CHIEFS kicked our new year off proper with a 15th consecutive win over the reeling Denver Broncos. It started as a defensive tune up and remained that way most of the first half. The offense spent time grinding the running game against the stout Denver D. Patrick Mahomes joined Brady and Brees as the 3rd QB to hit the 5K yard mark multiple times. Thankfully he did it in 16 games as I don’t have the energy for the asterisks on deck if it took until week 18. The CHIEFS D eventually eased up and let Denver move the ball and Russell Wilson look competent. The CHIEFS trailed for an uncomfortable amount of time, but finally got it right. L’Jarius Sneed opened the 4th quarter with a beautiful INT that should have tipped the turnover battle to the CHIEFS.

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That didn’t happen because Toney added a fumble to the tally on another muffed punt. The kicking game added to the frustration with another missed kick that was actually a block. ArrowheadPride has an article called, “What went wrong in Chiefs’ botched hold and blocked field goal against Broncos” in which they do a great breakdown of the kicking woes for this game. The most harrowing part is the end where it is clear we have what we have. Breakdown of the missed blocks by Creed Humphrey, of all people, is the most frustrating. The whole thing simply adds another black eye for Dave Toub, who will need to become a spider soon to provide enough eyes to blacken.

Overall, I cannot picture a worse display of bad PR (Colquitt thing), undisciplined play (Creed thing) and lack of execution (kicking and punt catching things), and Toub needs to not let it happen. It’s downright scary.

Live Free or Die Hard

The original Die Hard is Christmas movie, a classic, and a personal favorite. I love that movie and the sequels. “Live Free or Die Hard” is my second favorite. Justin Long’s character is awesome, and I love the addition of daughter, Lucy McClain. I bring this movie up for a couple scenes that remind me of the ST situation.

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In the movie there is a scene where Kevin Smith plays a hacker and is talking about the bad guy played by Timothy Olyphant. Smith character displays fear of Olyphant’s character’s skill as a hacker and tells a story of him hacking a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting with a laptop. Colquitt going public reminded me of said hacker with Toub being the Joint Chiefs. The setup in the movie was Olyphant pushing for better infrastructure — hi Southwest — and network security, and the hack was to prove a point. Colquitt’s comments seemed like an exasperated final attempt to help Toub actually listen.

My second scene is toward the end when Bruce Willis as, John McClain’s, daughter becomes a hostage. A muscle bound bad guy drags her in kicking and screaming, and ultimately loses control momentarily. She is tough and not interested in taking crap, which is similar to her dad. Olyphant annoyed looks at his henchman and sarcastically asks if he needs help handling a young lady. I sincerely hope Andy Reid is taking the exact same attitude with Toub right now over basic ST principles. Toub’s unit is currently playing bad enough to send the CHIEFS home early.

Final CHIEFS Game Takeaway

My thoughts ultimately start and end with a simple fact: the CHIEFS had to win this game and they did. I have commented multiple times that 3 losses is perfectly acceptable in the regular season, and it most likely snags home field and the #1 seed.

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The 3 point losses to the Bills and Bengals are understandable. A division loss is something I can understand as well. Unfortunately, the CHIEFS decided to stink up Lucas Oil, so the divisional loss no longer works, and they hit their loss total. Last Sunday was a must win game. They won, and I never felt the win was in doubt. Everyone keeps waiting for the subpar D and horrible ST to bite the CHIEFS and produce a loss, but so far it hasn’t… directly. My question: why does it have to, and what if it doesn’t?

Most logic dictated an offensive downturn when Hill left for Miami. Well, here we sit with the CHIEFS leading the league in scoring, Mahomes making yardage history, an emerging running game, and a crack at a #1 seed. The CHIEFS don’t have to lose, and they may not.

I’ve Unfortunately Seen This

I debated leading with this, but ultimately chose to end with it. Like many others I sat down on Monday night to watch the Bills play the Bengals in Cincinnati. The game started started with a fast Bengals start followed by a Bills FG. Then the unthinkable happened as Damar Hamlin stood up from a routine tackle only to collapse immediately. A chilling scene and tense commentary from Joe Buck and Troy Aikman followed as doctors revived Hamlin and put him in an ambulance. The sports world and most American fans emerged changed people. Football is a violent sport, and risk like this is ever present. Fear of player death hides in the deep depths of every football fan and player’s mind. Until now. This event forces us all to face the fear, and that probably never changes.

My thoughts and prayers are with Damar, his family, and his doctors. I long for the day I see him on the field again.

I deeply respect history and remind that a player once died on the field. Chuck Hughes, Detroit Lions WR, lost his life to a heart attack at 28 years old on October 24, 1971. His widow watched the game in fear of history repeating. We all remain with her: patiently waiting for the update that Damar woke up and is recovering.

Deja Vu

Unfortunately, this situation is a repeat of some very recent history. Denmark and Finland played a group stage game for the 2020 Euro tournament on June 12, 2021. A 29 year old named Christen Ericksen took the field in his #10 jersey. Quick note for non-soccer fans: #10 typically worn by the best player on the team. Shortly before halftime Ericksen collapsed from cardiac arrest. His teammate, Danish defender Simon Kjær, rushed to his side and ensured his airway was open. Team doctors revived him on the field and put him in an ambulance. Monday night felt the exact same way with one exception: Damar still has not woken up. Ericksen had a small level of consciousness as he left the pitch. Another difference: the soccer match actually played to conclusion after all that. Thankfully the Bills Bengals and NFL did not resume play.

My hope is full Deja Vu. I want history to repeat itself. Ericksen walked out of the hospital with an implanted ICD, got himself in shape, and plays high level club soccer for Manchester United. I want bare minimum the walking out of the hospital for Hamlin. If he wants it I’d love to see him on the football field again as well.

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Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Arrowhead Kingdom

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