Sunday, February 22 through Saturday, February 28, 2015
Sunday, February 22 (Brunch and Luau):
Carole and I rarely are up late at night but we didn’t return to our hotel from Greg’s wedding last night until nearly 1:00 am. I’m pretty sure that last night was the latest night that we’ve had since we began our lives together as husband and wife. Greg’s wedding was so spectacular, with the fireworks display and all of the amazing festivities that we had to stay. Although neither of us drink, we woke this morning feeling as if we needed more rest. But it wasn’t to be. We joined the rest of the wedding party for a fabulous brunch at the Kohanaiki club, hosted by Greg. I spent most of the day swimming. In the evening, Carole and I attended a beachfront Luau, for the final wedding event.
Monday, February 23 (Swimming, Flight home):
Carole and I woke very early to enjoy the incredible Four Seasons resort. We went for a long walk along the golf course. Carole then sat at a lounge chair while I swam in the ocean and in several of the different pools. We had a truly spectacular time while we were in Kona. We’ve never taken a vacation before, but now that Carole is within ten weeks of earning her master’s degree in nursing, our life is about to improve. I intend to take more time away for these types of vacations after Carole graduates.
Tuesday, February 24 (Catch up at work)
After several days in Hawaii, I had a lot of work waiting for me when I returned. The most exciting project on my desk is the podcast platform that I’m determined to build. Today I learned from a number of videos. The learning curve will be steep, but I’m going to launch soon–likely before the end of March. I am going to rebuild my website at MichaelSantos.com, modeling the new site after one that specializes in Podcasts. This is going to be the area where I build my new brand and I’m incredibly excited to launch. I have an enormous amount of content to deliver and I’m hopeful that audiences will find power in the message. I’ll deliver each podcast with high energy, always striving to create value for the audience that I’m going to build.
Wednesday, February 25 (Lunch with Ted Wacker)
Today I enjoyed lunch with Ted Wacker, a prominent attorney in Orange County. Ted attended Shorecrest High School in the north end of Seattle with both Carole and me. He was a student athlete, much more disciplined than I was as a young man. We connected through my public Facebook page. Over the past two decades, Ted built a reputation as one of Southern California’s leading personal-injury lawyers. While enjoying a great lunch at Houston’s, Ted told me about his career. I filled him in on my journey and shared plans I’m making to expand.
Thursday, February 26 (Purchase second house)
Carole and I made an offer to purchase a second rental property in the San Francisco Bay area. We own one home there now that we lease to a wonderful family. When my friend Lee called to tell me that another home was available in the same development, we made an immediate offer to purchase the home for $450,000, which was $5,000 above the asking price. Our current home is a four bedroom model that currently generates $2,800 per month in rental income–sufficient to cover our 15-year mortgage. Since the current home only has three bedrooms, we knew that we’d have to lease the property at a lower amount, but we anticipated that the rent would come close to covering the mortgage payment. Unfortunately, the sellers accepted an offer just before receiving ours. So we missed out. That’s okay. We’re still in the market, confident that we’ll purchase our second property before summer.
Friday, February 27 (Published in Spanish)
I was pleased to see that a journalist published an article about my journey in a newspaper for Spanish speakers. I’ve worked with the journalist before and I appreciate her interest. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to speak Spanish fluently and I can’t read at all. If I could speak speak Spanish well and write in Spanish, I could reach an entirely new market. Unlike both of my sisters, I lack that skill. Of course I could learn, but there is so much to learn for me right now that learning new languages isn’t a priority. I once set a goal of learning to speak Spanish prior to the conclusion of my prison term, and I know realized that I failed to achieve it.
Saturday, February 28 (Anthony Patti, Esq.)
I wrote a story today about Anthony Patti, a defense attorney from Los Angeles. I reached to Anthony with a request to interview him. People who visit my website sometimes ask questions about hiring defense attorneys. I’ve only hired one defense attorney in my life and I made a horrible choice. Instead of asking questions that would lead me to make a better assessment of the attorneys ethics and competence, I allowed myself to become impressed with his big talk. That mistake cost me decades in prison. In an effort to help others, I’m reaching out to defense attorneys with a request. I ask them to tell me their story, then I ask them to offer guidance for defendants who were in the market to hire a defense attorney. It’s going to be a good project. I expect to interview 20 attorneys and write their stories. First I’ll publish the articles on my blog at PrisonProfessor, then I’ll compile the stories into an ebook that I’ll give away.
Miles for week: 7.07
Miles for month: 53.75
Miles for year: 173.62
Weight: 166