The Flywheel
Archive issue

NEXT MEETING: October 11, 2013

NOTE: The club meets at La Stada Restaurant this Friday!
Making Your Mind Your Mentor

Steven Campbell, a former college professor, is now a nationwide speaker. His third book, Making Your Mind Magnificent – Flourishing at Any Age, is based on cognitive psychology and explains how our brain can think, learn, and grow in new ways at any age.

The basic idea is that our brain believes, accepts, and records whatever our self-talk tells it. The brain can be our greatest champion for change or our greatest adversary. Come learn about straightforward principles that can be applied immediately to improve the quality of your thoughts and, therefore, your life.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Liliane reported that we received thank you notes from two teachers at Peres Elementary School for donating funds for classroom supplies.
• Henry Moe asked for assistance to help his Salesian Interact Club raise $200 for a donation to the district as they do each year.
• Hank Covell announced that the John Nichols Scholarship Fund has exceeded $1,000 now and that he has 2.5 cases of liquor and a 49ers necktie autographed by R.C. Owens for the upcoming auction, the proceeds of which will also go into the fund.
• Lynn Martin asked for volunteers for the Dollar Days event at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday, October 20^th. The event is from 10-2. If we are able to muster 10 volunteers that day, we will earn $1,000 for the club’s coffers.
• Alan Blavins and Felix Hunziker announced a tree planting day on October 19^th at Lucas Park. Fifty trees will be planted and volunteers are needed. The park is located at the corner of 7^th and Lucas.
• David Brown noted that it is time for the holiday bike drive again. Please make donations to David so lots of kids can have bikes this year. Bikes may be purchased for $45 each.
• On November 1^st the diplomatic consular corps of San Francisco will be visiting (so be on your best behavior!).

MEETING OF October 4th, 2013

Welcome

Liliane Koziol welcomed everyone. Connie Tritt led us in the pledge of allegiance and Herb Cole gave the invocation and provided a thought for the day inspired by Leo Buscaglia – enjoy the season!

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Guests included Ethan Heinrick and Miguel O’Hara, both guests of David Brown; and Art Swenson, Guest of George Egan.

Recognitions and Happy/Sad Dollars

 

• Hank Covell celebrated his birthday on September 22^nd and donated $78, one dollar for every year, to the John Nichols Scholarship Fund.
• Joe Bagley donated a check to the polio program in honor of his wife’s birthday on September 24^th; his anniversary on the September 29^th; and his birthday on October 3^rd.
• Josh Genser had sad dollars because Cal football is having such a hard time that Erle Brown has actually been betting on Stanford.
• Erle Brown had happy dollars because his wife is recovering nicely from spinal surgery.
• Doris Mitchell had happy dollars because her six-year-old son is already displaying signs of attorney-like behavior, actively arguing his mother over what the definition of “toy” is and successfully arguing his way out of punishment!
• David Brown had sad dollars in memory of the loss of Brad Moody, a Richmond police officer who was killed in an accident five years ago.
• Joe Bagley had sad dollars after being reminded of the loss of Officer Moody.

Norm’s Nonsense

Many years ago I worked as a claims adjuster for a large auto insurance company in Berkeley. One of my friends there quit the company to study for the priesthood. After a couple of years he was ordained a priest and assigned to a parish in Oakland. One day he stopped by our office to say hello to his old friends. He told us that his duties included locating former parishioners and bringing them back into the fold and, therefore, saving them.

I asked him, “Do you save bad girls?” When he acknowledged that they did, I then asked, “Could you save a couple of them for me for Saturday night?” He didn’t think that was very funny.

Program

How the Affordable Care Act will affect you

Our very own George Egan, licensed insurance broker and real estate agent, and certified financial planner gave us the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The program was designed to help get America’s uninsured citizens, insured at a reasonable cost. One of the program’s principles is that health insurance premiums should not exceed 9.7% of income for higher income people, and should not exceed 2% of income for low-income families. California’s plan provides subsidies for people up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. One of the possible downsides is that if your income goes up and you originally qualified for subsidies at a lower income, you may have to refund part of the subsidy. Benefits of the plans include no lifetime limit; no exclusions for pre-existing conditions are allowed; and insurance companies can no longer rescind previously approved coverage based on technicalities in the application.

- Lynn Martin, Your Roving Rotary Reporter