On the way home from 24 Hour Fitness in Walnut Creek today, I noticed activity in The Counter.

The Counter – Custom Built Burgers – is located in the new Mercer building at California and Trinity in Walnut Creek, CA. I had the thought as I passed by that maybe I would go down there for a burger later.

As it happened, Jane was at a funeral in Sacramento and went by the Squeezed Inn to check it out. We had seen the Squeezed Inn Featured on Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins with wild man Guy Fieri and had talked about driving up there to sample their “heart attack burger,” a flat grill burger with an abundance of melted cheddar on it.

So Jane brings me a burger from Sacramento, but no fries. What’s a burger without fries. An hour later, off we go to The Counter for some fries.

As it turned out, The Counter was invitation only, the grand opening is on Monday, June 23^rd. Somehow we manged to convince the staff at The  Counter that we were solid Walnut Creek citizens and hamburger addicts – so they let us in.

This was the last night for training the staff before opening. It was hectic and all proceeds were going to charity. So, what am I going to do – order fries and a coke? No, we ordered a hamburger bowl, fries, a diet coke and a glass of wine.

The Food is great! Here you see our hamburger bowl – a bed of romaine lettuce, a 2/3 pound medium, very juicy broiled burger, with blue cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms with a peppercorn sauce. Very tasty!

The Counter gives you a form with about 128 choices of ingredients to build yourself a custom burger.

Andrew, seen above on the right behind the counter, waited on us. We told him and Rick Betance, Director of Operations, (right) that we were going to do our part to make the world aware of the gourmet burgers available in Walnut Creek by plastering their name all over the Internet – my next stop is Yelp.

My next weekly burger with my buddy Greg Beck of Balloonman fame will be at The Counter. See you there.

We wrote a while back about flooding in Walnut Creek, Ca. But in that post we were just showcasing a little digital image manipulation. Now we read about the real deal - Walnut Creek reaching the flood stage due to heavy rains.

Of course that's Walnut Creek in Des Moines, IA where heavy rains in the mid-West continue to plague farmers and residents with problems. Watching MSNBC yesterday while I was on the treadmill at 24 Hour Fitness in Walnut Creek (California), I saw the price of corn and soy beans are going through the roof due to the flooding.

Inflation worries are becoming a concern for an economy that is already in trouble. Thank God Chevron is still raking in record profits. I'd hate to think the whole country was suffering.

BTW when I gave my presentation to Experience Unlimited a few weeks ago, it seemed the largest group of job seekers in the room were those from the real estate and mortgage professions.

The parking lot was seemingly filled up with cars yet the plaza was overpopulated with a family of ducks. After a deliberate investigation, I deduced that most of the people who owned those vehicles were somewhere inside and busy trying to keep in shape at the fitness center. I wasn’t dressed for the gym, but I was, however, armed with a digital camera in my hand. The wading ducks near the fountains were in a photogenic mood and I decided to take advantage of this opportunity.

The Blackhawk Plaza has been under renovation as of late and will complete fix-ups by the Fall. Walking around the shops, the construction work being done was fairly noticeable. Looking through some of the lightly tinted windows revealed empty lots and evidence of work that still needs to be done before they will house high end boutiques.

The Blackhawk Museum, a popular attraction that I was looking forward to visiting, was unfortunately closed by the time I arrived in the late afternoon. Located right beside the Plaza, it shows off traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian Institute and is home to one of the best classic car collections in the country. I would’ve loved to take some pictures inside though I’m unsure they would allow that. That experience will have to wait for another day.

The Blackhawk Plaza is located at 3480 Blackhawk Plaza Circle in Danville. The Auto Museum is open during Wednesdays through Sundays from 10:00am to 5:00pm.

- Joseph Natividad

I’ve been spending more and more time at 24 Hour Fitness. When I moved to San Ramon, CA, I looked for the closest 24 Hour Fitness because I had a membership with them in Utah. The club in San Ramon is large – lots of everything.

The club is conveniently located on Norris Canyon which puts it halfway between Crow Canyon and Bollinger Canyon. Did I say convenient? Make that super-convenient – right smack dab in the middle of the biggest congregation of working population in San Ramon – Bishop Ranch.

When I first came to this club on Norris Canyon, they were remodeling the men’s locker room so the showers, and toilets where in trailers. When I moved into a condo with a small workout room, it wasn’t hard to let 24 Hour Fitness go. But after a few months, I noticed I wasn’t working out at the condo because the room provided was cramped – throw a few workout machines in a closet so you can advertise you have a workout room. So back I went to 24 Hour Fitness dragging 20 more pounds with me. 

The club has a good mix of folks. There are enough of us out-of-shape old dogs that we can workout at a sensible rate without trying to keep up with 6-pack ab crowd. I like to go at about 4pm. I can get there just before the 5pm crowd when finding a treadmill or elliptical machine is impossible. And, I get out of there in time for dinner at Whole Foods. Going to Borders Books is a great way to keep from becoming a couch potato in front of the TV.

The other night after leaving 24 Hour Fitness, I went over to Whole Foods in the Shops at Bishop Ranch complex and had a bite to eat. Then I walked over to Borders Books with my bag of reading material. There was an article in the East Bay Business Times on Carl C. Liebert lll, the CEO of 24 Hour Fitness. Surprise to me – 24 Hour Fitness is headquartered right here in San Ramon, CA.

Given that, I just had to write them up.

In the article, Liebert says one of the things he wants to address is the 100% turnover at 24 Hour Fitness. This is something I noticed in Utah, they went through staff faster than fitness memberships after the New Year’s resolutions wear off.

If Carl C. Liebert lll ever reads this post, I want to mention the two things that irk me the most at the club.

• People on the cardio machines yelling into their cell phones.
• Half lockers – at least in Utah they had a mix of full size – and you guys just remodeled the locker rooms.

I could share at least one marketing idea with Carl that his corporation seems to have overlooked. Who knows, maybe he'll email me and I can claim to have been a marketing consultant to 24 hour Fitness! 

If you are moving into San Ramon, I highly recommend 24 Hour Fitness – give me a shout and I will get you a couple of day passes so you can check it out.

Recently, we’ve had a few conversations between the three of us and with other agents about – Why it seems difficult for some people to be “up front” with the simple facts or truth.” We hear this question and conversation repeatedly throughout the year as we’re in a business that is people intensive and there seems to be a large segment of people who have difficulty in saying something simple like – I’ve decided to use _____ as my agent.

I often wonder what people think the response would be – psycho agent going berserk? Or, perhaps agent in tears.

In the conversations I’ve been in, what I hear from agents is – it would be great to just have the facts, the simple truth. It could be that the simple truth is that many people are uncomfortable with speaking the simple truth.

Consider a listing presentation or a tour of six homes. An agent may spend several hours or more preparing the materials to provide a prospective client only to be stood up. I’m not trying to sing the blues here or bring a tear to your eye about the plight of your local Realtor®, I’m truly interested in the phenomenon of being up front.

If you don’t want to work with someone – tell them – simple as that. They’ll appreciate it, they’ll like you for it – you’ll be saving them a lot of wasted effort. It demonstrates your consideration for others.

And what’s up with those agents who can’t tell the prospective client the simple truth about the market or the state of their home or address unrealistic expectations?

Tact and diplomacy, sensitivity and consideration when presenting one’s view and opinion are always needed, but sacrificing the truth for a more convenient moment, for expediency, to get a client, or to avoid a moment of discomfort most often leads to the messy side of things.

I’m off to 24 Hour Fitness in San Ramon. It’s been raining all day, I’ve been at this computer for over 6 hours – it’s time to burn some fat and sit in the steam room. If you see me there – clue me in.