If you live in Blackhawk California, you may have noticed all the screaming and yelling last Saturday, and wondered what was going on at the Blackhawk Country Club pool. Well, it was nothing more than the tightest swim meet between two cross town rivals: Blackhawk Country Club Hox and the 3-year county Champion, Crow County Country Club Sea Lions.

The Blackhawk Relays were the previous weekend, with Blackhawk beating Crow Canyon Country Club by a narrow margin. This past weekend, Blackhawk jumped out ahead, and the two Danville rival swim teams continued to go back and forth all morning, until the meet culminated with the Free Relays….and Crow Canyon Sea Lions won the meet by a relay or two.

The swim meet was so intense that many county times were posted as all the swimmers on both sides swam their hearts out, from the 6 and under swimmers to the teenager.

Crow Canyon Coaches Dan, Ethan, Dave and Jake sent the following message to their swimmers illustrating how hard their kids worked:“Congratulations to the Mighty Sea Lions. Today was the best example of how a team stuck together and triumphed over amazing odds. We are so proud of every swimmer that swam today (Thank you to the 13-14s that showed up after water polo to help us pull out a victory). You showed the true heart of Champions today. The Mighty Sea Lions are a special team (family). The younger swimmers cheering on the older kids during the relays at the end of the meet was truly inspirational and really showed how the Mighty Sea Lions support each other.”

Swimming builds the lungs, elongates the muscles, reinforces the fortitude and strengthens the heart!

It's a great year to buy a home in California. 

If you have just returned from Mars or come out of a coma, you may be unaware of what a great time this is to buy a home in the East Bay of California.The downturn in the housing market and the year long shakeout in the mortgage industry have led to a flood of short sales, foreclosures and bank owned properties.

There are literally hundreds of great deals on homes in Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, Walnut Creek - well, everywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area. In Antioch and Brentwood California their are some real steals.

Houses are begging to be purchased. Some are jumping up and down and crying - buy me, buy me!

The housing affordability index is climbing, indicating an expanding opportunity for first-time buyers.

Families relocating into the East Bay Area are finding the opportunity of a lifetime with housing prices.

Contact Paul to explore the possibilities (925) 963-4246 

I addressed Danville’s CPC Job Connections group today. There were about 80 people in attendance.

Once again, as at Experience Unlimited in Lafayette CA, I was struck by the wealth of knowledge and skill in the room. I’ve never been in a position to need the services offered by these groups. They are both fine examples of community and business outreach.

The room was full of interesting people including Dean Guadagni, uber-blogger from Marin County, CA. Dean mentioned in his blog that I would be addressing this group and his post was picked up by FoxBusiness.com. A big thanks to Dean (under the arrow).

If you are having a hard time recognizing Dean, it’s because he’s slimmed down to his Philadelphia fighting weight – the Stallion is Back!

The gent in the wild shirt in the center of the picture above is Alex who is a pretty wild and funny guy. Behind him in black is Marisa who was ecstatic at having been to several successful interviews recently. It appears that PG&E may make her an offer she won’t be able to refuse. This on top of another offer. Multiple offers! We love those in real estate also. (We’ve written about PG&E’s upcoming expansion at Bishop Ranch.)

My presentation consisted of about 30 slides, that took me 35 to work through. There were a lot of good questions and comments. The topic was “A New Way of Strategic Thinking About Your Career.” Basically, what I have noticed is that few people are leveraging the power of the Internet to effectively influence the evolution of their careers in a positive way.

There were several people who had recently returned to the San Ramon Valley area and I was quick to mention that I am a real estate agent. Everyone got a chuckle of of my change in careers two years ago from the bankrupt airline to crashing real estate – kind of like out of the pot and into the fire.

A big thanks each to Don Smith for introducing me to Doug Neeper who invited me to speak. CPC Jobs Connection online at Yahoo Groups.

Hilary Toyryla has invited me back to Experience Unlimited in August. She says she is finally getting the significance and potential of blogging and would like me to focus more on it as a way to further one’s career.

To end, I mentioned my good friend Linda Strasburg author of Competency Based Resumes and talk show host veteran (14 years now). Linda loves to interview interesting people and she can help anyone create a fantastic resume.

I guess it had to happen sooner or later. With all the people we’ve been helping and pleasing with real estate transactions and Internet marketing advice, I’m really not that surprised to learn of this grassroots movement.

If it continues to gather steam, I may have to make other plans for the next four years.

With popular endorsement like this, shouldn’t YOU consider HarperMees & associates when considering real estate in Danville or San Ramon, California?

I will be addressing the CPC Job Seekers group in Danville, CA Saturday on how to advance one’s career possibilities by using free Internet resources. The group meets at Community Presbyterian Church ( 222 West El Pintado, Room #100 ) in Danville, California from 9am to 11:30am.

In today’s competitive job market many professionals continue to ignore the huge competitive advantage the Internet provides for career advancement.

Unemployment in the San Francisco Bay Area has been rising. With the housing crisis problems and rising gas prices adding more stress and complexity to being unemployed, doing all one can do to get one’s resume and name in front of employers is a must.

The last time I addressed a job seekers group, I noted quite a few people in the audience that were former Realtors or mortgage brokers.

This photo is one of the main points I want to address.