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Last time we talked about the hold-up play to effectively sever the communication link between your opponents and minimize the number of tricks they can take. This time, we will talk about one of the most exciting auctions in bridge: bidding for slam. It’s not always the most comfortable process, but it’s definitely more exciting because the stakes are very high.

Are you old enough to remember the fly-over of the fabulous villa at the beginning of the television show "Dynasty?" Or the mansion and huge sprawling garden in the movie "Heaven Can Wait?" Where are those places? England, or maybe some "old money" mansion back east?

We've been working on an interesting file the last few weeks that involved a buyer, our seller, three past beneficiaries, the title company, their legal department, the seller’s lawyer, two brokers, many support people and a few couriers. As you might imagine, with that many people involved, things haven't been very smooth.

Nora and Delia Ephron (sisters) took the book “Love, Loss and What I Wore” by Ilene Bacmerman, added stories of some of their friends and their own experiences, and came up with a delightful production that hits home with most women and can tickle the funny bone of the guys in the audience. Sadly Nora Ephron died this past summer and left an enormous library of plays and books. Best known are “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and this play.

We have kittens coming out of our ears.  We have oodles of kittens…a whole kit ‘n caboodle of kittens!  Adopt a kitten (or two to double your fun).   See our kittens at our permanent adoption centers in Petco Gilroy or PetsMart Milpitas, on our website, or at local pet adoption fairs.

One of our Community Pulse Board members said it very well responding to the question “Do you agree with the City Council's decision Monday to place liens against unreinforced masonry downtown properties that have not been brought up to safety standards?” She wrote, “Yes, the time has come to get this issue resolved. Many of the building owners have been non-responsive and not cooperative. I would like to see a low interest loan option available  to those who want to repair their buildings.” In chewing on this issue and watching a downtown stuck in a yukky time warp for 25 years, I have vacillated on the approach. But I’ve come around to Mayor Don Gage’s way of thinking and agree with the Council’s action. If the building owners want to demolish, so be it. Let them cut off their noses to spite their faces. They’d better keep those empty lots pristine, though, or they could be declared a public nuisance and, by the way, perhaps there are additional standards of upkeep for downtown properties that could be developed which include empty lots and the alleys behind them. If an entire rebuild with historical sensibility needs to be the way something gets done, OK. But Gage is right, the pile has to move.

ENGAGEMENT: Paetz/Mickiewicz: Jenna Paetz and Kyle Mickiewicz are engaged to be married.