The winner is Jim Beck of Los Gatos, California.

The prize this month is a bottle of 1994 Estate Grown Cooper-Garrod Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation (the same where our winner lives, Patchen, an old mining area now incorporated into Los Gatos, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains).

Jim is a very unique, creative person. He is an engineer by trade. He is semi-retired, after developing some unique computer/ultra wave controlled spraying equipment for night and adverse conditions, selling his company Patchen to John Deere several years ago.

"On most days, I sit in my home office and play with computers (reading the latest from American Leasing)," he says. "On occasion, I will accept a consulting job, but never if it requires me to wear a tie, show up before 9:30am, or miss listening to Rush."

Jim for many years has also run Patchen Christmas Trees, right off Highway 9. He says he hit his sales forecast in December that he had projected twenty-four years ago. His son actually runs the day-to-day business during the season, commuting from Chico.

Jim for many years has given several hundred trees to church groups, schools, retirement communities and other charitable organizations. He kids about his projections because he eventually will have the entire growing estate turned over to a community service trust.

Jim has accomplished many other things, but is too modest to mention them. Such as, every Friday morning he helps senior citizens in retirement communities fix their computers. He also gives group talks and has invited Kit Menkin, where they both explain the internet, how to navigate, tricks and short cuts. Jim brings along a computer projector and has a pretty good "dog and pony show" for the elderly group. You would be surprised that some of the people who attend not only stay awake, but know quite a bit as they have T-1 access and time to surf and become "experts" themselves.

The Brunette

A brunette goes into a doctor's office:

Brunette: Doctor, I don't know what's wrong with me.

Doctor: Well, tell me your symptoms.

Brunette: Well, everything hurts. When I touch my nose it hurts (touching nose), when I touch my leg it hurts (touching leg), when I touch my arm it hurts (touching arm), it just hurts everywhere!

Doctor (after looking at her for a second): Did you used to be a blonde?

Brunette: Why yes!

Doctor: Your finger's broken.