Men behaving badly, regulators behaving badly and Steve Annis lands on his feet

 * ...STREET BUZZ: I heard that Steve Annis, the chief financial officer of the now defunct San Joaquin Bank, has been hired in the same post at Valley Republic Bank. Annis is the latest of a long string of San Joaquin employees to land on their feet following San Joaquin's seizure by the FDIC  last October 16. He is a talented banker with many years of experience, including a long stint at American National Bank.

 * ... FED BONUSES: Speaking of banks, I saw the Associated Press reported that our government handed out millions of dollars in bonuses to federal regulators whose agencies ignored the warning signs that our financial system was on the verge of a meltdown. Said the AP: "The bonuses ... are the latest evidence of the government's false sense of security during the go-go days of the financial boom. Just as bank executives got bonuses despite taking on dangerous amounts of risk, regulators got taxpayer-funded bonuses for doing 'superior' working monitoring the banks." And so it goes.

 * ... MEN BEHAVING BADLY: There's a sociological experiment of sorts going on over at the newly renovated Padre Hotel involving hygiene and men behaving badly. It started when I overheard a group of women at the bar pointing to a young man who had failed to wash his hands after using the men's restroom. How did they know? Turns out, the hotel has a common wash space outside the restrooms that men and women share and this guy had bypassed the wash station and headed straight to the bar. You've been warned, gents.

* ... LOVE STORY: I received a wonderful email from Michael Edgerle, who was eager to tell me about his own love story and return to Bakersfield. Turns out Michael did all his early schooling in one city block: Eissler Elementary, Chipman Junior High and Highland High School, class of 1990. He went on to Evangel University, a Christian college in Missouri where he spent four winters learning to scrape ice off his car windows. He returned to Bakersfield and met Tiffany Shick at his church. She grew up in McFarland, graduated from Garces Memorial High School and was attending Azusa Pacific University. She eventually worked for Catholic Healthcare West and he worked at Dole Fresh Fruit before the company left town. He now works at Adventist Health (San Joaquin Hospital) and she stays at home with their three children.
 "I had no idea what would be in store for me career wise coming back to Bakersfield... (but) now we're back in the Northeast part of town (City in the Hills), still attending Canyon Hills church where Tiffany and I met, and busy raising our kids in this great community of ours. And doing it all in our hometown where we have four generations on either side of our family. It is a true blessing."

 * ... ANOTHER RETURNS: Bill and Avon Wonderly wrote to tell me about her daughter, Sally Wonderly, who also graduated from Garces Memorial High School, went to UCLA to pursue her dream of becoming and doctor and has now returned after many years. "Sally and her husband of 15 years, Jeff Nalesnik, and their three boys (our grandchildren) have moved back home to Bako!!!  Sally Wonderly Nalesnik is an OB/GYN at Advanced Women's Health Center, while Jeff is a Urologist for Kaiser Permanente. Their three active boys are students at St. Francis School (third generation)....it is a dream come true for us...Bakersfield has been a wonderful place to live and now Sally's family is finding this to be true as well.  Thank you for letting us share our happiness and welcome them home to Bakersfield."

  
* ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield when "Anywhere that takes longer than a ten-minute drive is way too far."