YOU'RE FIRED

Oh great, last year when I mailed some New Year's cards for a friend who was vacationing in Singapore, some of his friends thought he returned early just to mail the cards. Ha! No it was just me trying to help out but this year I forgot. Don gave me the cards in mid-December and I placed them with the rest of my Christmas bags only to be forgotten. December 26th came and went and on Dec. 30th at 3:30 PM, thirty minutes AFTER the post office closed I remembered the cards and probably only because I received a late Christmas card from a friend in Boston. When I placed it with the rest of the cards I had received I spotted Don's bag of New Years cards. YIKES! This time his friends will wonder why the cards were late.

Troubling news out of Bangkok today as a number of explosions on New Years Eve, possibly the work of anti-coup people (P.M. Thaksin supporters) killed two and injured a number of others. These occurred in areas of the city that I am familiar with. I will have to monitor this situation closely as I leave next week for Thailand although Bangkok is the final stop of a three city visit. Hopefully things will have settled down by then and that these New Years incidents were only intended to create mass chaos. Heck, the celebrants at World Central Plaza where I go frequently did not seem to be too concerned and did not want to leave when the police told them to do so for their own safety, so could things be as bad as some people might think? The King and the interim P.M. have a touchy situation on their hands anyway. If I have to skip Bangkok and extend my stay in Pattaya or Chiang Mai I am not going to be too upset.

Ride (and listen) in Peace

I totally agree with the sentiments expressed by the following letter to the editor from Moraga:
-----

"I believe it is time for BART to consider cell-phone-free zones in their trains whereby cell-phone users be limited to certain cars on the train (maybe the first and last cars) and the rest of the passengers can ride in peace and quiet.

Nothing is more annoying than being subjected to others' inane and insipid personal phone conversations. It is the worst kind of sound pollution."

-----

And while we are at it, how about having all theatres from the Opera House on down block cell phone signals since so many clods can't seem to remember or don't care to turn off their cell phones during performances. It also seems that walking on the sidewalk can be somewhat difficult as cell phone users and iPod users get so wrapped up in their toys that they block the sidewalk and act like they are the only ones there. #%&*#$%@&$#

EARTHQUAKE WARNING?

OK, I know we have a lot of small earthquakes in this state however when two within three days occur on the Hayward fault, the one overdue for a very destructive quake, it might be time to worry and get prepared if we are not already prepared for "the big one". Is it coincidence that these two quakes both occurred in the same location on the Hayward fault and were of the same magnitude? Did they relieve pressure on the Hayward fault or did they just make it possible for more movement to occur soon and movement which might result in a quake stronger than 3.2? While I am used to small quakes in this region I found it difficult to get to sleep last night thinking that the big one could be right around the corner. In fact, I will be checking my earthquake survival kit this weekend. Actually, I don't have one so I need to get some things together very soon.

Here is some more information from the USGS regarding earthquakes in California during the past week. Please note the two at the top of the list in Berkeley.

UPDATE: Now there was a third quake at 9:21 AM today in the same location with a magnitude of 3.5 and then a micro-quake in the same area at 2:23 PM with a magnitude of 1.6.

Record temperatures

In checking record temperatures for December, I find that I would have enjoyed it in San Francisco on 12/12/58 when the temperature reached 74 degrees. However, 12/09/72 would have been a different matter with a low temperature that day of 24 degrees. Brrrrrrr....... The most interesting high temperature was the 105 degrees recorded on 7/17/88. Fortunately I did not realize how hot it was as I sat in the sun for several hours at Stern Grove that afternoon. I knew it was hot but not THAT hot. Only did I learn of the record temperature upon returing to the car and turning on the radio. It was at that point that I almost fainted. Ha!

Holiday time and it is chilly in San Francico

They say that the temperatures are below normal. Well, regardless, I desire to be in a warmer climate and will be in about three weeks. In the meantime there are several events on my agenda. The first will be a gift exchange with my favorite bartender tomorrow afternoon. Then the owner of the bar hosts a pre-Christmas dinner on Friday from 4 to 10 PM. On Christmas Day I will be with former roommates in Oakland who apparently will have some extra added guests visiting from Malaysia. At least that is what the rumor is. Then it is on to New Years Eve Countdown to 2007 hosted by Tita Aida. A week after that I am outa here on my way back to Thailand for another three weeks. After that I MIGHT be returning to my former employer for extra work during the Tax busy season. I have to check in with them immediately upon my return home as my tentative start date would be the first Monday following my return. First, though, I have to overcome the cold or bronchial condition which laid me up all weekend and made me feel like hell. I feel much better now but my nasal passages are still rather congested. I wish I could sneeze more often as that seems to shake everything loose and make it easier to blow my nose afterwards.

Such a fool...

What is the matter with George W. Bush anyway? Is he God's failure? Did God not give him any brains or is his incompetence the result of being an alcoholic earlier in his life? Tonight he says on the news that he will not do anything that will lead to defeat in Iraq. Well duh, hello, where the hell does he think we are now? We are already defeated there. In order for this country to win we would need to understand the culture of that country and Bush no more understands that than he does how to build a space ship. Can we really tolerate another two years of this idiot?

Rabble Rowsers

Oh here we go again. More local leftist fools who think that impeaching President Bush is the most important thing for Congress to do. Worse yet, they think that Rep. Nancy Pelosi and soon-to-be Speaker of the House should be recalled if she does not start the proceedings. What a laugh! Bush has only two more years in office and cannot run for a third time so get over it you nit wits. There are far more important things for Congress to do and should impeachment proceedings be under way, nothing else would get accomplished during that period. As for recalling Nancy Pelosi is she does not follow the "will of the people", I ask WHAT people. Yeah, there was a meaningless opinion survey on a recent San Francisco ballot but that was really all it was as city elections are not part of the impeachment process. Nancy is right to steer the middle ground and try to work with both parties. These people to do not live in the real world.

Gloomy Day in the Bay Area

It was not only the skies that have been cloudy all day, but our hopeless and hapless football teams both lost again. As for the 49ers, send them to Santa Clara or wherever Dr. York wants as they are not doing this city any good. As for Al Davis, send the Raiders back to L.A. and at the same time send Mr. Davis to the LaBrea Tar Pits for permanent disposal. It is his monstrous mess at the Coliseum that will probably mean that Oakland loses the A's, the only winning time the area has at the moment.

This seems to be an area of losers these days. Due to the virulent anti-war group, not only will the Navy not commission a new ship here but the Missouri will not be be brought here as a museum piece.

Then we no longer stand a chance of getting the Summer Olympics due to the less than dynamic duo of York and Newsom and their many fumbles all over the field.

Then of course we have the on-going problem of bums and vagrants wandering our streets all over town, littering and trashing the sidewalks and cars parked in the areas. The smell of feces and urine permeates many doorways. Even the obnoxious odor of hot tar and its foul smelling creosote is starting to smell good these days when compared to the human waste here. The open sewers above ground are getting to be too much. Why do tourists even bother to come here anymore anyway? It really is discouraging as San Francisco has the dirtiest streets of any city in the U.S. or other countries that I have visited. Oh, sure, I know there are worse places although I have not been in them, but for a major American city to be so shabby in appearance is inexcusable. Even the condition of street and highway paving is the pits. Oh enough, this could drive a man to drinking and in fact, it already has. (burp)

Quiet before the storm

It was a dark and stormy night...well, not exactly, as it is still daytime as I write this but it will be a dark story night as a significant storm is apparently headed this way. There is even the possibility of a thunderstorm in all of this. Well, tonight I will be thousands of miles away in Spain via the San Francisco Opera's production of Carmen at the War Memorial Opera House. At the moment, however it seems eerily quiet in my apartment building. I probably shouldn't jinx myself but I am wondering where my noisy neighbors are at the moment. Ha! One good thing about these storms, our temperatures have moderated considerably from a few weeks ago when it actually felt like winter was coming on.

My Christmas shopping is almost complete except for adding some small items to two "care packages" I am creating for friends. I should be able to complete those things during the next two days I hope as one gift will be delivered on the 21st and the other sometime just before the weekend of the 23rd/24th. I know there is a fair amount of time left but I do not like leaving things to the last minute especially when I am subject to change the contents of a gift.

I still have not solved the sound problems with this computer since my upgrade to Windows XP. Even Arlen Specter at PC World Magazine apparently can't come up with an answer. Oh, I have sound, in some things but most of my Windows system sounds such as mail notify for example, do not work. Nor can I view a website with an imbedded news story and hear the sound from the news clip. The video is fine however. Also, if people send me e-greeting cards, the graphics work but the sound that is supposed to accompany the cards does not play. I have uninstalled and re-instaled the sound card drivers several times but nothing has helped. This is an annoying little problem which is driving me up the wall. It is also driving me to drink. (BURP!) Oh, excuse me. Gotta run now... See ya...

Schmidt a Dodger???

Oh say it isn't so! We lost a youthful and very good pitcher and then carry the burden of an aging Barry Bonds for another year? What is the matter with the Giants management? Will this come back to haunt the Giants when these two teams play each other in 2007? On the good side, Rich Aurelia is returning to the team.

Brilliant Idea

Say, here is an excellent low tech solution to a dangerous problem in Iraq.

Odors in Bus Stops

What is it with some people in government and big business who want to do silly things and ignore the important things. I speak here of the idea of adding the odor of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to various bus stops in San Francisco. How about just getting rid of the smell of urine and feces left behind by the city's many bums??? That would go a long way towards making the city a better place to live.