Happy New Year
Best Wishes for 2008
and always

Well, I gave you a sad song below so how about something which sounds a little more upbeat. I still wish I knew what the words were saying.

Happy New Year...oops, wait a minute...I am a day early. Let me try this again tomorrow...lol

I wish I knew the Thail language so I would know what is being sung about here. As is, it is a very beautiful sounding song.

This incident at the SF Zoo with the tiger mauling three people and killing one of them continues to bother me. This is so unusual that I cannot help think that the guys were taunting the tiger in some fashion. No matter what the depth of the moat or the horizontal distance across the moat, she must have been every angered by something one of the guys did in order to muster up enough energy and force to made that leap out of her space and onto the grounds. It is a sad and regretable incident but one which could be made worse if the parents of that numbskull (the one who died) decide to sue the zoo.

Anyway, here we are in the final weekend of 2007 and New Year's Eve approaches. Looks like it will be a dry evening so celebrations will not get rained on. We might freeze our asses off that night but what the heck, with enough alcohol we may not feel the cold that much anyay. Ha!

If you do drive, however, please leave the driving to someone else.

After a very chilly day in San Francisco, I am finally warming up. Of course, it hasn't been easy as I had to crank up the main heater to 70 degrees and turn on a portable heater to 7 (10 is high setting). Now I am feeling better but while I was downtown today I was miserable and I froze my buns off. Even the weather person on TV tonight indicated that it was very cold for the date. I think it was in the mid-forties and there was a breeze so the wind chill factor was too much.

Now I learn that while New Year's Eve will be dry, there are some major storms headed this way which are currently scheduled to arrive next weekend. Oh great...how will they effect my departure from SFO to Taipei. Will that 12:15 AM flight be able to take off in the rain? I hope so as I will have people waiting for me in Bangkok to take me to Pattaya. At this rate I might start singing "Oh the weather outside is frightful...." (again). Yuck!

Did you survive Christmas? Ha! I had no trouble with shopping before Christmas but when I went down to Macy's this morning to buy something for a friend in Thailand, I had to wait and wait and wait. No, there were not that many people in line but there were not enough clerks and those that were working were having to deal with people returning items or exchanging things. At one cash register one clerk was tied up by a customer who was paying off (with cash) several accounts. Yep, that's right. He had several statement sheets for several accounts and the clerk kept asking him how much he wanted to pay on each account. Sort of reminded me of the old days of "lay-away" plans. Then when I finished shopping I went to Boudin's in the food court at Macy's only to get stuck in another line behind people who did not know what they wanted. Grrr....

Anyway, I finished my post-Christmas shopping and got home without too much hassle. Now I am ready to go on vacation to Thailand in a few weeks. With this chilly weather we are having in San Francisco right now, that will be very welcome. Right now it is 49F/10C at 2:20 PM here where as the high temperatures in Pattaya these days are around 91F/32C which will be very welcome as I lounge on a deck check under an umbrella on Jomtien(Dong Tan) Beach. Ah, thoughts of just sitting there in the shade with a slight breeze off the Gulf of Thailand, food vendors coming around with various things of interest, the "scenery", etc., etc., really warms me up with warm fuzzies even whilw trying to stay warm here at home. Before I go however, there is New Year's Eve at my favorite club down the street where I like to stay in touch with many of my friends.

The only thing I don't like about travel is the preparation and the getting there. I sort of have packing down to a routine but I still get nervous and fear that I will forget something. No, this will not be like to going to the middle of the Sahara Desert where I would have to be self-sustaining for three weeks but still, I could forget something of a personal nature. I do, however, have a check-list but I am not sure if I have remembered to put everything onto that list that should be there. Ha! Anyway, in Thailand there is a 7-Eleven on practically every corner and a Starbucks on every other corner so I am will not be too far from the creature comforts of home.
What I can't do anything about however is the thirteen hours flying time from San Francisco to Taipei. That is where I change planes. It is another two hours or so from there down to Bangkok (that includes another change in time zones). By that time, however, I am all hyped up and ready to hit the beach running. LOL

So now I will rest up for the final big bash of the year here in SF and then will get ready for my flights.

Cheers...

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

My, my, my...a newly discovered asteroid. What if this were aiming for Earth and not Mars. Would the scientific community be embarrassed by their oversight or error in this matter? How many people would be panicking at this time? Can you imagine a direct hit on New York City or London or some other city? Wow!

"Oh the weather outside is frightful..."

Well, at least it is not snowing in San Francisco but it is fairly chilly especially in the mornings. As I write this it is only 42F at 10:20 AM in the city and might reach the mid-fifties this afternoon. No rain in the forecast for now. But now it is party season. In fact, I have canceled one event on my calendar for tonight as I can't do it two nights in a row (No, not THAT.) anymore. lol Too much eating and drinking during this holiday time but what the heck, it only comes once a year. Right? So what's on your schedule for the holidays?

Christmas in San Francisco

Paragraph 10, section E of my apartment lease states: Tenant shall not make or permit any noise which will disturb other tenants. Tenant is responsible for insuring that disturbing noises are not caused by Tenant's family or guests. When the nut case moved in next door in apartment # 202 and I tried to talk to him about his excessively loud music, he replied that he could do what he pleased as long as it was not late at night. I reminded him about this section of the lease and he said he new nothing about that and told me to "buzz off" or words to that effect.

The guy is basket case. Strange noises in addition to the loud music continue to exists. Sometimes it sounds like a war is going on in that apartment and the explosions and other loud noises cause the wall to vibrate. I cannot talk with him. He is totally unreasonable. What can I do?

I am trying to play it cool during the holiday season and until I return from vacation at the end of January but I am afraid my patience will wear out in February if he continues to do as he has been recently.

I can only hope that he suddenly decides to move or is otherwise evicted during the next six weeks. If not, February 2008 could be very unpleasant here.

And one final question...isn't there any sort of ordinance in San Francisco about noisy neighbors and one that has some teeth in it?????????

What is it about the Christmas song "The Little Drummer Boy" that drives so many people up the wall. Am I the only one who likes it anymore? Even this morning Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral mentioned in his sermon that if he hears it one more time he might be driven to violence. (laugher) The thing that drives me up the wall these days is a commercial on TV that shows a large gathering of family and friends for Christmas and the song starts "Are you having any fun...are you getting any lovin'...". The commercial is a total failure because I cannot remember what is being touted here and the song drives me up the wall to boot. Another thing I dislike very much is religious music of Christmas being turned into rock music or jazz or soul music and sung by unqualified singers. That is as bad as turning the National Anthem at sporting events into some sort of rock number, something people in other countries would never think of doing to their respective National Anthems. In fact, in Thailand one might lose their freedom or life for doing so. Maybe we need similar penalties here???

The planet Mars in an image courtesy of NASA. On spring days on Mars, powerful geysers sometimes spew carbon dioxide 'steam' and dust to great heights, a phenomenon unlike anything ever seen on earth, scientists said on Tuesday.

NASA has really gotten some great images of the planets in recent years. This is one of my favorites.

What's this, an e-mail from Walgreens on Saturday Dec. 8th for a seven hour sale on Friday Nov. 23rd? Uh, hello, is there anyone home there???

San Franciscan's Behaving Badly

This excellent letter to the editor caught my eye this morning and I feel should be read by everyone.

"Editor - It's amazing to me that when something goes wrong in this town, it's always the fault of the government. I'm no fan of Mayor Newsom, and our supervisors don't inspire much respect, either. However, whether it's litter on our streets or the murder rate, it's not the fault of our leaders as much as it is our people. Our reputation for tolerance is sorely abused. Worse, too many of those who come here think they can engage in behavior that wouldn't be acceptable in most civilized settings, and that we should put up with it. Compounding this selfishness is an inability of people here to stand up to bad behavior. I once watched two kids deface a bus, with not one other adult willing to accost them. On the Muni Metro, I saw a man who was about to get off put his cup behind the seat. I politely suggested that he take it with him, and not only did he let loose a stream of vulgarity, but two other folks (not with him) lit into me as well! Decent people who stand by and do nothing in the face of such behavior aren't much better than the offenders. When a society makes excuses for, and defends, bad behavior, it is not a big jump to the point where arguments are ended with bullets and knives.

We only get the government we deserve, and in a selfish, childish society like ours we really can't expect any better than what we have.

PAUL TOMINAC San Francisco"

Personal comment in conclusion: It is this sort of thing that really discourages and depresses me at times and make me feel like this planet is ready for a complete re-do. That is, a huge asteroid should crash into the planet and wipe out the human race as it did the dinosaurs millions of years ago and let the planet start all over again. I cannot see the human doing anything to make it better.

If a Clinton administration is going to be some sort of a faith based administration pandering to the religious right then there is no way I could vote for her or any other candidate doing so. Those people have already caused enough damage to this country and to the world and I for one could not tolerate another four or eight years of such bull----. If such a person were elected then I would have to consider seeking sanctuary in another country, perhaps Australia, where they finally got their head on straight and got rid of John Howard. The most dangerous candidate now running however, is Mitt Romney, whom a good friend in Massachusetts sometimes referred to as a fascist and given the hard line stance of the LDS Church, I am not surprised.

My candidate at this time is Rudolph Guliani. He has his detractors to be sure but folks, remember, we are electing a president, not a saint.

QUESTION: What do you call people who decorate Christmas trees?
ANSWER: Branch managers.

[clunk]

Very good piece here by David Aldridge of the Philadelphia Inquirer concerning the homicide rate in the black community.

Just finished reading "American Theocracy" by Kevin Phillips concerning the peril and politics of radical religion, oil, and borrowed money in the 21st Century. It is an interesting read and one I think that every concerned American should take up. Now I am starting Madeleine Albright's "The Mighty and the Almighty", Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs. This too promises to be very informative. "This is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of American foreign policy. (Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, author of "What's Right with Islam is What's Right with America").

Strange experiences tonight on at least two occasions when I felt like I was outside my body but not far away. Just sort of "beside myself" but still observing for a brief period what was going on. I wonder what WAS going on? Am I losing it or is something else going on?

Riots like these in the Paris region of France anger and sadden me. Paris is such a nice city as is most of the country and while this particular suburb is not one tourists would go to, these riots could spread as they did last year when some rioting occurred at Place d'Italie which is only a short distance from the hotel where I have stayed. It angers me that outsiders could be involved so I hope the local authorities are successful in containing the angry mobs and weeding out the agitators.

I would say that President Sarkozy has got to go. There is too much turmoil under his proposed economic reforms. Rail strikes lasting longer than one or two days are unheard of in modern France and now the country is grinding to a halt with the open ended transport strike and other job actions around the country. Will France survive? I certainly hope so but right now things appear rather bleak from this side of the Atlantic.

"Out damn spot". In this case the spot is Comcast with their less than stellar Internet service and their nearly non-existent customer service. The last time I called them about a problem they all but blamed me for the problem. Also, I have not received any replies to two letters to them regarding messages which foreign correspondents have tried to send to me but which were subsequently bounced back to the respective senders. My correspondents sent me the error codes which I forwarded to Comcast but to no avail. These bounced messages involve the fact that my IP address is blacklisted by some mail servers for suspected spam. Nothing could be further from the truth as I am not a purveyor of spam.So now I am ready to pull the plug on their Internet service here once I can get DSL from another vendor up and operating.

So buyers beware. COMCAST sucks! :-(

This is certainly a case of the the pot calling the kettle black. Hugo Chavez is a complete idiot.

If merchants have less than hoped for sales this Christmas they deserve what they get. Here it is only nine days into November and every other ad on radio and TV is a Christmas commercial. The greed of those people knows no bounds. Whatever happened to the days when the Christmas shopping season started the day after Thanksgiving. Of course you can do Christmas shopping any day any month but the B.S. of all the Christmas advertising is too much. Then here in San Francisco "light rock" KOIT-FM plays Christmas schmaltz round-the-clock day after day, week after week. It makes me puke.

What's with this weather this week? It has been so foggy and cold. In fact, it was so foggy yesterday that a container ship ran into the Bay Bridge. Now we ALL know how hard it is to see that bridge. Ha! Was the pilot on a cell phone? Was the radar not working? Did the pilot fail sewing 101A (the threading the needle part)?

Well, my stock in Rudolph Giuliani just went from 100 to zero with the announcement that Pat Robertson is backing him. As the Republican front runner, why the hell should he agree to link up with that right wing nut case? If the party nominates them as a ticket they wouldn't get my vote. I was prepared to support Giuliani but teamed with a more reasonable running mate, not a religious Darth Vader.

Today is election day in the City and Country of San Francisco. Well, that is a typo (country) but sometimes I think it fits but in a good way however today's municipal election is a joke with Mayor Newsom running unopposed by any serious candidate and a bunch of poorly written ballot propositions that won't do what they are supposed to and even if passed, stand a good chance of being challenged in court. If my polling place were not just around the corner I wouldn't even bother to vote as it is really an exercise in futility.

I love this letter to the editor from Bob Sills of Castro Valley: Theodore Roosevelt gave us the Square Deal, Franklin Roosevelt the New Deal, and Harry Truman the Fair Deal. George W. Bush's presidency should be remembered in history as the Ordeal.

This amusing story could also be labeled LANGUAGE PROBLEMS.

Another beautiful day in San Francisco although a little bit on the warm side (mid-seventies I think)...too warm for some...but I found the day delightful anyway. It is ironic however that only last week I hauled my electric blanket out of the closet and put away a fan. Now I need the fan and not the electric blanket. We shouldn't compain however as those in the southern part of the state are dealing with one of the worst wild fires in memory with about 2000 structures burned so far and at this time there is not end in sight. Now 500,000 people have had to evacuate and 7000 firefighters are on the fire lines and just heard that the wind is expected to increase later tonight. We certainly could wake up to even more bad news in the morning. At least this time Homeland Security got it right and did not repeat the fiasco of New Orleans.

This was a lazy day for me although a walk downtown was refreshing. After that and lunch at One Market Plaza I returned home, or almost, and tried to sit in Huntington Park and read a book but I was so sleepy at that point that I could hardly keep my eyes open. As as a result I gave up on that and went home, layed down, and went to sleep rather quickly. I guess the warm weather was effecting me. There is a slight cooling trend in the forecast but nothing drastic for the next few days anyway.

We have a ridiculous city election coming up soon in which Mayor Newsom has no significant challengers. So why bother to vote?!?!? As for the rest of the short ballot, it is all rubbish.

I have heard that "Hoover sucks". Now, apparently Sioux City, Iowa does too.

I am really getting a little tired of Comcast and their service failures. About a year or two ago we lost Internet service on several days. Now, twice during the past week, there has been no e-mail service for outbound messages via the smtp server. They need to fix their problems or reduce my monthly rate and then, while on the service call, they have the nerve to offer me telephone service (land line) to replace the VERY RELIABLE service I have through AT&T. Grrr.....

What is the matter with companies that allow personal information to be stored on easily stolen lap top computers? That information should be on fully encrypted main frame computer systems but now some idiot at Home Depot has lost valuable personal information due to a stolen lap top computer.

Well, I guess there is more to worry about in this life such as the increasingly rapid melting of the polar ice cap. Once gone, not only will ocean levels be higher but sunlight will not be reflected back into space which will result in warmer oceans and this could alter oceans currents. That would have drastic effect on the world's weather patterns.

Then here in the Bay Area, the very dangerous Hayward fault which causes significant earthquakes about every 140 years is now one year or less away from that 140 year mark. During the past year it has been very active with a lot of small quakes in the Oakland/Piedmont area, the one area not significantly effected by the 1868 quake which occurred on the southern end of the fault.

Then we have the world political climate deteriorating at a worrysome level with Iran, China, and Russia warning friends and enemies about various matters.

U.S. politics is becoming chaotic with each state trying to hold their 2008 presidential primaries before the other states. That is ridiculous. This is the United States and we elect one president, not fifty, so why can't all states hold their primaries on the same day as they hold the general election on the same day?

For those who complain about the weather on earth, perhaps they should consider the weather on Titan, one of Saturn's moons where you will need an umbrella at all times and a very big one at that. :-D

I sure am glad to see an American Army Officer laying it on the line with his assessment of the disaster in Iraq.

This was omitted from yesterday's blog. The problems of the San Francisco Municipal Railway have been much in the news recently especially concerning late buses and trains. Yes, there are quite possibly internal administrative problems but the problem of slow buses is another matter. As anyone who drives knows, you can not make much headway if you have to stop at every corner for a red light. Well, the Muni, in a number of cases, has bus stops at every corner. In fact, in my neighborhood there are at least two instances where the #27 bus makes two stops in the SAME block. That is ridiculous! Another problem is heavy traffic downtown. There are too many vehicles on the streets for anything to move efficiently. Even in the early 20th Century the officials in New York City recognized that problem and began building subway lines all over the place. In fact, in 1931 there was a proposal, prepared in San Francisco by City Engineer M. M. O'Shaughnessy for several rapid transit lines in the city: 1 - Market Street, 2 - O'Farrell-Geary, 3 - McAllister, 4 - Mission-Capp, 5 - Van Ness-Potrero, 6 Kearny-Third St. - 7 - Sunset Route, and 8 - Seventeenth St. Route. With some modifications, there was also the Ridgway-Brahdy rapid transit report of 1935 for rail subway and elevated routes. These are illustrated in Anthony Perles' excellent book "The People's Railway". So who dropped the ball in this every important matter? Now we are paying the penalty of not following through and building some of those lines. Ironically, the Third Street route has now been built, or at least part of it. Phase two must be completed to Chinatown and then phase three on out to the Fisherman's Wharf area must be implemented as well. Since building subways in the 21st Century is such an expensive task we need to find some other way to lessen downtown traffic and should consider banning private autos and trucks from certain streets during the commute hours. If Market Street east of Van Ness Avenue, for instance were car free from 7 AM to 9 AM and 4:30 to 6:30 PM Monday through Friday this would go a long way towards speeding up Muni buses. The same applies to Sacramento and Clay Streets east of Powell Streets. Unfortunately Van Ness Avneue is part of U.S. 101 so that can not be touched but SOMETHING needs to be done. How about our own version of Boston's "Big Dig"???? :-( Well, then, maybe not, but San Francisco officials need to bite the bullet and take some sort of action on this matter.

Recently a friend asked why he had not seen any letters to the editor from me recently. I hope this answers the question.

Since moving to San Francisco about thirty years ago, I have written a number of letters to the editor of the Chronicle and have had a fairly good success rate at having them printed. Things change however and now I spend most of my time raving and ranting via this blog page or more recently, by posting comments in the comments section of www.sfgate.com under articles of interest. If there is really something that moves me in the news I will send a letter to one of the local newspapers but I am finding that my success rate has dropped to nearly zero recently. Is my writing getting worse or are the editorial staffs aware of this blog page and reluctant to give me another venue for my opinions? Who knows. It doesn't really matter to me anyway. I will send e-mails to members of the Board of Stuporvisors if I am really ticked off by their actions but even there I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall.

As for the bottled water v. tap water controversy, I have found that using a filtering system such as Brita solves both problems. I don't have the expense of continually buying bottled water and the Brita filters take care of any pests that might have inadvertently gotten into the system.

Now, about Halloween in the Castro. When I moved to this city most of the (non-leather) gay bars were located on Polk Street and that was where the Halloween celebration was held. At first it was friendly and manageable but eventually it turned into a rowdy mob. There were just scores of young people roaming up and down the street (none in costume either) and there was a lot of vandalism in its final years in the late seventies. It was eventually canceled as there was too much damage to local merchants' shops and by that time gay bars has started the migration to Castro Street anyway. So history repeats itself in the Castro. My own idea would be to hold several large parties indoors at venues such as the Civic Auditorium and the Convention Center where people could be controlled. There would be an admission charge based on age and whether one was in costume or not and security would be plentiful so outsiders could not just wander in to cause trouble.

Then we have the problem of homeless shelters in this city...not enough beds and dangerous conditions. Well, folks, we can trace this back to the time of Governor Reagan when he decided to close many of the state's mental institutions because they were not doing their job. He did not even try to correct the problems but instead threw out the baby with the dirty bath water. Then, as president he made thing even worse by cutting public health funds. Now most of these people wandering the streets are still the crazies of this world and they are the ones causing the dangerous conditions in these shelters. They do not want to live by anyones rules except their own. These people should not be sleeping in dorm like conditions which is what these shelters provide. They need to be locked up in secure single occupancy rooms. There are people who would like to get back on their feet and live a normal life but they can't due to the reasons I mentioned above.

Well, I see that the U.S. Marines want out of Iraq and desire to help out in Afghanistan. Ha, fat chance that will happen with the Bush burning in the White House.

Agh...another gin & tonic bartender...

What is it with some people who have no respect for their neighbors and who play their stereo system so friggin loud that it could "wake the dead"? The s.o.b. in apartment 202 next to me is one such turd. I have tried talking with him in the past but his attitude is that he can do what he wants if it is not late at night. Well, I will give him that. That would definitely be worse but still, if he needs his junk music (??) that loud, why the hell can't he use earphones so no one else would be bombarded by his "boom box" aided and abetted by the wall which helps to amplify the bass. I know if I were manager that guy would be evicted for violation of his lease and their IS a paragraph concerning noise and other sounds which can effect other tenants. I reminded him of that one time and he denied having such a lease or paragraph concerning the situation. He really is a nut asI hear him screaming at times as if someone were torturing him, or, maybe he indulges in some sort of S&M games and cannot stand the pain.

The other problem is that the younger generation generally does not give a shit about others. They are very ill mannered and can only think of themselves. Their parents failed if they even tried. I am not ready for an old folks home but my god, can't people respect their neighbors.

OK, I have had my rant for today. Fortunately I will be going out in about another hour and will be able to get away from the booming bass for a couple of hours. Right now it is giving me a headache.

My favorite Letter to the Editor today:

"Take constitutional democracy, the most insanely complicated form of government in history, with all its mountains of paperwork and bewildering bureaucracy, wrap it up and ship it to Iraq. In more than 200 years, even we haven't made it work smoothly. What in blazes makes anyone think the Iraqis can do it any faster? These unreachable "benchmarks" are only an excuse to keep our troops there."

Perhaps the officials of the M.T.A. in NYC should look to the subway in Bangkok, Thailand on how to deal with heavy rains and flooding. Bangkok lies in a flood plain and the Chao Praya River which runs through it is subject to flooding and in fact, has flooded low lying area along its banks in recent years. In the six or so years that I have been visiting there in January, which is one of the DRIEST months of the years, I have been able to see a general rise in the river. In addition to some very heavy rains, some of the flooding has been due to poor flood control upstream. The subway station entrances are built up several feet from sidewalk level and have ramps for the disabled. Heaven forbid that the flood of the century should occur but if that happens they have flood gates to seal off the stations from rising waters if that became necessary. Also, ventilation shafts are either in the center divider of major multi-lane streets of off the streets to one side where they are elevated several feet above ground level thus preventing flood waters from pouring into the system.

I've always thought is was in your head and now the receptor genes have been located and I would think a similar thing applies to the way people react to tastes, colors, etc. Could this also have something to do with allergies, many of which I feel are psychosomatic?

I am seeing red. The naivete of some Americans is very difficult to take. While watching the news on TV tonight I heard one family complain about Rudolph Giuliani who, according to their own words, has been playing the hero role since 9/11 when all the real heroes are now dead. Damn...how stupid can some people be?!?!?!?!? Rudolph Giuliani took on the city of New York long before 9/11 and corrected a lot of serious problems and made it a livable city once again. Then these people being interviewed on TV had the gall to accuse Giuliani of not doing more to protect the city. Based on previous attacks there and in other locations these people apparently expected this one man to know more than the entire U.S. Military and Intelligence Services. GIVE ME A BREAK. GET REAL. If you don't want Giuliani to be president that is one thing but don't expect him to do something all of our intelligence services could not do.

I am wondering if I am the only person who thinks that most or all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq sometime after the Republican National Convention next summer but before the general election in November 2008 when we elect a new president.

Today Don and I finally got to attend an event at the relatively new campus of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at 50 Oak Street. We attended a program of Baroque music performed on various viola de gamba and harpsichord in the 140 seat recital hall. It is a gem of a space which has a high ceiling and wonderful acoustics. Most of the seating in this hall is on the main floor but there is a shallow balcony as well as a single row of seat on either side where box seats would be in other venues. The next event we plan to attend is a Master Class conducted by Thomas Hampson which will be held in the 440 seat concert hall.

It is wonderful having this new venue so close to home. There are many public performances throughout the school year. Some are free but the typical prices are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors, students, and friends of the Conservatory. This is a very welcome addition to the cultural and arts scene of this city located in the Civic Center area.

Not satisfied with crippling the State of California with Proposition 13, those scoundrels at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer's Foundation are at again but this time they attack renters directly with their ballot proposition entitled "Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property". If passed this would repeal all rent control laws throughout the State. This would not happen to all units on the same day but as they become vacant however this would lead eventually to there being no rent control within the State of California at all. This is a scary proposition to say the least and would result in a huge increase in the amount of homeless people. I, for one, cannot afford a so-called market rate apartment so I would be stuck in this apartment for the rest of my life.

So, if you encounter someone who asks you to sign a petition to get something onto the February or June 2008 ballot, be VERY VERY careful about what you sign. Apparently the official summary of the measure (printed at the top of each petition) clearly states that it repeals rent control, so tenants should not be easily fooled. The opening sentences read: "Bars state and local governments from condemning or damaging private property for private uses. Prohibits rent control and similar measures."

Although this day started off normally, I am now feeling very, very tired. I could hardly stand up to fix a simple dinner tonight. I hope that the mysterious bug that hit me in the middle of August is not returning. I am scheduled for follow-up blood work on the 14th so I hope nothing goes wrong between now and then. I was planning to got out tonight but now I think I will turn in early.

What in the world is going on in Texas? First those yucky, humungous spider webs and now THIS!

Well, you can't win them all. I chose Wednesday Aug. 29th to go to a Giants game which turned out to be one of the nicest days of the year. Unfortunately, the Giants could not do anything right and lost 8-0, one of the worst loses all month. Oh well, the day in the sun was nice.

This same sex marriage ruling is very surprising especially as it comes out of Iowa. I wonder how long it will last before it is challenged and/or overturned.

With my dislike of spider webs of any size, this monstrous web would be one that I would stay as far away from as I could. I just find them yucky and this super sized one would be too much.

After struggling with some unspecified or unknown illness for a couple of weeks I finally have the strength to sit down here an write a few lines but after opening the newspapers this morning I am not sure I want to. Then we have the upcoming race for mayor here in San Francisco which should be worth a few laughs except that this time the candidates are even more pathetic than in the past and Mayor Newsom does not have a serious challenger. With the high level of incompetency that exists under the dome at City Hall, it is a wonder that anything gets accomplished here.

Now some people are happy to see Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales resign but my question is this...who would be acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats? Also, would The Bush have the sense to nominate such a person? There should be someone who could run the department for the next 17 months and not be the center of controversy.

Say, did you see that article in the NY Times recently about the pollution problems in China? It was an eye opener and with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing only year away, what are they going to do make the air breathable??? And is Beijing really ready to handle so many visitors at one time?

1 - Merv Griffen
2 - Phil Rizzuto
3 - ???

Who is next THIS week?

(See posting of July 30th for other recent deaths.)

Some of these proposals are a bit scary but one thing I am in favor of is the complete elimination of the electoral college and electing the president by popular vote as we do all other office holders. I have always been in favor of that and am somewhere encouraged to see that some states are leaning in that direction finally. Election by congressional district should be a huge no-no. That would be worse than the electoral college especially since those districts are gerrymandered to death by our esteemed political leaders.

Global warming? Could this flooding in the New York City area be a sign of things to come? I don't know but I do know that I am not aware of such widespread flooding problems in the NYC subway system in my lifetime.
----------------------------
Since posting the above I have learned that it was widespread band of violent thunderstorms that moved through the area which included a tornado in Brooklyn. Wow, a tornado in Brooklyn??? That is unheard of.

Why does the Board of Supervisors need to pass a Code of Conduct law for San Francisco's esteemed rulers? Isn't plain civil decency, supposedly learned at home during childhood enough? If parents have failed then their offspring don't really qualify to be in that position and no new set of laws is going to change anything. Really, do you think that The Ten Commandments have improved the behavior of the human race? Give me a break!

Well, if anyone doubts that the California Academy of Art University is not the largest or is not becoming the largest land owner in San Francisco they only need to take a look at the latest proposed acquisition of part of the flower mart South-of-Market. They have already a number of buildings in downtown San Francisco and nearby locations including the former First Congregrational Church at Post and Mason, a large apartment around the corner from me at 1080 Bush Street and the former home of Copenhagen Furniture on Van Ness Avenue, a rather large building in itself. The list goes on and on including the one which includes the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre on Sutter Street which stands to lose its performance space in the deal. Just how much space does that school need anyway? Everywhere you turn you see their name affixed to a building and you see their fleet of buses transporting students between campuses. It is quite a business they have going there.

As for the city's homeless, this letter to the editor caught my attention this morning and agrees with what I have long thought, that many of the homeless don't want to abide by society's rules:

"Regarding the long overdue sweeps through Golden Gate Park, I found this quote from your Aug. 2 article rather interesting. "I really enjoy myself - hanging out, being free, saying in the morning, 'I can do whatever I want.' "

Now someone tell me again that homelessness is not a choice."

Most annoying commercial on TV: That Honda commercial with "Mr. Opportunity". Everytime that comes on I want to scream and put my foot through the TV.

THE RULE OF 3'S IS STILL IN EFFECT: Ingmar Bergman, Tom Snyder, and Bill Walsh, all died within the past few days.

When I read news stories like this I think that all religion should be banned in this country and other countries as well. It has been the cause of more strife, wars, hate, etc. It has not bettered the human race one iota.

Wondering about the next Olympics and where they are to be held? Well, here is the schedule:

2008 (summer) Beijing, China
2010 (winter) Vancouver, B.C., Canada
2012 (summer) London, U.K.
2014 (winter) Sochi, Russia

Now where the heck is Sochi, Russia? Is it near Moscow?
Well, I had to research that also. This paragraph is from Wikipedia.org...

"Sochi (Russian: Сочи, IPA: ['soʨɪ]) is a Russian resort city, situated in Krasnodar Krai just north of the southern Russian border. It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. At 145 km (90 mi), Greater Sochi is claimed to be the longest city in Europe.^[1] As of the 2002 Census, it had a population of 328,809, down from 336,514 recorded in the 1989 Census. The city has been selected to host the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014.^[2]"

If one doubts that there is anything wrong with this world, they only need to look at this sickening story of gross cruelty to an animal that occurred recently in the small town of Cotati, California. This news is revolting to say the least. Even the relative lack of concern and outrage for the killing of a 16 year old boy in the same area a year ago is troubling.

Of course, what can you expect in a country that spends trillions of dollars to fight an enemy that cannot be defeated on the battle field? Bush & Co says we must stay the course and win but win what? He says he will stay until the mission is accomplished. What mission? To overthrow Saddam Hussein? Well, we did that and we should have gotten out right after that but no, he had to make sure the oil fields were ours for the taking and in the meantime we have created a whole bunch of new enemies and even now the powers-that-be in Iraq are saying we should leave. Then there is the matter of trying to set up a democracy where democratic principles never existed. To try to do so at the end of a gun barrel is futile but that cowboy from Texas knows no better.

Message to NASA: When you launch the first manned mission to Mars, I would like to volunteer and if it should be a one-way mission, oh well, c'est la vie.

Will this project be a preview of Central Subway construction? Ha! Actually, I wonder why San Francisco streets get torn up so much and also wonder why they are never repaved properly. I have never seen such a mess in Paris and wonder why especially since that is an older city. What are they doing wrong here? Why are they continually digging something up and replacing it? Won't they ever get it right?

On another matter I was shocked this morning to find that there are now only about 30 THB to one U.S. Dollar. When I started going to Thailand in the late nineties, it was abot 42 Baht to the U.S. Dollar. Is this a weak dollar, a strong Baht, or some combination of both?

I can't believe that I did NOT read this in the National Enquirer. Perhaps there is some scientific basis for this but belching cows was the furthest thing from my mind when it comes to global warming.

Correction

If Cindy Sheehan wants to run for the House of Representatives, I don't care. It was her suggestion recently that Speaker Nancy Pelosi should start impeachments proceedings against Bush that bothered me but in my befuddled state in my previous posting, I made it sound it like she should not run for office. If Cheney were not Vice-President then impeachment and conviction of Bush would not bother me but going from a Bush presidency to a Cheney presidency would be like going from the frying pan into the fire. Yikes!

George W. Bush is a bumbling idiot but the alternative is a scary and bad idea, one which Cindy Sheehan should reconsider. We need to impeach and convict Dick Cheney first and then find a way to get Karl Rove out of the U.S. Government.

I have a code in the node. In other words, all stuffed up. I guess there have been too many parties lately and I wore myself down so last weekend I picked up a bug of some sort, the first in several years. Yesterday in the warm air in Marin County (85F) I improved but now back into the San Francisco cool air off the ocean I am right back where I was on Tuesday. That brief one day excursion out of town proved me to once again that I need to move to a warmer climate - but where? Arizona? Forget it! Las Vegas? Forget it! Hawaii? I don't think so!! San Diego? Ah, that would be a possibility if I could afford to move which is the other part of the equation. Hmm...

On other matters, the world seems to continue to spin out of control faster and faster. If it isn't terrorism, it is the idiots in Washington D.C. who think they are above the law. Or San Francisco members of the Board of Supervisors who think they do not have to play by the rules. It is all very depressing. Maybe I should just move out of the country. Ha! I can't even find any humorous news stories these days on Reuters which is my usual source for such things. Maybe I should post a humorous e-mail or some such thing, once I find something that will work. Just tried to copy and paste something here but it did not work for some weird reason. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

As a follow-up to the letter by Maxine Clark (Chronicle Letters, June 30), the Academy of Art University does indeed seem to be taking over many buildings. We have such buildings as the former First Congregational Church at Post at Mason, the Copenhagen furniture store on Van Ness, and an apartment building near Bush and Leavenworth now under the AAU banner to name a few. What next? City Hall? One final question: Are they in the business of teaching art classes or of becoming one of the biggest landholders in San Francisco???

I really think Herb Caen was being too kind when he referred to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as the Board of Stuporvisors. Their idiocy seems to have no bounds. Latest case in point: We live in one of the dirtiest cities in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia yet now they want to reduce the number of trash cans on the street. Really now! Do they really think that the trash is going to magically move to another city because we don't have sufficient trash cans?

Well, at least things are not dull at Silly Hall (another Caenism). Between Chris Daly and Ed Jew and others, it is the stuff of a daytime soap opera under that dome.

Regarding possible and/or pending water shortages, one letter to the editor of the Chronicle this morning contains the word conserve eleven times. Point well taken. How about the other part of the equation: desalinate (x 11)?

Wanted

Part-time clerical job in San Francisco through the end of the December 2007. At least that is my hope. Uncle Sam via the IRS is knocking on my door and while I am paying him, it is taking all of my remaining resources. There is virtually no wiggle room in my budget now. This is not good.

On another matter...three candidates for president all from New York? Yikes! Two are announced, Clinton and Giuliani, and the third, Blomberg, has not announced yet. Very interesting...one Democrat, one Republican, and now one Independent and we are still over a year away from the conventions and the elections. Ain't no po' boy (or gal) ever gonna get elected to be president of these here United States. (Yuck)

Caveat Emptor

To the best of my knowledge www.careerbuilders.com and www.monster.com are legitmate on-line businesses but they are being used by illegitmate companies, people, dirt balls, whatever. Since placing my resume on both of these sites recently I have been receiving e-mails with offers "to good to be true" and you know, or should know, that if anything seems too good to be true that it probably is. The questionable e-mail replies to my resume have simply been the notorious phishing scams which are numerous on the Internet now. Now I am worried about a job offer I replied to at www.craislist.org recently. Could that one be a scam or phishing expedition as well?

What is the matter with our Giants? They can't seem to fight their way out of a paper bag. Perhaps the top executives need replacing...like Brian Sabean!!!!!!!!!!! The choices of personnel for this team are horrendously terrible.

What a weekend! The Giants visit Boston's Fenway Park for the first time since 1915 or so and lose three games in a row. Booo... Oh well, Boston is my other hometown team so it helped them against those damn Yankees. Those Yankees, by the way, come to AT&T Park for the first time this coming weekend. I wonder if the Giants will help them (God forbid) or help the Red Sox by losing three more in a row, something they seem to be good at this year.

The weekend was also very tiring as I was still recovering from the 90+ heat in Vallejo earlier in the week. Then I was out late Saturday night and while I enjoyed myself it did a number on me and I had to cancel an event I wanted to attend Sunday night. I guess I am just getting too old for this stuff. Yuck!

Need to find a temporary job and/or a part-time one as my bills from the IRS are killing me. So I have re-sent my resume to one agency already and may send it to another one this week. Also found an interesting listing on Craigslist which I will respond to this morning. That one is part-time and seems right in my area of interest.

Received three very nice pictures from a friend in Sakon Nakhon, Thailand this morning. He is even dressed up in one and that one surprised me. First time I have seen him so dressed.

My final opera of the 06/07 is on Saturday night but culture clash will exist as I need to go out to another venue after that. And then there is the big Gay Pride day parade on Sunday and one or two more parties after that. Help...I need a vacation. Ha!

Yes, I am still here although not completely. To explain...part of this week has been spent in Vallejo assisting a friend who had a bi-lateral hernia repair. Everything went well but the heat of the past few days about did ME in. I returned to a cooling San Francisco on Friday but was exhausted. I think I am now returning to normal anyway and my friend is recovering nicely.

Whenever I take long overseas flights I always wish I could afford first class as those flights are butt busters especially in coach. Well, someday, those long flight might be a thing of the past if this new supersonic jet engine is a success. Imagine, San Francisco to Taipei in two to three hours instead of the thirteen hours it now takes. Wow!

The computer software industry is against a new tough anti-spyware bill just approved by the House because it could hurt innovation and technology investment. That has got to be the lamest and phoniest excuse I have ever heard. If anything, it should do the opposite. Certainly legitimate businesses do not want to lose their share of business so all would scramble to improve what they've got. Those that would be hurt would be the evil pests our there who try to claim legitimacy and who howl at any attempt to curb their (nefarious) activities.

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley has fired soprano Hope Briggs before the opening night performance of Don Giovanni because she it not suitable for the role of Donna Anna. Mr. Gockley only wants the best for this company and in that regard he has my full support. I was at the Wednesday dress rehearsal and it was a painful afternoon in listening to Hope Briggs. He is correct. She is not suitable for the role and now it pains me to see people are trying to play the race card in this matter. Those people need to grow up. They also need to understand the musical values involved with opera singing and that not all voices are the same and singing opera is not the same as singing hymns in church on Sunday. It takes far more than just lovely tones of which Ms. Hope has plenty but singing Mozart makes demands that she is not suited for, at least not at this stage of her career. I will be at tonight's performance and hope that Ms. van den Heever (another young singer) has got what it takes. If not, Messrs. Gockely and Runnicles could both be in deep do-do over this one however I hope that this will have a happy ending.
--------------------------------------------
P.S. (6-June-07)
The replacement for Hope Briggs was wonderful. Mr. Gockley made the right choice. Thank you.

Creationism? Bah...humbug!

These are poor pathetic simple minded fools who have their collective heads buried in the sand.

There is good news however with the arrest of a very prolific spammer. I am sure that he is just the tip of the iceberg so I hope that the authorities can track down and deal with the rest of the dirt balls who infect the world wide web.

The authorities are going after one "faith healer". Why only one? The world is full of them. They are all bogus. They are all charlatans.

A very important question for all presidential candidates to consider:

"If the United States was invaded by foreigners who bombed, killed and crippled many thousands of your countrymen in a war of aggression based on lies, then occupied the nation with soldiers who break down doors in the night, terrorize families and haul people off to unaccountable torture prisons, would you cooperate with the foreigners or join the resistance and fight the occupiers to the death?"

This is just one of four questions this morning from a writer of a letter to the editor of the SF Chronicle and in my opinion, the most important of the four.

Dinosaurs on the Ark???? How dumb can these mentally challenged fools get anyway. I swear, their IQ must be somewhere near zero. Why do they continue to bury their heads in the sand and refuse to value scientific research? Oh, I know...they want instant answers to everything during their lifetimes. How pathetic can they get?

Two comments have been receivied from readers concerning my postings below regarding the dollar coins and the long time for passport renewal. First the dollar coins: I tend to agree that distribution is part of the problem in that stores don't really want them as there are not enough coin slots in many cash registers to handle the additional coins, at least that is what I have heard from some retailers. We should be getting these in change and not have to "buy" them from the U.S. Mint so that is also part of the problem. As for the long time on the passport renewal, the U.S. State Department's website says it is taking ten to twelve weeks to process applications so the fact that I am still waiting after week number eleven does not bother me. It is only that a friend in southern California got his after fifteen days which I found amazing and he did too and when he told a neighbor who also applied at about the same time and who is still waiting as I am, his neighbor went through the roof also. As for being profiled by the U.S. Government in some manner that would not make sense especially if they were doing their job and doing it correctly. Grrr....

Why can't people use dollar coins as cash in this country? I managed to get one from a SF Muni change machine so now I know what it looks like but I dare not spend it because I may never get another one. Then yesterday I received a brochure from an outfit called PRESIDENTIAL COIN COLLECTION in Norwalk, Connecticut, trying to sell me a priority reservation card for the entire collection. Since these coins, as the older dollar coins, are legal coins, why just hoard them? Why not use them as the U.S. Mint intended? Why should the U.S. Government get involved in a coin collection business when it is minting coins of several denominations to be used. Come on folks, the dollar coin is a good alternative to the ratty old dirty dollar bills we have to contend with.

Grrr…I applied for my new (renewed) passport eleven weeks ago and still do not have whereas a friend of mine received his today after only fifteen days. How did that happen? According to the State Department website it is taking ten to twelve weeks to process applications and get the passports to their owners. As far as I know he did not request expedited service as there was no reason to do so as he is not traveling until January 2008 which is also my next intended travel time period. What gives?

 
 

Well, our mini-heat wave is over. The past two days have been wonderful and today started off nicely but now the wind has cooled things off considerably. Can I blame this on the State Department's Passport Office??? hahaha

 
 

 
 

 
San Diego Trolley at Old Town Transit Center

SF Chronicle columnist Herb Caen used to refer to San Francisco City Hall as Silly Hall. Well, he was being too kind, far too kind, as these bumbling brain dead numbskulls continue to pass stupid and unenforceable laws. The latest example of this is the one sponsored by Board President Aaron Peskin to ban the feeding of the "Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill". Really! We already have laws against feeing pigeons so do you think that stops people from feeding them????? Of course not and this stupid law is just as asinine.

The problems of this city were succinctly summed up in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper. One writer referred to the so-called progressives who, with their job-destroying, panhandler-enabling philosophy, have already made San Francisco the destination of choice for alcoholics, drug addicts, drug dealers, petty criminals, panhandlers and vagrants. Actually that writer was being too kind as well. This city is a mess and is getting worse and I doubt that anyone here has the guts to take appropriate action. I could just hear some of the liberals, "Oh no, we can't do that. We would be violating their constutional right." Hogwash...how about OUR rights as taxpayers and law abiding citizens to live in a clean and safe city.

I spent four days recently in San Diego, a city I have always liked, and this trip did nothing to change my mind and it remains at the top of my short list as a city of interest should I desire to move. Imagine, a transportation system that works and clean streets without encountering a panhandler every fifty feet. It has a mild climate and even with fog is not that cold. It has a wonderful symphony which performs in the old Fox Theater (now Copley Symphony Hall) and opera company which performs in another venue. And of course there is wonderful Balboa Park along with its world class zoo. Then, for rail enthusiasts, there is a tremendous model train layout in one of the museums. It is spread out in a number of rooms and is still being expanded. And have you ever been to the Hotel Del Coronado? How about organ concerts at the Spreckels Organ Pavillion in Balboa Park? Oh, the list of interesting places and things to do goes on and on. Sigh...what am I doing still in San Francisco?

One of my favorite cities in California has always been San Diego and after visiting there this past weekend that feeling was reinforced with a performance of the San Diego Symphony at the Copley Symphony Hall in the former Fox Theater now housed inside a modern high rise office building and hotel. The orchestra is wonderful and the acoustics of the theater are very good. Also, while there, my friends and I visited the Hillcrest area of the city as well as Balboa Park where one of the museums has an outstanding model railroad display covering a number of rooms and utilizing a number of gauges and is still being expanded. Transportation in that city is excellent with several trolley lines plus the Coaster trains running from Santa Barbara to the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego and the Amtrak trains running from Union Station in L.A. to San Diego. All of these pass through the "Old Town" transit center where a number of bus lines also provide transfer connections. It is a very busy terminal and makes San Diego one of the best transit oriented cities in the United States.

Years ago I had decided that if I ever moved out of San Francisco that San Diego would be high on my very short list of possible relocation cities and this past weekend's visit did nothing to change my mind in that regard.

Earlier this week I had expressed concern about losing the content of the "My Yahoo" page while being able to read all other web pages from Yahoo and others. Well, after about 12 hours the content of "My Yahoo" page reappeared just as mysteriously as it had disappeared.

My god, what is this? I called Dell technical support a couple of days ago to ask a question and did not have to wade through numerous call options and I got to a tech support person practically immediately and wonder of wonders, it was someone in the USA, in the Central Time zone, who was very friendly and helpful and best of all, I could hear him clearly and understand what he was saying. As a result of that my opinion of Dell tech support has gone from a 1 or 2 to 9 at least. I can't say 10 right now as I did not ask a complicated question but just being able to talk to one of my fellow Americans was a great big plus. Keep up the good work Dell!

Now I need to talk to the man upstairs about our cold weather. Some of the cold windy days we have had recently could be expected in January but not in May and it is driving me up the wall. It is very nippy now (51F) but at least there is no wind (yet). It is the wind that has been most irritating to me.

My SF Giants continue to struggle but at least my Red Sox are comfortably in first place in the AL-East. So take that George Steinbrenner (or however you spell his name).

Too bad these money-hungry idiots of grandparents in the Chicago area could not practice a little love instead of suing the Chicago school board because they allegedly forced their poor little sheltered urchin from seeing a love story, a gay love story ("Brokeback Mountain").

If anyone thinks that Big Brother is NOT watching, then they should read this . How far will employers and the government go to stifle a person's opinion?

Well, it had to happen sooner or later but in Boston? I have heard a couple of arguments here in the San Francisco Opera House that I thought were going to get out of hand but didn't. Why can't people keep quiet anyway after the performance starts. Is it the TV age of "doing anything while watching anything syndrome"?

OK, what the heck has happened to the "My Yahoo" page on Yahoo. I can reach other Yahoo pages including my Yahoo e-mail although I have to jump through hoops to do that. My computers display no error message such as "page cannot be found"...it just comes up blank. The URL displayed in the browser is correct and everything else appears normal except that "My Yahoo" is blank. The most frustrating thing is that there is no convenient way to ask Yahoo a question or point out to them that the "My Yahoo" page content is missing. Oh, what to do, what to do, WTD????????

Amazing...after a zillion telephone calls and slightly less e-mails to Dell Tech Support, the issues with this laptop computer have been corrected by the shipment of a new hard drive and now the computer has been been restored to Windows Vista Home Basic just as it was when it arrived from the factory - and most importantly - everything works. Yippee. This is a great relief. As for the old hard drive it is now on the way back to Dell via DHL.

Today I attended my first Giants game of the season but the Mets were too much for them again. We could have won, we should have won, but when they brought in Armando Benitez as the closer, I knew things would not go well and they didn't. I do not understand why they keep that guy on the roster. He makes me nervous every time he comes in. When he is good, he is bad...when he is bad, he is awful...or some such thing. (I was trying to paraphrase Mae West there but that did not seem to work.)
It is amazing how tired one can feel after a day in the sun at the ballpark, and, standing for several hours as I was. It was a full house and I had a SRO ticket. The weather was great but now I am tired. Should have no trouble sleeping tonight.

What is the matter with these brain dead politicians who are saying there will be complete chaos if we pull out of Iraq? Do they think there is some sort of Sunday picnic going on their now? The U.S. destabilized the country by getting rid of Saddam Hussein and now there is no way to fix it and there is certainly no need for our troops to be there getting killed and injured. Let them fight it out amongst themselves. If they want peace, and I am sure there are many that do, they will find a way.

On a different note, a local irritation is when I am sitting on a crowded bus or trolley and an ash tray comes in and sits down beside me. You fellow non-smokers know what I mean. Those smokers who seldom or never wash their clothes. They reek of cigarette smoke and when they get that close to me, I feel like someone just emptied an ash tray on me. Maybe I should carry around a can of air freshener to spray the bus with but then that might irritate others. %$#*&%$*&

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

This has been one of the most frustrating days for me in recent memory. Two months ago I purchased a new Dell laptop computer and all Dell shipments these days have Windows Vista pre-installed. Well, as configured by the good people at Dell that worked fine. I have an 80GB hard drive with 1.4 GB of RAM. The computer shipped with a Windows Vista upgrade DVD so last night I got the not-so-bright idea of upgrading (???) one step from Vista Home Basic to Vista Home Premium. Well, it installed, sort of, but now I have no sound, the CPU is running at top speed which slows everything else down to a crawl, and my McAfee Security Suite has become unstable.

So this morning I called Dell Tech Support and of course, ended up talking with someone in Bangalore who I could hardly understand due to her soft voice, her accent, and telephone line noise. Well, after three hours nothing had been resolved other than to raise my blood pressure considerably. Now what do I do? Her supervisor was supposed to call me back but I doubt that I will ever hear from anyone in Bangalore or Texas.

I posted the problem on a Dell forum after that and have received a reply to my question about reverting back to the Vista Home Basic and it seems like it is possible but then nothing ever goes as planned when changing computer operating systems or upgrading or reverting back to an earlier time. Grrr again.

Well, I wanted a basic machine mostly for surfing the net and for e-mail and that is what I got. It is too bad I got the no-so-bright idea of trying for more.

So, as I said at the bottom of my post to the Dell forum page: DO NOT EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, UPGRADE AN OEPRATING SYSTEM. I really think the only option is to do clean install and I am ready to do that on my laptop as there is little of new personal documents on it as yet. Even here, I am leery that something else might go wrong. One of the most frustrating aspects of the whole situation is the fact that Dell will come to my apartment on a hardware issue at this time but not for a software issue. I have rarely ever had a hardware issue so they certainly isolate themselves very well with that policy plus the offshoring of tech support.

This could drive a man to drink. Say, that is not such a bad idea at the momoent as I do have a good supply of gin & tonic on hand. Wheeeeeee........

 
After a rough start earlier in April, the Municipal Railway's new Third Street Light Rail line seems to be operating more smoothly these days. Here is an outbound (southbound) LRV passing the Marin Street Station.

On a different matter, I need to hold a garage sale but there is one problem, I don't have a garage. HAHAHA Now I know that someone will say why not hold a sidewalk sale. Well, I don't feel like I have enough stuff for that and don't want to take the time to sit there to "guard the merchandise" but I hate to throw out unused and unneeded stuff. Oh, what to do, what to do???

Do you know what I dislike intensely these days? Well, it is loud shrill woman in their twenties and thirties. One of my neighbors has a few friends like that and they can be heard all over the apartment complex when they laugh and much of their speech seems to come in at 200 db as well. Then last night I went to dinner at Sushi Rock on Polk Street and there was a group of six on the other side of the restaurant that had two such loud shrieking women in the group. One was Asian and should have known better but that was not the case. I wanted to yell "Will you shut the fuck up?" but thought that would not help matters any so I didn't say anything.

Yeah, I am an old fart but some people these days have no class...no manners whatsoever.

And think of being older, one way to tell you are older is if you can remember when the milkman delivered milk in glass bottles on a regular basis and there was cream at the top which had to be mixed by shaking the bottle. Also, the inside seal required pulling up on a tab, then pulling the top off. Since I had no fingernails I had to use a fork or knife to pull up the tab so I could open the bottle.

After reading this story I wondered if perhaps Imelda Marcos might enjoy visiting this town.

I see that Via Magazine which is put out by the AAA people, must have the same gramatically challenged people on their editorial staff that the San Francisco Chronicle has. In their May/June issue on the events page they list Carnaval San Francisco where there will be dance, music and eats. Eats? That is a verb my friends, not a noun. Food is a noun. You cannot have a verb but you can have food to eat or you can have a house, a car or whatever but you cannot have an eat. The pink section of the Sunday Chronicle does the same disservice to people trying to learn English by displaying same ignorance. Oh, I know they are trying to be cute, but get real folks. If people are so worried about English being spoken here with some desiring to make it the "official" language, how can you do that when so called educated people at Via and at the Chronicle can't even use the language correctly. I hate this.

What in the world is going on? Over 100 killed in Baghdad by suicide bombers as one has come to expect but 32 students at Virginia Tech, where it is supposed to be safe, by one crazy who could not be locked up for observation and further evaluation due to the craziness of our laws.

Also, what the heck are these grafitti stencils on sidewalks and buildings. For several weeks I have seen hammers with the word "Primitive" below and now "Penguin Loves Chowder" is showing up all over the place. Who is defacing property with this nonsense?

Almost time to turn in but since I have been out of the apartment most of the evening I will have to re-wind the VCR tape to watch American Idols results show.

What do the U.S. Army and the FBI have in common? Both have men who can't shoot straight so "friendly fire" is causing problems with both.

Oh great, snow in Crawford, Texas. We already have a hard enough time trying to convince Bush of global warming. Now he is really not going to believe it.

The stupid war in Iraq grinds on and Bush wants more and more cannon fodder and for WHAT? The conflicts there are centuries old and he still believes that he is going to ram democracy down their throats. How sad!

"Two good letters to the editor yesterday concerning this mess.
-----------------------

"Who lost Iraq?" Iraq was lost before it was started. Vice President Dick Cheney, with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's help, led the terribly mistaken neoconservative charge into Iraq. They naively thought that after "taking down" Saddam Hussein, our military forces would be welcomed and they could wave a magic wand that would introduce democracy and smooth over ancient quarrels. Their belief that the result would be a free, peaceful and subservient Iraq, making "our" oil safe, was a gross error in judgment. More than anyone else, Cheney bears responsibility for "losing" Iraq. For his ignorance, arrogance, manipulation and lies, the vice president is the official that the House should impeach."
------------------------

"People, especially conservatives, like to quote Winston Churchill. In light of their grousing about Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Middle East trip, may I remind them of Churchill's opinion that "To jaw, jaw is always better than to war, war.'' Pity that so many in this administration have it backward."
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Well, be a good egg ya'll and enjoy the day tomorrow.

There are days and then there are days. This is NOT one of them. For the first time in the short duration of this temp assignment, I want out. It is not a job I HAVE to take but one I should in order to speed up paying off some bills. I can live day to day on my Social Security and retirement accounts but at the rate I am going in spending and NOT paying off bills in a timely fashion, it is going to take forever to pay them off and I fear that my estate may end up paying the bills. If I do not stick with this job, I will just have to cut back on some things which actually should not be all that difficult as I do need to eat less and I sure do not need to spend as much as I do on booze (Happy Hours, late nights on Saturday, and private Happy Hours at home). I can even cut down on the food I eat or at least eat the RIGHT things and try to get rid of some of the extra pounds around the middle. My budget for the gym is not a problem but I am underutilizing the facilities there. We are supposed to have a meeting tomorrow afternoon concerning various aspects of this department and I wonder if that will be the time to raise my concerns regarding my place here?

To complicate the financial situation, my friends in Pattaya and Sakon Nakon, Thailand want me to return ASAP. Oh, what to do, what to do...??? It is too bad that I can not go there for several months at a time like I could do in the European Union. In Thailand I am limited to one entry of thirty days unless I make additional arrangements with the authorities there. I guess that is to be expected as they are already overrun with foreigners. Oh, what to do, what to do...???

I thought I would feel better after eating lunch today but so far that is not the case. If I keep feeling this way the rest of the afternoon it might be difficult to enjoy dinner tonight with a couple of friends. Oh, what to do, what to do...???

For now I am outa here.

With regular unleaded gasoline at $3.36 per gallon here in San Francisco, the next time you want to drive anywhere, fill 'er up at McDonald's. WHAT? Well, two Americans did that as they drove from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. I wonder if they ever got hungry in the process. Ha!

Is it me, is it something I did or did not do, but why am I so tired after staying out late last night. It has really hit me hard. I'm not as young as I used to be that is for sure but this time it was more difficult than ever.

BTW, why do some people insist on exiting buildings without looking where they are going? I have had many near collisions with people who seem to think they are the only ones on the street. I think the worst, for whatever reason, are those who turn and look in one direction while walking in the opposite. They are usually going full speed when they do that too.

On a more serious note, we have the impending troubles with Iran precipitated by the British marines and sailors being taken hostage in either Iraqi waters, or Iranian waters, depending upon who you listen to. Blair says he will not negotiate. Bush says give them back. Well, am I the only one who thinks this situation might be used as a pretext for invading Iran? Bush has said all along there are no plans to do so. Well now we have a situation that could have been set up by the Brits with the help of Washington in an effort to give us an excuse for doing so. How low will Bush/Blair stoop?

I think my favorite song should be "Fly Me to the Moon" or somewhere else to get away from the stupidity of some people on this planet.

And by the way, my hat is off to Elizabet Edwards and Tony Snow for continuing to do what they are dong despite their personal battles with cancer. They are right to not wither away and wait for the day when they might die. As John Edwards reminded us last week, we are all going to die. So why wait around for that day with nothing to do. That could be depressing. Live life to its fullest now while you have the chance.

Only two days on the job of this temporary assignment and I am already feeling tired and lazy. Ha! Well, it is not easy to come out of retirement to do something you do not have to do. If it weren't for the money and trying to pay off the IRS, I wouldn't do this. On the positive side, the people I work for and with are nice so it is as pleasurable experience as it can be I guess. This is an on-going long term project so if I stick it out, I oould be there through December.

I was supposed to go the gym tonight but I am too lazy for that even. Maybe, just maybe, I will put in two sessions this weekend...one for my regular routine and one for the cardio/sauna routine only.

So what else is new? Nothing really. It would be nice to be able to get rid of a few pain-in-the-ass politicians but for that we must be patient. That will occur in due time.

Time now for dinner (soup and crackers?) so I am outa here.

Wild Parrots vs. Killer Frogs

Well not exactly but I am sure that many people have heard about the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill since a documentary movie was made about them a few years ago but what about the Killer Frogs of Golden Gate Park? There is an interesting article from Matier & Ross in this morning's SF Chronicle regarding these not so little invaders at the Lily Pond near the California Academy of Science. They are being called (Arnold please take note) "Terminator Frogs" by some people.

On a really silly and stupid note, we now have people in Walnut Creek trying to change "Easter Egg Hunt" to "Spring Egg Hunt". Won't this PC craziness ever end?????

Oh here we go again...more pie in the sky attitude from members of our Board of Stuporvisors at Silly Hall.  Now they are considering free Muni...no more fares on buses, trolleys, and subway trains.  I am glad that there are more reasonable people outside Cily Hall who understand the problems such an arrangement would bring on.  Have those fools under the dome figures out yet that there is no such thing as a free ride (anywhere) in life?  But then again, it almost makes sense since the city can't afford to do anything right in the first place due to too much fat in City Hall and elsewhere.  This has to be one of the more inefficiently run cities in the this country.

Then in Washington we have the Libby verdict and its implications for Vice President Cheney.  The only thing I can say at this point is that at least Vice President Agnew had the decency to resign.

Blog, blog, whose gotta blog.  Well, Hillary Clinton and Obama Barack do, or is that Barack Obama?  It is amazing who is getting into this means of communications.  And have you checked the vlogs as they call 'em at You Tube.  There are some funny ones and some boring ones and some pathetic ones but at least everyone has an outlet these days.  I just hope no one overdoes it and that everyone blogs responsibly.  In recent weeks I have also found ways of getting things posted to this site without going directly to the Google/Blogger web page.  Pretty amazing stuff. 

This weekend we will do that silly thing again of turning out clocks ahead one hour at 2 AM (if you up that late) or before retiring.  This "spring forward" and "fall back" routines are ridiculous.  Please, why can't we leave the clocks on one time for the whole year?

I would like to plan another vacation but Uncle Sam and the IRS are taking most of my money for awhile as I have a hefty tax bill to deal with FYE 2006 and will be paying that off for several years.  And NO, I did not win the Mega Millions Lottery tonight.  No where close to it. 
In fact, I am not sure how I will pay for my opera and symphony tickets for the 07/08 season.  Guess it will be Visa once again.  Yuck!
Anybody got any "sure bets" in Reno??  hahaha

Idiocy in Action

The whole world is going crazy. First the people that run the Olympics say the other groups can not use the word Olympics in describing their athletic events, such as Gay Olympics. Now the NFL wants to trademark the words "Big Game", "Super Bowl", etc. Well, I am sure that the people at Cal (Berkeley) and Stanford will have something to say about the "Big Game" which has been going on longer than the NFL has been in existence.

Then we have people in the State of California who want to institute mandatory spaying and neutering of pets. I agree that many need that but what about professional breeders? At this point the proposed law would make it very difficult and costly for such people to get exemptions from this draconian measure.

Then we have people (businesses, governments, etc.) who say we cannot say Easter Bunny. That is being replaced with Spring Bunny...or Holiday Tree replaces Christmas Tree...or Happy Holidays is a no-no. One must say Merry Christmas even though that time of the year involves more than just the traditional Christian celebration of Christmas. We have certainly become to politically correct for our own good. Get a life folks and chill out.

Now for my other pet peeve. And that is young people who were the baggiest of pants and do so with them almost down to their knees. The kids who dress that way really are a mess. So far I have not seen young people in other countries dress that way and this is one thing that I hope does not get exported to other countries. American foods, TV shows, movies, etc., have been exported and embraced in other cultures but this is one thing that needs to stay at home and hopefully eradicated at home as well.

Not so encouraging news

With all the problems we have in the world today we do not need news like this. Close encounters of the meteor or asteroid type are certainly not needed.

Lies, lies, and more lies

Why do I get the feeling that Bush & Co. are trying to build a case against Iran just like they built a false case of lies against Saddam Hussein and his WMD? I don't believe a word of it and even if some of these devices came through Iran it does not mean that the government is culpable. There could be rogue elements within Iran who are doing this. To attack Iran could be far more dangerous than attacking Iraq and will only create more enemies within the Muslim world. What fools we have in Washington!

Aw shut up!

Australian Prime Minister John Howard needs to butt out of American politics. His negative comments about Barack Obama are not appreciated.

The sky is falling...maybe

Perhaps the sky is not falling but there could be some big collisions there sometime if we don't clear out all that junk now in orbit. The future of telecommunications and other services are in jeopardy if a chain reaction of collisions start.

U.S. Coins

Americans are such wimps. I for one would like to get rid of the dollar bill and it disturbs me that American can't get with it and join the rest of world with regard to new coinage. Now it seems that while the U.S. Mint will produce some new dollar coins that most people would prefer those old damn smelly and dirty one dollar bills. As for those who can't tell the difference between a dollar coin and a quarter, EDUCATE THYSELF BROTHERS AND SISTERS. Have you seen how many different denominations in coins some other countries have? Looks like the newest coin will become another collectors item instead of usable coinage as people will hoard them and/or not use them. #&*$%#*@#

This is interesting...for me anyway. I just found another way to post to this blog through zohowriter.com. It is not necessarily any easier...just an alternative to the logging into my blogger.com account.

What a world we live in...

Sometimes I think the whole world is going bonkers. It is, to quote an old movie title, A Mad, Mad, Mad World.

So what is this "man code" thing I have been hearing about since Mayor Newsom screwed up (pun intended)? Is there a woman code? How about a human code such as "love thy neighbor"?

Last weekend as the Queen Mary 2 prepared to sail from San Francisco I found myself humming the theme song from the movie Titanic. Hopefully there are no icebergs in the Pacific Ocean, at least not yet. Ha!

What is it with people who do not like the stories that the San Francisco Chronicle prints especially on the front page? One letter to the editor indicated he did not buy a particular edition because of the "front cover" as it were. What about all the other pages? Can't people like this simply move on to articles they do like? Do they smash their radios or television sets everytime there is a news story or program they don't like? What idiocy!

Then we have the flat earth society...no excuse me...those who deny the Holocaust, one member of which attacked Elie Wiesel in a San Francisco hotel recently. What was on that idiots mind? Did he want to reprogram Mr. Wiesel? Whatever happened to live and let live in our society?

There are some days I just want to scream "Stop the world, I want to get off." Oh well, maybe I will just hop on the QM2 and sail right off the edge of the world someday and find all the people who did not die at Auschwitz, etc.