Thursday, April 26, 2007

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. %$#*&%$*&

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

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........

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

 
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.
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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???

Monday, April 23, 2007

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.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

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.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

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.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

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.
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"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."
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"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.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

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.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

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.