Greasy Burger

Tried the new Best-O-Burger in One Market Plaza today and it really should be called Worst-Of-the Greasiest Burgers on the Planet. And I ordered the 1/3 lb. cheeseburger which got lost in the already small bun which was falling apart due to all the grease from the meat and the sauce. There were not even any fries nor were any suggested or offered. Also, the pickle which was posted on the menu board was not included either. WHAT A RIP OFF JOINT! And I got a stomach ache to boot ten minutes after I left the place. Never will I got there again.

Possible answers...

It is late at night in the Florida home of Tiger Woods and his wife. They have a violent argument. She goes after him with a golf club in hand. He runs out of the house barefoot (The FHP said he was driving in bare feet.), jumps in the car and tries to get away and in his panic crashes into a tree and fire hydrant. His wife catches up with the now stopped car, smashes a window, and gets Tiger onto the pavement and hits him with the club so that when the local police arrive he is drifting in and out of conscientiousness as reported by the authorities. It's possible.

Questions

Where was Tiger Woods going at 2:30 AM? Why was he driving so fast as to cause such significant damage to his car? Why did his wife have to break a window with a golf club to gain access? Didn't she have a spare set of key? And where did she get the golf club? Was she in the habit of walking around the house or vicinity with golf club in hand in the wee hours of the night or was she attacking someone in the car...Tiger or someone else???

Sound philosophy...

I love this comment that Virgil Earp, a nephew of Wyatt, made in 1958: Virgil said: "A woman was safer in the Wild West than she would be today in midtown Manhattan. In the old days, there was no such thing as juvenile delinquency, no house robberies and no organized government. There was just good men and bad men - and the policy was a life for a life."

Of course that was before the days of drugs, automatic weapons and street gangs that would extract revenge for even the most minor of offenses. We live in a different world from that of Wyatt Earp and there is much good to say about "life in the old days" and how people treated people however I am not advocating a return to those days. For me, the good old days were in the forties and fifties.

Where am I?

Watched a movie from 1985 tonight - The Breakfast Club. Someone recommended it but I can't remember why but I enjoyed it and am not sure why. Perhaps I could identify with some aspect of each characters' lives. Who knows but it sure held my attention.

This has not been a good week for me as I learned that my friend's cancer continues to progress despite repeated chemotherapy treatments. As a result they have been discontinued and the only treatment will now to make him as comfortable as possible. Hospice care will probably be needed but we do not know how soon he will get to that stage of his life.

I have planned a trip back to Thailand in January but now I wonder if I should. He still has his siblings to help take care of him and we just do not know how slowly or how fast his health will deteriorate. Perhaps I should just take it one day at a time and not cancel the trip and least not yet. This is so difficult for me.

Night out at the Opera (or symphony)

I have been a season ticket holder since 1976 and during all but the first few years I have been attending performances on Saturday evenings. During the intervening years things have become crazier and crazier in this city and as I get older and older I just can't tolerate the attitudes and actions of some young people. They have no class, they are rowdy, and some of them are complete jerks. So I think it is time to switch back to Sunday afternoon, Series L, where I started. The commute home, whether by foot or by bus, is very trying these days and puts me in a fowl mood which is the opposite of what the music has just done and I am tired of having those good feelings undone by a bunch of immature imbeciles. And yes, I know I am letting them get to me and that is not good. Why can't I ignore such foolishness?

Anyway, I will not be able to make any changes right away as I have been sharing a subscription with a good friend who is now ill and I do not know what will happen in the days ahead. One thing I could do is take a taxi home but that gets expensive to do week after week and I just don't have that much money these days. Oh, what to do, wtd, wtd, wtd???

Hey, where are we?

I have a couple of friends who have flown Northwest (I haven't) but do not like their service and now try to avoid them when and where possible. Now I think they could add another reason to their list of complaints. By the way, would Capt. Sullenberger have missed his destination? I don't think so!

Mahler and the SF Symphony

After reading Kosman's review regarding the Mahler 5th Symphony this week I thought he was once again having a bad day. Well, I attended the Friday night concert and I have to agree for once with Kosman as I found it to be a tedious evening which found me looking at my watch, something I rarely ever do.

What happened maestro? This performance was uncharacteristic of you?

Sick Society

Just learned on the news tonight that somebody posted a poll on Facebook asking how many people feel that Obama should be assassinated. The person or persons who posted this seemed, according to the news, to be most concerned about the president's health-care proposals. This is sick, sick, sick. Fortunately this was discovered quickly and it was removed from Facebook shortly after it was posted. I hope the Secret Service finds the culprit and locks him up for a long, long time. Partly for the threat on the president and partly for his mental sickness. That person needs some serious psychiatric care.

Health Care, Obamacare, Medicare, whatever

I am sick and tired of Americans who know nothing and who have never been anywhere outside their own backyards and wish they would SHUT UP. I despise their attitude towards a government run healthcare program. They are so two faced. When they reach 65 they will gladly go on Social Security and Medicare so for them to tell me and the rest of the country that we cannot have a government run healthcare program for everyone is just plan STUPID.

IDIOTS

These effing idiots who did not want their children to hear the president's speech today are an abomination. They are also the ones who are fighting the president's health care plan.

We need a public option to keep the money hungry and dishonest insurance companies in check. I know from personal experience since retiring that the private insurance companies are ONLY interested in THEIR bottom line. They don't give a damn about my health. Even with dental insurance my carrier consistently fights what my dentist needs to do by denying coverage or giving incorrect information when trying to get a procedure approved. It has taken my dentist about four times to get a correct pre-certification of benefits for a simple lower partial. You would not believe how they responded during the past two months on this issue.

As a senior I have no problem with the GOVERNMENT RUN MEDICARE except that Congress does not fund it properly and also "borrows" money from the Medicare Trust Fund.

As for the Obama haters and/or conservatives who are fighting him on healthcare they need to cease and desist.

Obama haters

It is sad to see all the Obama haters, some of which are probably very racist, objecting to the president's speech to school children. There is nothing offensive in his speech and if two previous Republican presidents could do it, why not this Democratic president?

These are probably the same idiots who object to the president's health care proposals. They are just not going to let this man win on any front.

This country is full of idiots.

Still here...

I have been absent from these pages for a short time due to some laziness on my part but also because of returning to a routine of going up to Vallejo to alternate with my friend's siblings as caregiver. Chemotherapy treatments were re-started recently and now there is supposed to be someone at the house with him at all times. This has put a certain amount of strain on all concerned and as a result I have not been too involved with the events outside the "family". I am here now until the 18th of September but the three days that I have been here already seem more like three months.

Not long ago I started re-reading A Tale of Two Cities and so I am sure I will finish it before I return home. BTW, I read that in my late teens but recently decided I would return to some of the classics. After this I will be re-reading Crime and Punishment.

As for my next door neighbor, if decides to act-up again I hope he does it while I am not at home. Also, I would hope that he does it on the weekend or at night when other people could hear it. He is really a nut case and I do not think the police believe me in this matter.

For now, I am out of here.

Cheers everyone...

Medicare...

Here is another fine letter this morning regarding healthcare, specifically Medicare.
-------------------

We have a perfectly good, if underfunded, government-run - and potentially universal - health care system right now. It's called Medicare.

Let every American opt into Medicare at a fair and affordable rate.

Universal access to health care is an American right, not a privilege. Driving is a privilege. Accessing health care is not a choice - it is a necessity. It's a matter of life and death.

Therefore, if you respect life, if you are a right-to-lifer, if you are a compassionate conservative, you must support universal health care. And the only way we can achieve that is to take the profit motive out of the equation. Pay the medical service providers a fair wage, and stop throwing money at those who profit from the misery of their fellow man: the insurance companies.

It's the cost-effective alternative to the catastrophic-care system we have now, which gives us half the care as Europeans for twice the price."

---------------------

I worry that the Republicans and other right-wingers are not only blocking reasonable health care reform but they are tearing down the presidency of Barrack Obama as well. That would be tragedy for this country.

Strange noises

I've probably written on this subject previously but the sounds from my neighbor's apartment are a bit too much at times. Last night was especially bad. When these sounds were first heard I though he might be watching a war movie and had his home theatre system turned up to loud. Our common wall certainly does vibrate from these loud sounds but I can't identify them as to what they are. If they are from a war movie they are unlike any war movie I have ever seen as they are almost continuous only changing in intensity from time to time. They sound more like a rumbling sound not something from explosions from bombs and rockets. Another weird thing is that last night when I went outside (his windows were open) I could hear nothing on the walkway directly outside our apartments.

That guy is weird for many reasons, not just his loud stereo, and I would like to identify the source and nature of these sounds which have actually exacerbated a headache or two. I would like to complain to the property management company (we have no on-site manager) but they seem to be interested only in collecting the rent each month. That is certainly the case with the landlady and they are just following orders.

As for the loud sounds and vibrating wall, could he have some sort of electronic device (not the stereo) which is creating these rumbling and explosive sounds? If so, he is even weirder than I thought.

Let's Hear it for Medicare

Excellent letter this morning...
------------------------------

"In all the angst about a government option for health care, Cynthia Tucker ("Shouting, stomping won't cure need for health reform," Insight, Aug. 9) reminds us that many Americans misunderstand the Medicare option.

As one who has received Medicare for 17 years, my experience calls for pure praise for this government-run, taxpayer-supported program.

Accessible? The service has never let me down. My fee-for-service Medicare lets me choose my own doctors and see them without precondition. The system pays all my medical bills except for routine physical and eye exams.

With a model like this, it's hard to understand the wave of suspicion facing a government option for health care."

CLAY LANE

Palo Alto

----------------------

The only problems we have with Medicare is that it is underfunded and Congress keeps borrowing/stealing from the Medicare fund for other things. Stop that "borrowing" and raise Social Security taxes and there won't be a Medicare funding problem.

Questions

If the USA can can afford to kill people through wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, why can't it afford to heal people through health care for all? Well, if we would stop this participation in these wars we could afford a national health care system. Also, why do we always get involved with defending every piss ant country on this planet which gets in hot water with its neighbors? This is insane. We are not the world's policeman. Let's take care of our own people first.

Healthcare Access

Here is an excellent letter regarding healthcare in Great Britain which some people in the USA like to discount as being ineffective and call it socialism etc. Strange to me that Medicare received by seniors is not socialism but health care for all would be. Anyway, here is a letter for your consideration.
--------------------------

"I write as a British citizen and supporter of my country's National Health Service because I am appalled by the lies that have been spread about the service in America.

Whilst it is far from perfect, the overwhelming majority of Britons would agree that the NHS provides a high-quality service.

In America, our health care system is deemed "socialist," but Britain is a capitalist society like any other in the West. The difference is that we do not feel something as basic as health care should be subject to market forces. The scaremongering by America's right about euthanasia for the elderly and "death panels" for disabled children is dangerous and absurd.

The reality in Britain is that elderly patients and parents of disabled children are free from the constant worry that their insurance won't cover the next round of treatment. They can rely on the state to provide.

Whilst the U.S. right wheels on eccentric conservatives such as Member of Parliament Daniel Hannan to denigrate our public health care, most of Europe looks on in incomprehension. To Europeans, it is obvious that free health care is the only fair system. We are just waiting for the world's largest superpower to catch up.

JOANNA HOWARD

Sheffield, Great Britain

------------------------

So wake up America. Do the right thing. Do not let the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry run our lives.

Health Care, Obamacare, Medicare, whatever

I certainly agree with Howard Dean on this issue and I also wonder how many people approaching the age of 65 will refuse Medicare simply because it is a government run program? People in this country are afraid of the government. It should be the other way around with the government fearing the people. Then, just maybe, something useful might be accomplished.

Butchered English

Here is another problem in this country (USA). People who live and work here do not know how to speak and write proper English. Take this line from a news story about a new Verizon service as seen on www.pcworld.com this morning.

Verizon first announced that it was trialing LTE services in two U.S. cities last February.

Damn it, there is no such word as "trialing". That should be "testing LTE services". What effing idiots. Yes it is a trial run but it involves testing. Don't try to change the whole damn language to fit your failings of simple high school English 101A.

Friggin' idiots!!!!!!!

Health Care

There are several good letters to the editor this morning. This is my favorite.

"Sarah Palin has really gone off the deep end this time. "Death panels"?

I work in the senior care field, everything from home care to hospice, and I can attest to the need for advance health care consultations.

---

---

There is nothing worse than seeing 80-year-olds come home from the hospital incapacitated and angry because they were forced to receive treatments that they will never recover from.

Why? Because they lack an advance health care directive stating their wishes. If they want to be kept alive at all costs, financial, physical , emotional and mental, that can be spelled out in the directive, but in my experience, most do not want this and trust their children to respect their wishes.

Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, those wishes often go to the wayside because of a difference in understanding or emotions. This is where the planning makes all the difference between a peaceful passing and a long, drawn-out and painful one.

This proposal needs to stay in the president's health care plan; it is the right thing to do for our seniors and their families."

I find it very interesting that people are making such a big issue about a government run health care program when they will be in one at age 65. It is known as Medicare.

Medicare is a single-payer plan which needs to be expanded to everyone and properly funded. Then and only then will we have proper health care coverage in this country.

DOS

What is it with the Internet today? Earlier today I had trouble with FaceBook. Now I am having trouble with G-Mail. If I could get my hands on those guilty of launching DOS attacks I would like to put my foot where the sun don't shine.

Healthcare Access

I agree with Ed Koch on this matter. We do need universal healthcare. If we don't get it we are no better than a Third World Country in my opinion.

Sick People

There are some sick people in this country and this is the latest outrageous crime.

Organic food

I am glad to see this study and report because I have always questioned in my mind the concept and practice of "organic food" and whether it is better for us or not. Glad to see that I may have been correct all along. I have always thought of it as being a 20th Century fad.

Common Sense

We all need a good dose of common sense in the USA these days and I love this piece from Bill Maher regarding not-for-profit. This should be mandatory reading for every American who cares about the country.

Health Insurance

This country will never be able to afford anything until it gets its house in order and disengages from all foreign entanglements especially foreign wars and foreign aid of any type to countries which are able to stand on their own feet. Bringing all troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan would be a good place to start.

As for the insurance companies, they all need to be not-for-profit so that they can't gouge us for everything under the sun. They also need to level the playing field with regard to group plans and individual plans. My dental insurance is a prime example. Since I am retired I have to pay for an individual plan but it has many many exclusions in procedures that someone with a group plan does not have to endure. Why is that? It should not be. And to make matters worse, Medicare does not cover dental procedures at all so I must buy an individual plan from a private insurance company.

An alternative to various plans being discussed by congress would be a "single payer" plan. Some people are opposed to that and I would like to know why. Some people are also opposed to plans like those in Canada and other countries and call them "socialized medicine". This infuriates me because for one thing Americans are paranoid and scared to death of anything that resembles socialism, even beneficial socialism. Then they complain that people in those countries may have to wait a long time in the waiting room to see someone. Well, at least they can see someone and be covered by insurance. As for long waits in a waiting room I know of some people with Kaiser who presently have to do that so it must be in the way a particular hospital is run, not in the way the care if paid for.

I just fear that the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance companies have a stranglehold on Congress and nothing will change until that is broken. A prime example of this problem can be seen in drugs that cost one thing in this country and much more in Canada for the same drugs. This is a good indicator that something is seriously wrong and we need to end this practice.

Only in San Francisco...

Only in a liberal city such as San Francisco would someone call CNN conservative. In fact, I know one conservative who hates that channel so much that he refers to it as the Communist News Network. I certainly couldn't see Ted Turner and his wife Jane Fonda as being involved with a conservative anything but in San Francisco politics black is white and white is black.

A giant passes...

I grew up with Walter Cronkite and will never forget his coverage of the first moon landing nor his coverage of the JFK assassination. We were both space enthusiasts and his "oh boy" on man setting foot on the moon is just what I felt too. I do feel like I have lost an uncle. Uncle Walt will be greatly missed.

French Tourists

Who the hell was the Francophobe who wrote this pile of garbage? I have been in France four times and have never had a problem there or anywhere else with people from France. I have, however, grown very tired of noisy and aggressive Russian tourists, both at home here in San Francisco, and in Thailand. They are loud and arrogant. The few French people I have run into here or there have not been. This piece reminds me of something that a person who hates France might have written as there is no objectivity in this piece whatsoever.

Stimulus Screw Up

Wouldn't you just know it? The various states have found a way to screw up when it comes to receiving the Federal stimulus funds. Why couldn't the Feds just tell the states what to do or where to go?

Drone attacks on northwest Pakistan

Will these drone attacks make the USA any safer? I doubt it. In fact, this will probably strengthen the resolve or our enemies to attack us again. I am sure that planning for another attack has been on-going since 9/11 anyway and this will only hasten the day of another attack. In my opinion this is an unwinable war.

Facebook, etc.

Well, I haven't hung it up on Facebook yet. That is, I have not terminated my membership. I may hang around a bit longer but post less often.

It is PRIDE weekend here in San Francisco and the number of events surrounding this are almost overwhelming. Some are regularly scheduled events however if I went to all of them my schedule would be something like this.

Friday (yesterday): Happy Hour @ Badlands, Club Asia (one night only at DNA Lounge) and finally Dragon @ Club Eight.
Saturday night: Shangri-La at The End Up
Sunday: Parade (10:30 AM) followed by celebrations in the Civic Center Plaza
followed by other bar sponsored events.

Monday: If still alive - rest and recuperation.

Facebook, etc.

I guess it is time to hang it up on Facebook and other social networking sites. For one thing, what does hekka and hella mean? I can guess but I just see it as another distortion of the English language. Also, I am reminded (by the pictures on those sites) that not only am I overly ripe but that I may have one foot in the grave already. Ha! It is not fair however to others for me to hang around such sites. I have a few real friends there however I can see them without posting things on-line on those sites. Also, I just don't have the energy anymore to be partying that much. Even Happy Hour once a week will do me in now. :-(

Tonight I will do what I enjoy most. That is, go to the symphony and tonight's concert is a little different from the usual. It is a semi-staged performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe.

Our mild weather continues but cooler weather is predicted for the weekend for a short time. Hopefully it will warm up again after that.

Time to rest now...another sign of aging. LOL

Noisy and/or nervous neighbors

Why the hell don't young people, especially renters, have any commonsense these days. I know from talking with friends in Southern California that they tend to leave a mess behind when vacating a place but here in SF I have one neighbor (above me in #301) who constantly paces the floor right above my bed every afternoon. Then when the boob next to me in #202 comes home around 6 PM it suddenly sounds like I am in the middle of Iraq and those explosions or whatever the hell I am hearing, go on until nearly 10 PM. Then he does turn things down a notch but I can still here the shit anyway. Sure would like to lob a hand grenade or smoke bomb into his apartment but of course that is no solution.

If Don, who had been the resident manager until his illness and death a few years ago, were still around none of this crap would go on. I could talk to him and he would listen and take action. But now we do not have a resident manager and the property management company in Mountain View only cares about collecting the rent.

Then I am caught between a rock and a hard place. I am in rent controlled apartment and have been since 1993 so my rent is "good" for me. There are a handful of other long term tenants here but I am sure the owner would like to get me out. Is this her way of "driving me up the wall" in hopes that I will move? Well, that won't happen because, quite frankly, I can't afford to go anywhere. So if push came to shove I would fight the owner tooth and nail if she did anything blatant to make my stay uncomfortable, or I should say, more uncomfortable than it already is. That said, should a move ever be possible for me, I would be out of here so fast that you would only see a brief blur as I went into warp speed.

Dumb dumb dumb

Thieves are not among the brightest bulbs around and this one takes the cake.

DTV

What is the matter with these people? Have they been living on another planet and not taking care of matters here at home? How can anyone NOT be ready for DTV with all the publicity that has surrounded the changeover? They have had more than ample time to prepare themselves for this. Poor reception is another matter however which they have no control over and for which the government and the TV stations must take full responsibility.

My Review of Powershot G10 Digital Camera

Abes of Maine

Advanced amateur photographers are a discerning group, and they've flocked to Canon's G-Series for its ability to meet and exceed their demands. The third-generation PowerShot G10 is a stunning successor, loaded with uncompromising specs like 14.7 megapixels, a 28mm wide-angle lens, and Can...

Powershot G10 Digital Camera

G10 Rocks

Irv San Francisco 5/19/2009

 

4 5

Pros: Comfortable Controls, Great Picture Quality, Bright LCD, Easy To Use, Strong Construction

Cons: Can't find any faults yet

Best Uses: Photojournalism, Fun, Family Photos, Travel

Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast

I use the product to document my travels and photograph friends. I like the way it feels in my hands and its weight and its very bright LCD screen and that I can use an eye level viewfinder as well.
Battery life seems quite good as well. Also, this is the first still camera that I have owned which allows me to zoom in video mode.

()

Pocketful of Notes

It seems like some people think that Angels and Demons is a sequel to the earlier movie DaVinci Code. It is not. Dan Brown wrote Angels and Demons first and it was published in 2000. Dan Brown's next book, The DaVinci Code, was published in 2003. In fact, there is even a brief reference to an incident in the earlier book. Why Ron Howard decided to film DaVinci Code first is a mystery to me unless he was not sure how successful the movie would be and then when it became very popular he decided to cash in on that by filming the other book.

Did I hear correctly on KCBS this morning that some people are delaying or not going on vacation because they might miss their e-mail messages? How could that be? Certainly in my travels in Thailand and in France I have found quite a number of Internet shops all over the place. Perhaps I heard incorrectly at 6:30 this morning or did not hear more important parts of the story.

I do not understand how the City of San Francisco could let the 49ers get away to Santa Clara. At one time it was mentioned that the toxic clean-up of the old Hunter's Point Naval Yard would take too long and that Dr. York wanted to be in the new stadium sooner than that time frame allowed. Well, even in pristine Santa Clara that will not happen until at least 2014 with a public vote on the proposal not occurring until 2010 and the outcome of that vote is not assured.

And in these financially troubled times Cal-Train is planning service cutbacks. The nature and extent of those cutbacks is not certain at the moment but one proposal would be to eliminate weekend service. That would be terrible to say the least and would even make it more difficult for 49er fans to get to games in Santa Clara where there is a direct VTA light rail connection between the Mountain View Cal-Train stop and the Great America stop.

Even here in San Francisco the Muni is proposing to eliminate N-JUDAH service on the Embarcadero on weekends. They say that the T-THIRD ST. line can handle the traffic there. Well, I don't think so. Currently the T-line only runs single car trains and they need 2-3 car trains on the days when the Giants play home games. Or will they just re-extend their N-line service before, during and after weekend Giants games. They really need to re-consider that proposal as I do not see how eliminating the final four stops would save them any appreciable amount of money.

Everyone is just grasping at straws with no real plans to deal with the financial crisis.

Hot in San Francisco

This was a picture perfect day in San Francisco as our temperature soared to the mid-eighties.

My day began with a walk from Fort Mason along Marina Blvd. to Crissy Field and then out to the Golden Gate Bridge. From there I took the #29 bus (should have been on the #28) and the N-JUDAH Muni Metro to downtown for lunch. Then I went home and crashed on the bed from the heat and exhaustion from the long walk - but I enjoyed it. Tomorrow is supposed to be equally warm and there will be the annual Bay-to-Breakers race. That might result in some heat related problems this time. It is usually cool and windy for that race but not this time. It will probably be the drunks who suffer the most from their craziness.

This beach scene pictured above is near Crissy Field west of the Marina area and somewhat west of the crowded part of the beach.

I see where there is a big rise in the bed bug problem in the U.S., the biggest increase since WWII. They can be dealt with but it takes vigilance and immediate action. There are things available on the Internet to fight them and when I had a small problem about 18 months ago I purchased two products which brought and end to the problem within a few weeks. I also sealed up a couple of holes in the walls where they could have entered from another unit or building. Where the original critters came from is anyone's guess although I do know someone who lives in a residential hotel o Polk Street where that has been a bug problem. He and I used to go to Happy Hour at a local watering hole (now closed) so some could have hitched a ride on him or his clothing and bed bugs are notorious for doing that.

Unsafe foods?

I don't really know if I have ever eaten anything which has made me sick. Sure, I have had diarrhea from time to time, but who hasnt, and how do you connect a particular episode of that with a particular meal? Given that the intestinal tracts is so long that what one eats today may not make one sick until a day or two later. In the meantime we eat many different things from many different sources.

Hubble Telesope

It is images like this that make the Hubble Telescope so exciting. We can't travel there but this amazing piece of machinery has brought us sensational photos of far distant space.

As I write this the first space walk to repair the telescope has apparently gone well despite a close fly-by of some space junk from a Chinese satellite.

Title Change?

At this time I am thinking of changing the title of this blog page. I have several things in mind and among them are simply "Brief Random Notes" on the first line and "from the city, state, and the country" on the second line, or "Notes from Nob Hill" (where this is written), or "Nob Hill Rambler", or something similar. The URL will not change no matter what the title changes to.

Anyway, a few very brief notes for now.

Spotted near the Cal Train Depot during the lunch hour a Smart Car painted yellow with a black roof with personalized license plates reading CBUMBLB.

When using the public restroom of a major downtown office building with a food court, I am again reminded of the poor aim of some men. Why do I have to wade through this stuff? Shouldn't there be a tray outside the door with disinfectant of some sort like they had a few years ago in airports during the SARS scare.

I, for one, am glad that Adam Lambert continues on to the finals of American Idol. As for the two runners - up, Danny and Kris, it did not really matter much to me but I was leaning towards Kris. Now it will be battle between Adam (my favorite) and Kris. And by the way, I am not particularly a rock fan but Adam has such an incredible range that I think he should go far no matter what happens next week at the Nokia Theatre in L.A.

By the way, if you have any ideas regarding a name change for this blog page, please let me know. Unfortunately there will be no prizes given out for the winning entry. LOL

Manny and Barry

Earlier this year it was reported that the SF Giants were pursuing Manny Rodriquez but could not work out a deal with him. Just as well now that Manny has been suspended for using performance enhancing drugs. The Giants certainly don't need Barry II.

Pirates

I have a suggestion...blow the bastards out of the water, no questions asked, if they get too close. Sink their damn boats and be done with it.

Invasion

In addition to the heat being bit of a problem, leaving the windows open presents another problem as I have been invaded by the Culiseta longiareolata the past three nights? What is that? A rather large mosquito whose flying ability leaves something to be desired at times. Fortunately I was able to attack it before it attacked me so I was able to send the critter on its merry way out of town.

Showing a profit?

With several banks now reporting showing a profit I am wondering if the stimulus package is really working or not. Were the banks or are the banks now "cooking the books"? With such severe losses during the past year I found this sudden turn around a little hard to believe.

Pocketful of Notes

I see where John McCain has chastised President Obama for permitting pork barrel projects, as if the Republicans did anything effective to stop them during the Bush years, and he goes on to promote free market solutions to economic and environmental problems rather than solutions which rely on central government control. Well, Mr. McCain, a free market economy would only work if we got rid of all the crooks in big business. Fifty or one hundred years ago it was much easier to have a free market economy but today there are too many insanely rich people who want even more from Bernie Madoff on down. In fact, recently the daughter of A.P. Giannini, the founder of Bank of Italy, said publicly that her father would be rolling in his grave if he knew what was going at the bank now.

As for the pirates off the coast of Somali, we have Ron Paul, a former candidate of president, suggesting that we permit "Letters of Marque" similar to those issued during the Revelutionary War and the War of 1812. These would authorize private citizens to keep the proceeds if they capture the pirates.

I must meet some of my fellow Red Sox fans of my age some day so we can cry in our beer together. One letter writer to the SF Examiner this morning compared our Red Sox of the fifties with our Giants of the present time. Both teams showed a lot of promise on paper and some individual players are undoubtedly good but as the weeks roll on they are playing sub-500 ball. I remember one game I attended at Fenway Park in which the Red Sox pitcher was giving up hits left and right and the manager did not take him out of the game until the score was something like 15 to 1. Fortunately the Giants' manager doesn't wait that long but still it is a struggle some days to get good pitching here. And then how much did they pay for the "big unit" Randy Johnson? So far he has performed below expectations. Even our ace Lincecum as well as Cain have been struggling. What the heck has been going on guys?

This is enough to drive a person to drinking and I would but it is too early in the day for that right now. Ha!

Turmoil in Bangkok

These red shirted protesters are asinine and stupid. They say they want democracy but what they are doing is creating anarchy. They have no idea what democracy is and they are bringing the whole country down with their violent and selfish acts.

Partial Truth?

Well, the truth is starting to come out now from former PM Thaksin.

Paid Protesters

It is extremely disheartening to me to continually read about protesters (red shirts as well as yellow shirts) in Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand, who continually protest and act like spoiled brats because they did not get their way at the previous election. They continually call for new elections but why should we think that the results of the next one will be any different?

Personally, I think some of these protesters are being paid by a very rich person now living safely in exile to disrupt the government at any cost. It also disturbs me that the police and the Army seem incapable or unwilling to step in to stem the violence. I wonder why! Could it be the same reason that these protesters are on the streets in the first place?

Oh great...

This week I purchased a new trackball mouse from Kensington and the first full scan of the computer after that turns up a trojan from Wild Tangent in the Kensington program file folder. Its name is "blastrb2.exe". Now why would Kensington put such a file on their installation CD?????

Thank you France

I am glad to see the French government speaking out against the Pope's stand against the use of condoms in the fight against the spread of AIDS.

Ignorance unchained

This guy is a complete and utter fool. One would hope that they would change their views and move into the 21st Century but superstition apparently has no bounds as it blinds people to the truth.

Corruption

How corrupt can a business become? This is insane.

Financial Crisis

I would not want to be in Mr. Obama's shoes. No matter what he says or does, it is going to be a case of too little too late...late because of George Bush's inaction when he was in office. Now, however the crisis is so bad that nothing short of complete worldwide economic collapse or a major war to stimulate production, will change things in any way, positive or otherwise.

On a personal note, when I retired at the end of 2003 my financial adviser told me I had enough in my personal retirement accounts (mutual funds, etc) to last me until I was in my eighties. Well, it isn't going to work out that way and at the current rate of devaluation, those funds will be depleted by the end of this year, long before I am in my eighties, and I cannot live on Social Security alone.

So Mr. President, or anyone, what are you going to do to reverse this trend? Will I be living in a tent city somewhere? And speaking of tent cities, I was surprised to see a piece on a local TV station last night about tent cities in Sacramento, Reno, and Nagoya, Japan. Those living in the ones in Reno and Sacramento sounded and looked liked ordinary people too...not the crazies one sees frequently panhandling on the streets of San Francisco.

How well dressed are you?

OK, how do you stack up against these notables?

GPS Tracking

I have mixed feelings about this for the average citizen however for the guilty or those prone to do wrong, this is a great tool. The problem is probable cause and/or past records vs. the innocent. Who is to decide when this tool is used or not? I can see it being used for all those currently on parole where the likelihood of repeat offenses is very high. For other people it would be a bit of Big Brother moving in on our lives.

Newspaper reading (continued) & rain

The other day I said "Who the hell wants to stay in the john long enough to read a newspaper"? Actually, that was somewhat of a rhetorical question because we have had people in the office with that reputation. Even one of the administrative assistants sent me into the men's room one time looking for a manager. (He was last seen heading in that direction with a newspaper.) LOL Personally, I want to get in and out as quickly as possible.

On other matters, when is this infernal rain in San Francisco going to end? January was very dry but February and now March are very wet. In fact, today I got caught in two cloudbursts going to and from the doctor's office. The second time there was even hail mixed in with the downpour. Looks like Wednesday again will be wet but with any luck we might start drying out in the next few days.

Then the $64,000,000 question: When is the stock market going to start going up? My retirement accounts have lost far too much value during the past three months and I may have to start panhandling to make ends meet. LOL (I would be terrible at that.)

Newspaper reading

I certainly take issue with one letter to the editor in this morning's Chronicle which reads as follows:
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I am more than sad at the prospect of losing The Chronicle. Reading the paper each morning is much more than reading the paper. I bring my wife coffee and The Chron in bed each morning. We excitedly point out to each other articles to read. What guy doesn't take the sports section to the john with him? Try all or any of that with a laptop. Well, who the hell wants to stay in the john long enough to read a newspaper? That's ridiculous to say the least. We subscribe to three newspapers and read them all every day. I am dismayed by the number of young people who think they are seeing the news on the Jon Stewart show. Hang in there, Chron staffers; we are with you.
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As for reading the newspaper on-line, that is now my choice as there are no wrinkles, no tears, no ink to come off onto my hands and if delivered at home, no worry about a soggy newspaper when it rains. A friend of mine who does subscribe was probably amazed to see me reading the news on the computer even though I had brought his copy of the newspaper indoors for him. Also, while on the computer I can reader most any newspaper from around the world. Why limited myself to just the hometown paper?
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I too, however, am sad at losing any newspaper no matter what format it takes. It is one of the signs of the times that so much content is either given away or stolen and the San Francisco Chronicle is not the only publication in trouble.

Craigslist should not allow free want ads. Monster.com and CareerBuilders.com should charge for using their websites. They, too, are part of the problem as they drain away content and money from brick and mortar businesses already hard hit by the recession.

I guess one could say we are in a difficult period of transition and some businesses will go under for failure to adopt a new business model.

Banking mess

The other night Donald Trump was on the Letterman show and he mentioned that one of the biggest problems now is that the banks are not lending money. They went from one extreme (nearly unregulated credit) to the other and are now just sitting on the cash and until the money starts flowing again, our recession will continue. Interestingly, my financial adviser at Ameriprise Financial said the very same thing to me a few weeks ago. It is a credit problem now being created by the banks. Maybe we should have done things differently. We just gave billions to the same guys who are one of the major sources of our current financial problems.

Black & Blue Cross Dental PPO

Boy am I pissed at Blue Cross!!! I need an extraction and while a cumbersome and messy bridge is possible, a post implant is the best way to go but they won't pay for it. As it stands, if I proceed with the extraction I am faced with about $4,000 bills just for that. I will know tomorrow what portion of THAT will be covered and those fees do not even include the dental surgeon's fees. Does anyone out there know what this weeks numbers will be in the lottery? LOL

Mess in Sacramento

I really think we need to recall Gov. Schwarzenegger and the entire legislature as they have not done their job. They argue, they blame each other, and no one seems willing to compromise on anything. They all think they are right and everyone else is wrong. This State of California won't last the year at the present rate.

Rebublican s.o.b.'s

I am tired of the Republicans in Congress and in the California State Legislature complaining about stimulus packages and what the Democrats are doing or aren't doing. They say we need to cut waste and I agree with that but why the hell aren't they doing it. Stop sniveling Republicans and get your collective asses in gear and do what you think is right. Stop playing the blame game.

Reminder

It is often stated that places the public uses are filthy. A recent Chronicle letter writer's indictment of BART is a case in point. The filth does not originate with BART officials. It is caused by passengers who do not understand that the responsibility is theirs. No other species trashes this planet like we humans.

Snack Time

OK, is it milk and cookies or something else and cookies? LOL

Post Office, et al

While I do not have a problem with the post office reducing service to five days a week, I do have a problem with the proposal to close on Tuesdays. Why? Was that proposed so that working people would still have services available on Saturday? It would be ridiculous for postal employees to have Sunday off, work Monday, and then take Tuesday off. The better solution is to give employees Sunday AND Monday off. That still gives working folks access to services on Saturday and gives postal employees two consecutive days off. That apparently however, is too logical for government people.

Then we have Chris Daly trying to wreak further damage to the city by trying to eliminate the "rainy day fund". Hasn't the financial meltdown of the past year taught this idiot anything?

Now BART want to implement Wi-Fi on its system. Why? Can't people leave their computers alone for a few hours each day. How about some quiet meditation time during commute hours. There is no need of being on-line before, during, and after work hours with no time to enjoy one's life with friends and family. The computer is a great tool which has its place in the business world as well as for leisure time activities at home but not twenty-four hours a day.

Return home

I know, I haven't written anything in awhile but then I have been on vacation in Thailand for most of January and am just now getting my life back into a normal routine. There is also a bit of catching up to do with regard to local, state, national, and world affairs. Of course, some things I would rather forget but that is the way it goes. Oh well, as they say, stay tuned folks...

More dishonesty

The USA is not the only country with dishonest people such as Bernie Madoff. China has them too. This scheme is almost funny on the surface but I am sure that those who lost money in the deal don't think so.