Drought continues

Yup, February was also dry and IF we get any rain it is probably two weeks off and will probably be very light.   Guess I should start stocking up on bottled water.  The only problem with the is the fact that it is very difficult to take a shower with bottled water.  Grrr....

Missed the boys of the Choir of Men and Boys at Grace Cathedral at Evensong today.  They are either on vacation of busy getting ready for Easter although it is a little early for that.  Minus those angelic voices at Evensong I discovered that there are at least three countertenors in the choir.

Bi-polar weather

After a very dry year leading into December 2014, we had an extremely wet December but now it is back to the same old stuff as January 2015 was the driest on record.  This should have been our wettest month.  If everything were running normally, February could be very wet too but I don't think that will happen.  March anyone??

Anyone know how to do a Rain Dance?

Be careful what you wish for.

As recently as Thanksgiving people here in San Francisco and Vicinity were wondering if we were ever going to get rain.  HA!   Now people are wondering if it will ever stop.  We are now over 250% of normal and do not need anymore this year.  The Sierra snow pack is not fairing as well however it is turning colder little by little so there should be more snow and down to a lower elevation.

IF the current forecast holds, we should have a dry Christmas.  I hope so as I do not want to traipse over to Oakland for dinner in this rain.

 Had early morning appointment today at the SF Endoscopy Center and after that I had to get some groceries.  Now I am bushed.  Time for nap.

Medicare, etc.

Well, the City & Country of SF Fire Department has finally billed Medicare for that three block ambulance ride in March 2013.  I just hope they bill for the current date otherwise the claim might not be paid due to its being over one year old.  Sheila did know however to bill Medicare as my prime insurance and that they in turn will send along the claim to Anthem Blue Cross.  I am glad that I went down to City Hall last week as that act alone seemed to get the ball rolling.  Prior to that everything seemed to be stuck in neutral.

I've enjoyed the recent rain (finally) and now there is more on the way for this next weekend.  Yippee!  We will need several "normal" years however to recoup what has been lost during the recent years of the drought.

Thanksgiving Dinner this week with the "usual suspects" in Oakland.  They are like family now and this has become a tradition at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  BTW, that term has been borrowed from the movie "Casablanca".

Have a great holiday everyone.

HELP! More noise from above and other matters.

What is it with my neighbor upstairs.? I know he is tall and is not a "lightweight" however in recent weeks it sounds like he is walking on his heals, or at least stomping around on them in some fashion. If this building were constructed properly and the floors (and walls) were not so thin it probably wouldn't matter.  The most frustrating thing though, is that while I have always heard his foot steps, they sounded normal.  Now it sounds like he is deliberately trying to annoy me or he has new shoes which would make a lot of noise anywhere.  If so, maybe he should take them off while in his apartment.

Now I have more important fish to fry with the City and County of San Francisco.  On March 3, 2013, I collapsed on the street near Market and Castro.  An ambulance was called and I was taken to nearby Davies Medical center, a distance of about 3 or 4 blocks.  While the ER billed my insurance for services rendered, the ambiance company did not but it was not until recently that I knew this.  Now I am being billed $1747.00.  OUTRAGEOUS!

Medicare should have been billed and then it would roll over to Anthem Blue Cross.  While this was done by the ER why wasn't it done by the Ambulance Company?  Now, while I am looking at the Medicare Website, I learn that they will not pay claims over a year old.  Well, damn it, it was not my fault.  No wonder things here in the City and Country of San Francisco area so screwed up.

Now what will happen?  I certainly do not have the money to pay such a large bill and why is it so huge just for a three block ride????????  I think I could use a lawyer in this matter but I cannot afford that either.

Oh what to do, wtd, wtd wtd?????

Oh wonder of wonders.  They got the hot water problem fixed in less than a day.
Over and out...

Wunnerful wunnerful, turn off the bubble machine.  Ha!  Someone or something turned off the hot water in this building overnight so I have left a voice mail message with the property management company as well as an e-mail.  This is really inconvenient on the weekend as probably nothing will be done until Monday.  Anybody know of a cheap motel that is not riddled with bugs that I could stay at for two night?  Ha!  Or at least take a shower.  Too bad I am no longer a member of 24 Hour Fitness.

Oh bitch, bitch, bitch

Why is it that most of my posts seem to be complaints?  Good question but I guess that things that irk me get me most fired up and in the mood to air my grievances through this site.  One thing that would help greatly in my case would be a substantial financial windfall so I could afford to move out of this noisy Motel 6 Fraternity House of a building.

Since we have no on-site manager it is difficult to deal with noisy tenants.  Before Don our resident manager, passed a number of years ago it was great as he ran a tight ship and would not tolerate any of this inconsiderate behavior.  Now the property management company located outside of San Francisco seems only to care about collecting the rent.  We also have the problem of one or two inconsiderate tenants who just happen to live next to or above me.  The rest of the building does not seem to have this problem of late night noise.  Also, when I moved in I was given a lease which spelled out certain behaviors.

The building from 1960 has very thin walls and floors so sounds carry all too well between apartments and tonight my upstairs neighbor has turned in an "all nighter" with loud music starting shortly after midnight and continuing now at 6:11 AM as I write this.  I gave up trying to sleep around 3:30 AM so I got up, got dressed and turned on the computer and other devices.  Guess I will have a very early breakfast as a result.  He has never done it in the past for this many hours so this is a new low for him

I have tried to talk to my upstairs neighbor but it seems to do no good.  I probably should have called the police when the music, if that is what it is called, was at its loudest around 2 AM but I didn't.  It stopped around 3 and but then resumed around 4 AM but at a slightly lower decibel reading.  I can still hear the bass and rhythm section which is so prevalent in contemporary pop music.  In fact, that is what I hear the most of.   Also tonight there was what sounded like a wrestling match around 1 AM which was scary as these thin concrete floors crack easily which is one reason water beds and similar heavy furniture is not allowed.  At least according to my lease.

I would like a lawyer but can't afford one.  Can't afford to move and pay market rate rent either so I really feel trapped in this hell hole.  I have lived here 21 years and realize that I am a senior citizen now living amongst yuppies and other professional types but some consideration should be given to late night noise.  Don't these yuppies or techies ever sleep???

Well, it is almost time to take a shower and have breakfast and the so-called music upstairs continues unabated.   [boom-boom-boom, etc.]  I am bushed.  Maybe I will have to sleep during the day today.  Yuk...that is a bummer.

Anyway, I could use a pro bono lawyer especially since San Francisco rental laws are so complex.

BFN

So busy...

Such nice weather this week but I have no time to enjoy it with income tax preparation, medical and other pressing matters.  Boo...hiss..

Links??

I wish there were someway to link this page to my Facebook page. Does anyone have any ideas?

Still here...

Well, I am still here but barely, or so it seems at times, as I muddle through my advanced years which have only now begun to show.    People still think I am younger than I am and I am of two minds in this regard.   Since I don't usually feel my age that is good however I can't really identify with either the younger crowd or the older crowd, that is, people of my age.  Every time I pass a senior housing facility and look at pictures of the inmates, er, I mean, patients, or whatever, I say to myself, NO WAY.  I am not going there.  I am not ready for that even on days when some of the simplest tasks seem to tire me out.

So where do I go next?  Well, financial constraints mean that I will not be traveling as much as I have been in recent years.  My vacations in Thailand are over and as much as I would like to return to Paris, hotel costs there as well as in my first hometown of Boston, make those two destinations seem unlikely now.  I guess this means short jaunts around the West Coast.  A weekend in Vegas or in San Diego visiting my friend Dave or possibly to Portland where I have never been or Seattle where I spent one cold New Years weekend in 1976.  By the way, it snowed that night.  Who knows what I will do.

If this city of San Francisco does not drive me crazy nor this apartment house, I guess I should be able to write a few lines in this blog from time to time.  Retirement has given me a lot of time to write and do other things as long as I don't get lazy and waste that time.

And why am I writing this after an absence of a number of months?   Well, one of the characters in the delightful movie "Julie and Julia"  which I watched again tonight, was writing a blog and that reminded me that I had done nothing with this one in a long time.  So, for better or worse, here I am again.  And now I will just say, bye for now.

Animal House?

Don't know if it is a generational thing or a lack of security in my apartment house but over a period of time it seems more like party central than an apartment house and now the moving party has moved to the unit next door to me.  Unlike people in my generation who would visit friends around 8 PM for a few hours, these kids do not even get started until about 10:30 PM.  Then last night, as in some other nights, people were coming and going at all hours.  I was still awake at 3 AM today due to all the activity just outside my door.  In my day, people respected their neighbors and did not talk so loudly.  Then too, this building has paper thin walls, not the good old lathe and plaster of my father's house.  Then there is the matter of who exactly rents the apartment next door.  I think it is a slightly older woman but the people coming and going late at night, from what I can see, are all or mostly in their twenties.  Looks like frat house during spring break at times.

I am most concerned, and this may be my paranoia showing here, that the occupant of that apartment doesn't even know who is coming and going, that she might have loaned her key to someone one day and that person made copies for all of their friends.   Or maybe it was stolen.  So, in effect, the door is always open.

So I am wondering how I should handle this?  There has been no resident manager since Don passed away and the property management company is in San Mateo, not San Francisco.  Oh what to do, what to do, wtd, wtd?

Where am I?  What has transpired since early April?  Good question.  Strange that while I have a lot of time to post here it is very easy to become distracted by my problems or events around me and I lose focus and find myself unable to write anything.  I wonder how many other people have this problem?

As for local events I need to collect my thoughts so they will come later.

Hope y'all are  doing well.

BFN

OMG

This has not been a good day.  First Margaret Thatcher dies and now.......Annette Funicello.

M-I-C  K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E
Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse

What's this world coming to and who gives a rat's ass?  Ha!

BFN

Easy come...easy go

Seems like I have been spending money lately like is going out of style and that includes money for new shoes that I don't really need.  Oh, well, can always use them including next week in Lost Wages.

California joined the Power Ball Lottery network today so I purchased my first quick pick for that game.  These ticket are $2 each whereas the California lottery tickets are just $1 each.  What the heck...can't win if I don't play as they say.

Error

I have discovered that my posting of January 26th may be in error.  The blurb on the Cafe Royale website about being offered for sale has been removed either because there was a change of plans or because it should not have been there in the first place.  I suspect the latter as it could have been a case of the website being hacked something that seems to happen with alarming regularity in that part of the world.  Tom and David run a very nice hotel which has been in operation for ten years and I just cannot  imagine them selling it.  Actually, there are too many Russians in Pattaya these days and there is tension between the locals, tourists, and some foreigners who do not seem to know how to comport themselves in public.  Hope things go better in the future for the city.

Well, I am off to Vegas next week for a quickie.  That is two nights at the Luxor plus Ka', a spectacular Cirque du Soleil show at the MGM Grand.  As for gambling, well, I don't do much of that these days but I do like the change of atmosphere from here in San Francisco.

Return from Thailand

Just returned from what has become my annual visit to Thailand.  Hated to come home from the nice warm (some would say hot) weather there to the cool to cold weather here however one segment of the tourist population there about drove me start WWIII.  Well, not quite but there is has been a growing number of Russians visiting there, especially in Pattaya, where I spend some time, and they are a noisy boorish lot who need to learn how to act in public.  Even when trying to get through passport control at Suvarnabhumi airport on the way home, they were noisy,  running all over the place like they owned it, and one even poked me in the back with a finger ( think) with a sharp fingernail instead of politely asking me to move so they could get by.   God!  I felt like screaming:  RUSSIANS GO HOME.  Well, they were but so was I.  Jeesh....

After returning home I discovered that my hotel of many years, Le Cafe Royale in Pattaya, is now up for sale.  This disturbs me greatly as I fear the wrong type of people will buy it.

Oh well, limited finances will probably make it next to impossible to continue these annual trips though I would like to visit Chiang Mai one more time.  I have not been there in several years and want to see Ben one more time.  He and that city are on my bucket list.

Now it is time to renew my season tickets to the San Francisco Opera and it will soon be time to do so with the symphony.  At least I have those two things to look forward to.  Would like to return to Paris one more time but Europe is damn near too expensive for me now.

Oh well, c'est la vie.

Violence in schools and elsewhere

The shootings today in Connecticut, while an unspeakable tragedy, should not be unexpected when one considers how many guns, especially assault weapons, are in the hands of private citizens many of whom are mentally unstable and deranged.  There is no need for such weapons to be in the hands of private citizens in the first place.

The underlying cause of today's problems however is a more difficult one to address.  We live in a violent culture with violent movies and TV program and the young and unstable like to imitate and unfortunately where is often a lack of parenting.  Either one or both parents are missing from homes to help guide their children and even then some of them may have violent criminal backgrounds and are unqualified to be even be parents as they are going to be unable to give the proper guidance for difficult times and problems. They may even encourage violent actions to solve problems.

I totally encourage a total ban on assault weapons in the hands of private citizens but we also need better education and mental health programs to ward off future massacres such as the one today.

Paperwork over load

Weren't computers supposed to help eliminate a lot of paperwork?  Well, I suppose it would be fine if I did not get behind in processing F/S but as it stands now I might burn out the motor on my shredder with all the paperwork that I need to run through it.  Before I retired it was simple.  If I got behind I could load up my briefcase as I was heading into the office and dump things into the secure shredder bin in the office.  That worked out fine but since retiring I have gotten lazy and that causes all sorts of problems here at home.  Grrrrr.....

Beautiful Saturday

Not especially warm (62°) at 1 PM but very pleasant AND there is no cold wind blowing in from the ocean.  (Well, I probably jinxed us with that statement.)

Only 13 days until the opening of the Summer Olympics in London.
Les Miz at the Orpheum Theater in August.
Only 178 days until my next trip to Thailand.

In the meantime there will be two days in Sin City next week.  Wheeeee....
This is primarily to see Ka' at the MGM Grand but I will have lots of time to wander about
and see other things, do other things.

So happy to have cleared out most of the Milk Weeds cluttering things out back. Still have a few unidentified weeds and hope that the Weed-B-Gone spray will kill those off. Those huge Milk Weeds were something else however.  They were almost like something out of a sci-fi movie as they took over the back deck.