The 3 major national bond/debt rating agencies, Moody's and Standard & Poor's and Fitch, all falsifed their paid ratings to failed Lehman Brothers,etc

Then why have there not been legal repercussions, like the filing of civil and criminal charges of fraud by the Republican led Federal Government ??? Is white collar crime not important to the Republicans in power now ?

Circuit City only lowered its price by $100 on a '$1400 lcd tv' on Black Friday; Now that does not sound like a sale for a company in "trouble"

This 42" lcd tv was actually marked up to "$1800, but on sale for $1300" on Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving , when just a few days before Thanksgiving it was priced at the only price of "$1400". That is not much of a whoop-di-do Black Friday sale.

Maybe prices will go down signifigantly after the Super Bowl,,,

A big "Boo" to all those supposed financial experts that are saying this 2008 is just a normal "cycle" or "bubble"

Mr. Madoff and his $ 50 BILLION, not million, ponzi scheme and the reports now that some in the SEC knew as long as 2001 and 1999 about his corrupt fraud but ,typical Wall Street, did nothing about it make these so called experts of finance look like lousy mere propagandists.

Madoff's family probably knew. And Madoff's employees probably knew. And lots of other shameful people probably knew but did not care enough to turn this bum in. Or maybe they did , like it did to the SEC on another criminal, and the supposedly trusted SEC shockingly did nothing.

If Wall Street can not police it self and it does not seem willing, then the United States Federal government MUST be more regulatory and vigilant ,,,or we will all feel like we should expect to be robbed in every public aspect of U.S. culture.

Sunday 21 December 2008, and at least 18 channels on Comcast did not work,,,AS USUAL !!

It happens all the time,,,with either a "one moment please" that means hours and days without that paid for channel,,,or "to be announced" for CSPAN !? and for DAYS !!

So today is a typical Sunday and i thought i would list all the Comcast cable television channels that do not work today at 1:30pm PCT in Silicon Valley, San Jose, California. Not out in the sticks or rural, but big city and supposed big tech expertise.

1 -channel 22-CSPAN,,,says instead "to be announced"
2 -channel 31- HSN ,,,says instead "one moment plea
3 -channel 34-QVC ,,,says "one moment please"
4 -channel 35-FOOD ,,,says "one moment please"
5 -channel 36-FX ,,,says "one moment please"
6 -channel 42-USA ,,,says"one moment please"
7 - 46-LIFE "one moment please"
8 - 47-A+E
9 - 49-AMC
10- 51-APL,,,(animal planet)
11- 52-FAM
12- 55-DISC
13- 56-CNN
14- 57-HLN
15- 59-FNC
16- 60-MSNBC
17- 71-TRAV
18- 75-CMT
19th channel is #82-GOLF CHANNEL, of just the first 100 channels !!

The station numbers that are not used are 23, 30,44, 78,79,80,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, and 98,,,or 21 station numbers/channels.

So out of 100 channels, 21% are unused and annoying SO SLOW to skip over,,,and 19% do NOT work ,for either hours or days or weeks,,,that means that only 60% of the channels are used and working,,,and of the 79 of the first hundred that are suppose to work, only 76% work as they are suppose to and 24% of the first 100 channels that are suppose to work, DO NOT !!

Comcast is known for terrible service in this family. We call and they say they will send "a stronger signal" ,,,so for three days we tried that ,,,every day calling the same careless Comcast phone tree. Then they said they would send out a free repair call, but did not.

So i am going to try and talk the family into Dish for tv and Comcast just for high speed internet.

President Bush43 keeps digging a deeper grave for the Republican Party

President Bush43 just can't seem to do enough to bury the Republicans for decades and decades, like his last gasp attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act. And then there is the Treasury Secretary Paulson who can't enunciate what he wants to do about the worsening national economy,,,and keeps rewarding the same excess-profit bankers and Wall Streeters who knowingly got us into this mess with exotic derivatives and CDSs, not to mention the totally illogical A.R.M.s that you would have to be a fraud to sell and a fool to buy !! More trickle down ,voodoo economics that profit the already too fat rich,,,and leaves thousands and thousands of home owners hanging, when the lady at the FDIC's plan to buy up all the sick mortgages makes much more sense ,,,and would cost less taxpayers dollars,,,especially if you count in all the elite's lavish waste on private jets and useless junkets, golden parachutes /handshakes.

Yep, the Liberals, Democrats, and Green Party members can just sit back and watch the "Grand Old Party" implode from corruption, lies and more lies, incompetence, choosing the obscenely rich over everybody else, and being anarchistic here in California by blocking every possible tax increase while favoring monumentally wastefully spending like Reagan on the Military and wars ,,,that are sooo profitable to a few corporations. Let's do a study to see which corporations and individuals profited the most from the folly of Iraq and the Gulf Wars.

Good riddance !, Republicans !! ha ha ha ,,,
it only hurts that they have spiritually ruined the Nation and the U.S. economy in the process, and besmirched the Office of the President,,,hopefully for the very last time.

Fleeing Teflon non-stick cookware? Recommend "Swiss Diamond" brand at Domus, in Willow Glen, San Jose, Ca.

If you read about the smothered settlement by President Bush and DuPont over the health secrecy around Teflon and maybe watched the Today Show recommend to get rid of all Teflon non-stick cookware recently, you too may be looking for a good alternative besides stainless steel and enamelware like Le Crueset.

I found "Swiss Diamond" frypans and pots at the Domus store in Willow Glen, San Jose, California,1395 Lincoln Avenue,zip of 95125. And i looked all over; at Bed Bath and Beyond i was given the runaround about this or that or those frypans being "anodized" and then asked is that both the outside and inside/cooking surface to learn they were only advertising /talking about the outside surface ! Pretty cagey, eh. And no exact description of what the inside /cooking surface is other than 'it is a non-stick',,,

I phoned the frequented Crate and Barrel and their very pleasant staff but they had no good alternative to Teflon non-stick for those of us very concerned about our health in these dangerous times. Also called Williams Sonoma and they seemed to be only selling and promoting non-stick,,,whatever that exactly means or is.

So far i have bought a small and large fry pan for my parents and my self,,,and 2 large glass covered deep frypans for friends as Christmas presents at about $139 each. The large frypan was about $85-90. My Dad uses metal forks and metal spatulas in it and it still looks like new after almost a year of almost daily use !!

Domus's website is 'www.domusonline.com' and the sales staff are very accomodating with free gift wrapping and quality advice. Phone number is 408.279.4787 and fax is 408.279.4729. Good luck ! and Good Health !!

Could use a tv box to allow consumers to reorganize the usual tv channel disorder

So many channels ,,,and so disorganized,,,seems a box or some unit could allow consumers to cluster channels that they use close together,,,so we wouldn't have to waste so much time ,,,clicking by stations in foreign languages or ones we are not paying for,,,

You could also have a way of controlling the volume , so that commericals would not be louder than shows,,,

New car search websites do not let you search by engine,ie, diesel,,,what gives?

Tried several new car search websites ,like Vehix, and all do not let you search by engine type first !

You can't even describe your own parameters, but have to pick a brand !! What nonsense sites.

American Express, the credit card company, continues to deal with tiny fraudulent companies that STEAL YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBERS and use them !!

Acouple months ago i was looking at the monthly AX credit card bill ,as i often have to use it for work and get reimbursed. I notice a strange company name- parent/subsidiary?- and a strange charge for like $69.99. So i called American Express and asked about the company, what did they sell, were they the name i might have dealt with or a subsidiary, and what did i buy. AX said they did not know but if i wanted to go to the trouble of opening a formal investigation, they would. So i did , not thinking much of it for so small an amount.

About a week later i got a form letter saying the charge was FRAUDULENT and American Express had already taken it off my account/bill that i had paid in full anyway !! I phoned and AGAIN asked what does this company sell and how did they get my c/c number ! AX did not know,,,Well, are you going to check my past bills for such a FRAUDULENT CHARGE from the same company? Yes, oh here is another one from the previous month,,,and we can investigate that one too,,,

That one turned out to be FRAUDULENT as well !! And still , American Express did not offer me a new credit card number that might or might not be safer . Shocking. Did they turn this company in to the FBI? Probably not. So i looked in my pile of previous monthly bills and 6 months back i found another one from the same company !! Immediately phoned AX and they said they would look into that charge as well... But why had they not gone back in my records the first or second time, but waited for me to find this 3 questionable charge ?

Later, another form letter that yes the third charge was FRAUDULENT and was deducted from my account. No big deal. No 'we are sorry this happened' . No 'we will stop doing business as usual with this totally illegal, unethical and thieving company'.

I had the new credit card sent snail mail , but the next time i will have it shipped next day air as it seems American Express is perfectly comfortable continuing to take fees,,, business as usual,,, from a company(s) that has tried to steal and use my credit card fraudulently 3 TIMES THIS YEAR !!

So how do you like "deregulation" now ? I will contact the FBI, if they care. And maybe a Senator, if they care. Doubtful. The company is "classic closeouts".

30 years in the back of my closet,,,and my leather hightop Nikes soles fell off !!

OK, so i have a lots of shoes. I clean out the closet at least once every year ,,,or so! So in my last Spring Cleaning,,,maybe it was late summer,,,I find my long lost Nikes !! That i have only worn about 5days,,,ok 7 days MAX as these were my not-every-day-dress-up-casual Nikes,,,

I was so EXCITED ! I thot one of my many many x's had stolen them, like the British blonde who knicked my 70s bleach-weathered Levi's,,,thank God she did not get my 60s 501s. So there i had these hot leather hightops with PURPLE LINING,,,purple tongue end,,,and even a purple edge to the sole,,,with purple inserts in the white hard white rubber sole,,,size 12s,,,even a purple insole !
Talk about great whiteboy stylin' !!

"Made in Korea" nowadays is not that bad , i thot,,,Model #891 202 D1,,,by inspector '15'. I was sooo excited. Then,,,i noticed the soles were COMING UNGLUED FROM JUST SITTING IN THE BACK OF MY BIG CLOSET !! Man, was i bummed. I phoned the local Nike store, Niketown on Union Square in S.F., and the assistant manager said that Nike only stands behind their shoes for "a year, or two max. ". Bummer.

I have had-owned-bought a LOT of Nike's in my long and exciting life. But i NEVER expected a pair of expensive trainers from Nike to just fall apart ,,,sitting in the back of my closet. The really sick part was looking inside the Nike's sole and seeing this brown mystery foam !! disgusting,,,hidden,,, INSIDE the hard white quality rubber sole box !! It was such a design hide.

My oldguy friend called then to say he needed someone to go up and clean his gutters out. Here i had found Nikes that i thot some wench had stolen,,, so i duct taped the soles to the still good leather uppers and walked over to the ladder and spent two days hand scooping glop of decayed leaves out of my neighbors rain gutters (with the too small downspout pipe hidden inside the rectangular downspout=huge design flaw also). My hands got all cut up from the edge of the gutters,,,and i used lots and lots of his water enjoying the 2nd and 3rd floor views of the Bay,,,and i got to wear what i had long thot were a quality-based brand of shoes.

Now i am wearing Asics.

Comcast's constant "This channel should be available shortly" = " F " grade

Comcast has so many channel failures ,,,and channel flaws with 'snow' or some other visual or audio flaw.
Many,,, and frequently. You call them in 2008 and they "want to schedule a service call to your apartment" so you can loose a day of work,,,cleaning up the apartment first, and ANOTHER waiting for Comcast to come look in your private space and tell you "yep, everything looks ok,,do you always leave your shoes out like that ?".

When the problem is Comcast. They, not us, have a terribe attitude about apartment clutter and customer service !! Regional monopolies are such a bad idea,,,

13 November 2008,,,and still,,,the lowly Republicans and Bush2 will not outlaw A.R.M. ajustable mortgages that partially caused all this pain !!

Everyone should know by this late date ,,,that the Republicans are sooo greedy and selfish as to imperil the USA even further by not at least outlawing A.R.M.s !! Just give away BILLIONS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS to the same pirates and theives of Wall Street that got us into this huge international financial mess !!

May the Republicans never hold another seat of public trust again.

How can Chevron make all this 2007-2008 profit,,,and have such small dividends ??

Wall Street is full of thieves like the Gordon Gecko character in the movie with Michael Douglas. The usa media is letting these risk-shifters off the hook for the responsibility of our current and past economic woes. They are even asking these theives for ADVICE on how to fix the problemS Wall Street created, with the help of lobbyist-bought Congress !!

I had a series 6 mutual fund license with the n.a.s.d. and saw first hand ,up close how corrupt and with full knowledge Corporate America got us into this mess. I complained to the s.e.c. that a coworker was forging 'with customer phone permission' the signatures on mutual fund change of allocation paperwork, a simple and obvious no-no, and the s.e.c. did not prosecute this guy who was the no.1 salesman for an insurance company now owned by a.i.g. , yikes. Sooo glad i got out before the company buyout by aig!! Reeks.

While still in the insurance racket ,i talked years ago with a rep. from Arthur Andersen about his accounting company and he told me EVERYONE ,including Senators, knew that they were paid to lie just like s+p, moody's, and a.m.best and all the other financial rating agencies,,,and paid very very well thank you very much ,as he and his wife were going around the usa looking for a vacation home to purchase.

The usa media may show shock and surprise at the depth of the dishonesty and outright fraud on Wall Street and Corporate usa, but these newcasters have college degrees and inside contacts like i did before giving up my series 6 license, and have no excuse for being used as propaganda tools and character assassins like we saw on Frontline's show on Lee Atwater and the Republican lying 'stealth' scum he worked for,,, Reagan,,,Bush 1,,,Bush 2,,,etc.

Ca. "Yes on 8" voters forgot The Golden Rule

It is amazing that blacks and latinos who have experienced discrimination first hand in the USA were so willing to try to force their religion and beliefs on others.

As if the Catholic or Jewish or Biblical faith and way were the only way !! Such intolerance and self-centered foolishness !! Religion is there for you to guide You in Your life, not control or punish others who choose another or no faith, both of which WE OBVIOUSLY NEED TO REMIND THESE RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS ARE PROTECTED BY THE CONSTITUTION.

Religious intolerance is no better than any other,ethnic or racial or rural or red-hair, intolerance. The Bible does not give you as a true believer any power over others, so let your own life be your example and stop trying to run everyone else's life because of your Hindu, or Christian or Muslim or Animist religion.

Shame, shame, shame on your too proud and selfish ego.

John McCain is WAY TOO OLD AND SICKLY to be President

Give the old Veteran and Keating-tainted Senator a break and let him live out his last few years with his pretty wife in peace . Being President would kill him in his first term, then where the Incompetent hell would we all be ? The Republicans are so desparate, as to put up a man near his death bed, to continue the unending chain of lies and theft that has ruined our economy and threatens to damage the USA ,after two stolen national elections in 2000 in florida and 2004 in ohio.

Enough ! You vote for any Republican at this declining Nations peril !!

Molly Stone's and Trader Joe's both sell lousy bland Sourdough Bread !! and don't give a hoot !!

I am amazed at both these 'quality' product stores and their choices in providers for sourdough bread,,,Stone's is truely horrid with lousy texture and taste from a texas!! company no less if there is a less,,,and TJ's should be sooo much better,,,Guess i'll have to shop at Whole Foods instead,,,as Safeway sourdough bread is garbage too,,,and this is in its home range of San Francisco Bay !!

No excuse.

Republicans "smaller govt, less tax(on rich)" Philosophy and strategy of DEregulation are DEad, DEad, DEad !!!

Some Americans are so dumb,,, they 'think' we can 'win Victory' in Iraq,,, like VietNam,,,boy, do we have some shallow minds in the fields and colleges of America!
And they still,,,still,,, believe that President Bush is doing the right/correct thing for the USA and the economy. Maybe they just want to retire in Mexico and China, and let the USA go to hell. Or maybe you're just a rich selfish bastard who only cares about himself and his family.

The two lies about 'weapons of mass destruction' and 'al queda involvement' were not enough for some people,,,They need or want another Great Depression as proof that the Republicans and their agenda are TOTALLY WRONG for the times. I hope the the sorry fools don't get what they want.

This is the end of the Republican Party. They have been a total failure ,on every front, with a President who is dishonest and can barely speak an English sentence. Then there is the folly of allowing rich individuals and corporations to avoid their taxes with legal and illegal offshore accounts. Our national economy is crashing due to DEregulation and the President still ,,,still,,,he talks about free trade! China has poisoned our milk, our kid's jewelry with lead, and our pet food, so is there anymore reason for a strong ,larger federal government that REGULATES and actually does some good for its fat pay? Congress is too beholden to paying and lobbying corporations and rich individuals that corrupt our democracy, and there is a screaming need for public financing of all campaigns with free tv time. The federal tax code can get more corrupted with 'rifleshots' and 'loopholes' but is that the America you want ? Oh, yeah, you are sending most of your money 'home' ,u.s. citizen, to Mexico or China,,,

What sorry citizenship !! We deserve it for selling it so cheap to those unworthy and uncommitted.

Burlingame,Ca. resident of 20+ years public apology for Burlingame dumping raw sewage into San Francisco Bay ,,,for decades

I did not know this was happening and if i did i certainly would have protested or voted differently. This is unconscionable and totally disrespectfully to everyone and everything in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am so ashamed to have mistrusted the elected representatives and politicans of Burlingame. I am so sorry that Burlingame did this to our,,,our shared environment.

ABC's Dancing with the Stars in Season 7,,,and website recast is a MESS

7 seasons,,,all that popularity, success, and revenue-profit, and ABC still,,,still !! can not efficiently operate a smash success tv show website !! Yesterday, 24 Sept 08, the nice big 'full screen' view had 2 overlapped audio channels talking at the same time,,,and this morning,25 sept o8, there is STILL no access to last nights elimination show !! What gives, ABC !! Did you hire a bunch to typical incompetent IT techies ?? Why is your HUGE hit show website ,,,such a big Loser ?! The too long commercials work , oh boy,,,

ABC,,,hello ?,,,You just don't care, do you.
This is one of the MAJOR 3 networks !!
Season 7,,,and ABC still can not get it together,,,

ABC,,,not some podunk community website,,,but,,,A-B-C !!

wow,,,and of course, not a word in the media/press about such major incompetence,,,naturally,,,

Silicon Valley,San Jose, Santa Clara Valley,,, has "free" Ewaste pick-up !!

Took awhile to find this out,,,but "Dump Runners" at 408-460-2118 will take an appointment to pick-up your 'by the front door Ewaste',,,Wednesdays is Willow Glen !!,,,for,,,FREE !! yIPpEE sKiPPee !! No more driving far north up 87 to ASL on Brennan,,,

GREAT NEWS !!

GREAT NEWS: Scotland has Great Trout Fishing and for Cheap !!

Met a couple from the SE/Dunbar area of Scotland a few days ago and the guy was saying what clean ,trout -rich streams Scotland had !! Be responsible and don't contaminate their water with any USA trout -diseased waders and boots, right ?
GREAT NEWS !! Go Scotland !!

Avoid 'Joe's Crab Shack' at SF fisherman's wharf ,,,

Someone told me the snow crab bucket was good, so i went in just before lunch, and was one of the first seated. Was told the order would be very quick, but took,,,25 MINUTES !! And you only get about ten skinny legs,maybe 15,,,for $26,,,and an awful plastic cutter to open the shells, versus good sizzors/other,,,,

This is the second time i have visited this restaurant, both times with very slow service, especially on drink refills,,,the first time the seafood salad was as cold as the table !!

Why does the Opal Hotel, 1050 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco,,,not ANSWER THE PHONE ??!!

Tried repeatedly to get my friend by phone at this SF hotel, and the Opal Hotel either does not or takes forever to ,,,ANSWER THE PHONE !! What is up with that sloppy biz practice ??

Beware of 'Starbucks doubleshot-expresso&cream 6.5 oz cans ,,,strange sediment

What is that stuff ,,,sediment?,,,at the bottom of the cans?

Costco is euphemism misleading customers with 'keta' for 'dog/chum salmon',,,BEWARE

Big successful Costco is getting too careless with the respect and trust of its customers if it thinks it can mislead the public with all this dishonest labeling. Please DEMAND honest labeling , from all vendors, especially food merchants !!

Beware of 'Tour West America' charter buses

I was in Yosemite on Wednesday and noticed a bus broken down with a sad bunch of French people.

Oh,,, the poor French,,,stuck by the side of the road ,,,for hours,,,

(;

State and UCDavis have a poor research library and collection of California crop plants

My grandfather grew Melrose peaches for decades up near Yuba City-Marysville in the North Central Valley/Sacramento Valley. But does the State of California or the University of California at Davis have any record of this peach, one of the best eating (vs canning peaches) ever grown in the USA ? No.

Why not? Too much corporate influence ? Or just incompetence ?

Costco 'hits',,,and 'misses',,,,the good and the BAD,,,

I bought some men's underwear, Arrow brand, with elastic waistband and am not a fan. The waistband is not covered in cloth like the other brands Costco sells and thus is not as comfortable. Plus the legs of the boxers lost all shape after a few washings. Do not recommend this brand.



In the food category,,,

DISLIKE,
the pineapple meatballs,,,LIKE, the cornbread-chili entree,,,

DISLIKE,Starbucks doubleshot(not enuf cream),,,,LIKE, Kirkland chocolate drink (meal in a can),,,

DISLIKE,the eggplant entree
(waved, still 'leather'),,,

Protect new car windows from permanent hard water spots, at the lot , with Glass Science's Rain Clear ,,,GEL,,,(AUG '08 update)

One of the biggest appearance depreciations right off the lot with a new car is the usual first day splash with hard water spots, whether it is Santa Cruz hard water or Capitola's or San Jose's.

A very smart way to protect you big investment for a long time is to use either Rain-x or something like it,,,and i like Glass Science's Rain Clear GEL because it goes on like vasoline filling all those tiny cavities in glass, unlike the old LIQUID version that was too runny. Rub it on with a small terry cloth towel and take off the excess with another one. Do this once or twice a year -don't forget your rear view left and right outside mirrors- and you will never have to look through PERMANENT WHITE HARD WATER SPOTS !! My advice is to not use anything on the inside surfaces of the glass other than windex-like stuff, as most of them,Rain-x and Glass Science, tend to haze and obscure with a constant need for rag polishing,,,

For your tires i have tried all the usual auto store options and have given up on the oily sprays like Black Magic, cuz they are greasy and don't last more than acoupe days. Recommend you use Original Armor All that sprays on like milk and last a week. Also good on plastic like your back hood wiper area. Again, don't use it on your dash or your inside windows will constantly fog and need a towel wipe off.

Republicans are trying to destroy California State,,,and Federal Finance,,,and thus our Democratic Republic !!

Governor Grey Davis was no mistake, in deregulating electricity and natural gas energy in California, and plunging all Californians from the 8th richest government in the world ,,,to the swimming in red ink, 15 Billion in debt this year financial mess, in just a few short years. The uber-rich the Republicans only support, to the detriment of the middle cash and working poor, don't seem to care a damn if our roads have gone from the best in the USA to the worst, and our public schools from the best to the worst. The super rich use private schools-diploma mills and have expensive suvs that can handle the terrible local roads and highways in this sorry state of California. Governor Arnold S. will not raise taxes on the rich and super/uber-rich who can very easily afford it,,, and has proven to be a terrible administrator/administrative selector.

"Soak the rich!!" and say it loud and say it proud. They killed off the Middle Class, while the Demos did little to stop it. If you want to play at Capitalism, then all you rich bastards can pay.

This was no accident. Elect another Republican at your state's and the Nation's peril !!

Gavin Newsom ,SF Mayor, is thinking of running for Governator !!

Ten reasons why this is a baaad idea:

1- He had an affair in office with a major staffer's wife,,,

2-He ,like many a mayor before, will not fix the city bus department, Muni, after accusing in public the cable car drivers of stealing the $5 fares. The local tv stations are running stories about all the longtime unsafe drivers the city and union will not fire. And there are still, no relief drivers at the end of the cable car lines where the drivers take their extremely long breaks. Last mayor Willi Brown said he was going to fix Muni, but obviously did not.

3-The "60 Minute" episode sleazy camera stores at Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf ,,,also NYC,,,are still selling second rate cameras or crap cameras to the city's visitors misrepresented as first quality , major brand merchandise !

4-The two freeways /highways through town, hwy 101 and hwy 1 , had timed lights before , but even with regular unleaded gasoline over $4/gallon, this Mayor can not or will not for efficiency sake time the major streets and boulevards, including hwy 101 and hwy 1 !

5-Unlike most major cosmopolitan tourist cities of Europe and elsewhere, there is no central reservation office or central cab dispatch office in SF,,,and the subcontracted Visitor's and Convention Bureau service is subpar.

6-The SF Zoo was privatized ,,,and is still a liability mess for the city. Two tiger attacks, and counting,,,

7-Hotels are charging $20 to $50/night to park your car, and there are not enough reasonable parking garage spaces in SF. Tour buses and large motor homes/rv's should be directed to pier 30, but are left to illegally park all over town. Pier 30 use to be free parking to all our out of town charter bus visitors and the DMC's 20-75 Moscone shuttle buses,,,

8-What happened to any agenda from this mayor, besides gay marriage,,, like city-wide pay and free wi-fi ??

9-The mayor should lead in moving its water supply,the Hetch Hetchy Dam, out of Yosemite National Park and lower into the surrounding National Forest.

10-After Arnold,,,another pretty boy, unskilled and incompetent administrator ?!
Surely ,with California's terrible economic condition after the awful Republican Gray Davis deregulated energy with the State Legislature and the resulting "Enron" dvd, California needs someone with more than just "looks".

Latest gossip on SF travel locations,,,

Friends just back from SF ,,,say not to book with "Heritage Marina Hotel" in the Cow Hollow District, on Van Ness near Lombard. They said it was "lousy!" and no details.

Also told me they did not like something other than the new paint at " La Luna" on Lombard,,,and 'ran' away !! Also no details yet.

They got very sick at the big Chinese restaurant at the corner of California and Grant in Chinatown, where all the cheapo tour buses pull up,,,the "dirty carpet!" of the "Cathay House". Stay away ,they said, until it is much cleaner and food safer !!

And they met a nice old English man who bought a camera at one of those "SALE SALE SALE" sleazy camera stores at Fisherman's Wharf,,,also Union Square,,,and he told them he paid cash,,,oops,,,and at his hotel immediately opened the Nikon camera box,,,and it was "totally defective",,,The police would do nothing, the Mayor's office would do nothing, the Chamber of Commerce would do nothing, and the SF Visitors and Convention Bureau would not do,,,a thing !! So i told them to watch the old old episode of '60 minutes' on this common NYC and SF scam, and then write Nikon a polite letter of consternation.

Yikes. Caveat Emptor, especially in SF.

Amazon.com is very sloppy about whether it is a 'new' or ' used' item ,,,

When you go to an item and Amazon says they have 'new and used' and find there are only 'used ' items,,,or you go to check-out and what you wish to purchase is 'new' but is does not say ANYWHERE on the order form that what you are buying is 'new' or 'used',,,or you select an item for your cart, and it does not display whether it is 'used' or 'new',,,

Then i would say Amazon has a major problem, besides their terrible return policy 'in the original wrapper',,,and a terrible place to work from an x-employee i now work with,,,

BEWARE of 'AllVideoWarehouse' price on Yosemite DVD

If you are looking for the excellent dvd 'Vertical Frontier' narrated by Tom Brokaw on the history of rock climbing in Yosemite,,, DO NOT BUY AT AllVideoWarehouse for $42 plus shipping,,,but rather buy from Yosemite National Park, Visitor Center Book Store for less than $20. They do ship ,as i did call , and their website is 'yosemitestore.com',,,,phone number is 209.372.0299,,,right next to the Visitor's Center in Yosemite Village, Yosemite Valley, Yosemite N.P. ,,,95389 zip. And THEY sound like nice people.

Mr. Bill Cosby, Affirmative Action, and Mr. Edwards of the SF Bay Area

Yes, whites like GWBush have gotten too far ahead by good old boy white clubs. And look at the mess this blind to mediocrity in white culture has gotten us !!

This is not an affirmation of more mediocrity for blacks and people of color/not white. A higher standard must be color blind ! Look at the mediocrity of the black Supreme Court Justice ,,,and the shame his mediocrity brings on all of us with his scandalous sexual harrassment trial, like Bill Clinton.

And then we have the low standards, get by with the worst tactics that the whites have used, reprehensible Mr. Edwards, who has gotten so far ahead , but without much principle or ethic. He racially threatened professors at San Jose State for higher grades he did not deserve. But he got them. His whole career is a sham. Such ill-gotten advancement is the pride of the black community ? I am certainly not proud of the white Jew or Italian mafia successes in the usa.

Mr. Obama, PLEASE don't pick these women,,,!!

Mr. Obama,

Please DO NOT PICK ,,,Mrs. Clinton, for the obvious reason that she has a terrible marriage and her husband was a huge disappointment when he had his chance as President, and obviously would meddle too much in your Presidency ,which needs to be so bold, not backslapping redundant.

Also ,,,please DO NOT PICK ,,,the senior senator from California, Senator Feinstein, as she has done next to nothing for men or women especially, like equal pay, during her too long tenure. What a waste of space and opportunity !! She rarely speaks out in public and does not really seem to care for the declining middle cash or working poor, just her fatcat Presidio Heights to now Pacific Heights too rich and too selfish elitists.

Don't Trust China

Communist. Steamrolls over peaceful neighbor Tibet. Long history of parents killing female ,less valuable infants. Would just as soon sell you poisoned pet food as not. Or lead-poisoned kids jewelry. Or expensive 'walking shoes' marked 5E that are exactly the same width as all their other shoddy shoes, mediums.

Is building up a war machine, not a defensive machine, and we are helping them. How many subs and nuclear missiles? The target may first be ,,,Japan,,,but count on it as sure as Islam radical terrorist freaks, the USA is in their sight. Our trade with them is anything but "Free". We give away a 30-40% currency advantage to access their market of millions, and there goes our oil from our Alaska and our Texas. Here comes $5 gas, or $10 the rich wont mind. There goes the last of the once-boasted Middle Class in the U.S.

And unfortunately, like the Japanese and others, culturally they think they are so much better than anyone else. They are not encumbered by honesty or rules regarding the respect of intellectual property or even brand property. We are behaving like such fools, so lets have that big b.s.-machine Bill Clinton tell us exactly how this is going to play out in the next 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years,,,if the Chinese do not kill themselves with unsanitary living conditions and bird flu, widespread massive pollution, and the proven failure pride of Communism. It did not work in the USSR. But these are the Chinese, careless arrogant and proud.

Feel safe? Just think of the short term profits for the multinationals !

How superficial is San Francisco's Hospitality ?

San Francisco's number one industry, by far, is tourism,,,such an easy industry vs factories and boiler room offices. Check. Conventions at the three blocks of Moscone and over 3000 restaurants, with dozens of hotels and motels. Check. The city with crazy standard lots of only 25 feet width and grid streets going straight up and straight down 33% grade hills and small easily recognizable neighborhoods in the northeast quarter almost sells itself. Check.

Then why does SF charge for luggage carts at SFO? Other airports don't. And exactly how much does that fee parking lot at pier 30 bring in now vs when is was a free and welcoming lot to any overnight charter/tour bus or just-parking RV for years? Because nowadays i see lots of out-of-town charter/tour buses getting $75 parking tickets for illegally parking and think of how much bad will that generates,,,times 10 ,,,every day!

The Mayor says,,,he is against idling buses , but he has taken away the remedy of a big free lot that we local and the out-of-towner buses used for years, and instead we have buses circling,,,and circling,,,making more and more smog and traffic,,,for frustrating hours,,,just so one lousy parking lot rental fee at Pier 30 can be collected ?! Seems stupid and petty,,,especially for such a rich city that says it is so welcoming.

Even the local DMCs made use of the free parking at Pier 30 when there was a big convention in town and they needed to park 30-50 local buses. Yes, eventually Pier 30 will someday be the new cruise ship pier, if it ever gets out of litigation. And even when it does, shouldn't such a friendly city as San Francisco says it is have more free out-of-town charter/tour bus parking than say Portland, which the last time i was up there years ago only had 5 spaces downtown ??

We, San Francisco, can do so much better in welcoming our guest to this the most expensive city in the 48 states. Maybe we can even get the greedy concierges to take only a %5 cut ?!

Jerry Hill for Ca. state assembly;one constituent says "NO" !!

A few years ago i was working as a SF charter and tour bus driver for a very very very wealthy family, who decided not to have a proper bus toilet dump station at their new yard in SSF, moving from SF, but to just let all the feces and t.p. run across the employee parking lot into the SF Bay storm drain, for months.

Shocking, yes i know, especially since the two wealthiest cities in the entire SF Bay Area are Atherton and Hillsborough and both are in San Mateo County, where Mr. Jerry Hill worked. So i complained to the mayor of SSF and his office could not care less. Remember the business was owned by a super wealthy local American citizens family.

Then i complained to the Governor and Cal-OSHA, who were not interested. So i complained to the San Mateo County Public Health-Environmental Health offices and was told the buses were washed and dumped after 5pm so they could not get overtime permission to come out and inspect !! Outrageous, i know. All this raw sewage flowing for months into OUR SF Bay !! I got a very bad respiratory infection and almost died of it and pneumonia. The very rich company owner could not seem to care less.

So i complained to every one of the San Mateo County Supervisors, including Mr. Jerry Hill's office, who politely took my call,,,but could not be bothered. I even talked to the San Mateo County Managers office and got no interest in doing anything about this blatant pollution. It was a super ,very uber rich family owned company, enough said.

Have you even phoned an elected representative and asked for their position on an issue, only to be told that the elected representative has no position 'at this time' on that subject ? Frustrating isn't it. Maybe Mr. Jerry Hill is a good DNC political machine soldier, like Mr. Mullin, who did not care about another employer not paying legally required overtime or payroll taxes like Social Security. Let's get rid of the Sac. Capital political machine that gave us such recent loser Governors like Grey Davis and the fiscal-failure of Mr. Arnold S.,,,and the big lie of 'energy deregulation will bring down the cost of electricity and natural gas' ,,,(watch the Enron dvd). California is in terrible horrible financial straights with the worst/bottom5 roads,public schools and bond rating in the USA. The Sacramento Machine has done a huge disservice to all Californians and Americans.

San Francisco in Summer = Fog and the WORST weather of the year, every year, for Tourists

It happens every year,,,our summer tourists get off the plane in San Mateo County at SFO and are confused by the nearby sign "South San Francisco, the industrial city" big on the hill, for a city with no self esteem or pride. They eventually get to SF, the other "sf" on the same peninsula, and are met by a solid wall of cloud at sea level with visibility usually less than 100 yards/meters,,,and they are SHOCKED !!

Why did our travel agent not tell us that Summer is reliably the worst weather of every year in San Francisco?!?! Winter has the clearest skies and is the off ,uncrowded, season,,,and Spring is lovely and also uncrowded,,,and sometimes in the Autumn the temperature will hit over 90F. (National Wx Service has only one wx station in the middle temp Mint Hill area,,,for a city with so many different climates and broad range of temperatures.) Why did all the travel guide books not tell us this ?!? Maybe they thought you would be driving inland away from the fog to fabulous Lake Tahoe or wonderful but roads in need of resurfacing Yosemite National Park,,,or downtown Fresno. OK, my bad joke with the 'fresno'.

It may burn off mid-day,,,or it might not, but you can expect fog so BAD on most summer days that you can NOT see the Golden Gate Bridge ,,,AT the Golden Gate Bridge south vista point right next to it! And forget about a view from the geographic center of the city at Twin Peaks, as it too is usually clouded over every morning , evening, and some/most mid-days.

Please folks, do not blame the most expensive city in the USA, SF,,, nor the people who actually LIKE the 'natural air conditioning' every Summer of the Fog ,,,who live in and work in the crazy careless everything-has-a-price, concierges gouge 30-40% usually or your ticket prices,,,city.

It is God's will, every year.

2008 Saturn cars:no more dent-proof body panels, so what is the point?!

I like the redesigned 2008 Saturns, but when i phoned the nearest dealership i was told that none of the Saturn-GM cars have the dent-proof side panels anymore!! What a great idea, and with them Saturn is a nothing brand.

Let's see, Microsoft(thedarkside)wants to buy Yahoo(r2d2) or maybe Google(c3p0),,,

Gee, wouldn't that be swell.

A big corp infamous for terrible/non-existant customer service and mediocre products that the dumb corps and masses have bought,,,

,,,wants to buy a company with some , limited social responsibility,,,or another that talks too much in giving every possible and impossible link,,,

Sounds like another blockbuster guffaw on the Wall Street Big Screen,,,what WILL these idiots and irresponsible fools do next ,for a buck ?!

U.S. Divers-brand facemask vs Scubapro facemask: U.S. Divers wins !!

A few years ago it seemed time to replace my trusty pig-nose purge valve face mask. And i decided to get two, and different brands at an expensive Silicon Valley dive shop, so that i would always have a good spare.

Even got lens put in for my nearsightedness and astigmatism as i wanted to see what difference it would make. Bought 2 black cases, and even suckered for the bottles of anti-fog ,tho i always use and prefer good old spit.

After only a year of skin diving in Hawaii and Mexico and always , always, rinsing off with clean water and drying in the shade the two masks,,,I noticed the Scubapro mask's silicon skirt was getting quite YELLOW.
So i attended the local penultimate annual dive sale in Redwood City and asked the rep for Scubapro if they would replace the obvious by comparison much yellower Scubapro mask skirt. That would be a "no".

From now on , I am only buying U.S. Divers masks.

Beware of Amazon.com and DealYard ,,,selling defective electric blankets,,,still

Bought 3 Sunbeam electric blankets through Amazon to DealYard and after use, thus 'used', found all 3 to be defective and not work on any but lowest setting,barely noticeable.

Amazon.com has a 30 day, in new condition with original container,,,policy, so once i tried to use the assumed good merchandise by trusted seller, i did not qualify for an Amazon return.

DealYard will not return phone calls or emails, so forget them,,,in the future.

And the big successful manufacturer, Sunbeam, says they will send it to a repair station.

All in all, definitely NOT a quality assured buying experience.

April 2008, TurboTax get a "C-"for free federal tax e-filing

TurboTax went on and on about foreign income, when i told them up front i had just 2 employers,,,

And the 'next' button was almost off the page in the lower right corner,,,bad bad bad design,,,

And then to lie-to-decieve and offer to do the Cal. state form for $9.95 since the state does not offer a 'free tax forum' whatever,,,when Cal. has free e-filing for us under $50k, overtime pay legally not paid in this obscenely expensive state, and most limousine and charter bus companies stealing our tips/gratuities, same old same old Cal. Capitol corruption.

NPS toward a more un-natural and artificial MUIRWOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT

We had a hot 80+F day the other day in the SF Bay area and it sure would have been quenching to have the soft ice cream maker working at Muirwoods National Monument, now that they only have vanilla instead of chocolate or vanilla or both. There is a contract with a food service company and NPS, but who cares,,,certainly not NPS, since the other day the food counter only had 2 employees out front and a long line , with 2 of the soft drink taps out of stock,,,So who cares? NPS does not supervise this health-risk contract well enough to catch them serving with the same hand they picked trash off the floor of the snack stand with.

As you walk through Muirwoods National Monument these days and see all the fallen trees that NPS has 'naturally' decided not to work crew clean up and remove, are we not suppose to notice the heavy under brush along the trail and Redwood Creek that HAVE been removed by many work crew hours,,,nor the many evenly spaced ferns that HAVE been planted by many work crew hours to look as if a ground fire had done domestic natural work in recycling the dead and excess ground plant material to the poor soil as poor and much needed fertilizer for this amazing tallest tree on earth community?

What happened to all the work that was being done to remove the asphalt, that we were told by NPS was deleterious to the steelhead trout and silver coho salmon small runs, and replace it with out-sourced redwood walkways? There seems to be no more work on this,,,

So what if NPS publically does not take away fallen trees in Muirwoods, but secretly does remove and haul away the trailside brush and lots of poison oak,,,and also secretly plants hundreds if not thousands of ferns ,by hand, to prolong fooling us into thinking the natural ground fires have returned after more than 150 years to make if possible for these less than 4% remaining after logging trees to have baby redwoods instead of just clone redwoods?

Who cares.

Since Viacom wants a one way,their way, website for MTV,VH1,and CMT,,,

I recently signed on to CMT to vote for "Video of the Year",,,but encounter the first of many problems with CMT and its owner, Viacom. They want you to hear them, but they do not want to hear you !!

I was not able to vote,,,and was not able to get technical-webmaster help or any kind of customer service at all from CMT . Zero. This terrible Microsoft-pattern of selling to billions just for $B and having little or no customer service, needs to stop!, that is s-t-o-p for all the redneck illiterates and academically lazy out there in CMT-land, right now! What a disservice to the loyal fans of country music, to be so marginalized and trivialized and not given any expression,,,in a medium, music, that is supposedly about making tons of cash ,,,and communication! So what if i could not vote for the "Video of the Year"?

Don't expect me to waste any more time on this one-way website of CMT,,,or MTV,,,or VH1. They don't care about me,,,ditto. Hasta la vista, Viacom.

Stanford University did NOT provide a greeter for a NATIONAL CELEBRITY !!

What with all the rich scions and fat cat endowments on its huge private campus, you might think Stanford University would have its act together in welcoming a NATIONAL CELEBRITY to speak at their campus by meeting them at their limo at the entrance to the property, and at least sending them clear directions on how ,where and when to enter such a large confusing private property. But NO, Stanford U. let this famous tv personality and i wander around the maze of streets to get to the building where the speech was about to begin.

Yes, i had a map of both Thomas Bros. and a Stanford U. variety and yes, i had been on campus many many times. The point is this building was almost inaccessible due to temporary street closures , poor visibility night signage of street intersections, and the definite lack of anyone around to ask ,since calling campus security has been a waste of time in the past.

Stanford University need to assign a formal greeter to every dignitary who wants one coming to campus, to not just politely welcome them , but to make sure they get to the proper building on time. It was very close timing, but with a little luck we made it !

Sacramento's Arena does not greet at the edge of the lot its CELEBRITIES !!

As a limo driver, it is amazing what poor manners some venues, like Sacramento's Arena, have in NOT assigning a greeter to meet CELEBRITIES at the edge of the parking lot !!!

I drove the Ice Skating Stars show there and we had to wait for more than 10 minutes while a dumb parking lot attendant tried to give us directions to one of several POSSIBLE entrances for these NATIONAL SKATING STARS !!

Was the management of the Sacramento Arena born in a barn ?! No class.

San Francisco television stations news sensoring ,corporate to corporate

Last weekend a San Francisco bus of Greyline's/Coach USA/Coach America/San Francisco Sightseeing/Franciscan/and numerous other alias',,, ran away without a driver(the "assistant safety coordinator"!!) downhill INTO THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM !! Fortunately no one was killed, maimed or injured. Saturday, March 22,2008.

I did not hear about it until the next day, Sunday i believe, so i phoned NBC-TV in SF to see if they were going to cover it,,,and i was told "it is not our market,,,Monterey is KSBW-TV". But a few days later the same SF NBC-TV station did a segment on the Los Angeles Quantas airplane that blew out some tires. This seems like a huge cover-up and double standard. An airline from Australia in LA gets reported but the huge bus company does not when based in same (SF) city. There is something very rotten here.

That night i did see a very short and obscured segment on the CBS-TV-5 ,,,but they did not interview the driver or show anymore than a close up still of the bus sticking into the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

What about ABC-TV-7 and KRON-TV-4 and TV-2?? Did they duck their public trust too ?? KQED-TV-9 gets its new filtered/biz censored by huge donor Chevron, so no need to expect much from that channel.

This is the same company,the largest tour bus company in SF and the supposed California tourism industry standard, that recently had 2 very serious accidents, also covered up. An adult was runover and killed on Nob Hill by a bus driver making an illegal left turn in front of Grace Cathedral. Then a wheel chair adult was not strapped to the floor anchors on a tour to Muir Woods and in one of those steep narrow road turns the wheel chaired adult went out the bus door and onto the road!!

This is a bloodsucking-but-useless Teamster's Union workforce-no overtime pay,unlike other SF large tour bus company!!- that has glorified bus washers and tire changers as mechanics with little formal and technically respected mechanic school certification. The fleet is old, dented, and dirty with seat upholstery that probably has not been steam cleaned of sweat,food residue and germs in over 10 years.

What a pathetic state of 'professional journalism' in these United States of America !!

Trader Joe's has Italian Blood Orange Soda in 1L bottles again !!

San Josey, California,,,

Try it ,,,it's great,,,you may like it too !!

Beware of Alaska Airlines telling you it is ok to bring bear spray in your checked bags

This happened to me ,even tho i confirmed it with Alaska Airlines management as being ok, yet when i got to the airport the TSA confiscated the safe $30 can from my checked bag !!

No apology and no refund from Alaska Airlines,,,
typical.

"Romney did a good job as leader of the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics",,,my ass!!

Whoever keeps spreading the b.s. that Mr. Romney, the 2008 Presidential candidate, did a good job as the head of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics needs to fix his/her forked tongue !!
Bus drivers for the public and for vips like Sports Illustrated had to work-drive from 6am to 2am with only 4 hour off to sleep !! That is a huge safety violation and overlooks DoT's federal 8 hours off in 24 hours rule. Bus companies and bus drivers were threatened with being fired back home for breaking the 'contract' with the Olympics when the SLOC lied to us all about a fair wage and then driving 2 days to get there cut out pay in half by having us work not the promised ' no more than 10-12 hours, but these very unsafe hours. Many bus drivers and bus companies like LA's Hotdogger bus company quit rather than risk accident to $400,000 buses and injury/death to passengers and pedestrians or other road vehicle occupants. I was there and quit in less than 7 days.
Stop the b.s.

Feb. 2008,,,Test drove the new Mazda 'miata',,,nice, BUT

The seat is too high, for non-Japanese taller people. The leather is nice, but with so little of a bucket seat you slide all over the place in normal driving. We want to sit lower and more securely.

The color selection is limited, as you can not buy a pearl ice blue with tan leather in the new convertible hardtop. No more orange leather, please. And the center console is too big bloated to easily buckle up !!

The Europeans have been enjoying small car turbo diesels for years, so why do we still get the same old same old boring premium gasoline only engines ??

The rims and not that good looking with so many spokes,,,and no alternatives.

So much potential, and we get all these compromises. Wake up, Mazda, and give us something new and great like your direct injection engine, but better !

Comcast ADDS more blackout delay,,,!!,,when switching channels !!

If Comcast were not terrible at customer service already, they had to big corporate tyrant ADD more delay, blackout wait time, when you go from channel to channel !!

Another huge reason to get satellite,,,or HD antenna !
March 2008,,,the 21st century,,,and we still do not each have control over our tv's volume. The commercials and networks do ! Crazy, for $1000 to buy a new HD tv and be so little in control.

Ralph Nader ,,,and the 3 recently boring Democrats who could only say "change"

It is too bad all 3 leading Democrats bored us to tears for a couple weeks with that "change, for it" b.s. the media lapped up. Count on it, Ralph is not going to waste your time with more of that nonsense !!

It is almost Springtime and time to clean those difficult outside windows,,,with Windex Outdoor Cleaner!!

We use to pay a knock-at-your-door migrant worker $50 to do a spotty ,hit or miss job of cleaning all the windows on the outside of the house. Now, we can just hook up the container to a hose, rinse and soap and rinse the windows, and be done in less than an hour easily. Highly recommend the green plastic container by S.C.Johnson Windex Outdoor.

Try the Three Sisters Cafe if you are passing Oakhurst on 41 to Yosemite

It is an outstanding restaurant and very reasonable prices, beautiful decor, friendly waitstaff.

"Deregulation" has cost the USA Billions if not Trillions, just in this recent ban-credit-ARM fiasco

All this Presidential and politician talk about the 1980s and 1990s rush to the 'benefits' of deregulation have resulted in another foreseeable financial fiasco !! As if the infamous ripoff of the Savings and Loan Disaster were not bad enough for the image of the less regulation please American banking industry, now we have fraudulent and illegal credit card scams and a real Credit Crisis !!

I do not believe that someone as smart as Alan Greenspan did not see the pure financial folly of the 1995-2000 Dot Com Boom and Bust, nor the overheated USA real estate market, nor the U.S. Congress-bought unfair edge of the American banks. Smart ,ivy league university educated bankers must have seen this coming from miles away, and if they claim they did not, then they should be held fully and completely liable without any taxpayer bailout of their greedy risky behavior.

Lord knows after ripping the public off for decades they can certainly afford to pay for the entire mess !!

"1-800- dental tech",,,How do you find a good teeth cleaner??

I so seldom see the dentist, as it usually means it is x-ray time again, or i have an expensive cavity to fill. Ouch.

But it is the dental tech that i see 3xs, now going to change to 4xs, a year. And this one is fabulous!!

In Silicon Valley, call up Dr. Brown and ask for Mrs. Barbara. Their office is close to 280 x 85. Super careful around sensitive gums. And the dentist is a good guy ,too.

Feb. 2008,,,Don't buy an Acura for technical high performance quality and durability

Have a 2000 Acura Integra Type-R and the mechanic just found out the harmonic stabilizer/whatchamacallit attached to the end of the crank shaft ,,,has frozen. Bummer, in only 7-8 years. It is a few hundred $$$ dollars to fix !! Also beware that if the rubber timing belt breaks inside the engine, it will cause the engine to destroy itself, unlike some Toyotas like my old regular gas MR-2 that was SOOO FUN TO DRIVE,,,that keep the valves and pistons in synchrony until the engine stops. That's $$$$$ thousands in expensive bad design and poor product !! The mechanic says he sees frozen units on Acuras often. I have also replaced the oxygen sensors/ fuel mix sensors on the bottom of the car --2 at $250 each-- twice, which is too many times in my book. The mechanic suggests that the CPU controlling the gas and air mixture may be at fault. And that computer chip is like $800 buckeroos, suckers !!

Santa Cruz's famous restaurant "Tacos Morenos" keeps declining in value

I have been going to Tacos Morenos for years,,,and am sad to say that the quality may still be there , but after a visit in Feb. 2008, the burritos are much much smaller. And they have been giving us less and less over the years, in spite of their big success. Maybe that is the problem, too much success taken for granted, and as is usual with some businesses, the customer is taken for granted too. Sad that is time to find another good-great value quality Mexican taco and burrito restaurant in the Santa Cruz area.

Lincoln towncars are likely to scratch those fancy dress shoes

As a limo driver for years, i have to be very careful getting in and out of Lincoln town cars,,,and even check the occasional Cadillac from Hertz,,,for sharp edges just above the brake pedal on the automatics that will tear up those expensive dress shoes. You would think Ford would have fixed this years/decades ago, wouldn't one?

Ford USA will not long stock parts after 14 years, so AVOID BUYING A FORD !!

We have a 1994 Ford Taurus Station wagon that surprisingly has required very little maintenance over the years since we bought it used from Hertz in 1995. But every now and then you need to fix something a shopping cart breaks in a parking lot or that breaks like the door panel screws due to heavy use. It has only been 14 years,,,and we had this problem at only 12 years too,,,does Ford expect us to buy a new car when the old one still works?! Ford's yellow pages motto of "built to last" is hollow if you can not buy small replacement parts !! After just 10-12 years , you call a Ford dealership parts department and ask for a part and you are like to hear the same thing ,over and over, "That part is OBSOLETE."

Well, if the Ford family is rich enough to buy back all the stock and take it private, maybe that is what they should do, as you would think an American car company would stock parts for at least 15-20 years. We can not get a turn signal lens, nor a rear hatch latch. And you know they are fuzzy accounting making tons of money profit!!

So forget Ford !! They own Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar,and Land Rover, too, remember.

Mea Culpa: my blog is for blowing off steam,,,

so if you don't like it, don't read it.

U.S. Rep. of Cal. Tom Lantos, deceased, was not so good a Representative of all his constituents

I have been a resident of Burlingame for about 20 years and a long time frustrated constituent of U.S. Representative to Congress Tom Lantos. At first when i knew no better i voted for him. Then when i noted his office's lack of respect for the resident voters in his district and his spineless go-with-the-flow record, i started voting for any and all of his opponents. Let us not get carried away with a elder politician who had tons of seniority but did little to stand up or in opposition to the massive corruption in the state capital of Sacramento or the same vote-buying slime behavior in the nation's capital.

For instance, California is now in terrible ,desperate financial straights maybe for 50-100 years because Governor Arnold will not raise taxes on those that can very well afford it,,, because the old and only Governor ,tidal wave kicked out of office, Grey Davis and the bulk of the state legislature lied to us repeatedly saying that the deregulation of energy, both electricity and natural gas, would result in much lower prices,,,when, in obvious fact, the prices skyrocketed more than 4Xs especially with the fraud added by many energy and finance/banking companies in cahoots with Enron. Where was Tom Lantos and the wisdom and outrage of such massive repeated government bungling and boldface lies ? Not even a blip on the public radar or media about him taking the honest ethical and brave proper stand.

Again, when Governor Reagan was ultimately responsible for the closing of the state mental hospitals, like the huge Agnews in the south S.F. bay area and the large Sonoma mental hospital in Sonoma, starting the huge expansion in our homeless statewide problem, where was Tom Lantos in the early 1970s to stand up for the mentally ill who the rich state of California at that time could well afford? Quietly, neglecting the power and privileges of his public responsibility? He had a moral responsibility to speak up for all those unfortunate insane people who could not speak up or pay up for themselves.

Again, when Governor ,,,ugh,,,Grey Davis used a back room committee to take away even more of our state's weak blue collar overtime coverage and enforcement, where was the ineffectual Tom Lantos ???

On the nation front, did he loudly oppose U.S. Govt torture of our enemies, by either the military or other branch? Like senior senator Diane Feinstein, "where is the beef?!" We see all the constant coddling of the super rich people and super profitable corporations, all the truly ugly highrises in San Francisco from her mayorship,,,but no bold moral do-the-right-thing vocal leadership.

Where was Tom Lantos in opposing the supreme folly of the Bushes and both their ruinously expensive and terrorist encouraging middle east wars? Did he get the countries over there who said they would pay for it to do so? Did he make any difference at all ?

Even on such a small matter as making sure a California employer who was paying by check ,,,was also doing the legal and correct thing of paying payroll taxes, Tom Lantos and his staff lost the IRS permission letter not once, but twice,,, and don't we have ENOUGH ! corporate corruption in California? San Francisco Bay is very polluted, so where was Tom Lantos' big effort to make it better? We are short what 20,000 nurses in California and there are so few openings at the state's community and state colleges,,,hells bells, Tom !!

Legacy of HUGE disappointment. Go big, or go home.

The Democrats can still EASILY lose the 2008 Presidential Election

Hillary will be an ugly race/contest if she is chosen by the semi-educated forgetful American electorate. The media would just love such an ugly mudslinging day after day circus ,to sell more newspapers and magazines and tv advertising. The media keeps talking about all of Hillary's friends, but look and all her ENEMIES, numerous and Strong !!

First, the Republicans are just itching to get her in the ring with her long suspect history. Ask any Rep-robate how long they have been getting hate mail predicting only Hillary will be chosen by 'those terrible liberals'. Then ask your self how many of the less than overwelming majority Democrats are going to vote for Hillary and let Bill back in the White House, OUR White House again!! Then think of all the environmentalists--yes i know that is another Republican smear dirty word--that remember Bill and Hillary championing overtly all the benefits to the good old USA of NAFTA,,, NAFTA passes,,, and a trade deal trumps local state and national environmental and health regs and laws so that we now not only have lost tens of thousands of higher paying jobs but we have encouraged massive pollution on the Mex. border by the factories/maquilladoros and we have widespread ground water pollution by previously known cancer causing MTBE, courtesy of our former good friends in Canada.

Remember that old saying "strong fences make good neighbors" ,well, we are about to have our living standard and health standard lowered to Mexico and India or the lowest corporate common denominator ,,,and that should be super scary to all but the super selfish super rich,,, ok, even they will not be able to buy there way out or away or separate from contaminated food, water, air, soil and ocean. Then there are those of us that remember -just like yesterday- when Bill Clinton shook his finger at us all in the USA about how , like Kennedy, he was not cheating on his wife IN OUR White House almost daily/weekly for years. Never again.

How did we go so against Darwinism and survival of the fittest in electing since the beginning such a decline in human character and personal quality of our American Presidents ?!

Do NOT buy Sunbeam electric blankets, especially N31-G2-S model, DEFECTIVE and Sunbeam will not stand behind their products !!

It was at least 20 years since the family got new electric blankets so i went shopping on Amazon and Ebay etc. and found a fair price for 3 new Sunbeam brand ones. It was spring or summer so we only used the low setting but now that it is winter and freezing cold, ice forming on the bird bath out here in coastal central California , we tried the medium and higher settings and they do not work !! At any setting we only get low warmth.

So i contacted Sunbeam's agent at esecurecare.net and they recommended a repair company i could send them too, versus full credit for replacements which would have been the right and honorable thing for any company to do. Recommend you avoid Sunbeam as there are other electric bedding manufacturers out there.

Why has Bank of the West pushing near 6%stupid front -loaded FranklinTempleton mutual funds??!!

You would have to be very unread and unadvised by even your nag Mother to bite at either a huge front or back loaded mutual fund, but here is big successful Bank of the West trying to piss off its customers with a huge dumb mistake in investing, a near 6% loaded mutual fund selection !! And Franklin Templeton must think we are all rich and stupid too !

The Best and most gentle Dental Tech in the SF Bay Area!!

Yes, it is important to choose a good dentist who knows a cavity from a car lease payment opportunity. But isn't it the Dental Tech that you see more often, once or twice or three times a year, and who has to clean the calculus and tartar from around your delicate and sensitive gums ?

I highly recommend Mrs. Barbara at Dr. Brown's near 280 and 85. I am in my 50s and have been around , in and out of alot of dental chairs, and for my money or the dental plans in 90 days new job probation, there can't be too many people/Dental Techs with a more considerate and caring , very careful touch. So if you are tired of your dentist or dental tech always criticizing and complaining in your ear about your less than perfect flossing/dental taping daily habit, you should treat your self and your gums to Mrs. Barbara.

Dr. Dean and Ed Muskie were GREAT Presidential Candidates!!

Anyone or any publication that promulgates the misjudgment that Dr. Dean for his unusual laugh, once!, or Ed Muskie for crying, out loud!, were therefore unfit to be President of these United States is stupid and a know-nothing about good character, compared to the current slime of the Bush 43 and 41, Reagan, Clinton, Agnew, Johnson, and all the other very flawed wack jobs some p.r. genius like Rove has sold us, to our national detriment ! Our nation would not know what to do with a man of good character, like the basketball star and congressman,Bill somebody,,, who the press had to nit pick to withdrawal, when there are so many much more obviously flawed characters out there , like Clinton (both). Remember how Congress hated Carter's ethics ?

Time magazine, the nightly tv news,,,Newsweek, they are all out of touch on this and not on the side of a better democratic republic for continuing to say this b.s. And so many people then BELIEVE this 'b.s.' !! Total , unforgivable nonsense. In the future, maybe people will figure out that too many in the news have poor judgment and or a hidden bias. Dr. Dean and Mr. Ed Muskie deserve so much better in the remembered history of this once ,,,great nation.

Carson is such a class act on late night TV !!

Carson did a good job on hosting NBC's New Years Eve in NYC big tv broadcast,,,the celebs seem to like him,,,and he is not so east coast weird as Conan(the talking lips Bush photo is his best bit), who i can not believe is a lock for the west coast's old Tonight Show of Johnny Carson fame, and Jay Leno , who has done well. There is ,and long live !!, a huge difference between east and west coast. Network managers don't get it yet. Dave Letterman, with or without writers, has been getting weirder(those stagehands,,,ugh,,,) and the famous" Top 10" is not as good as it use to be. And Carson has done his time, with seminary and dating that Hollywood blonde ditz. Bill Mayer and John -------, the news cynic are both so smart, current, and funny,,,but for talk show hosts, i hope Carson gets a shot at an earlier than 1am slot.

Time to retire Steve Poizner, the State of Ca. Insurance Commissioner

Forget what he might have said to get elected, but it seems the current State Insurance Commissioner is too soft on big excessive-profits insurance companies, specifically he and his office are not hard enough on dishonest practices like low balling quotes to fraudulently get you into a high pressure salesman's sights.
Do not re-elect Steve Poizner and beware of AARP's Hartford insurance company. Shame on you AARP !!

Maui Hawaii has only one old too small, technology out of date HOSPITAL,,,why?

It is bad enough we have to live in California next to such a corrupt,polluted, incompetent and uneducated country like Mexico, especially with the inability of all recent Governors including Arnold S. to control and properly administer the state of California(CalTrans is totally out of control, and costing us Billion$ in unnecessary incompetence cost overruns on the Bay Bridge Fiasco and Hwy 87, etc.), but now it seems the similarly corrupt politicians in Honolulu are content to let residents and visitors to the island of Maui get sick and die, rather than let good residents like Dr. Kwon continue with the public majority supported and privately funded new ,modern high tech hospital plans of 20 years ,with the funding already online. I am so tired and frustrated by the public good non-representing California state legislature, and now to hear on the Maui public access tv station how the Hawaiian state legislature has sold out and will not do the right thing for its people in such a beautiful place is just too sad.

Burlingame, Ca. is 100 years old,,,whop,,,and STILL denies most of its citizens are RENTERS

I have lived in B-game for about 20 years and it still amazes me that this outwardly-nice-looking small town still is in major denial about it citizenry. The city planning office will tell you too that most of the residences are occupied by renters, like SF, and that the bigger majority of registered voters are ,you guessed it, renters. The problem is the city and its elected mayor and city council are in terminal denial about who they represent, always putting on the election material that they are interested in B-game's "businesses and home owners" !!
Hey, when was the last time a business could vote ?! OK, so most politicians even at this lowly local level have been sold out to any and all fat cats. But still, businesses do not vote, especially if they are owned by people/corporations that are not residents of the small small town of Burlingame.
BPD is a joke and we are getting ripped off on rents where the city does so little for most of us in old buildings with soft regs vs new buildings with tougher rules ,such as only one washer and dryer for over 20 units ,,,ridiculous !! I called the chief of police once because my landlord at the time told me he was a cop, and get this, could walk in to the rented house "any time and any room, occupied by your two female roommates or you,,,anytime, day or night, as i have the key",,,what a crime, right?,,,and the crummy chief said "that is impossible with anyone on our BPD",,,so go talk to this illegal poser as a cop then !! And this landlord-claimed to be a cop DID let himself into our bedrooms !!!, right before we all immediately split.
Maybe B-game has dreams of being another Hillsborough full of the filthy rich this country is going down the drain of by and for, but it is still just an over priced, renter majority, very small town with a HUGE honesty self-image problem.