Why Professional Baseball,,,SUCKS,,,

First,,,a "perfect game" is described as a no-hitter no-run game, just the pitcher and the catcher playing,,,catch.  Eee gods, that is dull.


Second,,,Most of the players are unfit, fat and or out of shape and could not run a good 10k if their lives depended on it. And probably on "performance enhancing" or other drugs.  Boooring,,,


Third,,,They make huge Millions in salaries,,,for hitting a small ball ,,,yet all that tv money seems squandered,,, What about the cities that have to put up with the traffic jams,,,and trash,,,and eye-pollution of seeing orange and black more than once a year in SF.  Yuck.


Fourth,,,the beer and food are overpriced,,,as are the cheap seats that should always go for less than 10 bucks. Uggg,,,


Fifth,,,the pitcher is encouraged to hit the batter with a hard fast baseball, for macho points.  Pitcher brag about it,,,they expect to receive revenge.  THAT is just SICK.


And the OFFICIATING,,,is dumb and blind,,,with no instant replay.

1 June 2010, Will California voters be street-wise again to defeat P.G.&E.'s anti-comsumer Prop.16 ,,,and both Republican Governor candidates, Meg Whitman and the other 'poser' ?

Meg Whitman is spending $Millions with a very short message full of little information. What is she afraid to say about her candidacy?  That she is going to continue the failed policy of Governor Arnold S. of not taxing the rich individuals and rich excess-profit corporations enough, that got us partly into almost the worst/second Great Depression?


Seems she could have and should have paid more taxes, especially Social Security tax on her full income instead of just the 'legal' first $200k.  "Deregulation" has been a failure, with smaller and smaller government unable to properly regulate banks and businesses that have cost us all jobs, savings, and a brighter future. I'll bet Meg Whitman the candidate is against salary accountability, but for take all you can get !!


This is such a wrong basic philosophy for California , now, with massive debt, and a terrible lowest-in-USA bond rating that is costing us too much.  We need a strong candidate who knows the corrupt and unreliable Sacramento Machine that has disregarded the public interest for the corporate rich and individual rich lobbyists interests,,,and who can fight to return some fair and reasonable progressive tax balance to the broke and busted State of California.


Meg Whitman the candidate for state leader Governor is not talking about how she is going to fix all our potholes that make our roads, city and highway, the worst in the USA. 


Whitman is not talking about how she is going to improve our state bond rating so we don't pay way too much as a State to borrow money.


Meg Whitman does not also seem to be talking about how our public school system-other than give up charter schools- is failing with superintendents taking golden parachutes and golden handshakes, when that proposition to limit school districts to a 10% administrative budget was a good idea.   Teacher should just teach, and administrators and the PTA  can do all the rest.  To require teachers to do more than teach for so little pay just perpetuates a system where most young idealistic teachers quit the field in just a few years.


But Meg Whitman the candidate for California Governor seems to be trying to buy the office, instead of full disclosure and the willingness to lead us all, not just the already spoiled and greedy rich individuals and corporations.


Do you know what terrible secret back room tax cut deals and not so secret embarrassing deals cities and counties and the State of California have made in the past and recently ?  The City of Monterey get $1/year from part of the HP massive fortune from the Monterey Bay Aquarium !? Shame on HP  for making such a terrible public image deal with their smarter and higher paid lawyers, as the aquarium would not and practically could not be sited anywhere else but Monterey.  How does Monterey pay for the additional policing and trash impact ?  And MBAQ has many rich and generous donors,,,Shame shame shame on you HP, Packard family, and City of Monterey for making such a bad for the public interest 'deal' !!


Is candidate Meg Whitman not going to raise taxes on those that can easily afford is ,,,so California becomes even more of a third world state, with failing infrastructure that IS the State of California's responsibility ?!!  Shame shame shame on you California state govt for closing the adequate and many state mental hospitals in the 1970s and kicking those legally insane and mentally ill to the sidewalks of SF !!


What is she going to do with/about the state highway dept. , CalTrans, that failed to see the east Bay Bridge should not have been repaired after the 1989 quake one top section failure, when the whole dumb thing was built on wood in 1936 in the mud and the water !!
And now CalTrans has directly cost us Californians by its incompetence in mishandling the replacement bridge contract not the original $1Billion in bloated cost,,,but over $10Billion IN COST OVERRUNS !!


Candidate Meg Whitman is not talking about a lot she should be talking a lot about as a possible leader.  We have had too many bad Governors, like her supporter Grey Davis, the only Governor kicked out of office for lying to us about deregulating home gas and electric energy and the price would go down,,,not up, as it did,,, 4xs the first month for some. And bankrupted the state(Enron dvd,also Electric car dvd). Good riddance Grey Davis,,,and Meg Whitman,,,and do little, tax not enuf Governor Arnold S.!!


And you, PG&E, will not deceive us California voters EITHER !!  We remember you costing us $5B with these new unreliable home meters,,,and 'Erin Brockovich' movie !!  You can not be trusted and need to be very strongly regulated !!

Spring 2010 and the Disasterous Gulf BP oil spill,,,All it would have taken on day one, was a U.S. non-nuclear torpedo to seal the leak.

But BP and regrettably the Feds too are complacent with this environmental disaster.

NEWSFLASH: NbcBayAreaTV says that Comcast Cable customers loosing tv for "3 days is not news,as they are know as the worst",,,But NBC also saying this is NOT news is NEWS !!

Could NBC, ABC, and CBS be any lazier and irresponsible in gathering local relevant news?

SHAME on local KTVU2, KRON4,KQED9 and nation news ABC, CBS, and NBC ,,, for not sending one camera out on 11-12pm 15 April 2010 to catch on news video the failure of the USPS in making tax drop off work !!

This year there were only 2 post offices in the entire Bay Area, Oakland and SFO Airport where i was at 1150pm unable to drop off my completed taxes because of incompetent SF traffic cops and unprepared USPS staff,,,over a hundred cars were stuck in a jam, and people were bailing out of passenger seats 2 and 3 blocks away and running in the last 15 minutes,,,


But you will never see that news footage,,,because the major new agencies were too lazy to send a news crew out at 11pm.  Sad how soft and overpaid our local tv newsreaders have become,,,

Gee golly gosh that total failure of a City of Oakland in financial jeopardy,,,is PUBLICLY BOYCOTTING Arizona for trying to control ILLEGAL ALIENS,,,

And the Mayor of Oakland, a black, has still failed to keep his 'word' to cut his salary.


It is like Oakland pissing into the wind,,,

Is UVA soft on female violence, with female roommates who don't call the cops IMMEDIATELY,,,and a public bar fight?

Is this more of that 'Southern gentleman' behavior?

South San Jose, California's NEWEST ,,,WHOLE FOODS,,,at Blossom Hill and Almaden Expressway is due to open in AUGUST 2010 !!

THANK YOU,
THANK YOU,
THANK YOU,
WHOLE FOODS !!!
Try the lobster bisque soup,,,yum!!

South San Jose, California FINALLY has a new LOWE's near WalMart at Monterey Road and Blossom Hill, but how do you get to it ???

Thank you,
Thank you, 
Thank you,
LOWE'S !!!

Wonder if Meg Whitman is going to hold public school administration accountable,,,or just let them continue robbing from the system with bloated salaries, golden parachutes, and golden handshakes with little true accountability?

 The California ballot measure to require all public schools K-12 to live within a 10% budget WAS A GOOD IDEA.  Just because the infamously corrupt and bloated incompetent LOS ANGELES UNIFIED PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM was the primary agent against it should not have mattered, but for all their campaign cash.  LAUPSD is INFAMOUS in this state for wasting public school money in their Los Angeles largest-in-state district for instance by buying literature-based books one year and phonics-based books the next.  Also a bloated inefficient staff. The laughing stock of the state in public school districts.

Before the news public gets all excited about SF being virtuous on the distant Arizona illegal immigrants, let us not forget this current administration is soft on raw human sewage being current dumped into SF Bay

My boss was told by the current SF administration 'not to worry about prosecution' for dumping raw human waste into parking lot storm drain and SF Bay. For months.


Same for San Mateo County, the main administrator knew about SFO Airporter bus dumping for months into the bay, as did the Mayor of South San Francisco in San Mateo County.  The San Mateo County Health Administrator knew, as did the San Mateo County  Storm Drain staff, and Cal-OSHA.


SF Bay Area politicians think and treat SF Bay like a garbage dump. Don't fool yourself thinking otherwise.

In California, we are being duped by terrible State Ed. incompetence and Superintendents of public schools with golden handshakes, golden parachutes,

bloated salaries and little or no performance based compensation !!

No wonder the State is bleeding red debt ink !!

Kaiser's Patient-Satisfaction Survey,,,is RIGGED,,,with all fixed answers and limited subjects !!

No free space to bring up subjects like "pain medication" or "does the doctor know how to dress a bandage" or "do the rns and mas wash their hands every time they come into the room to change your bandage",,,

Obviously, Kaiser does NOT WANT TO KNOW,,,or have complete stats from its patients.

IF,,,Acura is the "luxury" brand for Honda,,,then there must be more clear coat layers on an Acura, right?

Why do all the car mfgs keep the number of clearcoats of paint so secret?? A body shop guy told me better cars with better paint jobs have more coats,,,

Just be glad you only watched it on tv from the comfort of your own home; Price gouging at the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010

Friends who went said a regular sandwich and can of soda cost ,,,$25 !!

"Romney for President 2012",,,Is Time magazine conservatively sniffing too much of its own ink,,,or just in denial ?

Governor Romney had his chance on the national stage, as head of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, a blew it as anything other than a laissez-faire failure: He hired subcontractors that lied cheated and mistreated employees hired,like myself, from all over the USA. His responsibility; No one else's.

And for Time magazine to ignore or short-term memory forget the disaster that was Romney's SLC 2002 Olympics is shocking in a major news seller. Let us not forget so soon, that bus drivers were hired and promised over $18 an hour to leave their homes, say in SF, and drive for days to work a "maximum of 10-12 hours/day" at the Olympics. On arrival we were collectively by bus company and individually told that that pay contract verbal promise was negated and we would work from "6am-2am, with only 4 hours off to sleep each day", a totally unsafe premise, since Federal law for a 45' commercial bus requires 10 hrs off after the usual max. of 14 hrs work each day.

Plus , we were told to leave our mini or full size buses at the central yard and use the employee shuttle to our hotels or dumpy apartments. But that was never an efficient system ,if it took 30 minutes each way to get to your lodging. At this lodging , we /my group were only given 2 sheets and one thin blanket. I politely asked a few times for another blanket,,,and was ignored, in Winter, in Salt Lake City. My boss in SF said he would pay for an electric blanket and a quilt or fiberfill cover, but on return that was a lie too. The major stores were /had put away, in Winter!!, already all of their electric blankets and most of the fiberfill comforters,,,and replaced them with pre-'seasonal' swimsuits !! This is IN WINTER,,,AT THE OLYMPICS !!

This bus hours of operation non-sense did not last long, for the public's safety, thank God !! I quit after a week(and was fired in SF) and so did many bus companies , like Hotdogger bus company, out of Southern California. Call them and they will easily verify this. Many drivers quit over 1/2pay, unsafe hours, and lousy work conditions, such as the luxury hotel in Park City repeatedly telling drivers they should not try or expect to use the hotel's lobby public toilet, as long as the 'v.i.p.s' of Sports Illustrated were there. Since there was no other toilet option, we ignored these pompous ridiculous tour guides and hotel staff.

The subcontractor sent people out during the Olympics to find other sucker bus drivers. But there were other problems, such as them telling us to "not bother bringing snow chains to this Winter Olympics, as the roads will constantly be plowed". Yet on the opening morning , in Park City at about 7000' there was only about 2 ft of snow pack on the ground. And it was snowing, with 2-3 inches of new snow on the roads ,,,and not a plow in sight. The other driver and i consulted , as he from Maryland did not bring snow chains, and i had. We called the plow and dispatch on our 2-way radio, but it took a long time with very impatient 'v.i.p.s', until they saw the Maryland driver fishtailing and sliding all over the road up to Deer ski area !! Then, total silence,,,Nothing like putting lives at risk visually to get the ridiculously obvious bad plan changed.

I would like Time magazine and all the other major new outlets-sellers to explain now why they thought it was so important to cover-up the fact that Park City in 2002 at the beginning/first week of the Winter Olympics, had so little snow and was going to have to make snow to be successful. I would also like to know why they covered up the fact that our 'custom designed map books' were full of major errors and we had to spend 2-3 days, before the start of the Winter Olympics going around and driving the preferred route ,,,and changing many of these maps.

If security was so high at these 2002 Winter Olympic Games, then why did i have my father's name on my i.d. badge instead of my different name ?

In summary, Time magazine may like to forget Romney's huge public failure--i tried to get in the opening ceremony and was told it was "over $200 a seat, a close to sold out already to corporate sponsors and the media"--at such a "public" event, but hopefully the Blog-osphere will keep them and the Republicans/ politicians more honest.

Recently a medical research lab working on CANCER and VITAMIN D,,,for 25 YEARS,,,finally reported

that vitamin D destroys cancer cells when applied directly in a microscope's dish !!

But why did they wait,,,and sit on this valuable medical news,,,for 25 YEARS ?

Costco item #503061, Moo Shu Chicken Wraps, ANOTHER POOR-BAD TASTING ENTREE you don't have to buy,,,and TOSS OUT

The plastic box looked good , as did the picture label.

But the taste is down there with ,,,cardboard,,,,even with the ample supply of sauce packets.

Yuck-0 !!

Feb.2010, Our Federal Govt. is in a lobbyist-controlled mess, with the joint failure of Fanny and Freddy !!

And what ,,,if anything, is the new Democratic Party majority doing about this governing crisis in Washington, D.C. that allows 2 huge mortgage institutions to just,,,fail?

Not enough.

2010 Australian Open Tennis, Henin vs Serena Williams,,,and BOTH are overwhelmed with fear,,,and play high school level tennis in the first few games

Serena Williams , the comment-kluckers say, has made over $30M, playing when stressed/pressed high school level tennis !! And Henin has made over $20 MILLION in her career,,,SO MANY DOUBLE FAULTS AND UNFORCED ERRORS,,,holy shit, when playing high school level tennis in the first two games of this contest !! I know the winner and loser get paid well and you only have to win each game , even at the lowly level of women's tennis, to succeed. You don't have to play great tennis, just good enough to win. Yikes, such lousy play,,,and such enormous financial rewards. Why aren't more athletic women with good self-esteem and self-confidence getting in on this easy-money career?

Before the match, the comment-kluckers were comparing the forehands, the backhands , the first serves, and the second serves of both. What a waste of time !! Let's be real because what really matters is how confident a tennis player is ,or will they fall apart not physically but mentally-emotionally and self-defeat themselves. Both were obviously so nervous in the first few games--Serena pounding balls into the net, hitting balls off the court,,,and Henin hitting long which is sooo high school--that it was a matter of who was going to self-defeat first, rather than who could play better tennis.

Men's tennis is played at such a higher skill level than women's tennis. It is like day and night. Serena would not last one game with Federer or win one point in a match!! But the usual winners and usual losers in women's tennis keep playing and making millions, even at such embarrassing sloppy emotionally-frail high school level of play. When will women's tennis reach a skill level, not just pay level, even 70-80% of that of men's tennis !? And the commentators keep ignoring the obvious and bla-bla-bla-ing,,,

I CAN NOT WATCH,,,the level of play is just too low and embarrassing for the term 'professional'(does that just mean getting paid to play?),,,and it looks, again, like the more talented player will have confidence problems and Henin self-destruct,,,

With $Millions give to Cancer research every year, why do we not hear yearly how they are doing ??

How far away IS the cause and cure for ,say, breast cancer ? 10 years,,,50 years,,,200 years ?

Why is American medical research so silent on their progress,,,with our millions and billions in donations ?!

Jan.2010, California is officially 'broke' and 'busted', as it can not even afford to keep the prisoners in prision

What are the Republican candidates for Governor going to do, 'reduce the size and cost of government' even more, so we have violent convicted felons housed in our garages,,,?

Government serves a real and we are learning vital purpose, and to say that you can cut taxes drastically and reduce the size of govenment and run government on huge generation-busting debt,,,is just plain IRRESPONSIBLE. Corporations and multinationals do not need any more govt. welfare !!

Jan.2010,the U.S.A, must to survive return to steep progressive income tax rates

"Trickle down economics" has not worked,,,,The much ballyhooed "Contract with America" was a blueprint for national self-destruction, by the Republicans. We must raise taxes on the rich and super-rich, that can certainly afford it.

"UP IN THE AIR" , the new movie,,,be prepared,,,is very sad, depressing, tragic and lonely

The Europeans like alot of these ,,,but don't be fooled by the upbeat 'trailer' and 'movie poster',,,this is a VERY SAD MOVIE.

Instead , recommend "BLIND SIDE" with a poor abandoned black kid who is taken in by a super rich white family and becomes a more loving connected successful human being. Why are african-americans so accepting of high school dropouts, drugs and violence in their American communities,,,still ?

Recent arrival Latinos, too,,,Don't they value education, the rule of law and justice, their black brothers and sisters, and good health ?

Jan.2010, the Australia Open Tennis,,,another year of embarassing womens tennis ?!

Thank you, Tennis God, for bringing back Ms. Henin , Ms.Clisters, and a few young competent women challengers !! Otherwise, there is ,compared to the quality of men's tennis, so little quality to watch on the women's side. It is night and day in quality, generally.

The match play between Serena Williams vs Petra Kvitova, was not so much a 'win' for Serena as a total mental-fear meltdown for Petra. So embarrassing to watch !! The commentators were b.s.-ing as usual when the Williams sisters play, not pointing out their terrible footwork nearly stepping on themselves, and being so fat-ass out of shape unfit and being so unconfident mentally that they easily crumble into lousy beginner shots in the net or wild off court. And the negative muttering,,,

And poor Petra Kvitova had the cola-high to say she wanted to be a serious player and number one some day! Then she gets on the court with Serena, who is obviously less fit than she is,,,and is even playing less well than Petra,,,but due to fear, that illogical emotion,,,Petra does not see the reality of her good chances of winning, but due to weak self-esteem or self confidence and fear of winning, Petra totally falls apart and defeats herself. Does she not have a box of fans or a coach to cheer her on ?!! Serena did NOT win, but Petra 'choked', failed to control her feelings and use the reality of her correct perceptions that that day she WAS a better player than Serena. Petra, play a lot of men and women in black leotards to overcome the novelty of beating a black leotard,,,if you want to be a winner, and not a professional 'choker' at tennis like so many women of the past.

Now i am watching the match of Venus Williams vs Casey Dellacqua, who HAS beaten Sprem. But Venus, the former 'champion', is lowering her play to that of Casey !! Champions, true professional, talented, in control, confident champions ,,,DO NOT DO THAT. Casey, you too need to play aLOT of men and women in black tights, becuz you can not see the reality for your fears and emotions,,,the reality that you can beat Venus vs your fear of the word 'champion' with Venus. Tennis is such a confidence game that if you do not see and take advantage when you in reality have an advantage over your opponent, you can defeat yourself. It is a physical and very mental-fitness game !! The stats SCREAM 'this is junior high school play!!': Venus vs Casey,,,1st serve % is 55-52, and DF/double faults is 7!!-3 for Casey, and UE/unforced errors is 36!!-35 . Venus had more DFs and UEs than the fat slow no-run kid Casey.

Like Petra, who did not need an opponent, but would have continue to lose with no one else on the court ,,,because she had already lost the mental-emotional-confidence-perception of reality game of tennis !!

Timeshares,,,Everyone i know who suckers and buys one has had SERIOUS BUYER'S REMORSE afterwards,,,

People start making some money, like my public school teacher sister, and they think "oh, i can afford something luxurious like a ,,,timeshare" unwise thinking !! She bought one in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico,,,and now they are killing American tourist in the fancy resorts complexes down there !!

Timeshares are a bad bad BAD IDEA,,,for most people. Period.

If you are a GP-M.D. or a PCP-M.D. who has not yet talked to everyone of your patients about getting both flu shots,,,you may be a big part of the USA

medical problem !!

My Kaiser doctor did not tell me or talk to me about getting both the regular and the swine flu shot. Nor that if you get either, or a temperature over 100F and sick, Kaiser will NOT ADMIT YOU,,,even tho you are sick and near death !!

San Jose's Classic Car Washes will cloth pad machine buff your headlights clear like new for $50,,,Acura dealers want $180

Classic Car Wash has four locations in Silicon Valley. I used the Robertsville location on Almaden Expressway. My headlight lenses now look almost as good as new, buffed all 4 for $50. I do recommend Classic Car Wash !!

Acura ,,,is not a luxury car brand to me, but just another Honda

My driver's door window slowed down too much by year 3-4. Is there a speed setting feature to increase the speed as the car and window motor age ? No. Buy another window motor. And have it wear out and go too slow in 3-4 years !! Talk about bad design !!

Even the driver's seat belt retracting spring got too slow and too weak by the 3rd year !! Is there a feature to adjust and speed or increase the action of that driver's seat belt spring ? No. Buy a replacement part at outrageous prices !!

By 5 years the plastic , 'sealed' unit headlights, at about $500 each to replace, developed a sun-damage surface haze on the plastic headlight lens, almost as if it had been spray painted white. Acura dealers want $180 to cloth pad buff for a few minutes this plastic aging haze off !! And in San Jose, Classic Car Wash will do it for $50 !! Acura should be doing it for free, after selecting an inferior plastic instead of safety glass lenses.

I "Perma-plated" the paint, but it did not last from the dealer at about $500 for even one year !! What a waste,,,and think of all the hand wax jobs i could have bought for $500 !!

Does every Acura come standard with leather seats, a choice of 5 spoke wheels, dual vanity mirrors, keyless remote and security system, regular or unleaded gas or clean diesel option, and free oil changes like BMW,,,?

Probably not. Therefore , save your money and buy a Lexus or a real luxury car brand,,,not an over-priced and un-luxury 'Acura' Honda !!

The Greenest quick action the President could take any day,,,would be to time the stop lights on every Expressway and major boulevard-divided street

in America !! This would help every city and every county in the USA, IMMEDIATELY. With less smog created stopped or slow going in traffic just because of untimed stoplights, and less time wasted waiting for stupid untimed stoplights ,like most we have here in Silicon Valley.

What is the point of being the manufacturing hub for computers, the original Silicon Valley, when we do not benefit socially and environmentally and practically !?

We got the massive ground water pollution, but the city and county and state and federal politicians will not give us the regulated safe under-the-speed-limit practical flow of traffic !! Instead we get massive traffic jams, mainly because the cities like San Jose are too lazy for decades to time the major street stop lights !!

This is so backward and stupid and impractical,,,and polluting and wasteful !!

And the new Democrats in Washington, D.C. don't seem to be much better than the Republicans at facing up to the many neglected problems America faces,,,

If you are a Kaiser patient and do not get either flu vac., but get a 101F fever and flu-like symptoms,,,Kaiser says you will be denied admission to

the Kaiser Hospitals !!

Yikes,,,most people,then, best get the regular annual flu vaccination,,,and the 'swine' flu vaccination.

The male nurse today said that over 50,000 Americans die each year from the regular flu !! I said 'that is alot' and he said 'no, that is normal'.

Don't be counted among the careless death toll.

31 Dec 2009, on PBS's "Newhour" program, Paul Solman asks why most economists missed our recent near-Super Crash,,,It's obviously the rich potential

profiting with little risk. That is the what super-rich, very well educated, 'privileged' , ambitious and very well off have done for themselves and against society and the less fortunate since history began. The Greeks, the Romans, the French, the British colonialists, even the smart, wise, should ethically act better and should have better control of their greed and selfish avarice Americans. It is all about 'me', me, me,,, and not about democracy or the declining middle class needing a pay raise or being willing to pay your fair share of taxes.

Let's make more fun of,,,for instance ,,,Donald Trump. He thinks he is a big success. We laugh at his funny comb-over hair. But isn't his selfish super-wealthy out-of-control ambition more of a cautionary tale ? Some less wise may still want to be just as super-rich and ambitious like him and others,,,

T.S.A. has been a joke for years,,,so why do we put any trust in them!?

December 2009,,,I worked the first week of the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002,,,and left on a new Southwest Airlines plane, after going thru TSA inspection that involved my baggage going inside a machine the size of a house's kitchen,,, with the solo operator, a woman , reading a romance novel !! This was an event that the Feds promised would have "maximum security". What a farce.

When you rent a "beach house" in California, Beware of the fine print that might say "leave as clean as you found it,or lose all security deposit"

December 2009,,,Our family rented a new, huge 'beach house' in Southern California for the Christmas holiday week. It even had wi-fi and was right on the beach !!

The week went by so fast , with walks on the beach, dining at delicious local fresh and new to us restaurants, and having time together to relax and read our books or Kindles. But then the last day came and we read the 'fine print' check out proceedure: we would lose all of our security deposit unless we left it as clean as we found it, unlike a 4 star hotel room.

That meant that on our very expensive rental house Christmas vacation,,,we were ,,,sweeping and mopping the floors,,,,putting all the dishes through the dishwasher and shelving them,,,washing all the bedding sheets for a huge house and making all the beds,,,(is this normal??!!),,,and vacuuming the carpets and rag dusting all the hardwood floors,,,We even Windex-ed all the inside windows for fear of losing any or all of our large security deposit !!

Why have a "property manager" that we talked to as an owner,,,if you are going to piss-off all the renters with a too strict cleaning policy? We are civilized, all college educated, and would not think of trashing or damaging someone else's home we were guests in. But to not leave it undamaged but uncleaned like a 4 star hotel room was a SHOCK!! we definitely will watch out for on our next luxury expensive vacation home rental experience inside the USA.

BEWARE,,,

Beware of "Corelle" brand of white dishware,,,they carry dirt/stains from dishwashing to dishwashing

My 90 yr old parents thought it would be a good idea to get rid of the white plastic plates they had used for years and the shine had worn off, so they bought a cheap set of "Corelle" that was very white and very shiny, thinking it would be low maintenance and easy to clean.

Instead, the backs of alot of the dinner plates have this grey haze that you can not scrub off with a kitchen sink scrub sponge and dish soap !! So they went back to the store and bought some "Corelle" polishing cream,,,for every day dishes !!??!! But it does not work very well or at all. This is crazy,,,

They are very weak and like the light weight of such dinnerware and dishes,,,were i have glazed ceramic plates that are much easier to clean, and look cleaner, but are much heavier, tho cheap.

I voted for Obama and "Change",,,but after almost a year all i see is "small change"

The first crisis of President Obama's term was of course the neglect and incompetence and "Deregulation" of almost everything by the Republicans that almost financially and economically crashed us all back to a 1929 Great Depression. Instead of kicking the fat cats out of banking and finance and the govt agencies full of do-corporations-bidding deregulators, President Obama hired Mr. s Paulson and Bernacke and the other guy. Why a bunch of guys who profited extremely off the losses of the USA and advocated for decades in the past more of the same stupid failed "deregulation" policy that favors bankers way above consumers? Why not a more balanced ,fair-minded person like Mr. Volker ?

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

Then the President Obama who said he would be more honest and lead us in fairness allowed the huge bank bailout to be misnamed and misdirected as "TARP" for toxic assets, when it made the bankers rich enough to buy other banks and still have the U.S. economy on the cliff with too big to fail attitudes and policies. The toxic assets are still there and not devalued as much as they should , even tho we common Americans have paid and paid with tax dollars at low interest for bankers in the first years to score record profits and pay their secretaries at firms like Goldman Sacks $500,000.oo, for a secretary !!

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

Then there was the threat, still there now in Dec 2009, of the 'swine flu' or asian H1N1 flu, and the regular flu. Did the new President use the most advanced technology that had been proven for years of growing vaccines in cells versus the old slow method of growing them in eggs ? No. Remember the utter failure of Chiron? And the regular flu vaccine was at least a month late this year 2009. And most of us can not get the H1N1 swine flu deadly-threat vaccination. It is late December, 2009.

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

Then there was the long and strong campaign promise by the new President Obama and the now majority Democrats to do a major positive overhaul of the nation's medical care, that failed so easily in 1993-94 under President Clinton. Why all this talk about Mecicare for all, when we could have V.A. care for all, or the better Senator-Federal Health Care for all,an option, who wanted to pay for it ?? You could see Congress delaying and talking this to death, to avoid their responsibility to the public citizen electorate and instead do what the fat-cat lobbyists from the banking and insurance and medical industries. This was a central campaign promise, and the Democrats were assuming ,as usual, we got elected and the public will forget. So wrong. I am on the verge of registering as a Green Party voter!!

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democratic Party.

We still are suffering in California under a total fiscal failure state government, bankrupt, with no hope in sight from the Federal Government or Republican (failure) Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger . And the masses are frustrated enough to vote ,they say, for more do-nothing-beneficial Republicans !!

The environment is still just as much in peril as under the Republicans, with the Pebble Mine in Alaska going forward.

The cellphone market is so unfair and dishonest, unlike more civilized Europe, and where is any signifigant 'change' ?

Many thousands have lost jobs,,,and there in no massive public works program to rebuild our decades of neglect national infrastructure from roads and highways, to bridges, railroads, gps digitize airports vs inept radarmen, radio, and traditions,,,

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

The Republicans still think they are in charge, since 1980, back in Washington, D.C.,,,and the Democrats are letting them get away with anything and almost everything,,,with no hope in sight. Were is the public-voter-citizen march on Washington in strong protest peacefully ? Will we have to have a Constitutional Amendment making "money not equal to a vote",as the current Supreme Court says,,, and banning lobbyist money from all federal and state elections and using public free radio and free tv time and public funding instead ??!!

The T.S.A. is a total failure, proven again this Christmas Day by a known terrorist being allowed to land in Detroit with a bomb, but Congress is still one-issue delay at a time doing little or nothing about all our many backlogged problems federally and in each state.

The President has failed to live up to his campaign and lead the American people and instead has made deals with the drug industry and the medical insurance industry, behind closed doors, as historically usual. What did we vote for in this "Change" ?

I was surprised and a little disappointed in the new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

And the President promised to wind down the Iraq war, but is now increasing the Afgan war, when we do not have the American blood or taxes to pay for it. The corrupt cockeyed Republican tax cut for the rich is still in effect, making an elite class of super-rich who can not be hurt by the bad economy, massive foreclosures, job loses, and terrible state of the nation in general. I did not vote for more unaccountable Generals -from- the- Pentagon wars. Where are all the peace marches that were so effective in the last major war folly, VietNam ?

I was surprised and a little disappointed in the new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

Senator Pelosi 's office is not powerful enough to do it all,,, and lead us. Currently we have a distinct critical failure in leadership. The new President is new, and tho a lawyer, must step up to his office, his campaign, and this moment in history. We are still waiting,,,

Christmas Day!! 25 Dec 2009, and a Nigerian 'known' terrorist is allowed on a plane landing in Detroit,,,with a BOMB !!(T.S.A. is a FAILURE !! )

When will President Obama and the Congress wake up to the fact that TSA is a total strategic failure ? That harassing every American, especially war decorated American veterans , with shoe and belt removal and their current slow security checks, is just bad failed policy ??

When will the American public that flies say 'Enough is enough!" with TSA and demand that the Administrator be fired and a new computer-based, intelligence-based strategy is used instead ?

I will not choose to fly,,,but will drive,,,as much as i can, until the idiots at TSA, the the sleeping lazy Congress fix this !!

Stupid, stupid stupid Alaska, like California is dependent on tourism, now has a 2 King/yr limit for visitors and NOW a 1 halibut vs 2 /day limit for

non-residents !! And you, stupid Alaska, think i am going to pay airfare on the lost-luggage experts airline Alaska,,,pay for a fishing lodge or waterside hotel,,,and a rental car,,,to only fish and possibly keep one halibut a day ?! Dumb dumb dumb as your last Governor,,,

I elected President Obama thinking he was more 'dove' than 'hawk',,,my mistake ??

I / we wanted out of Iraq,,,and we don't have it yet. Now the new President is going to yield to the corrupt , lying (Still about friendly fire, the Generals, in the football player-Ranger soldier cover-up !!,,,) Pentagon and Miltary Industrial Congress Complex / MICC that President Eisenhower warned us against as he left office, a great service for a President greater than Truman, the atom bomb tempermentalist.

So now we are stuck,,,bleeding,,,dying,,,maiming in Afghanistan, such a hell hole of corruption and primitive politics unready for any kind of democracy,,loosing soldiers, wasting billions and $ trillions ,we do not have to waste,,,

Hopefully there are some peace advocates left in Congress among all the re-election campaign , lobbyist sellouts of the voters representation and respect. But doubt it,,,

So sad,,,our military keeps getting us in these fraudulent , no chance whatsoever of 'victory' foreign battle conflicts,,,So sad,,,

"Dancing with the Stars" ,,,so disappointed in pro.judges soft scores,,,should be called "Voting for your star with a little Dancing"

There is no way Donnie Osmond is a better dancer than Mya, and deserves a "30" vs her "28". Such soft 'high school ' grading is called 'social promotion' and a sin, that allowed such low effort and low talent to last so long, and be overwhelmed by popular voting. Can we just have one voter per viewer?!!

I will miss you, Edyta,,,and the young blonde,,,

But i have had it with the Pro. Judges brown-nosing and soft-grading of mediocre talent, like the snowboarder and football player and Kelly, who tried,,, but not as hard or well as Mya.

I will no longer watch, so there commercial sponsors !!

California is sooo "BROKE AND BUSTED",,,the press and media are afraid to talk about it,,,so are the STATE UNIVERSITIES !!

In the late 1930s my Mom paid $26/semester ,,,or $52/yr for tuition at UCLA,,,That is $108 in tuition for four years of the highest education in California at the time. Books were additional , but her family lumber yard business meant they did not suffer in the Depression, unlike her husband's family farm repossessed by Bank of America.

My lazy blonde sister went to UCBerkeley in the 1970s and paid $125 /quarter . That would be $375 tuition for 3 quarters, with the summer off to go to Europe.

In 1966-1970 I paid $50/semester or $400 for 4 years tuition at the average education institution of San Jose State College(now "university",which it is not,such a joke,,,a pig is still a pig,,,even if you call it a 'sow',,,). Books were much much more expensive ,since we were annually ripped off by the private company of 'Roberts Books'. SJSU still,,,in Silicon Valley,,,does not have a big eTextbook program run by the U. or Student Union...

What does all this mean, now that UCBerkeley is charging $10,000/yr and wants to charge more ? The Republicans have won and 'pubic education' sells to the highest bidder, there is little regard for the pubic good in a well-educated electorate, and we can refuse California residents who qualify in favor of foreigners and out-of-staters who can be charged more,,,

"Market economy" and Market State Legislature,,,we let the state lawmakers sell themselves to the highest bidder,,,and now we the public, the residents, the voters are reaping the destruction of that stupid idea.

California is broke, our State government is busted, and there is not rescue or hope on the horizon,,,The Feds won't save us,,,The Democrats and the no-plan just obstruct and lie Republicans certainly won't save us,,,Maybe the Green Party should formulate and discuss publically a plan. Otherwise California will continue to be the laughing stock of the US of A for public stupidity in Deregulating home energy with Republican Governor Grey Davis(we did at least kick his sorry-ass out of office!!), the then self-inflicted Enron debacle that CalPers was stupid enough to invest in and lost the State Pension millions, and the voters wisely took away the corrupting gerrymandering of guaranteed districts drawn by legislators only to have the State Government drive the State Budget over a cliff and Bankrupt the State of California.

Could it get any worse in California? Oh, we could elect another Republican Governor who is primarily concerned with 'helping businesses in the state' ,,,versus helping all of us in the state,,,

If MSN Hotmail has put you on the "suspected blogger list" with not 300 sendable emails, but less than 50, because you have large family and friends

,,,you share with, I recommend Google Chrome and Google Gmail . Just because i send something to 10-20 friends and family does not mean i am a "spammer", tho that is the way Microsoft has labeled me. And they have basically little or no customer service for this, so it has been months of confirming ,,,waste of time !!,,,every email !!

I am so DONE with Microsoft and their lack of or shoddy customer service !!

If you are thinking of buying a home in San Jose, you had better look at CrimeReport.com's map of crimes ,,,SHOCKING !!

It is amazing how many Burglaries and Vehicle Thefts and Assault-Battery happen in the "Willow Glen" Greater Neighborhood !!

Evogear.com in Seattle has r.e.d. Avid ski helmets for $68 total ,,,versus REI at $79 plus shipping and tax !!

Website malfunctioned twice, but i phoned and was so easy to buy and ship from EVOGEAR.COM !! ,,,1-866-386-1590

Have been web shopping for weeks,,,No joy with Amazon,,,No joy with most major ski websites,,,Burton was sold out already of the matt black XXL,,,Great design and fab prices,,,!!

Beware of another tourist scam, in Rome Italy at the Train Station; Beware of the men in "Official Turismo White Suits"

My girlfriend , very hot, and i flew into Milan and took the train to Rome. It was a beautiful day,afternoon, in the big open space/ plaza in front of the train station, and we were talking about what we should do next and decided to start looking for one of the recommended hotels from our two guide books, Rick Steve's and Harvard's LetsGo.

Then this very handsome guy in a white suit walks up to us and introduces himself as "an official tourism guide of Rome" and welcomes us. He asks if we are looking for a restaurant or hotel and "can he be of service". We were your typical trusting Americans, my 4th time in Europe and her first, so we said 'yes, thank you!!' (What suckers we were,,,!!)

He lead us a few blocks to an old building after asking us what our budget was, and we walked into what looked like a 4 STAR HOTEL LOBBY !! The men and women behind the reception desk were dressed to the 9s, and we told him we did not think we could afford "a place as super fancy as this". He reassured us he knew the owners 'personally' and would get us a very good rate. (Could we have been more gullible ?!!)

He talked in Italian to the staff and they offered us a room. Now i know and usually do the smart European thing of ASKING TO SEE THE ROOM FIRST BEFORE SIGNING ANYTHING or paying anything,,,but i was with the hot love of my life, at the time, and this guy was in his official white fancy suit with the badges and emblems,,,so we did not PREVIEW THE ROOM,,,We paid by cash,oops, instead of Master Card or AX, oops, and thanked the White Suit Tourist Official who was quickly out the door.

We then asked for directions to our room with key in hand. It was "just around the corner and upstairs,,," big cheesy smile,,, As we rounded the corner of the Lobby, the decor suddenly became very plain,,,and then very ugly and unkept/dirty !! We walked by the bath/toilet area and both of us GASPED is was so ugly and unclean,,,When we got to the room , we carefully opened the door, fearing a swarm of cockroaches like on Barbados the previous year,,, It was HORRIBLE, THE MOST UNATTRACTIVE UGLY BARE SHABBY UNCLEAN ROOM YOU MIGHT IMAGINE !! My girl started crying "i can't sleep HERE !! i can't shower in THERE !!"

So brave foolish me goes down to the front desk and asks for a different, better room. "No have." Went back upstairs and talked to my then HOT girlfriend, and we decided that we would just stay one night instead of the 3 we had planned, versus loose all our money for that night. Maybe we should have just packed up and left,,,

It was one of the worst rooms, and i have been in cheap shabby 'closet' rooms in Paris,,,and attic bare sad rooms in Britain,,,but this room and scam WAS THE WORST !!

The lesson is, do what the wise Europeans do, EVERY TIME AS IT IS NORMAL AND EXPECTED, IN PREVIEWING YOUR ROOM ,,,BEFORE YOU PAY.

And watchout for the scam in Rome of men in fancy white "official turismo" white suits !!

The Republicans, when they failed at being in power federally, GAVE Pakistan over A BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR,,,FOR 6 LONG YEARS,,,What a waste !!

Pakistan and Afghanistan are famous for corruption and political primitivism,,,so what did we taxpayers "get" for over $6 BILLION DOLLARS given to the super-corrupt Pakistanis ? More terrorist, and more anti-American enemies. What a waste !!

Afghanistan was just voted the "most corrupt country in the world, after Somalia" !! Holy Crap, and our Federal Government is planning on staying longer than the 8 years of bloodied American soldiers, amputated arms and legs American soldiers, profligate waste by the Pentagon in substandard weaponry like the unprotected from 'ied' Humvee loser of a vehicle,,,?!! Britain lost its 'Great' pissing away a nations fortune in stature, power and wealth by colony fiddling in such places as India, the middle east, and Afghanistan,,,and we can not learn from that recent lesson ?!! Holy crap,,,are we ever in trouble.

Nov. 2009, I do not recommend AT & T cellphone service

When i turn on my 5 year old AT&T cellphone, it says "Cingular", but when i go into "Cingular" stores they say they can not help me and i need to find an "AT&T"store !!

Now, i am told my 32-bit SIM card chip is "too old" and i need to pick up a free 64-bit SIM card chip at an "AT&T" store, which i did. But it does not work in my "too old" 5 year old phone, so AT&T says i have to sign a new contract and get a new phone that will work with the 64-bit SIM. I have a great contract that AT&T will not offer again to me , nor anything close, so why would i voluntarily sign again for "2 years" to a poor value new contract with AT&T ?!!

I bought a PDA that will accept the 64-bit and it works, i can dial phone numbers with it,,,but AT&T is still telling me that i "must sign a new contract" , even tho i have an AT&T approved newer PDA that works with the new 64-bit SIM !!

And forget the Feds and the FCC, as i am told by my Senator's office "you know that cellphones are a deregulated market and there is very little we can do?" !!

We might as well have the good for nothing Republicans back in (corrupt) power !!

Nov.2009, Shame on the Department of Agriculture and the FDA for the expose' by USAToday of unfit food in our public school lunch programs !!

For profit and the sloppiness of govt bureaus , we have failed to keep even the food for our non-voting and non-speaking out children safe enough to eat in our public school lunch programs. Every arrival and shipment of food should be tested, because our food is so manipulated and over processed. Samples of food that caused the school sickness should have been saved and tested, if the principals had done their jobs properly. We must be the laughing stock of the entire world right now, sloppy profiting for years off making our tiny school children sick !!

But then, maybe most Americans are too busy with work and family or social lives to care,,,

What has happened to Public Education in California!!? Over decades, administrators and the PTA and School Boards have 'cared less',,,,

The huge decline in the quality of public education in the State of California certainly did not happen over night. It has taken years and decades of misdirection and lousy leadership, and failed unpopular programs like the current classroom lockstep of "no child left behind" idiocy.

When i was in high school, Willow Glen, in San Jose, Ca. back in the 60s even, we had teachers that were so 'under performing' as to yearly just read the biology text book to the class, and that was the extent of that professional educator and employee of the State of California's "educating",,,just reading every page of the text book. I bet the overpaid Principal at Willow Glen knew this teacher was slacking off and getting away with doing less than needed. Even the PTA must have know about this lazy terrible teacher of neglect. And the School Board. And the Teacher's Union. So there is lots of blame to go around.

But talking to my mother who graduated from UCLA, in the late 1930s just before WW2, she also tells me that she had along with her classmates a teacher at one of our 'most respected' public state universities, UCLA !!, do nothing more for the class than read from the textbook !! And do you really believe that the Head of UCLA did not know about this travesty of public education !? Please.

So California institutions, from its Teachers to its Principals, PTAs to School Boards, state public universities like UCLA to Governors and Superintendents of Public Education,,,all the way down to the voters who may want 'the best public education money can buy' but certainly have been short changed over decades and decades in California, all these entities are not able in their turf wars and infighting to get the main job done of educating our children to the highest standards.

In spite of all the press and verbage, what they say, they have all failed the children who could not vote or voice even. Our future of success and health and security was at stake.

How to improve on "Cherries Garcia" ?,,,Coffee ice cream "Cherries Garcia" !!

Add a little coffee to your's ,,,try it, you may like it !!

This is the time for TSA to give our Veterans, all Veterans, a first class airport security pass for life,,,But that honor will never happen,,,

The Congress and especially the Republicans will continue to give lip-service to our returning wounded dismembered bleeding veterans, instead of honor. They will suffer in second rate or third rate VA hospitals, while the D.C. politicians continue to dine with the weapons lobbyists . This hypocrisy of the Oliver North's and all the Pentagon drum-beaters has been a persistent shame on our Nation, like the shame of the Bush Administration that will go down in forever history for allowing and promoting torture of our enemies ,against the basic ethics of our Founding Fathers.

The Pentagon and Congress will continue to buy gold-plated lesser weapons like the Humvee and the Tomcat, and neglect the American citizens who shed blood on foreign soil in their place. The shame of this can not be seen it is so terrible.

the State of California is "dead in the water" financially, politically, environmentally,,,So go ahead and get your state a Republican Governor too !!

Governor Grey Davis,,,what a loser. But then we are now a "deregulated" state, and the businesses, corporations, and multinationals are having a Republican field day,,,while most middle and lower income people suffer. So who was hurt more by electing a Republican Governor like Grey Davis or Arnold S., neither of which can balance a state budget ?

We took away their Gerrymandering corrupt powers,,,And the State Legislature body slammed the voters by driving us off the cliff of state bankruptcy !!

So go ahead, New Jersey and Virginia, elect a Republican Governor ,,,and roll the dice,,,play russian roulette with your states future.

Olympic Swimmer Natalie Coughlin,,,was in the Top 3 of DANCING WITH THE STARS,,,

Natalie,,,Natalie,,,Natalie,,,

I voted for you 3 ways: by cell phone, by land line , and by pc,,,

You had a "cute couple" very talented male partner and correographer ,,,

And you definitely had the BOD,,,

You learned the foot and body moves very well,,,

even if you forgot to breathe.

But if you had only ,,,smiled and flirted more with your dance partner for more chemistry,,,he was handsome enough wasn't he,,,maybe you were just too nervous,,,

All you had to do to win/place in the top 3 or 2 was to smile and show you were enjoying it ,,,more than the frozen expression you gave,,,

You really could have won,,,and we were pulling for you,,,but now Mya and Joanna will probably battle it out ,,,

We miss you,,,you left way way way before your time,,,for the talent and determination you showed,,,but that has happened before on DWTS,,,

The judges told you to get in the mood of each of the dances, right ? Hopefully you don't quit dancing and learn to use your face for expression...

Best Wishes, Natalie Coughlin,,,!!

People love to see a happy couple, either on the street or faking it, acting on the dance floor,,,

Nice lawns ,,, turn to dead brown mat,,,How do Bank's get away with leaving FORECLOSED HOMES LIKE THIS FOR MONTHS !!

We have to suffer, while the new owner, the bank, lets the lawn die and go from green to weeds and dead brown grass. The neighborhood in San Jose suffers, but the bankers are not held accountable,,,as usual. One house was obviously vacant and thus an opportunity for vandalizing,,, Why do we allow bankers to blight our neighborhoods, especially when they are so profitable ,with out tax dollar bail outs ??

Why is it so difficult ,,,to go Online and Find a,,,Consumer Item Locator Service ?

This seems like a no-brainer,,,

You have a rut of familiar stores,,,but you are looking for the competition,,,or just looking for a consumer item, model, size, color,,,but you don't know where to find it,,,maybe you are traveling thru the area ,,,or visiting ,,,or don't bother reading all the ads,,,

So , how , in this supposed digital age, since the product is tracked downstream,,,does a consumer track a product, upstream and find it maybe in many local stores ,,,at many different prices ?

Ebay and Amazon list very very little that is for normal retail sale in the USA. So where is our web product search engine that finds specific items as well as Google finds specific words ?

Let's compare ski helmets: r.e.d. by Burton's adj. vented Skycap 2008-09 at $80 retail,,,vs ,,,Giro's G10 or Ski Patrol at $120 retail

For 63cm/2X size ,,,r.e.d. by Burton wins !! By 2000' vertical or a day of skiing pass cost !!

But Burton is not making the Skycap any more,,,

Bummer,,,

Let's compare SKI GEAR websites: skisite.com vs skicentral.com vs skis.com

First to skisite.com,,,a lot of ski stores listed do not have their phone numbers,,,you can not search by distance from your location,,,they do not separate the tiny local ski stores from the mega mega stores,,,and it is finally very hard to find a specific product availability.

Next to skicentral.com,,,they recommend ski.com ,often, in searches on their website,,,so let's go there next,,,

Lastly to ,,,skis.com,,,and we are looking for a specific product, last season or this season,,,better but not great.

Results,,,good luck trying to find a specific skiing or snowboarding product in the size and model you want, whether new or used, this years or just last years left over inventory ,,,

Angie's List,,,is located in,,,Indianapolis, INDIANA !!,,,not "local"

So that is why their customer service is so slow,,,

And one of their silly rules is,,,your report will be verified by them talking to the business you rate, natch, but you can not compare and mention another business, say you had 5 estimates, in your one business review. Silly,,,

Skype ,,,see USAToday article,,,has TERRIBLE customer service !!

I have downloaded Skype,,,and used it a couple times to contact a Skype fanatic in Seattle who is bored with Hotmail email,,,but now i log-in and can not get a "Contacts" button or find my personal page !!

And there is no live-chat help,,,no "feedback" even,,,no "email us",,,hell, how do these people expect to grow with such a lousy, Microsoft-like, poor customer service attitude ??