SAFEWAY CASHIERS told me Repeatedly in mid-May, "The Monopoly Game is Over." A BIG FAT LIE !! Coupons for free stuff Still could be Redeemed ,up until MAY 30th.

Lousy P.R., Safeway !!

SHAME! on Sacramento and California Voters for allowing Public School Teachers to be so ABUSED! with low starting pay,,, and having to my the SCHOOL DISTRICT PROPERTY like Movers from one classroom to another, smetimes TWICE A YEAR!,,, and for letting them be FORCED ONTO ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEES !!

And that is why Most Public School Teachers quit ,,,
In a few years!

WARNING!!: Do Not buy a Whitlpool Cabrio clotheswasher!! WEAK and SLOW !!

My 90 yr old Mom went to the same old Bascom appliance store ,without Consumer Reports, or one sensible of 4 children.

The Cabrio can't easily and "short cycle" quickly wash 6 beach towels.
When wet, it is just too heavy for this weak lousy machine!!

Kettle Brand POTATO CHIPS, Sour Cream and Onion, green bag, about 13" x 7", was ONLY 1/2 FULL !??

Too many of the chips were small or broken.

Had to use knife or sizzors to open paper-plastic laminated bag. Near impossible to open nearly by hand.

NOT RECOMMENDED.

Fellow Costco Shoppers: item # 977 884, NATURE'S BOUNTY ultra strength PROBIOTIC 10, 10 strains, 20B cultures" is not effective enough in morning bowel, so NOT RECOMMENDED.

Maybe, as one probiotic commercial says, too many of the cultures die in the stomach.

Frisco is at a crisis corner: Continue with $ as King and rampant lawlessness from 5 televised police closed-circle assinations of homeless mentally ill, to the West Coast capitol of tourism where in the 80s and 90s almost every charter and tour bus company was blatantly robbing all drivers of their legal overtime pay and mailed in gratuities like SuperSightseeing proven evidence by a judge, and rich landlords abusing a loophole in rent control by "moving relatives in" but not being prosecuted for shortly getting much higher cost leasers in a "rent control city", or to a City with a conscience for all and a Mayor willing to step on many toes to do what's right.

I witnessed the sfpd motorcycle cop in the Miller Beer Distributor warehouse arrive every Friday, for years, to collect an envelope.
But the inept and probably incompetent sf Grand Jury process and former sfpd cop District Attorney seem to be looking the other way.

So many illegal or unjust evictions.
So much wage theft.
Yes, on the surface a Popular but Expensive Tourist destination.

The Bay Guardian newspaper is gone, alas.
The once famous Chronicle and Examiner are both insignificantly thin.
And Zagat guides bought and closed by Google.

Do they know the Gold Rush was a lie by a greedy SF merchant Sam Brannan, who has a street named for him?
He never saw the acres of surface gold he wrote about in his newspaper that lured millions to move to California with gold fever. But he did raise his shovel and pick tool prices about 5000% and became the first millionaire of that delayed 1948 hoopla about "one small nugget found at Sutter's Mill".

Where are the millions sfpd made running all the rackets vs the mob in the Roaring 20s and beyond, according to the KQED travel show series?

How deep is the City-County irresponsibility and corruption in City Hall?
Will the first Chinese Mayor do anything?
Can the sfpd and the health dept and dpt and public works,etc. be any more incompetent and unreliable!?

This is crisis crossroads time for Frisco, that took its name from Benicia,who was first to take the name of the Bay.

Tried "McAfee Mobile Security FREE" after a T-Mobile Tech's strong recommendation:Security and Locate, Free Download !! So disappointed with Intel-McAfee !!

The Security part seemed to protect, but I was getting hourly warnings on my ZTE Axon7 "cellphone of the year" about Very Excessive Battery Use!!
Hourly.

As for the Locate FREE service, it did not work !!  Ever. Never.
I misplaced my cellphone in a rush Saturday night packing to go Sunday up to Yosemite Valley just for the day like many tourists, driving 4-5hrs from the Bay Area.
So after looking a lot, I called Intel-McAfee and was told repeatedly that the FREE service only allowed on screen typing Chat , not a person to person conversation. Politely so.

Ok, started a Chat and was repeatedly disconnected, my fault maybe, and ignored !!
"Chat in less than 2min",,, mostly did not happen.
Plus when I did speak to someone, from india, they told me "do it yourself from a computer on the McAfee Mobile Security.com website!"
Two asked to have applet access to this custom large Gateway tower PC, and that sounded Dangerous "for a teaching lesson" !!
One woman even said, get this,  "You certainly don't expect us to use our (Intel-McAfee) computers ,do You, with over 4m customers, just to locate lost cellphones ?!"
Yikes.

So I tried the website, "mcafeemobilesecurity.com" over and over for the Locate FREE service, waiting over 10minutes once.
It never worked. Never. Ever.

Turns out my cell was in the entry hall, just buried, and not a dead battery yet.
One woman scolded me, repeatedly!, that,,,  "1st,cell must be ON,2nd, GPS must be ON , and 3rd, Must have an internet connection!!"
My cell had all 3 criteria.
But McAfee Locate FREE service and website never worked. Never. Ever.

I read on McAfee and Lookout that if your battery dies, in your possession or not, the last thing your cellphone does is tell the nearest tower the cell's last location.
So smart design!

So I reloaded Lookout.
Removed McAfee, and their brassy but no use "device administrator".

Suggest you test any free Locate service, BEFORE you really lose that $400 cellphone!

"Blindspot" Highway WARNING!! If Your Front tire is next to My Rear tire, You Are in My BLINDSPOT for miles on the Highway!! Don't think You are My Wingman, GET THE HELL OUT OF THAT dangerous POSITION!!

It happened today on 101N, from SFO to almost x-Candlestick.
Some IDIOT thought he would just stay in that relative position.
For miles!!
And in a black car, poor visibility!!
And I've had a stiff neck for days.
So no , he was Not in my rearview mirror.
And I should have looked.
NEAR COLLISION!!

Beware of GOOGLE PLAY STORE !! NOT All Apps are REQUIRED to have an UNINSTALL option!! Therefore You might have an Unwanted App ,,, Forever and Ever!! Even if you've ask the App Developer!!

Ugh.
So much for promise of "Do no harm".

Martin's Beach, and now this lack of uninstall option issue.
Google, are you going to be just as Greedy and Selfish as Microsoft ?

BEWARE !! $50 Amazon Survey may look Very real, BUT TOTAL FRAUD !!

Do NOT open !!

Report Pishing !!

Problem: Hundreds of Curry Village, Yosemite Valley tent cabins are expensive, but only have a few green "Ma Curry" wool blankets per person. The Solution: Bring Winter warm sleeping bags or,,,Have all the tents easily wired from light bulb for an electrical outlet for ELECTRIC BLANKETS, from home or rented !!

My gal and I frozen one June in a snow storm, with sleeping bags and extra blankets!!

Want to help your fellow motorist, in NorCal? Call 911 on your cell if you see an accident, see a brakedown car by the side of the road, or see a wreckless driver. REPORT IT.

The 911 CHP dispatchers are mostly polite ,at least here in NorCal.
They may ask you to get off speakerphone.
And repeat 3 times. Or 4xs.
And ask for your real/pseudo name...
(I'm 'clark kent' a lot ;)

You will probably get some city dispatcher first.
Just keep asking , " IS THIS THE CHP ?"

Yes, it is legal to call 911 while driving ; Ask any cop.
Or you can have a companion call if you just want to drive.
Before they install cameras all over SF and the state highways, we good citizens should help other Californians in trouble on the roads.
It's simple easy and you will feel better! More human maybe.

Unless you can think of a better name, I call it, " the NorCal Chapter of Cal Cares by Callers of 911".
Yeah, you can do better.

Unfortunately, as a pro commercial driver, for decades I have been unable to get SoCal 911 CHP dispatchers interested or polite in ,"Hey , there is a huge multi-family accident on the 405, bloody bodies Everywhere!"

Apple stock may be Soaring, But Apple hides $Billions in Untaxed Profits Overseas, Depriving the USGOVT of $Millions in due Taxes !! So you like Rich Expensive Tax Cheats do ya!? Shocking.

IMy Sis has an iPhone; No big deal, and it is not "the best".
So go ahead, be another sheep, follow The Herd. Buy a Bm-er or a MBenz too. "baaa baaa baaa!"

I have the "Phone of the Year", the $340 on Amazon, ZTE Axon7.
Comes with a face skin and a clear 5-side bumper case.
I use an Anker backup battery.
One feature I really like is that there is no top or bottom to the power cord plug, no need to mark one, as with Samsung's connection.

Back to unpaid due Corporate taxes.
There are many "u.s." corporations hiding profits overseas; If there was a list, I would try to Boycott them all.
Just common thieves.
And you're abetting them?!
Talk about "stupid people"!!

It is bad enough that our State and Fed politician's votes are so easily bought, for as little as $10k in this State House and $20k in this State Senate.
Politician's don't seem to be embarrassed by this Corrupt practice.
That's how the Oil Industry skips paying over $2Billion Every Year in this , and only, State to Not have an "Oil Extraction Tax."
Caltrans Wasted over $6B on the massively flawed "new Oakland Bay Bridge."

Now you may think that Corp tax cheating doesn't matter.
Keep thinking that ,,, Every time you hit a pot hole in this Rich state.
Or as your Water rates by private ,for profit, water companies goes up , again and soon.
So PG&E may be advertising an 'apology' for Killing 8 and blowing up 38 nice homes in the San Bruno Gas Main Explosion, but our State politicians allowed them to raise their rates Twice versus pay out of their own pocket!!  That kind of thieving irresponsible Reputation never goes away, does it.

Wait till the next Recession/Depression, this year Weiss Report says, from the "Debt Bubble" to see if you "really don't care" about all these many Rich Corp tax cheats.
Or the Supreme Court ruling "citizens united" saying $ is votes.
Let's see when MILLIONS OF YOU  lose your jobs apts and Houses and any place to stay off the streets,,, if you really "don't care". Who you worry!?

Then you will truly be so Sorry for electing flippant trival Trump instead of a respected honorable person With values, like Dr. Jill of the Greens.

About now you are saying to yourselves "What Debt Crisis?"
We are so Busy working, earning...
Notice how US banks are still, still paying less than normal unfair interest, like 1% now on savings accounts?

Guess you better ask , huh?
"So WHAT Debt Crisis!?"

Fremont,Ca. was just Caught changing one major traffic light from 4.7sec yellow to 4sec yellow , citing Hundreds of Citizens, and in Their "end" only partially refunding $1000s in over $300/ticket !!

There is a logical solution to all this corrupt Cities revenue boosting, on law abiding taxpayers backs.
Oh, Fremont said, said they did it for "traffic control reasons".
If you live in a tiny, small, medium, or large city ,,,the Majority of voters can tell the Mayor or City Manager, "We want honest traffic lights with no doubt and not yellow late speeding, ticket boosting for revenue like Fremont(he was Dishonorably Discharged by President Lincoln, a Social Climber and Liar, John C. Fremont), therefore We the People demand COUNTDOWN YELLOW TRAFFIC LIGHTS installed at all stop lights within a year."
A much more certain ,Safer ,and less Taxing traffic light.

Sell the old uncertain used traffic lights to Mexico Canada or China. Whatever.

But put a proper End to the current flawed system of replacing flawed with flawed instead of improved !!

I know, some small cities only seem democratic, like Burlingame(a lawyer?! ick).
Notice the "standard" city parking lot concrete abutments/stop bars are scraping many expensive new lower cars, the Mayor said, "No, the standard size is not an inch too high. And it would cost too much to replace them all at once any way. So new ones will not be as needed,just you say, an inch or two shorter!"

Burlingame make $MILLIONS off hotel tax of Bay side highrise hotels, those poor "no taxation without representation!" fleeced tourists !!
So Who "can not afford it" ?
The much less democratic cities.
Real estate interests control this Mayor and most of City Council.
Gullible lazy uninformed stupid and "too busy" voters to boot !!

Let's see were democracy really lives in the USA!

Fellow Costco Shoppers: item # 10 99 42 6, Depends Mens Daipers are SO NOT RECOMMENDED, saggy-baggy and too tight narrow leg elastics.

There Must be a Better designed Brand,,, out there, somewhere!

Saturday 6 May 2017: NBC is doing a Great Job right now Showcasing the Kentucky Derby!!

Lots of our Fav NBC celebs, fun and we'll paced segments explaining all aspects, lots and lots of Fancy Hats, and 2 laughable pro horse betters that only talked horses and not riders-jockeys, the jokers, and completely missed Arklow's win #2 on the grass, With a great jockey!!

"Good job, NBC!!"
I didn't think you could do it.

And so much better than Fox's super stock cars going around in a little Podunk circle!

Republicans are well on their own way to Never being elected, Ever Again. I am so Happy about the Republican Party's self-destruction !!

How many times have they held the Federal budget hostage, close to Closing Govt, about 30 times !?

And reversing any Medical Care progress on coverage for pre-existing disease and such, is not just Greedy but Mean !!

They keep digging their own graves, with more "reagan"  massive tax cuts for the already super rich.

Weiss says the bond,debt Bubble is about to burst.
Without banks paying fair interest, stagnant wages, Cal and Oregon State laws against any more Rent Control, the attempted removal of pollution controls, the opening of everything like the entire Cal Coast and Arctic and entire East Coast to leaky offshore oil rigs, and the huge expansion in proposed coal mining,,, will certainly be the the secure coffin nails on All Republicans !!

Finally.
Horray !!

I am sooo very tired of "luxury" Acura slow car windows!

In the garage now,,,
Just want to Scream!

What is with this Odd Hot over 80F this time of year, Winter, in SF !??

Cold water upwelling on the coast from usual Aleutian NW winds, so where is the Fog, our "natural air conditioning"!?
Indian Spring!?  3 May 2017 broke all previous Hot Day records!!

A week, with no TV wx-peeps explanation,,,
And finally the fog comes back tonight, rolling like the thickest down comforter over the Coast Range hills!

Gosh, were We Hoodwinked by Congress about "Ethanol added to gasoline", just to jack up the price of Corn. Nothing about "Ethanol is bad for your car's engine!"

Now, how do we get ethanol out??

And lead out of jet fuel ??

And lead paint safely removed from,,, Everywhere!??

And asbestos removed??

And lead solder or lead water pipes removed ??

And keep coal with tainted Mercury buried underground??

And put the brakes on Roundup, gives us Cancer??

And ban and remove from the farm soils way too many untested Toxic farm chemicals that are slowly poisoning us All??

How?
With hairbrain Trump elected Prez???!

REVIEW of 2016 FORD TRANSIT 350 XLT, in may 2017,at SF.

I drive one of these every day at work,  since Jan2017.

GENERALLY,
much better ride and lower non-diesel noise level ,,,no vinyl seat covers than the Mercedes/Dodge "Sprinter". Preferred, but,,,

POWERTRAIN:
Old twin turbo is phased out for new single turbo "Eco-Boost" engine.
Regular aspirated engine-trany powertrain is Not Recommended because of  decades of Ford's redline loud  over-rev-ing accelerating in each gear.

BACKUP CAMERA:
Also, back up camera screen is way too small and Dark during daytime and fisheye too distorted, making it highly likely you will back into something or someone.

AIR CONDITIONER:
Also, for 80F weather, not yet 100F in Napa,,, the a/c is Totally Inadequate!!
Maybe the dealership mechanic did not add enough freon2. Maybe.  Huge problem.
But a dark paint van or even white van sitting in the mid day Winter sun with closed windows gets Way Too Hot and needs over 30 minutes in the shade to cool down with this very weak a/c.

RYDER RENTAL:
They upgraded the A/C and battery, etc. if you want to find out how to do the same.

STEERING WHEEL:
too sticky by far!

RADIO:
Also, the special, oversized Radio has already in 1 year begun to Malfunction.
Often takes 2 same button touches to change channels.
Don't like at all combo on-off and volume knob, when there is an unused button above the Up arrow for on-off!

SIRIUS:
NOT one full album station for classic rock or classical music. Very disappointed in 6,7, and 8 'on the 80s' with famous dj's , so mostly use 32 the bridge, 17 yacht music, 25 classic rock and 26. Margaritaville is not just Jimmy Buffet as it should be.
Wish screen would show not just song playing title on one station but scrolling all station's on 9 presets. But then the screen is way too small dark and forward, really horrible design.
Want a classical channel for each major composer like Handel,  Bach,  Beethoven, Vivaldi, Mozart, etc.
And at least 2 or 3 full album station's for rock of 60s, 70s and 80s playing complete album.
Otherwise, some songs are published but don't deserve play or excessive replay,  so have your radio preset options!
And Sirius website is a mess without good complete listing and description.  Lots of room for improvement in this Monthly Paid Service!

DIPSTICK:
The engine oil dipstick tube is Too Short, down by the valve covers ,,, or something.
Should be 10" Longer and higher, more forward design, dudes.
And the trany oil dipstick,,,?
Yikes!!

DASH GEAR DISPLAY:
Also on the dash, the Gear Selection letters are NOT SPACED APART,
"P  R  N  D  M" ,
but crammed,
"PRNDM", A Mess,
when there is plenty of room and a need for clear communication.

DASH CELLPHONE HOLDER:
right of steering wheel.

CLOTH GREY SEATS:
The cloth Seats Stain easily and should have been Scotchguard-ed.
Only the 2 front seats are Moveable. Even on the top of the line model, the backs seats can't individually be move Fore
and Aft.

UNLOADED, REAR DRIVE:
Going up steep gravel driveways is slippery because of appreciated rear drive, but usually light load on the Rear Axle.

TURN SIGNAL LEVER:
The Left side of steering wheel Turn Signal Arm is too sensitive; Touch it and it indicates even a light touch to turn vs having it only signal when fully shifted up or down.
This is a confusing Nuisance for all those Behind You ,Ford !!

ADD-ON LOWER TRAILER HITCH:
Scrapes driveways.
Should have been "designed into chassis" and Higher!
Not under mounted and too low.

HEADLIGHTS:
Could be brighter.
Headlight should be far right setting, if in a hurry,  then Automatic to Left... Not Auto on far right knob stop.
No dash indicator ON on Automatic,  so beware of dead batteries!  and the position indicator is too insignificant!, so make it more obvious please.

POWER PORTS:
Just  the flimsy cig-lighter  type,  no USB multi terminals all over.
Ford,  get with it!
Should have UBS multi ports all over versus those cheap short-lived cig-lighter power ports.

MANY CUP HOLDER RECESSES:
they are all too shallow for a standard size water bottle. Maybe  1" inch deeper would be OK.

No 2 SMALL FRONT FLOOR CARPETS:
My right heel is wearing a hole in the rubber flooring.

TWIN TURBO and TURBO:
but doesn't say so outside on the body.
How can Ford expect to sell and not Advertise!?

Why does SF allow Any company to have Only 1 standard portapotty for about 100 male and female employees, and without Any way to Wash your Hands, oh and only Serviced-pumped-cleaned MONTHLY instead of Weekly !? It is so Unhealthy !!

Public Health in SF needs to be a Much Higher Priority !!