MBNA credit card bank has been bought by BofA,,,BEWARE !!!

MBNA was,past tense ,highly rated by the Wall Street Journal, and i was a very satisfied Master Card customer. But now bad reputation BANK OF AMERICA has bought MBNA !! You should get out , QUICK , like i did, before all the accounting funny business BofA is infamous for eats your savings alive,,,with 2 statements/bills a month instead of one with the old reliable and reasonable MBNA, and continuing revolving LATE FEES because the mail takes a few days and you are charged again and again and again on the same balance even tho you pay it off IN FULL, and FINANCE CHARGES that the old reasonable MBNA would take off your account if you asked, but the new greedy-to-the-max BofA probably will not.
Here is just one of probably many examples of how ruthless BANK OF AMERICA has been in the recent past. A couple years ago ,before they sold out of their main San Francisco high rise office, i drove their BofA Loan Office Awards Dinner bus in S.F. I was shocked to hear loan officers just behind my seat BOASTING and BRAGGING about how they had driven this family into auto REPOSSESSION, and this couple into HOME FORECLOSURE on their house with multiple loans the family practically and theoretically could never afford, and this family into BANKRUPTCY, and on and on,,,!!! And BofA was giving them AWARDS for this plus the trip junket ?!! Isn't there laws against predatory lending,,,obviously BofA does not feel it is American or has to obey our nation's laws. BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE !!!

American businesses are dumping their Pension responsibilities ,,,on US, THE U.S. GOVT !!,,,AND THIS IS O.K. !!??????

Why are we allowing American corporations to ignore their promises and responsiblities to their employees by dumping their pensions on a willing Republican-controlled White House and Congress that seem to feel that working poor but not the current rich can pay for it in the future ?
Where is all the social commentary about how destructive this will be to the American middle cash/class ? Do we always have to drop our standards to the lowest possible level of our trading partners, like Mexico-corrupt and not getting any better with NAFTA and WTO-or China-still Communist and do any of you remember the VietNam anti-communist draft that ruined millions of lives ?? President Bush ,like his dad and "Ray-gun", are spending us into the national and international POOR HOUSE,,, and no one seems to give a damn. Most Republicans just want that short -term short -sighted my less-tax personal profit boost at the nation's expense. And that is OK with the USA ?

new model German Setra motor coach/bus, S 417, is JUNK !!

My boss bought/leased several S417 new German buses, Setra 56 passenger, $400,000 buses. They are new models and have been falling apart every day and every week for a year !! These are new buses, 2005's , by boat from Germany to North Carolina, and then by train / your driver.
Last week the roof above the driver's seat began leaking in a rainstorm. Axles have gone out. Headlight lens covers have cracked and big windshields have easily rock chipped and cracked in normal city/highway paved road traffic. It takes at least a minute for the bus computer to check systems and let you restart the bus. The Blaupunkt cd radio and dvd player are already malfunctioning: the PA system and radio/dvd system have such different volume thresholds that when you switch from one to the other you accidentally blow your passengers ears out !!
So if you are dumb enough to buy/lease a bus of poor/new model questionable quality such as the Setra, even tho Mercedes Benz just bought it, because of favorable lease rates, expect said Setra bus to be constantly broken and constantly in the shop. The bus is gutless, it can not even keep 65 or 55 on the small hills of hwy 101. The cable-link snow chains take longer to put on and don't clear the wheel wells without damaging the lower cowling attachment. The a/c and heater are sooo weak compare to the old model. It can not even make enough air for the door and kneeling, let alone the brakes and the next morning push button door opening. And do not expect good-excellent service on parts availability and service from Setra, a German company. I recommend you stay with Canadian bus co. ,Prevost.

HOW TO SIMPLY AVOID AIRLINE BAGGAGE OVER-CHARGES,,,

I RECENTLY FLEW TO HAWAII ON VACATION. AND I WAS DEFINITELY READY FOR A VACATION !! But before leaving the house, i weighed myself and my checked bag on the bathroom scale, subtracting my weight ,so i would know i was under the new standard of 50# versus the old generous 70#.
At the airline counter, i saw something you may not be ready for that may cost you an additional $50 or more !! With these garden-variety idiots working the TSA and saving us all from a terrorist's fingernail clipper attack, thank you missing village idiot President Bush, your checked baggage is taken from you at the beginning of the line and you are not allowed to touch it afterwards, for instance, if it is just a pound over and you want to remove a jacket to temporarily wear and put in the overhead compartment !! In front of me, i saw vacationer after vacationer charged an additional $50, in the name of national security natch, and there was no recourse or anything these once happy to be going on a vacation people could do.
Well, here is the solution: go to Cabela's or other outdoor furnisher like Gander Mountain and order a digital small fish scale to 50#, such as the Cabela order # NT-01-8215 ,,,for only $ 19. 99 and pack it with you ,so at the departure end or return end ,you can weigh you checked bag and if it is 55# you can take something out in the comfort and privacy of your condo or hotel room, versus worrying about the final weigh-in at the tense airline counter. You know the AIRLINES are making a KILLING PROFITING from this added security hocus pocus harrassment by high school dropouts with the social skills of SF 3rd Street felons !! And then the airlines are skimming all that profit, like the oil companies, into the executives pockets, versus the shareholder's dividends and employee-workers paychecks,,,and then they want us to federally bail them out with "loans" unrepaid with interest signifigant,,,american business is sooo sleazy,,,
Caveat emptor and buyer beware out there,,,!!,,,you have few/no friends when traveling out of state or to a foreign country,,,

"Bug Bytes Computer Services ",,,not recommended

Recently, we had this San Jose service check our pc and were told that in turning off all the switches ,before, the computer had completed its sooo slooow Microsoft shutdown process,,,we had damaged the hard drive and would need to buy another one. We are non-tech professionals, teachers and such, so we did. Then i talked to 2 software engineers with ee degrees and several computer stores, like CompUSA and CircuitCity, and they all said that was impossible. There is sooo much demand for techs to fix pcs that i do not understand the need to pad a bill,,, or overcharge,,, or charge $220 just to come to your house and drop in / load a disc by Geek Squad,,,or charge $30 to show up at your house and $50 per hour,,,when there is sooo much work out there at just a more fair $30-50/hr.

Andrews Electronics,,,the "biggest",,,and maybe the Rudest

If you need a new remote or electronics part, do not make the mistake i did today and get a rude woman at Andrews Electronics in Santa Clarita, Ca. !! Phone Pacific Coast Parts instead at 800-338-6342,,,unless you like rude customer service.

DOWNSPOUTS,,,What a Flawed design !!

Are your downspouts constantly getting clogged with leaves and flowers / Do you have neighbors that have cut down all the tree in the front yard, including the city owned ones in the parking strip, just because he hates paying some handyman to clean his teflon gutters every month it seems in fall and winter ? This is nonsense !! Let us just decide that even screened and teflon coated rain gutters and downspouts DO NOT WORK,,,AND LET US JUST DO AWAY WITH DOWNSPOUTS !! Try disconnecting the downspout and see how little clogging of the gutters you get,,,There are so many traditional yet nonfunctional and even planned obsolescent fixtures in modern houses that need to be re-examined, like tubs with built-in plungers or stopper devices, that are constantly getting clogged with hair !! What a nuisance,,,just get a clean pipe exit...and use a rubber stopper.

Attorney General of California, Why are you always so Useless?!!?

1 jan 2006,,,and the winds are blowing like crazy this winter !! It has been years since i remember such heavy rains followed by such high winds followed by so many trees being uprooted by the wet ground and high winds of maybe 40 -50mph !! My folks, retired for decades on one state teacher's pension, had their back fence of 52 years blown down. Mom immediately looked up their home owners insurance agent's phone number, but before she could call , a neighbor real estate agent warned her and dad NOT to file a legal and legitimate and righteous claim against their home owners insurance that they have paid for years, because the insurance companies are allowed by our Cal. State Attorney General, the lazy bum, to blacklist anyone who files even a small claim against their homeowners insurance for legitimate reasons ,and jack up the rates and not renew their home owners insurance and thus make it impossible via blacklisting for these retired senior citizens to ever get home owners insurance again !!! WAKE UP ,CALIFORNIA POPULACE AND ELECTORATE, AND KICK THIS LAZY BUM OF A STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL AWAKE AND ACTIVE LIKE THE NEW YORK STATE OFFICER, OR KICK HIM OUT OF OFFICE,,,LIKE WE DID THAT LAST SORRY EXCUSE FOR A GOVERNOR, GRAY DAVIS, WHO LIED BOLDFACE WITH THE STATE LEGISTATURE TO US ABOUT HOW DEREGULATING ENERGY AND ELECTRICITY IN CALIFORNIA WOULD ALLOW THE MARKET TO DRASTICALLY DROP THE PRICE,,,,SUCH A FOLLY, AND NOW WE ARE IN RED-INK FOR DECADES AS AN ENTIRE STATE BECAUSE OF THIS !!

BEWARE of ,,,quakingaspenoutfitters.com,,,you hunters!!!!!

My dad and i hunted with dave mapes' "Quaking Aspen Outfitters" in 1998, and i filed a formal complaint of gross fraud and cheating hunters from any chance of getting a shot at an elk/anti-guiding in 1999. The State of Colorado Office of Outfitters Registration, AGREED, said they could "only put a letter in dave's file", so we were cheated out of $$$ thousands and a fair chance at many possible shots at legal elk: by guides telling us we could not shoot at legal bulls, by dave telling us on the last minute drive in that only he would choose who was fit enough and had paid enough guides over years of guided hunting experience to be allowed to be given a chance to take a shot at a legal elk, by the guides leaving my dad in a meadow/park almost all day and alone on a stand hunt contrary to dave's brochure and verbal contract that one guide per two hunters or less on all hunts was the rule,by his guides leading me on wild goose chases by horse and foot to waste time in the wrong area while the two youngest and fittest and most paid guide experienced hunters were taken the first day to the National Forest property "hole" to both easily get antlered male elk and then have the whole camp focus on getting them out by the next day, and by dave's guides repeatedly telling me that i could not take a legal shot at a legal bull within 100 yards !! And not one, not one, of the reference list past hunters was honest enough to warn me off this bad apple, bum of a guide,,, BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE, THIS IS HUGE AND COMMON OUT-OF-STATE FRAUD THAT YOU CAN NOT WIN AT IN YOUR HOME STATE SMALL CLAIMS OR CIVIL COURTS, SO JUST STAY AWAY !!
Also beware of "ray billings,outfitter,jackson hole,wyoming" who has a fraudulent and nasty habit of getting you cow tags for your requested antlered elk hunt,,,and providing incompetent guides, like the one busted for child pornography ,,,during the hunt week,,,online computer,,,by the FBI !! Where do Colorado and Wyoming find all these LOSERS ?!
Do NOT NOT NOT expect any help or professional expertise from either the Colorado Outfitter associations,state or private, NOR the Wyoming Outfitter associations,state or private,,, as they allow these bad apple guides to profit-by-theft for years and thus ruin all Colorado and Wyoming outfitters reputations and that of the states of Colorado and Wyoming and their fish and game departments !!!!!
Also BEWARE of "Wilderness Unlimited" a California-base western states hunt club that charges large initiation and large membership fees, and then allows ,for instance, the oregon rancher next door to helicopter herd the elk from the ranch you have also paid trespass fees for onto a ranch that the Madras,Or. chamber of commerce charges $3000/person access onto !!, after illegal helicopter herding of game animal elk !!!!! Also, the club asks property owners for their "worst, lest game rich section of property" for the same lease fee they could have had the most game rich corner for, a clear violation of best interest trust of the membership !!!!!!
When and how are we all in the United States going to clean up this massive abuse in out of state fraud and in state fraud in commercialized hunting ?????

"Tanglefoot" insect barrier for gardening:a consumer's opinion

Acouple years ago, we were having lots of trouble with ants climbing our front yard birch trees, so i went to the local garden center, and OSH recommended "Tanglefoot" super-sticky tube goop as a barrier to keep the ants out of the birch trees with annual apids. We applied per directions and watched as the ants just walked over stuck bodies of ants until they had re-established a path up all the trees ! Then we had to get this sticky "Tanglefoot" off the birch trees,,,!!! What a mess and pain in the neck !!! Beware, and do not buy this product for this problem and nuisance of ineffective result !!!
Now we have gone 2 years spraying twice with a mild pesticide like malathion and have had little problem with aphids and ants turning our birch tree's leaves black. Cheers,,,also, try alfalfa pellets from your local feed store at $8 for about 50 pound sack on all your roses and flower beds and fruit trees, to add organic matter cheaply to the soil and make lots of worms and their beneficial castings ! Works great !

The best Southwest Alaska charter boat company:"Yakutat Charter Boat Co.",,,a consumer's opinion

After years and years of trying different guides and different charter boat companies, i would like to recommend the hardest working and most honest (and sober) Mark Sappington and his "Yakutat Charter Boat Company". Alaska is the hideout of so many drunks and incompetents , that it is a shock to find someone who does not just want to Alaska-overcharge you for wetting your line with the common saying," let just stay and make it (you, Sucker!!) pay". If anyone can find and get rank amateurs,year after year, to hook and land legal and large halibut,in the 75#-200# range...not 30# "chickens" that so many try to pawn off as a worthwhile ,long distance ,expensive once in a lifetime or per year vacation experience. And usually in less than 120 feet of water ,maybe 80ft, not the 200-300 ft of distant-cranking-up of Kenai. Plus, you can fly the awful--expect your luggage in Alaska airspace to be misdelivered,or stolen,no shit-- Alaska Airlines into Yakutat directly without a floatplane, from the south or north and Copper River and Anchorage. And if you are lucky enough to hit the silver salmon, you will have a blast, just outside the harbor, light longrod topwater fishing these fighters--forget the kings at only 2 per year for non-residents--or go for the reds/sockeye that taste so good and can be caught in the near Situk River with chartreuse yarn on a red or plain legal hookup on the lip,not side. If you have never been, or have been a dozen times, try Mark Sappington in small quiet but still outrageously expensive Alaska and Yakutat. We liked Leonard's Landing at the harbor for accomodations, but there are some better and some worse if you care to look.

"Video Only" electronics,tvs,store review,,,a consumer's opinion

I went into "Video Only" in San Mateo County to buy my last tv, after checking GoodGuys and Circuit City,,,beware,,,they sold me a big screen tv ,telling me it was "HDTV ready", when i got it home and read all the paper to discover it was NOT ,,,"HDTV ready",,,also ,the set i got was defective with constant bars across the screen,,,and they gave me a hard time returning it right away,,,so beware,,,caveat emptor,,,and shop somewhere else maybe,,,

"BEST BUYS",,, a consumer's opinion,Nov.2005

Now that we have lost GoodGuys ,bought by CompUSA,,,and there is still mediocre Curcuit City,,,where does one go for electronics? Certainly not Fry's,with disinterested salesmen who will not give you any info without an easy commission,,,so what about "Best Buys"?
I went into one of their stores yesterday,looking for a new medium size refrigerator. It is a very busy store, usually with a near full parking lot. And i noticed they had over 20 different refrigerators, which i was surprised but glad to see. Had done my homework,and read the Consumer Reports article for 2005 on refrigerators,and since i am an adult and not a midget, i fully agreed that my old top freezer model had been a real pain in the back, bending over every time i wanted to get into the more often used lower ,refrigerator part. OK, so look for a bottom freezer model,like my friends just got in san jose at Western. And it was also recommended i look for lower cost of operation in an "energy star" certificate. And i wanted a 16-20 cu.ft. size model, preferrably by the "best brand for reliability, Whirlpool".
The salesman had massive acne. Don't they have medical for Clearacil or Oxy10 or Proactiv ??? I asked to see some bottom freezer models with "energy star", Whirlpool, and 16-20 cu.ft. size,,,and he could only find one midprice bottom-freezer model, and not a Whirlpool! Only one ?? He kept showing me larger sizes and more expensive models without "energy star". Then he asked why i would want a bottom freezer versus a top freezer, and i told him i was not interested in stooping over every time i opened the refrigerator door as an average-to-tall height adult. He kept on showing me all their side-by-sides, that i was not interested in in the least. Finally after looking on the web , as he suggested ,for more models in their inventory that would fit my desired criteria,,, and finding none,,,i left.
OK. What did we learn? He told me they do not carry Whirlpool. OK, so they do not have the "Best" brand. And most of the floor display was side-by-sides, then lots of painintheback top-freezer model refrigerators, then just a couple or one bottom-freezer type refrigerator, the configuration that Consumer Reports says is best for most of us. And the prices were much higher than Costco or IKEA, where i had seen Whirlpool models under $500 for a 17.5 cu.ft. with installation and under $400 at IDEA in East Palo Alto,,,but they are both top-freezer models, unfortunately.
And "Best Buys" did not have the best model, the bottom-freezer style,but lots of top-freezer refrigerators, to choose from. And they did not care much about annual energy cost ,since they did not have most or all their refrigerators with the "energy star" rating. I was in Best Buys when they first opened and was very disappointed with their toaster selection and prices, certainly not the "best". And i had been i once looking at CD prices, but was not impressed.
Avoid "Best Buys" if you are looking for the best brands and best versions at the best prices. I'm going to checkout Sears today. Good shopping!

San Mateo County residents...BEWARE,,,as the elected county officials care less for your public health and safety!!

I was working in South San Francisco, in San Mateo County, for SFOAirporter bus company, and complained to the county board of supervisors and the County Manager and the Environmental Health Department that this company was dumping raw bus toilet sewage across it's parking lot and into a storm drain to the SF Bay. And we lowly employees were forced to walk through feces and toilet paper for weeks. The official San Mateo County Environmental Health Department response was that they could not come out to look at it until after work and they could not get the overtime approved,so that no matter how many times i phoned and pleaded, they said they could not come out to verify or act on this pollution. All the cities of San Mateo County, from the poorest to the richest of "Atherton" and "Palo Alto" and "Hillsborough" are affected by this general county-wide disregard for pubic health so that one superrich family can get richer.
There is no excuse for their derilection of duty to all San Mateo County residents !! It took weeks,and near fatal illness, before the obscure storm drain- county people came out and verified it, but covered up for the company again by not taking pictures to fully document this general public health fiasco !! There is so much excessive wealth in this and SF county and yet there is this stupid dumb indefensible behavior by our elected county officals that puts all of us,all of us, at risk. A super expensive zip code will offer you little protection from any future public communicable disease. Please urge your elected officials to be more responsible. And let's replace the officials who persist in putting one small companies gross gross profit over all our basic human health and environmental health. Thank you.

Burlingame,Ca. residents...BEWARE,,,your city elected officials are aftaid of the word "renter" !!

As a long time Burlingame resident , i find it perplexing and terribly dishonest that the mayor and city council of Burlingame are lying to all the citizens and misrepresenting the basic facts. Burlingame ,like SF, is mostly a ,,,renter city,,,most households are renters,,,and more importantly during this ,again, election cycle, most eligible and registered voters are,,,here is that dirty word again, "renters". So why is it that almost all the current candidate literature avoids like the plaque mentioning that word/fact "renters", but rather "businesses and residents"?????
When you ask the past mayors of the last 10-20 years to do something for the renters , like free city-wide parking on the metered or unmetered streets since there is not nearly enough parking, you get a polite "thank you" but no action. Or when you ask for a standard to old apartments so that over 20 units do not have to share a single washer and dryer, you only get a polite "thank you" and no representation !! We Burlingame renters are being taken to the cleaners, by elected politicians we vote for but who refuse to say how poor and mansion-less we are or to even care about us after we-the renters,the majority, elect them !! It is high time we dump the old polite mayor and all the old council who refuse to represent us,even if we were the minority, and who are afraid to use the word "renter" in their campaign brochures. How many "businesses" are actually non-residents and non-voters,especially the apartment building owner variety, but also the Broadway/Burlingame Avenue type the mayor and council seem to only want to fraternize with ??? Why have so many past mayor and council members continued to perpetrate this gigantic fraud on us , that "residents" are homeowners and have children in the public schools,,,and "businesses" are actually resident owners and voters that deserve all the attention. Talk about a Civic Rights abuse of the highest order!! We renters are just like "niggers" to all the past Burlingame elected officials,as if the Civil Rights Movement never happened, and the landed rich of our Founding Fathers are ,even now in the 21st Century,the only ones worthy of the mayor's and council's attention and vote gather politics. This is such a shame on Burlingame and such an abuse of the American Dream. Obviously, we are NOT "all created equal". The Declaration of Independence was just a lie?

San Francisco tourists,,,BEWARE!!,,,tour industry insider's warnings,,,

For over ten years i have worked the the San Francisco tourism industry,,,and i want to warn my fellow working poor or declining middle income workers-visitors about some of the common but maybe not so evident costly pitfalls to visiting on vacation a city that could and should do much better in it's primary business,tourism.
But ,first,,,about 20 fun things to do in SanFran/Frisco/S.F. ,,,
Ride the $7 ferry from the Ferry Bldg. to Sausalito,,,
And have a nice ,resys ok, dinner at the most famous restaurant,Scoma's,,,
Ride the Hyde St. cable car ,from Union Square, over Russian Hill,past almost crookedest Lombard St., to Aquatic Park,,,
Walk or bicycle across the Golden Gate Bridge,,,
Explore one of the distinctive neighborhoods,like Chinatown or North Beach, with one of the free walking tours from the Main Library,,,
Go to a baseball game,for the view,the beer,and the expensive food,,,
Go to a football game, for the view, the beer, and the not so great food,,,
Rent a bicycle for about $20/day and cruise the Embarcadero waterfront and whereever your eyes lead you,,,
Check out the half-price theatre ticket office in Union Square,,,
Try to get tickets for the longest running live theatre in the usa, Beach Blanket Babylon, at Club Fugazzi, in North Beach,,,by making advance resys, or contacting a connected conscierge,or phoning direct, or waiting on the curb before show time for a tour bus with possibly extra tickets they can not use,,,singing, comedy, big hats,,,great fun!!
Watch the sunset from the Beach Chalet Restaurant at the end of Golden Gate Park,on the second floor, after enjoying the murals and mosaics on the ground floor from the Depression ,but not depressing,,,
Skip the remodeled and too expensive Cliff House,,,
Skip Alcatraz,,,you're not a con,right?,,,so don't be a sheep!,,,NPS set up a lousy slow frustrating monopoly with long lines, poor availability of tickets, and high prices with only one ferry company, instead of competition and multiple ferry companies to come even close to meeting the demand,the American way,,,
Take the new big racing catamaran out of Pier 39 for a fun sail on the Bay,,,
Skip the 2 "bay cruise" companies, as they only go around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge, not into the north bay,,,or into the south bay,,,or into the east bay,,,what a rip for over $30.00 !!
Phone or write the Mayor about how you are enjoying your vacation,as tourism is the #1 biz of SF,,,so do you like waiting in line for up to 3 hours for a cable car at the end of the line in peak season summer ??
Shop for 7,,,or 12,,,or 18 postcards for a dollar on Grant St. versus 2 for a dollar in Union Square,,,
Try and find the fortune cookie factory on Ross Alley in Chinatown,as they were invented in SF by a japanese man, in 1894 at the Golden Gate Park ,,,Tea House,,,
Visit the Tea House,on a free day,,,
Visit all the major museums ,,,on free days,,,if you can,,,the Cartoon Museum,,,and the MOMA in SOMA/modern art museum in the south of market area,,,and the new DeYoung in GGPark,,,and the Legion of Honor Museum in the NW's Lincoln Park,,,and the newish Asian Art Museum in the old library at the Civic Center,,,
(more to follow,,,)

One, parking is very very expensive, and your hotel will probably charge you $20-50/night to park your car. Not that i care one bit about the overabundant rich being charged this outrageous price, may i suggest you also park your car where i often do at one of the cheapest downtown parking garages near Union Square, the Sutter St.-Stockton St. Garage for only about $7 per night. Or on the other south side of Union Square, the Ellis-OFarrell Garage.
2,,,also about the many Frisco-if you only knew how S.F. stole it's name from an east bay city---hotels, recently over the last couple years the hotel concierges have been engaged in unethical and excessively greedy price gouging commission kickbacks and strong arm tactics with the various local tour bus companies in town. Some SF concierges are hotel employees and some are independent contractors,but my opinion is the hotel is ultimately responsible for what happens on their property, as some or many of the cities concierges have been forcing the tour bus companies to pay them up to 30-40 % of your city tour or muir woods or monterey-carmel or yosemite tour price !! This is almost high street robbery!! And the latest wrinkle is that the goodly mayor has done little to nothing to stop this abuse,but the courts have told the 2 largest tour bus companies, mediocre w/old dirty dinged and Wyo.license plate Greyline-CoachUSA, and not South Korean megamillionaire Tower Tours, but little starting-over-with-new-less-crazy-owner SuperSightseeingTours, to settle and pay a huge fine to the SF concierges who were price fixing up and all the tour bus companies were also getting together and price fixing down,with little success. Why were the tour bus companies Right and the courts Wrong? Because the SF Concierges were in the divers seat and winning,over powering the tour bus companies that needed ,i think, to pay for a good maintenance mechanics versus postpone regular preventive maintenance as many have done in these terrible US economy and swimming-in-red-ink SF economy times,,,and pay to have the seats steam cleaned after being vomited on/annually ,as only one bus company in the city area used to do,,,
Third,,,i believe it was "60Minutes" that warned us 12 years ago about these "sale sale sale!!" camera stores in NYC and SF that often sell second quality major brand cameras to unsuspecting tourists,,,did the last several mayors do anything to stop this common ripoff at the Union Square area and the Fisherman Wharf area,,,?????,,,"no",,,so BEWARE,,,!!!!!
4,,,beware of the SF Police as most have not had a miss manners civility class,ever,and there is a law that if you pause you car in the slow lane to let some one into your car or out of your car, it is not a parking ticket, but a moving violation that goes on your driving record and against your insurance !! Not very friendly from a city and county that makes its living so easily and carelessly,,,from #1 biz of tourism,,,why are there so few cops walking bad neighborhoods like the Tenderloin and the Western Addition and Third Street and Sunnydale,,,and,,,?????
Fifth,,,the SF city/county public health departments are a joke. I have had access to many/most of the city's restaurants,over 3000, back doors ,,,and have seen a dead rat on one,,,and unimaginable greasy filth on the floors of others,,,the city could and should do much better in protecting the public health . Bars especially,,,
6,,,the chinese restaurant, the "House of Nanking",on Kearny near Columbus must be in a guide book as there is always a long line,,,but it is unclean to my standards and too crowded and not nearly as good as Chef Gia next door,,, or Hunan-they will always make custom mild or medium or hot to your taste-Restaurant on Sansome,near Broadway, nearby. I also recommend for first time visitors the very famous,tho could use new carpets or no carpets as they are expensive to keep clean,the Empress of China Restaurant.
7,,,for italian food ,i would like to recommend(no longer,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,) Ceasar's(oops,dec'06, found the fet w/porcini mushrooms to look and taste like puke for $14) in the Fisherman Wharf area,,,especially on the weekend when the italians eat there as the waiters are very fiendly and speak that lovely italian language,,,and also on Union Street just up hill from Washington Square, the small but popular restaurant,Trattoria Contadina,by the cable car line. Go to Pasta Pomodoro on Washington Square for the best tasting and cheapest italian and best view in nb-sf !!
8,,,for american food, can i recommend Moose's ,,,on Washington Square as a formal but reasonably priced place,,,and,,,,Tadich's on California,the oldest restaurant in SF,,,very good and reasonable prices,,,
9,,,which SF tour bus company to choose?? Avoid "TravelSF.com" as for years they have unscruplously cheated their paying customers with the sexiest website on the net but instead of giving them the muir woods ticket ,that says muirwoods on it, they have been passing out generic theater stub tickets,you know the kind you can buy in big rounds of double tickets,,,so that when their guest get to Muirwoods National Monument,they have to come up with the additional cash as generic theatre tickets are worthless,,,amazing that the city of SF has not stopped this flagrant fraud for years and years,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Greyline"/"CoachUSA"/SanFranciscoSightseeing/CUSA/Grosvenors goes by several confusing different names and paint jobs,,,but why??!!??,,,and their buses do not pay for California license plates,but rather Wyoming,,,to operate in SF,,,strange,,,and they are mostly old busses over 5 to 10 to 15 years old with nasty dirty seats that have probably never been steam cleaned,just vomit wiped ,,,ugh,,,and the drivers are not happy about the merging of so many companies and the mess it has made of their years of senority,,,,then there is the relatively new "Tower Tours" with all new buses ,quiet gas mini Ford's with lousy rides suspension from Krystals from LA vs Federals from the midwest and German Setra big coaches,,,,but their drivers tend to make stuff up versus read a SF tour book,as one senior driver's tour i rode recently said that "redwood trees near the ocean die because the salty air kills them",,,but they do have all new equipment and i hope none of their minibuses have noisy diesel engines you can not hear the tour over,,,and then there is " Super Sightseeing Tours", which is getting all new busses "this year" they say,,,hopefully none of their drivers make stuff up about SF as there are so many good SF cheap history books available,,,
10,,,try in advance to get tickets to "Beach Blanket Babylon",singing dancing comedy and big hats ,,,the longest running theatre in the USA,,,never met anyone who did not enjoy it,,,forget "Theatro Zinzani" as it is not nearly as popular,,,
11,,,be sure to find a free copy in the sidewalk newstands of the "SF Bay Guardian" to learn a lot about everything,dancing clubs and night clubs, restaurant reviews, politics, and all the other info useful to tourists and locals,,,it is the #1 useful info paper in SF,,,
12,,,buy or borrow the hotel concierge's coppy of "Zagat" restaurant guide and night club guide,,,if you go to their website and review a SF restaurant,,,hint hint,,,they will usually sent you a copy of the SF one, before you leave home,,,plan ahead,,
13,,,most travel websites lie about SF hotel and motel locations, calling SF airport locale hotels and motels part of a "SF hotels" search !!! Also, they lie and euphemize the correct name for the neighborhood "the Tenderloin",lots of prostitution,drugs,and possible scams like faked bum and auto accidents to extort money asap from the driver,,,and purse snatching,,,and filthy not-steam-cleaned-in-ages sidewalks,,,as "lower Nob Hill" or "the Western Union Square",,,BIG FAT LIES,,,!!!,,,DO NOT BE DECIEVED BY MOST TRAVEL WEBSITES,,,the Tenderloin is between Union Square and City Hall-Civic Center from Van Ness on the West to Mason Street on the East to south of Market on 6th,7th,and 8th,9th St. and to Post or Geary St. on the North,,,also beware of the West side of Civic Center, the Western Addition,a black poor high crime ghetto project of about 20 square blocks,,,
14,,,SF is 7 miles by 7 miles ,or about 52 square miles,,,you can divide it into 4 quarters to easily understand the layout,,,the NE quarter is the tourist area with Chinatown and FishermansWharf and NobHill,,but avoid at night especially the Tenderloin and the Western Addition,,,the NW is the upper left area with the Golden Gate Bridge,the Marina District for yuppies,the Pacific Heights area for the overabundant rich,the"Cow Hollow" area with" the best bargains of hotels and motels in SF "with prices of $39-49-59-69 such as the lowest price of the Comfort Inn at Lombard and Van Ness with lots of good restaurants on Chestnut St. and Union Street and northern Polk St. and good public transportation,,,and the Golden Gate Park,,,the SE is another poor ,high crime, mostly black,polluted,ugly, quarter with the only attractions being the baseball park and the 49ers football stadium,the old Candlestick,,,only tourists call it 3Com or MonsterPark,,,say "the Stick" to appear local and knowledgeable,,,so forget the SE quarter for sightseeing,,,and for the SW quarter it is mainly the Sunset District,in "the Avenues" ,a rather boring residential neighborhood ,with the only attractions of the Zoo ,with the old poo-throwing monkey, and Stern Grove for summer concerts,,,so forget most of the SW tho it is relatively safe to vist, oh, it also has the only street car transit available ,standard one-roof a/c shopping mall, "Stonestown" with Nordstrom and all the usual $$$$$ shops,,,
15,,,,,,recommend the "DK" travel book series as one of the best guide books on SF,,,also "Dr Weird's SF" paperback to study up and giggle before the trip and learn about the Summer of Love in 1967 and the "human be-in", the flower children,the press called the hippies,,,also the white paperback "Historic San Francisco" sold recently at Costco for about oooh maybe $15,,,
16,,,,,,,there are free walking tours out of the new main public library in the Civic Center,,,beware of the nightime Tenderloin social problems mentioned earlier,,,!!!
17,,,,,,there is a HALF PRICE theatre ticket office in the newly remodeled Union Square,,,check it out,,,
18,,,,,,again "Cow Hollow" is the best bargain neighborhood for inexpensive motels and hotels,,,and even some very expensive motels like the Del Sol,,,find Lombard Street between Lake St. on the West and Van Ness on the east and about Union St. on the south,,,why do none of the major travel websites nor the SF website emphasize this BIG Bargain area ??
19,,,,,,alot of the wealthy SF neighborhoods are closed to tour buses and "tourists looking in our windows!!", like the Marina, Russian Hill, Telegaph Hill with the Coit Tower, part of Pacific Heights, the Sea Cliff neighborhood formerly of Sharon Stone,,,and in a city whose number one business is tourism,,,also the city will not allow tour buses to stop at some of the most famous tourist attractions,like the Alamo Square most famous Victorian houses,the postcard row of painted ladies !!,,,and Civic Center!!near the new library,,,!!,,,crazy eh ?
20,,,,,,only the Haas victorian house on Franklin west of Van Ness is open to most tourists during the day,,,groups with cash can get into several others of more interest,,,
21,,,,,,"shareholders beware!!",,,companies on convention are blowing your dividends on extravagant spending for travel agencies called DMCs that book tour buses,charter buses, dinner reservations,etc.,,,for from 33%-50% NET PROFIT,,,this is exhorbitant and a total ripoff/giveaway of money that could be spent on an inhouse secretary doing the same job for FREE ,,,but what do most if not all American or multinational corporations care about fiscal responsibility to their shareholders ??? If a major corporation like IBM can spend 10$million in a week in SF,imagine how much is wasted on these travel agencies that could go directly to shareholders !?!?!? Contact Lucha(only) ,the very best manager in sf, at Compass, for a very competent SF charter bus secretary who can help you plan your trip,a charter bus company with old reliable MCI buses ,,,that probably need their seats steam cleaned,,, like Mercury use to do every year,,,now that is quality service,,,,
22,,,,,,some hotels do not keep their white curbs clear,but rather let cars park there all day it seems,,,like the Nikko,on Mason,,,what is up with that,,,???,,,and the Grand Hyatt at Union Square blocking a busy lane of traffic at a very busy corner,,,???,,,
23,,,,,,taxis,,,are very hard to find,,,doing the gravy run,like in seattle, between the airport and downtown,,,slide some green to a hotel doorman,like the most famous in town,tom at the sir francis Drake, and they will get you a cab faster,,,also great service at the nob hill Ritz,,,or try a restaurant host to call a cab for you,,,unless you are gorgeous or hot to a gay driver or near union square, your chances are slim of gettng a cab by waving on the corner,,,and beware of these terrorists in training as the sf taxi drivers usually find the slowest,most costly way to your destination, the one with the most red lights,,,there are way too few cabs in the city,,,and the cabbies,not the city is in control, so that is wacked,,,
24,,,,,,many of the city's most famous tourist sites do not have tour bus white curbs,,,like alamo square's postcard row of 7 painted lady victorians,,,what is up with that major industry handicap,,,??!!
25,,,,,,why is the city and county of sf allowing the airport minibus companies to force the drivers to buy or lease their formerly just employee operated minivans,,,??!!what a terrible show of capitalism at it's worst,,,try to help these low wage working poor drivers and only use companies that do not force the driver to assume what is traditionally the company's rightful overhead cost built into the usual high profit sturcture,,,drivers should not be forced to lease or buy minis and coaches ,,,and pay for the mechanic ,,,and insurance,,,and gas,,,this is a huge social injustice!!,,,but sf is asleep at the city hall,again,,,,
26,,,,,,NPS has created a monopoly monster at Alcatraz by allowing only one ferry boat operator, so prices are too high,,,and the lines are too long,,,and there should be at least 2 or 3 different ferry boat companies,,,and it is too hard to get tickets,,,sometimes sold out for 2 weeks,,,plus many people regularly swim from alcatraz to sf, children and grandmothers and grandfathers, and even jack lalane use to swim as a senior citizen yearly from alcatraz ,hand-cuffed and pulling many boats,,,handcuffed!!,,,so do not believe the common myth that" is was impossible to escape from alcatraz",,,
27,,,,,,many myths,,,to S.F.,,,is has snowed in the past in town ,with ground accumulation ,in the 1950s and 1960s,,,also ,,,lombard street is not,,,not,,,not,,,the "crookedest street in town",,,it is Vermont street, of dirty harry -clint eastwood fame, in a poor bad neighborhood called potrero hill south,,,
28,,,,,,weather,,,,,,also the worst weather is during the peak tourist season of summer with fog, cold,wind,cold, damp, cold ,poor visibility 50-60 degree days,,,and the south bay in summer,silicon valley,has brown layer and green layer smog on top days,,,ugh,,,Tower Tours says we can not say that "negative" to the tourists,,,ha,,,,"scare away biz",,,ha,,,in summer,,,PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE,,,EXPECT LOUSY COLD WINDY FOGGY OVERCAST POOR-VISIBILITY WEATHER IN SUMMER,,,AND NOW IF YOU DO COME IN SUMMER TO SAN FRAN,,,YOU CAN NOT NOT NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT THE WEATHER!!!,,,there is a clockwise warm moist air circulation over the n.pacific and it pushes the warm coastal water away,clockwise,,,this coastal water is replaced by colder deep oxygenated and nutrient rich water,,,so that when the warm moist air of summer central northern pacific hits cal.coast, it is like blowing on a mirror in the morning,,,you create "fog",,,also it can be 100-110f in the state capitol what with all that politician hot air rising,,,and that just sucks in the fog more thru the wind funnel of the low ,mouth of the biggest river in the state, the golden gate (the bridge is red),,,the best weather is in autumn or our indian summer with temps in the 80s and 90s,,,one year,acouple years ago, there were 3 days in a row over 100f and one day it was 103f in SF,,,winter is the best visibility and with only 15 inches of rain a very nice uncrowded season to visit SF,,,spring is my favorite when the hills are green,,, versus brown in summer,,, and there are lots of flowers and the city is also uncrowded,,,
29,,,,,,Scoma's is the most famous seafood restaurant in SF,,,no resys ,and not fancy,,,also Scoma's in sausalito is fancy but very price competitive reasonable and right on the water,,,and does take resys,,,may i suggest you take the $7 commuter ferry over from the sf ferry building to sausalito,with a frequency of 45-90 minutes,but not past midnight in summer and especially the other slower seasons,,,forget,ok,it is getting better,but "Spinnaker" eating- the- view mediocre food and service category restaurants in sausalito ,,,
30,,,...forget about the 2 "bay cruise " boat companies,,,red and white,,,and blue and gold,,,as they only go around alcatraz and under the golden gate bridge,,,not into the south bay or the north bay or 80% of the bay, what a ripoff for over $30,,,take the more modern,more stable,commuter ferrys to sausalito and tiburon from the ferry building near the sf bay bridge for about only $7,,,what a steal of a deal,,,!!
31,,,...Presidio,,,beware of poison oak all over and also rattlesnakes,,,as there are not any warning signs,,,so stay out of the bushes,,,!!,,,also ,go down to the fort point area versus the south bridge parking lot, as there is a new toilet set, tho without enough holes, only 2 per side,,,typical NPS incompetence,,,over 20 years without flushing toilets and when we get them, NPS spends all this money and time in slow construction yet only puts in 2 holes per mens or womens,,,what bureauocraps,,,
32,,,...stay out of the water at ocean beach on the pacific at the end of golden gate park,,,as there are very dangerous rip currents and holes near the beach,so that 6-7 people drowned each year wading at a seemingly popular ,but too small warning sign and too few life guards, beach,,,horse back riding probably should be allowed to keep all but the surfers from going into the ocean at the dangerous "red triangle" of highest stat great white shark attack area,,,go to baker beach in the presidio or to the rich neighborhood of sea cliff's beach and don't spoil the rich spoiled selfish residents,but treat them like the rest of sf,,,
33,,,...a private for-profit biz is in control,at least on paper, in the Presidio,tho you will see NPS personnel there,,,the P.Trust has a 15 year contract to do what they said and boasted and pledged to do,make a profit in the old military base since the military left in the early 1990s,until 2013,,,and have yet to show a yearly profit,,,so typical for corporate america to lie ,and get away with it,year after year,,,there is no law protecting this 1500 acres and 1000 buildings of very very very valuable land ,in the public ownership,forever,like a national monument that only takes a president's signature,,,so there is a considerable risk that the P.Trust will sell off some or all of this former huge valuable public land asset,,,beware,,,
34,,,...scary-looking bus companies,,,ACE,,,MAJESTIC,,,NEW WEST,,,MAJIC,,,(and many more,,,to list later,,,)
35,,,...cable cars,,,only one woman spoke up to keep cable cars,yet they are a big part of the sf image,,,prices just went up to $5 per ride and $10 for a day pass,,,there are only 3 lines left,,,and the california street line ,from drum street near the ferry building to van ness street ,is the easiest one to ride,,,tho the most popular, the hyde street and mason street lines run perpendicular and north-south,from either aquatic park thru union square to powell street and market street or from fisherman's wharf thru union square to the same end of line at powell street and market street,,,so there is a huge line at market and powell by nordstrom's,,,beware,,,and do what the locals do,,,it is not end to end service,,,but continuous to the end of the line ,where you must get off,,,and pay again,,,so just walk up a block or 2 and wait for the cable car to stop,,,and hop on the rail on the right side and hang out with a firm grip on the vertical pole,,,so much fun,,,but a bit dangerous for kids and klutzes,,,so take a seat if one is available,,,my big gripe is that the price went from $3 to $5 with talk of $10 and yet the unionized drivers take terribly long breaks,like 55minutes of every hour,right in front of our #1 biz guests, reading the paper bs and such,,,so rude,,,!!!,,,the goodly mayor should insist on continuous service to our valued quests with the use of relief drivers on the cable car system,,,and tax the way too many rich in the way too many rich neighborhoods to pay for it if the union squalks,or not,,,do not ,do not, do not stand in line for up to 3 hours and get very upset at SF,as it has alway been corrupt,,,always,,,(acouple years ago after a big election, voting boxes full of ballots were found floating in the bay on the day after election),,,(sf public school district mgmt misappripriated $$$ millions,,,and did all monies get reclaimed and all put in jail for long terms=no),,,
36,,,...some hotels have changed names 3 xs in 10 years, like the Argent,,,and why do they have sf cops kicking cars and buses out of their white curb ??,,,during the day,,,
37,,,...CalTrain down the Peninsula,is sooo much better than BART,,,it goes to the cheaper hotels near SFO and down past palo alto and stanfud,,,to silly-con valley and stuped san josey,,,and even down to morgan hill and the outlet malls of 100s in gilroy,,,BART IS SUCH A TECH-NO-LOGICAL WASTE OF TAXPAYERS MONEY,,,LIKE DIAMOND LANES THAT THE FEDS REQUIRE,,,(more later on history,start-stumble to bumble-present, of farty BART,,,),,,
38,,,...use the new CalTrain station at 4th x King street,near the baseball park,,,to get to lots of cheap motels in Millbrae on ElCaminoRealBlvd near SFO and san mateo and burlingame,,,and SuperSightSeeingTours will pick you up for city tours or muirwoods tours or monterey-carmel tours or wine country tours or other tours,,,as they were the first of the sf tour bus companies to go down out of sf county and into san mateo county to pick up these stranded out of town tourists,,,
39,,,...sooo many complaints about the HOMELESS,,,hey, if it were not for a certain coldhearted slick governor shutting down the 2 huge mental hospitals in the north bay,Sonoma, and the south bay, Agnews,,,there would not be so many crazy people making bad choices to sleep in doorways and on the sidewalk,,,and wait in long lines in the Tenderloin for the soup kitchens,,,and beg for $40-50,000 /yr of sf huge generosity of tourists,,,just a couple years ago the city had "general assistance" where it gave out $300-400/mo to the homeless,,,but so many got phoney DMV ids that some had 10-20 false accounts ,so the program was stopped,and now there is something like $7/hr street sweeping program,that is not very popular,,,also, avoid Golden Gate Park at night,as 100s of homeless might be sleeping there at night ,after dark,,,when the sun goes down,,,
39,,,...one temperature for SF,,,makes about as much sense as,,,one cop for all the poor neighborhoods,,,there should be a temp for the beach chalet at ocean beach on the west side or pacific ocean coast and one for twin peaks in the geographic center and one for the golden gate bridge and one for downtown-financial district and one for the mission district or candlestick area,,,at least,,,hey, wx people, do your job better !!
40,,,...what is with all this cottonseed oil coming into SF in double tanker gasoline-type trucks,every few days,to the 3rd x Army-Chavez st. area ??,,,are all or many of the expensive sf restaurants using such cheap and inferior cooking oil, the most toxic crop in california,,,without telling their dining customers ?,,,well, do not expect the cowardly american press to investigate that one,,,
41,,,...the Golden Gate Bridge District,that owns the golden gate bridge,not the state of california,,,has already gone in autumn to winter reduced hours on the $7 ferry from sf-sausalito-sf,,,??,,,and it stops at 620pm,,,??,,,what a Stupid thing to do, when people want to go to sausalito by ferry for dinner,or sf,,,and the g.g.bridge takes in about $500,000 per day, so the ggbd can certainly afford to run the ferries until midnight,on the hour,,,where are our public servants??,,,out to lunch,on the taxpayers,again ??
42,,,...most modern western European cities have Central Hotel Reservations Offices,,,but not SF,,,
43,,,...a central taxi dispatch would be helpful,too,at the taxis are circling the gravy run at SFO by the score,,,instead of covering SF,,,so have a hotel dorman or restaurant host call you a cab,,,unless you are a babe or gay darling,,,beware , the cabbies are rude,slobs in dirty cabs,and usually go the long ,full of redlights,slow,way,,,
44,,,...why can't SF regularly steam clean the sidewalks downtown,as some are constantly filthy,with bum pee,,,???,,,maybe at least monthly,,,???
45,,,...ok, here is (going to be) a list of all the "secret bargain neighborhood" motels and hotels in Cow Hollow, that SF and all the travel websites are cluck-cluck-cluck chicken to tell you about,,,
,,,,,ch,1,,,the Comfort Inn,on Van Ness x Lombard,sometimes as low as $69/double in peak season summer(last year),,,!!
(more latter when i have time,,,)
46,,,...about tour bus operators,,the biggest,by far,in size, is Greyline/CoachUSA/FranciscanLines/PacificCoast/,or,,,SanFranciscoSightseeingandTours/
GrosvenorLines,,,they have gobbled up sooo many companies, that they are definitely the biggest, just not the best, as most of the sf buses have Wyoming plates, and are old and dirty, especially the never before steam cleaned seats,,,if you slap them ,a huge dust cloud of disease dust forms,,,tho they are getting new double deckers,still packing people in like sardines,to max profit,,,the second biggest tour bus company is probably Tower Tours, with all new $3-400,000 German Setra big buses and many minis,,,try to get a gasoline mini so you can hear the tour and not just the diesel noisy unsoundproofed engine,,,they seem to operate on a "ignorance is bliss" tour guide theory as they are not allowed to talk about how bad the summer peak-season weather can be,,,but the all new equipment is a big big big safety plus,,,the third largest sf tour bus company is probably SuperSightseeingTours,that is just now replacing with the new big German Setra buses,,,they seem to have a "knowledge is power" tour philosophy as the drivers are allowed to tell the truth from the myths,like Lombard is not really the crookedest street but Vermont is, and the summer fog can be very cold,,,the 4th largest tour bus company in sf ,with actual tour buses, is probably TravelSF,but they have been very naughty with the sexiest website and selling generic theatre tickets as official Muirwoods entrance tickets for years,,,bad bad bad,,,most of the other "sf sightseeing tour companies" you may Google on the web are just travel agencies or booking agencies,taking a cut ,with no actual buses of their own, so BEWARE !!
47,,,...guidebooks,,,i prefer the DK series,available at Costco membership warehouse stores for cheap,,,
(but will compare all the others like LonelyPlanet ,etc. with my max sf knowledge,,,soon,,,)
48,,,...clean public toilets,,,this has always been a problem in sf,,,in the past some stores were kind and public-minded enough to let the public and customers use their toilets, as in merry old England is the rule,,,but the last mayor, Sac-a-tomatoes Cal. legislature-slick Willie Brown thot he could get the best of the french by negotiating for about 35 green kiosk automatic coin operated 25cent self-cleaning modern toilets,,,but the french got the best of the mayor,and sf,by charging 3xs the best retail price, in a sloppy ad space for toilet swap,,,so much for slick Willie,,,who left the city swimming in red ink,,,remember , these dark green oval units are on a timer,so don't plan to take your sweet time,,,ladies,,,
49,,,...there is a new street car line on market st. from the castro district down to the ferry building and all along the embarcadero/waterfront from the baseball park to fisherman's wharf,,,cost is about $1.50 and of course the city bus co/muni wants exact change,,,natch,,,


,,,more to follow ,as time allows
,,,best of luck !!

"Wilderness Unlimited" hunting and fishing Cal. Sportsmen membership club,,,a consumer's opinion,,,BEWARE!!

Back in the 1990s i joined "Wilderness Unlimited" hunting and fishing on private property sportsmen's club for about $700 initiation and about $700 in annual dues. I had seen their booth at the various hunting and fishing sportsmen shows as in San Mateo and had lost all my private property access through the farmers going "clean" as in no weeds or habitat for Cal.native wildlife and exotic game like quail, ducks, geese, and pheasants.
HUGE MISTAKE,,,
The first clue that the club was not interested in the game or member's best interests but primarily and mainly and mostly just profit, came when my very experienced and savvy Dad and i paid extra for Oregon licenses and also the club's arranged Maupin,north central Oregon, ranch access to a big private plot. We drove up there early and stayed in a small motel in Madras,Oregon and scouted the property from the highway as we were incouraged to do,also from the gated access. On about day 2 we ran into a fellow club member who told us he had seen another member from So.Cal. who told him that a helicopter from the neighboring eastern ranch had herded illegally all the male antlered elk in herds onto his off limits property and closed the fence!! Both were quiting,after paying and traveling,as it was thus useless. But Dad said lets "hunt".
The season opened and we were on the property we had paid tresspass for ,the Rocking something, before sunrise,,,and hunted for days,,,until just after sunset. Finally i decided to phone one of the club owners in San Diego and ask if he had heard complaints from the 2 other hunters that had left. He said no,,,and that i was "crazy" to think such a thing could happen on WU club property and in Oregon,,,and in these United States of America!! So i went into the town of Madras Chamber of Commerce office building downtown and asked if this was true,,,or was i "crazy"? The man said it was true, all the legal bulls had been helicopter herded onto the closed neighbors property,and it would cost me like $3000 to be taken on this ranch for a "guaranteed 5pt or better bull elk,i would shoot dead". I almost said ok,till he said it would be $6000.00 for my dad and me.
I immediately phoned the Oregon State Wildlife officers ,,,and they said if i did not see it ,it did not happen ,and they were too busy in their offices to come all that way out to see for themselves,,,is that corruption at it's worst,or what ?! I phoned the feds, same weak ass story, we are too busy story.
Dad and i drove home to the S.F. Bay Area very disappointed in WU.
Then i had the rare luck to run into one of the club's private property leasors who said the club told him ,for the same money, it wanted his worst piece of game habitat and not the best he intended the club to use,as he was filthy rich and afforded hunting in Oregon,etc.. That was it, and i was out of the club for good. BEWARE !!
Also, if you are an elk hunter, beware of Gunnison, Colorado as there is a popular guide there who will take your advance check in full and when you drive to his ranch,ride in his new red Dodge twincab,ride a horse in the snow up to 10-11000 feet base camp just north of town acouple hours,,,he will tell you -and get away with it- you being outofstate- that you are "not worthy of getting a shot at an elk because you are not as fit as a college athlete and have not paid your dues in previous many outfitter fees over the years",,,and the Colorado state outfitter association lets him get away with this fraud and larceny!!
Also, beware of elk hunting out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as there is/was a well known guide there who got away with booking outofstate hunters cow-no horns hunts on orders of getting male-antler only tags and not telling the hunters until they arrived !! Were we pissed or what ?! Back home,after the Wyoming state and outfitter association did next to nothing, we were contacted by the FBI that our guide "the best guide in Jackson Hole!!" was being investigated for child pornography during,,,during our week hunt of the area and inside the Grand Teton National Park !! Commercialization of hunting and fishing has many flaws and pitfalls.
Tho the state of california has had a bad attitude about the environment and state habitat health for decades of rep.and dem. governors !

"Club Ed" surf school of Santa Cruz,Cal. and Baja surf camp,,,a consumer's opinion

Now 2005, so a couple years ago i reminded myself that growing up in California i had promised myself that i would learn to surf before i became a senior citizen, and not by getting away with cutting friday class in San Jose in high school and driving over 17 to Santa Cruz. So i chose one of the 2 or more surf schools at Santa Cruz's safe beach with sandy bottom on the right side of the pier,opposite the famous Boardwalk amusement park, at Cowell Beach. Club Ed gave me an excellent Hawaiian college student age surf instructor and i was standing up repeatedly, with difficulty as it is not as easy a child's play at 50, in less than a full 8hr day!!
I was jazzed, or as they say "stoked",so i signed up for the Baja surf camp week in Mexico and this is were my consumer experience went "south", in a big way !! We were to caravan drive down and i was talked into driving one of the trucks,since i had a chauffeurs commercial limo and bus license and a much better safety record with the state DMV than the college kid who was going to get extra pay for driving after finishing a commercial driving course,,,in exchange,i understood at the time ,for a new surfboard of my size and a wet suit,as i was a pro limo driver and wound never have agreed to the risk and work during my expensive paid vacation of driving to and in Mexico for any thing less, period. I make $400-300 a day,just in tips.
So in November of 2001, i drove from Santa Cruz on Monterey Bay down to the Mex border,scary TJ, and down thru the federales-over armed thugs of Baja to a place south of Ensenada, i believe called Erindira Beach. This is NOT a safe place for beginners to learn to surf, in my humble opinion !! The beach is rocky and so is the wave break area bottom and we had one athletic guy jump instead of buttflop off his surfboard and shatter his ankle !! Yes, there was a very nice guy as pro EMT but he failed to immediately or even near term treat the victim for shock as you learn in basic and advanced first aid by taking him off the steep incline head up beach position for a horizontal position,,,basic bonehead stuff,,,and the guy almost went into SHOCK plus having to be driven fast in the back of a pickup all the way north to a good San Diego hospital.
Also the instructors were not available,but seemed unhappy to work for so little,as Ed had told me he was into making a quick fortune-killing and buying a new bigger house and lots more land in expensive Santa Cruz. The college kid who i aced out of the driving job certainly was not happy about losing that additional income. And usually the instructors would be available the first few hours of the first day and then only the first hour of the day after the beauty led the option beach yoga class,so that they could get their surf time in. At first the waves were under 6 feet but then a tropical storm offshore brought higher waves and we were told to go in and try,,,as in pee in your wetsuit scared stiff try,,,!!!!!
The other members of the paid staff and paying guests were a good mix:we had a young family ,rich,from Piedmont with a beautiful french- speaking wife and 2 great kids,and a young pretty blonde from Long Island,NY,,,and some single men like my self,and the paid and excellent cook, and Ed's nice wife and 2 brat kids. The weather was awful:sweltering hot in the black rubber wetsuits during the day and cold foggy damp bone-chilling cold in the provided small tents and our sleeping bags at night. We usually had a guitar for someone to play at the nightly campfire and lots of Mexicans ready to steal any loose stuff from our campsite right on the beach. If you stlll insist on going there ,there is a good clean cheap hotel at the far north-one mile-end of the beach,which is where i wish i slept,,, every,,, night,,,, of the trip, tho i have backpacked and horsepacked in the Sierra Nevada's all my life. No showers, i seem to remember,either at the beach.
On the drive back norte i asked Ed what kind of surfboard and surfing wetsuit he was going to buy me in compensation,,, and he said i had misunderstood,not in writing, that he would only give me his pro surf shop discount of about $200 on both. Shock,,,again,,, i said i did not misunderstand as i had restated his offer for a full wetsuit and new board on the ride down. So i was screwed, and probably not the first or last. Beware!! And there are other surf schools.

VBT/Vermont Bicycle Tours...a consumer's opinion

Now it is 2005, but about 4 or 5 years ago,so about 2000-2001, i took my first trip with VBT/Vermont Bicycle Tours in central Vermont during the first week of October. And the Fall foliage was,for a Californian, absolutely Fantastic !! I wish i could say the same for VBT bicycle tour company.
In my 50s I had bicycled all my life, even to and from High School,embarassing when the car dealers' sons were all driving new free GTOs and other hot cars, plus at 25, 2 friends and I had bicycled up and across Canada one Summer. I was in average American, or average to poor shape by my 50s.
At the first inn, the start of the trip, in Waitsfield,we stayed at a lovely old place with very polite hosts. The trip had 2 leaders ,one old and one young, and the older was unfortunately in charge. The older took us out the first morning for the routine bicycle operation and safety lecture, except he tried to make it only a very corny standup comedy routine and hardly anyone laughed at his tired ,obvious,constant weak jokes. But he made it plain he was the boss. He did not cover such basics as 1) shifting well before the hill and 2)ankling,or not keeping your ankle rigid. Unfortunately the bicycles were of a major manufacture but of the cheap end of the line as far as brakes and gears went and without any shocks in front forks even or at best front and rear. Some of the guests opted for the very thick ,cost extra, padded seat for all the bumpy dirt roads we would be traveling on on our bone shakers !
The younger leader drove the sag or tail or pickup wagon for those that got lost even with the detailed but flawed directions we all had-me included- or those that got too tired each day of the week trip and decided to ride in the van the last few miles-and many did thus. The terrain was gentle rolling hills and usual good shoulder with considerate passing drivers, but on the frequent dirt roads the VBT companies choice in rigid,non-shock bicycle frames proved a very uncomfortable,painful and unnecessarily difficult to operate choice. The handlebar wanted to vibrate out of your hands on such bad bumpy dirt roads! It was only the shockingly vivid colors of the leaves,,,and hopes of a hottub at the end that kept me in good spirits on this expensive adventure-working vacation.
One of the inns that VBT had chosen was a large county club golf course afair and ,unfortunately, we were all made by lack of smiles and welcomes , to feel unwelcome. At least the rooms were clean and well furnished,,,and they had a hot tub!! Why VBT does not advertise or promote or inform you that a wonderful for tired muscles jaccuzi is available some days at some inns is beyond understanding. The food and drinks were good, but again no friendly customer service.
One of the best inns/stays was at the "October Country Inn" in southern Vermont !! A++ gentlemen at the inn !! So friendly and welcoming and the food was definitely the ultimate ,very best cuisine of the trip ! Delicious, we were in such good spirits...and there was a beautiful river and microbrewery across the way...such a wonderful choice by VBT, as if all their chosen inns could be so friendly and high quality. It's near or just south of that famous ski area with a "K".
The younger leader was friendly,confident, capable,patient,much more handsome, ladies, and without the cornball constant jokes, so in my humble opinion, a much better tour leader than the older for boss, but not by VBT.
I would recommend VBT a grade of "C" for the uncomfortable rigid bicycle frames, the boring cornball older leader as boss who did such a lousy safety talk the first day and thought he was god's gift to bicycle tours, and the few unfriendly or tackly trailer-trash furnished inns that VBT for profit over quality chose to put us in. A 1" seat tube schock absorber, such as used by the competition, would not have helped much. For the money you pay, VBT could do a much better job. I flew in and out of the cute college town on the lake to the east with good rental car and flight service. Great job Vermont !!

DR. BILL WELLER , FAMOUS , BUT NO NATIONAL MEDAL , YET ,,,

So many of us go to the hospital ,whether we want to or not, and see some pretty awful to lousy to mediocre MD's in the USA. I would like to sing the praises of a great doctor,still living , as he is much due such audible commendation for a life of medical excellence and true charity.
When i was a child in the 50s growing up in the south bay of San Francisco Bay, i knew even then i was very lucky to live on the same block as Dr. William Weller and his nurse-trained wife , Mary. For Dr. Weller was an anesthesiologist, "gas man", who was making big big moola/money and yet offered to treat all the kids on the block for all their cuts and scrapes and possible broken bones and boy scout physicals,,,FOR FREE. He had a big family of 3 smart boys and one very smart girl and being from the Pennsylvania Dutch Quaker country, he certainly did not have to do this for so many long years, but he did. Do you personally know of such a doctor ? This kind of medical generosity and guilt over making so much money, just as a gasman ,must be extremely rare. Maybe it had something to do with his integral religion of Christianity and taking care of the less fortunate.
I can remember when i was in high school , he volunteer to work on the U.S.S. HOPE off the Pacific and South America, so his generosity was not limited to just his own block and neighborhood. Such fine medical skills,even if for just a annual Boy Scout physical, linked with such constant generosity i think you must agree are certainly deserving of a national medal at the least , a scholarship at one of the best medical schools, and a statue and plaque so that others can see what an exemplary life this one man has led. I am not his son, or a relative, just one of the many beneficiaries of his life-long good medicine and good cheer generosity and i am having trouble telling you about how good a man Dr. Weller has been to his family and to his block/neighborhood, because there are so few truly good men i have met in my 57 years of life. I hope you all met someone as good and kind and generous as Dr. Bill Weller in your own lives.