Dear Mrs. Katie Couric, Sorry you are leaving CBSNews ,maybe,,, but you were not you, unlike on the Today Show, so no wonder you Bombed

I was a big fan of Jane Pauley, as of you on the Today Show , when you acted as a woman, a full person, smart funny well-educated and well read.  Just as interesting a Personality as any of the guys, maybe more so.  It's still a guys world eh?


So why have you been taking all this bad bad bad advice for so long on CBSNews to be male-suited, serious- face all the time, one dimensional, and too much like male news readers?  I don't give a fig for who gave you the advice--you didn't do this to yourself , did you!!?-- whether it was a guy or gal or some overpaid network guru gnu.


First, you don't have much time left, so be a woman, not a male version of a female news reader,,,or is that female version of a male news reader?.  Walter Cronkite was famous, as a GUY; But do you really want to read everything so stiff and stylized ,during the never ending Vietnam war even, only crying once on tv when Kennedy was assassinated?  "And that is the way it was,,," ,geesh, leave that consistent, robot/machine-like reading to the guys imitating the guys role model!  I watched Walter almost every night as a kid and young man, but that was in tv's infancy; He would not succeed now.  Such consistency 'reassurance' was a disservice,,,There were social, political and economic revolutions going on,,,and the s.f. Summer of Love in '67 was not shown on the evening news nightly.


We love our news readers for their humanity, not wooden-ness.  Look at the Today Show Birthday Boy; Everyone, ok almost everyone loves Willard.  Not the always mad and mean men, no thanks i say.  And look at how different you appeared on the recent Today Show with your old bud whats-his-name(mat!) vs how you appear on your regular job; Worlds apart and i want to see the full person Katie ,,, not the wood version.


Father's can be wooden and consistent. Mother's have to be emotionally available and responsive.  Can you imagine giving your daughters the same response for an "A" on a test as for consistent good manners or a careless hurtful remark in public?  Those in Journalism who don't like expression or especially opinion in news must think we all are morons/worse,,, and certainly never watched KQED9's Newsroom!!  


Maybe in the future there will be a) the naked news reading girls of Canada , and b) the wooden males with fancy suits and ties,,, yawn,,,and c) sock puppets and cartoon 2 dimensional cutouts and ,,, real, confident, emotionally available ,smart , well educated,vivacious, life experienced, somewhat wise, smarty pants ,,, talking springer spaniels!


Best wishes, whatever you do. You could be the Phil Donahue second coming(kidding)   

"T-Mobile, Hey!!, What gives !! Trying to sell us to the INFERIOR at&t ?!" ,,, DON'T WE GET A VOTE?

I urge all T-Mobile customers opposed to the sale to AT&T to send a copy of their bills to the President, T-Mobile, AT&T, and your Senators with " NO SALE !! " in red marker across the bill.  Also the FCC.


Not that we customers matter,,, to any of these.

Why the news blackout from the SF tv news on the biggest winter storm in years with zero coverage from Donner Pass, Lake Tahoe has an airport, or Yosemite where guest have been kicked out of the Valley WITH hotel reservations?

How cheap, lazy, incomplete and  incompetent, shallow info-tainment is San Francisco ABC7, CBS5, NBC3, CH2 , etc. television news?  Very, it seems these days. We get the in-studio window dressing,,, not the outside-the-office-box news on the street and in the state.
What fluff!


People have been kicked out of Yosemite National Park, with prepaid and proper hotel reservations, in the last week !!  But there is little or no coverage of this major event in California. It is Sunday 27 March 2011.  No SFBayArea tv new station should get ANY award this year! 


We are being cheated by tv news companies not covering the daily news!!; Do we care?


Sure, mass hysteria reins during the recent Friday (6ft) California tsunami!! It was so unbalanced that it caused much more panic than was reasonably warranted.  And the October 1989 tv new coverage was so scandalous, with all those hysterical close-ups of burning buildings ,but little distanced, all Marina District, encompassing photography.

Go to the Feds NWS/NOAA and ask about current weather and forecast for ,,, say, YOSEMITE. Where is the "snow on the ground" and live web cam current weather details?? This GOVT site is JUNK !!

They are doing a terrible job, "F", in giving you current details and forecast expectations !!  What a sloppy messy disorganized and unusable site,,, such a waste of government resources !! 


Where is the live webcam?  This is 2011, folks !!  Any live webcam for SF ??


Go elsewhere, like weather.com,,,
Anywhere else is better organized and better presented and more useful, complete weather information.


What a sad commentary on the U.S. government.

Do you Really want to buy a Super Expensive fabric and metal coil mattress that you can not clean ,,, or a foam futon top mattress you can clean in your tub?

  It has amazed me since i became an adult and moved out of the family house and the college dorm brick cell-like shared tiny room and had to consider buying my own bed, how very very Very Expensive your average cloth and steel spring mattresses are !!  $300 ,,, $400 ,,, $500 !! ,,, and it is just fabric, stuffing, and wood and or metal framing and springs !!  OUTRAGEOUS !!

So luckily when i was young in the 70s and the hippies were around, FUTONS stores were abundant in SF and Berkeley and the SFBayArea.  So i went in to one, on Haight Street, and talked to the sales guy.  He said it would last me many many years, made of high quality foam, and i could un-zip the 3 sections covers and take the 3 foam blanks out , about 5 or 6 inches thick, and wash them in the tub with soap and water.  It was very cheap back then, less than $100 i think.  And i have washed the cover several times and the foam in the tub with soap and water, letting the tub drain, then half filling with water and rinsing, and draining again, without having to lift the wet foam in the tub. I sometimes rinse twice.  So easy and i have a clean sterile mattress again !!

You can NOT do THAT with a regular cloth, padding, and wood-steel frame $$$$$ mattress !!  

And people are now worried about bedbugs in hotel beds.  What about your own bed ?  How old is it and how much dead skin , oil , sweat , and ick do you think/ don't want to think are in that top mattress !??

Compared to most mattresses i have slept on , i will take a cheap 'hippie' foam futon top mattress ANY NIGHT for COMFORT !!

Wake up, America , after a better and healthier nights sleep ,,, on a cheaper, better, washable, more comfortable, much cheaper! , foam futon 3 section mattress !!  (Yes, your standard fitted bottom sheets will still fit.)

So far ,,, i have never bought a standard 'American' fabric and padding and wood-metal top mattress -- i just LAUGH OUT LOUD AT THE PRICES WHEN I WALK BY A DISPLAY IN COSTCO OR WHERE EVER --  and at this rate and super comfortable sleep, i probably Never will buy a typical fabric and padding and metal spring mattress.

No help from Consumer Reports.  I discovered this cheaper , cleaner, healthier option on my own.  

Oh, and i have a friend in SoCal who sells these new foreign-made super-Expensive foam mattresses ,,, for $Thousands!! ,,, and he is LAUGHING all the way to the Bank at the Fools spending $20,000 to $30,000 for one of these Super-Expensive foreign brand, foam beds !!

Really Bad Design and Still Sold Award: Eyeglasses with carbon fiber frames

These very expensive 'designer' frames are light and very thin and very attractive colors.  But you drop then ONCE ,,, and the frame breaks ,,, and can not be (They don't tell you this when you Buy them!!) glued or repaired !!  Expensive ,,, and disposable ?!!

Forgetaboutit !!

Really Bad Design and Still Sold Award: Eyeglasses with nylon string around the bottom of the frame

ok, it is cheap light and fixable. But every time you touch your glasses, say to wipe a 'sleepie' away, a lens falls out ,,, on the carpet or concrete !!  Scratched or chipped plastic lens then. And these are famous expensive frames.

 So ,,, impractical !!

Here is another Costco frozen,microwavable food item you DON'T want to guinea-pig TRY !!

ITEM #24260,,,stuffed red peppers with turkey.  They were tough,,,even after microwaving twice.

If you don't touch a bank account for 18 months in California, YOUR BANK might send you ONE LETTER, then SEND YOUR MONEY TO THE STATE for safe keeping !!

I have banked with Bank of the West for almost 20 years with from $50k to $120k in the bank, right at the end of the block.  Right at the end of the block i live on.

So i find this old savings account ledger and remember a separate savings account i started, years ago. I go to Bank of the West and they tell me, yeah, we sent you a letter and you did not answer, so even tho you had ANOTHER SAVING AND CHECKING ACCOUNT WITH US,,, we sent all the money in your 3rd account to the State of California,,,because "we did not know what happen to you", (with 2 very active accounts???)

Not one phone call.  Just the legal minimum, one letter.  If i was the President of Bank of the West i would be immediately seeing what changes i could make to repair my banks bad public image.   The ATMs are in faded worn poor repair,,, and now this.  

What image problem,,,

P.G.& E. killed 8 people and destroyed 38 houses with the gas main explosion and fire, yet NO ONE HAS GONE TO JAIL YET !!

It is called "negligent homicide" and if it was you or me, we would be before a jury and or IN JAIL BY NOW !!

Did you see the 2011 Academy Awards? " In 3 years, (inside job) not one financial executive has gone to jail."

Huge massive white-collar crime of FRAUD,,,


Not 1.
"change", President Obama?

March 2011, Why can't President Obama have a "zero tolerance policy on rape in the U.S. military", it seems so simple by Executive Order,,,!?

Any one raping goes to jail and loses their military benefits and pension. 


Easy.

A National Disgrace: Call your Senator and as an Honorable Discharged Veteran ask for a copy from the V.A. of your DD214 sheet; " 3 WEEKS MINIMUM, PROBABLY 4, MAYBE 5 WEEKS" !!

A friend of mine, in another state, called his Senator today, and was told, "It will take at least 3 weeks to process your request for that DD214 in the Senator's office, then another week at least for the V.A. and then,,,"


Our soldiers are bleeding and dying in some God-forsaken, slim tourist interest, Hell-hole of a country on the other side of the planet,,, and for what!?
When they get home, and ask a very very simple favor of their government that put them in harm's way, they will feel like second rate citizens, like my friend who wasted 2 years with the Vietnam conflict and 2 tier, one 5" gun forward that could not hit the side of a barn, terrible team-building, little sleep-sloppy Navy.  Let's not forget the embarrassing enlisted uniform, yikes !! 


Go ahead.  I double dare you.  Call your Senator and ask for a DD214 for an Honorable Discharged Veteran.  This is a National Disgrace !!

Plumbing Industry, Watch Out !! I am wise to your planned obsolete design , shoddy materials, and lack of full disclosure TRICKS !!

Just discovered that some toilets have glazed trapways ,,, and some don't.  Called a major retail seller and he said "Yeah, it makes a big difference in how often you have to plunge / snake a toilet !!"  So why is it most toilets , in most showrooms of modern bath fixtures, do not identify this valuable feature ??  Also the trapway diameter, which seems to vary a little/ less than a inch ?  And the seat height in inches should be plainly visible for comparison shopping.


A very honest (i know, rare, huh?) plumber told me some pre-WWII galvanized pipe is still as corrosion free as it was new.  That's 70 years.  Yet some modern manufacturers make 'paint thin' galvanized that does not even last 10 years !!   How does the Plumbing Industry get away with this substandard material sold as 'quality' ??


Look at the juncture of the rain gutter and the downspout.  Behind that is a much smaller cylindrical pipe that blocks to flow of small leaves and flowers , leading to plugged and over flowing rain gutters and possibly damaged walls and roofs !!


What an Industry !!

Feb. 2011, San Francisco City Parking Primer for Beginners,,,Do you want super-Expensive or walk-a little Cheap ??

 In the 'downtown' area, of the N.E. Quarter of the City, i always try to park a block North of Union Square at the Sutter Street X Stockton Street Garage(called 'sutter stockton').  It seems to have the lowest daytime and overnight prices downtown.  And instead of wasting time looking in the lower floors, i take the FAST double helix up to the top or upper floors and have NEVER NOT  FOUND A SPACE... Be sure to not leave valuables in sight or in your car if you can help it, even tho this is a 'safe' part of SF.  Overnight was recently as low as $9/night.  Many garages downtown charge $20-30/day...


Parking tickets on the street are very expensive, like OVER $50, so i usually try for a cheap garage or big big lot with less chance of a hit and run or door dings.  NEVER ARGUE WITH A SF COP(yikes!!) OR METER MAID.  If you get your car towed from the street, you will be in a world of Hurt, as for instance the last city contractor was found guilty of towing legally parked cars and extorting $100s from unsuspecting tourists !!


Also , Beware, as some / most of the hotels have discovered a new profit stream of charging separately for parking, from $20/night to upwards of over $40/night with valet parking!!  


If you come into the SF/ City from the South / Peninsula, ALWAYS USE HWY 280.  Highway 101 is much more crowded and has more accidents and lots of terrible amateur drivers.  Near the BALL PARK, you can park in big lots if you turn South on the 3rd or 4th Street Bridges, for about $6/day.  There is good streetcar transportation or taxis just North by the BALL PARK or CALTRAINS STATION.


Another good area to find cheap day or night or long term parking is on the WATERFRONT called "the EMBARCADERO".  There are many piers, starting with Pier 30 just South of the Bay Bridge, that let you park for $10-15/day.  Going North, up the EMBARCADERO, with the water/Bay on your right side, you will see lots of parking lots beside the ODD NUMBERED PIERS, like Pier 17-21 area.


FISHERMAN'S WHARF has a validated garage by Walgreen's ,,, also near to SCOMA'S RESTAURANT on pier 47 / Castagnola's restaurant and the very famous skipper "Wacky Jacky's" boat.


On the North edge of the City, THE PRESIDIO use to have scads of free parking at Crissy Field (now mostly lawn and pond , unfortunately) or by the Parade Ground.  But, Beware, the private for profit company that is running this federal land-former Army base is looking for ways to make fast bucks ,,, so don't expect free parking to last much longer in the PRESIDIO.


Stay away as much as you can from the S.E. Quarter of the City(on a map that would be all of the lower left 1/4 of the City), called "THIRD STREET",  as it is very poor and very high crime.


As for the other 2 Quarters of the City, you many find some parking in the highly residential S.W. Quarter, but, Beware, as many home owners there 'thinkk' they own the curb in front of their houses on the public street.  Same goes for the N.W. Quarter.  Be informed that NYC and SF are the 2 most expensive cities in the "lower 48 states" and over 70% of SF residents rent or lease at Outrageous prices, so tempers around  street parking are always short.


There is a RV LOT down in the S.E. Quarter (xxx) next to CANDLESTICK , or 'the stick', where the "49ers" football team sometimes plays.  Be forewarned , that is a very very dangerous quarter of the City ,,, and very very polluted. 


Be safe and Enjoy the Amazing City by the Bay (highly polluted) !!

I am a social liberal-fiscal very responsible / conservative Californian Voter,,, and I am WITH THE WISCONSIN GOVERNOR on cutting the fat pay and pensions previously traded by their unions for votes !!

Here in California, we invented 'social liberal'.  Now we have , for decades, been demanding 'fiscal responsiblity' by using our Constitution and its recall, referendum,  and  initiative to basically run the Sacramento State government when, alas, both the political parties have not been listening to the voters after being elected !!


We fired Gray Davis for publicly lying to us about any benefit to deregulating home gas and electric power (see dvd "Enron"). Maybe we put too much faith ,again, in a movie star with Arnold,,,but we voters are desperate with the slim choices given us by the 'usual' Democrats and Republicans.  No elected official in California is taking their job seriously enough and working hard enough on all our massive state and national problems. Our state election campaigns are full of smears and lies and half-truths, and massive amounts of money avalanching election results,,, even full ballot boxes floating in the Bay. 


Go into any state government employee office of the DMV and see what TERRIBLE PERFORMANCE WE GET FROM 'CIVIL SERVANTS' and their bloated votes-for-benes pay and pensions !!  This has been going on for DECADES !!  And enough is ENOUGH !!


Go into a CalTrans office, more state 'civil service' employees, and try to find out how they could cost California $BILLIONS with their bungling of the Oakland Bay Bridge repair,,,and replacement.   The estimate is over $10B but started at near $1B.  And this is perfectly 'ok' with most politicians !!?
Not California's voters, who would eliminate both departments in favor of outside contractors, if given the chance. We are still paying ,every day, for service from CalTrans, $Billions for years, and notice how too many potholes we have and too much litter along the highways and freeways we have,,, I have seen several orange CalTran vehicles in a row driving with their flashing lights on the shoulder of the highway but not vacuuming up the debris and trash they are just pushing to the side !!  There it sits ,,, and gets scattered all over again,,, causing unnecessary flat tires and wheel alignment damage to not-at-fault cars !!


We, in San Jose, pay among the highest cost for our police, yet if you are threatened by a thief with a gun or knife the police will not come out !!  And why are we paying the SJPD for all this 'protection',we are NOT getting !!?


Every election in the past, the candidates have made the public or secret deals with the public employee unions, and gotten themselves much better deals each time ,,,with no better than poor performance.  This can not fiscally continue.  We can not keep paying people, ESPECIALLY STATE AND FEDERAL WORKERS WHO UNDER-PERFORM/POORLY PERFORM compared to private workers who have to keep improving their performance or lose their jobs !!


I am with you, Governor Walker of Wisconsin.  Enough irresponsible pay and especially pension abuse (disability comp. ,,, and getting 80% of your pay for less than 40 or 30 or 20 years of 'service') !!  Politicians should not get votes by promising bloated pay and benes to public employees, that we the voters can not afford, especially without PROGRESSIVE TAXATION !! 

If termites won't eat California coastal redwood, because of the tannic acid, for maybe 20-40 years,,,why isn't all wood framing in housing treated with tannic acid, also in wine ???

Termites do so much damage, world-wide.

How long does your house's/HOMES galvanized water pipe last ,,,?

I got this information from a respected California plumber.


Some pre-WWII houses have such high quality galvanized water pipes that they show no corrosion or build-up, because the metal and the galvanizing was of the highest quality.


Some new homes have such inferior galvanized pipe with poor quality metal and very thin ,shoddy galvanizing that they do not last even 10 YEARS !!


Can you imagine, spending all those super-inflated $100,000s to buy a house/HOME ,,, and not discover until maybe 10 years later ,,, that the galvanized water pipes were so inferior in manufacture,,,you have to spend $$$$$ to replace all of them !!?

San Jose Police Department,,, are NEAR WORTHLESS,,, since they will not come out to COMMON FREQUENT STORE THEFT !!

I was in the Branham Lane OSH the other day and a guy walked out the door with a smoke detector and set off the alarm. I am sure you have been in a store in SAN JOSE  and heard the same thing, right?,,,My cashier asked to other woman cashier if he had paid for it, and she said 'no'.  


So being curious, i asked why they/she did not try to stop him or at least say "Hey, Sir, you have to PAY FOR THAT first !!"  The woman cashier said the store policy is to NOT CONFRONT THIEVES !!  I said that must mean you have huge 'shrinkage' or theft problems and she said yes, the SJPD will not come out unless the value of the item is OVER $2000 !!


Why oh why are we paying the SJPD officers some of the highest pay and pension packages, sick leave and 'disability' benefits IN THE NATION ,,, and getting such lazy terrible service from the SJPD !!?? 


This same woman cashier said she did run after one guy AND HE PULLED A KNIFE ON HER,,, and the SJPD still,,,,STILL,,, did not come out !!!   


This CAN NOT BE ALLOWED IN SAN JOSE !!   She told me that another girl did the same and was faced with a PISTOL,,,IN SAN JOSE,,,AND THE POLICE STILL WOULD NOT COME OUT !!   Someone threatens you with a gun or a knife, illegally stealing, the local COPS SHOULD SHOW UP LIKE FLIES ON CRAP !!

Windows shows ,,,"7:56PM" in the lower right of my screen. As an OPTION,,,Why can't i get it to show: Friday,18 February 2011, 7:58:06 PM ,,, !?

Microsoft's Windows is still so ,,, mediocre.