Tech Fubar

June 2024

EVERYTHING TECH IS FUBAR!

F***ed Up Beyond All Repair

 

Fubar. I caused NONE of it. Here is what I am currently experiencing...

My custom url website is showing Not Secure in Chrome browser. My site is a Google blog with a custom url from Squarespace. My site was running fine and I did nothing to cause the Not Secure notice to occur when accessing the site via Chrome. Google has NO live or remote tech support and Squarespace has not responded to my problem for days and days. This is adversely affecting the worldwide humanitarian marketing campaign I have undertaken...to make the world a better place, with a digital download, the Happiness Download. And a website, www. HappinessDownload.com, which s-h-o-u-l-d be f-ing secure.

My Microsoft Outlook app is also f-ed up. My Sent email folders are suddenly showing emails sent from as long ago as 2011. That's 13 years of old emails I sent. Prior to that Microsoft spent 3 hours fixing another Outlook issue on my Windows 11 pc. Then later, the Sent email issue suddenly started, all by itself. WTF? And to add insult to injury, this is what I got when I tried to access Microsoft tech support: June 28, 2024. Access denied to "contact Microsoft" via the link at the bottom of their home page.

"You don't have permission to access "http://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/28808/microsoft-store-contact-support?" on this server.

Reference #18.8af7d517.1719578331.1c75acd9

https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.8af7d517.1719578331.1c75acd9"

I am signed in. I need tech support and there is no way to contact Microsoft online Chat? WTF? I PAY Microsoft every year for Microsoft 365!

I also cannot sign in to my AOL email account via their direct online url. I have had the AOL email account for like 25 years. AOL demanded a 2-step verification code which it finally sent to another of my email accounts then, when I entered the code, it did not recognize it and does not allow me to log in. WTF? I also had the code sent to me via text...and never received it.

I am not a techie. 

Or the equivalent of a software developer or software engineer. Tech "Help" sections or "bots" are useless. I do not speak "Tech". It is a foreign language to me. I need HUMAN, LIVE tech support with remote access capability. This basic is becoming more and more rare, even if you are a longtime customer. WTF?

Like I said, everything tech is fubar. Fucked Up Beyond All Repair. Little or nothing works properly. Or easily. And, these days, the tech industry either doesn't give a sh*t or assumes and expects that everyone is like them, a techie. And the tech industry, with few exceptions, forces everyone who uses their products or services to do all the complicated sh*t you need to do to accomplish anything online or on/in your computer themselves. That's true for cell phones too.  

To sum it up, technology is FUBAR. And the end result is...

F Microsoft

 July 12, 2024

2 weeks later, my HP printer is not printing the full page. It's out of warranty so free HP support is not available. I went to contact Microsoft to see if it was a Windows problem and maybe they could fix it. I went to the Microsoft.com website, logged in and clicked the Support link. This is what came up, using both Chrome and Edge browsers:

Access Denied

You don't have permission to access "http://support.microsoft.com/contactus" on this server.

Reference #18.92f7d517.1720817518.db19a643

https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.92f7d517.1720817518.db19a64

WTF? The same Access Denied message I was insulted with more than 2 weeks ago? I don't have access? AGAIN? This access denial is a known ongoing intermittent issue and MICROSOFT DOESN'T THINK IT'S IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO F-ING FIX IT?

Oh, and you can't call Microsoft tech support anymore. When you call the phone number listed in Google search for Microsoft tech support the f-ing bot that answers directs you to the Microsoft website and then hangs up on you

F U MICROSOFT

Technology today

 Here is a personal update, a rant about Microsoft and the technology sector. 

My post on Microsoft Community:

Why is support not available? December 3, 2024

It is 3:50 AM on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Apparently, there is no Microsoft support available. Not even by Chat. I enter all the requested info correctly and it just says "support is not available". Or, worse: "The request is blocked.

20241203T114858Z-16d98b95757fj6vvhC1LAXbafg00000001mg0000000013sd"

WHY? As a paying Microsoft user I need tech support...NOW!

 

Replies (1) 

from a volunteer support for Microsoft

Replied on December 3, 2024

This has been explained many times here, but I realize that it's a widespread issue, so I'll explain again.

There are more than 1.5 billion users of Windows all over the world. If, on any given day, 1/100th of 1% of them want to ask Microsoft a question, that's 150,000 phone calls every day. For Windows alone. And Windows is only one of Microsoft's many products.

Unfortunately, Microsoft is not able to hire enough people to handle that volume of requests, which is why Microsoft employees do not provide customer support to individuals. They do hire third-party contractors to handle calls, but there are only a limited number of them, for the same reason.

On the other hand, there are many thousands of ways to get help with Windows, including here in Microsoft Community. In fact, you'll almost always get better support outside Microsoft, since third parties have more time and resources than Microsoft can offer. This is particularly advantageous to users, since many ask the same question, as here, or need to have someone provide detailed instruction on how to use some aspect of their computers.

 

My reply:

Microsoft pretty much has a monopoly on device operating systems (70%). That being the case, if Microsoft cannot/will not make a product that works properly, and cannot/will not properly support its products then it should lower its annual subscription prices. As for bots and help articles and communities, that ain't the same as individualized company tech support. Perhaps the new Trump Administration will look into this, as it investigates the technology industry.

Dumbest toothbrush

 

Dumbest toothbrush ever

I needed a new toothbrush. I went to my local CVS and looked at tons of toothbrushes hanging in the toothbrush section. I finally decided on a 2-pack for about $11. Made by Colgate-Palmolive.

At home I opened the package and took out a toothbrush. See the above photo. The tooth brushing bristles felt OK. The oval white top part of the toothbrush felt...rough. Very rough. Huh? I looked at the package and it didn't divulge that was the cheek and tongue cleaner part of the toothbrush. I figured it out when I started brushing. 

OK, let me try it. I tried it. I brushed my teeth. And hated it. The toothbrush bristles were OK, the top "cleaning" small rough bristles, where they touched my cheeks and tongue, were not. I hated the roughness, the feeling of "plastic sandpaper" rubbing my cheeks and tongue while I brushed. It was weird. It was horrible. WTF? Who invented this stupid toothbrush? Who thought this was a good idea? 

It was the dumbest toothbrush I ever bought in my lifetime. Now, I have to go and find another toothbrush to replace the dumbest toothbrush ever. I wasted $11 and now have to spend more money...to simply brush my teeth.

Climate Change

Years ago I moved to Los Angeles from New York, for the weather. L.A. was warm. Low humidity. Little/No rain. No winter ice or snow or cold. And 330 sunny days a year. It was wonderful. Was. Lately, we have been getting lots of rain from Winter to Spring. And, for Southern California, it's been "cold" during Winter and Spring, like 50-60 degrees, not 75-80 degrees. And this year, 2022-2023 we got a LOT of cloudy days. In fact, we now call the month of May, "May Gray". Followed by "June Gloom". 

Instead of 330 sunny days a year these days we'll be lucky to get 230 sunny days a year. Yes, I feel the difference. A nice sunny day makes me feel good, motivates me to be outside and stimulates my health and my mind. A lot of cool, cloudy or rainy days makes me depressed, makes me want to stay home and in bed. Yes, it makes me act like a 6-year-old.

In fact, it's now nearly June, barely 60 degrees at noon, and when I go outside I still wear a winter jacket!

Is this new lousy weather pattern Global Climate Change, applying itself to local Los Angeles weather? Apparently. Is it man-made L.A. Global Climate Change, caused by capitalism, gas-powered cars, gas ovens, air conditioning, and white males? 

What?

Apparently, Medicare does not cover the cost of hearing aids. Or hearing exams. Or fittings. 

Why doesn't regular Medicare cover this? Aren't our ears important fundamental organs, part of our physical body? 

Not to mention our teeth. You know, the body parts we need to eat, and chew, FOOD. Medicare doesn't cover dental work either.

FBI Watch List

 

According to Fox News the FBI is monitoring certain lingo used on the internet. The FBI list has terms associated with "Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism". The exposed document includes a commonly used word. The word is "based".

"Based" is defined by the FBI as a word used to "refer to someone who has been converted to racist ideology, or as a way of indicating ideological agreement."

Huh? Based? The word "based" is an FBI indicator of racist ideology? WTF? On my author blog, which I have had for many many years, I state that I am the author of 20 nonfiction books and am based in Los Angeles. "Based", like home base, like where you live - the normal word that's been used for hundreds of years to denote a person's current/permanent location and has NOTHING to do with racism. 

Am I on an FBI list? As a racist? Am I being monitored online by the FBI? Watched? 

As for being racist, 40% of my closest neighbors are black and I don't care, they are good people and I like them all. And, as an old white guy I had a wonderful black girlfriend 50 years ago, before many people today were even born.

This Woke sh*t has got to stop! Hey, Elon Musk, please invent a time machine, I wanna go back to the 1970s/80s when America was sane. And fun.

Lenovo love

 I love love love my Lenovo laptop!

No, I am not getting paid by Lenovo or affiliated with them.

I have owned my Lenovo pc laptop for a couple of years now and am still very pleased with it. It works great, starts up quickly and yes, it has a lit keyboard for middle of the night computing. This 13.3 inch laptop is a good size for everything I do on it, it's very well made, thin, not too heavy but substantial, very portable if need be and the keyboard is very good. The screen is bright and clear. And it has plenty of storage. Among other things, I am storing 20 books I wrote, and over 1,800 fine art photographs I took and edited, and still have plenty of storage left. And this laptop fits my desk area nicely.

So far, based on this laptop I am a 100% loyal Lenovo customer. Thank you, Lenovo, for making an excellent laptop. Yes, when it's time I will be replacing my current laptop with another Lenovo. 

It is a genuine pleasure to have a product I use daily that is not junk, that works like it should, and is reasonable priced. More and more, the things I buy these days that are actually good quality, at a good price, are a rarity, an exception to the poor-quality "new economy". 

I am a strong believer in giving credit where credit is due. Especially in this day and age of lousy products and services, and often non-human, customer service. I would've sent this glowing testimonial to Lenovo but on their website I could not find how to contact them for that. Hence this post here on my blog.

Update/rant

February 2023. As my beloved laptop was getting old I bought a new Lenovo 13.3 inch laptop. As a replacement. BEFORE my beloved old one stopped working. And it was on sale for President's Day! Once I started setting it up I realized that the all-important keyboard backlighting was not automatic. It's default was the off position. It would turn off and the keyboard would go dark after like 15 seconds of idleness. It had to be activated EVERY time you wanted to use the keyboard again. What? I do a lot of  creative stuff, in the middle of the night, in the dark. I write books, blogs and do lots of photo editing, in the dark of night. In a dimly lit room. I NEED a backlit keyboard that lights up and stays lit permanently. 

I spoke to Lenovo and they told me they designed the new laptops with this new default backlit keyboard - to save the battery. I never use my laptop on battery power, it is always plugged in. I do not need to save the battery! And they told me that there is no option for permanently turning on the backlit keyboard. I'm on my computer 9-12 hours a day,  7 days a week, doing stuff. In a darkened room. And it is a annoying pain in the ass to have to turn on the keyboard backlight 200 times a day.

Sad, upset and disgusted I returned the new laptop for a full refund. I cannot use this Lenovo and apparently all the smaller Lenovo laptops work this way. 

So, no more Lenovo. The love affair is over. Because they got design-stupid and environmental overcontrolling - without first checking with PAYING F-ING USERS.

Welcome to the New Economy. Where nothing works properly. And, if something does work well, and is of good quality, it's rare.

p.s. I bought an HP 14-inch laptop. With permanent keyboard backlighting. It was on sale. It's not as nice as my old Lenovo laptop but it works, so far.

UPDATE:

May 2024. Guess what? It seems that HP has now disallowed the permanent keyboard backlighting. Now, my keyboard goes dark after like 10 seconds if I don't use it. As I do my work in a darkened room where someone is either watching TV or sleeping I can't see a f-ing thing on my laptop without first hitting a key.

Death Penalty for Spam

Humor/not humor

Today, a Sunday morning, as usual I checked my email. And found 62 spams. 62 spam emails? 62 unsolicited unwanted emails? As usual I did not open any of them and deleted them en masse. Two hours later I got another 76 spams in my email box.

The next day, a Monday, so far in my email spam folder I have 101 spams. So far. It's only 3:30 PM.

And, on St Patrick's Day, 2023, I got 100 spams - in an hour! That's a 24-hr average of over 2,000 f-ing spams!

This annoying super spamming has been going on for at a long time. I am getting like 100-200 email spams a day. Every day. Despite any/all laws, rules, regulations et al email spam is alive and thriving.

What's the solution? Here's an idea

The US federal government should designate email spam as a Terrorist Attack upon American citizens. Punishable by the Death Penalty.

And that could also apply to spam phone calls.

Stop the spam. With the Spam Death Penalty. A good idea. A damn good idea.

And, anybody found guilty of spamming could be executed, live, on TV, as a pay-per-view event. A TV Special. Even after the Spam Law Death Penalty is passed there should be enough stupid spammers to make it a weekly show.  The show could maybe 1-2 hours long, culminating in the live execution. It could be a terrific highly rated, high-revenue generating Saturday night TV show, in prime time, especially since there is never anything good to watch on TV during prime time on Saturday night.

Making it visually appealing for ratings sake the official US government execution could be by hanging. Or firing squad. Or maybe by guillotine. Let the convicted spammer decide how they will be executed.

As for spammers operating overseas the US could nicely demand the country turn the spammers over to us, or threaten to withhold foreign aid to that country.

Stop The Spam! 

Yes, this is dark humor. Seriously dark humor. Humor/not humor.

P.S. My stupid, poorly run, outdated free aol email does not allow users to block span by "word(s)".  My free aol email only allows blocking by specific email address - and spam senders use numerous different addresses, so blocking each specific email address is not feasible.  Blocking spam by "word(s)" would be very helpful. I get multiple annoying spam emails that use certain words, words I am never interested in, words that would never make me open the span email, words that I would like to block permanently. Words like McAfee. And penis. 

Why don't I use another email provider? I have been using aol email for over 25 years and don't want to dump it, as I have been using the same AOL email address, putting it out in the world, so people or organizations can contact me for legit reasons. AOL is now owned by Apollo Global Management, a large investment company who also obviously doesn't give a shit about us AOL free email users.

FIX THIS! The government or at least the tech industry needs to do something and stop the spam. NOW.

hiberation

December 2022

I am going into hibernation for the winter, and escaping the insanity of Democrat politics, Covid, the flu, supply chain shortages, inflation, high crime and the border invasion. Oh, wait, I live in Los Angeles, we don't have winter. Maybe I'll hibernate anyway.

Pay more get less

 

They Shrunk My Bread

December 2022. I bought a new loaf of bread. "Nature's Own" 100% Whole Wheat. My usual brand. When I opened the loaf and took out a slice I was stunned. The slice of bread was small! MUCH smaller! Not even close to the size the slices of bread has been for the decades I have been eating it. These new slices easily fit into the palm of my hand. WTF? They shrunk my bread! I don't know how much they shrunk the size but the slice seems like maybe 25% smaller. 

Product shrinkage. Companies do it on purpose, they reduce the size or amount, to save money or make more money. It's call Shrinkflation. And it sucks.

And, to make matter worse, the price had gone up as well! I used to normally pay like $3.49 a loaf. Now, it was $4.49. That's a price increase of over 25%. A bread inflation rate of over 25%. WTF?

A double curse. Smaller product.  Higher price. They shrunk my bread AND raised the price! 

Now, with the much smaller size, one slice is not enough. Either I add another slice, or go hungry. If I add a  another slice to eat I will gain weight which I NOT want to do. If I don't add another slice I will be hungry, and angry about it. Hangry. Can I change brands? This brand is the best tasting of the several I have tried. Now smaller and pricier but still tasty. Maybe I should start baking my own bread?  And making my own dessert carrot cake. And making my own ice cream and popsicles. Yeah, maybe I'll start making ALL the foods I eat! From scratch. Or not.

no smoking

December 7, 2024 marks 13 years since I quit smoking cigarettes. And started vaping.

After smoking a pack a day for decades, I quit. In 1 day. I switched to vaping. In the past 13 years I have not smoked one cigarette. I have no craving for cigarettes and prefer my e-cigarette which has no odor, produces no flame, no ashes and does not require a lighter. Plus, my vaping addiction (yes, I am addicted to nicotine) costs me less than cigarettes. I probably save $1,200 a year. 

I am a happy vaper. Despite all the government laws and mandates restricting it, in my experience vaping has been a good thing compared to smoking cigarettes. And though it's illegal to call electronic cigarettes a "smoking cessation device" that's exactly what it did for me.

Oh, and the definition of "smoking" is the igniting of tobacco. Since vaping does not contain any tobacco why is vaping considered smoking?

And, no, this is NOT f-ing misinformation or disinformation, it's my f-ing personal experience, my personal opinion, based on 13 years of living the reality.

Trash

 I buy my trash bags at vons. I've been buying these for decades.

I went to vons to buy more of them today. These Signature trash bags are the vons brand and are a lot cheaper than the major brand names and they work well, so I keep buying them. 

A month ago I paid $7.99, the usual price. Today the listed price on this item was $10.99. A $3 jump. In 30 days.

That's an inflation rate of 37.5%. In 1 month. That's an annualized inflation rate of 450%!

I was stunned. I was outraged. Yes, I know, it's only $3 more but it's the principle of it. EVERYTHING has gone up in the last year, often by more than 20%. I made a fuss. Right there in the trash bag isle. I loudly pointed out the price jump to other shoppers. "Look at this! $10.99! That's a jump of $3, in a month." They were all sympathetic and said, "I know. It's terrible." I then said, "Maybe I'll stop using trash bags. Maybe I'll just throw my loose trash off the balcony. To save money." They laughed. Sort of.

knock knock

"Knock knock"

"Who's there?"

"Migrants"

"Migrants who?"

"Exactly"

No Try Ons

I wanted to buy some sweat pants. To wear at home during the evening during the colder months. Rather than turn up the heat too high I was willing to wear something warmer. 

I am a standard size, 32 W x 30 L (M). I wanted a simple medium weight gray or dark blue pair of sweatpants, with a draw string at waist, loose fit, and wanted to pay under $20. Simple, right? Wrong!

I drove to Walmart, with high expectations that I would find a suitable pair of sweat pants at a suitable price. In the Men's department I started my search. They had a lot of sweat pants, in all kinds of fabric and colors. After examining like 10 different types I did not find any I liked. They either were not a dark color, were too lightweight, had no adjustable draw string or were $30. Finally, I found a pair of Hanes sweat pants and they had everything I wanted, including a good price, $14.95. I found a medium size (M) and went to the fitting room to try them on, to make sure they were not too short or too long and the waist was not too large or too small. These days you cannot trust the clothing size, because of poor design and poor manufacturer. A medium can, in actuality, be a small or a large! Yes, this is true even if the size reads 32 W x 30 L. THAT'S why I have to try on pants. And jackets.

At the fitting room I saw that the area was empty. Good, no waiting. I approached one of the fitting rooms and saw that it was locked. OK, I needed to get an employee to open it for me. I saw an employee nearby and said, "I need to try these on. Are the fitting rooms open?" She said, "No, they're closed. They've been closed for 2 years, due to Covid." "WHAT?" I exclaimed, "Covid is over, all fitting rooms should be open for trying on clothes." The employee responded, "If you have a problem with the fitting rooms being closed talk to the manager."

Annoyed, I left the sweat pants on a shelf outside the fitting room and walked out of the store. If I can't try them on, I'm not buying a pair of pants. I do NOT want to blindly buy an article of clothing, even in a classic size, only to find it doesn't come close to fitting MY standard size and then have to go though all the hassle of returning the item, in person or by mail or shipping company.

Then, I went to Target. They had very poor selections and I did not find any that I wanted. All I wanted was a classic pair of gray sweat pants! For $20 or less.

I then stopped by a Big 5 Sporting Goods store. They had a lot of different kinds of sweat pants. Unfortunately, most of them were $30-$50. I did not find any that I liked, they either had a rough thick irritating side seam or no draw string at waist or something else. These sweat pants were designed mostly for jogging not sitting comfortably at a computer or watching TV indoors on a cool or cold night.

So, no sweat pants for me. I gave up and drove home. I decided that, indoors at night if I was cold I would put on a sweat shirt, or a jacket, of which I had several. For the bottom part of me if I was cold I would wear my jeans until bedtime. And, yes, I had socks, though I do not usually wear them.

So, there you have it. I was unable to buy a reasonably priced pair of sweat pants, and/or try them on to make sure they fit. Welcome to the new economy. It sucks! btw, the sweat pants shown in the picture at the top of the page are priced at $120. Plus shipping. And, no, you can't try them on before buying them.

And I don't want to buy clothes online and have to return them all the time because they don't fit or are of poor quality.

OK, that's a rant. Now, what's my solution? 

Next time I'm in a clothing store that forbids try-ons maybe I'll take off my pants in the middle of the floor and try on the pair of pants I want to buy. Or do that with any other garment whose size and fit is in question. note: Certain articles of clothing can not be tried on before purchasing. Like underwear.  And like with pants and shirts and all other  garments today the listed size and fit of underwear sometimes is not close to the classic S, M, L. I have a 32-inch waist, and a leg length of 30 inches, And I want the clothing to be comfortable and have it fit properly. At a reasonable price. 

It ain't happening. Welcome to the new economy.

Pickaxe

You've heard the slogan, "A picture is worth a thousand words". I have another slogan, a new slogan, an offshoot of that quote.

A pickaxe is worth a thousand words

Especially if YOU'RE wielding it :)

New TV Trend

I have noticed a new trend in prime time TV.

I have noticed that all my favorite prime time TV fictional action shows now suck. Why? Because we viewers are getting more drama and less action.  Because the shows (and their writers) are now featuring and emphasizing personal difficulties and conflicts in the lives of the main characters. This is not "entertainment", it's not "action", it's drama, it's TV therapy, and b-o-r-i-n-g. 

In TV action shows like "The Equalizer" I'm interested in seeing the star, Queen Latifa, help people, solve or prevent crimes and kick ass. I am NOT interested in exploring her family's inner personal dramas. In the TV show, "9-1-1" I am interested in seeing the team tackle unique WOW disasters and saving lives while working together. I am NOT interested in endlessly exploring the personal inner traumas of the individual characters. It's b-o-r-i-n-g.

I understand why the producers have turned to featuring the internal difficulties and drama facing the shows' characters. It's hard to create fabulous action scenes week after week, year after year. And it's expensive. It's CHEAPER to film drama, on/in a cheap existing set, with dialog (not action) between 2 people rather than create, produce and film full action scenes with special effects and lots of actors. But I don't watch tv fictional action shows for their soap opera plots and soap opera dialog. 

If this trend continues re my favorite TV shows I will dump them. I will stop watching them. I have already started, I switched channels in the middle of last week's Equalizer episode. And, if I can't find good watchable interesting action tv shows (fiction NOT reality!) on any of the major networks, cable channels or steaming pay networks (I subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime) I will stop watching tv altogether. And read a book instead. Or maybe write one.

UPDATE:

This was written in 2022. The trend has continued for the last 2 years. I now watch fewer and fewer tv shows. And I watch NO commercials (I change the channel and come back in 5 minutes).

F CVS

F U CVS

I went online to schedule a flu shot at my local CVS. I signed in, went through the online form, filling it out and picking a date and time that was convenient for me. I spent 15-20 minutes on the CVS website making the appointment but was not allowed to finalize it unless I agreed to their conditions. What did I have to agree to? To get f-ing texts and/or emails from CVS. For pretty much whatever reason CVS wanted to contact me about!

"By providing your mobile number and/or e-mail address, you consent to receive live and automated calls, text messages and/or e-mails about this and follow-up visits, your account, and important health care messages including additional vaccine scheduling and a copy of your immunization record. For text messages, standard message and data rates apply. Message frequency varies."

 "Important health care messages"? I visualized lots of unwanted CVS email/text spam coming if I agreed, if I checked the OK box, if I finalized my flu shot appointment. 

I did not proceed and left the site without scheduling a flu shot.

As a longtime adult consumer I felt controlled and abused. WHY should companies with online marketing and sales totally control what we online consumers can and can't do, and collect our personal information for marketing purposes, to sell or use it to generate spam emails and/or texts. Why do so many of them, not in critical industries, force us to give them our private contact information and force us to comply, instead of just taking our money and leaving us the F alone? Or at least giving us a choice of NOT getting endless marketing emails and texts - BEFORE we buy something!

As an online consumer and a human being I value my privacy. Online sellers do not. 

Regarding getting my flu shot what will I do? I will physically go to my local CVS and see if I can get a flu shot without giving them my phone number and email address and without agreeing to let then contact me with "important health care messages".

UPDATE

I found out that my primary care physician was offering flu shots. On a walk-in basis. I went there and got my flu shot. No hassle, no problem, no spam, no invasion of privacy. 

anti-Semitism

Newsflash for all anti-Semites

Jews do NOT control the US banking system or banks. Or the Federal Reserve. There are, and have always been, very few if any Jewish CEO's of major banks in America. Look it up. The idea that "Jews control all the money" is incorrect information, ignorant misinformation. It's totally false, it's simply not true. It is a mistaken concept, equating non-Jewish banking with Jewish INVESTMENT banking. The two industries are totally different. Banks take deposits and loan money. Investment banking in the US is Wall Street firms, many of which were and are Jewish, creating, buying, selling and trading stocks and bonds and other securities, and high finance. Unlike banks, investment bankers do NOT take consumer deposits and do NOT make consumer car or home loans etc.

Generally, non-orthodox Jewish people (especially males) in America are not interested in controlling things, they are interested in family, being educated so that they can make a good living and provide for themselves and their family. That often includes entering professions in accounting, the law, medicine, education, investment banking and, starting in the 20th century, the entertainment industry. The possible reasoning behind this is that, after living in Nazi Germany, or ancient Egypt, Jews tried to make themselves professionally indispensable to the ruling class, so that, as Jews, they wouldn't be enslaved, or killed. It didn't always work.

So, please if you embrace conspiracy theories in America, update your thinking and your beliefs. And stop targeting Jews as enemies. They are not your enemies. And neither are Asians or Hispanics or Blacks. Or women. Or gays and transgender people. They are not restricting your freedom or your life. Now, loony left semi-Nazis are another story.

Let's Go, Joe!

 The price of gas 

September 25, 2022

In L.A. County, on Sunday, September 23, 2022 I paid $6.19 for regular. Just 3-4 days ago I paid $5.69 for a regular gallon of gas, which was reduced from a high approaching $7. 

Suddenly, after going down for weeks the price of gas is jumping and leaping back up. Why? Maybe it's the wonderful Biden and the Dems, "Inflation Reduction Act"? Maybe it's a result of the Dems restricting/killing off fossil fuels and replacing them with environmentally friendly power that is unworkable in an industrialized country of 400+ million?

The 4-day jump in the price of gas is an inflation increase of 8%. In 4 days. 

On an annualized basis that would be an inflation rate of 730 percent!

Welcome to the new America: Amerizuela. Complements of the Democrat Party. And their "leader", Joe Biden. 

UPDATE:

4 days later, at 10 AM, I got some more gas. Not at $6.19. At $6.69!

That's up another 50 cents. In 4 days. That's an increase of 8%. In 4 days. 

That's an annualized inflation rate of 728%. On top of a 730% increase 4 days earlier.

ANOTHER UPDATE. THIS ONE UNBELIEVABLE!

4 hours later, at 2 PM, I drove past the same gas station. I looked over and was stunned! This is what I saw

$6.79. The price of gas had gone up another 10 cents, in 4 hours! I have NEVER in my life seen anything like this. We now have inflation by the hour? Hourly inflation?

WTF, DEMS???

Diet Coke

 Once again America shows itself as a third-world country re the supply chain.

My favorite drink, Diet Caffeine Free Coke. NOT available! Here's the outrageous and incredible story

It was Saturday and I was running low on Diet Caffeine Free Coke so I decided to go buy some more. I went to my usual closest supermarket, a Safeway subsidiary called vons. They had none on the shelves. OK, that's the new normal. Especially at this vons, which is in Burbank, California and happens to be in the middle of the Los Angeles entertainment business yet it runs out of MANY of my favorite standard food items. OK, I am used to that. I hate it but I am used to it. I drove around the corner to a Smart & Final. They had none either. OK, I started to get annoyed. It's the new normal in my life when it comes to food shopping. I drove over to a CVS in the same mini-mall. CVS often has Diet Caffeine Free Coke, though they charge more than the supermarkets. The CVS had none, out of stock. OK, then, I am a persistent person, do not give up easily and I sometimes make a habit of checking a lot of stores to follow and document the deterioration of my local supply chain in Los Angeles. There was another Smart & Final not far away so I drove there, only to find, you guessed it, no Diet Caffeine Free Coke. Hmm. Like I said, I don't give up easily. And I wanted to see how bad the supply chain shortage was on that day. Next, I went to a Ralph's supermarket. Out of stock.  Not one bottle of my beloved Coke on the shelves. That made 5 places that didn't have any. This is not unusual in these, the new and shitty days/years of Covid. The supply chain shortage has now been going on for nearly 3 f-ing years. America was becoming more like Venezuela. With high inflation and supply chain shortages. We were becoming Amerizuela. Anyway, there was a CVS right near the Ralphs. I walked over and, voila, no Diet Caffeine Free Coke. I was running out of local food stores.

Next, and last, I went to a Pavilions, an upscale version of vons. I walked through the store to the soft drink section. At least I was getting a lot of exercise in my quest for my Coca Cola. I carefully scanned the large soft drink section and did not find my Coke. They had many brands and many flavors but not the one I wanted. 

OK, I was done shopping. I was going home. Annoyed, disappointed and thirsty. I had gone to 7 food stores. No Coke for me.

On my way home there was another CVS on the street I was driving on. OK, I said to myself, let's make it an even 8 f-ing food stores where they don't have the popular product I wanted. I parked the car and went in, fully expecting to be a victim of the supply chain shortages. Again. I walked over to the soft drink section and, voila, there it was! They had it! They had my Diet Caffeine Free Coke! I bought 2 large bottles, the most I could carry. And happily paid their higher price.

I drove home conflicted. Happy I finally found my usual and highly desired soft drink, unhappy that I had to go to 8 places to find it in stock. Welcome to the new economy and its shortages of way too many things people want and need. It sucks. 

popsicle rant

We were having a heat wave. 6 days of above 100 F weather. And I was running low on my sugar free popsicles. So were the stores in my area.

I went to 6 major local supermarkets and stores (including 7-11) and none had my sugar free popsicles. No, I was not obsessed, I was just curious to see if any food stores had them in stock during both a heat wave and a major end-of-summer holiday. They didn't. On my way home, on a whim I decided to stop at my local CVS pharmacy to see if they had my orange, cherry and grape sugar free popsicles. They did! OMG, the 7th store had my popsicles! I was thrilled. My mouth watered. I would not run out out of my daily evening treat. There they were, sitting on a shelf in the freezer at my local CVS, waiting for me. I opened the freezer door to get a box. I looked closer. What? WTF? The price, the price was weird. The price was way high, it must be wrong, mislabeled. 

The price read $9.29. Impossible. The most I ever pay is $6.49 at vons supermarket which is around the corner from this CVS. The price at CVS was nearly $3 more. Nearly 50% more. I was stunned. I was NOT going to pay $9 for a $6 box of sugar free popsicles! I closed the freezer door and checked with a staff member at CVS and they confirmed the price. $9.29. 

I walked out of the CVS. Astonished. Annoyed. Confused. And deprived of my popsicles. I refused to pay the overinflated price. 

Several thoughts occurred to me. Why was CVS charging so much money for this item? It was outrageous. Maybe they were buying them from vons at $6 and reselling them for $9? And the top thoughts I had was, "Would I run out of popsicles tonight?" "Would the stores get them back in stock tomorrow?"

Luckily, I had enough popsicles for the night. The next day, I visited vons and, voila, my popsicles were back in stock! I happily bought a box, at $6.49, 30% higher than last year's normal $4.99 price.

Another realization I had was that America was no longer America. It was a country of shortages. And high inflation. More like Venezuela than America. Amerizuela.

Flex alert

Death Valley, Calif., set a record September 1, 2022 for the highest recorded

temperature for the month of September, hitting 127 degrees Fahrenheit.

For Labor Day Weekend 2022, during an excessive heat wave, managers of the state's electricity grid for the State of California have urged residents to reduce their energy usage during peak hours, 4 PM - 9 PM daily. 

The ISO (Independent System Operator) asked Californians to set thermostats to 78 degrees, avoid using heavy appliances and delay charging their electric vehicles during the five-hour stretch each day.

I had a thought.  Who in their right mind would be traveling to California over Labor Day as tourists or visitors? Especially during an excessive heat wave. Plus, Cali is now a high-cost high-crime sh*thole state, trending towards third-world status. With a massive homeless population. 

And, millions of Californians are expected to be traveling on Labor Day weekend, by plane and by car, and many will travel out of state. 

That being the case, won't there be LESS users of energy in California during the Labor Day weekend? LESS energy consumption? If so, then why do we Cali residents who are staying home have to reduce our energy consumption? 

Inflation Guess

 

I buy this product. From my local supermarket, vons. I put some in my morning coffee to quickly cool it and add a bit of non bitter taste. For the past week vons has been out of stock. Today, they had it back in stock. At a new price. An inflated price. It used to regularly be 99 cents. Now it's not. The price went up.

Guess how much the inflation rate went up on this product. 

10%? 

20%? 

25%?

No, the new price is $1.49. Up 50 cents. In a week. That's a one-week inflation rate of 50%! An annualized inflation rate of 2,500%! No, I don't care about the additional 50 cent increase, the product is still inexpensive. It's the inflation that counts. The 50% inflationary price increase for f-o-o-d. What if all food prices went up 50%? What if the prices for everything, all consumer products, went up 50%? If that happens/happened we in America would be living in a sh*thole third-world country. A country which could be renamed Amerizuela. Does any sane American want that?

UPDATE

These days, in late 2024/early 2025, the price has stabilized. At $1.99.

F Yahoo

F Yahoo email. And all the sites that, in the name of security, MAKE you, f-ing FORCE you to change your password like every 3 months!!!

I got a popup notice to verify my yahoo email. It FORCED me to change my password. I had just changed my yahoo email password like a couple of months ago. 

I can't keep track of dozens of new passwords. I am not a nerd, a techie, and do NOT want to be one, or be forced to be one. 

I don't give a shit that my account may be "at risk". I'd rather my accounts be at risk than have to change all my passwords and keep track of the new ones!

I am about ready to stop using ALL technology. It's too complicated, has way too many bugs, does not offer decent live human tech support anymore, and is way too intrusive and controlling. Hey, asshat technology companies, WE are the users, not y-o-u.