2 years ago
On a Sunday morning before noon I tuned in to the TV show, "Zombie Flipping", on the A&E network channel on cable. It's an interesting show where a group of flippers buy horrible houses (they call them zombies) and renovate and flip them. I tuned in about halfway through the episode and first had to sit through a bunch of tv commercials. I noticed. I said to myself, "Wow, there's a LOT of tv ads. It's very intrusive and annoying". I vowed to find out how many ads viewers had to suffer through the next time the show took a break to run commercials. Soon the show stopped and the ads started. On my fingers I counted the tv ads.
THERE WERE 12 F-ING TV ADS IN A ROW!
Seriously? 12 tv ads in a row? More than 15 minutes in an hour? 25 f-ing percent of a TV show is ads? And the networks expect viewers to put up with that? And the dumbass TV execs don't know why TV viewership has declined so much in the past decade(s)?
I let the tv play in the background while I wrote this rant. There were lots of ads. Too many ads. I am now considering no longer watching TV at all, due to too many ads. Or, in the case of streaming and TV networks, lousy or old shows. If only Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hulu, et al, had more new g-o-o-d TV shows instead of hundreds/thousands of ancient shows/movies I've seen or new crappy shows I have no interest in seeing. Seriously.
Update:
2 years later. The news channels are also unwatchable due to the number of ads. In 15 minutes per hour there could be 30-50 ads, many of them repetitive and of NO interest to me. I am using the internet news sites more and more to keep up with the news. At least there I can scroll past all the ads and don't have to sit through the ads and hear them, or change the channel, only to find the same annoying issue on ALL the other tv news channels.
Too may ads, and lousy shows, have now ruined the TV viewing experience. Not to mention that, today, most TV shows are stupid and unwatchable (with a few exceptions) and only have 10 episodes per season, as opposed to the 20 episodes in the good old days, and a lot fewer ads.
On Microsoft Start, a Microsoft news site, I made a comment on an article about technology using passkeys instead of passwords. My comment was, "As in classic science fiction will we humans end up having a chip inserted into our brains at birth and be monitored/controlled 24/7 throughout our life by government?" The comment was not allowed. It said it did not meet Community Standards. I sent feedback to Microsoft. "Does not meet your community standards? Have you read "1984" by George Orwell?"
September 13, 2024 1:43 AM Los Angeles, California
All the cell phones in my house suddenly blasted an emergency alert signal. OMG, is there an earthquake? An explosion? A terrorist attack? A wildfire bearing down on us? I raced to the nearest cell phone (no, I don't sleep with my cell phone), my heart beating rapidly and my fear response at full throttle. It must be something critical as a government issued Emergency Alert in the middle of the night, waking millions of people in the area, had to be something dire and dangerous.
It was an Amber Alert. A child abduction alert. A 3-month old child was reportedly abducted, somewhere in L.A. County (which is very large at 400 square miles). A child was abducted? In the middle of the night? Possibly by a relative. Nowhere near where I live.
The Amber Alert was quickly canceled and disappeared from the phones. No reason for the cancellation was given. Was it a false alarm? Was the the child found? The possible abductor captured? We have no idea.
A bigger questions is WHY were millions of people awakened by a loud "phone siren", an Emergency Alert, or in this case an Amber Alert, in the dead of night, for something that had ABSOLUTELY NO POTENTIALLY NEGATIVE EFFECT ON THEIR LIVES???
The government waking millions of people up suddenly, in the middle of the night? With a NON-life threatening phone siren, a NON-Emergency Alert, a loud cell phone alert to those receiving it, that does not effect THEIR lives? In the middle of the night? Could that be dangerous? Could that be especially dangerous to older people, and people with existing heart conditions?
I looked up Government Alerts in Google. Apparently, government alerts, including Amber Alerts and Public Safety Alerts are set to "on" by default on smartphones. Yes, it appears that you can opt out of receiving Amber Alerts on your smartphone. I didn't know that. And tonight it's too late as I am now wide awake from this Amber Alert.
And, an hour later, as my heart rate and fear response has hopefully returned to "normal", at 3 AM, I still cannot go back to sleep.
Go to hell, Gov Gavin Nuisance. Your/our California state lottery just pissed off and screwed players by dramatically lowering the maximum amount we can win on some $5 scratch-off tickets, from $555,555 to a measly $77,777. THAT'S A REDUCTION OF 87%.
previous ticket
For the first time I decided to buy a $30 California lottery scratcher ticket. I stood at the lottery machine and looked at all the $30 scratchers. I decided on one called, "Royal Riches", which offered a win up to $10 million.
Yes, winning $10 million would do nicely. I bought the ticket. I turned the ticket over and was OUTRAGED! The ticket clearly stated "Winners of the top prize have the option of receiving an annuity paying $400,000 a year for 25 years, or a lump sum cash payout of $5.8 million". Wait a minute, that's not a true $10 million payout! With inflation, a $400,000 annual payout for 25 years might be worth about $6 million. Or less. And an immediate cash payout of less than $6 million is certainly not a $10 million payout. WTF???
I spent $30 on the assumption of a possible $10 million win. Or, if I did not win big I hoped to at least break even. $30 is a lot of money for 1 lottery scratcher ticket. It's the most expensive one the California Lottery offers. And they only want to pay the $10 million winner over 25 years of inflation, or pay out a lump sum of 58%? WTF! I was outraged. And felt like I was being screwed.
I will NEVER buy another $30 California Lottery scratcher again! Never. Unless, of course I win the top price (I will take the $5.8 million cash) and then I will play it again, every f-ing week.
UPDATE:
The next day I scratched it off. A $30 California Lottery scratcher. It said on the ticket that there were 39 chances to win. Did I win? Did I win $10 million? $1 million dollars? A thousand dollars? A hundred dollars? Did I at least break even and win $30? No. I won NOTHING. Zero. Nada.
"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!
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:
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
All my denture adhesives are clogged! I use Poligrip powder and Poligrip cream.
WHY do my denture adhesives get clogged? Both of them. Powder and cream. Made by Polident. Do all the denture adhesives do this? Each bottle or tube costs like $6-$7. I don't want to buy them all to find out.
Hey, Polident, FIX THIS ISSUE!
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I buy my trash bags at vons. I've been buying these for decades.
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.
November 2022
WHY is the media playing with the Presidential Election of 2024? It's 2 f-ing years away! There are plenty of critical issues facing the US and its law-abiding taxpaying citizens that have to be addressed. And fixed. None of these issues have anything to do with an election 2 years away.
Two years is a long time in politics. America may not even survive the next 2 years so stop playing with future politics.
You've heard the slogan, "A picture is worth a thousand words". I have another slogan, a new slogan, an offshoot of that quote.
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.
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.
