Still Alive

Hello All,

With the school week at the close and the Super Bowl right around the corner, I just wanted to say "Hello" and I am still here. Next week I will be getting the Microsoft Office pack, so I will be able to work and save thoughts for future posts. As of now, I am still "free-writing" each post. I prefer to rewrite my posts, thus having the pack installed will be a great advantage.

I had purchased a computer through Best Buy with the insurance. The Motherboard died and that is when I realize the horrible coverage Best Buy offered their customers. It appears, one MUST read the fine print prior to any purchase, where the prospective customer would understand "Best Buy does NOT stand behind the products they offer".

They were to replace my computer with an equally operating machine. Not true! My first computer was purchased so I could edit movies utilizing Adobe Premier. My replacement could not operate Premier, plus any software on the previous was not covered and I lost all of MS Office. I explained my original reasons for the initial purchase to the store manager, who could care less. So, here I sit with Vista64 and it SUCKS.

Anyway, I'm still alive as school is going well and I am having fun.

Be Safe,

Reach

State of Union Address

Hello All,

Yes, I watched last night's State of the Union Address. I felt the President spoke well and remained personable through-out while addressing our current issues. I liked what I heard; unfortunately, I felt many points arrived from illusion.

My extended family owns/operates a telecommunications company and is completely feeling the recession through sales and installations. I'm certain they will feel better now that the President and Congress believe the "Worst of the storm has passed." I know they will feel comfort in the success of the Recovery Act, as the President stated, "Talk to the small business in Phoenix (Arizona) that will triple its workforce", or, "the window manufacturer in Philadelphia" as they added two more shifts. President Obama continued, "Talk to the single teacher raising two kids who was told by her principle in the last week of school that because of the Recovery Act, she wouldn't be laid off after all." Sounds nice, but these situations are too far from the homes and businesses I know. Currently Southern California School Boards are considering placing advertisements in, on, and around school properties in order to supplement funds so they will not be forced to lay-off the educators.

As for the Community College and University problems- do they really not know that tuition is soaring all over the country? Honestly, a $10,000 tax credit for four years will not cover most major institutions; or is he referring to the $250,000 a year, middle-class.

I'm retired military and do not know many, if any, military members who are middle-class. I guess the President and Congress are happy to know a majority of the United States Military members are considered low-income, or poor. To me, I only hear, "You can give your life in defending our country but we just have too much money to mismanage, before sending it your way." As a part of the VA system, I can say they are doing much better in helping those in need. Just "much better", the VA is not fully up to speed in perfect health care but I guess nobody else is perfect and so the VA is doing OK. As for the Gays in the military, why doesn't the Congress take off their blinders and realize there are already Gays in the military. Rather than work equality within, and without, the military we first give them full citizenship and make every aspect of their lives equal to being an American Citizen. Yes, I went there! Religion! Religious or not, if any individual desires their place in Heaven it will not be pending any other person's marital status, religious belief, or life-style. Accountability begins within each of us and every religion teaches the love of others.

When the President said, take the $30 billion repaid by the banks to help small business I was more than happy. Then, I wondered about the interest. Did we [the people] loan money to the banks without interests? Are we [the people] that dumb? Does this make sense to anybody? We cannot borrow money from a bank without repaying interest, so why does it not reciprocate? If the banks need money, we [the people] should make some profit. After all, every bank will tell you that PROFIT is why they are in the business of lending MONEY.

I am not writing this to be critical of the President of the United States. I respect the position, the office, and the man; after all, he is doing a job that I refuse to do. I've not walked in his shoes, nor he in mine. I do not claim to have the answers. I began thinking of this post when I heard him say, "A novel concept". "It's time to try something new", said our President and here I hope to present it.

Dear Mr. President,

I'm certain you will never read or see this, but I would suggest this to Congress. If you (Congress) cannot come to a full and comprehensive agreement on the issues plaguing our nation, your pay will be reduced to a point equal to, or 1% greater than your productivity. As an example, if the President calls for a decreasing unemployment rate and Congress fails the goal within the reasonably allotted time, your individual pay will be reduced by the percentage equal to the current unemployment rate. Additionally, your salary deduction will be increased by 25% for every month beyond any deadlines.

Respectfully,

Reach


Ladies and Gentlemen, I will make every effort in posting once again. Also, I will, from this point forward, try to avoid politics.

Be Safe,

Reach

A New start

Hello All,

I know I've lost much of my blogger friends, as in not as many visits these days.

So, here is an update.

Many of you know that I was in the United States Air Force- I have since retired. I consider myself lucky because I was medically injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Office of the Surgeon General, upon case review, determined a medical discharge was in order. My case went as far as the Secretary of the Air Force, who determined I should be allowed to complete my enlistment followed by an Honorable Discharge.

Due to my injuries, I could not follow my dream career and the VA has since taken over my case and Career Rehabilitation to begin.

I am in school and working toward a degree in Design Engineering.

For the past year, I have had many ideas to post in this forum; however, time and availability have hindered my desires. I have not forgotten and do plan future posts.

Therefore, please know I have not completely given in and will return on a more regular basis.

Be Safe and enjoy 2010.

Reach

How to drive in Phoenix

1. You must first learn to pronounce the city name. It is 'FEE-NICKS'.

2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 am to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon until 7:00 pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.

3. The minimum acceptable speed on most freeways is 85 mph. On Loop 101, your speed is to match the highway number. Anything less is considered a 'wuss'.

4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Phoenix has its own version of traffic rules. For example, cars/trucks with the loudest muffler go first at a four-way stop; the trucks with the biggest tires go second. However, East Valley, SUV-driving, cell phone-talking moms ALWAYS have the right of way.

5. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot.

6. Never honk at anyone, NEVER; this offense is another that will get you shot, seriously!

7. Road construction is permanent and continuous in Phoenix. The relocating of detour barrels during the middle of the night is for your entertainment pleasure, to make the next day's drive more exciting.

8. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, skunks, dogs, barrels, cones, cows, horses, cats, mattresses, shredded tires, squirrels, rabbits, crows, vultures, roadrunners, and the coyotes feeding on any of these items.

9. Maricopa Freeway, Papago Freeway, and the 'I-10' are the same road. SR-202 is the same road as The Red Mountain FWY. Dunlap and Olive is the same street, too. Jefferson becomes Washington, but they are not the same street.

I-17 also called The Black Canyon Freeway, as well as, The Veterans Memorial Highway, and if all that is not enough to remember, SR-51 has recently been renamed Piestewa Freeway because Squaw Peak Parkway was too easy pronounce.

SR-101 is also the Pima FWY, except west of I-17, which is also The Black Canyon FWY, and The Veterans Memorial HWY, west of I-17, it is known as the Agua Fria FWY. Lastly, Thunderbird Rd. becomes Cactus Rd., but Cactus Rd. does not become Thunderbird Rd. because it dead-ends at a mountain.

10. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been 'accidentally activated.

11. If you are in the left lane and only driving 70 in a 55-65 mph zone, considered a road hazard, you will be 'flipped off' accordingly. If you return the flip as a gesture of courtesy, you will be shot.

12. For summer driving, it is advisable to wear potholders on your hands.

Otherwise,

Be Safe,

Reach

Aunt Karen

Hello All,

Here is a joke for the day....

The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment, “Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it”.

The next day the kids came back and one by one began to tell their stories.
Ashley said, "My father's a farmer and we have a lot of egg-laying hens. One time we were taking our eggs to market in a basket on the front seat of the car when we hit a big bump in the road and all the eggs went flying, broke, and made a mess.

"What's the moral of the story?" asked the teacher.
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket!"

"Very good," said the teacher.

Next little Sarah raised her hand and said, "Our family are farmers also however we raise chickens for the meat market”. We had a dozen eggs one time, but when they hatched, we only got ten live chicks, and the moral to this story is, "don't count your chickens before they are hatched”.

“That was a fine story Sarah,” said the teacher. Michael, do you have a story to share?"
"Yes, my daddy told me this story about my Aunt Karen. She was a flight engineer in the Gulf War and her plane was hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had was a bottle of whisky, a machine gun, and a machete. She drank the whisky on the way down so it would not break! Aunt Karen landed right in the middle of 100 enemy troops. She killed seventy of them with the machine gun until she ran out of bullets. Then, she killed twenty more with the machete until the blade broke. Finally she killed the last ten with her bare hands."

"Good heavens," said the horrified teacher, "what kind of moral did your daddy tell you from that horrible story?"

Michael said, "Stay the hell away from Aunt Karen when she's been drinking".

Best Buy = Worst Policy

Hello all,

The following is a repost, word for word, from another blog and while I do not have a vast reader base, I would like to do my part in getting this message out.

Thank you,

Reach

Do you shop at Best Buy? I do/have. I may be rethinking that practice. I just got the following in an email, and I thought it is something everyone should know. I'm emailing it to non-blog friends, too. This is stunning!

~ ~ ~ ~


After reading this and looking up all the info, I will now read selling disclosures a little closer

BEST BUY, MY FOOT


Best Buy has some bad policies....

Normally, I would not share this with others, however, since this could happen to you or your friends , I decided to share it. If you purchase something from, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, JC Penny, Sears etc. and you return the item with the receipt they will give you your money back if you paid cash, or credit your account if paid by plastic.

Well, I purchased a GPS for my car, a Tom Tom XL.S from 'Best Buy'. They have a policy that it must be returned within 14 days for a refund!

So after 4 days I returned it in the original box with all the items in the box, with paper work and cords all wrapped in the plastic. Just as I received it, including the receipt.

I explained to the lady at the return desk I did not like the way it could not find store names. The lady at the refund desk said, there is a 15% restoc k fee, for items returned. I said no one told me that. I said how much would that be. She said it goes by the price of the item. It will be $45.00 Dollars for you. I said, all your going to do is walk over and place it back on the shelf then charge me $45.00 of my money for restocking? She said that's the store policy. I said if more people were aware of it they would not buy anything here! If I bought a $2000.00 computer or TV and returned it I would be charged $300.00 dollars restock fee? She said yes, 15%.

I said OK, just give me my money minus the restock fee.

She said, since the item is over $200.00 dollars, she can't give me my money back!!!

Corporate has to and they will mail you a check in 7 to ten days.!! I said 'WHAT?!'

It's my money!! I paid in cash! I want to buy a different brand..Now I have to wait 7 to 10 days. She said well, our policy is on the back of your receipt.

I said, do you read the front or back of your receipt? She s aid well, the front! I said so do I, I want to talk to the Manager!.

So the manager comes over, I explained everything to him, and he said, well, sir they should of told you about the policy when you got the item. I said, No one, has ever told me about the check refund or restock fee, whenever I bought items from computers to TVs from Best Buy. The only thing they ever discussed was the worthless extended warranty program. He said Well, I can give you corporate phone number.

I called corporate. The guy said, well, I'm not supposed to do this but I can give you a 45.00 dollar gift card and you can use it at Best Buy. I told him if I bought something and returned it, you would charge me a restock fee on the item and then send me a check for the remaining 3 dollars. You can keep your gift card, I'm never shopping in Best Buy ever again, and if I would of been smart, I would of charged the whole thing on my credit card! Then I would of canceled the transaction.

I would of gotten all my money back including your stupid fees! He didn't say a word!

I informed him that I was going to e-mail my friends and give them a heads up on this stores policy, as they don't tell you about all the little caveats.

So please pass this on. It may save your friends from having a bad experience of shopping at Best Buy

It's true! read it for yourself!! Best Buys return policy

The proof is in the pudding

The Pondering Pump, Part I

Hello All,

I recieved an email and wanted to share the following.

SOMETHING AMERICANS SHOULD PONDER AS THEY PUMP GAS IN THEIR AUTOMOBILES AND DRIVE DOWN THE ROADWAYS...........................


Dubai in 1990


The same street in 2003


2006


Dubai is said to currently have 15-25% of all the world's cranes.


The Dubai Waterfront, when completed will become the largest waterfront development in the world .


All of this built in the last 5 years, including that island that looks like a palm tree.


The Palm Islands in Dubai utilized new Dutch dredging technology to create these massive man made islands. These are the largest artificial islands in the world and can be seen from space.


Upon completion, the resort will have 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, movie theaters, and many other facilities. Expected to support a population of approximately 500,000 people and advertised as being visible from the moon.


The World Islands are 300 artificially created islands in the shape of the world, where each island will have an estimated cost of $25-30 million.


The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai is considered the only '7 star' hotel and the most luxurious hotel in the world, as it stands on an artificial island in the sea.


Hydropolis, the world's first 'modern' underwater hotel, built entirely in Germany, then assembled in Dubai, has a scheduled completion by 2009 after many delays.


The Burj Dubai; construction began in 2005 and is expected to be complete by 2008. At an estimated height of over 800 meters, it will easily be world's tallest building when finished- It will be almost 40 percent taller than the current tallest building, the Yaipei 101.

The Pondering Pump, Part II

This is what downtown Dubai will look like around 2008-2009, with more than 140 stories of the Burj Dubai having completion. It is already the world’s tallest man made structure and scheduled completion still not for at least another year.



The Al Burj, will be the centerpiece of the Dubai Waterfront, once completed will take over the title of the tallest structure in the world from the Burj Dubai.


Recently it was announced that the final height of this tower is set at 1200 meters, making it more than 30 percent taller than the Burj Dubai and three times as tall as the Empire State Building.


The Burj al Alam, or The World Tower, upon completion will rank as the world's highest hotel and expected to be finished by 2009. At 480 meters, it will only be 28 meters shorter than the Taipei 101.


The Palm Jumeirah, the Trump International Hotel & Tower is the centerpiece to one of the palm islands.


Dubailand will be twice the size as the currently the largest amusement park collection in the world, Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which is also the largest single-site employer in the United states with 58,000 employees.




Dubailand, built on 3 billion square feet (107 square miles) at an estimated $20 billion price tag, is purported to include 45 mega projects and 200 hundred other smaller projects.


Dubai Sports City is a huge collection of sports arenas located in Dubailand.


Currently, the Walt Disney World Resort is the #1 tourist destination in the world. Once fully completed, Dubailand will take over the title of #1 with expectations of daily visitors reaching 200,000.


The Dubai Marina is an entirely man made development that will contain over 200 High-Rise buildings when finished. It will be home to some of the tallest residential structures in the world. The completed first phase of the project shown, as most of the other high rise buildings will be finished by 2009-2010.


The Dubai Mall will be the largest shopping mall in the world with over 9 million square feet of shopping, occupying approximately 1000 stores, and completed sometime in 2008.


Ski Dubai, already open, is the largest indoor skiing facility in the world; this is a rendered image of another future indoor skiing facility is being planned.


Some of the tallest buildings in the world, such as Ocean Heights and the Princess Tower, which will be the largest residential building in the world at over a 100 stories, will line the Dubai Marina. The UAE Spaceport would be the first spa seaport in the world if construction ever gets under way.

Additionally, The Dubai Metro system, once completed, will become the largest fully automated rail system in the world. The Dubai World Central International Airport will become the largest airport in size when it is completed, and will eventually become the busiest airdrome in the world, based on passenger volume. Finally, there are more construction workers in Dubai than there are actual citizens.

The Pondering Pump, Part III

THE PREVIOUS GIVES AN INCENTIVE TOWARD FUEL CONSERVATION, DOESN'T IT????
Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us, as some OPEC members are boycotting American goods. Should we return the favor?

Consider the economic condition of our country with increasing food and housing prices, the result of fuel costs. Americans are finding tough times in just remaining in their homes, yet other countries are greatly profiting from our misfortunes. Yet, organizations continually, and systematically, are doing everything in their power to further a recession and break down our country- all for profit! Furthermore, we continue to be controlled.

I say, "Let's take back the control."

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of these middle eastern companies. This alliance does not have the control, they want the world to think. Just buy gasoline from companies that do not import their oil from OPEC. After all, who is setting the international market prices?

Information is available from the Department of Energy and each gas company is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing per year. Yet, to have an impact, we literally need to reach millions of gasoline consumers, which is simple. Begin with yourself, your family, and friends in researching local gas stations/corporations for non-OPEC oil. If you write a blog, please include one post toward this movement. Only together do we have the voice.

Be Safe,

Reach

10 LOVE/HATE COMPANIES

Hello All,

Today I read 10 COMPANIES WE LOVE TO HATE and thought of my stories to share. While the web site allows for comments, I decided my blog would better serve for future reading.

During my days of playing airline pilot, the other crewmembers and I often discussed the best Cellular Phone Provider. Finally, we concluded, “each has its strengths and weaknesses.” “Problems”, you say. Let me share one little story with you; it is a tale of Cingular and their customer service.

My girlfriend and I purchased a joint account with Cingular so we could communicate regardless of my location. Out on my bid-line, our route brought us to Cincinnati, Ohio and I had no bars. Curious, I thought, considering the coverage area on my plan was “Nation Wide”. I knew something was wrong when we landed in Dayton, Ohio and the same thing happened there. When I finally checked into my hotel room, I called the local Cingular dealer for a better understanding. They informed me that I would have to take this up with my local carrier; thus, meaning when I returned home. I found that answer reasonable. And, I did exactly as instructed upon my return home.

My local carrier said, “We have contracts with local carriers across the country and first we should verify which provider services that area”. OK, on my next bid-line I will find this information. In my hotel rooms, I read the inside cover of the local phone books to find Cincinnati Bell is the primary provider for Ohio. I brought this information back to my local provider with the hopes of resolution. With my girlfriend on an extension to the house phone, the following is condensed version of the conversation after establishing the prior communications with the Cingular Customer Service representatives.

Me, “my cell phone is not working in Cincinnati and Dayton”.
Rep, “What is the local provider for Cincinnati and Dayton”?
Me, “Cincinnati Bell”.
Rep, “We do not have a contract with Cincinnati Bell, I apologize”.
Me, “Let me understand this- you are saying that Cingular, the cell phone provider who is the reunion of the original Bell Systems, does not have a contract with Cincinnati Bell”?
Rep, “Yes”.
Me, “Does this make sense to you”?
Rep, “Well, Sir, let me see if I can assist you. Please, what exactly is the problem”?
Me, “My cell phone is not working in Cincinnati, Dayton- Oh shoot, it is not working in Ohio”.
Rep, “And, what state is that in”?

(Silence)

Me, “Are you kidding me”?
Rep, “Sir, first I must establish the state”.
Me, “Can I speak with somebody else? Maybe a supervisor?”
Rep, “One second please”.
Supervisor, “How may I help you”?
(I explained the previous conversation)
Supervisor, “I don’t understand, we need to know the State”.

(Crickets)


Me, as I was thinking (what state is Ohio in?), I said, “Never mind” and hung up.

I am currently using Sprint International Plan, because I have found more coverage, world wide, with the least problems.

Please share your problems.....and,

Be Safe,

Reach