Email to Circuit City complaining about car stereo installation hack job! I had a JVC KD-G230 CD Receiver installed at the Point Loma store earlier today. When I returned to pick the car up I was told that a was told that the installation required an installation kit which I had not paid for at the time that I dropped the car off. I had no problem with this as I had approved the use of it if it was required. When the installer and I entered the store so he could write of the install kit order and I could pay for it, he mentioned that he had a hard time installing the unit because, according to what he said, someone had disassembled the center consul at one time and when it was reassembled it had been done incorrectly. The original owner who I purchased the car from lives in my neighborhood and I asked him if he had ever had work done to the car that necessitated the removal of the center consul and he said no. I bought the car with the original stereo cassette player installed by the factory in place. Imagine my shock when I saw three large cracks in the plastic molding that houses the components in the center consul. I pointed this out to the installer who claimed that it was cause by the car being exposed to the sun whenever the top was down. These cracks are very noticeable and I think that the installer should have made an effort to glue them together before he reassembled the consul. I was willing to forgive this, however when I returned to my home and I needed to double park my car as I unloaded some things that I was taking into my home, I tried to engage the emergency flashers. To my dismay, they would not turn on! As it happens, the largest crack in the housing is where the flasher switch is mounted! This is unacceptable! I feel that your employee is incompetent and I want Circuit City to repair the damage done to the center consul. I will await a response from whoever receives this email for one day in order to give you a chance to recommend a solution to this problem. However, I feel that time is of the essence and should I not hear from you by tomorrow, I will be forced to take my complaint to the Point Loma store manager. I would like to avoid this confrontation as I recently was forced to complain to the manager about an earlier purchase that went kaput. I wrote about in my blog if you'd like to read it, got to http://bobsblog.blogspot.com/ Thank You, Robert Payne

SHOULD I STAY, OR SHOULD I GO? Thursday, July 26, 2007 At approximately 10:30 AM my tale of woe begins. It is a great burden to bear and it causes me to suffer great angst each day, each hour, each minute that passes. The only time that it allows me a respite is when I sleep. I am thankful that it has not yet begun to haunt my dreams, but I feel it has invaded my subconscious thought process, for I no longer sleep as soundly as I once did. It was on this day, at the time noted, that I received a phone call from Dick Fiahlo. Dick is employed by by Radelow/Gittins Real Property Management Corporation as the Manager, Agent For Owner of India Street properties, who I rent my studio apartment from. During our short conversation Dick told me that he wanted to inspect my unit. Realizing that by law I must comply to his request, I responded by asking him at what time did he wish to do the inspection. He said that he would like to come within an hour and I told him that I would be waiting his arrival. After hanging up the phone, I thought that Dick's request to make an inspection of my unit was somewhat odd for a couple of reasons. First, during the past five years that I have rented my current residence, there have been only two requests to inspect it; once when an insurance appraiser came, and another a few weeks before when a maintenance man came to install a smoke alarm. Both of these inspections were preceded by a letter that I received in the mail from Radelow/Gittins stating the purpose of these inspections and I assume that the other residents of the India Street properties were likewise notified. During the first week of July when the smoke alarm was installed, I vaguely remember seeing Dick with the maintenance man on the property, but he did not accompany him to my door, nor did he ask to gain access to my domain, in order to have a look around. Prior to this time I had felt that I had established a fairly high degree of rapport with Dick, as I was the first tenant that he had signed to a one year lease of a vacant unit at India Street over five years ago. Over than period of time, I have gotten three phone calls from him requesting that I remove some clutter from my front yard. To each of these requests I quickly complied and removed the offending clutter. Before Dick arrived to make his inspection on July 26th, I wrote a check to India Street in the amount of $575.00 for the rent for August, which was due on the 1st. However, he declined to accept it, saying that he wasn't going back to his offices later in the day. Upon Dick's arrival, I greeted him in a cordial manner and asked him to come into my somewhat cluttered domicile. He first asked about the natural gas wall heater that I never use and I told him that I had the gas supply line closed off and therefore the pilot light wasn't lit. As we continued into the kitchen area, he asked me about the stove and oven to which I told him that they were both in working order. He then asked me if there was anything that needed repair and at that point I showed him where the bath tub had begun to settle, thus creating a small gap between the bottom of the tile and the top of the tub. I didn't say anything about the fact that it was in this condition at the time when I first rented the unit because I felt that it was minor and it had not worsened during the five years that I had been there. Dick said that he would have Richard (the on site maintenance man) come and repair it. As we exited the bathroom, I pointed out the stackable washer and dryer which had been installed during the first week of my tenancy and told them that they had been used very little and that they were both in excellent condition. As we exited the utility hall and returned to the kitchen area, we were both startled to see the daytime manager of Shakespeare's Pub (who is also a tenant of India Street) inside my unit in the living room area. I don't know the man's name but he had entered through the door which I had left opened, as it was a warm day outdoors. He never asked for permission to enter my place and I felt somewhat affronted by his boldness as it showed that he had little regard for invading my personal privacy. Not wanting to ruffle anyone's feathers, I ignored his intrusion, but I do remember the look of shock that was on Dick's face when he recognized who this intruder actually was. Before I had a chance to say anything, Dick quickly averted any words of this rude man's indiscretion by telling him that they should talk outside. At this point Dick thanked me for allowing him to inspect and as he left I told him that I planned to lay some sod in my small front yard along with some lattice panels that I planned to attach to the wooden post and metal pipe fence. We amicably said our good byes and at that time I felt that everything had gone well. Dick gave no indication as to what he intended on doing and as the date of the impending notice that I was to receive on Saturday, July 28, 2007, he had decided two days prior. The only thing that I thought was odd about his inspection was the fact that the daytime manger of Shakespeare's Pub knew that he was inspecting my unit, which meant that for some reason this fact had been communicated between them prior to Dick's arrival at my door. Friday, July 27, 2007 Was a scorching hot day, so much so, that I slept that night with my door open in the hopes of catching a cooling breeze. Saturday, July 28, 2007 I awoke late in the morning, unsuspecting that someone had paid a visit to my door while I slept. Whoever this person was, their identity remains a mystery, they had taped a notice to my front door which read: 30-DAY NOTICE TO TERMINATE TENANCY TO: Robert James Payne and Does 1-10 All residents (tenants and subtenants) in possession TAKE NOTICE that your tenancy of the hereinafter described premises is hereby terminated as of the date of expiration of this notice, and that you are hereby required to quit and surrender possession thereof to the undersigned or to Radelow/Gittins Real Property Management Corporation, who is authorized to receive the same, on or before the aforementioned date after the service of the NOTICE upon you. The premises of which you are required to surrender possession are situated in the City of San Diego. County of San Diego, State of California, designated by number and street as 1702½ Winder Street, 92103. This is intended as a thirty (30) day legal notice for the purpose of terminating your tenancy aforesaid in accordance with the California Civil Code Section 1946. Dated this 24 day of July, 2007 Radelow Gittins RPMC Dick Fiahlo, Manager Agent For Owner [Dick' signature and date 7/24/07] CALIFORNIA CODES CIVIL CODE SECTION 1946 1946. A hiring of real property, for a term not specified by the parties, is deemed to be renewed as stated in Section 1945, at the end of the term implied by law unless one of the parties gives written notice to the other of his intention to terminate the same, at least as long before the expiration thereof as the term of the hiring itself, not exceeding 30 days; provided, however, that as to tenancies from month to month either of the parties may terminate the same by giving at least 30 days' written notice thereof at any time and the rent shall be due and payable to and including the date of termination. It shall be competent for the parties to provide by an agreement at the time such tenancy is created that a notice of the intention to terminate the same may be given at any time not less than seven days before the expiration of the term thereof. The notice herein required shall be given in the manner prescribed in Section 1162 of the Code of Civil Procedure or by sending a copy by certified or registered mail addressed to the other party. In addition, the lessee may give such notice by sending a copy by certified or registered mail addressed to the agent of the lessor to whom the lessee has paid the rent for the month prior to the date of such notice or by delivering a copy to the agent personally. CALIFORNIA CODES CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE SECTION 1162 1162. The notices required by Sections 1161 and 1161a may be served, either: 1. By delivering a copy to the tenant personally; or, 2. If he or she is absent from his or her place of residence, and from his or her usual place of business, by leaving a copy with some person of suitable age and discretion at either place, and sending a copy through the mail addressed to the tenant at his or her place of residence; or, 3. If such place of residence and business can not be ascertained, or a person of suitable age or discretion there can not be found, then by affixing a copy in a conspicuous place on the property, and also delivering a copy to a person there residing, if such person can be found; and also sending a copy through the mail addressed to the tenant at the place where the property is situated. Service upon a subtenant may be made in the same manner. To be continued . . .

Circuit City Gives Me a $24.00 Credit!

Yesterday evening I orderer a mini tripod from Circuit City's web site. I wouldn't have paid for it with my credit card if I was unable to pick it up from their Point Loma store. After verifying that the Point Loma store had this tripod in their inventory, I completed the transaction. Then I started my email client (Mozilla Thunderbird) and opened the confirmation email that Circuit City sent.

I printed this confirmation and then proceeded to the Point Loma store and gave it to a clerk working at the cash register. I showed him my California Drivers License (Picture ID) and my MasterCard which I used to make the purchase. The clerk processed all this information from his side and then he asked me to wait until someone brought the tripod to the check out counter.

Fortunately, I was in no hurry, and I spent about fifteen minutes looking at all the cool electronics throughout the store. I returned to the counter thinking that they would have had plenty of time to locate the tripod and was told that they didn't have one in stock. The clerk began to tell me all the options that I could choose from; i.e. get it from a different store, have it shipped to my home address, or get a refund. When he had finished, I said that he was forgetting something. The perplexed look on his face made me mention the option that he had not included beforehand, that I would be issued a $24.00 credit

The clerk became obstinate and questioned my reasoning for demanding the credit for something that he had no control of. He said that since they didn't have the tripod in their inventory they could not be held responsible to issue a credit. I responded to this by saying that I had their web site verify that the Point Loma store had the tripod before I gave them my credit card information, which I did in good faith. I also reminded the clerk of Circuit City's online guarantee, "If we don't have your order ready for you within 24 minutes of your confirmation email, a $24.00 gift card's yours."

The clerk responded by reiterating that they were not responsible to issue a credit since they did not have the item in the store. I could see that I wasn't going to get satisfaction from the clerk, so I asked him to please get the manager of the store to the counter so I could talk to him about it. Upon hearing this, the clerk turned his back to me and began to walk away. After he had taken a few steps, he made a halfway turn without actually facing me and said, "So you're going to be that way about it?"

This gesture of disrespect lit my fuse and as the clerk continued walking away from me, I said in a loud voice so that everyone in the vicinity could hear, "You're damn right I want to speak to the manager since you insist upon dicking me around!" There weren't any customers within earshot of what I said but the manger and a handful of clerks heard me and they all had looks of utter shock upon their collective faces as if to say, "Why are you using such foul language? Are you some sort of uncivilized ruffian?"

Once I was face to face with the manager I apologized for using the epithet and then I told him why I felt justified in asking for the credit. He quickly agreed and authorized another clerk to issue the credit, but he didn't offer me an apology for his employee's mistake, nor did the clerk in question, who stood in the background ever offer me an apology.

My outrage was quickly checked by the knowledge that I would receive the credit and I returned to my normally non-confrontational self. The clerk who was helping now was courteous and very competent. After he gave me the credit he arranged to have the tripod shipped to my home address free of charge. He gave me all the paper work and apologized for any inconvenience that this may have caused me.

I thanked him for his help and said "Good night" to him.

President Bush is concerned about how history will judge his years in the White House and has invited many influential people to visit him to give him their views. I'm just an average American with little if any influence, but I can tell Bush that if he wishes to salvage his legacy, there is one thing that he can do that will do so! President Bush use your office in a positive way and rebuild New Orleans! You have it within your power to unite the country in this project!

BILL MOYERS JOURNAL explores the talk of impeachment with Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and THE NATION's John Nichols, author of THE GENIUS OF IMPEACHMENT

Bush and Chaney should both be impeached for all the crimes that they have committed against Americans! If the Democrats have any balls they will proceed with impeachment hearings against these two men who chose to ignore our constitution!

Standing Silent Nation

Just one more of many stupid and inhumane federal laws which are enforced because the victim is a minority! DEA agents violated protocol when they served indictments on the Lakota family for growing industrial hemp! Two years in a row the DEA destroyed their hemp crop just as it reached maturity, in order to deprive them of the income that they would receive had they been able to harvest! The white man is still fucking the American Indian over! Thank your corrupt representatives in Washington for passing such ignorant and repressive legislation! I hope that the Lakota have the economic wherewithal to fight these laws all the way to the Supreme Court!

Charlie Rose

Charlie Rose

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN ambassador stated that Russia is willing to help in an international effort to establish a stable government in Iraq!

It's a tragedy that President Bush's ears will be closed to this offer! I suppose that accepting Russia's offer to help extract his sorry ass from his horrendous mistakes would be too damaging to his ego for him to graciously accept their offer! Just more idiocy form the idiot who resides in the White House!

Democratic Presidential Forum on PBS

I liked the sound of Barack Obama's voice! I'm so sick and tired of hearing each candidate's spiel, because that is exactly what each one of them is doing. They're trying to win a popularity contest rather than telling us what their top ten goals would be if they were elected and how they would go about reaching these goals!

I want to hear about (1) national health insurance, (2) extracting our troops from Iraq, (3) reducing military spending, (4) reducing our dependency on foreign oil imports, (5) developing renewable energy resources, (6) reduce the amount of fossil fuels that are burned producing energy, (7) roll back the tax cuts that Bush gave to the rich, (8) decriminalize drug use, (9) legalize prostitution, and (10) make August 17 (my birthday) of each year "National Golf Day"!

Terrorist vs. non-Terrorist Test How about putting US tax dollars to good use by performing a gene study of persons convicted of violent crimes throughout the vast prison system in our country. Certainly a statistical break down of the data would point to a large percentage of these criminals sharing a particular genetic make up. Once this has been established then a simple blood test should be developed that could be given to every alien entering our borders. It should be a test that gives instant results like the blood type tests given by any blood bank donor center. If you pass the test, you can enter, if you don't, you can't!

I just watched HBO's special on the Daniel Pearl kidnap and murder and I recommend that anyone who happens to read this blog, download and watch it. It made me understand the utter futility that jihadists and terrorists of all stripes should come to terms with. All of their acts of violence against innocent people is evil! You will never achieve one iota of what you hope to gain by murdering people that you perceive as your enemy. If you used all the money and all your efforts in a civilized and constructive manner you would be far better off. Their suicide bombers are thought to be brave and are promised instant paradise, but they should instead question why their handlers are not willing to sacrifice their own lives for their cause?

Winds of Change.NET: The Case for Invading Iran

The current regime in Iran has proven time and time again that they are not friends of the Western world and with their proclivity to support terrorist organizations with vast sums of money along with modern weaponry, if they should continue on their current path towards developing nuclear arms, once achieving their quest, would they not give these weapons to their Muslim brothers? For instance, a dirty fissile devise that could kill hundreds of thousands and contaminate cities for thousands of years! Are we willing to risk our cities to the whims of whatever mullah enjoys the will of the Iranian population at the moment?

I still think that President Bush made a grave mistake when he invaded Iraq, but perhaps it could be used to our advantage by a rapid pull out of our troops leaving the Iraqis to solve their own political and cultural differences. The chaos that this would lead to will directly draw the Iranians into the conflict and once their troops are committed the U.S. should invade Iran and force a regime change in Tehran after destroying their capabilities to develop nuclear arms. Of course you would want the UN to condemn their weapons making policies first, and if they refuse to comply, send in the troops!

The Arab nations have so much hatred and animosity towards one another that they will have their hands full killing one another that they won't have the stomach for attacking the West! However, if one of them should, they can count on the wrath of the West to rain down upon them, thus weakening them to the point where their Arab brothers will come in a finish the dirty work!

Make Your Keyboard Notify You With A Beep Whenever You Toggle The CAPS/LOCK Key Click Start > Control Panel > Accessibility Options, and then the Keyboard tab. Check the Use Toggle Keys check box at the bottom.

The current President of the United States has lied to the American people so often that I refuse to believe anything that he says! There are many Americans who want to impeach Bush for his dishonesty but if Bush were kicked out of office who would take his place, an even worse liar, Dick Cheney! The crimes that former president Richard Nixon committed while he was in office are minor in comparison to what Bush has continuously shoveled out. Have you noticed Bush's evil grimace that he displays before answering a reporter's question during a press conference, before he begins spinning his web of untruths? If he was hooked up to a polygraph it is doubtful that anything that he says could be determined to be truthful! I think that the Democrats in Congress should band together and make his life as miserable as they possibly can until he retreats in disgrace to Crawford, Texas!

FEAR vs. COURAGE

America At A Crossroads

This PBS program ought to be made mandatory for every American to view, including the ass holes who haunt the White House! It shows the ugly realities of war! I am still dumbfounded as to why President Bush put our armed forces personnel in harm's way in the dirty little war that he chose to initiate! There ought to be a law that states if the President decides to take military action in any foreign land, his children shall be among the first American's to serve their nation and subject to all the dangers that face every soldier!

If Bush's two daughters would have had to face the brutalities of war or becoming a casualty of war, I wonder if he would have been so fucking gung ho! It hurts me to have to say this about any of America's presidents, but I have lost all respect for Bush and I count the days until his moronic administration comes to it's conclusion!

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I've been reading a PDF version of Brad Hill's Blogging For Dummies (2006) in order to learn how I can use Blogger.com more effectively. I'm hoping that it will say something about using HTML when editing your posts but after reading the first 50 pages it has yet to mention anything about HTML. The first web site that Hill mentions that I found worthy of bookmarking was BlogPulse , which I highly recommend if you wish to search using a blog-specific search engine. In fact, when I searched "Bobsblog" (the name of my blog at Blogger.com) it returned a large number of my past posts! It even located a photo of myself that I had posted a while back that I was having trouble finding! I hope that the next 50 pages of this book has more information that appeals to me than the first 50!

This is a photo snapped of me the day after my 35th birthday! Looks like I had a rough night!

WHY I DON'T LIKE CELL PHONES I hate it whenever someone calls me using their cell phone and when I am forced to call someone on their cell phone because they no longer have a land line. I imagine, like one of the current TV advertisements suggest, that some services are better than others, meaning that they cover wider areas and they experience fewer dropped calls. One would think that living in a large metropolis like San Diego that one should never experience a dropped call, but I've had it happen on numerous occasions. This makes me wonder if these dropped calls might be caused by the owners of these cell phones not having properly charged their phones to begin with! Since I don't have any use for them personally I am resolved to make it a point of hanging up on anyone who calls me with their cell phone at the slightest indication of interference! Should they call back, I will tell them that the call was terminated on their side and that either they were calling from an area that had weak coverage or that their batteries must need recharging! One last gripe, I have heard that the California State Legislature has passed a law about using cell phones when driving in a motor vehicle that goes into effect next year. I can barely wait for this to hopefully put an end to all the preoccupied idiots that think that they can drive responsively while trying to operate their cell phones. If the city of San Diego is looking for a cash cow to solve their financial woes at city hall, I suggest that they equip their traffic officers with devices that will identify people using their cell phones while driving their vehicles! Cha-ching!

DO YOU HAVE A SOUL BROTHER? I'm not talking about the cultural sort of "Soul Brother" like the late James Brown or Ray Charles, I'm talking about the spiritual "Soul Brother" that I never knew existed until I had made a fifteen minute phone call earlier tonight!

• It is a wonderful feeling that you know that you have a friend for life!
• A friend that loves you unconditionally!
• A friend that you can always be truthful with, knowing that whatever you reveal to them, even your deepest and darkest secrets, who will not condemn you for them!
• A friend that is willing to hide his disappointment in you for not showing up at his bedside when he was in the hospital near death because he understands my reasons for not visiting him!
• A friend that you can empathize what he must have felt as he saw his life slowly slipping away!
• A friend that you can always depend upon to fight the "good" fight with every ounce of his strength!
• A friend that you can have diametrically opposing views about a topic and engage in vehement debate over the topic and come to the conclusion that we can agree to disagree!
• I am filled with joy by the news that my "Soul Brother", the best friend that I could ever ask for has survived a burst appendix that wasn't properly diagnosed until two or three weeks after the fact.
• I was afraid to talk to him during his illness because I didn't know how I would handle hearing his weakened voice or looking at his frail body!
• My friend, Steve Young, who I have known since 1967 has revealed himself as being my "Soul Brother", although I haven't told him how this happened. Once I have retraced the progression that this life-long process has followed and I can begin to formulate an opinion on how or why it happened as it did, I will tell him. Then I will await him to say, "That's all very interesting, but do you believe it to be the truth?" Which will give me a sense of being one of the twelve apostles at his Master's feet answering my questions with His questions that make you have to think about what it is to be a human being?
• I have always suspected that Steve came to know that he was a special person early in his adulthood! His keen perception, I thought, may have mislead him a time or two, but I also had a deep sense that there was some sort of hidden agenda that he was unable to clue the uninitiated to, so that they would be able to understand.
• Steve told me that he was a chosen man, for what I do not know! He alluded to his being something similar to a Messiah! I am glad to say that he has not left me after he was resurrected!
• When he visited Israel and Palestine and we discussed the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict he made me understand how oppressed the majority (Palestinians) has become under the rule of the minority (Israelis). Which made it clear as to why America is so hated in the Arab world! America stands for hypocrisy not democracy! If democracy were allowed in the occupied territories that Israel has confiscated from the Palestinians the Israelis would be unanimously voted out of all political offices and the Israeli government would be forced to negotiate with Palestine on an equal basis. That is why all previous negotiations have failed in the past and they will continue to fail far into the distant future because Israel has refused to give back all the territory that they have confiscated from the Palestinians as one of the conditions in any negotiation. As Israel tries to justify the land grab that they enforced against Palestine by the building of "security fences" they further embitter the Palestinian. The building of the "security fences" have nothing to do with ensuring security it is a term that the Israeli government finds to be palatable for what is in effect their policy of "divide and conquer"!
• Don't get me started on David Bowie!

Thank you Steve! I'm glad that you are on the road to making a full recovery "Soul Bro"!

Andy Rooney's commentary at the end of 60 Minutes tonight about voting and democracy made me wonder if all important decisions that are left to politicians as they currently are, could be put to a vote by the American people, what a different country we would live in. Think about: No war in Iraq, a national health program, a higher minimum wage, etc.

As I watch Tuesday night's "Charlie Rose" program on PBS, I am mystified why Pres. George Bush has decided that the government of Iran is one that he includes in his broad definition of the "Axis of Evil". As it turns out, Iran gave assistance to the U.S. in establishing a new government in Afghanistan, yet the Bush administration has not acknowledged Iran's involvement. Bush has no concept of the word "diplomacy"! I think that Bush's disastrous presidency can be summed up as follows: "My way, or the highway!"

Thomas Friedman's take on Bush sending more troops to Iraq

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman had a very insightful interview with Tavis Smiley last night on PBS. Mr. Friedman said that should President Bush's sending of an additional 25,000 troops to Iraq fail to stabilize the violence, Bush will go down in history as a utter failure! I am in complete agreement with this assessment of Bush and I'm sorry to say that his plan of introducing more troops is doomed to fail!

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