At 3:30 p.m. today, Friday, September 6, 2013, I left my house at 20th and Market and drove downtown to get a photo I.D. from the San Diego Transit Store so I could qualify for a discount for being over 60 years old. I found a parking spot four block away and fed the parking meter six quarters. Thus I had 72 minutes to complete my task. Once I arrived at the store there were three windows open with only one that had signage describing what task it was for. The other two had no signage whatsoever, however one had some information posted on the wall behind the window about senior and disabled photo I.D.s. This window had a line of about six or seven people waiting to be served. The time when I got into this line was 4:10 p.m. That would give me 20 minutes to reach the head of the line, fill out a one page form, pay the $7.00 fee and have my picture snapped. Plenty of time, I thought. WRONG! I reached the head of the line at 4:31 and was told I'd have to return on another weekday before 4:30 p.m. in order to get a photo I.D.

Having to return will be an inconvenience that I think could have been avoided if The Transit Store showed a small amount of concern for its customers.  The first thing that I suggest they do is have one of their staff at the entrance when customers first enter the store to direct them to the correct line they should wait in, at the minimum, they should have electric signage giving this information for everyone to read.  If I had stood in the short line when I first arrived, chances are I would have gotten through the entire process within 15 minutes.  The next suggestion that I have is that they have each customer take a number when they first enter the store. That way one wouldn't have to wait so long in a line and it would also balance the work load amongst their staff.  I saw one clerk do twice to three times the amount of processing work that the other two clerks handled.  If they took customers in the order that they arrived at the Store, I'm sure I would have been able to complete my task. Another thing that would benefit their customers is to flash a warning message when the time nears 4:30 p.m.



I'm going to make these suggestions known to San Diego Transit management once I find a way to send my comments in on their web site. I think that every business that has a web site should provide a way for their customers to contact them with their ideas or complaints that can be easily found.  I hate it when you have to keep going to link after link, in order to find a place where you can communicate with someone who will act on customer feedback.  I've been on some company web sites where I never did find a link to send them my ideas or my concerns.  When that has happened, it makes you question how interested that company is in providing their customers with the best possible service they can.

A case in point: most wireless telephone companies either have no link to contact them through, or they make it nearly impossible to find.

http://www.sdmts.com/fares_discounted.asp

Take the completed short form to The Transit Store on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to have your photograph taken and to receive your Reduced Fare Photo ID. The Transit Store is located at 102 Broadway, San Diego, 92101.



I made the mistake of  taking a short taxi ride to the Social Security office upon leaving the Transit Store.  I left the store at 4:35 p.m. quickly hailed a cab and arrived at the Social Security office by 4:45, only to learn that their office hours were from 8 a.m to 3 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 8 a.m to 12 p.m. Wednesdays and 8 a.m to 3 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays.  I was unable to find this information online and wonder if these shortened hours were caused by Congress's sequestration mandate. One would think that the Social Security web site would provide some information about their office hours, but I couldn't find anything.

Another complaint I have about the Social Security web site site is that you must have a credit card in order to use their "My Social Security" pages.  A debit card won't work!  If you ask me this is nothing but discrimination against people who are unable to secure a credit card or others, like myself, who refuse to buy into the paying by credit card that the big banks are so eager to issue you in the hopes of charging you huge interest fees should you miss a payment. The same banks that caused the housing bubble to burst and who have continually found ways to legally rip off their customers thanks to a spineless Congress that will not stand up to them!

Tomorrow I will be attending the San Diego Blues Festival http://sdbluesfest.com/ and I'm positive I'll have a great time!

Question: is there a noun in the English language for a person who treats my personal property that she has asked me to lend her, worse than she treats her own personal property?

Case in point: this afternoon I saw my neck badge strap that my roommate asked me to loan her so she could attach the hook end of it to a small purse of her's and loop it around her neck, on the floor in the kitchen. This wouldn't have caused me any great concern, normally, but the fact that the kitchen floor had been flooded the day before by raw sewage that originated from our upstairs neighbor because the sewage drains had become clogged. Thus my neck strap has become contaminated by the effluent. Her purse was still attached to the strap so I assume that she'll no longer use it and I imagine it will wind up in the trash. However, will she return the strap to me as I asked her to do at the time I loaned it to her, or will it also wind up in the trash along with her purse. Chances are it will be thrown out, without her ever mentioning anything about it.

She could have avoided this situation by simply unhooking the purse from my strap, but she has such little respect for myself and my belongings, she has decided to flaunt her disrespect by making sure that I would see it on the floor, before she eventually throws it out. I know that these sorts of straps are inexpensive and can be purchased for one or two dollars, but that's not the point. The point ought to be that she treat my strap with care and return it to me in the same condition, if not better condition, than what it was in when she borrowed it.

The only consolation for this abuse of property that I have loaned her is that it provides me the opportunity to refuse any future requests that she is bound to ask me when she wants me to lend her something of mine. I don't care if she thinks I'm being trivial, the point is, she could have returned my property, but she didn't. Therefore, why should I trust her to return anything else of mine that I may have loaned her.

October 1, 2012

The New Cell Phone Etiquette, or

How You Can Find Your Status Level With Someone Using a Cell Phone

What happened to the days when you were speaking to someone, person to person, when you were interrupted by a telephone call to the person you were speaking with, which they politely asked the caller to, “please hold”, so they could continue the conversation they were having with you? This is very unlikely to happen at a place of business where you are held a captive customer, such as an auto parts store, where the likely scenario is you are made to wait while they continue talking to their caller. Taken a notch further up the communication ladder, what if this person receives a call on their cell phone? Are you made to wait, or do they ask their caller to wait? If you're made to wait, you can figure you status level with that person is at a very low level, and if they ask their caller to wait, your have a high status level. Most people do not like to be made to wait when interrupted by something that arises from the outside world, no matter what the importance of the interruption might be.

I, personally, do not own a cell phone, so I'm never interrupted by a call while I'm speaking with someone. However, what about you cell phone owners who may read this, how do you handle calls that interrupt face to face conversations? Who do you ask to wait, or who do you ask to hold?

I am very unhappy with President Obama's performance during his first four years in office and had entertained thoughts of voting for the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, in the upcoming election. However, after watching Dirty Hairy shucking and jiving the Republican National Convention followed with Mitt's acceptance speech, I've decided to vote for Obama.
Damn, watch Mitt walk, he has no spine! Stiff as a board! I Listened to him give the most important speech of his political life and I was flabbergasted. What a NITT WITT! He had the chance to put all the political bull shit aside and tell America about his plan of turning our economy around, creating decent paying jobs, getting out of Afghanistan, cutting the deficit, reducing government spending, lowering gas prices, creating campaign reform which excludes taking donations and accepting perks from PACs, pass legislation banning assault weapons, slash defense spending, increase education spending, pass legislation to regulate Wall Street. etc,. etc!
But no! We got Whimp Romney's spiel about his church and family! I could care less. He should have embraced the people who Occupied Wall Street and united them into a force to Occupy Congress! No more cronyism, no more PAC money, limit the lobbyists ability to influence key legislation. Require Congressmen and Senators to use online polls of their constituency before they cast their votes. Allow anyone serving time in prison for non-violent crimes the opportunity to join Conservation Corps Camps so they can earn some money along with reducing their sentences. Require hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and medical personnel to donate a certain percentage of their time or profits for the benefit of the uninsured!
Get off your ass Barak,
and start to rock.
Quit being so nice to your opponets,
treat them like undesirable rodents!
Tell 'em how its going to be,
Politics is going to be vermin free!
No more freebies,
No more perks,
For all the riffraff beltway jerks!
Embrace the occupiers,
the disenfranchised,
tax all products containing sugar and corn syrup 100%,
for they are the cause of our children's obesity and diabetes!
Subsidize small organic farmers,
not the huge conglomerates that taint our fruits and vegetables!
No more wars, no more drones,
be aware of our enemies,
but leave them alone!

What I found to be so refreshing about Rory's outstanding an record breaking performance in the 2011 US Open, is that he will never repeat the mistakes made by the great one before him. Namely, Tiger Woods! Rory has his head properly set on his mighty shoulders and there is no weakness in his character which would ever allow him to stoop to the atrocities which has brought Tiger to his ruin!

Check out my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-James-Payne/654239439

Earl Thomas & The Kings Of Rhythm - Working Together

Watch CBS News Videos Online This 60 Minutes segment broadcast last Sunday evening sickens me as I'm sure it did the millions of other Americans who viewed it! This disaster can be attributed to one thing, GREED! The greed of Americans for oil to power their autos and the greed of BP managers to ignore damage to the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig's Blowout Prevention (BOP) equipment! BP's blatant disregard for safety is criminal and I hope that the people who are responsible will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law! They are guilty of manslaughter (11 dead crew members) and they are also guilty of 'Crimes Against Humanity'! These people must be sentenced to long terms in prison if we are going to avoid these sorts of pitfalls in the future. I wonder how long it will be before President Obama steps in and directs a team of NASA scientists and other deep water drilling experts to initiate a plan to cap it! BP has proven its incompetency in the matter and if we're depending upon them to come up with a solution, we're going to get screwed!

25 September 1978 The Worst Day in San Diego's History I remember what a beautiful morning it was, Santa Ana conditions, hot and clear! I was on my way home from work when I passed near the intersection of 32nd St & Polk. I was shocked to see the wreckage of the Cessna that collided with the PSA jetliner. A body from the Cessna had demolished the roof over the front door entrance of a house and was lying under a yellow tarp. I turned on my car radio to learn what had happened! I was shocked! Looking back on this day after more than 30 years had elapsed, I think of it as the day that my beloved San Diego had lost her virginal purity! I had witnessed death and destruction during the riots in Watts, Detroit, and other large American cities that had large ghetto neighborhoods, but San Diego was never affected by social upheavals! Death and destruction on a massive scale visited my home town that day! San Diego would never be the same!

The Crash of PSA 182: Return to Dwight and Nile from Gray Matter Entertainment on Vimeo.

I Never Thought that I Would See the Day

As I watched the A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement tonight on PBS I was moved by the fact that within my lifetime the U.S. had elected a man of African-American heritage to it's highest elective office. President Obama has faced opposition from the Republicans in Washington D.C., but none of it has been based upon his race!

Another thing that happened a little over 20 years ago that I thought would never happen was the Berlin Wall come toppling down! Which was the first tell tale chink in Soviet Russia's collapse!

With the near collapse of the U.S. economy and the huge government spending deficits threatening to bankrupt our nation, I often pause to reflect upon the idea that had the U.S. military not invaded Iraq in what was clearly an unprovoked war, and had all those billions of dollars been spent on domestic issues, would our economy still be in such bad shape as it presently is? One thing that can be said about the money squandered in Iraq, is that we wouldn't be facing such large deficits!

The loss of American and Iraqi lives and the billions upon billions of dollars being wasted even unto this very day can be blamed on one person and one person only! His name is George W. Bush, who I believe bears the full responsibility of bankrupting America! It is a tragedy that such a misguided man was able to become the president in the first place and it should be remembered that the Supreme Court enabled him to steal the election from Al Gore. I think that the U.S. would have been much better governed had Mr. Gore won the election!

During President Obama's State of the Union Address I was surprised at the Military Chiefs of Staffs non-response to the following statement he made,"This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are." After seeing them giving their Commander in Chief standing ovations whenever he made mention of the military or defense it was a sharp contrast to see them sitting on their hands when he mentioned the prospects of gay people being able to serve their country

Cherry Cake

I had never heard of a 'cherry cake' until late Friday night when I heard it mentioned by the dead cowboy's mother in "Brokeback Mountain". Then it seemed to be rather coincidental to hear 'cherry cake' mentioned again by another mother of a dead daughter and granddaughter as I watched the pilot episode of "Caprica" early Saturday morning.

I guess I should try to find a cherry cake at a bakery, or ask a bakery worker if they make cherry cakes.

Thank You for an exciting season 2009 San Diego Chargers!

I'm sure that all the Monday morning QBs will be searching for scapegoats to place the blame for the stunning play off loss to the New York Jets, however I think the team will admit that they were outplayed by a better prepared opponent. Obviously, Rivers had trouble handling the blitzes as he was unable to move the ball as he had done during the 10 victories prior. I think that the Chargers offense should have tried the "wild cat" formation a few times in order to keep the Jets defense guessing. I also think that the Chargers should have gotten the ball to LT at least 10 mores times, he was overdue to bust a big gainer! The Chargers relied too much on their passing attack and when that failed they didn't have an effective Plan B to implement. I think that the dumbfounded look on place kicker Kaeding's face after he missed his second field goal attempt explained what the whole team must have felt! Congratulations to the Jets, they were well prepared to take on the Chargers' high-powered offense, they took advantage of turnovers and penalties that the Chargers committed and won the game!

I think that President Obama is a very intelligent man! I'm sure that he has read about the history of Afghanistan! I don't understand his reasoning about sending more troops to Afghanistan. Throughout recorded history, every country that has involved itself with Afghanistan's internal affairs has come out a LOSER! Why does Obama think that he will be able to come out a WINNER! Please, Mr. Obama, do not send our troops into a unwinnable quagmire! If I were making the decisions in Washington D.C., I would get out of Afghanistan as soon as I could! The leadership is corrupt and so is the culture! I think that the best way to help Afghanistan is through foreign aid, not with military strength. Educate the masses and let them decide how they wish their country to be governed. If the Taliban should come back into power we will be able to contain their influence abroad. If the Taliban is stupid enough to provide a safe haven for Al Quaeda, send in air strikes or missiles to eliminate them. Boycott all trade with Afghanistan if the Taliban comes to power! Within 10 years the people of Afghanistan will overthrow the Taliban with their own revolution! They are the only ones who can win! Mr. Obama, yes, I agree with your idealistic hopes for Afghanistan, but the grim reality of the situation should dictate that you extract our troops from this God forsaken country!

I'm usually a very optimistic fellow and I am somewhat concerned about something that has been cropping up in my mind on an almost daily basis for the past two weeks. It is a vile thought to be sure, but it can't be denied that homo sapiens' future on our wondrous planet will come to a terrible end if he doesn't find an alternative for using carbon based fuels for his energy requirements. Not only is he dependent upon carbon based fuels but within the next 50 years, he will find himself competing with the rest of the world's population for an ever shrinking supply of fossil fuel. The only way that this can be avoided is if the number of people on earth were radically reduced.

I have a beef with San Diego Gas & Electric and I'm going to withhold paying my closing bill until I'm given some sort of satisfaction. My complaint emanates from the fact that I am no longer a customer since my new digs come with gas, electric, water and sewer services included and so I called SDG&E to have them come out and read the meters on September 1st. I talked to the man who read the meters and he assured me that the gas & electric would not be shut off. It seems that SDG&E has a policy that keeps the service on until a new tenant changes the billing information. Due to the fact that my move had to be delayed because my new place wasn't ready on the 1st, it has taken me until today, September 14th, to complete my move. Since I wasn't preparing any meals at my new place, I had kept my perishable groceries in the refrigerator at the old place. Everything was fine when I left my old place last Friday afternoon, however when I arrived there this morning I was met with the pungent smell of spoiled food in the refrigerator. Not only did I lose about $20.00 worth of groceries but I was also faced with having to clean the refrigerator and sanitize it which I'm in the process of doing as I write this. I think that SDG&E should have given me a call to let me know that they were shutting down the electricity without my knowledge in order to avoid having something like this from happening. I think that SDG&E showed no concern whatsoever for me and their actions have caused me to have to clean a nasty smelling refrigerator that could have been avoided had they called! All they care about is being paid!

Hey! I put a google map photo of my blue Miata parked in front of my house!

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