Big Money Bank Sponges

An open letter to President Obama...

Dear Mr. President...

I'm very worried about what I read about the banking system and it's recovery. Please set in place modern, air tight as can be regulations, so we don't have to suffer this kind of problem again. I know that we had banking problems every few years until FDR put in tough regulations and then Phil Gramm and others ripped them up and we've ended up with banks that are too big to fail because they not just banks any more - they have to get back to normal business and spin off those high risk parts of the company, so they can fail if they make the wrong decisions and us taxpayers don't have to bail them out.

Don't let the big money sponges deter you from making the correct decisions.

Thanks and keep up the good work. I know it's going to pay off.

Almost Killed by an Avalanche!

I was driving along peacefully, minding my own business and all of a sudden, I was almost killed by an Avalanche! An Avalanche in Castro Valley, you say? Hell Yes!!!

Oh, it was a massive amount of snow crashing down from a giant mountain, instead it was a GIANT MOUNTAIN OF A SUT!

Yes, a SUT. Sport Utility Truck. It was a Chevy Avalanche that wanted to make a left turn from 3 lanes over and my little Camry was in the way. Well, excuuuuuuse me!

No wonder General Motors needs a bailout!!

#1 Nobody really needs a SUT. If you need a truck, buy a truck. It is a wasted model and wasted development money.

#2 Calling a vehicle an Avalanche???? Who thought of that idea? An avalanche causes massive damage and even a small avalanche is extremely dangerous to life and limb.

#3 I've found some other "good ideas" for car names on various websites: Pontiac Plague (you have a choice between Bubonic, Septicemic or Pneumonic), the Cadillac Cancer, the Oldsmobile Ebola, Chrysler Tsunami, the Edsel Earthquake, Volvo Volcano, Ford Flood, Hyundai Hurricane, Toyota Tornado, Fiat Forest Fire, Renault Street Riot, Mazda Murder Spree, Honda Hate Crime, Voltzwagen Vampire Bite, Kia Serial Killer, Peugeot Pervert and the Nissan Nitroglycerin.

Be careful out there! Here is what to look for.

Friday the 13th

For all these years, I've thought I suffered from Triskaidekaphobia, which is fear of the number 13, but now I learned a new word: Friggatriskaidekaphobia, which is fear of Friday the 13th. You are never too old to learn.

Here are five favorite Friday-the-13th facts:

1. Fear of Friday the 13th — one of the most popular myths in science — is called paraskavedekatriaphobia as well as friggatriskaidekaphobia. Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13.

2. Many hospitals have no room 13, while some tall buildings skip the 13th floor and some airline terminals omit Gate 13.

3. President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th day of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal. Napoleon and President Herbert Hoover were also triskaidekaphobic, with an abnormal fear of the number 13.

4. Mark Twain once was the 13th guest at a dinner party. A friend warned him not to go. "It was bad luck," Twain later told the friend. "They only had food for 12." Superstitious diners in Paris can hire a quatorzieme, or professional 14th guest.

5. The number 13 suffers from its position after 12, according to numerologists who consider the latter to be a complete number — 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 days of Christmas and 12 eggs in a dozen.

Fireball Classic High Score

I decided to reset the all time high score on my Fireball Classic pinball machine to start 2009. Mike Wendell had the new record of 2,863,830 for about a day, but this afternoon, I took care of that and put up the new number to shoot at - 3.992,670.

I think I've gotten higher than that score 3 times, so it may stay for awhile.

The all time record at the Dreamland Game Room still stands as 7,403,970.

2008 is my rear view mirror!

I'm happy that 2008 is over. It was an exciting and crazy and scary year, so I'm looking for 2009 to be a bit smoother for me. Below is my 2008 Christmas letter. I realized that I hadn't written a Christmas letter since 2004 and I know that's because I wasn't that happy in the intervening years. I am happy now and as a red-blooded True American, I demand my right to pursuit Happiness.

What I didn't include in my Christmas letter was:

1. the plague and infestation of rats
2. the plague and infestation of flies (summer was big fun at Dreamland - no money, but plenty of "friends")
   
3. thinking I was going to lose my house, my Dreamland and the stress that caused
4. visiting and calling lawyers and finding out that employees ain't got no rights if some "qfuuz xzsbou" doesn't like you
5. but as is my credo, I used my genius for good and not evil and the people who shall not be named (and you know who you are) will eventually get what they deserve because as we all know, at least those who are watching the "Seven Deadly Sins" series on the History Channel, that the list of sins are: lust, envy, gluttony, sloth, greed, anger and pride. Three of the sins: greed, anger and pride were directed towards me and that sounds bad to me. A triple Whammy, if you will. Better buy some asbestos sandals.
6. I will admit to some passing angry thoughts, but then I just think about the future and I'm using this blog entry partly for expunging the past year's badness.
7. I have one more thing to do before the end of 2008 and nobody will probably see it, but I will know that I did it and it's out there in the ether, which is good enough for me.

Some really good things happened in 2008:

1. I organized the JAB (Just another Birthday) party for my Dad and it was perfect and I got donations for a plaque and a dedicated redwood tree in Big Basin State Park in the Semerviren Fund's Legacy Grove.
2. I found the top expert to rid me of my pestilence.
3. I discovered massive amounts of information about the Coates' Family Tree
4. On Sept. 25th, I had a vision and I went to cash in all my retirement accounts. On Sept. 29th, the Dow Jones dropped 777 points and I felt strangely at peace. Someone was looking out for me.
5. On July 14, 2008, I started working at Wind River. It is so nice to be appreciated for my hard work and dedication. It had been a long time.
   

I wish everyone and I mean everyone, a very Happy 2009!

Christmas 2008 Change, roller coasters, family and how the Monster saved the day.

On the calendar that I have in my office (I always get a movie poster calendar) the month of December is the poster for Godzilla. How perfect is that for symbolism? Godzilla was changed by a catastrophic event and this year has had plenty of big events for everyone that changed things in a big way. But in my story, the Monster also saves the day, but more about that later…

I guess 2008 was always going to be a memorable year. For me it started out by working on my Dad’s JAB (Just Another Birthday) party. I dusted off the old family photographs and found out that online Genealogy had improved massively, so I was able to find a lot more family members and info about them. I discovered Great Uncle James Coates and his family who stayed in England. I cranked up my scanner and got the family photos online, some of them over 100 years old. It was fun to figure out who was who.

To my surprise, I got an email saying: “You’ve got my Grandfather’s photo on your site. It was Barbara Astle, granddaughter of William Coates. She had lots of Coates’ family documents, photos & the family bible. I took a road trip to visit her and her husband David and we were able to figure out who was who in some really old photos. I learned that the ears & chin don’t change much from age 3 to 83. The photo of Crater Lake was taken on that trip.

Then I also found the Silliman family, another cousin, Cliff, who’s the grandson of Jessie Coates. So this was a year to find old and new family and celebrate the family.

The political scene this year was change and life changed for me major league big time. Losing my job after 16 years was a shocking surprise. When you’ve worked with people that long, they are like a 2nd family and now I understand more about dysfunctional families and as I was driving home, I felt strangely happy. I took my unexpected time off to donate about 600 gallons of clothes to the Goodwill, which made me feel good and I know helped lots of people. I also discovered freecycle.org, which let me cull without mercy a bunch of items that I didn’t need, but others did. It was a house cleansing and Dreamland is almost back to its heyday. I got the Fireball pinball machine tuned up, so it’s playing better than ever and I installed the Dreamland Weather Station that’s serving up weather data to the Internet.


The stock market has been like a rollercoaster this year, mostly a long downhill scream ride and I’m feeling blessed and fortunate that the Monster (monster.com) came along, picked out my resume and saved my bacon and my house from a crash and burn. Now things are great with me working at Wind River in Alameda with a great bunch of people and doing enjoyable work again after such a long time.

So 2008 has been a year of discovering new family and friends and getting rid of old baggage and I’m sure that 2009 is going to be a fantastic year. I always feel blessed to have a close and supportive family and I couldn’t do it without them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
TLC

Who is goooooood girl?

I've gotten a couple of comments on my blog from "goooooood girl", just saying: "I like your blog." is "goooooood girl" a real person? If you are a real person, let me know.

Just curious.

Carbubble

I think I've figured out who "gooooooood girl" is: Is that you, Annette Obrestad? I use sitemeter to track how many people view my blog and it also shows the location, so on Jan 1st, someone from Elverum, Norway checked out my blog for 49 seconds and exited on the page where I talked about my WSOP Academy of Poker class in Las Vegas where I met and played against Annette Obrestad. Just a guess.

If it is you, I think it's way cool that you are reading my blog. If I knew I had a fan, I would write more. I haven't had much time to play any poker lately, but so far in 2009, I'm way ahead in wagering on the college bowl games.

My email is: tlcbasebal@yahoo.com if you want to say Hi. Good luck!!

Tire inflation really does make a difference

I have proof that inflating your tires helps gas mileage. check out the graph. the two big spikes upwards are when I got my tires inflated - first was my last oil change and the 2nd was last week when I did it myself, although I guess I didn't get it up to the best pressure, it sure helped a lot on my MPG. I had noticed it was going down, so I figured I should try it and it worked.

On August 4, 2008, tire inflation became the latest goofball political issue in the Obama/McCain campaign - Boston Globe article (including 2 YouTube videos).

Eventually, McCain agreed that proper tire inflation was helpful in improving gas mileage, but not before the McCain's campaign offered "Obama Energy Plan" tire gauges to supporters for a donation of $25 or more, and the Republican National Committee also gave tire gauges to newsrooms in Washington "in celebration" of Obama's birthday.

A Thanksgiving Story

A young man named John received a parrot as A gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's' mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet . Not A Peep, was heard.

Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said: "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Election Day 2008 - Morning

I slept really well last night, so my confidence is high for today's vote. I repeat, Confidence is High!

This has been a very long election. It all started for me in June 2006 when I bet Ken a dollar that neither McCain or Hillary would be the next Prez.

I had no idea that I would become emotionally involved with this election. Even Dan Rather said that 2008 is the most important and exciting election he's seen and he started covering elections in 1952 when I was just barely born.

I've made a lot of predictions about this election, so we'll see in about 6 hours if I've been right. My newest predictions is that at least one state back east will have such overwhelming turnout and/or problems that they will have to delay the polls closing.

My final prediction is 364 Obama to 174 McCain.

I had a couple of other thoughts lately about Gov. Sarah Palin, but now they seem trivial. I did like that McCain's boys are calling her a "whack job", a "diva", an "unscripted robot" or a "scripted ignoramus". She's just a Mavericky Rogue. Let Sarah be Sarah in 2012! Like she said: "What do I have to lose?"

I used the excellent internet tools that the Obama campaign had and personally raised over $1000 for the campaign and I made phone calls to undecided voters in New Mexico. I sent out a lot of information to my co-workers at Wind River about the debates and how to register. I inspired someone to vote early and last weekend he drove to Reno NV and knocked on 100 doors canvasing in a latino neighborhood and found that a lot of the undecided people just didn't know where their polling place was and how to vote because it was their first time.

I feel really good about the contribution I played and I'm very hopeful for the future. That's all for now.

DIRECTV is messing up my enjoyment of the NFL Season

September 11, 2008
Chase Carey
DIRECTV
P.O. Box 6550
Greenwood Village, CO 80155-6550

Dear Mr. Carey,

I've been a DIRECTV customer since 2001. In the last seven years, I’ve just gotten the NFL Sunday Ticket package by itself, without any base package. My house is wired so the satellite dish feed only goes to the living room and the rest of my house is wired for cable TV, which I get from Comcast. Every year, I’ve gotten automatically renewed with no problems. I really enjoy watching all the different games.

When I got my first NFL bill this year, which was over 2 months before the NFL season starts, I was out of work and thought I was going to lose my house and paying for the NFL package 2 months in the future just didn't seem like a good idea when I wouldn't have any satellite dish in my future. As you can imagine, I was under a lot of stress. When I cancelled, I wasn’t told that there were any consequences if I wanted to sign up again the future. When I called ADT about cancelling my alarm service, they told me there was going to be a new start up fee and they gave me an option for a lower price, which I could afford.

About a week after I canceled, I got a new job and I won't be losing my house and I'm really going to miss watching all the NFL games, but I'm not going to pay for a 200% increase over what I've been paying in the past, which is what it works out to if I have to get a base package along with the NFL Sunday Ticket.

I was told there is no way to go back to my NFL Sunday Ticket only plan. I find it hard to believe that DIRECTV would treat a long time loyal customer this way. I even found out by checking online that if you complain to the right customer service agent, you can get the SUPERFAN package added for free and that the price had gone down. I paid 5 payments of $45.80 last year and apparently it’s down to $41 something.

I would like to complain directly about Natalie D. #400866. She emailed me on 9/6 and asked for my phone number and said she would call me, but I was never called.

I’m going to cc the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell and ask him to not renew your exclusive contract when it expires. Maybe he can find a company that treats its customers better. I don’t expect anything, but maybe you’ll treat the next customer in a similar situation with a better understanding.

Zeppelin Rides again

My Great Grandfather, Carl Jansen, was born in Frederickshafen Germany, home of Count von Zeppelin and I thought I was going to have to travel to Germany to take a Zeppelin ride and I just found out that a Zeppelin is coming to the Bay Area and be ready to take tourist rides in Fall 2008. I am ready to go!

The fourth and latest model of Zeppelin is now in London, captivating tourists with a bird’s eye view of the city before the airship begins a slow journey on a cargo ship to its future home in the San Francisco Bay Area. There, its new owners, Airship Ventures, intend for it to ferry tourists.

Finding lost relatives

I've been doing a lot of Genealogy work and finding more about the Coates Family Tree lately. My Dad's 90th birthday is this year and we went over a whole bunch of old family photos that had no labels and put names to everyone.

Here is a link to the Coates/Bertelsen/Jansen family photo album.

This photo is of Thomas Coates b. 1847 in England taken in Oakland in 1885.

The most exciting thing is that I've found two "lost" 2nd cousins recently. I just got in contact with Barbara Astle, who is William Henry Coates' granddaughter. She's got a treasure trove of Coates family historical documents, including the family bible.

Lemons

I thought up a new saying today: When you are given lemons, make lemonade and then take the rest of the lemons and squirt the juice into the eyes of the person who gave you the lemons and see how they like them apples. Then just move on and don't look back.

On the Road

Just a couple of strange items while driving around.

I know it's hard to believe, but I was actually driving behind a bright canary yellow Ford Pinto and it wasn't blown up. I was kind of worried, because you never know when it might suddenly shift into reverse and blow up. Surprisingly, it looked to be in pretty good shape, although I'm sure because of it's blowupability, everyone, like me, stays far away.

Then on the way to work, I ran into a Chinese Fire Drill. But this one was special because it was real Chinese people. A very large Cadillac backed out of a driveway in front of me, blocking the whole road since it's so long. I stopped and it stopped and the husband got out of the driver's seat and changed places in the front passenger seat with his wife. As they swapped seats, they smiled and waved at me while I was stuck waiting. All I can figure is that the wife doesn't like backing the car out and the husband doesn't want to drive.

My Career Personality Type

Your Career Personality Type

We've already discussed your Right Job and your Wrong Job, but you still might be wondering, more specifically, how we found them. While you were taking the test, we determined your scores on six different personality dimensions. No one dimension is any better or worse than the others, but each one is quite distinct and offers insights into your unique combination of attributes, outlooks, and sensibilities.

Your Right Job is what fell out of the equation when we looked at a couple different aspects of your career personality — more specifically, your primary and secondary personality types. Your Wrong Job is what fell out of the inverse equation, what resulted from your lowest scores on the personality dimensions. But for now, let's focus on your Right Job that was determined by your career personality.

Based on the way you answered the test questions, your primary personality type is Analytical, while your secondary personality type is Creative.

Knowing your type is important for a number of reasons: it will help bring to light aspects of your personality you hadn't thought about before, it will raise issues about matching your personality to a career that you might not have previously considered.

Here's an explanation of what that code and what your primary and secondary personalities mean.


Primary Classification

-Analytical-

As an Analytical type, your inquisitive nature helps you enjoy the complexities of life. You understand that sometimes there are no clear right and wrong answers, and that's okay with you because you tolerate gray areas better than most. In fact, pondering potential outcomes can sometimes be more interesting than coming up with the definitive solution for you. You march to your own drum and enjoy being in charge more than working and compromising with others. Nothing escapes your keen observational skills, and thinking is your idea of fun.


Secondary Classification

-Creative-

As a Creative type, your ability to look at the world with a fresh perspective keeps life interesting for you and those around you. Instead of following the trends, you want to set them yourself. Establishing a routine is not your goal; you would rather go with the flow and see where your mood takes you that day. You love seeking new experiences and sensations. Your sensitive nature is often turned inward, but your passionate nature also means that you are prone to be impulsive at times.

Happy New Year 2008

There once was a year, 2007
Started out like hell, ended up like Heaven
From too much candy
To not enough lettuce
I had to deal with bad momamptum
And plenty of nomamptum
2007 was a year I hope to forget
I'd predicted that it would be a year of big change
I just didn't realize how painful it would be
Personal losery
Malicious Accusery
When someone be lyin'
You can't go on cryin'
You must always remember
When it gets to September
There is still time
To turn things around
The Union of LONO
Look Out for Number One
The lies fade away
And you can make your way
Always end up on a high note
That way you forget all the bad singing
Live life with confidence
And be a good person
As a famous novelist once said
Everyone gets what they deserve in the end
And that's the truth.

I See a Crazy Man - A True Story

This is an absolutely true story. Even I couldn't make this up.

I went to Nations for breakfast, place my order and sat in my usual place. There were only 2 people in the place. One guy was by the door, drinking coffee. I didn't really pay much attention to him. I like facing the clock, so I sat down and opened up my paper...

Over my shoulder, I heard in a fairly loud voice:

"Well, a guy comes in and sits facing away from the door, how about that."

I'm thinking - oh, oh, this guy's talking about me and he's strange and he's very large. I decide to just ignore him, but it goes on the whole time while I'm having breakfast.

"I saw a crazy man over in McDonalds... I saw a crazy man over in Starbucks... Crazy people make me nervous, crazy people make me nervous... I don't eat eggs. I don't eat eggs. I'm not an egg person and I don't know why... WELL, congratulations to C&H Sugar!! - 100 years of putting people to sleep..."

I'm thinking there must be a lot of mirrors in McDonalds & Starbucks and then he starts snapping his fingers and singing...

"I've got waffles, yes I do, I've got waffles, one or two... I've got waffles, round or square, I've got waffles everywhere..."

I walked out while he kept singing, averting my eyes in case he might give me the stink eye and I'd start singing...

King and Queen - A Poem

I was walking down a one way street,
With geometry boots on both my feet,
A lady was going down the other side,
Walking her dogma with obvious pride.

She wore a cloak, a hat, no shoes.
Who was she? I had no clues.
Lightning struck, thunder roared,
Above the street, an eagle sword.

I waved at her with my musical hat.
She didn't notice my waterproof cat.
I took a look into her eyes,
They told no truth, only lies.

I crossed the street, she did the same,
As we met, she called my name.
She said to me, where have you been?
Now is the time; the time to win!

Passion ruled the ocean waves,
Intertwined were two brainwaves.
All truths were puzzled,
Any lies were muzzled.

I went left, she went right,
Who noticed in the moonlight.
I forgot all about the eyes,
Never thought to recognize.

Events were too swift,
Never got the drift.
Across the sea, the sun went down,
I turned around; she'd left town.

Vegas in July vs. the planet Mercury

My first photo op! We be stylin', yeah!

Fossilman, Ozzie Joe and The Poker Brat. I guess when I get better, I'll get a nickname.

Attending the WSOP Academy was fun, exciting and informative, so what else could you ask for? I learned a lot and I'm positive I've got more game.

I didn't win a satellite tournament this year, so I didn't get to play in the WSOP Main Event, but out of 180 attendees, I finished 20th in the academy tournament and I used a lot of my newly acquired knowledge.

I won all three times I played in the Caesars Palace poker room and then after I got home, I won a online sit-n-go tournament, so it hasn't completely paid for itself yet, I'm positive it will in the future.




Here's an easy riddle: What's the difference between Las Vegas in July and the planet Mercury? A: Las Vegas is hotter.


Since I had workshops & tournaments from morning to evening, I didn't leave Caesars Palace for 4 days and I had my car in valet parking. They had obviously parked it in the direct sun and July 5th set a record for the date at 116 degs, so the inside of the car was probably 150+. I had a plug in car fridge that I got from OSIsoft for my 15th anniversary and that melted and warped. I'm just glad the Red Bulls inside didn't explode. I had to toss it because I was afraid that the motor that cooled it off was damaged.

When I started to drive the car, it felt like that tires had melted into the pavement because it would only go really slow. Also the button that lets me lock & unlock the doors didn't work until I got back and went to the car wash, so I guess something was deformed and the cool water made it work again...

I had the water bottle you see below in the cup holder and the bottom softened and deformed, so now it's convex and won't stand up any more. The gum that I had changed it's chemical composition and turned into something really yucky. So the moral of the story is to self park and not on the roof.








The last two night I spent in Vegas, I stayed at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel. It's an excellent hotel and less expensive than the hotels with a Casino. The beds are very comfy and the showerhead pressure is massive compared to most hotels and they had a nice plasma TV with free HBO.

The best meal I had in Las Vegas was at the hotel restaurant - Envy The Steakhouse. I met a very nice server, Alina Gold, and I had never met anybody named Alina. She told me it's a common name in Russia and also now in Cuba and the latin community because Fidel named one of his daughters Alina. Her mother defected from the USSR and Alina was born in Nepal and I'd never met anybody born in Nepal... We had a very enjoyable evening as it wasn't very busy and I told her about the poker and about reading people. The next night I went back for dessert and she treated me to some excellent raspberry sherbert.

I'm sure to go back next time I'm in Vegas.

This is the end of 2007 WSOP trip reporting - here's a link to all the photos I took.

WSOP 2007

Read Em and Reap - Learning about non-verbal communications

I think this was the most fun day of the Academy - having ex-FBI profiler, Joe Navarro, tell us how to use non-verbal communcation to read your poker opponents. I had gotten his book and read it over the weekend and it's amazing how many things people to subconciously that give away what they are thinking. We found out that the most honest part of the body is the feet and the least honest is the face.

I was able to use what I learned right away in the very nice Caesars Palace Poker Room. One guy would rub his nose when he was bluffing and a woman scrunched up her lips when she saw a card she didn't like. I used this to my advantage and won a few bucks. They also have an excellent Chicken Caesars Salad that they bring to the poker table - it makes sense, eh?