The big dog has moved...

Come visit me here.

Stuck on Stupid

If you don't educate the people, they won't know you're telling lies. I'm pretty sure that's the Republican edict. Here's a perfect example:

NEW YORK - A foiled plot to blow up a jet fuel pipeline under John F.
Kennedy International Airport drew attention to what counterterrorism
experts
have warned could be a key target.
On Saturday, three men, one
of them a
former member of Guyana’s parliament, were arrested and one was
being sought in
Trinidad as part of a plan that intended to “cause greater
destruction than in
the Sept. 11 attacks” in a neighborhood surrounding the
airport, according to an
indictment.
It was the first threat against
Buckeye Pipe Line Co., which
operates petroleum conduits in 18 states, the
company said. Its pumping facility
in Linden, N.J., has 45 storage tanks
pumps turbine fuel, gasoline, diesel and
other fuel and heating oils through
two 12-inch pipes to customers in New York
City, including JFK and LaGuardia
airports. The network totals 35 miles within
the city alone.

Except...that's not what happens when you light up a jet fuel pipeline. This is what happens:

Yup. That's a jet fuel pipeline that hooks up to Oakland International Airport. A construction crew cut that by accident back in 2004. It went boom. It did not however, blow up all of Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, Berkeley, Oakland or Oakland International Airport. It just went boom. It did kill the guy who cut the line and another guy. It did severely burn some dudes. It did not expand because jet fuel needs air in order to burn. Apparently the United States Federal Goverment doesn't know that little tidbit about jet fuel. Yeah, raise the alert level to BROWN=Shit for Brains.

This morning's weigh in:

Weight 212

Fat 36.4

BMI 36.1

Give blood, play rugby

OK, so I don't play rugby any more. I had to have Roto-Rooter come in and take care of my left shoulder back in 1992. Apparently, hauling 1200 pounds of woman into a set scrum with one arm takes it's toll. I do give blood though. I'm O-. That makes me the universal donor. I've been donating since 1984. They call me, or track me down somehow, every eight weeks. Once the lady actually saw me on the street in Downtown and dragged me down to the Blood Center. I'm probably down around 5 or 6 gallons of the stuff by now. On the upside, they do mini physicals and now test your cholestrol.

BP 110/70
Resting HR 60
Cholestrol 176

This morning's weigh in:
Weight: 213
Fat 36.9 WTF?
BMI 36.2

My free day bled a little into Sunday when my brother made a frozen orange chiffon pie. It rocked. Then I picked at a tray of cookies that was unfortunately placed in front of me. The lime ones were tasty. Back in the saddle today. I'm pretty sure this begins week four. I think I'll do some photojournalism this evening.

What the big dog eats...

The portions are off a little on this plate. This is whole wheat couscous with swordfish in a grapefruit marmalade glaze. The grapefruit marmalade was made from the grapefruit tree in my yard. We jerk spiced it. I mixed a little marmalade with a little olive oil and made a glaze.
Here is some Mahi Mahi, cooked up in a non-stick pan with a touch of lime, then I cooked up a Roma tomato with some basil and white kidney beans. Steam a little broccoli and we're good to go.
Here is some chicken andouille sausage with some rice and beans. Small portions of both the rice and beans and sausage. Lots of flavor, not much fat. Broccoli with lemon juice.


With the notable exception of the Ritter Sport, all you see is green vegetables. With Body for Life you can eat vegetables until the cows come home. I'll have broccoli with my lunch or maybe some zucchini. I'll grill the asparagus with dinner. I'll put fresh lemon on the broccoli and brush the asparagus with olive oil. Beauregard lets you know that there is meat further down in the bag.

I'm building a Body for Life

One of the silly things that's in Bill Phillips' book is a cadence for weight lifting. The cadence is "I'm building" on the negative and "a body for life" on the positive. Sometimes I use it in the gym. Not very often because when you lift the mass that I do, your brain can't handle more than "PRESS", or "PULL"! But I'll find myself doing it on ab work or good mornings or something that I have 10 or more reps to complete. Right now, I feel like I'm building a Body for Life. Boredom is my worse enemy, and I end up spending a ton of time contemplating things. Right now, I've been contemplating that fact that I turn 50 in a mere 15 months. It was 17 months when I started contemplating, but it's gotten more and more out of hand as we head into September 2007. I don't obsess, but I do show 14 of the 19 markers for ADD, and my intellect is often restless. But I really need something to show for myself by the time I turn 50.

Today's numbers
Weight 210 (yay)
Fat 35.9
BMI 35.9

I didn't work out yesterday, simply because my hip was better after the visit to Dr. Elkind so I felt it prudent to actually rest it for a day. Alright, the fact that I'm playing 18 holes today and I am afraid I will undo her handiwork today has played into that decision.

Bon Mots and Cheap Shots

This morning's weigh in:

Weight 210
Fat 36.5
BMI 35.9

Just by keeping my head screwed on correctly, things are heading in the right directions. It's taken me almost four weeks, but I have 8 pounds off of me. I had Dr. Elkind work on my aching hip yesterday. She does ART just like I get at Fitwell. I seem to have a hip flexor/IT band injury. It's hindered nearly everything I do. Yesterday I broke down and left work early to go see her. While she does the same thing as Fitwell, she's a lot more intense. Fitwell is a lot more gentle in their approach. Sometimes I just need the crap beat out of me. Today my hip is oodles better. She rocks.

Tomorrow, I'm playing 18 at San Geronomo. The last time I played with these guys I got high score, and not in a good way. I haven't been able to practice because of the hip flexor so either tomorrow will be really good, or really long.

Food choices

Breakfast
Oatmeal and ff cottage cheese
Snack
Jerky and ff yogurt
Lunch
Curried chicken grape salad
Snack
Apple and string cheese
Dinner
Chicken andouille sausage sauteed up with brown rice and red beans
Brocoli
Dessert
Ricotta and blueberries

Drive it like you stole it!

In a fit of temporary insanity, The Contessa called me last Saturday night and asked for assistance retrieving his new Carrera from the Porsche dealership in Redwood City. Of course, I would help a friend in need, but I'm pretty sure I need to drive the Porsche.

OK, Richard Edson is my hero and I felt like him pulling out of the dealership. So the first thing I have to do is get the thing onto Highway 101. That was just screaming scarey. The gears are so tight on that thing. We got up to San Mateo and stopped by 750ml had a beautiful DuNuh Chardonney in a flight of three they were serving. Then we decided a bottle was a great idea. And a cheese plate. It was a delightful afternoon. And then we drove it home. Whee! That was fun. Unfortunately, it was Memorial Day weekend and I thought it prudent to keep it under wraps so I never took it over 85, but what a fun toy.

Missing the point on immigration

The right wing of this country is spending oodles of time and money beefing up the border patrols and immigration sweeps and building a freaking ridiculous wall to keep the Mexicans from crossing the borders and taking jobs away from Americans. Except that ship has sailed and the jobs have been already taken away from Americans. Not by Mexicans and Guatemalans and Central Americans swimming across the Rio Grande, but by corporate wankers outsourcing our jobs to India and the Philippines and Pakistan. Not one Guatemalan walked across the Arizona desert to become a title officer for six dollars an hour. Plenty of engineers in India have stayed home and taken my job for $16 per day. I was making around $65 per hour. Who is the real threat to my personal security? Bill Foley, John Harritt, Parker Kennedy and the like. Bill Foley more than the others as he is the one who ruined the title insurance business. It used to be a business based on researching the records. There didn't used to be title problems because the back room of the title companies solved the problems. Geeks and miscreants who had no real place in society methodically researched each recorded document and posted it in their respective title plants. In the mid 70's many of these title plants became computerized. Then in 1988 Bill Foley, the burger flipper, bought the old Western Title, the stalwart of the business back then, and turned title insurance into burger flipping. Staff became instantly expendable, like the are right now. There is no loyalty from the companies and employees have no loyalty back to the companies, and rightly so. A guy I've known for 30 years who probably has 35 to 40 years with the same company, just got laid off last week. That is beyond wrong. No one swam across the Rio Grande or ran across the Arizona desert to take his job. His job was outsourced to India.

The same things has occurred in the tech field. We've all called HP support and gotten Pasha who can barely be understood and who will not tell you what country she is located in. She will read from a script and frustrate you to the end of time. Eventually, you'll figure out your printer on your own.

It's time we pointed to the real problem. It's not people coming into this country, it's jobs going out. The Bush Adminstration will puff there chests and tell you how many jobs they created, but they didn't create jobs for displaced people like me. They didn't create jobs for engineers. They did not create telecom jobs. They allowed their corporate buddies to ship those overseas. Their new jobs are pulling shots for Starbucks. Not quality career opportunities. Jobs that we don't want to do, like sweeping floors and cleaning toilets, picking strawberries, jobs that are in the soft transient worker catagory are the jobs being done by the guys that have come into this country illegally. And all I have to say about that is, I'm glad they're working and not living on the dole. Now lets bring back the real jobs that the corporate wankers have sent to other countries and get the real Americans off the dole.

It's been windy here today, and yesterday. My vicious attack Doberman is afraid of the wind. He's spent the weekend up my ass. There he is looking tentative on the couch. The wind chimes are rattling around and his ears are all a-kilter. It's tough to be the dog.

Three day weekend...

I'm getting ready to go for a long bike ride with Javier. We're meeting at Heather Farms and going up Mt. Diablo. The last bike ride I went on with him, he took me on the Olympic trials course in Orinda. He thoroughly kicked my ass, then I think he went a rode Bear Creek after that. He's easily lost 50 pounds and looks great. I hadn't seen him in a while and I didn't recognize him. I would like people to not recognize me. Not everyone, just certain people.

This morning's numbers

Weight 211
Fat 36.4
BMI 36.

BARF = BAY AREA RAPID FUBAR

I've certainly had my share of adventures on BART. More than most people. There was the crazy homeless guy shouting from the Embarcadero to Rockridge where we told him to get off because we had called the police. We called the BART Police at Embarcadero, they finally got on the train at Walnut Creek and proceeded to try and hold the train there. Dude, the crazy guy got off at Rockridge, you're three stops too late. Can we just go home now? Then there was the crazy guy who was beating his head against the closed door at Embarcadero. He had bloodied himself and was hollering I don't even know what. They held the train and the BART Police hauled him off and hooked him up. All these events happened on my car. Yesterday, I had to meet the contractor and the soon to be new house. I left work in time to make the 2:57, knowing I'd be at the property in plenty of time. Ah, mice and men. No soup for you! Halfway through the tube that runs UNDER the bay, the train comes to an abrupt stop. Our car fills up with a stench of fire, or smoked brakes or something. And we sit. And sit. And sit. Finally, Skippy our driver comes on to explain that the brakes have locked up and we're going to travel a bit slower from now on. How about not at all? Skippy decides that it would be a peachy idea to turn the train off completely and reset the system, so, he advises us, we'll be in the dark for about a minute, minute and a half or two. I'm claustrophobic and being in a tin train in a tube underneath San Francisco Bay in the dark with no way out is a recipe for disaster. My God! What if he turns off the train and it won't start again? Is MacGiver on this train? Can we get out? What if there's an earthquake and the tube splits and the car starts leaking water under the pressure of the bay? Can we get out of the car with a cell phone pen light and a can of pepper spray? Deep breaths because the lady next to me is hanging by a thread, just like I am. Skippy fires up the train and it actually starts, then we start to move and we're safe at the West Oakland station now. There's a sentence you don't see often "safe at the West Oakland station".

Weight 212
FAT 36.5
BMI 36.2

Expect photojournalism

Today I'm meeting a contractor at the new house. I expect his report will read a little like War & Peace and won't say anything about the fact that I hate the carpet. I'm going to have to figure out an honorable way to get out of my lease around the first of September. I'm bringing my trusty camera to this event so I'm hoping to return with some photojournalism. I'm just thrilled for the free pass out of work at 3pm today. The weather is absolutely gorgeous here and right now, I really miss my sales job. Sales people have it made. If it's pretty like this, you take a client to play golf. I've been worming my way into our sales department in hopes of getting to go play with them. I'm hoping to get in 18 this weekend as well. After the inspection today, I'll be out on my bike, riding very safely. Mrs. H's father-in-law had a bad accident last week. God bless him for still riding like his shorts are on fire at 68 but damn, why can't people look out for cyclists. Get well old boy. Folks care about you.

Weight 213
FAT 36.5
BMI 36.3

This weeks food
Breakfast:
Oatmeal and cottage cheese
Snack
Beef jerky and Yoplait FF yogurt
Lunch
Chicken breast, brocoli and corn
Snack
Grapes and string cheese
Dinner
mahi mahi, steamed in a pouch of canelli beans, tomatos and basil on the grill
grilled asparagus
Dessert
Ricotta cheese and blueberries

Grape, Rattle and Roll

This was the name of the event yesterday at Chalone Vineyards. Personally, I hate 1950's themed events. Afterall, is there a reason for the poodle skirt? I think not. In the wine world this will also equal old guys with slicked back hair to match their receding hair line and a ton of bowling shirts because we're all fat by this stage in our lives. The Highlands did the food and that was a boon. A little mixed up with too many different themes, but every one was well executed. I had a hard time putting the mango chicken on the plate next to the grilled sausages and warmed potato salad, next to the shrimp and fennel salad, next to the grilled salmon and string beans. Still, every item was delicious. The dessert I was unable to dissect, but it was pineapple with a custardy base on a base of what looked to be pineapple gelatin. It may have had some sort of bird pudding in it or something. Anyway, it was refreshing, delicious and very different to anything I've ever had.

The wine was another story. Diageo brands include Chalone, BV, Acacia, Sterling, Jade Mountain, Beauzeaux, Canoe Ridge and numerous others I did not taste. I'm not a fan of Sterling, never have been. Yesterday was no exception. Just flat for what it was. The wine maker was there which made it even sadder. Chalone probably had the best wine there. I met their winemaker. I believe his name was Dan Cook. A mountain of a man, but seemed to be a good guy. Acacia had one wine I liked, their Beckstoffer Pinot Noir was very good, but I don't know that it was $70 worth of good. Jade Mountain had a few interesting offerings. One was actually grown in Contra Costa County, out by the Sacramento River in Antioch. Beyond that it was a pretty dismal wine day. Certainly not worth the 3 hour drive.

After an epic free day
Weight 214
FAT 35.6
BMI 36.5

Thankfully, we left our weapons in the car

One of the interesting facets of my job is the research. I've been getting to do a bit of the interesting stuff as of late. Today I went down to City Hall to pull a Macinnerny. A Mac is the decree quieting title pursuant to the Macinnerny act that was put into place after the 1906 earthquake and fire. City Hall burned in the fire as did most people's records. The fire burned to Van Ness. So the Macs were quicky court orders quieting title. San Francisco is great to work in because of the Macs. You have absolute title in usually 1908-1910ish. Pretty cool. So away I go all fired up to play with the old books. Except today there is some sort of carnival, which should probably be capitalized because it looks like something Brazilian to me, going on in the Rotunda, complete with a large drum corp. Trying to figure out those old records with a Brazilian drum corp echoing through the marbled halls of City Hall is enough to make you want to use weapons, on yourself. Unfortunately, after I successfully located all of my records, I couldn't shout at the clerk loud enough for her to understand what I needed, so I'll have to go back on Monday.

City Hall is a very nostalgic place for me. It's where Billy and me forged our great friendship. It's where Jimmy used to dream about driving Formula cars, it's where we got in trouble for chair races after too many cocktails at the Giraffe.

Weight 212
Fat 36.3
BMI 36.2

And I got the house!

Bon Mots and Cheap Shots

With a nod to Herb Caen:

This is not how you support the troops!

This morning I'm driving down Treat en route to my morning workout. As I turn onto Treat this guy behind me is totally up my ass. Strangely, I'm driving the speed limit, it's 5:30 in the morning. One guy driving a mini-van and he guns it and goes around me and speeds off down Treat at least 60 mph in a 40 mph zone. As he whizzes by I see the "Support our Troops" yellow ribbon. Now where I come from, wasting gas because you're a selfish bastard so my friend's sons can risk their lives in Iraq does not support the troops. It puts them in grave danger and if you're not willing to do your fair share, you're an asshole buddy. I'm really sick and tired of this entitlement attitude that people in this country have adopted. (which I also blame on Reagan) We are part of a greater society and we need to do our part, individually, to be a responsible member of that society. Nuff said.

Oh, don't quit now...

Hey Bush Administration! Would it break the bank to give the troops that last .5% pay raise? Especially after those bonuses paid to the Veteran's Administration? Gee GW, for a PFC we'd be talking $6.00 a month. Do you think you can spare it? Pay our service people. You disgust me.

This is how you do it

This morning's weigh in:

Weight 212
Fat 36.3
BMI 36.2

It's nice to live in a neighborhood

Last night as I got home from my walk with Beauregard, we saw a little white dog in the middle of the street. When ever I see a dog in the street, I do my best to get them out of the street safely. I always think of Scooby. This was a little albino chihuahua. The little guy was scared as shit. A neighbor lady came out and tried to coax him over to her, he kept going up the street, so I got in the car and drove past him and up the street hoping to cut him off at the pass but he was way too scared. He started running towards Treat and got past me. I figured letting him get to Treat was more dangerous than just walking away. He ran into some one's yard and we left some dog treats out for him and hoped for the best. It's nice to know people will try and help. I hope the little guy was okay. Treat is where my friend's Doberman Bud was hit by a car around 10 or 15 years ago. She lives off Treat and someone broke into her house and there was all 95 pound of Bud, ready for some thief tartar. He chased them but they got away. Unfortunately, he was hit by a car on Treat. She found him laying in the median. They rushed him to Contra Costa Emergency Veterinarian and they saved his life, to the tune of $10,000 back then. My friend told me she could never put her dog down for doing his job. I learned something from her that day.

Why Washington Mutual Bank sucks hind tit

Three weeks ago, I put an ad on Craigslist to sell my 2001 525i. Shouldn't be that much of a stretch. I needed the title, so I pulled $11,500 out of my brokerage account and deposited it into my Washington Mutual Bank checking account. I put this check in the bank on April 15th while walking Beauregard. On April 18th, I checked my brokerage account and the check had cleared, so WAMU had the money. I called them to let them know and ask them to release the hold.

No, we can't release that hold.
Really? But you already have my money.
Procedure says we can't release that money.
Oh yes you can and you will.
No, that money can only be released by the branch that took the deposit, they put the hold on it. You have to go in there.

I got iced by the Ass Clowns at Alliance Title, last October. Since February, I've been working in San Francisco. I leave the house at 7am and don't return until 6pm. I can't make it to the bank around the corner from my house while their open. Sorry. So on April 25th, the pay off check to BMW came through WAMU. No one, not one soul with a brain looked at my account or that check or any thing else. They just bounced it AND charged me $27 even though they had the money already. No one took into consideration that I had been writing checks to BMW for years. No one considered that the check in question was a check from me, to me, endorsed my me or the fact that I've had an account with them, complete with direct deposit for 10 years!

So I gather up all my crap and go down to the WAMU in the financial district. Low and behold, this girl could have released the hold, but the ass pirates at 1-800-788-7000 wouldn't tell me that. They did tell me that the branch put the hold on the check which was also a lie. I talked to the branch yesterday and they don't even look at ATM deposits, the send them directly to Chatsworth. Liars. Now it's too late and the check has bounced, but she can at least reverse the charges and give me a cashier's check with no charge. Now I have BMW's $15 returned item charge and FEDEX both ways at $23.92 and $24.03 respectively because by now I have have a purchaser for the car. Don't ask me why FEDEX charges $14.10 for corporate rate to anywhere in the country but J.Q. Public gets it up the butt. Anyway, I was expecting around $40 in FEDEX charges, but it ended up to be $47.95 plus the $15.00, plus the extra interest for two weeks which turned out to be $7.00 for a total of $69.95 pissed out the window because of who I do business with.

The truth of the matter is, it's our money. Every one of us. They had use of that $11,000 for 11 days. They made interest on it in overnight floats. It is unconscionable that they make that money and then make more money off of me and then cost me nearly $70 more dollars because of their incompetence. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, they're all the same.

Housing Alert

I think I might have gotten that place...we'll see. It's a dump...

Bestest Doberman in the whole world

The Argument for a Realtor

My realtor, Bob, met the seller's agent at the house today, along with the seller. Apparently the seller had received an appraisal last August for $580,000 on the house. Bob explained very methodically to her that was then and this is now. The market has changed and so goes the merry drunken fun fest in residential real estate.

I'm a commercial title officer. Now that I'm in a commercial unit, business is business and we aren't too affected by what's going on in the residential world. People get so emotionally attached to property. It's so stupid. No one falls in love with a Solar Energy plant in Nevada. I like this side much better.

Anywho, Bob explained to the seller and her agent that this was roughly all she could expect after spending 30 years doing no maintenance to the house. I wouldn't want to be in front of Bob. He's gentle and smooth and smart. He thinks we're going to get this one with maybe a small counter. God I love a deal through a deal!

This morning's weigh in:

Weight 214
Fat 36.6
BMI 36.5

Yesterday's behavior? Perfect!

Real Estate Matters

After several months of trying to find retail space for my wine bar, I decided to hire a realtor to help me find a thrashed piece of property to rehab. I figured that if I worked full time at that, I could make enough per month to off set the fact that I wasn't working at all. Well, that didn't pan out either. We have, as of today written our fourth offer. Two had construction defect lawsuits and they didn't have room on the price. Then there's the guy in Lafayetteville or something like that. This clown bought the house in 1962 for $13,100. He held the house up until 2007. It's on almost 1/4 acre, but it still has the original windows and it is a 3/1. Not particularly desirable. So it was on MLS for $500,000. We came in at $480,000. Now if someone has owned a house for 40 years, he has to be at least, at the very least, 58 years old. More likely than not, he's way into his sixties, possibly even his seventies. This old fool told his agent that he would move back into the house before he took a dime under $500k for it. File that under dumb bastard. Maybe he's spending too much time listening to the coyotes out in Lafayetteville, or six foot rabbits.

Now yesterday we found a property that I have to be careful about. I could fall in love and that would be wrong. It's over 1/4 acre, it's got a 3/2 on it and it's got the ugliest lime green carpet you've ever seen. The bath fixtures are pink. This thing is a thing of beauty in my twisted little world. We wrote at $490,000. Wish me luck!

Spiders as big as Buicks

This place I'm living in hasn't really been taken care of in years. I can see where grubs have gotten at the front lawn. (Which means they're after the back lawn too). I saw these beetle nests when I was cutting the front lawn two weeks ago. The Deaf Guy next door was hanging around when I was fooling with them and came out and looked. He came back with some insecticide and showed me on the bottle what they were. Then I came out and found him spraying down the nest. Well, yesterday I finished the job, since I knew they were throughout the lawn. Around the garage door tons of them came up the front of the house to get away from the insecticide. Along with them was this big black spider roughly as big in diameter as a golf ball. Gack! I hate spiders. This house has the nastiest ones I've ever seen. I sprayed them all down a few more times and I think they are all gone along with their giant spider friend Delta 88.

Spent an hour and a half on the bike yesterday. Got to the base of Ygnacio Valley and back, it was calm. Looked at two potential homes to buy. One is just down my line. Nasty green carpet that looks like something Linda Blair spewed in her youth.

This week's food

Breakfast:
Oatmeal and FF cottage cheese
Snack
FF Yopait yogurt and Turkey Jerky
Lunch
Chicken, brown rice and brocoli
Snack
Grapes, banana and string cheese
Dinner
Mahi mahi, WW pasta and asparagus
Dessert
Ricotta and fruit

This morning's weigh in, after a week at it:
Weight 215
Fat 36.6
BMI 36.6

Quick weigh in

Weight 215
FAT 36.8
BMI 36.6

I'm off on a 2 hour or maybe an hour and a half bike ride. The wind has died down and it's gorgeous here. Today ends one week of acting pretty damned right on my new BFL challenge. Tomorrow morning's weigh in will be of great interest.