Where's AMF?????

The company I used to work for is as intelligent as a box of rocks.

The city: Anaheim, California (almost across the street from Disneyland.) AMF spent upwards of $4 million fixing up a bowling center; turning virtually a dive into party central.

As the photos attest, it's a beautiful center.









Great looking center, right?

OK, so where is it?

AMF's website says it's located at 321 West Katella, in Anaheim.

OK, so where is it? Where are the signs that point the way to the center? There are none on Harbor Blvd., or on Katella.

You would think that AMF has a few million in the bank; so, why didn't they spend a few thousand to put up signs where people could see them.

Inquiring people want to know.

I'm being threatened with a lawsuit.

This is really stupid! I own two "sucks" domain names; and have had them for the past 10+ years. The corporation making threatening noises is RadioShack Corporation. Their claim is trademark infringement. Now, what makes this stupid is that RadioShack Corporation knew about this ten years ago; and they're just now getting around to threatening me with trademark infringement. It would appear that the statute of limitations (7 years) has passed. Therefore, they lost, and are pissed. Next in line is that there is a "fair use" law on the books. This allows journalists the use of company names in their reporting of stories. Then, there's the opinion side of the domain names. Since they are opinions, RadioShack doesn't have a leg to stand on. Opinions are just that, and can be taken with a grain of salt. (Personally, I would prefer having a lime wedge with my grain of salt.) Finally, I have, at least, a thousand case law decisions in my favor. I'm not an attorney; but, I am a retired broadcast radio journalist. It would appear that RadioShack is playing the bully-on-the-playground issue. I don't expect to get rich; but, I do expect to prevail.

Union Thugs At Work

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.

Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.

No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of other union laborers.
Thursday's violence was first reported by Kelso radio station KLOG.

Police from several agencies in southwest Washington, the Washington State Patrol and Burlington Northern Santa Fe responded to the violence to secure the scene that followed a demonstration Wednesday.
"We're not surprised," Duscha said. "A lot of the protesters were telling us this in only the start."
One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. "One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion."

The train was the first grain shipment to arrive at Longview. It arrived Wednesday night after police arrested 19 demonstrators who tried to block the tracks. They were led by ILWU International President Robert McEllrath, who said they would return.

The blockade appeared to defy a federal restraining order issued last week against the union after it was accused of assaults and death threats.

EGT chief executive Larry Clarke said it was unfortunate that law enforcement needed to make arrests.

I suppose that being union members gives you the right to act like a pack of morons. And the union (Local 770) grocery clerks are threatening going out on strike if their health care demands are not met. This means that if their demands are met, our groceries are going to increase; just to cover the costs that the employers have to pay for insurance premiums. And the grocery clerks are unfriendly to non-union workers. They slash tires, break car windows and other nasty stuff, just like the union thug longshoremen.

MORE ON LABOR UNIONS

Did you know:

a. Labor unions account for a small percentage of the workforce.

b. 82% of non-unionized workers do not want their jobs to be unionized, according to the Center for Union Facts.

c. Unions are too expensive for employers and employees.
1. Employers have to pay into unions for non-insured retirement plans.
2. Employees have to pay an initiation fee, plus monthly dues. If you're making under $14 an hour, this can be too expensive for families.

d. Employees lose their rights to talk to their supervisors or managers about wages and/or working conditions.

e. With union representation, there's no guarantee that you'll end up with more than you started with.

f. During a strike, you'll lose your right to work, costing you money.

Those are just a few things that a union brings into the work place. The main thing is that a union will not help you keep your job during a lay-off or labor dispute. If you belong to a union today, your only guarantee is that you'll lose your money as fast as a gambling casino.

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

In December, 2009, I had a heart attack at work (a union job) and subsiquent triple by-pass operation during open heart surgery. During my recovery I tried contacting my union representatives for find out what kind of benefits I had. For months afterward, I was handed off from one idiot to another, with no knowledge of my benefits or anything. The most common answer I received was: "That's not my department. You should call such and such," who passed me on to someone else then back to the beginning. Meanwhile, my bills kept piing up even with my insurance company. In fact, just the ambulance company's charge for hauling me less than a mile to the hospital cost me $2,000.My boss wouldn't help pay part of the cost even when I told him not to call an ambulance.

In the meantime, my hospital stay, surgery, angiograms, medications and everything else cost me a $50 co-pay, with my insurance picking up the rest of the tab. The union was nowhere to be found. Today, I'm fighting two types of cancer, and the union is nowhere to be seen.

Back in the 30s, 40s and almost into the 50s, labor unions were excellent. They established minimum wages, working conditions, and child labor laws. Today they're useless. The only good thing about them is keeping an honest employer honest. A crooked employer is going to screw you even with a union present.

If a union representative comes to your workplace, just TELL THEM NO!!

Labor Unions Suck Big Time

Look for a new "Sucks" website starting up soon. I'm pissed at SEIU union and I want the world to know that labor unions suck, with SEIU in particular.

When I had my heart attack and subsiquent tripple by-pass open heart surgery, the labor union, of which I was a member, did absolutely nothing.

BTW: I now have to use hearing aids, thanks to working around jet engines while I was in the Air Force. Since I'm already a disabled veteran, the addition of this "new" disability will be added to the compensation I'm already receiving. I'm still waiting for the percentage amount that will be added; however, the two $1,000 hearing aids were provided by the Veterans Administration. Plus, they'll supply me with a lifetime of batteries.

Gotta Watch Your Diet!!!

On Thursday, December 10th, I suffered a major heart attack while at work. My boss called 911 and an ambulance was dispatched. I was hauled off to Anaheim Memorial Hospital, where I spent the night attached to a heart monitor. Since I was back to full power the next morning, I went home against the doctor's better judgement. Since my health care provider is familiar with my medical history, I contacted her who set up an admission at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. I was admitted that night (Friday, December 11th).

On Monday, December 14th, I had an angiogram which found three blocked arteries. Since they were in areas where stents wouldn't work without causing additional problems, I was consoled about open heart surgery. On Thursday, December 17th, I underwent a tripple by-pass operation. On Mondy, December 21st, I was well enough to be discharged from the hospital.

But, that isn't what I wanted to write about. I wanted to write this as a warning. A warning to those of you who enjoy tobacco products; who enjoy foods high in sodium, cholestrol and other "nasty" stuff. Just because it tastes good doesn't mean it's good for you.

AT RISK

What does it mean to be at risk? You can be at risk of a heart attck or stroke because of your age, if you're a smoker, or have a family history of heart trouble. Any one or a combination of all three can put you at risk.

The wrong diet can put you at risk if you consume the wrong foods. I'm not advocating that you should quit going to your local supermarket and going to a health food store, because I'm not. You can find the wrong foods in a health food store too. The food may be low in fat and cholestrol; however, it's above the danger level with sodium. And sodium increases blood pressure.

SO, WHAT"S ALL THIS ABOUT SODIUM?

Sodium is a preservative used in packaged foods, especially meats and dinners. Look at the sodium content of a can of Spam to see what I mean. We humans need a small amount of sodium in our diets. It helps to regulate a few systems; however, we Americans have a bad habit of overdoing the amount of sodium that we consume. We salt our meats and vegies way too much; so we taste the salt more than what it's sprinkled on. I'm not advocating that we should eliminate salt from our diets; but, what I am saying is that we should cut bck on the amount of salt we use.

SUGAR

Sugar is another substance we use too much of. We sprinkle sugar on our breakfast cerial, which is already sugared by the manufacturer. We add sugar to our morning coffee; and drink sugared drinks throughout the day. Almost everything we consume contains sugar. Sugar isn't bad for you if you use moderation. The same goes for alcohol. It's OK to have a drink or two; however, we have a tendency to overdo the drinking. Alcohol has no nutritional value.

OK - SO WHAT AM I SAYING?

Believe it or not; but, I have more energy now than I have had in the past 25 years, and I'm on a "cardiac" diet. A cardiac diet conists of a major reduction in sodium, cholestrol, cafiene, and sugar. My cardio specialist suggested that it's OK to have a McDonald's burger every once in a while; however, don't make it part of your daily routine or diet. The same goes with the so-called health foods.

Lean beef is a must. The same with lamb, or any other red meat. Pork is OK as long as it hasn't been processed into ham, bacon or pork sausage. Foul (chicken, turkey, duck, etc) is lean to begin with; however, it must be thoroughly cooked to kill any lingering bacteria.

Stay away from packaged meats, meals, canned soups, deserts. Anything packaged is usually loaded with sodium, because it's a preservative. I used to joke about junk foods keeping me alive. Wow, was I wrong! Junk foods were part of the problem. My angiogram showed blockages in areas where stints would create more problems than they would fix; which is why the need for a tripple by-pass operation. All of which was brought on by a poor diet, smoking and a lack of sleep. I was stupid.

This is kinda creepy.

From: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29012946/

SAN FRANCISCO - With an upgrade to its mobile maps, Google Inc. hopes to prove it can track people on the go as effectively as it searches for information on the Internet.

The new software to be released Wednesday will enable people with mobile phones and other wireless devices to automatically share their whereabouts with family and friends.

The feature, dubbed "Latitude," expands upon a tool introduced in 2007 to allow mobile phone users to check their own location on a Google map with the press of a button.

"This adds a social flavor to Google maps and makes it more fun," said Steve Lee, a Google product manager.

It could also raise privacy concerns, but Google is doing its best to avoid a backlash by requiring each user to manually turn on the tracking software and making it easy to turn off or limit access to the service.

Google also is promising not to retain any information about its users' movements. Only the last location picked up by the tracking service will be stored on Google's computers, Lee said.

The software plots a user's location — marked by a personal picture on Google's map — by relying on cell phone towers, global positioning systems or a Wi-Fi connection to deduce their location. The system can follow people's travels in the United States and 26 other countries.

It's left up to each user to decide who can monitor their location.

Opinion mode: on.

This can make people's locations known to anyone that can hack into the system. Also, a cheating spouce's location could be learned by the simple click of a button.

At first I thought that this was a cool idea. My wife could track my progress from work to home. But, in the wrong hands, this could cause more problems than what it solves.

Let's say that a school kid is being bullied at school. The kid tries to escape. Meanwhile, the bulley could be tracking the kids location, and can lay in wait for the bullied kid to show up. More harm would follow.

With the lack of ethics, this is a dangerous tool.

Opinion mode: off.