Why can I never spell the word lose right? It is idiotic. I'm bumping my IQ down to the low 70s. And, that might be too generous.

Down the drain.

Don't worry. We will nationalize you last.

Tenet Healthcare has decided to pull out supporting a money losing medical clinic in Yosemite.

Does anyone really have any idea of how many medical facilities in the US are loosing money? I would wager - most of them. What does that matter though? President Money Bags will come in and save the day. The government has never met a money losing venture they didn't like.

Feds step in to keep Yosemite medical clinic open. Via Sfgate.

"The federal government will take over the health care needs of the thousands of tourists, rangers, rock climbers, hikers and residents of Yosemite Valley who get injured and sick.

The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps will become the new head honcho at the Yosemite Clinic starting Jan. 1, Yosemite National Park Superintendent Don Neubacher announced."

The larger comedy of all this is the clinic tried to find qualified applicable buyers. Who could ya know....be financially capable of running the place. To no avail. They couldn't find anyone to run it without needing a subsidy from the government. So they government stepped in to say - no big woop. We don't care how much money you lose. We have a printing press. We will just fund you entirely.

From TwinCities.com.

"The bidders, whom Altman declined to name, had to meet park terms and conditions and demonstrate managerial and financial capabilities to operate the clinic. None of the bidders met all three of the criteria, she said.

Yosemite wanted the clinic to continue as a concession, Medema said, but without a viable concession proposal, another option open to Yosemite was to find someone willing to enter into a procurement contract.

Under a procurement contract, the park could pay a contractor an amount not collected from patients or insurance companies to cover the costs of running the clinic, Medema said.

A procurement contract for a medical clinic inside a park is not unheard of, he said. The Grand Canyon clinic operates under such an agreement, he said.

But that means the park could be in the "position of the National Park Service having to subsidize the operation," he said.

Yosemite's goal is to find a contractor who will operate the clinic without a subsidy from the federal government, Medema said."

On some level they have worn me down. I'm tired of fighting it. This will be a grand tax on people who can't do math. Producers will get more and more tired of funding inefficiency. Because, when the government comes in to save the day over and over - no one learns how to do things better with less money.

Then who will fund this? The people who pay very little taxes now? I don't know why I even bother asking.

All fall down.

It was a weird weekend for driving around. Thankfully this guy laid it down 100 feet from the police station.

What would you have done?

Would you have called this guy in? He wasn't so much swerving as he was just not driving in the lines.

If it would have been at night - I probably would have called him in right away. Since it was at 11:30 in the morning and he wasn't coming even close to any other cars I was hesitant to think he was drunk. Also he would go for long stretches where he seemed just fine.

It was a very borderline event to me. Since he was getting off the freeway anyway - I wasn't going to stalk him.

It's easy to tell someone they should have called him in, but would have you called him in? And why.

You don't hear that every day.

From the Daily Telegraph.

Aircraft crashes after crocodile on board escapes and sparks panic.

"It has now emerged that the crash was caused by the concealed reptile escaping and causing a stampede in the cabin, throwing the aircraft off-balance."

Oh come on! You know you want to make Samuel Jackson jokes.

I didn't even know you could tip a plane from it's orbit that way. I will make sure to be extra nervous next time I fly and there is a huge line for the bathroom.

Do you like movies about gladiators?

I don't know what it is about people and statues. Wait - none of you have statues. Right?

Seriously though... I can not drive by this house without blurting out the phrase from Airplane. Which honestly has to be one of the best movies of all time. Google it!

That was a quick expiration date.

Excuse me for asking an illiterate-y question. But doesn't debase mean make weaker? And yes. Illiterate-y is a word. Google it.

I knew I should have gone to that Timmay Geithner thing yesterday in Palo Alto where he said he wasn't going to debase the dollar. I just wanted to see him lie right to my face. Though I couldn't bring myself to chuck out any money for the pleasure. Even if it was only 50 bucks or less.

Today this "For U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, a weaker dollar may now be in the national interest."!? Link.

For shits sakes. I don't know why I never learn that when President Money Bags says "let be be clear" it means he is going to do exactly what he says he isn't going to do. I guess with Timmay it means he will change his mind the very next day.

No wonder investors are on strike. Let me be clear - this administration just wants to build confidence.

Rain or shine. Mostly rain though.

I don't really have much to say. But I'm still trying to entertain you. Unlike some other slacker bloggers.

I might not be very successful. I'm still trying.

So, I give you - bed races in the small town of Sunol. Population 20. In the rain. It was cute and small. There isn't really anything in the town, and if I would have had more time I would have poked around.

Some guy did have this dog with a mohawk though. I would upload video, but you guys never watch my videos. Don't think I don't notice! Truth is, I know I don't narrate well. I'm trying to work on it.

Finally........rain.

Treehuggers.

Some one's daddy is going to be angry. The drivers didn't seem old enough to own this car.

Must have happened just minutes before I took these. Noticed it out of the side of my eye. Whipped around and they were sitting on the sidewalk.

I asked them if anyone was hurt. One made a joke about his feelings being hurt. I nodded in agreement.. well, yeah - it's a BMW.

I suppose they didn't find it helpful that I left with a sarcastic "good job guys".

I mean, it was pretty impressive. I was standing at street level. They must have gone slightly airborne to get up the property.

Art - is not a crime.

Today I went to light art installation at the San Jose Museum from the artist Leo Villareal.

Mr S. started recording one of he installations on his Palm Pre. We were immediately informed we couldn't take pictures past that point. These days I am generally mixed about this request. I paid admission. I'm not using flash and disturbing other visitors.

To be honest - I get so used to being told I can't take pictures, I almost take it as a challenge. I sort of hate feeling that way. But I do. It seems like anyone with a cell phone can whip in all the shots they want. Because I take out a camera with a lens, people get their panties in a bunch.

Anyway. Taking pictures of bright objects in dimly lit rooms is at the higher end of challenging. I was trying to get a few shots on the down low. Until I saw a guy with a higher end camera just walking around. So I felt more bold.

One of the installations was a room that was completely dark with a light installation on the ceiling. They had lounge chairs. I was trying to get some long exposures, and get my fstops set right. I debated getting out my remote trigger so my pictures all didn't wind up like the one above. Of course a tripod was out of the question. I'm glad I'd abandoned that idea before I even went in.

Right about this time some guy in black walks in and says "I want to make sure you aren't taking any pictures in here". Then walks out. I start to put my camera away and then figure I'll try to get one more shot in. But, I was too nervous.

We went to look around the rest of the works. This is the point it gets a little funny - because the minders followed me around like I was a shop lifter. They stalked me the whole time. Because in their mind - I am a shoplifter.

I kind of have to roll my eyes at the whole thing. Artists are always complaining that art needs to be given to the world. Yet the minute you try to share it with the world they become hypocrites. Especially funny in this case since this guy was a burning man artist. Counter culture supreme.

Mr S. says that if people take pictures of their crap - no one will want to come see it. Which I completely disagree with. I never would have paid 16 bucks to see this stuff today, which was only mildly interesting - if I hadn't seen pictures from his work in New York.

If you are interested you can see vids here and here. But honestly - its not that great.

One giant step for mankind.

I, like everyone else in the world, have been captivated with the Chilean miners. The whole thing is an engineering marvel. I can't help but think how these men will be studied for years.

Sure it was a mission to save these men's lives. Much like the Apollo 13 mission.

It is a marvel to see how well these men handled extreme isolation. It will be a hallmark for how we can handle space.

In space there only exists extreme isolation and darkness. You can't pay for this kind of research. 12 million bucks is a bargain. NASA could never do it that cheaply.

And sure.. I can say this because everyone survived. Now we get to see how their mental state plays out over the years. We need to know. So people don't go crazy.

In space.

I guess there is a ribbon sticker for everything.

Already home.

There is something about Santa Cruz I just love. Deeply love. I can't describe it. It is about as polar opposite as my little conforming yuppie suburb. Which is fast paced and bumless. Mostly. Here, our hippie count is low - and I like it that way.

I haven't lived in that area in so long - I forget about how "out" the counter culture is. They are amusing and annoying all rolled up in a bow.

At any rate - I was walking down the street this weekend and glanced over at this house.

Hey Mr S! Is pot just legal here now? Which is kinda funny, because it's never been that illegal there. I'd say it falls under the category of tolerated. Unless you get all shitty. Then they will toss you in jail. If they have to.

Still, just walking down a city street, you wouldn't see a grow. Even a small one. They were reserved to houses more in the woods. They were pretty much the worst kept secret ever.

Of course I didn't get that close of a picture. Because, that is just creepy. The lighter plant is a reflection from the hedge. The plants in the sill clearly looked like pot.

With the vote just three weeks off though - it made me wonder.. who will set up shops first? Oakland is trying to set the land speed record. Finally something they will excel at. Yeah. I said it. Their MJ superstore after all is talking about going IPO. Too bad all the great ticker symbols are taken. I guess HEMP is open.

Still, Santa Cruz seems like a natural.

Durable goods spiking.

This weekend I went into Orchard Supply. Which is one of California's largest chain hardware stores. OSH as it's commonly called - is owned by Sears. It seems like twice a month now they hold a sales tax free weekend and I needed a fan.

When we walked in, I was surprised they were pulling out their "tool coral", and relocating it. Mr S. was curious enough to ask what they were putting in to replace the tool area.

Appliances - the guy said.

This struck me as very odd, as this seems like a very crowded space right now. Remember this summer when I was a little taken back that Best Buy had started selling appliances? Here.

We already have a Lowes, HomeDepo, Sears, Best Buy and many small appliance shops. Last year, Lowes ripped out most of their kitchen design space to load it up with more appliances before the whole cash for appliances thing.

Appliances must have a very high margin, because that is a lot of real estate in a store to just be sitting around.

Interestingly enough, we wound up stopping by Best Buy as well to look at the product cycle of something else. So, I had to go see what was happening with the appliance area. I was a little surprised to see that everything was marked down 10-15%. It has only been 4 months since they put all that crap in there.

Granted, Pacific Sales has a really horrible reputation. I thought they were leasing the space from Best Buy - but it looks like Best Buy owns this company.

You just don't need to buy appliances that often. So the idea that all these stores are loading themselves up with this inventory is odd.

Alpaca day.

Irony.

It's Okay.

Found on the wall of a bar in Santa Cruz.

Sorry for the lack of posts. I just feel kind of doomish and stuck.

Bush Economic adviser Marc Sumerlin said @CNBC:

"If you look at the quarters when the [Bush] tax cuts went in, there was very substantial growth. People forget that the third quarter of 2003, we grew at 7 percent when the tax cuts—the full marginal rates—took effect. Running that in reverse causes the opposite to happen."

He also said:

"The Federal Reserve needs to pump at least $6 trillion to $7 trillion more into the U.S. economy to have any meaningful impact on sluggish growth, former Bush economic adviser Marc Sumerlin told CNBC."

If we are really lucky - we will get both. Bush tax cuts expiring, and 6-7 trillion in debt.

That should make everyone want to whip open their wallets. Full sarcasm on.

PSA today.

I'm not over auto-tune yet. Expecially when they start doing cats. It's just funny.

Oh - you will assimilate.

A couple of odd things about San Leandro.

1. They had green team volunteers making sure you tossed your trash in the right bin.

Since they weren't costing the city money, only giving a cuba like vibe - I can't complain too much. The girl was sweet. Still, they provided pictures to help you in your utter confusion and ensuing paralysed state. I think we can all learn from pictures. Right?

2. The festival banned selling bottled water.

No one there knew why. Upon reflection later - I assumed the trash monitors and the water thing were ya know... connected. It is probably one of those cities that bans plastic bottles. Yet, it turns out - San Leandro is the city which has plastic lining their freeway walls. Here.

I don't know about you, but I've never met a plastic that hasn't broken down in the sun. I've tried and tried. People with landscaping do that. And as you might expect, the plastic lining the freeways is starting to break down it's been up so long.

That is going to break off and cause an accident. At least they will have kept the taggers from defacing the walls.

Getting lost is awesome.

Display from Antonio and Elexia Cardenas.

Mr S. and I were going up to San Leandro to the Sausage and Suds festival. Having never been to San Leandro - we wound up getting a little off track and found ourselves driving by a house that had this huge ghost rider in the front yard.

Definitely photo worthy. I had to stop. It had to be 15 - 20 feet long and took up half their front hard.

I was just going to pop out of the car and get a couple of shots. Mr S. stayed in the car reading tweets probably.

When I walked up, they were still working on it - so I asked if I could take pictures. The husband said sure, take as many shots as you want. Before I knew it he had a calendar in my hand. Apparently they do something big every year.

They were super excited about talking about it. Which was entertaining. They had done some very clever things to put this whole thing together. Baking pans made up the motor. It was just really refreshing to see how hard they'd worked on it. With some very clever solutions to putting the whole thing together. Clearly they were proud of the way it was turning out. For good reason.

By this time I must have been talking to them for 10 minutes or so. Mr S. knows me well enough to know that there must be something really interesting going on - or I need rescuing.

All of a sudden they told us they were ball room dancers and wanted to show us the dance floor they'd built in their living room. They had already revealed they were realtor's to me. They were telling us about what they'd built last year for Halloween. And, showing us their whole property. The place wasn't for sale if you were wondering. They had us sit down in their cabana area. I almost expected them to shove a glass of wine in my hand.

They were really lovely people. Ambitious. Clever. Eclectic. It was one of those random fun moments in time.

I can't figure out if I should plug them. They seemed like such nice people. But, I have a guy with his ass exposed two posts down. They don't have pictures of the previous Halloween builds. Just the real estate listings.

Don't turn the light off.

Full Moon Friday. Just because.

I got this shot last weekend. I bet this guy never thought his ass would show up on my blog.

It's hard to do with the image shrunken to fit the blog. But, at full resolution you can do a double zoom and see almost the whole fruit bowl. Just sayin'.

Ghost Rider.

It's hard to be interesting every day. So I'm just going to give you a shameless plug.

All you local peeps - if you find yourself in Palo Alto - visit Kara's Cupcakes. Next to Stanford.

They have the lightest most delicious cupcakes ever. Even the frosting. Which is like delicious clouds. I think this post ties in nicely with my last post honestly.

Of course, you might need to mortgage your house or take out a loan as they are about 4 bucks a cupcake. Totally worth it though.




The funny thing about these pictures is - I asked if I could take pictures. Oh sure - they said. When I got my camera out of my bag, they got a little sketchy. This is for personal use... right?

Which made me laugh. I guess maybe people will steal pictures for print ad stuff. Whatever.

Who says they aren't innovators?

When this hit first came through my blog I laughed. Then I thought - those clever little bastards. Sure, it isn't practical. Heat and water. But, they do get points for trying. It is the perfect sort of application.

And yes. I'm arrow happy right now.

The greatest horror story ever told.

I haven't been bitching lately about President Money Bags. It isn't that I don't care. I just think he is doing a fantastic job at ruining his own world.

I think all the conservatives should just tap out and let PMB do himself in. Half the time lately when he says something..... my eyes open wide and I stifle a laugh. Then say, soldier on PMB. Soldier on.

I mean... what happens come November when the unemployment extensions run out. Right before Christmas. And people are wildly intolerant of more spending?

Especially in light of California owing roughly 1/5 of the $39,822,924,111.13 billion borrowed for unemployment insurance from the Feds. For all the states combined. Source here.

I'd hate to see if jobs were his #2 priority.