Archive for the 'Daft Musings' Category

The Re-fi of the Damned (aka Happy Happy Lenderman’s Revenge)

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

In 2010, Peter and I had managed to get our finances back on track after the great crash of 2008, and mortgage rates were at a (then) historic lows. We figured we could save quite a bit by refinancing, but as we soon discovered, it would be a painful, long-drawn out process that would take [...]

Old Vegas/New Vegas

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

On our most recent trip to Las Vegas, Peter was dismayed to see the Sahara Hotel and Casino had shut down. It was yet another of the older Strip casino-hotels to close, as the town itself becomes nostalgic for the way things were. The relatively new Encore casino had a nightclub named Sinatra, but most [...]

Fujitsu’s Zoolander Booth

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

Fujitsu had the only booth at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) which was exclusively staffed by booth babes. They had no inkling of what the products in the booth were supposed to do, and there was not a single person there who knew. I came away more than a little miffed that all I got [...]

The Downside of Groupon

Friday, January 6th, 2012

I have friends who love Groupon, and buy the coupons and discounts avidly. Personally, I’m leery of getting anything I’m not absolutely, positively sure I’ll use. I’ve used Goldstar and Artsopolis for performing arts, since I like the surprise of seeing a new show at a venue I may or may not have experienced before, [...]

Carolyn’s Adages About Taxes

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

A few years ago, my progressive friends started singing about the glories of taxation, and how much they loved paying taxes, and why, oh why, couldn’t the rest of us understand how important it was to hand over even more of our hard-earned money to the omniscient, wise state. I felt like I was in [...]

Rousting a Fugitive

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

A few nights ago, as Peter and I were going to bed, I looked out the window and saw two guys with hoodies and flashlights dipping in and out of a car in the dark. It looked suspicious, particularly since the video we have of my car being burgled in May featured a guy in [...]

Our Family Boogeyman

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Since he was discovered driving Peter’s stolen car last year, Andrew Clark Bergman been on a multi-state crime spree. On November 25, 2010, he was arrested and booked in Las Vegas for grand larceny and burglary. On January 12, 2011, he was arrested in Kimble, Texas for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The day after Cinco [...]

A Bad Librarian Pits Me Against the City Council

Friday, August 5th, 2011

As I’ve posted before, the City of San Jose has had to make major cutbacks in a lot of its services. It’s painful all around, but the state and the Feds are already trying to bleed us dry, and when it comes to forking over more out of my pocket to fund another governmental organization, [...]

Cutco Knives, Vector Marketing and the Neighborhood Kid

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

A few days ago, my neighbor’s grandson, who recently graduated from high school, stopped by and asked to speak to my husband. He told us he had a new job, and wondered if we’d listen to his sales presentation, for which he would get paid whether or not we bought. I asked him “what’re you [...]

Did the SJPD Run The Bad Guy Out of Town?

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

Back in May, I was understandably chagrined when our security video revealed a sleazy guy riffling through my car. When Peter looked at the tape, he thought the burglar looked an awful lot like Andrew Clark Bergman, aka Mr. Skeezebag, who had stolen his PT Cruiser in September, and was caught in it by the [...]

by Carolyn Bickford