Looking for Real Estate in the United Kingdom?

If you’re looking to move to the United Kingdom, the beat place to find a new home in the UK is at Welcome Home. As you know, my fiancée Angelina is from the UK, and we have talked on many occasions about moving there. I have never been, but she talks all the time about what a great place it is. San Francisco is a nice city – don’t get me wrong – and I love the Bay Area, but the UK sounds wonderful. If you’re looking for flats to rent in Liverpool, Welcome Home has reviews of the area, an interactive map and a table about property prices in the area. If you’re searching for flats to rent in London, Welcome Home has a very useful technically advanced property finding service showing properties for sale and for rent in any region of the UK. And if you’re browsing for houses to rent in Bristol – well, look no further, blokes – Welcome Home has an enormous list of more than 12,000 UK real estate agents, all of whom are more than willing to sit down with you and talk real estate over a cup ‘o tea and maybe even some crumpets. Welcome Home is THE site to be checking out if you’re interested in buying or renting real estate in the good ‘ol UK. Jolly searching!

It's Almost Yuckfest Time!

The Yuletide Yuckfest is this Sunday and I'm psyched. Here is the press release about the show. I am looking forward to seeing all of you there! Featured here are two of the comedians that will be in the show -- Jeff Applebaum and Carla Clayy.

“Yuletide Yuckfest 2007, a Comedy Benefit, to be held on December 2nd at Rooster T. Feathers to Raise Funds for local Toys for Tots

On Sunday, December 2nd from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Rooster T. Feathers in Sunnyvale is hosting the 10th Annual “Yuletide Yuckfest 2007,” a comedy show benefiting Toys for Tots.

Comics Mickey Joseph, Brain Malow, Carla Clayy, Larry “Bubbles” Brown, Drennon Davis, Carla Clayy, Sandy Stec, David Van Avermaete, Beth Shuman, Jeff Applebaum, Host Hymie Laredo and many special guests will converge on the stage at Rooster T’s to make people laugh for a worthy cause.

Also featured will be music by the band “Chubby’s All-Stars,” with special guest Viv Savage, former keyboard player for the famous band, “Spinal Tap.” Admission is $10.00 and an unwrapped toy, or $15.00 without one. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.

Hymie Laredo, whose real name is Ed Attanasio, will host the big event. He sees the show as a chance for comedians to give back to the community, by providing new toys for those less fortunate.

“There is just something about giving kids toys that makes me happy,” Attanasio/Laredo said. “My niece needs a storage locker just to keep all the toys I’ve given her over the years. It’s the little kid in me. It probably makes me feel better than it does the children. I guess Santa Claus must be somewhere down the line on my family tree.”

The comedians featured have been on Comedy Central, VH1, David Letterman, the Comedy Channel, Nickelodeon, the Tonight Show, and more.

Rooster T. Feathers is located at 157 West El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, next to Goodyear Tires. Ample free parking is available. Rooster T. Feathers’ phone number is (408) 736-0921.

The New Home Theaters Rock!

The newest home theater phenomenon is just amazing. And as soon as I win the California Lottery I plan on installing one in my mansion. With all of the new cutting-edge electronics, Blu-Ray and the new HD plasmas and sound systems, home theaters have become almost better than real movie theaters, because they're more intimate, custom-built and designed, and you don't have to pay $8.00 for admission and take out a small business loan for a soft drink and some stale, over-salted popcorn. (Did you know that a lof of the movie theaters over-salt the popcorn, or actually put a little bit of salt into their drinks so that you'll stay thirsty and buy more -- it's true.) Check out some of the newest home theaters that are out there. You'll be hypnotized!

Oh, No Those Popups Got To Go! STOPzilla!

There's a great popup blocker out there called STOPzilla!, and it is the best of its kind on the market as far as I am concerned. I am SO TIRED of popups disturbing me and interrupting me when I am on the Internet. StopZilla does it all, because the people at STOPzilla! take security very seriously. STOPzilla! removes spyware; adware; popups -- it blocks fishing attacks; kills browser hijackers; erases history and they also provide FREE SUPPORT. Deal with those pesky popups and work on the Internet without any more worries. Check out the award-winning monsters of popup blockers. Check out STOPzilla! today!

Beware of the King of Non-Health Care: Kaiser Permanently

After watching Michael Moore’s film “SiCKO” recently, and reading a ton of stuff about Kaiser Permanente, I am quite frankly shocked and appalled at what I have learned. It’s not like I’m surprised. I have some first-hand experience with this HMO and it’s not pleasant.

A few years ago, my left knee started hurting. It was a dull pain at first, but then it got progressively worse, to the point where I was limping. I went to Kaiser, where I had my health insurance at the time, and after pleading with them, they agreed to take some x-rays. The doctor was really nice and advised me that if I wanted to get things like x-rays at Kaiser, that I would “have to fight for them.” She told me that she would help me navigate through the system so that I could get the care I might need. I was stupid enough to believe her because I was a rookie at the time and unaware of the ways of Kaiser.

After begrudgingly taking the x-rays, I got a call about a week later from Kaiser. My doctor told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the knee and that I just needed to lose weight. She said that she could refer me to a nutritionist and gave me the whole speech about how being overweight is bad for my health, etc. What she didn’t mention was that going to Kaiser for my health care was just – maybe even more – harmful to my health.

My knee continued to hurt. I lost approximately 45 pounds over a three-month period in hopes of alleviating the pressure and pain on the knee, but it just kept hurting. I went to Kaiser a couple more times and told them about the increasing pain, and they refused to take any more x-rays. When I inquired about possibly getting an MRI, you would have thought I was threatening their children. They told me emphatically and repeatedly that an MRI was out of the question and that I should just stay away from the pizza and pasta and go to the gym more if I wanted my knee to feel better.

Well, about six months later I changed jobs and my new employer has health insurance through another health car provider named United. United Health Care, although very adept at denying care just like Kaiser, seems to be a much better alternative. When I told them about my knee, they didn’t start crying about it being a pre-existing condition and promptly sent me to an orthopedist here in San Francisco. These people really know what they’re doing. In fact, my doctor used to be the team physician for the San Francisco 49ers football team.

My new doctors looked at my knee and took x-rays immediately. I didn’t even have to ask. When they looked at the x-rays that same day, they could plainly see that there was no cartilage left in the knee. It’s what they call “bone-on-bone.” It’s so thrashed that they can’t even fix it as is – the knee will eventually have to be replaced.

When they showed me the x-ray I was shocked. Could Kaiser have somehow misinterpreted the x-ray? Could it have been an honest mistake, I asked my doctor? He laughed – a 4-year-old child could see that my knee was wasted, he said. A pre-med student with one good eye would be able to tell that my knee was basically shot.

Since then, I have heard so many horror stories about Kaiser that I can’t count them all.
The place is not too bad when it comes to maintenance, but when you need something fixed – something that is going to cost them money – Kaiser will do everything in their power to make sure you don’t get it.

Their motto is “Thrive,” which I think is do blatantly dishonest that it makes me ill just thinking about it. Their tagline should be: “Thrive. And then Just Die. Really Fast.” (Because if you get a lingering illness or go into a coma, we will Deny, Deny, Deny)

You buy health insurance or get it through your company and you think you’re safe. But, you’re not. Because there are HMO’s like Kaiser our there who specialize in not providing you with the health care you might need. They give their doctors bonuses for denying care – and that’s a proven, documented fact. When they do have to give people the proper care, they call it a “loss.” That’s how they look at it.

And then, if they give you bad or inadequate care at Kaiser, you’d better not try to sue them. They will throw attorneys at you until you give up. That’s what Kaiser counts on – that most people will eventually give up. And the majority do.

The six children of Adam Wesley Arnold have not given up. When Kaiser euthanized their 70-year old father on September 11, 2000, they started a web site called www.kaiserpapers.info. Here you can read all the “Kaiser horror stories” that people who have been blocked from receiving quality health care (or any health care, for that matter) from Kaiser Permanente.

If you’re a member of Kaiser, or any other HMO that specializes in denying care, all I can say is pray that you don’t get really sick. Because you won’t thrive. You’ll just die.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

More De Young Photos

The De Young Museum

I'm on vacation this week, so decided to finally visit the new De Young Museum. Whar a great building. Here are a few photos I took. They have a huge tower from which you can see the entire City.

A Popcorn Machine in Your House? I'm in Heaven

With these new high-tech movie rooms and entertainment centers that people are putting in the homes, the movie theater has moved in the American residence. People have huge screens, theater seats and carpets, and popcorn machines. How great is that? You can make your own hot, fresh popcorn right in your living room or movie room. It's a good thin I don't have a popcorn machine in my house, because it I did, I would probably eat it day and night. There are some things in this world that make it worth living here -- and this is one of them!

Snowflake Decorations Can Make Your Christmas Tree Rock!!

Well, Christmas is almost here and next week we'll be buying a tree and decorating it. I finally got my wonderful fiancee Angelina to agree to let me get a nice Christmas tree this year. For the last two years, we've had this ugly, beat up Christmas tree that was so hideous that every time I looked at it, I got heartburn. We have a bunch of really great decorations, and I will surely get a few more, including some snowflake decorations. I love this time of season!