Designer Inspired Jewelry

If you're looking for designer inspired jewelry -- I mean the real stuff, not the wannabe kind. Then, you should really visit www.quantabellajewelry.com. They have the finest rings, bracelets, broaches, necklaces -- if you want it, they have it at great prices. For a wide selection of jewelry that will really please your significant other, www.quantabellajewelry is the site to link up to. Christmas is now officially just 24 days away. It will be here before you know it. So, get online now and check these people out. You'll be happy that I told you about them and will come out smelling like a rose!

Flipping Homes

Everybody is doing it. It's the hottest new thing of the last five years. And no -- I am not talking about pilates or yoga or hybrid vehicles -- I am talking about real estate flipping. That's right! They have numerous books on it, seminars; they even have some reality shows about the subject. I have several friends in Nor Cal who are doing it right now and getting some really awesome results. Flipping homes can be profitable and very rewarding -- some people are doing it full-time and making buko bucks. But, if you don't know what you're doing, you might just end up flipping yourself into oblivion. But, if you have the money, the time and the smarts -- flipping real estate can be a great way to make a bunch 'o money!

The "C" Word

We recently found out that a very good friend of ours has cancer. It’s in her lungs and has spread to her spine. In an instant, her life has completely changed. Less than one month ago she was doing standup comedy, making people laugh. Now she can barely walk because of the medication she’s taking, she cannot drive, she has no appetite and needs someone to take care of her 24/7.

Cancer has probably affected everyone’s life in one form or another. My first encounter with the disease was when my mother died of breast cancer in 1966, when I was eight years old. They didn’t know much about how to cure it back then. She was in the hospital for at least two years before she died, and she wouldn’t let us visit her there. She didn’t want us to see her that way. I was so young I didn’t really know what it was. That was my first experience with the “c” word.

As we approach the big age of 50, more and more people in our immediate circle of friends and acquaintances are getting cancer. And the reaction is always the same. Everyone is hush-hush and doesn’t want to talk about it. It’s like the one who’s ailing is already dead. Friends cry and ask if there’s anything they can do, but in most cases there isn’t. And no one will say the actual word. They say things like “illness” and “disease” or stuff like “they’re battling it” or “going through some tough times health-wise.” No one wants to say the “c” word.

It changes the way you think about life when someone you know gets cancer. Since we found out about our friend getting lung cancer, I’ve thought a lot about my life. The other day, I felt a strong urge to tell my overbearing boss to kiss my butt. I have that urge almost every time we talk, but this time I almost did it. Yesterday I told someone the truth about something when in the past I would have avoided it or sugar-coated it. I’m taking longer walks with my dogs. I’m watching more cartoons. I broke some rather loud wind at the grocery store this weekend. I yelled at a phone solicitor who calls me every other day. I jaywalked. I even took that little tag off of my mattress, risking considerable jail time and a substantial fine. I don’t care anymore about the stupid little things that used to concern me. Life is too short.

And why is it that only nice people get cancer? Have you ever noticed that? A-holes and jerks don’t get cancer. Why is that? Does a bad attitude and an evil personality help to fight off cancer?

And now I’m getting paranoid about getting cancer myself. What’s that lump on my neck? Why won’t that little rash on my arm go away? Sometimes I get a sore throat. I have a stomach ache right now, in fact – probably from worrying about whether or not I have cancer.

What’s amazing is that most people don’t really know what cancer is or what causes it. All they know about the “c” word is that it’s bad and they don’t want it. So, I looked it up in Wikipedia and this is what it said: “Cancer is a group of diseases in which cells are aggressive (grow and divide without respect to normal limits), invasive (invade and destroy adjacent tissues) and sometimes metastatic (spread to other locations in the body.)”

Cancer causes about 13% of all deaths. Things like tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals or infectious agents can cause cancer. Men are most likely to get prostate cancer (33% of all cancer cases in males); lung cancer (13%); bladder cancer (7%) or cutaneous melanoma (5%). Women are more prone to getting breast cancer (32%); lung cancer (12%); colorectal cancer (11%); or ovarian cancer (6%). Obviously, cancer is not picky and will attack any organ or part of the body at any given time.

Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy or other methods, depending on the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease.

The most important way to treat cancer is to catch it early. That’s why regular check-ups are so important. I hate going to the doctor just like everyone else – but, you gotta do it -- especially after age 40.

What’s my point? I don’t really know. I just think people should be more aware of this disease and not so deathly afraid of discussing it. They need to stop dancing around it. Opening up an ongoing dialogue about the “c” word is the healthiest way to deal with it, I believe. One day we’ll hopefully figure out how to beat it, but until then, it’s here and it’s real.

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!!

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