January 21, 2014

Hello Jan & Jerry.! Well, I presume you got my link to my official 2013 Christmas Letter and read it online. I cant print them out anymore as I have almost 50 people now on my Christmas Letter list, and I cannot afford the ink that 50 multi-page Christmas letters print out! So I now have uploaded my Christmas letter online, which was the link I sent you. But now you are receiving Karens REAL letter that isnt for the public! Im writing this one just for you as I know you will be able to relate and get a kick. By the way, I cant even tell you how much I look forward to your emails! You probably think I dont care as I dont respond often or right away, but they not only brighten my day, but also brighten my year! I always know Im gonna end up laughing my head off, so I sit down and get comfy with a Southern Comfort on rocks with a sprig of mint to read your letters! And for this one, you better also sit down with a drink as this is a LONG one! PLAY As you might know, or remember, I used to be a regular on Jim Gabberts TV 20 50s Dance Party back in the 80s, (used to also work KOFY radio in the late 80s and for Gabbert), but that ended when Gabbert sold the station and became a multi-millionaire, bought an airplane and has a yacht thats berthed in Sausalito and continues to this day to enjoy jaunts to Cabo San Lucas with all his little boy toys. Then about 3 years ago, KOFY started up the show again, but with an 80s theme, (and different host), and oddly enough yours truly has become somewhat of a local celebrity (for lack of a better word!) - known as LADYGOLD -for my regular appearances on this new version of Dance Party on KOFY TV20 every week. At first I thought no way!, as it was way out for my generation. But a friend dragged me along and finding out that one doesnt even need a partner to dance 80s style, was a big lure. Well, surprise to me, I got hooked, and was treated like a queen, being one of the regulars from the original show! All the kids love me, and it keeps me active dancing with kids half more than half my age! Its completely insane which, of course, fits me to a T.! Amazingly, one of my friends from the Dance Party group started a Facebook page for me, which almost made me laugh! But its a nice compliment, so hope you will go there and LIKE my page! https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Legend-LADY-GOLD/601179769930301

Then I made the Chronicle a few times, the latest being this: http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Dance-Party-turns-TV-viewers-into-stars-5076384.php And last but not least, I got to co-host Retro Night on TV20 one night! That was really an awesome experience!

We had quite a day at one of our recent TV20 Dance Party tapings! Complete mayhem and outlandish outfits! However, during the 2nd taping, I heard an odd noise and commotion coming from the back of the studio where onlookers sit and watch. There to my shock, was this woman slouching further and further down in her seat, CONVULSING, eyes rolling all the way back in her head, and spewing projectile vomit in all directions including all over herself, people around her and, worse yet, all over the DJs parents!! I actually thought she was dying! KOFY quickly stopped the taping and directed everyone out to the waiting area, and closed the curtains. Taping was stopped for a good 45 minutes at least, while they took this woman out, called an ambulance, and cleaned up the biohazard mess!! This obviously was way beyond just being drunk.... this had to be something serious, perhaps drugs involved. Omg. We never heard what happened to her, but it was NOT a pretty sight...! Another time on a very hot morning, as we were all waiting outside in line to go in, 2 guys collapsed, one from heat stroke and the other for low (or high?) blood pressure, and ambulances had to come and take them away, while they were still in their purple leotards and Rod Stewart wigs! Then that same day when we finally got inside the studio, an overhead

spotlight exploded and spewed sparks all over the place, setting some guys afro wig on fire! Never a dull moment. WORK Lately, I have been annoyed that I have no energy and yet have to get my ass moving (NO! NOT THE TWERKING WAY!!!), regarding finding a job!! Getting desperate and it was time to do something radical to find a job at my age. Had to once again revise and change my resume. Let's see...... hmmm.... How many times have I done this now before in my life?? Not asking to even get back in at the level I was in before being laid off, but Im not even getting any responses from even the simplest jobs! Ive even applied to take care of animals at a pet hospital and still no response! Geez, I cant even wash a cat! Extremely frustrating when I know I have marketable skills in various areas! What's a girl to do!!

Have been on a few temp jobs for the State Bar of California down in Burlingame where my job was to help first-time handicapped people take their Bar Exam - which they call the 'Baby Bar'. For instance, one day I had to help a blind lady by reading the questions to her. That's all I had to do - no computer work at all. Then another time, I had to type in the applicants answers to the essay questions. And the good thing is I can wear the same clothes every day, since they are all blind and won't be able to tell anyway!! hehehe! Another time, we had to prepare for the applicants to come in to our assigned room there at the hotel, and the lady we got was not only really large, but .....wait for it..... had a beard! Yes! So she wasnt happy with where and how the computer was set up and proceeded to try and move them all around! Then she tried to move the huge flat panel TV and almost ripped it out of the desk & wall hook ups!! Everyone was rolling their eyes.... My typist colleague and I were then told to move to another room, so it appeared that the bearded lady didnt pick us to help her. So then we had to wait to see who the next applicant would be! It was just as well as we probably wouldn't have enjoyed working with her, plus I was still trying to adjust to the fact that I had just met a potential future woman attorney with a red beard! After many times at this, I almost feel as if I could pass the State Bar myself!

Another temp job was also with The State Bar but it was for the office located in downtown SF. One of the perks was getting free lunches every now and again. The free lunches were quite good even though the sandwiches were made with odd ingredients that I'd never think to combine into a sandwich. I'm a simple 50's-type-of-sandwich girl, preferring basics like grilled cheese, devilled egg, tuna, BLT's, etc. All these new fancy-schmancy concoctions on ciabatta, your-butta, or panini-schaminni just don't really do it for me. I don't need aoili or pressed grapeseed paste...instead just slather the damn thing with Best Foods mayo and I'm a happy camper. Anyway these sandwiches weren't too bad and I guess it's good to be adventurous once in a while. So anyway the lunches would re-fuel me so that I could get back to the task given to me of power-stapling (which I had a little fun with)!! BTW, doncha just love a deli person who asks what you want on that when you order a BLT!??

And also by the way, doncha just hate people who pester you on your lunch break? One day I went up to the huge lunch room at top of bldg which had a nice view, multiple microwaves, fridges, tables & chairs. Oh, and did I mention MULTIPLE tables & chairs?? So this woman I didn't know from Adam, sat down at my table - when more than 20 were empty (!), and proceeded to interrupt me & talk to me. Right in the middle of a mouthful of my Grilled Cheese Sandwich, she asked me what I was eating. I politely replied but let her nicely know I was busy reading & eating. Did that stop her?? No. So I proceeded to concentrate doing my crossword with my head down, but then she wanted to know what I was reading. Omg. Did NOT get the hint! Thank god someone else walked into the lunchroom at that point, and diverted her

attention from me!! Whew! Peace at last. Oh and did I mention that the whole time she was yakking at me, she was chewing some unmentionable greasy foreign food item with her mouth wide open?! I did manage to get a couple of real full-time job interviews this past year. But of all the jobs there must be in SF, my agency had to send me to one that was described as such: "The boss lady is a bit of an eccentric nutty Chinese lady but she is interesting.. (?). The office is really small and messy with papers all over the place but she is pretty flexible as far as hours go. Mainly word processing but then she may want you to file, stand at the copy machine to copy stuff, run errands, yada yada". And it was even in a part of SF that was NOT easy to commute to! All that after I had carefully explained that I just want to have a position where I could mostly sit and be on the computer! ..... Do agency people ever really care what YOU want? I just knew in my gut that this was not going to work but, WTH, I needed a job and agreed to go along and find out what this job was all about.

Well, I went to the interview. And here it is: The Saga of 'THE INTERVIEW WITH A NUTTY CHINESE LADY' I arrived at the interview location and, as instructed, went to Room 451. It was locked and dark, but finally a Chinese lady poked her head out. However, it wasn't the Chinese lady I was supposed to meet, and this lady told me to go to Room 467. I went to Room 467, and it had an Attorney's name on the door that seemed to have nothing to do with the company I was supposed to interview with. Then I noticed a small sign pasted on that door that said GO TO ROOM 458! What the hell was this....? Lets Make a Deal??? All the while, please note, that this was in one of the oldest buildings in San Francisco, so the halls were huge with marbled floors. The sound of my semi-high heels clicking and plodding to and from all these rooms already was getting on my nerves and I hadnt even had the interview yet. Finally at Room 458, a diminutive, professional looking mature Chinese woman answered the door! BINGO! She wasn't anything like I imagined. Not crazy looking at all, and in fact, very professional looking and very pleasant. But within 5 minutes of entering her office and starting the 'interview', she was swearing and blowing F bombs like a sailor. She proceeded to tell me all about what was wrong with the 'X-generation' girls she had currently working for her. She pointed out all the things they weren't doing right and how they didn't follow her instructions. She then continued on to inform me that she has a REAL BIG pet peeve which was that she

didnt want any paper clips or staples on the floor as she would often go barefoot because she had problems with her feet! She kept asking if I had any questions, which I did, but when I would go to ask, she would interrupt me and carry on with her gripes about her current help and dropping more F bombs. Then she proceeded to tell me about how she HATES to micromanage and how she has instructed her girls to follow her rules, such as for them to each have identical pencil boxes on their desks with identical colored pencils, Sharpies, scissors, etc in each one, so that if she needed a red pen, she'll know where to find it. I thought I was in a Kindergarten and was almost waiting for her to bring out the nap time mats. She initially told me and my agency that the program 'I' would be working on would be Quickbooks just entering data. But it turned out that they hadnt even yet created a separate program apart from Quickbooks to do what they really needed! So the program 'I' supposedly would be working on wasnt even written or IN EXISTENCE yet! She went on to inform me that she thought this project would take 2 yrs, and she would then retire, but it already had by then been over 10 years and she saw it going for another 7 years!! Needless-to-say, Ms. Dragonlady was not a happy camper. Just the kind of boss one would love to work for......! NOT! I asked to see the source documents but never did see them. Instead, she took me to another room which was piled with more than 100 boxes that she would need 'me' to lift and file! So then she said 'See, this one isnt heavy, is it?!", and without any warning, flung it into my arms, whereby I almost fell over since it had to be at least 25 lbs!...... Oh, so now the job description was beginning to morph from a word processor to a file, data and shipping clerk! I asked where 'I' would be sitting and doing the work, so she said, "Ah.. Come with me ... I'll show you the room.".. We went back down the hall to the original Room 451, and she warned me we both couldnt enter at the same time....! WHA??? As soon as she opened the door, I saw why. It looked like an episode of 'Hoarders'....! There were so many boxes and papers and what-not in the room, including a purple umbrella hanging on a wall (!) that the door could not be opened all the way, and we had to each SLIDE in sideways one at a time!! By this time, I am rolling my eyes and making faces behind her back, but I play along like it was the dream job I've been wanting all my life. (I wanted so badly to take a picture of this room, but couldn't manage to sneak one in!) As I slid sideways into this stuffy room with NO WINDOWS, my purse accidently hit a box and the whole box and its contents spilled out on the floor! Well, this almost sent Ms. Dragonlady into an obsessive-compulsive nightmare panic attack! Meanwhile, I apologized profusely and thought "Geez! I'm in trouble already and I'm not even done with the interview!!" I envisioned the Chinese Water Torture WHEN, not IF, I would accidently leave a single staple on the floor! As we were in this oppressive room, she continued to show me things her girls dont do correctly, one of them being not correctly shredding certain papers at the end of the day and putting them into - HORRORS OF HORRORS!! - The Wrong Colored Bin! Another few F bombs pop out. Oh, and another rule at the end of the day, one had to remember to close the windows (which were operated by a wind-up mechanism) that were located above these old fashioned doors that looked like something out of a Vincent Price movie....! By this time, I couldnt WAIT to escape this asylum and was already thinking of what I was going to eat for dinner! All in all, I actually think she liked me, since she was speaking to me as if I already had the job,

but I had to deliver the message to my agency that it was a 'No-Go'. Omg. I need a job, but please! I do not need to work in an insane asylum with an obsessive-compulsive Chinese Dragonlady who goes around with stinky bare feet! Oh well, just another day in the life of Ladygold and the Quest for a Job!

HURTS ACHH! I HAD TO GO UNDER THE KNIFE!! Don't worry.. It was just an in-office procedure to remove a butt-ugly Ganglion Cyst off my wrist! When I got home and started unloading my groceries, I got the laugh of the day when I discovered that my avocado had a bump on it just like the Ganglion Cyst bump I had on my wrist! ACHHH! MY AVACADO HAD THE SAME AFFLICTION I HAD!! HA HA HA!

&@*@!${) DOCTORS!!! I did something to my knee ... one morning, woke up and couldn't walk and it hurt like hell. Had a doctor appt with my Primary about something else, but he couldn't (wouldn't?) give me a Cortisone shot for my knee. So he suggested that I Just drop in to your Orthopedist downstairs and one of them that are on duty should be able to take care of that. So downstairs I went, hobbling into my Orthopedist office. Asked nicely if someone could give me a quick Cortisone shot. They turned me down. Then I graduated to asking again more

forcefully, while grimacing and limping around the reception area. They said no can do - again. Then I just outright begged, almost crying. They STILL turned me down. I mean, how long would it have taken for the doctor just to jab me in the knee???!! All of a sudden, while the cold bitch receptionist was refusing to help me, my ORTHOPEDIST himself comes up to front desk. I say "Oh hello Dr. Lundy, how are you? Was just asking about a ....." He looks over my way and walks off, with not so much as a hello!! WTF!! Well, excuse me, but I had mistakenly presumed that they took an oath to help people!! That's was it! I was so mad I swore I was gonna find a new Orthopedist and report those bastards, even though' I knew it most likely wouldnt do any good. SOB's. Well, I did find another Orthopedist and managed to talk him into sending me for an MRI for my aching arm and shoulder. Why don't doctors believe how bad Ive suffering with this!? All my first orthopedist gave me was a prescription for Naproxen which was just a tad stronger than Aleve, which was NOT cutting the mustard! I needed a strong pain medication. During one of our Dance Party tapings, a couple of Saturdays before that day, the pain got so excruciating and so intense, that I ended up taking 2 Vicodin!! Normally one of those puppies puts me in a Nirvana state, but not even 2 of them alleviated the pain that day! So the day comes for me to get the MRI, and I got put into the giant, noisy, tomb-like machine. Five minutes into the 40 minute procedure, I was suffering from pain like I never knew! I was almost screaming, and when the nurse asked "how are you doing?", I had to tell her I was having intense pain. So she stopped for awhile and kind of scolded me, saying if you don't lie still, we'll have to do this another time!! I nicely asked her if she could go get one of my Vicodin pills in my purse which was back in the locker in another room, but she just poohpoohed that and said it would take too long! BITCH. Then she told me that since we had stopped, we then had to start all over!! OH GOD NO! But I wanted to get it over with and find out WTH was wrong! It took all my will power to continue, stay in there and not scream or move! I had visions of the medieval rack, the pain was so intense, and I kept trying to think mind over matter .mind over matter, but nothing was working. She also then informed me that my doctor should have told me to take a pain pill BEFORE these MRIs, but of course, did my doctor tell me this? NO! BASTARD. It wasnt so much the MRI that was causing the pain, but just the fact that it scrunched me in, and I couldnt move around at all to alleviate the pressure or pain. It was awful! Well, I got through it, and was never in my life so relieved that torture was over! And waiting for the results was another torture. But, no wonder I was in pain. I have: - A tear in my rotator cuff - Thinning of one of my muscles - A tear in my bicep tendon - A tear in my labrum - Arthritic changes

And this is just my shoulder, without addressing the problems in my knee! Achhh! So now they are recommending arthroscopic surgery, and Im not at all certain about that. Think Ill just continue to get the Cortisone shots for now as they seem to be helping immensely. Another fun event at the doctors office went like this: Waited for a week and a half to have a prescription refilled as my doctor was ON VACATION (probably with my money..), so finally his asst. said Ok, he is back now and you can come in and get it. It's was a Triplicate prescription which means one has to go get it in person and bring the hard copy new scrip to the pharmacy. So I made a special trip down there to the doctors office, paid for parking in the medical office building garage, got into the office, and receptionist said "Oh, you want what? Well, the Doctor is not in today so we cannot get you your prescription!" I replied, But wait, you told me to come in today! She then fumbled around through a bunch of envelopes behind her desk with that "DUH" look on her face, and whaddya know... there was an envelope there for me! "Oh."... she meekly said. This was the same bitch who refused to let me get the Cortisone shot for my knee prior to this. After she finally hands me the scrip, I ran down to pharmacy to get the prescription filled. Wouldn't you know it, but I just missed pharmacy's open hours by 5 minutes (!), so then had to travel clear across town to Walgreens 24 hour pharmacy. Whew! By this time, after running errands all day long besides the doctor's visit, I was sweating and exhausted and my feet were really hurting. Wobbled into the 24 hr pharmacy, breathing a sigh of relief that they were, indeed, open. Gave the pharmacist the scrip, which she said would take about 15 min. to fill. Meanwhile I roamed around the store trying not to fall over. OK. Name was called to pick up prescription. BUT NO! I almost screamed when the pharmacist informed me that the date on the scrip was WRONG! WHAT??? YES. The idiot doctor not only wrote in the wrong YEAR (2012), but also the wrong MONTH (March) when it was by then May!!! So the pharmacy couldnt accept it, and I had to trudge back to doctor's office another day to get it all corrected!! It was not even his handwriting as it was TYPED in that way..! Geezus.... I almost blew a fuse. And then, as if I needed another plague... I got a very painful boil on my elbow! (I guess that's what it is?)

Achhhhhhh! AND IF ALL THAT STILL WASNT BAD ENOUGH, MY BOOBS WERE WRECKING MY CELL PHONE!! My cell phone camera has been taking more and more blurry, out of focus pictures, so I stopped by Verizon after work one day to have it checked out. Verizon guy tells me that somehow moisture is getting under the lens and sometimes that causes blurry pics. I tell him that "No, I never get it in or near water, but I do sometimes 'store' in my 'shelf'," He says "What do you mean 'your shelf'??" When I, somewhat red-faced, pointed to my BRA, he gave me a "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING" look!! Evidently, sweat and body temperature was causing moisture to get in the phone!!! Oh. Whoops.... guess I have to stop using my bra as a storage unit!! CAR All I can say, people, is try very hard NOT to run a red light! Believe me, I have NEVER in my life ever run a red light and am always criticizing others that do, but one day I did, but I honestly did not see the red light due to a large van in front of me, blocking the signal lights. So I had until April 15th to pay the humongous $490 off in a lump sum (lump in throat!) and that included paying for and going to Traffic School. The pressure was on me from so many angles I didnt know where to start!

WARRANT FOR MY ARREST! Now, besides my red light ticket problem, I had another Court issue for not getting a FIX-IT ticket taken care of! Little did I know that I actually had a Bench 'WARRANT' out for me for a Fix-It Ticket for a headlamp that was not working!!! ACHHHH! I got the fix-I ticket way back in July of 2012 as I was driving home the VERY SAME NIGHT that my car was bashed in at Infineon Raceway (A whole another story!!) after the Indy Race I went to there! I got to meet Danica Patrick and then get my car bashed in the parking lot later that day. it took months and months for my repair shop to get my car fixed due to the delay in getting all the right car parts. The idiot cop who issued me the Fix-It ticket - a block before I drove into my driveway - could clearly see that the car was just damaged that day, and there was no way on a Sunday night or on my way home I could replace the headlamp, but he ticketed me anyway!! In fact, one couldn't even GET to the headlamp to remove it as it was so bashed in there! (see picture below why I could not immediately replace the headlamp!)

The repairs took until March of 2013 to finish! My insurance company initially said my car was totaled and wasn't worth repairing as their 'blue book' price (of approx $3,500) was less than the repair! In fact, it turned out to be a MAJOR JOB which cost over $6500!. So in order to prove the car WAS worth more than $3500, I then I had to go get- and PAY FOR -2 car appraisals to show that my car -a CLASSIC '94 CAMARO Z28 MUSCLE CAR WAS indeed worth repairing so that my insurance company would pay for the repairs!

Well, thank god I did get it appraised, as It was finally appraised at more than $12,000! But what a commotion that all was! So finally then got the insurance company's approval to go ahead with repairs! But all in all, the whole ordeal took over 8 months! By that time, the Fix-It ticket which was left in the car while it was in the shop, somehow disappeared, and I had completely forgotten about taking the Fix-It ticket into a police station to have it checked off for the repaired headlamp which was bashed in way back in Aug of the previous year! It wasn't until I went to Court to take care of the red light ticket that I found out there was a WARRANT for my ARREST out for me!!! HOLY S****T!!!! Anyway, after struggling during that time period with my crippled computers, I printed out all the repair documents and appraisals, etc. to show to the Court. The Judge never even really asked to see all that stuff, but did take into account the long time it took for the car to get repaired. But I still had to have the ticket checked off and had to go back to Court to eliminate the warrant! OY VEY!!

Turned up early to night court at SF Superior Court for the arraignment (geez, I felt like a real criminal!) of my Red-Light ticket and my Fix-It ticket, so sat on the bench outside nibbling on a wilted, god-awful, Safeway $2.49 sandwich while sorting out my papers. Ok, came time to meet DA JUDGE. Here come de Judge! ALL RISE! RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND! Well, it was a good thing that I took in some very descriptive photos of what my car had to go through for 8 months (!) to get that one new headlight, as when the Judge took a look at those, he immediately reduced the Fix-It ticket fine from $383.00 down to $25, which I had until March 1 to pay!! Thank God! However, regarding the Red-Light ticket fine of $490, he reduced that to $342 which included Traffic School and a $57 Admin Fee!... Not much of a discount, but it helped. It could not be lowered any further, despite my many pleas and having shown the Judge proof of what my lowly income was at that time. The Judge told me that the Court could not authorize an installment plan or handle payment plans as it gets 'too confusing' for them! Believe me, I really pleaded with that Judge, and although he was very sympathetic and nice, he banged the gavel and that was the order and end of story. Well, I got back home and thank God, did not end up in jail! There is no 'winning' in traffic court! ..... COMPUTER

ENOUGH!! I'D LIKE TO PUNCH BILL GATES IN THE FACE! Went through a total rigmarole after thinking I was doing the right thing by downloading the 'NEW & IMPROVED' Internet Explorer 9..... ! FORGITTABOUTIT!! What a mess! All kinds of problems and confusion with Vista which are known issues, I later found out! So I'm back to IE8. Everyday users are supposed to understand all this crap and gobbleygook error messages and uber-confusing instructions??? I've been in computers for almost 40 yrs, and I can't even make sense of half of it all!

If I ever came face to face with that 'genius' nerd, I'd really punch him in the face! Really. $:&@-/#^!!!!! Hundreds of dollars spent on computer repairs over the last few months and still I'm having crap happen!!! I was just about ready to sell off everything I own and go on an Eat, Love, Pray trek! Who needs this frustration! My desktop computer has been getting a blue screen on it over and over and was saying it was taking a physical dump! Well, I think I'm gonna go grab a new roll of Toilet Paper and do the same! CRAP.

On another battle zone, I was tearing out my hair with COMCAST!! At some point last year a computer tech guy told me a lot of my computer problems were from having a really slow internet connection speed and advised me to call Comcast, my internet provider. So I made an appt for Comcast to come out to test and fix it. Im supposed to have this REALLY FAST connection called XFinity, but it was more like waiting FOR infinity to get my computer to respond! Comcast guy came out and told me that my speed was just fine and there was nothing wrong with it. HUH??? But. then informed me that my modem wasnt working properly (?), and advised that he replace my modem with an up-to-date combo modem-router. I asked him if all my settings would remain intact, i.e. would I still be able to print from both my computers.... And he replied "I don't know....not my specialty"!! Well, that didn't make me feel too confident, so I decided to get my Staples computer tech guy on phone to talk directly together with the Comcast guy to see if the both of them could figure it all out. Well, getting them communicating together was a feat unto itself!..... One had a Filipino accent, the other one a Chinese accent!!! Then the Staples tech guy started to argue with me on the phone & tells me he could come out & help further for $145!! By then, my head is spinning & I was wondering if it was a good idea to have called Comcast out here in the first place!! However, Comcast guy said he did find some serious line problems to this apt house from the street, and said he would have to come back out to repair that another day! Who knows!? All I wanted was a working modem and my internet! He said "don't worry". HA!! The only reason I had Comcast come out in the 1st place was because a computer tech guy had told me my Internet speed was too slow! But now it had developed into a bigger major problem with the modem, etc! Poured myself a Bourbon &7 at that point, and tried to calm down! Everything seemed fine (i.e. the Internet worked) when the Comcast guy left, but an hour after that, wouldnt you know it, I discovered I could no longer print from either of my computers which are both linked up to my printer! Of course, I had to go thru all the rigmarole of calling

Comcast again and trying to get someone else to come & put right what they screwed up! I knew it was something the Comcast tech guy did or didnt do right, as I had brand new ink cartridges in, and the printing situation was working just fine before he got here & fiddled around with all the wiring inside my apt and even up on the roof!! I didnt know who to believe anymore at that point! And I could not for the life of me, figure out how to fix it! So had no choice but to set up another appt for the following Monday between 12 pm and 2 pm. Then to add insult to injury, woman on the phone suggested I DID SOMETHING MYSELF to make it not work after Comcast technician left! Right! Now it was My fault! I tried to tell her that there was NO WAY it was my fault! & got so frazzled I was starting to cry! Anyway, Monday came and I got the morning call from Comcast verifying the appt. Fine. Then proceeded to wait. And wait. and wait. and wait! No doorbell, no phone call! The 2-hour window had passed. So at 2:15 pm, I called Comcast again and had to go thru the whole phone palaver again! (they only have ONE phone number!). Lady says Oh dear, our tech didnt have your address! Well put an escalation on this . WHA? Didnt have my address? Anyway, I wait again. And wait. Now it was 4:15pm! Again, the 2-hour window had expired. Called again! This time, Comcast blamed ME again saying I must have not heard doorbell and/or phone, etc., which is just ridiculous as my doorbell is missing the pleasant ding dong part and is so loud that it wakes the fricken dead! Then Comcast says dont worry, he should be there within 10 min and he will call you first. Well, of course, 20 minutes went by, and still no call or Comcast guy! By then, I am beyond livid. Call once more, and by now, I was almost screaming at a guy named Zach. I tell him that I need to know what is the hell is going on and how to file a complaint regarding them missing the appt window (which a customer has rights for getting compensated). All of a sudden, Zach tells me Well since you are threatening to sue, I am not allowed to talk to you any longer. Goodbye! And he hangs up on me!! Meanwhile, I could feel my blood pressure seriously going up! One more call (G-R-O-A-N!) and they then tell me, its a NO GO for that day, and that I have to make another appt for Tues, which I did! Thank God, the guy that came Tuesday was not only on time, but extremely pleasant and helpful! And, sure enough, it WAS the previous Comcast tech who in changing my modem out, forgot to code in something, hence leaving me with no printer! It WAS his fault, after all! This newest Comcast guy promised to report all the trouble I went thru and get me some type of compensation (which in the end, was a measly $20 credit to my account). But what a commotion!! Because of having no printer from that Friday thru until Tuesday, I had a ton of Ebay packages which needed labels printed that I normally print online, so instead I had to walk all the way to the nearest post office (with my bad knee) and carry all the packages (with my sore arm), as my car was still in the shop! Then took a bus to Staples to buy some more printer
cartridges, just in case! Oy Vey!

A completely wasted day which left me with no energy left. My oomph just got up and went after all the

ridiculousness and energy spent with Dumcast!

ONGOING SAGA OF APARTMENT HOUSE LIVING: Clothes dryer was out of order for 3 days, and landlords response was "I put in a call, but don't know when they will come to fix it." Turned out it was a week before it got fixed.

Then I had put some of chairs I'm selling in the garage within MY space with a note on them to please not remove as someone was coming to pick them up soon. So some evil bozo put a note on top of my note which said: "Your time has run out!".... What the hell made some meanspirited twit the Garage Police and tell me what I should do with my own property IN my own space on the property!!! Just more on the aggravation list.. ...! Then I had to have my landlord and his workmen come in to fix the huge MOLD spot in my bedroom closet. It's been there for years. I did a MOLD test on it more than a year ago and I sent the landlord a copy of the mold report (which shows it to be one of the worst kind!), but he had never attempted to do anything about it. Then last week I mentioned it to him again, and asked him if he forgot about it.... "OH NO! I DIDN'T FORGET. LET'S DO IT NEXT WEEK". Oh sure, he didn't forget! HELLO? A YEAR? In any case, he and his illegal alien Mexican workmen finally came to fix it. So I had to work like a dog that week to empty out half of my closet, which was a rather heavy task. Now I am wondering if they really fixed it

correctly. Here's a picture of the mold:

And another big thanks to my mean-spirited, nasty German landlord, in that now I can no longer BBQ on my deck! On the most traditional BBQ days of our American heritage, the last 4th of July, my upstairs neighbor (an Iranian FOREIGNER!) was leering at me and my guests from his upstairs window overlooking my deck, where he saw me BBQ'ing in my little dinky hibachi-like portable BBQ. When it flamed up upon starting (as is NORMAL - HELLO??!!), he freaked out and reported me to the landlord that I was 'starting a fire'! Ive been BBQing here for 36 years, and I never, EVER leave the BBQ site when I'm BBQ'ing and have a hose less than 5 feet away. So this was really ridiculous and not even CLOSE to starting a fire. But what it did fire up was a 4-way argument between me, my landlord, the apt. manager and this neighbor!! All for nothing. Shortly after all that, I got a 'decree' and 'new rule' letter that no BBQ's would be allowed on our premises from thereon!! All around me, on neighboring rooftops, people are happily BBQ'ing on the 4th of July and Labor Day. And yet, I am banned from doing so! So un-American I want to spit. Shoulda done this months ago, as I had other issues to deal with, but now Im planning on filing a Decrease of Service to the Rent Board for him taking this away from me, since I have been doing this without any problems for the past 36 yrs of living here, and therefore, a precedent had been set since the get-go. In fact, when I first moved in here, there was an old BBQ left out on my deck from the previous tenant!! This is all just retaliation from my landlord because he hasnt been able to make me move out so he can re-rent my rent-controlled apt and raise the rent. Then I decided to do something about my broken fence on my deck which recent winds tore to pieces. Was going to have a handyman do the job when he initially quoted me $60 for the job, including picking up the fence at the hardware place. Sounded reasonable. But then later, under his breath, he mentioned that he charges a 2 HOUR MINIMUM, and that the $60 was just the running charge by HOUR. Geez, why can't these people be upfront about prices! After calculating that was just a tad out of my budget, I decided to see if I could do the job myself..

The main question was if I would be able to fit the 8 foot x 4 foot lattice fence panel in my car! Well, yes I did do it by strapping it on the back of my Camaro, and I got it home!

So went out on my deck and got up on a ladder, trying to stretch another 6 inches out of my vertically challenged body, so I could hammer a nail in the collapsing fence above my deck. I was perilously balanced on this ladder, worried I'd fall, and struggling like hell to tie the fence together. Ok, so as I was teetering on the ladder and contorting my body as if it were on a medieval torture rack, I see the guy in apt. above me watching me out of his window. (same dude that reported my BBQ!). Bad enough being watched, but do you think he could have offered to come to my aid??? NO. Just watched me. PRICK. BEFORE AFTER

Then I had quite a struggle trying to get a broken ROUND Papasan chair out through my apt and through SQUARE corners in the living room. Too big and too awkward, so had to finagle it around stuff in my living room, while knocking several pictures off the walls. Finally got that contraption in the elevator along with 4 other chairs (!) plus a bunch of garbage stuff being thrown out. Another struggle... Got down to garage, and while trying to maneuver it all out of the elevator, I heard someone banging on the elevator door, obviously annoyed I was taking so long! Was trying my best to hurry as fast as I could, and just when I got most of it outside the elevator door, I then tripped and fell into the middle of this pile of chairs and junk .... and I did a complete 'HELP! I'VE FALLEN AND CAN'T GET UP', ending up STUCK, with my feet up in the air! At the moment this was all happening, the garage door opened, and one of our less amiable neighbors drove in. He and snotty girlfriend clearly saw me in a predicament, and asked "Are you OK??".... I mumble "NO!"... but they did nothing and just stood there and watched me struggle to get up! WTF??!!

By then I had developed a major headache, so went back upstairs to have a hot bath and a drink.... both at the same time!

THE CAT Every day as soon as I sit down at my computer, Ms. Neffy jumps in her stroller and has to be pushed over right next to me at my computer so she can be petted and paid attention to while Mommy does her thing on the computer!! She knows how to get my attention very well!

Is my baby spoiled, you think???

It's was 1:00 am (in the morning!) and Mama couldnt find Ms Neffy ... Then I spotted two big blue eyes from inside Ms Neffy's stroller! At that time in the morning, she wanted me to push her around and go

for a ride!

THE GIANT HAIRBALL! What Ms. Nefer left me - a 'small' gift to remind me that I needed to brush her STAT!

I LOST MY HEAD! I LOST MY HEAD!! Running errands one day and was carrying around a little blue tote bag with my hairpieces in it so I could take them into my salon to have cleaned. Stopped off first at Staples to pick up some stuff, and on my way to the hair salon, I noticed I was missing the little tote bag with my hairpieces in it!! Drove all the way back to Staples and nope, not there! They said they remembered me coming in with blue bag but couldn't find it anywhere in store. I must have put it down while discussing computer repair and someone must have swiped it! I even called the store back to have them look in trash cans outside to see if someone dumped it, but no go. My best hairpieces too! DAMN! Now, I am missing my heads!!

One day last August I had to take a train ride on Caltrains down to Sunnyvale. Now, I've been on trains all over the world (train to Marrakesh in Morocco, Russia, Britain, Egypt, Spain, Istanbul, all over Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and even in Transylvania in Romania (!), and I have to say I have never ridden a more noisier, bumpier, rattletrap as that damn Caltrain train!!!! The USA can't do better than this??!! Even the goatfilled 2nd class train in Upper Egypt was smoother & quieter than that one!! Funny, that as I was riding on that bumpy train and doing a crossword puzzle, the answer to #62 Across in my puzzle was 'DERAIL'....

And am I the only one having a problem with this new Bring Your Own Bag or Pay 10 cents??? Ok, it's not that I don't have my own bag.... In fact, I have WAY too many bags. I have them in my house. I have them in my car. I have them on my deck. But when I go shopping, do I remember to bring the damn bag into the store with me?? NO!

Then another day as I was sitting at the at the nail salon, I wondered where all the slapping sounds were coming from..... I then glanced up and saw this dude getting a back massage...!!

STRANGE DREAMS

After a recent 4 day weekend, woke up that following Monday morning and found that one of my fingernails had gone AWOL and then I found another one on my keyboard wedged between the R and the T! And my purple eyeliner was no longer lining my eye, but instead my eyebrow! Pillows were off the bed and sheets were tangled around my feet. (and yes, I did THAT all by myself, thank you very much!!!) And the dreams Ive been having lately have been bizarre to say the least! For one, dreamed I was hanging on the side of the moon with someone telling me "don't worry you won't fall off.... it's the gravity....". On this lumpy moon, I discovered there was 'LIFE' on the moon, which was a cat-like furry creature, but more like a Lorax in a Dr. Suess book! Tried to pet it, and someone said "Don't touch it or it may not procreate"!! Then I was in some kind of fashion show but the venue was REALLY cluttered with clothes and boxes and I was going nuts digging around trying to find my hairpiece! Finally found it but it resembled the hair on Buster Brown! Finally, I was on some kind of tour around San Francisco, only it was an old-time 1880's San Francisco (!), and we went around a corner, and I saw my deceased aunt and mom! So I said "Oh, turn around! Let's go back! I have to see them again!" But when we went back around, our truck (why the hell a truck!!??) had to fall down a crevice on Telegraph Hill and crash down on a person singing! Woke up with the sheets all tangled up around my legs, pillows were perpendicular to the bed, and the TV remote was almost in my ear, and wondering if it was Live or was it Memorex! Then in another one, |dreamed I was working at PG&E (NIGHTMARE!!) and did something wrong, so was called into the head office for a meeting... Had to get there by first walking up a really steep hill (Cable cars were passing me!) and then was all of a sudden in a taxi. Finally reached and got inside the corporate office, but before I could go into this meeting, I had to pee really bad. They directed me to an area down the hall where the 'bathrooms' were, but the stalls were IN the hall and only had plastic hanging strips as doors, where you could not see into, but if you were on the terlet, you could see out! VERY disconcerting! I could also see mens' shoes at the bottom of each stall! Then all of them were in pretty deplorable condition if you

get my drift! Finally, after relieving myself, and finding a shortage of toilet paper (!), I met with 3 ladies and we were all sitting on the floor! (DREAMS!! WTF!!??) Then the head lady compliments me on my gray pencil skirt that I'm wearing (WHA?? I NEVER WEAR SKIRTS!!) and that's when I woke up!! And when I woke up, I was REALLY shook up and nervous about the 'meeting' that isn't even real!! Wonder what I supposedly did wrong? Not pay my PG&E bill??? And no, I did not take any medications before going to bed! Ok, all you dream interpreters, tell me what the hell that all means!! Now it's time to get down to business calls I have to make. And I just hate telephoning! Press 1 for English, press 2 to HOLD for 28 minutes, be forced to listen to some god-awful muzak, then finally end up speaking to somebody whose first language is Swahili...... Ok, now getting it together with a Tequila Sunrise....!

WHAT THE HELL NEXT!: So you can see Ive had a pretty crumby year, all in all. Even though I look like such a success on Facebook and am always active doing something, the truth is that I am currently broke, looking for a job and at a crossroads in my life. I didnt have a Christmas, and neither my sister nor any of my mothers side of the family invited me to celebrate with them. I seem to have fallen off their alive list since Mom died. Still never hear anymore from Marci either which both angers and hurts me, after trying so hard to help her for so many years. So most of the activities I go to with my friends are free events or parties they give. Thank God for my friends as they have been incredibly supportive and wonderful to me during this difficult time. The big news is that my landlord is offering to buy me out and his offer is now up to $120,000 which is almost unheard of here in this area! My attorney thinks he would be willing to go higher, so desperate is he to get me out of here due to my low rent and longevity here. It has been 36 years now since this past December I have been here, so although I at first didnt even want to think about moving from here, I am now seriously considering it. I do have a good deal here in that I am protected as a senior, have rent control, pay only $800 for this penthouse with the view, a 30 foot deck and garage included. However, do I want to stay here to say its a great place if I half to live pinching pennies and stressing if I can even buy cat food or toilet paper? My only income right now is Social Security and what a disappointment that is after working for more than 40 years and putting my fair share into the system! Its such a pittance, and puts me on the on the poverty level! I think I already told you that my life radically changed when I had that Bank Identity Theft happen to me and wiped me out and destroyed

my credit. So, if I can find the right place to move with my not-so-hot credit rating (since getting a mortgage might be impossible!), I might be able to either buy a condo or a mobile home with that money while being able to put some in the bank, which would allow me to get back on track in my life. So right now, I am very busy searching for locations. It cannot be here in SF as SF is way too expensive. I am looking at the East Bay, the near Peninsula or Los Angeles and yes, even Florida! Homes in Florida are so cheap its ridiculous. And I could possibly get more bang for my buck, in that I could get a 2 br and a place with a pool. So I have some serious issues right now that are going to make me have to get out of my comfort zone. But where could I go to work anywhere and make $120,000 even in 5 years!? How did you find your initial place in Arizona? Did you go through a broker or just look at ads for places? I really am having a problem knowing where to start. So who knows where Ill be by next year at this time?! Anyway, hope both of you are well and hope to hear back from you soon! Love always! Your cuz, Karen

MISCELLANEOUS GOOFY THINGS!

SO HERE ARE 10 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME! 1. Used to be a Limo Driver 2. Spent 30 minutes alone with King Tut in his tomb talking to him 3. Lived next door to the WHO (Keith Moon & Roger Daltrey) when I first moved to London and who I first tried smoking pot with. 4. Once stole a big office chair out of a conference room office, bumbled it down a stairwell, wheeled it down to street, hailed a cab and stuffed it in there & took it home! 5. Studied Computer Programming & Hula at the University of Hawaii 6. Did the Charleston with a Russian in Irkutz, in the middle of Siberia 7. Danced onstage with Chuck Berry at Hot August Nights in Reno 8. Had my own 50s-60s radio show on a Petaluma station called Lady St. Clair the Lady with the Corvair 9. Got to drive 3 laps around Infineon Raceway in my 65 Corvair 10. Made Carrot Top fix my camera at the Luxor in Las Vegas so I could take a picture of us together!

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And in 2013, I WAS A STORM TO BE RECKONED WITH!! http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/10/03/tropical-storm-karen-forms-ingulf/?intcmp=latestnews THIS CRACKED ME UP!

HOW I MET THE POTUS Well, Obama was up my street this past year on Broadway at the Getty's home. I rang and told him I couldn't make it because I was cleaning the kitty litter. He was very understanding, but he was rather ticked because I didn't ask him to stop by later for coffee.... p.s. There are other ways to have your picture taken with Obama than forking over $5,000...... So have you figured out how I got this picture taken????

You may remember the famous Brown Twins of San Francisco Well, Vivian Brown died in 2013 and now only Marian is left. Me and Marian Brown, the remaining half of the famous San Francisco Brown Twins, at her 86th Birthday Party at The Starlight Room! What a wonderful, lively and inspirational lady!

Here's a video I made when I went Parasailing in Cape Canaveral Florida during my Space Coast visit in 2011, which allowed me to check off another Bucket List item - watching the last manned space shuttle launch!!! COME FLY WITH ME! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZEckIgzq_E

ANOTHER VIDEO I MADE: GRIP GO.... NOT! Have you ever bought one of those thingy's that you advertised see on TV as "ONLY ON TV!!"??? Well, here is my little adventure when I went and bought this little item!!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ctaLIBPXZs