Look Mom, NO Hands!

Starting July 1, California will ban talking on a hand held cellphone while driving. Check out this funny video by Dan Neil of the L.A. Times.


Can you imagine people doing these while driving? Then again, I've seen women putting on makeup while driving. It's legal? How about checking email on your BlackBerry (guilty party here...)?

Oh, be sure to wear your headphone when you are yapping on the phone while driving. IT'S THE LAW!

7-1: David Pierson of the Times has more on hands-free cellphone law enforcement.

"JAPS GO HOME"

This morning, I found our mailbox in pieces, laying on the ground, ran over by a car during the night. My house is next to a high traffic intersection. It's not a strange thing a car jumped the curb and ran up to the sidewalk. It has happened before...

As I was picking up the pieces, I found a note stuffed inside the mailbox...How nice, I thought to myself, the guy is nice enough to leave me his/her contact information...

Boy, was I wrong! I found the scribble be...

"JAPS GO HOME"

My message to the person who did this...

First of all, I am an American! A Chinese American, proud to be!!! Go home? Home is here!!! If you don't like it, YOU GO HOME!!! You are a coward! You did this hiding in the dark of the night...

In a few months, this country is getting ready to possibly elect the first African American president. It saddens me that we still encounter this kind of bigotry today. Chinese American Citizens Alliance was founded over 100 years ago to combat discrimination. As a member of the Alliance, this type of incident only motivates me to work harder! We are still fighting the same battle!

Peace!

P.S. Thank you for all concerned phone calls and emails. I have reported this incident to the police....

Rest in Peace, Tim Russert...

I can not believe my eyes when I read the news of the passing of Tim Russert, host of NBC News "Meet the Press."

Noise to Music?

This guitar has been sitting here for a while....I am going to learn how to play it...Wish me luck and get ear plugs in the meanwhile....:)

Arcadia Alarm Permit Fee

I was watching the City Council meeting on cable TV the other night (yeah, I know, I was bored and there's nothing else interesting to watch). One of the items discussed was a proposed fee for people who installed alarm in their homes and businesses. The proposal was a $40/year "Alarm Fee".... I guess we have to paid to make our homes safer. Wait! We do! We pay to get the alarm installed, we pay to have our alarm system monitored.... Now the city or the police department wants to get the hands in my wallet for more...gee, what's new?!

The main reason for the city to consider imposing a fee is more than 90% of the time police responded to false alarms. Each time costs the City $175.

Here's my questions, how many false alarms does the police respond to in an average day? According to the Police Chief, majority of the false alarms are caused by repeat offenders. REPEAT OFFENDERS, did you say? Do we have to pay our policy officers if there NO false alarms to respond to? Do alarms help the officers do their jobs? Can alarms be a crime deterrent?

It is obvious the police or the city knows who are repeat offenders. Why doesn't the city or PD charge them?! If they cause the problem, should they pay to fix it?! Why make everyone pay for the few who cause the problem? I believe alarms help police and they deter crime. Shouldn't we encourage home owners install properly installed and monitored alarms? Charging an annual fee will encourage no one.

This one really amazed me.... One of the councilmen said (to the Chief), "I know you are out sourcing the billing and administration of this....They (the vendor) take their cut and it doesn't cost the city a dime. We can do this..." I can't believe I voted for you!

Hey, Councilman, just because it's easy and doesn't cost the city to bill me and get my money, it doesn't mean you should to it! HANDS OFF MY WALLET!!!