Thursday, March 14, 2013

I'm an incurable MAC ADDICT...is that so wrong?


To those of you whom are skeptical about the POPULAR HOBO's integrity..."How does a hobo afford to buy a Macbook unless it was a stolen one?"As I said before, I buy all my stuff at retail stores and I pay with 'hobo cash' that I made from panhandling  and doing odd jobs here and there. And then, last week I reported that I got my Macbook stolen by a thug/ghetto thief!! Its true that I am a hobo and its also true that I got my Macbook stolen out of my hands last week at friggin' Starfucks coffee shop @2899 University Ave. and guess what--I just bought another Macbook!
And here's where I bought it...

Call these guys at 619-255-4333. Tell 'em you're sick and tired of your virus/malware sickened Windowz PC and you're ready to step up to a clean, fast and reliable Macintosh! Tell them you need
a laptop that's built to withstand the rough, furious, filthy, fast paced (with lights and sirens all
around you) and dangerous lifestyle of a goddamn HOBO! :)

Btw, I'm sorry I got a little carried away in my zeal and support for these guys at DC Computers. That part about getting a free iPod or iPhone...well that's just straight up bullshit! I just thought if I said that then you would jump in your car go there. I'd advise you to go there anyway though since their prices are so good that you'll save enough $$ to buy yourself a iPod or iPhone!!
That's NOT bullshit!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

STARBUCKS,North Park: We're not responsible!

Yesterday afternoon, a week after I was robbed of my Macbook at Starbucks' @ 2899 University Ave,
I returned to the coffee shop to speak with the either the franchise owner or the head manager about the robbery. However I was told by the young Assistant Mgr. that the store was corporate owned.
He said he was unaware of robbery of March 5 or any other such incident at the store and that any loss of property while at the store is the customer's sole responsibility.When I shared with him that
SDPD told me that they've had a number of theft reports at their address, the employee was not interested in hearing anything about the topics of crime nor customer safety.

He acted as though I were there to try and engage him in some sort of rhetorical socio-political discussion while he's busy trying serve coffee. His concern about me and the theft of my property
can be summed up best by his words: "Ah Bummer...I'm sorry about that but there's nothing we can do it." and "You might try contacting the corporate office but they'll tell you the same thing: Starbucks isn't responsible for what people do, inside or outside the store."

There it is...just as I suggested the other day: This thinking/policy by Starbucks and its employees
ensures the easy access to a gold mine of sweet and easy FREE $$$$ (ie. laptop computers, iPads  and other WiFi-able devices) which predator thieves stalk and troll the streets looking for! When
they see the unsuspecting laptop geeks, blissful in their free WiFi and gourmet coffee, they see FREE /FAST MONEY!!!
 
I was surprisingly calm and polite as I listened to this numb skull. I didn't argue nor raise my voice  because I'd prepared myself for precisely this sort of denial and apathy. This Starbucks and other similar complacent North Park small businesses are effectively turning their town into a ghetto.
 Sure it seems far fetched and I sound like a raving lunatic..I know. Its amazing how well all those clean smooth upscale sidewalk tiles all along Starbucks help to mislead the average pedestrian
into assuming that he/she's walking in a safe neighborhood.

Last week when the Starbucks employee smiled at  me and pointed to the outdoor
patio furniture and said "You're welcome to sit outside and get online if you wish.", at a glance,
that seemed like the mark of good customer service to me. Now I know that I was deceived into believing the place was safe and I'm angry as all hell!!!In retrospect, I'd have enormous respect
for this store and its employees (and plus I'd still have my Macbook), if the employee had said,"Sorry, all our seats are taken right now and the outside seats are not recommended for
 laptop users. If you need to get online, I'd suggest that you stop by later or go up to the
other store across from the CVS drugstore."

Their oblivion or denial of the physical endangerment they themselves place their customers
into is breathtaking!! Remember - I was NOT the first and only robbery victim at this store.
 They incite/ catalyze this crime upon their unsuspecting/defenseless customers via encouraging laptop users to sit outside their store.
 
If these Starbucks employees truely understood the value of "customer service"  they would first consider how it impacts upon  their customer's physical safety, never mind concern  about ensuring the very best customer experience possible, then they would remove that patio furniture from the sidewalk and thereby preclude their customers the risk of being the victim of a violent crime.
Simple. ring shop ow

So now I'll procede to contact the corp. office and try to resolve this matter and absent any agreement  by them to replace my property, I'll move forward in small claims court.

Stay tuned...I've got some new photos and more insights and info as well provided to me by neighboring shop owners /managers I interviewed.




Monday, March 11, 2013

MM Hobos Help Disabled Motorist


The video clip you're about to see is one of those fluke surprises that I'm rarely lucky enough to shoot. Its so well timed that it looks staged but its not.

BTW this was the last video I got to shoot with my Macbook and I uploaded it only minutes before my Mac got stolen last week. :(

Let me set this up for you:
I saw David Mick last Thursday morning and he was telling me about his new sign he's been flying on MM Blvd.Its yet another one of his attempts to fly a hobo sign that will make him some hobo cash without using the familiar worn out messages used by other bums.You've all seen their signs --"Need Work Please Help", "Disabled Vet Please Help" , "Will Work 4 Food Please Help","Please Help God Bless" ,"God Bless Please Help","Help Please Please Help" etc etc.

David Mick's previous signs have been original but were too silly or too lengthy to be effective but  on this day, he had a good one. And to me that's HOBO NEWS that warrants a video interview and so I got out my laptop and started recording video of him with his sign...and then watch what happened... ;)

 

I'm glad to be able to share that with you. I can't speak for every Mira Mesa  hobo, but helping others is the golden rule, right? Its only human to do so and I didn't just adopt that philosophy since becoming homeless and needy and nor do I sit on my ass until someone asked me for help before I give it to them.When I see someone in need of a little help I bring it to them. (I'm not talking about $$ here,btw, but rather, physical assistance or materials/stuff that I may have to offer someone.)
Anyway, David Mick and I handed the lady about five dollars or so in change. After she pumped some gas into her gas can, I offered to walk back to her car with her and pour it into her tank.
After I gassed her tank, Bianca Koch  drove me back to where I was sitting with Randy and David. She gave us some blankets and socks and a hug and we thanked her!!
 Bianca is a homeless advocate in Ocean Beach and we were glad to meet /assist her 
in  her time of need. She's very sweet and we hope to see her again soon. 
Hey Bianca,if you're reading this please call me soon!  :)

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Boogiman Snatches Scott's Macbook @ Starbucks, North Park

At around 6:30pm on March 5, I walked into the busy Starbucks Coffee shop at 2899 University Ave.
and glanced around for an empty seat while I ordered coffee. Since my laptop battery was charged up I decided to sit outside at one of their tables and work on the evening's news report for the blog.
I sat with my back to the wall, my backpack containing my power adapters/battery chargers for my Macbook and my Sony digi camera as well as the camera were beside me in my chair. With my 13" Macbook sitting along side the padded zipcover which serves as a mouse pad, I began to write my new post. Periodically, between thoughts, I'd pause and sorta scope out the scenery...acknowledged
new customers who'd just sat down at the adjacent tables. 

As the darkness fell, I chatted briefly with one guy who stepped outside to smoke. He wondered if the Library was open. I'd written a couple of paragraphs and uploaded a video file and was focused upon my work typing when suddenly an arm swept across the table top and while I was typing, my computer was swept out from beneath my fingers! The young latino guy who stole it had approached the store running (eastbound) passed the store front. With no railing nor obstacles in his path to slow him down and give me any forewarning whatsoever, he simply extended his arm as he went by me, grabbed my computer with the mouse dangling by its cord and bolted around the corner
 down 29th Street.

I jumped up and chased after him, knocking over the empty table and chairs to my right but I could get no closer than 15 ft or so from him as he turned the corner before he outran me for the next block and a half down 29th.  As I chased him, I shouted and screamed continuously in hopes that someone down the street in his path would stop him. But after you go just one block down 29th, everything gets very dark and quiet down there as there are no shops/stores and few pedestrians.

After chasing him for one and half blocks I stopped running. Not only was I exhausted from sprinting that short distance, but I'd twisted or jammed my right knee as well but since I'd lost sight of him completely in the darkness, I was reluctant to proceed any further at that point
without any means of self defense/protection.

I turned around and hobbled/ran back to Ground ZERO, the CRIME SCENE @ 2899 University Ave.*** I'd just realized that I'd left my backpack and other valuable stuff behind amidst the pile/trail of Starbucks patio furniture which was strewn across the entire sidewalk and into the street. As I returned to the coffee shop, I saw a guy picking up my cigarette lighter from the street. I told him he could keep it. The patio furniture and debris/property/stuff that I'd left behind all appeared to be undisturbed and left lying where ever they happened to land when I fled the scene to chase after the boogieman.

The portion of this incident you've just read, IMO, is not nearly as amazing and outrageous as what follows. This next portion of the incident is somewhat blurry to me because I was in utter shock from what had just happened. My mind was running in five different directions at once and these were my thoughts as best I can recall: • Call 911 • Go back down 29th St. • NO! Go buy some weapons first then go down 29th St. • Do I have GPS? • Do I have XXXX  XXXXX  XXXX installed? • Who saw this guy and do they know him? • Was he alone? • WTF does Starbucks have exceeding cheap ass patio furniture? Maybe cause they know they're in the ghetto and have to replace it often! •Are any Starbucks employees gonna come outside to find out what happened? •Did they call 911 ON ME because I flipped over their chairs/tables? • Did anyone else call 911?

I stood there in reeling in shock but painfully aware of the NON REACTIONS from everyone around me who seemed content to just standby and gawk at me. While my adrenaline was pumping like a fire hose to do SOMETHING QUICKLY, I realized that I was completely disabled from any action that would fix this situation. I picked up my backpack and stepped up to the window and looked inside
the store. There were lots of blank faces staring back at me but I saw nothing to indicate that anyone inside the store was upset, bothered or at all distracted from their Starbucks coffee pleasure or from enjoying their free wifi internet session. The employees were focused upon serving coffee and appeared to be unaware that just two minutes prior a predator thief had struck upon one their customers and left their pristine patio in a mess.

Rather than leave silently without being noticed, I opened  the door and unloaded a short and very loud and vulger barrage of ideas/concerns and othrwise, gems of wisdom of the streets which popped into my head. As I walked away, I continued to feel the bizarre and lifeless stares from the  bystanders all around me whom, after hearing me hollering inside the store and disrupting everyone inside, must surely be stares of ice cold disdain.

Its rare that I ever  get to see the reactions from bystanders after being the victim of a violent crime.
That's because in previous incidents, I was either unconscious/incapacit\ununted or too busy dealing with the police to take notice. In times when someone actually helped me, I became aware of it after waking up in the trauma ICU at some local hospital. While I've been mugged and robbed before,
I've never been so immaculately, so precisely, so surgically and so indefensibly raped of thousands of dollars worth of my property in the blink of an eye while amidst pedestrians/folks all around me.
But then to witness the most unconcerned, apathetic and incompetent non-response from every person present at the crime scene not only puts a sharper edge on the pain and loss I incurred, but it    also puts this entire nightmare into sharp focus for me to understand better.

This was no random act. This is not a case of negligence or stupidity on my behalf and nor am I willing lie down and be counted among the silent masses of victims of this and other similar violent crimes. That said, I do feel fortunate to have realized the severity of the rampant crime situation here before deciding to move into a nearby apartment that's been offered to me at an enticing low rent price.  I'd considered this apartment offer to be a great bargain opportunity. That is before my computer got jacked out of my hands. During my meeting with the SDPD officer who wrote the crime report, I heard some candid anecdotal insight about the alarming North Park crime wave and
in particular the 9899 Starbucks Coffee shop location which I'd never imagined nor would suspect before becoming a crime statistic.

I must pause for now but I'll return here soon (I hope) to show you some video/photo details about this breaking news story as well as discussion of the underlying and sidebar issues ("the news
behind the news", as we news professionals like to say). 

I'd really like to hear from the readers out there with  your questions comments or 
experiences you may have to share. 

In the meantime...
"GODAMNIT!!!I'M SO FUCKING PISSED OFF, I COULD EXPLODE!

***So help me God, from this moment forward, 
the 2899 University Ave. Starbucks store shall be
 known as Ground Zero North Park, and as the 
"crime scene coffee shop" (CSCS).