To all of the seniors and snowbirds out there: Out of all the places I’ve lived and visited, the senior citizen community in the Scottsdale and Phoenix metro area still remains the meanest and most rude of anywhere in America. The following perspective, while generalized, will have obvious exceptions and is merely my subjective view based on 20 years of varied experiences. You can’t drive properly, yet you insist on doing so, endangering the lives of everyone around you. You make right-hand turns from the left-hand lane. You drive 20 mph below the speed limit. Your vision and hearing are already impaired, and you don’t even consider checking blind spots or rear-view mirrors, remaining oblivious to the rest of the world behind you as we attempt to get around you or away from you for fear of our own safety. Parking lots are a whole other challenge entirely. Yet the MVD continues to only administer driving tests to 16-year-olds, instead of the far more dangerous 80-year-olds. When, or if, you ever reach your destination, most likely a store, restaurant, movie theater, etc., you seize this opportunity to torture every employee in sight with endless complaints and demands. We employees in customer service are trained to serve you and help you, but you seem to enjoy making it as difficult as possible. Take note: do not talk at us as if we are your child, student or personal assistant. While we are paid employees, we are not your personal punching bags or doormats for you to release whatever other frustrations you have in life upon us. In return, we will not treat you as bewildered blue-hairs looking to be coddled. Contemplate this: Who gets Social Security checks each month? You. Who gets Medicare and Medicaid services provided to them? You. Who gets to retire? You. And who currently gets their paychecks taxed to fund all of these luxuries that will most likely not exist by the time we would be eligible to use them ourselves? The rest of us. I’m calling, I feel, uh, gosh, oh man, I can’t, I guess I’ve been living in Gilbert for almost ten years. We started our family here. My, uh gosh, I guess I’m just calling to say I grieve like the rest of the city over officer Shuhandler. I have no way of understanding how somebody can kill another human being like that – for nothing. I want to thank the Shuhandler family for their sacrifice. I visited, I went by the memorial on Gilbert, or uh, on Val Vista this afternoon, and there were a lot of people standing there, just being quiet. I think all of us were thinking the same things. I came home, hugged my wife and kids and just thank the police for all they do. They do risk their lives out there for us every day and, uh, I guess something that can happen like this gives me the gratitude. So just wanted to say that. I appreciate it. Bye. You were recommended as a contact by my good friend. In order to commemorate my final year in scouting, I decided to sell 2010 boxes of cookies. Then I thought, why stop there when I could use this as a chance to help people? I am having people buy boxes of cookies, not simply for themselves, but for me to donate to Paz De Christo,  a local ministry that provides food to the less fortunate. So while I still hope to sell at least 2010 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, my ultimate goal is to collect at least 2010 boxes to donate to this amazing organization in what I call Project 2010 in 2010. In order to make this project a success, I need a way to get the word out to the public. I have begun by creating pages on facebook.com, but unfortunately that does not reach even a fraction of the people who would be willing to donate. It was brought to my attention that the best way to reach these people would be through the media. If it would be at all possible for you to help me spread the word, it would be appreciated by not only me, but also the many people who will benefit from this project. I sincerely hope that you will be willing to help me in this ambitious endeavor towards bringing attention to hunger in Arizona. Please respond by emailing project2010in2010@yahoo.com. Hey, umm, my name is Kelly, and I wanted to let you know that I saw this man today drive into Bashas’. Well, it’s the empty store on, umm, Brown in Mesa. I guess everybody was okay and everything, but I was wondering, how do you get from barely going over the curb to over the plants, over the sidewalk, into the store and trying to go out the back of the store? He said, quote, unquote, sleepy driving. Umm, I guess he was 70. Everybody’s okay so it was kind of funny. I tried to take a picture, but they wouldn’t let me. Yeah, so if you guys can check up on that story and put something in the next issue that would be great. Thank you. After reading the February Sound Off about photo radar I had a sudden urge to throw up. Here is another prime example of another idiot who doesn’t get it. If you don’t speed 11 mph over the speed limit you won’t get nailed by photo radar. It’s as simple as that. Don’t excessively speed, and photo radar leaves you alone. I had to laugh at one of his statements, quote, too many of us are getting tagged unnecessarily, unquote. I beg to differ. More of you moronic idiots should be tagged necessarily to keep us law-abiding citizens safe. I drive on any street or freeway and it seems like I’ve wandered onto a NASCAR racetrack. These crazy fools who are endangering innocent people by their insane driving habits should be tagged by photo radars and thrown into jail. So remember all you speeding insane idiots, slow down and photo radar won’t get you, and the rest of us law-abiding citizens will be safer on the roadways. Bye-bye. I just want to do the advertising for the next issue when the next newspaper come out. So if you could give me a call at (leaves phone number). It seems that in the past decade local politicians and celebrities have made the news in some big way. Their belief is that when they have authority and a well-known name that they can get away with just about anything, right or wrong. Actually, the following names have a chip on their shoulders and should be in jail: Rick Rimsey, Fife Symington, Mary Rose Wilcox, Don Stapley, John Huppenthal and Diana Taurasi. The judges that let these people go free should be voted out of office in the next election. Thanks. Please print in all the newspapers. Hello. (Voice in background.) Say your message. Say your message. (Call ends abruptly.) Dr. Diaz....thank god for this man, his practical and caring approach. So Dr. Snyder thinks it’s placebo effect. Well, Dr. Snyder, I did not receive “stem” cells. I received anti-inflammatory injections that (along with a simple stretching exercise shown to me) gave me a permanent cure to a disabling and chronic pain in both thumbs for five years. The progression and the level of disability affected every day of my life, and I was even willing to consider my ortho doctor’s suggestion of a surgery for CMC that might or might not give me any relief and would be ungodly expensive and a down time period of months. So, Dr. Snyder, don’t talk to me about placebo, and as far as getting rich? Good god, I paid him $60, and he said as long as I did the exercise I would never need to see him again. Do you have any idea of how many doctors I saw in five years? How much money I wasted? How many pills were prescribed? I would trust Dr. Diaz and his “unconventional” medicine any day of the week. In one visit he took care of something I couldn’t even get a correct diagnosis for.

Editor’s Note: The above post refers to Dr. Diaz, the subject of a story we ran all the way back in October 2006 called “Hope Cells.” Despite it being four years later, we continue to receive feedback from the story. Dr. Diaz is a doctor practicing in Algadones, Mexico, who injects his patients with what he purports to be “stem cells.” As this patient’s sentiment shows, many swear by his work. Others see it is a bit of good old-fashioned quackery. You can read the story and other previous features in the archives section at timespublications.com. I, like many Arizonans, am living in a state of terror due to the radar cameras. I am a 54-year-old law-abiding citizen, and until two months ago had not had a traffic ticket in 20 or more years. Now I have some thug knocking on my door almost nightly, watching me from across the park in my backyard and leaving threats on my front door. Then a few weeks ago my daughter and I arrived home alone late in the evening and were sitting together watching TV when a loud bang came on our door. I looked through the peephole and there was a large man out there. I would never ever open the door to a stranger, especially at night, so I simply went back to the TV and he eventually left. A few nights later the same thing happened again, and again another night. I had no idea who this was and was beginning to become frightened but let it go thinking that even if it was someone casing our home they would surely see our lights on and hear noise in the house and know someone was home. I was coming in from work about 8:30 p.m. and saw a big truck at the end of my street. All of my internal alarms went off, my heart started beating fast. I quickly used my garage door opener, drove in quickly and closed my garage just as the truck came backing up with a squeal and a man jumped out and ran towards the door. Thank God the door closed just before he got there and he banged on the garage door, this time calling my name: “Kathleen!” This frightened me more than I can ever remember in my life, and all I could think of was to get my daughter inside and lock the doors. Next, he stomped to the front door and I heard him open the screen and shove something in the door. When he finally left I opened the door to find copies of my tickets and a threatening notice that my neighbors have been questioned and he knows we are living here! A little while later I went out in my backyard, which sits on a greenway, and saw his truck driving slowly across the park on the adjacent street. What is going on? Are we living in a communist society that terrorizes its citizens for traffic tickets? – Kathy Gould Hi, this is in regard to the Bogus Ad. I found it on page 31. My name is (leaves Bogus Ad contest entry information).

Editor’s Note: You too can enter the Bogus Ad contest by calling our Sound Off line. Simply call 480-348-0343 ext. 300. Leave your full name, phone number, the name of the fake ad and the page on which it appears. You will automatically be entered into our monthly $100 drawing. See page 24 for more information.