It was really freaking hot on Saturday. For San Francisco, that means around 80+. I rode my bike around the neighborhood and down to Golden Gate Park and laid in the sun with a book for few hours. Even with the sunburn (I wear pants 90% of the time so my tan is a bit lacking) it was the perfect way to spend a day.
Now the only problem is that I’m going home on Friday. I’ve heard it’s around 100+ with 90% humidity. I may die of a heat stroke after being away from a true Southern summer for a year. Whew.
I’m convinced that there is no better cross-section of life than the N-Train. The N is the great equalizer. I took this pic the other day because it struck me as strange that it was such a normal sight to see older lady, decked out asian girl, sketchy dude, running dude, red-haired punk girl and me in the same vicinity.
A few weeks ago I got to go the Maker Faire down in the Valley. It’s a giant exhibition of Do-It-Yourself projects put on by Make Magazine every year. It was wild, kind of like a grown up science fair gone bonkers. It turned out to be a huge family event too so it was really cool to see a different crowd of kids and parents interested in science, math, electronics and stuff like that. I took a bunch of pics and the set is here:
We saw the guy who created MacGyver speak and it was an interesting talk. He talked about how huge MacGyver still is all over the world and he believes it’s because MacGyver portrays an image of a past America. I think his big three points were that MacGyver didn’t use guns, he was humble and he thought his way out of situations. He also said that he’s working on a MacGyver movie script. I’m not sure how that would fly but hey, if they can work on a Pac-Man script, why not? (Really, PAC-MAN. Check it out here.)
Here’s some sort of a steampunk group with a flaming lotus…thing
The most California thing I saw all day, a father and his kid. The father is wearing sandals, socks and a kilt while his son is wandering around in a Portal shirt.
There were lots of art-cars from Burning Man around. I walked by this round couch full of people and just about jumped out of my skin when the guy in the middle just hit the pedal and the electric mobile couch took off, complete with a rotating seat.
Here’s another wild one. I think these cupcake cars made their debut at Burning Man too.
There were some wild sculptures.
One of a few massive exhibition halls, complete with mobile giraffe boombox.
I also got to talk to the non-profit Wikimedia foundation guys (who run Wikipedia) at length. They had a wall you could see Wikipedia edits in real-time. They just moved their office to San Francisco and it was really cool to talk to them about the past and future of Wikipedia. Also, they said their data centers are in Florida. Is it just me or is hurricane country a bad place to put a data center? Hmm…
Anyway, here are some kids playing a kind of 4 way collaborative Pong Table.
Once again proving the Bay Area has a group for everything, the Bay Area Lego Users Group was out in force.
The BattleBots were there complete with arena and competition.
A life size, working Mouse Trap game that dropped a real safe on a (fake, I hope) rat every hour or two. You could feel the ground shake from a hundred yards away.
Working R2 droids were wandering around too!
One of the coolest things I saw all day was this Laser Harp.
Kids could play it but the real show was when the creator played it. Check out this awesome video!
The original Diet Coke and Mentos guys have a traveling show now, complete with music, hundreds of spewing cokes and merchandise. You can buy your own Mentos holder. Weird.
All in all, it was a great time. I’ll definitely try and make it again next year.
Hi. It’s been a while but I have a lot of posts in the works. I’ve just been pretty busy at work and home. I thought I’d drop a few pictures on you. My dad and stepmom made the long journey to San Francisco last month and we had a great time wandering around the city and the Bay. I thought I’d post a few pictures. The rest of the set are on Flickr at:
I went go karting with work the other day. We started planning a month ago and the track was 30 minutes south of San Francisco so I actually had to drive. I was a bit worried that it seemed like a lot of effort to put into organizing a trip to take tiny cars around the track. I was wrong. Here’s what I found when I got there.
Holy crap that’s a track. Here’s their site. I’m not sure I can explain what it feels like to put on a jumpsuit and racing helmet and go approximately 3000 miles per hour around a track in a tiny fake car. These things have holes in the floor that make them feel like Fred Flinstone cars as you’re drifting around corners sideways. I didn’t place over 6th but I highly recommend you check it out if you get a chance.
This weekend was beautiful. It’s been really cold around here lately due to a high wind in the city but this weekend it suddenly warmed up and turned into a beautiful weekend. In fact, it was so much hotter than normal that for only the second time in the last year, temp control in my apartment could do nothing because my apartment was a good 5+ degrees hotter than it was outside and we have no AC. To put this in context, I used to think that 100 was getting kind of warm. It hit 73 this weekend at night and I thought I was going to die. However, I thought I’d share some great pics to prove that you can have green and relaxation amidst the business of the city.
I wasn’t sure where Fort Mason was to begin with and parked in the marina.
I wandered around a bit, passed by the micro league soccer. Great to watch the kids play with the bridge and the Marin Headlands in the background.
At the end of the fields, I took a second to check out the sailboats. I’m getting me a boat someday…just you wait.
Turned around and found myself in front of the famous “DateWay”.
I finally found my way to the green in Fort Mason where the people I was meeting set up. I proceeded to lose at croquet in a spectacular fashion. Life was good.
It’s always cool to me how close green is to city here. See the buildings in the background?
Here’s how I spent my time. My red ball is on the wrong side of this wicket.
All in all, a great day in the park. I had already gotten burnt playing soccer on Thursday and after Saturday in the park, I’m now very, very sun-burnt. Hope you’re doing well too.
Just thought I’d pass along an ad that showed up in my neighborhood the other day. It’s not something I’d seen before. I love going to to the Asian market down the street. All the fish and stuff are live and in tanks. I can pick up Pocky and generally life is good.
I went on my first ski trip this weekend to North Star Resort at Lake Tahoe. My friends and I have had reservations since last year and we ended up getting very lucky. A massive storm system has been pounding California and dumping loads of snow on Tahoe (something like 15 feet). The last few years have been pretty bad for snow so the roads and resorts were packed with people taking advantage of the great conditions. As for me, I’m familiar with snow from traveling, but this is the first time I’ve had extended exposure to feet upon feet of snow stacked up and even still falling. It was quite a treat for me.
The resort at North Star had a little village at the bottom and a base camp further up where the ski lifts started. It all looked like an movie set to me, complete with perfect snow and all the normal characters (snow bunnies, snow bums, and even tall, blonde, skiier guy). Meanwhile, it took everything I had not to jump in drifts and embarrass myself making snow angels. I initially planned to snowboard but ended up taking a ski class in the morning with one of the other guys instead. I skied (?) a few runs with the rest of our friends that afternoon. The other guys were much better than me but they were patient and helped me out a bit. I enjoyed myself immensely and it turns out skiing is a lot more fun than I imagined (loads more fun than water skiing). I thought I’d share the experience with you. I’ve posted all my pics on Flickr here, but here’s a few:
Here’s my first view of the mountains on the drive up.
Here are the roads near our cottage. This is why you can’t get to Tahoe (feasibly or legally) without 4-wheel drive, chains or both.
The cottage we stayed in, complete with snow, snow and more snow:
Here’s a wolf that was just hanging out in the parking lot where we went to eat one night. It was just chillin’ and didn’t bother us. This totally made my day. I wanted to get a picture petting the wolf, however the others assured me that this would be the beginning (and most likely, the end) of a grave mis-adventure.
Down on the left is the ski school where I took my ski class. They provide you with rental gear, a class and a day pass to the lower runs for a pretty reasonable price. We had a self-described “recovering CPA” named Steve teach us the basics.
Me putting on my boots. I’m showing you this so I can explain one thing; you have no idea what uncomfortable is until you have spent a day in ski boots. Imagine the fit you get with rental roller skates, make them 10 lbs. APIECE, add the mechanics of walking around in ice skates on dry land, then top it off by making them tight enough that you can’t move your ankle and you are just about there. I felt like I was wearing some sort of torture device. If I had only known what the boots wanted, I would have gladly given them that information.
A picture after my ski school. See how I look moderately confident? That’s a lie.
Here’s the resort base camp around lunch. It’s like a fun house of gear and ice exploded.
Here’s a pic from a black diamond run the other guys did. I think it was called “Burnout” or something equally imposing. I’m nowhere near that yet. I think all the runs I went on were called stuff like “Fluffy Fluffy Bunny”.
So, anyway, I had a great time and hope to go back. Highly recommended!
So, I just thought I’d share that I won the dreidel spinning competition this evening.
I should explain a bit. It’s currently the Hanukkah season and the Jewish Festival of Lights is in full swing. If you didn’t know that, I understand. I didn’t either until recently. This 2006 random chart I just found on Google puts Alabama at a Jewish population of 9,000, or 0.2 percent of the total population of the United States. Needless to say, the term kosher was not exactly known to me growing up. However, the all-knowing chart puts California at a population of 1,194,190 (3.3 percent) and I was fortunate enough to be invited to a Hanukkah party this evening. At one point, the dreidel came out and I took my turn, ending with a spin of approximately 13 seconds (on linoleum nonetheless). The judges inspected my thumb to check for performance enhancements and held intense discussions about my feat, including whether I won the competition or just the gentile bracket, and whether the Nun nullified my score, but I’m happy to say that I took home the prize, one huge bottle of Seriously Bad Elf. Happy Hanukkah.
I hope everyone is doing well. I was hoping to write something and realized that I’ve lived in the city for almost six months. I immediately decided a list was in order (big surprise, right)? I decided that the two things that people here always ask me are how I like the Bay Area and what the cultural differences are between here and the South. My standard answers are that I like it here a lot and that Birmingham is a pretty large city, so things aren’t really all that different. However, when I put my mind to it, I easily came up with a list of strange and interesting bits to share about my new home. Enjoy.
“The Bay Area” - San Francisco as a city is actually pretty small (around 750,000 people, only 7 miles wide and around 46 sq. miles total). However, most of the time it’s referred to as the “San Francisco Bay Area”. The same way that NYC is made up of five Burroughs, “The Bay Area” actually covers a wide swathe of land and cities including San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond (The East Bay), Marin county (The North Bay), and down to Silicon Valley and San Jose (The South Bay). The culture and climate of each varies. I’m convinced that this is why I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love the Bay Area, since you can live wherever you want (hot, cold, suburbs, city, etc.) and still get to the other places in 20 minutes. San Francisco (Proper) is referred to as “The City”.
The nearest Best Buy is 20 minutes from my house in the city. The nearest Target: 30 minutes. The nearest Walmart, over an hour away (in good traffic).
Don’t take that parking spot outside your door for granted. I miss mine when it’s raining.
I’ve said it before but San Francisco is the most pedestrian place I’ve ever been. There are bikes everywhere (that think they own the road and can actually be dangerous but that’s another story), the MUNI and BART public transportation systems will get you most places without a car if you plan a little, and most people think nothing of walking 5-10 blocks to get where they’re going.
Public transportation may not be glamorous but it costs very little and gets you wherever you want to go with a little planning. It’s interesting that such a simple thing can have such an effect on your day-to-day life, especially with regards to interactions with other people. Since there’s less need to pick people up, it’s more common to meet out rather than meeting at someone’s house. I have friends whose apartments I’ve never seen. Think about that. No trying to decide who’s driving. No waiting on your ride. No trying to take keys away from someone who’s had one too many. It’s a big deal.
Gas stations aren’t as frequent in the city but corner stores are everywhere. The corner stores are usually really small and I used to think they were kind of sketchy. Now I’m used to them and they serve the same purpose a gas station used to, namely a place to stop and grab a bag of chips, a soda, and a paper.
Speaking of corner stores, having so much local business has a side effect I didn’t expect…cash is king. A lot of small, neighborhood places don’t take cards. If they do, you’re probably looking at a $20.00 minimum purchase. Combine that with cash for public transit, cabs, and throwing down cash for dinner (since restaurants don’t split checks most of the time) and you will be amazed at the amount of cash you spend.
Since we’re talking money, it’s also worth noting that expensive is a relative concept. I knew this in theory before I moved but it took a while to really hit home. You quickly get used to prices in the area and forget what things used to cost. I talk to friends all the time and just about have a heart attack when something they say jolts my mind back to pricing back home. As everyone knows, the real kicker is in real estate. A few examples:
A standard lunch in Birmingham (nothing fancy) usually cost $6 - 10 dollars. In San Francisco, that same lunch is probably $10 - 15.
A movie ticket here is $10.50.
Gas averages around $3.00/gallon nationwide right now. It’s $3.70/gallon near my house in the city.
I paid $600/month for my first studio in Birmingham and most 3 bedrooms were $1000-1500. Most 1 bedrooms in the city start around $1500/month and go up from there. Also, you’re going to have to show up early and fight 15 other people holding checkbooks that all want that “reasonably priced” apartment. Furthermore, if you’re thinking of buying, consider that a 3-bedroom flat nearby went on sale a few weeks ago advertised at $750,000 and sold in under two weeks.
Due to a law passed by 58% of voters in 2005, it is illegal buy or own a gun in the City of San Francisco. Wikipedia says this was later struck down but people keep telling me that’s wrong and that they are still illegal. I’m not entirely sure who’s right.
Everything in the city is a lot bigger inside than it looks on the outside. Places in general are more compact. Apartments in the city aren’t as wide but they go back a lot farther and some even have a yard. Some places (like the famous Fillmore) will have a single tiny doorway on the outside that you can barely find, then inside you find they’re three or four times as wide as you thought and have 40 foot high ceilings. It’s like walking through the doorway into another dimension where they keep all the room.
They love their healthy food here. Some foods like avocado they’re positively lunatic about. They put it on everything. I’m constantly fending off people trying to put avocado in my sandwiches, noodles, sushi, etc. I think they’d put avocado in my beer if they could figure out a way.
Speaking of healthy food, despite what anyone tells you, joking that your microwave pizza or beer is “free-range” is ALWAYS funny.
The lack of a physical stereotype here is in itself a stereotype. I’ve said it before but anything goes here. It’s so much the case that I’ve been warned that when I get on a plane home I’m going to experience a very strange sort of deja vu upon realizing just how “normal” people look and act other places. I realized this might actually be true the other day when I was staring out the window of the train and a guy walked through the station wearing (I am NOT making this up) black clothing, full padding (knees, elbows, football shoulder pads, etc.), long hair and a giant purple cape. He didn’t make a scene, just walked by and it took me a full 15 seconds to realize that it was kind of strange.
When I moved, I got more “Left Coast” comments than I care to remember. I won’t lie, California is definitely a democratic state. However, it’s funny because as much as they hate the Republican party for doing bad things, most people seem to hate the Democratic party just as much for doing NOTHING.
So, there you go. It turned out a little longer than I expected but it was fun to write and gives you an idea of the things that go through my head as I wander about my day to day life. We’re heading into the holidays so have fun. I’ll see some of you soon.
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