Adventures in the Bay Area...

Appleitus

Moved for the THIRD time in 5 days on Tuesday evening. I’m living at
Kelley’s at the moment. She’s away on a business trip so I’m house-sitting. It’s SO wonderful to get peace and quiet and time to write and a proper bed (as great as Orlaith’s partially inflated air bed was!).

There are pros and cons to living out of a suitcase. I can’t remember
the pros right now so I’ll focus on the cons.

After day 2, it’s like a black hole evolves somewhere below the second layer of clothes and items you know you packed start to
disappear. These are sure to re-surface about two months down the road, and no amount of searching will make them turn up any sooner.

No matter how carefully you pack liquid items, something is sure to
leak. This time it’s been a black pen on my favourite light blue
jeans. I’m attempting to pass the massive black/purple stain off as fashion.

Oh, one pro that comes to mind is the homeless stop asking you for
quarters when they see you constantly emerging out of BART hopelessly dragging your life behind you on wheels.

About 70 seconds after moving in, Kelley and I left for her caving
meeting in Menlo Park (not the one in Galway). It takes place at the
USGS (Earthquake Hazards HQ).

They showcased an awesome fly-through video of a cave in Germany which was created from hundreds of photographs stitched together.

Most of the members are seismologists and they were showcasing photos from their treks to caves all over the US (and some in Europe).

I glanced to behind me during the meeting to notice a guy greatly
resembling Langly [far left] of the Lone Gunmen (X-Files) knitting a large square (about 2 feet by 2) of.. knit..

The guy next to him was wearing his mining hat and shaving a metal
object with a blade.

Even still, I’m surprised how many long-haired men in their 60s in
home-made Hawaiian shirts and tie-dye socks exist in this part of
California, and how they all find groups such as this one.

Their last meeting was in Klamath Falls, Oregon (I’m sure I’ll have
told most of you of my experience of THERE!). Their tents took off in
the wind, with a miner attached..

The meeting was enjoyable and I love going to events like that, knowing most other students who come out here for the summer waste their time away drinking and sleeping. I’d like to go caving when I settle down more. Looks like there are some great photo opportunities.

Headed into town on Wednesday morning and had lunch with Orlaith at Bloomingdales. Afterwards, we were crossing Market street @ Powell and I was on my phone when some idiot walked flat into me (or maybe I walked into them..). Turns out it was Louise (she’s in my class, flew over with me from Ireland).
As big and all as SF is!

She was with Emir, they were trying to find the Golden Gate Bridge..
On Market Street.. I sent them off in the right direction and haven’t heard from either since..

Orlaith and I headed out to Ocean Beach. Getting there was an
adventure in itself. We got the MUNI Metro which has a habit
of being unreliable but is the only easy way to the beach.

It was running late and when it finally did arrive, was insanely over
crowded. Orlaith and I stood right up front beside the driver’s cab (the only space available). There was virtually no standing space so some people were standing on the steps, but placing weight on the steps causes the doors to open. After some minor commotion from the driver, we pulled off.

We were out near Church when Orlaith nudged me to look through the dark glass at the driver. I noticed he (a long white-haired guy in
his late 50s) was playing a game on his phone.. while driving..

The MUNI isn’t like BART which is completely automated. The MUNI
drivers must actually drive.

It didn’t take long before a guy who had earlier been “targeted” by
the driver for standing on the steps noticed the gaming and started
banging on the glass at the driver. Then some crazy drunk lady got up and started shouting at the driver, because she could.

The driver pulled the metro up in the middle of nowhere
and told everyone to get off. Of course nobody moved, not
realising he was serious, so he climbed out of his cab and abandoned the train. Then a bunch of guys ran after him asking what the hell he was doing.
People were either laughing or yelling.

I spotted another MUNI approaching on the line so Orlaith and I walked up to where it would stop, hoping to get on board before the crowd saw it.

The driver of that MUNI got out and started telling the other driver
that a “retarded ******* monkey would drive the damn thing better”
than he did.

Soon everyone had spotted the second train and they all jumped on
board an already over-crowded train.

The game-playing driver was refusing to move his metro, blocking the line for the second train, but eventually did. He got about two
blocks forward, then the police pulled him over.

Meanwhile everyone was arguing on board the metro we had now boarded because so many people had gotten on, it was difficult to breathe.
The driver got pissed off and after a few minutes, he pulled over and
made everyone get off!

It was like Groundhog Day. The whole episode was repeated, with the
driver of the train behind HIM getting out and yelling.

At this stage, a lot of people ended up just walking. Orlaith and I
squeezed onto the third train and others just stood there shaking
their heads. 2 hrs 15 minutes later, we got to Ocean Beach (which is just a few miles from the city..). I’ll be taking a leisurely walk there next time!

Loads of kite surfers, etc at the beach. And more interestingly (for me), many 747s passing straight overhead, nice and low.

It was a relaxing escape from the city for a few hours. We walked along Highway 1 (or maybe it was more I dragged Orlaith along Highway 1..) and I got some photos from the cliff top where the camera obscura is.

Yes, it’s a tennis ball.

We got a bus back to the city and headed our separate ways.

I was in the Mission afterwards going to the Cyber Cafe and I saw
another guy get hit by a car! This time it was a drunk Mexican and it
was quite humorous to watch, as he basically fell under the only moving car on Valencia street. The driver and a homeless guy dragged him off the road, threw him on some steps and yelled at him for a bit. They weren’t getting any response so the homeless guy started slapping him in the face. He eventually came back to life and started crying, saying “I’m a drunk, a drunk, a drunk..”

Thursday

Met Orlaith at the usual place (Apple). I was surprised to see people
were ALREADY queuing for iPhones.

They’re available from 6pm ‘til midnight tonight (Friday) so looking forward to watching other people buy what I wish I could buy.

Orlaith and I went to the zoo. The MUNI goes through Castro on the way so I dragged Orlaith along for an impromptu tour of the home of gayness. There’s an old movie house there that shows rare/old films. They’ve got a silent film festival coming up next week so we’ll check that out.

It was late by the time we got to the zoo so we got in for free, because we couldn’t see the person collecting money..

The animals are kept inside very low fences compared to Ireland, which is good for photos but a little concerning otherwise..

I headed back to the city and walked back past all of the nutters (sorry Kent!) queuing for the iPhone. They had now expanded quite a bit and a miniature golf course had been erected!

These guys move fast!

I got a slice of the best tasting food on earth, Cheesecake at the Cheesecake factory, and was heading back through the Mission when I passed the exact spot where the drunk was thrown the day before after falling under a car.

The guy was in EXACTLY the same position (lying sideways across some steps) and it looked like he hadn’t moved at all in between, except now he had a big cast on his leg and a zimmer frame thrown down beside him.. :/

Right now, I’m being dragged out of Apple which is closing until 6pm, when the iPhones become available.

I’m going back out to sit with the guys who are running a webcam on gizmodo.com, it’s the justin.tv one.

I’m wearing a green T-shirt and jeans and will be kneeling in front of the cam waving at the family back in Ireland.