Sabbatical 1998 - Day 18

Dead Man Walking

I can't say I'm thrilled with my hotel room here.  The warden... uh, I mean, manager.. said that it was the best San Francisco had to offer and I must admit, this facility has things that others just do not.  For instance, I've got a perfect view of the bay, my own private cell complete with toilet and time off for good behavior.   On the down side, the food isn't great and the communal shower takes some getting used to.  Hint: If you drop the soap, just leave it there on the floor, okay?  I mean, those floors are dirty and then you'd have dirty soap and, well, what's the point?

I did a walking tour of the city today.  Didn't have a guide.   Didn't have a plan.  Did end up with two very tired feet.  Some of these streets need escalators.  I saw much of the Starfleet Captain Worf 's Wharf area although I guess I expected to see more Klingons.  Caught a couple of the OmniMax movies and "rode" a simulated motion ride called Smash Factory.  Yawn.

You couldn't walk down a street without encountering a motorcycle or scooter.  They were everywhere, parked in every imaginable way in every available space.  Portland needs to take note. Just about every segment of the motorcycle industry was represented... rat bikes, weenie scooters, full-dress cruisers, lots of street racers and, yes, the occasional Harley.

Having never visited any of my company's field offices, I thought I'd at least earn some rally points (this is worth some points, right?) by slinking up to the office door and snapping a picture.  I didn't go in because, for one, I only really know one person there and, for another, she might start telling me all about what's going on at work. I just can't be bothered to care right now.

I have to say that I was a little bit disappointed in that this field office didn't have any sky bridges.  Gotta have sky bridges.  The lobby of the building, on the other hand, kicks bootie.

I think that the cable cars were probably a good idea in the eighties, but now that we have new technologies, I think most cities will switch over to the DSS (direct satellite service) cars. You don't have to run cable and you can get way more channels too.  All for the same low monthly rate.  Plus you can get pay-per-trip and  order destinations on demand. And if there are two people in the house who want to go separate ways, they can order an second car. 

Also, and I hate to keep making suggestions here but, it would be nice if the city could straighten some of the streets.  This is a perfect example of a street that could use de-curving.

I'm sure that the City of San Francisco will get right on this.

Day 19 >>