Pit stop

My assistant, a fellow San Francisco bus rider, came into my office this afternoon and asked a question which triggered laughter:

“Have you ever been contently riding the bus when the driver suddenly makes at stop at Starbucks?”

I have to say that I’ve seen some crazy things on Muni buses, and once or twice I too have seen a driver make a pit stop for food and beverages.

The times it’s happened I’ve tried not to get annoyed by the 2 minute delay in my life – it’s just funny watching all of the passengers faces.

43%

For some reason I was looking at the list of Muni’s 81 bus lines.  I counted and I proudly can claim that I’ve riden on 43% of them.  One of these days I hope to add the 108-Treasure Island to my list.

The old fashioned bicycle

This weekend I was climbing up the steep Arguello Street hill on my bike near the entrance to the Presidio.  I had my son on a kiddie seat attached to the back of the bike.  He was enjoying the relaxing afternoon (I just took him to Baker Beach and then the Bill’s Place for a hot dog all without the use of a motor vehicle).  I was sweating and thinking about how when I climb this hill alone it is as if I am thirty pounds lighter.

Then we see some dude about to ride down the hill on one of these puppies:

A few things popped into my head:

1) Where did he get this thing? 

2) That bike is SO 1882.  What a second – is this guy from 1882?

3) Maybe this will become a new trend.  Will they start making bike racks for these old time two wheelers?

4) What a second – is he GOING DOWN this hill with that thing?!

The onecarfamily will be growing

I haven’t shared it yet with my readers, but by the end of August of this year, my onecarfamily will be growing from three to four.  We’re going to have another baby boy!

We currently live in a place that is great for a young family, but we’ll eventually need more space once we have two kids.  Our place now is the top level of a two-unit condo building, and it would be nice to have  our own house with a little backyard…

That said, I don’t want to leave San Francisco, the city I have so much love for. 

My wife and I will likely be looking for a house in the next year or so, and one neighborhood we really seem to like is called Forest Hill.  Set in a woodsy, quiet atmposhere where there is plenty of room to play, Forest Hill is still close to many of the City’s conveniences and even has it’s own subway station (15 minutes to get to the heart of the Financial District!).

We hope that the next stage of our lives as a family will allow us to continue living the urban lifestyle…

…from an almost 3 year old

Over this past weekend, my wife drove up to the Wine Country for a bachelorette getaway for her friend.  Therefore, it was just my son and I without a car for 24 hours straight.

I’ve had him for the day alone dozens of times, but a full 24 hours is another experience entirely.  I was quickly reminded how tough life must be for single parents.

But I digress.  My wife left us without a vehicle without any hesitation because she knows how good we are on public transit, walking, and Zipcar.  We had a great day with included a roundtrip on the bus to the Jewish Community Center. 

At the end of the day my son said to me: “We don’t have a car, Daddy.  Mommy has a car”.

“That’s right.”, I said smiling, in a proud urban father moment. 

“Yeah”, said my almost three year old, who seemed happy to travel with his dad no matter what the circumstance.

I should wear a pin

While at a bus stop, I think that every day over this past week I have been asked by a stranger for transit information.  “How late does this bus run?”  “How do I get to the Inner Richmond from here?”  “When is the next bus coming?”.  “Where’s the 38?” 

Not to brag, but these are all questions that I have can easily answer.  I actually really enjoy helping people with this intimacy I have with San Francisco’s Muni system. 

Maybe I should wear a pin that says “Muni Embassador”.

The Convertible

I just rented a convertible Mini Cooper from Zipcar to make a visit to the East Bay today. I’ve never driven a convertible before. Wow. That was frickin’ awesome.

First 2 days on bus – still no iPad sightings

If there was one bus who was the world’s most tech savvy, it would probably be my bus - San Francisco’s 30x.  Specifically, the crowd on this bus are huge Apple fans.  There are some people on the bus who love the iPhone so much that they will carry one around for personal use even though they also need to lug around the mandatory work-related Blackberry.  The bus is virtually a bunch of yuppies where everyone is wearing those little white earbuds.  Heck – the neighborhood it serves even has its own Apple store.

The iPad device was released this past weekend, with crowds lining up.  The question isn’t if we will see one of these puppies on the 30x, it is how quickly.  So far, after the first two mornings of bus service post-product release, I have yet to spot one of these.  I’ll let you know when I do.