Thanksgiving and Tourism

 My coworker and his roommate were going to volunteer to feed the homeless on Thanksgiving and asked if I'd like to partake in the holiday spirit of helping those less fortunate.  I decided it would be a good thing to do--the church they selected was sufficiently far away from the Tenderloin, the district downtown you want to avoid, so I figured the people we would be serving would be harmless as well as homeless.

The morning turned out to be a waste of time, pretty much.  The organizers of the event were more concerned with getting the fruit and coffee out for the volunteers than they were about getting stuff ready for the homeless.  Apparently they didn't even need volunteers to help feed people--we were just there to prepare.  Except we prepared absolutely nothing except cutting up bread.  And even that was unorganized--they had like one actual bread knife, so we hacked away at Safeway baguettes with plastic butter knives.  Not kidding.  Megan, my coworker's roommate, was about to freak out..She was so antsy at wanting to DO something, but there was nothing to do!  Everyone was frustrated.  The entire operation was a joke and we finally decided to leave.  As we were standing outside feeding some stale bread to pigeons, a "homeless" guy walked up wanting to get inside to be fed.  He was wearing a Raiders jacket and holding a dry cleaning bag with a dress shirt inside.  Seriously??

Anyway, later that day..My brother came out for a visit.  My digital camera had been stolen during a late night outing (shame on you, whoever has it now... I hope the piece of crap breaks) and I bought a new one to document Josh's visit.

He arrived on Thanksgiving around 2:30 and we went to my manager's for dinner.  It was a great time.  We chatted with appetizers while we waited for the food, then enjoyed a dinner with all the fixins..Including homemade ice cream!!  After dinner it was partay time--board games (the fun kind, not Monopoly), Wii, and flip cup were all in attendance.  The party ended early, around 11, but we were all pooped by then.  Turkey really does take it out of you.

We spent the next couple of days hitting the tourist areas with an intensity reserved normally only for fat kids who have been deprived of cake, and who suddenly find a giant mountain of Death By Chocolate in front of them.  Poor Josh has a stress fracture in his foot, and the miles we walked did nothing to help.. I felt really bad seeing him limp up and down the "hills" aka vertical cliffs of San Francisco's streets, but he was a trooper.

I found a group that gives free tours of certain areas in the city, so Josh picked out a few and we checked them out.  Chinatown was extremely informative, I highly recommend it.

Josh in front of world famous Ghirardelli Square

Josh in front of a trolley

At the Maritime Museum by the Wharf. This was an animated display about how steam power changed travel.  I got a kick out of the wind powered ship's course.

Fisherman's Wharf!

Apparently San Francisco bakers invented sourdough. This bakery is an exceptionally famous one: Boudin. They made bread animals!

Alcatraz

me in front of Alcatraz

A gray seagull

Nothing special about these guys except that they looked coool

These were everywhere

Lombard St, the crookedest street in the world!

Chinese Statue of Liberty...? In Chinatown

cool phoenix mural

cool dragons made out of twine

Chinatown!

Paper clothes, shoes, money, etc is offered to deceased loved ones so that they can use it in the afterlife.  Money, clothes, shoes, food, even a TV were available.  It was really sad to see dollhouses and other toys as well.  Family members burn the items along with incense to transport them to the afterlife.

A map of Chinatown's alleyways

Chinese apothecary.  You go to the "drugstore" and tell the pharmacist about what is wrong, then he/she makes up a special herb mixture and you drink it.

So that's it for Chinatown and the Wharf.  Part 2 will come later.

The New Home!!!

So I FINALLY found it: the apartment I will call home!

After much searching and scouring the city (craigslist is a godsend) I am now a resident of the Pacific Heights (Pac Heights) neighborhood.

Wikipedia:
"Pacific Heights is located in one of the most scenic and park-like settings in Northern California, offering panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz and the Presidio. Its idyllic location provides a temperate micro-climate that is clearer, but not always warmer, than many other areas in San Francisco.
The Pacific Heights Residents Association defines the neighborhood as inside Bush Street, Presidio Avenue, Union Street, and Van Ness Avenue.^[2]
Pacific Heights is situated on a primarily east-west oriented ridge that rises sharply from the Marina District and Cow Hollow neighborhoods, to the north, to a maximum height of 370 feet above sea level. The streets of Jackson, Pacific, and Broadway extend along some of the most scenic areas along the hill's crest. The section of Broadway Street extending from Divisadero to Lyon Street is known as the "Gold Coast." Pacific Heights features two parks, Lafayette and Alta Plaza, each with spectacular views of the city and the bay. Easily visible to the north, for example, are the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands, and Alcatraz Island."

Not too shabby.  Here are the pics:

front door

hallway to the kitchen

bedroom 1.. has a small closet but the best view

master bedroom..we are planning on renting this one out

bedroom 1 again

bedroom 1's view of some trees

The split bathroom is nice. I like the magazine rack, but think the toilet paper roll is a bit high.  Maybe people  back then (the building is from before 1930) had super long arms.

the other half of the split bath

The kitchen. No dishwasher ):

some cupboards and a pull-out cutting board

the fridge and "pantry"

Dining room. We are gonna make it the living room

The rest of the living room, complete with built-in.. Cabinets..  And my new roommate Sophia!

closest in the 2nd bedroom..very big

more of the kitchen

outside the kitchen.. Back porch area, I guess. Can't compete with the Southern wrap around porches but hey what can?

Stairs going down....  Didn't actually go down there so I can't tell you what's down there.

building lobby

Building lobby

the front of the building

Halloween and More Apartments

Halloween.  Crazy time.  I unfortunately was SUPER awesome and brought my camera but neglected to include a very essential part--the battery.  Therefore I have no pictures. ): 

My coworker Van came over and brought some bubblegum flavored vodka.. Unexpected, but very tasty when mixed with sprite and lemonade (lemonade was my idea).  He was hitting the bottle pretty hard, lol... I could definitely see he was feeling the effects of the bubbly deliciousness when we left my apt to meet up with his roommate for a partay.

We headed to her friend's apartment, which was all decked out for Halloween.  She had a table full of chips and dips and both kitchen sinks filled with ice and bottles and bottles of liquor, wine, whatever.  You name it, she had it.

After a few minutes there, everyone went to a different party.  There were 10 of us so we needed 2 cabs, but (unsurprisingly) all the cabs were filled and it was SUPER hard to find 2 empty ones.  We were about to just take the bus when a huge white Escalade pulled up blasting rap music.  "You need a ride?" the driver called out.  He was an enterprising young African American who decided to take advantage of the lack of cabs and (illegally) rent out his huge car as a taxi.  We piled in and it was pretty awesome.. TV screens everywhere playing music videos, loud music.. We were having a partay on the way to the partay.

He got us there in 1 piece and we poured out and headed into the next party.  This house was way upscale, very nice inside.  In the basement there were DJs spinning some sweet tunes and another huge alcohol table much like the sinks in the 1st house.  Upstairs people were mingling and having fun.

I also ran into one of the guys who lives at a house in which I tried to rent a bedroom.  What are the odds?  But anyway he was cool.  He told me the "inside information," as he put it.. The kids in the house voted and decided they wanted another guy in the room to keep the gender balance.  It was OK, their loss (: I got his number and will hopefully have a new friend out here.  I mean there are 10 people living in that house (it's a 4 story mansion, lots of space) so at least one of them is bound to like me.  I haven't had too much success finding a room via craigslist but the people are generally great--no crazies so far.

That brings me to the next topic, a frequent but not favorite one.. Apartment hunting.  I went to see another room Friday night.  The room was perfect--big, great area, cheap, clean, nice roommates... But like always, the perfect room and I did not see eye to eye and the girls who live there chose to go with another candidate.  Oh well.  Today I went to check out an apartment that I would lease with Sophia, a girl I met on craigslist.  She's pretty all around cool--very busy with school and work, friendly, 24, likes yoga.  We decided to pool our resources and do the apartment search together because you get more for your money with $2000 a month rather than $1000.  And we are considering adding a 3rd to our little roommate family because you get even more for $3000.  We posted another ad on craigslist and found a decent sounding candidate.  I will keep you posted on that.  We meet him on Monday afternoon when we are going to see another apartment.

But anyway yeah the apt today.. Great location--Hayes Valley is super safe and very cute, with lots of pretty houses.  Tons of shops and cafes and restaurants are super close.  It's close to Market St, a major street, and the highway--good for me, the commuter.  It's on the 3rd floor (no noise from upstairs neighbors) and has great sunlight pouring in through the windows.  2 bedrooms but one is pretty small, a small kitchen, living room.. Check out the pics.  It's not huge but for the area it seems like it's worth it.

kitchen

small bedroom

large bedroom

outside

Tonight I am going to the Haight, a sketchy area that for some reason is up and coming.  Think lots of dirty emo kids roaming around at night begging for change, but tons of bars that attract all kinds of people.  Should be interesting.

Apartment Hunting Round 2

So actually it is more like round 1000... But it is blog post 2.

I went back out into the scary world of Craigslist, taking my chances and trusting in the underlying good nature of human beings.  Found a couple good prospects.  Here is the basic situation:

A) I can pay $200 more and sign a 1year lease for a fairly sweet apartment in the neighborhood I'm currently living in.  Washer and dryer in building, decent parking, quiet neighborhood but 2 blocks away from a ton of bars in the super-safe Castro district, also super close to public transportation and within walking distance from my beloved Safeway grocery store.  2 bedroom, 1 bath, kitchenette with disposal and dishwasher, a decent amount of cupboard space.  Lots of windows (love that part), carpet throughout (actually I don't like that part), TONS of closet space.  Also it has a gas fireplace. See the pics below:

Not too bad for the price.  I would have to provide all the furniture, obviously.  A downside to moving in to a fresh apartment.. But also with the upside of decorating it exactly the way I want to.  It would feel like home, not just like I was staying in a hotel for an extended period of time.

I would be rooming with a really sweet-seeming girl named Sophia. Just met her today but I got a really good feeling about her.. Then again I could be a bad judge of character.  You never know.  But we got along really really well...So cross your fingers.

The other option is this:

B) Sublet a room for about 4 months in Cole Valley, a quaint, more upscale suburb with lots of little cafes and organic grocers.  The room is gorgeous but small, in a quiet house.  The owner is in her upper 40s, very neat (a plus for me). She mostly keeps to herself, working from home, but was really nice.  We bonded over Jack Russells.  Her current dog is a Fox Terrier (very close to Jack Russells) and I mentioned that I used to own one...I looked up and her eyes were tearing up.  Apparently her very dear Jack had just passed away a couple months ago.  I felt bad for bringing it up but it was good to have something to bond over.  Anyway the main reason for wanting this room is... cheap!  Only $750 a month (I know that sounds ridiculous to whoever is reading this back in SC.."$750 for ONE BEDROOM without a closet??") Yes people.. I am currently paying $850 for my closetless room right now.  Not including utilities.  So a flat $750 in such a nice neighborhood is a definite upgrade.  It has the downside of that hotel-room feeling, where I wouldn't really feel at home.

An unlikely 3rd option:
C) Room with 4 early 20something girls who are in college.  Only $830 in a nice neighborhood close to where I am now.  Downside: small room..and sharing a house with 4 girls who are in college.  Meaning probable parties (fun when you don't have class till 11, not so good when you wake at 4 am to go to work), messes (clothes were strewn all over the floor from the 2 bedrooms nearest the entrance.. not a great way to welcome guests)....  Yeahh.

SO that is what's going on right now.  Here are some more random pics from living in the city:

Gorgeous house in my neighborhood

Killer hill in my neighborhood

"Close the bathrooms at night, there will be no vandalism." "I wrote this in the daytime, dumbass." Bathrooms in the grocery store. As an aside.. Really, who goes around with permanent markers in their pockets unless they intend on writing things on bathroom walls?? They have to wake up and leave their house that day with the intent to write on something.

Rare view of the city in sunshine.  View from Buena Vista Park, also in my neighborhood.

So that's it for now... Any thoughts on the room situation?