The stand in

Everything seemed more packed than normal this morning. At 7:58, no earlier, no later, I boarded the bus and it was full! Normally I'm the first or second person on - which is great because the void allows me to grab the coveted single seat by the door - but no, today the bus was full and I got sandwiched between a couple morning commuters juggling their coffee and magazines.

Worse than the crowd, this morning, was the driver. I think he must have been a stand-in - you know, one of those drivers who "borrows" the license of a friend or family member to help bring in a day's pay. The entire ride he was talking on the cell phone, eating, and waving at friends on the street. Mm hm, safety first.

I'm not sure if I was on the 10 or 20 this morning - hey, it was before my morning venti - whatever it was, the ride ended with a big fat 0.

SAG Award?

This weekend was a bit bland which was perfect. It was rainy, cold, and mellow. I've joined a running group in San Francisco so this morning I de-PJ'd at the early hour of 9:45am to throw on running tights and shoes and make my way down to the warming green. We decided to do the "Planks" run which goes from Chrissy Field around the Presidio, past the beach, through the golf course, and back down to Chrissy Field. Somehow I decided to pace with the front group - big mistake - the front group is the fast group that consists of race winners and Boston Marathon qualifiers. Big mistake.

Now, in the lazy PM, I'm enjoying the dresses and shoes of the SAG awards.

Here's a sick question for you - when watching the awards, do you get excited for the winners, silently congratulating them and wishing them the best? Or do you feel for the losers silently wishing they won and beat those lucky winners? A mixture?

OK, enough philosophy. I'm off to plan a bus route.

The Marin Bus

Every day when I'm waiting for the bus, there's the nice new clean one, and mine. The NNCO is green and white - Golden Gate Transit - the "other one; " the orangish beige one, yeah, that's mine. The Marin bus is always filled with WSJ readers in suits and ties. Mine, is filled with the SFites on their way to the financial district - also in suits and ties, but in more grey and blue tones. I love it. My bus has hue.

When my #10 finally made it this morning, I climbed the stairs - change in hand, ready to pay my $1.50. Unfortunately, due to juggling my umbrella, coins, and WSJ (hey, I'm trying to keep up), I dropped the change all over the bus floor leading passengers to groan at having to take extra time to get on behind me.

OK, so maybe I'm an SFite, but I'm not a BUSite ... yet.

Hateful

This morning I again ventured down to the 10/20 bus stop, and again did my SF cool thang listening to the iPod reading the WSJ. The bus is getting more entertaining by the day, actually - people start forming relationships. The funny part is they're "bus relationships" where folks will say hi to each other or do the obligatory nod, but keep walking and sit in silence - bus etiquette.

After work I again walked home. Matt says I only half like the bus because I only take it one way - the reality is I just love soaking in the city but am too tired before my 4 cups of Starbucks.

Walking home today, though, made my heart hurt. I was on the border of China Town and Union Square area walking amidst the tourist financial district worker drone and hear shouting. Not one to pass up a good ism, I lowered my earphones and listened. A taxi drive clearly from Eastern Europe (the accent gave it away) had blocked in another car and was standing outside the door shouting at the driver to get out. When the driver finally emerged, the floodgates opened with cuss words and hateful words like I've never heard before. The taxi driver was shouting "You stupid, n(word) Asian! You talk English to me." At this point my stomach turned and all I wanted was to escape to the happy loving tones of Jack Johnson. The worst part, was the taxi drivers English was so broken and bad, that the other driver (who was Asian but that's it) couldn't understand him and kept asking him to repeat - which infuriated Mr. Meany even more.

Hateful taxi driver. I think that sometimes people get stressed out or others are mean to them, and they take it out on unsuspecting passers by. Not cool.

The 10

This morning I made it to Polk and North Point just as the 20 was taken off - bummer because at that moment the rain started kicking in. Boarding the bus I got one of the ultimate coveted seats - a single by the door. After taking my seat, I got a nasty surprise - the slit in the back of my skirt slid up so bare leg touched the seat - nasty! When I finally made it to the office I wanted to disinfect my entire body - now that I'm working in a cube, though, this wasn't an option.

Bus Daze

I've changed jobs and I must say I am thrilled. Now, I get to enjoy SF without having to dodge poor drivers coming in and leaving. I'm working in the financial district and, for lack of a better term, it's perfect. One "perk" of the job is I get to take the bus or walk. I've quickly come to learn that the buses in San Francisco give cause for daily stories with uncountable isms. Each bus route offers a new story, the plot of which pends on the route and time of day. So far I've only tried two buses:

• The 10: This bus picks me up on North Point and Polk and is one of the cleaner buses I've seen. It dodges China Town and drives along the water dropping suited financiers off in front of their buildings. My first ride on the 10 was wrought with tired looking people - it was Monday morning, not like anyone was going to be thrilled. A man got on the bus with his baby (a SF baby - you could tell by the calm) and the whole bus seemed to brighten - all the pinched finance faces and startup stress melting into baby face
• The 20: The 20 also picks me up on North Point and Polk. Friday I was the first to board the 20 which was a bit serene. Whipping out my WSJ (hey, when in Rome...), I put my iPod on to read and zone. The problem, is although I've lived here for too long now, I love driving through San Francisco - I want to absorb it all. So instead of absorbing the morning news, I took in sites of Broadway waking up and the coffee shops filling up.

Ah the bus.

To a Great '08!

This year for the first time we spent NYE in San Francisco. We didn't fare any of the clubs or red carpet events - ours was better - friends and good food.

In the morning Matt, Linz, Steve and I made our way to Phoenix Lake for a short hike. Afterwards, we were off to the market - the Berkeley Bowl. The Berkeley Bowl is a great market filled with the freshest veggies, fruits, and fish, and WAY too many people. I don't think I'll be frequenting it again, but it was an end of year needed adventure.

After stocking up on too much sushi fish and sake, we made it back to cook. OK, Steve and Brett cooked, we tested the rice crackers and Japanese snacks.

The countdown consisted of many toasts, resolutions I'm sure we'll keep (well, someone might keep one and that's good enough), dancing to Blue Grass (didn't really go with the sushi theme, but still perfect), and a toast with the TV.

Here's to a great 2008 filled with friends, family, great food, and more isms.