Thanks, Visitor, for the info re Kilkenny's! I'll be sure to check it out.
Patiodog, you mean to say the homeless wander across Aurora? Man, that's a self-imposed death sentence if I ever heard of of one...
Absolutely. Kind of a game -- look, I can have an effect on the world; I can stop traffic -- but not the best place to play it. Granted, it is a little refreshing sometimes next to the general slavish obeisance of the walk/don't walk signal...
I know what you mean. I've seen people jaywalking blithely (and slowly) in the busiest intersections, and I wonder, how does he survive even one hour if this is how he operates? It's quite impressive, when you think about it...
That is standard in the valley (San Fernando Valley, outside of L.A.), not just for disturbed homeless people. It's machismo, or something -- yes, I know that several tons of steel is hurtling towards me, but I shall not so much as glance at it as I mosey on across the busy thoroughfare. EVERYONE does it. Drove me crazy.
I'm a big fan of cross-when-you-can-but-move-your-ass-while-you-do-it. Guess I'm a child of central California's ethos of no crosswalks and speeding drivers.
As long as the ass is moving I'm fine with it. Madison, which is ruled by pedestrians and bikers, is the same way. It's the molasses-in-January mosey that gets me riled.
Ponderous Madison driving had me dangerously close to road rage while I was there...
I've seen people amble aimlessly across the street, impeding buses. And these aren't the crazies I'm talking about. Makes my blood boil.
Yeah, I never really drove in Madison. I did go eye to bloodshot eye with many rageous drivers, though, as I moved my ass but crossed where I wanted. Especially in a swarm -- drivers don't like swarms.
I consider Madison's car-unfriendliness a virtue, but that is probably rather influenced by the fact that I got my driver's license a matter of months before I left, after having lived there for 8 years.
Yeah, exactly, D'art.
Hey, I'm not saying I was in the right; just that I was raised to think and drive fast and they, um, weren't.
Oh, the drivers were slow. Gotcha.
just a petty and dangerous pet peeve of mine.
driving in italy, i thought i'd died and gone to heaven. they've got the instinct for self-organization on that there A1, they do, and at high speeds, too...
do they have deadliest highways? think i'll have a look-see...
On the other hand, I've been to places where you take your life in your hands if you dare cross the street at any time and at any speed. Take, Long Island, please: Returned to my native turf some years ago and was briskly crossing the road--at a crosswalk--when a car roared up to me. The driver wasn't as mean as I'd expected; just told me to be more careful! This all happened on a downtown street with lots of shops...
So a couple of years ago, as I was driving from north north california to south south california, I took my favorite route through San Francisco, that is, over the Golden Gate to 19th Avenue to the 280 through the beautiful peninsula.
My car died at 19th and Ocean, I think it was. I spent the rest of the weekend in town, don't ask, and had the car break down in Santa Barbara once and Los Angeles three times, leaving me with a nice credit card debt of about 2600. It was something to do with the computer, and not the first thing at the first place. Anyway, I lived through various exciting episodes which I won't recount here.
However, today's SF Chronicle has a giant photo on the front page about a hit and run on 19th and I think Quintana, an apparent terrible intersection, I gather the worst in the city. I remember, I had a dead car in the #1 lane just entering the intersection I got stuck in, a few blocks past that. Thump, thump, thump goes the heart.
My memory of that was the fear that I would have some speeding car charge into mine, thump thump thump goes the heart some more.. Luckily a guy in a van helped push my car to the side, no easy maneuver.
So I am wondering...why again do we all go so fast? We keep relearning that crashes are terrible, and yet we don't seem to believe it.
Perhaps stricter enforcement would help!
I recently heard from a city traffic engineer that 25% of pedestrian injuries in Seattle are of the hit-and-run variety. Why? Because many (most?) of those drivers have suspended licenses and/or are uninsured. Not a pretty picture!
My impression of San Francisco is that most of the haste (even mad fast me can't stand the approach to the GGB) comes from the commuting mentality: I've consigned myself to a boring, unchallenging life, and I have to spend two and a half hours in my car every day, so I will make that experience challenging and interesting to make up for the dullness at work and the dullness at home. San Francisco is a much happier place if you ditch the car and walk where you're going (all those beautiful hills, funky restaurants, those dirty sidewalks underneath those chalk-white buildings whose floors all seem to slant toward the back). SF is a bus/streetcar/pedestrian town, not a car town.
Viz and I had our first internet friend lunch date today! I had such a nice time -- she introduced me to a new Asian restaurant in town, which was divine! The food was great, the atmosphere was great (they even had japanese language lessons playing on the intercom in the bathroom) and the company was joyful. Thanks for suggesting it, Viz! Can't wait to meet up again soon.
Fait accompli. So often the anticipation is better than the event itself. Looks like you had a great time. I am so happy for you. Hugs and kisses.
We had a wonderful lunch! Went longer than I planned, but it was definitely worth it. LibertyD is good company! We'll get together again, and next time we'll bring the guys, okay? (big guys or small guys, either way would be fun...)
Glad you enjoyed the restaurant! (Did you get the chance to peek in the room with the carved temple wall? Quite spectacular...)
