Here and There

Can anyone out there point me to studies done to determine how much gas is wasted and pollution emitted, in aggregate, from all the cars out there that needlessly idle?

Another concern I have is poorly designed traffic lights that lead to an abundance of cars stopping at many intervals of what should’ve been a simple drive. I see this in Texas a lot, with the green light on the street with no traffic for minutes on end, while the cars that are stopped by the red keep lining up.

But I see it here in San Francisco, too. On downtown’s one-way streets, especially.

This morning, I rode my bike to work a little earlier than normal, and noticed that the cars I was riding with were forced by red lights to stop at 11th, 10th, Ninth, Eighth, Seventh, and Sixth streets, before being granted a green light at Fifth. Seems very wasteful, in terms of energy and time, and all those unnecessary stops have got to be spewing an ungodly amount of emissions into the atmosphere.

Multiply all the stops at all the intersections of any given city by all the other towns across the country, and seems we’ve got a very fixable problem on our hands.

But I need data to back me up here. Anyone?

The bane of my existence.

Thx: Alexis

Ugh, don’t get me started on the SFfuckingPD. Last night, we decided pretty late in the evening to head over to Berkeley to stay at Tara’s place. I-80 was a construction nightmare. I won’t go into the astoundingly inept detour signage, but I do want to comment on what we both remarked at the time was an utterly ridiculous situation.

At various points in the off-the-highway route through SOMA, we noticed a surplus of SFPD police officers. At first, I was astounded that they’d be used at all, but then I remembered it’s probably a matter of jurisdiction (as in, at a certain point at the base of the offramp or somewhere, CalTrans’s authority ends and the local police’s begins). Fine, but why so many officers? The vast majority of them were literally standing there talking to one another. This was around 11:30 p.m., and we talked about how they could’ve been out patrolling, for example, the Mission, where surely there were muggings, shootings, possibly rapes and murders going down right in the streets.

Lo and behold, we got to Berkeley and found this story about a shooting in the Mission that killed one person and injured three. It happened sometime before 11:07, which is when the story was published.

Now, I realize the police can’t be everywhere all the time, but the fact is that a strong police presence deters crime. I never realized it more until I visited Buenos Aires last year. It was comforting to see so many uniformed officers out in the streets. I even asked one for directions at one point.

What was the force thinking having so many uniformed officers in SOMA last night, or any night for that matter? Who’s running things down there? Ugh.

My name is Tara, and I’ll be your guest blogger this afternoon. I beat out hordes of competitors for this gig by being almost as eloquent, yet about as indignant, as Here and There, of which I’ve been a fan for a while, now. Cheers, HaT, and thanks for the soapbox.

We are gathered here today thanks to this story on SF Gate. This time, SF City Hall is patting itself on the back over the so-called “Connected Bus” in its Muni arsenal. A vehicle that, once you finally board it 15 minutes late, allows you to connect to the internet and download music, porn, or whatever your pleasure is as you commute home. There is so much wrong with this idea, and here’s why.

1. $10,000-shmousand
This SuperBus apparently costs in the neighborhood of $10,000. I don’t care if it cost $10. Don’t hold news conferences to show off your urban transportation prowess if you can’t devote significant funding and time to fixing Muni’s problems, the most basic and largest one of them being on-time performance.

2. All that said, Muni is broke. According to this Feb. 15 SF Gate story:

“The San Francisco Municipal Railway has a ridership of nearly 700,000 a day, but has been unable to deliver the level of service that city voters demanded in 1999 when they required 85 percent on-time performance - a milestone that’s never been achieved. To make significant improvements, agency officials say they need between $100 million and $150 million more a year. That’s in addition to the agency’s annual operating budget of $687 million.”

If that means raising the cost of a monthly FastPass to $60 — something I am willing to pay, since governments run on taxes and fees, after all — so be it. However, even that increase would be a drop in the bucket, amounting to roughly $18 million per year. Raising the single-ride fare to $2 from $1.50 would bring in another $13 million to $14.8 million per year. They could maybe go for a voter-approved bond or tax increase if that option gains enough support. Or, maybe they could divert funding away from fancy-sounding staff positions in City Hall in order to aid the transportation system — something residents, tourists- and bridge-and-tunnelers alike use in some capacity every single day.

3. I’ve never seen anyone with a laptop on a Muni, unless it was the underground light-rail that goes right through downtown. Even rich urban people tend not to ride the bus, since, from a socio-economic standpoint, it’s still more of a lower-class thing to do in a city. These people, the ones with laptops and PDAs, won’t start doing riding the bus unless they’re on time, more frequent and become more comfortable.

Socio-economics aside, given the slippery seats, the constant vigilance in an attempt to stay unstabbed or unrobbed and the sometime raucous atmosphere, this is a horrible place to get any work or internetting done. Maybe, I don’t know, devoting money first to upgrading these mobile blight carriages would encourage more people, rich and poor, to ride them, cut down on unruly passengers, and make the drivers less pissed-off.

4. Luddite?
Before you tell me to untwist my granny panties, let me just say: I love the internet. I get anxious if I’m disconnected at home or at work, I actually do have a laptop (two, actually, if you count my work machine), and I’m upset that citywide wifi, and the resulting plethora of free access to information and services, isn’t more of a priority. Muni and access to wifi are both problems that need to be addressed, but smashing the two together and calling it progress sounds analogous to polishing a turd.

Yet another dollar got stuck in the soda machine here at work today. Someone now owes me either $3 or $4. I think I’ll be charging interest for the pain and distress involved.

To top it all off, I took my bills downstairs to Walgreens, where I was charged $1.02. Besides the outrageous pricing for a can of cola, the cashier wouldn’t give me the $0.02. Argh! Don’t get me started on pennies.

Just a quick quip (read: gripe) about a common construction in both written and spoken English: When people include “why” following “the reason.”

It’s just not necessary. And I’d honestly enjoy being pointed to a contradictory example.

“The reason why the sun rises in the east …”

Does anyone know of a phone out there whose screen stays on the entire time a call is in progress? Seems absurd, I realize. Annoying as fuck, also. But no phone I’ve ever had performs this simple function, which of course would allow the user to a) tell time, b) browse text messages, c) access contact info, all while also taking a call.

I’ve asked many friends and coworkers, and no one seems to have a phone that does this. Do you know of one?

There are only two types of people in this world:

* those who turn door knobs
* those who do not turn door knobs

Can you guess which I am, and which is a pet peeve?

Okay, enough. I’ve had enough. Enough of these Mission hipsters walking around with their hoods on. Why? Stop that!

What are your least favorite things to talk about?

Mine are, in no specific order, the following:

Music (specifically when people make you answer the worst question in the world, “What kind of music do you listen to?”)
Diet (when people basically use conversation to advertise what and how they eat. Diet is personal. Keep it to yourself, please)
College (as in, “What school did you go to?” Does anyone really care?)
Tattoos (sorry, they don’t mean anything)
Sports (yeah, I’m just so not interested)
Dreams (not always. When your dreams involve my doing entertaining things, I’m all ears. Otherwise, I’m bored and probably just nodding my head. Also, I’d guess that only one in 25 or so are compelling.)
Astrology (does this need a qualifier? As a former industry insider … well, never mind.)
Babies (I’m no baby hater. Just find them boring, usually. Or at least, talk about them.)

Why is it when you mention John Edwards, many people’s first reaction is something along the lines of, “Yeah, he’s okay, but I don’t like trial lawyers.”???

Where do people get off dismissing an entire profession, especially one with as much diversity as the generic term “trial lawyer” implies?

Rather than enumerate Edwards’s notable achievements as a “trial lawyer,” I recommend you read this.

Okay, fine, if you don’t believe people and corporations in power, first, have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their goods and services, and second, should be held legally liable in cases wherein those goods and services cause permanent harm, and if you enjoy generalizing across a broad spectrum of society, then I’ll allow you this slight.

Otherwise, think about such blanket statements before you say them.

Let me say LOUDLY, once and for all:

1) I do not care that Nancy Pelosi is the first female Speaker of the House. I do care that there was a transfer of power in Congress, and that the general gist of the ideas behind that transfer may put an end to the dangerous ideas and actions of the Bush Administration.

2) I do not care that Hillary Clinton could become the first female major party candidate for president in 2008. Regardless of the triviality behind that notion, Hillary Clinton pretty much sucks.

3) I do not care that Barack Obama could become the first African-American major party candidate for president in 2008. Regardless of the triviality behind that notion, Obama would be a great president, black, white, brown, yellow, purple, male, female.

Sorry if I sound bitter. I’m just a little tired of being patronized with questions like, “Isn’t it about time we had a (black, female) (president, speaker of the House)?” Such an idiotic question doesn’t even merit a response. And speaking of merits, what happened to judging public officials based on their ideas and actions, not something inherent and ultimately of little or no consequence, like race and/or gender?

I’m annoyed.

…to ignore the urge to post, that is.

Last week’s second round of “Spare the Air Days” in the Bay Area saw a vastly increased ridership, and much relief for commuters, both in the way of a repsite from the heat and a kindness toward the pocketbook rarely exhibited by a system like BART.

But on one of the three free transit days, I don’t recall which, I ran into enough annoyances to make me reconsider whether Spare the Air was worth it. My slew of troubles went something like this: a crowd of slow-walkers (very, very slow) stood three-across going down the stairs on the south side of Market into the Powell station. Didn’t anyone ever teach these people the law of lanes? Then, once I freed myself from the descending congregation, I arrived at the turnstiles (whose gates were left permanently open all day), only to find them, all seven or eight of them, blocked by sedentary wonderers. That’s not a typo. These people weren’t “wandering.” They may not even have been “wondering,” but rather, were simply standing there, blocking the entire bank of entryways.

It should’ve come as no surprise, then, when I got to the down escalator only to find it mostly blocked by, again, standers. Fuck it, I thought, and started walking in the left lane anyway. As I descended close enough to see that my train was sitting there with its doors open, I opened my mouth and “excuse me”s started flying all over the place. Once I realized I could (barely) make it to my train, I turned around, and the last human obstruction got to hear “You should stand on the right side” issue forth from my lips.

The last detail: Arriving at 19th St. in Oakland, one of whose up escalators is a single-lane model, I walked briskly toward said escalator to find it (you guessed it) filled, literally, with standing bodies. The last straw.

I haven’t even touched upon how crowded, stinky, loud, and hot the trains were on free days. I realize that earlier in this post I mentioned the trains being a relief from the unusually warm weather. If only that were the case. Many cars’ AC units weren’t functioning. That, or the volume of human bodies sucked all the oxygen and refrigerated air from the compartment.

I bring all this up now that it’s cooled down some and the air quality agency funding free transit has run out of money to support any more this year, only because I read this on SFGate.

Yes, Spare the Air should be for commuters only (despite the fact that such an arrangement would cut me, keeper of odd working hours, out). And yes, ultimately, public transportation should be free (or a lot cheaper). But how about something really resembling security? Since 9/11 I haven’t noticed any increase in any kind of security measures, other than no longer having restrooms, and the absence of trash cans on the train platforms, both of which I’m sure are keeping the most sinister of thugs and terrorists from their wares.

Enough of my bitching. True, any kind of inter-city commuting in the Bay Area usually involves BART (or its counterpart, CalTrain), so we don’t have much of a choice but to use the system. Still, it sure could use a fresh look at many of its operating procedures. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t call you back.”

“Oh god, I totally forgot I was supposed to be there.”

“Yeah, I just never got around to it.”

“It’s true, I haven’t posted in forever. For this I am eternally sorry.”

The “busy” excuse is a euphemism. It translates roughly as “you (whether a person or activity) mean less to me than whatever else it is I was doing or tending to.”

It can also speak for a scatterbrain syndrome, in which the guilty party is simply too engulfed in too many activities to properly attend to others. There’s only so much room in the mental queue. Sometimes the mind pushes aside what it doesn’t deem vital, and in such cases, those items often disappear from the mental radar.

But it’s crap, really. It can be said to be indicative of a failure to prioritize, a failure to attempt to manage things. There are way too many devices and programs to help us remember things these days. There just also happens to be too little discipline. I speak for myself here.

Okay, so that’s my comment for the day. I use my own inability to post regularly to Here and There as a segue (I still love that word) to talking about something that bugs me: the busy excuse. No matter how true (and in this case, let me just state for the record that it’s the whole truth), it just shouldn’t slide.

So I resolve to be more diligent about posting. Trifles or no, minutiae it may have to be. I hope you enjoy.

I’d like to register a gripe, a complaint, a pet peeve, a semi-major annoyance. Or two.

1) People who don’t bus their dishes at cafés and restaurants.

Sorry everybody, this is just plain wrong. You see the gray tub over in the corner, right by the condiment/salsa bar. Or maybe it’s parked up by the register, where you just ordered your drink. Either way, if you’re in a normal, low-key, mostly self-service place, chances are there’s a bus tub, and it’s begging you to take your dishes to it.

It’s only fair. The people working there are going to come out and wipe down your table, granted. But they’re human. They’ve only got two hands, whereas you’ve got…oh, right.

But still, how hard is it to walk your plate over? Please do this.

2) People who don’t bag their own groceries.

How many times have I stood in line behind someone with a huge shopping cart full of groceries, only to get to the check-out and stand there twiddling their thumbs as the cashier scans and scans and scans and the stuff piles up and the customer is still standing there idly? Well, too many times is the answer.

The bags (paper and plastic) are typically waiting right there. It’s not too much trouble, trust me. It gets the job done faster, and I’m a huge fan of expedition. It relieves the extra work it would take for the workers, freeing them up to help, well, the people who actually aren’t so able to do the job themselves.

So…bagging and bussing. Please take a moment next time you’re at your favorite café or grocery store and pitch in.