Where can I?

Get glaucoma? That seems to be one easy way to get a med-weed card. Can I just claim it or is there an available ersatz doc around that can see me? I can feel it coming on... My eyesight isn't what it once never was so why should I wait? Give it to me now! I promise that I won't drive, can't see at night anyway, and in fact I'll not leave the house. I hear these clubs are now delivering.

I wonder though that if I call the pot club for a delivery, will they then have the pizza guy call me a while later with a special? That would be a real business model. Joe's pot and pizza. Get me an angel investor and we will get rich. The pizza can just be cheap crap since once the stoner devours it he won't remember anyway. Call 1-800-give-me your money for details on your own franchise.

Remember, if you dig a hole big enough, they will jump into it!

Soup with meat

I've been reading Mandela's biography "Long Walk to Freedom" and it's been a continuing source of inspiration. In 1955 the Congress of the People was formed that included Black, Indian, Coloured and White groups. This was a very early attempt to fight back against the white government's oppression. (which was to get much worse as time went on) Their founding meeting was broken up by the authorities and in the chaos the police even took the signs directing delegates to the meals appropriate to their cultures. They said:

Soup with Meat
Soup without Meat

Almost two years later, in January 1957, these signs were entered as evidence in the trial of Mandela and the ANC leadership on charges of treason. They all were released this time but were caught up again later. The signs were supposed to be evidence of the attempt by the group to break up the country into dissident groups and thus overthrow the ruling powers.

To me, the confiscation of the signs are clear evidence of an insecure paranoid organization that was making sure that no one had any independent (hence dangerous) thoughts. Since an organization like this has no rational argument to justify it's defensive behavior it reacts by lashing out at anything different from itself. I think you can see this happening around the world all the time. Too bad we all can't do better.

Superficial glitter?

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI decried the increasing commercialization of Christmas as he celebrated Christmas Eve Mass on Saturday night, urging the faithful to look beyond the holiday's "superficial glitter" to discover its true meaning.

Benedict presided over the service in a packed St. Peter's Basilica, kicking off an intense two weeks of Christmas-related public appearances that will test the 84-year-old pontiff's stamina amid signs that fatigue is starting to slow him down.

Huh? I guess he's more comfortable with the real glitter that is St. Peter's in Rome. Gold and marble everywhere, not superficial at all. It's realficial.

I know the pope is stuck between years of history and layers of bureaucracy, but who decided what year everything had to be stuck and never changed again. Wouldn't it be cool to see him wearing a t-shirt? Like maybe "I'm the Pope." lettered on the front. Or how about "Jesus Rules and I'm with Him"?

Merry Christmas everyone!

From the front

Please contact me if you haven't received your key(s) yet. Message follows:

Fb Wbfrcu nyfb jrag hc sebz gur gbja bs Anmnergu va Tnyvyrr gb Whqrn, gb Orguyrurz gur gbja bs Qnivq, orpnhfr ur orybatrq gb gur ubhfr naq yvar bs Qnivq. Ur jrag gurer gb ertvfgre jvgu Znel, jub jnf cyrqtrq gb or zneevrq gb uvz naq jnf rkcrpgvat n puvyq

Merry Christmas to all.

Silver Bells

Well, not really but a memorable Christmas memory anyway. Someone had dumped a bunch of popcorn, like a couple tubs worth, at the fare gates in the Bart station yesterday. Didn't slow us herd of commuters much but a different feeling underfoot. The poor guy with a broom looked pretty overwhelmed, the agent sat in her cube ignoring everything as usual.

The trouble with popcorn in this situation is that it gets more and more finely ground and harder to pick up. I can only wonder who had it and how it dropped? Reminds me of a memory from years ago, you remember bean bag chairs? On Locust street, in front of the plastics store I watched a guy try to shove a plastic bag of beans into the passenger seat of his small British sports convertible. MGB perhaps?

The bag broke and the beans filled up the cabin to the top of the doors. As it was starting to spill over and blow away I continued my stroll down the street.

PDT 11/150 and kids

Look at these cute kids, what's not to love. But this picture caught my eye for another reason. A couple vintage computer items that I've long lost. Picture circa 1987.

On the left, a H19 Heathkit terminal that I built from a kit. Next to that a VT100 with a modem on top, Racal? On the far right my beloved PDT 11/150. Two 8 inch floppy drives that made a horrible clatter in operation.

To complete the story, I paid $500 for the H19 kit, bought at the store on Middlefield Road in Menlo Park, CA. The Vt100 was a loaner from my then current employer, Relational Technology Inc, makers of Ingres. The PDT was free from my local DEC sales guy, but I paid another $500 for the UCSD P-system to run it.

For those of you who would like to grab this stuff, sorry too late. I sold it all for a couple years later for $40. The kids are all mine, no matter how grown up they are.

Patty Dunn

Dead today at age 58. You may have heard bad about her in relation to various HP scandals but I knew her different. When she was our President at Wells Fargo Nikko Investment advisors I couldn't have been treated better. I was the guy who showed up to look at her VAX station and crawl under the desk to check the cables.

In the few meetings that we were both in, she treated us all with respect and listened to what was being said. She started as a clerk/typist at Wells and her obvious talent took her to the top. Rest in peace, Patty.

The news sources have always labeled her as Patricia, she will always be Patty to me.

Vettel wins F1 championship though Weber takes Brazil

The points race was over a couple races ago but I'm sure Vettel wanted this last victory of the season. However, plagued by transmission problems the team waved Weber into the lead about halfway through the race. Vettel still got second and thoroughly enjoyed his romp on the podium and his well deserved second championship.

Red Bull racing seems to have come from nowhere to suddenly arrive at the top, but in fact it's been a steady climb starting in 2005. That's when the drink company purchased the remains of Jaguar racing from Ford for a symbolic $1. Each year, the cars were better and better until 2010 when they won their first championship.

To my mind the season was marred by the recent addition of 4 new synthetic tracks. China, Korea, India, and Abu Dhabi are lifeless fakes with few spectators. The joke this year regarding the Korea facility was that when the teams arrived this year it looked like after last years race everyone had just left. There was supposedly food still in the fridge leftover from the year before. The location in India was blanketed with smog from nearby Mumbai. I wonder how they got the cows out of the infield?

Bahrain's race was mercifully killed off due to civil unrest. Ecclestone commented about the prospects for the new Austin, TX race as being hampered by "No track and no money". At least I think that's what he said, Bernie was turning away from the camera at the time.

Mogashshu

Hitting the beach in Mogadishu after Islamist withdrawal

By Mohamed Moalimu BBC Africa, Mogadishu

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Welcome to tough, unpredictable Mogadishu
• Can Somalia's Islamist militants retake Mogadishu?
• Memories of Mogadishu before the anarchy

For the first time in years, Lido beach in Somalia's war-town capital, Mogadishu, is packed on Fridays - a day of rest in the Muslim country - as families take advantage of the improved security to enjoy themselves.

It is a sign of the cautious optimism that has gripped Mogadishu since the militant Islamist group al-Shabab announced a "tactical withdrawal" from the city in August, following fierce battles with the 9,000-strong African Union (AU) force and government troops.

Since taking control of most of the city, which has been devastated by more than two decades of conflict, the AU and the weak interim government have been waging a publicity campaign to urge residents to resume their normal lives.

When I visited the beach, hundreds of people were there, playing, swimming or watching a basketball game at a nearby stadium.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

My house was partially destroyed during the fighting but I am going to repair it”

End Quote Ahmed Mohamud Mogadishu resident

"I'm very happy to be here and I say: 'congratulations to my country', one reveller, Mustafa Abdullahi, said.

Living in Sweden, Mr Abdullahi was visiting his family in Mogadishu.

"My father is sick but he used to advise me not to come. Now that the situation seems to be improving I decided to come," he said.

Somalia's Defence Minister Hussein Arab Isse - who is also one of three deputy prime ministers - was at the basketball game.

"It is a truly unbelievable feeling for me to be here, in the middle of Mogadishu, to witness this event," he told the BBC.

The optimism is found across Mogadishu, with aid workers estimating that 300,000 people previously displaced by the conflict have returned to their homes in recent months.

The city has also seen an influx of people who fled the famine in al-Shabab controlled areas of the south, resulting in more foreign aid workers - including those from Turkey - basing themselves in Mogadishu.

Door-to-door salesmen

Residents are renovating bullet-riddled homes and getting together to clean roads and prune overgrown trees.

"Thanks to Allah and those who allowed us to come back," said Ahmed Mohamud, a resident of Bondhere district, who had rented a house elsewhere during the conflict.

"My house was partially destroyed during the fighting but I am going to repair it."

Two decades of conflict has destroyed many buildings in Mogadishu

This has led to a boom in business, with water and electricity companies sending representatives door-to-door to sign up new customers.

Some people - like Amina Hassan, a mother of five - cannot afford to renovate her home, but she is determined to live in it.

"I am struggling, but we are so happy to return to our house," she said.

"Step-by-step, things will improve, if peace is gained."

Continue reading the main story

Mogadishu: Perpetual war zone

• 1990: Rebel forces enter
• 1991: President Siad Barre flees
• 1992: UN peacekeepers deployed
• 1993: Peacekeepers withdraw after US and Pakistani soldiers killed
• Control of city divided between rival warlords
• 2006: Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) takes power
• Ethiopian troops enter later in the year to overthrow UIC
• 2007: African Union (AU) force deployed
• 2009: Ethiopian troops withdraw
• August 2011: Al-Shabab announces "tactical withdrawal"

Mogadishu's two biggest markets - Bakara and Suq Bacaad, once shelled and bombed - are also bustling, with shops and stalls reopening.

"Fighting crippled our business in the last few years but now it seems to be reviving," said Suq Bacaad trader Hasan Ahmed.

The government has opened a police station in the market, while troops also patrol the area.

But with al-Shabab - estimated to have between 7,000 and 10,000 fighters - still in tact, Mr Ahmed does not rule out conflict erupting again.

"It depends how the government manages security," he told the BBC.

With the government having no proper army or police force, it is almost entirely dependent on AU troops to hold on to the territory it controls.

AU commanders say they need 20,000 soldiers to secure the city - more than double their current complement of 9,000.

The troops are from Uganda and Burundi, with other countries having failed, over the years, to fulfil promises to bolster the force.

Cycling

In the latest promise, neighbouring Djibouti and the West African state of Sierra Leone have offered to send 3,000 troops by the end of the year, while Kenya - which launched military action in al-Shabab's southern strongholds last month - says it is also prepared to contribute to the AU force.

Al-Shabab controls most southern areas outside Mogadishu

"In case a request is made, Kenya will avail a few of its battalions [made up of about 1,000 soldiers each] to join Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti to help keep the peace in Somalia," Kenya's Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula told the BBC.

Since announcing its "tactical withdrawal", al-Shabab has carried out two major suicide bombings in Mogadishu, killing more than 60 people.

The attacks suggest that while al-Shabab is no longer prepared to clash with the better armed AU and government forces, it is continuing to wage guerrilla warfare in the city.

One of the explosions took place last month at the busy Kilometre Four crossroads.

Despite this, a few weeks ago, I spotted a Turkish aid worker cycling there - a highly unusual sight in Mogadishu.

He may have been foolish, but it showed that Mogadishu is, for now, mostly peaceful.

giblet gravy

While the turkey is roasting, rinse the giblets and neck and simmer in salted water about 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until tender, adding the liver the last 30 minutes. Save the broth. Remove the meat from the neck and chop fine along with giblets to use in making the gravy.

To make lump free gravy, pour 1 cup of cold milk into a jar that has a tight lid. Add 1/2 cup of flour on top of the milk, cover quickly and shake well to smooth mixture of the milk and flour.

Use the broth from the giblets and enough milk to make 3 cups of liquid. Pour into roasting pan, heat and scrape the loosen brown bits. Slowly add flour mixture. Add salt and pepper. Stir and cook until thickened. Add chopped giblets and heat to serve.

Still employed

At least for today. My management, who are remaining and wondering about their own role still cannot answer the simplest questions. Like what's happening tomorrow?

It was weird going to the hotel in a black Bauer van, lots of jokes about gas chambers and such. Even in a very plush van. On the way back to the office, one of our crowd asked for some music. The result was a blasting Mexican polka, and hilarious bursts from us all. Not sure why, maybe because our status would soon be in that demographic.

Today's the day

I get fired or not. Should I do my normal duties or just sit around and wait for it? Then let them figure out what needs doing? I think I'll do the minimum to keep some customers happy that I've grown to like.

If any management types show up, I'll pose the yearly question. When do we print the statements? Normally done on Thursday, but that will be thanksgiving (for what?) I'll let the new masters try to figure that out. It will be Wednesday but it will be fun to watch them spin around and try to figure it out.

Wish me luck.

I just got outsourced

Yes siree bob! They call us into a meeting on Wednesday after lunch which consisted of "Please report downstairs to the shuttle bus". On the bus, we were taken a few blocks away to a local hotel and led up to a meeting room.

Oh boy, the same old crap. Leverage, synergy, blah, blah, blah... I can't even begin to remember the buzz. It's all good, the future is bright and even if you don't keep your job it's all good. Gag me with a spoon as the punks used to say. ( think it's actually a Zappa lyric ). Then yesterday I had my interview for to keep my own job that I just got a top rating in the annual review. Gag me again.

I'd like to keep my job, if nothing else just to prove I can. Unfortunately, this company just helped us through a major upgrade of their product that featured a four month delay and then two full days of downtime this week. Microsoft based and dependable as windows. No understanding of version compatibility, just do the upgrade and suffer. I'm only now hearing how the Doc's are so pissed off in the field.

It seems the MD's are in the habit of putting a book on the space bar of their PC to keep from getting timed out of the session and having to go through the laborious (and error prone) process of logging in again. In one reported incident, a Doc was so frustrated that he took his stapler and slammed it down onto the keyboard and left the room. Our guy on site was advised to "just leave' by a staff member.

So Monday I get to find out if I can keep my job under the new regime. As I said, I'd like to keep it so I can quit on my own. The transition period is until January 1st. Then as I hear it, they will lower my salary and keep me or fire me anyway. After making me train my replacement over these next two months.

From Frank Zappa's Valley Girl

Encino is like so bitchen
There's like the galleria
And like all these like really great shoe stores
I love going into like clothing stores and stuff
I like buy the neatest mini-skirts and stuff
Its like so bitchen cuz like everybodys like
Super-super nice...
Its like so bitchen...
...
Its like barf me out...
Gag me with a spoon!

Whoo hoo! (my addition)

What I want to do

This week, my family left town and went to Dallas. Why? I could never understand why anyone would go to Dallas but there it is. I figured I would be all set with setting my own schedule (except for work of course) and enjoying my own time off with complete control of the TV clicker.

Sitting here tonight after a week of "complete control" I realize what a joke it is. I have been free to check out any TV channel I want, even NASCAR !. But guess what, these channels are not sending to me what I want, they are sending to me what they want to send to me. I can only choose between different imposed messages.

So my TV choices are not about what I want at all. They are merely choices between different things someone has created to send to me. If I choose ESPN then Coors sends me their message, if I choose monster truck racing then some shock company sends their message. It's making my head explode!

I've got to get out of this culture. What can I do for myself that is not directed by one of these companies? I've got to think on this one, I've got to get free.

Third worldification

Another sighting in the heart of suburbia.

I was sort of astounded this afternoon while parking at Trader Joe's (picture wide open expanses of asphalt) to see a man methodically working his way from tree to tree in the lot. I wondered, what the heck was he doing? Upon observation, I realized he was picking olives.

Those small decorative trees that the architect had specified between the rows were actually olive trees. My mind flashed back a couple hundred years to when the Spanish settlers had planted olives, some of those old trees were still producing. Yeah, but now it's the 21st century, and who knows what to do with olives picked raw like that anyway. There's a whole brine process involved to make them become what we think of as fit for eating.

When I lived in West Africa it was no surprise to see women gathering food (giant snails) in vacant grassy lots downtown. But this is not Africa, it's Walnut Creek for goodness sake! But we have people living in the interstices that have brought with them the knowledge to gather and process wild food and will do it no matter what the context. I guess the 21st century context doesn't really matter if your attitude is to see food and go get it. Doesn't he care about the Greek debt crisis?

Why do I care about Greece?

I see on the news this morning that in Greece there is (another) general strike protesting the cuts the government is making. The cuts are being made based on demands that the Greek government reduce spending in return for bailout money from other EU countries to try to prop up their banking system.

That's all sort of fancy talk, what has really happened? Greece joined the EU a while ago and started using the euro for it's currency (2002). Meanwhile the Greek government was running up huge deficits for salaries and pensions for civil servants, meaning government workers and everyone else under the sun. Being a Euro based economy meant that getting loans was easy. Now it's time to pay off the debt, and there isn't any money to do that. The EU has promised to pay off and delay some of the debt payments if Greece gets it's budget more in balance. These cuts are effecting Greeks who have become entitled to the money that's been coming in, so they are going on strike.

On the one hand, the ordinary Greek citizen that has been receiving government money feels put upon when it gets reduced. On the other hand the Greek government has been giving out money like crazy to get reelected and keep the citizens contented. The first round of cuts was May 2010 and now we're right back in the same place.

So who's to blame? The government that gave out the money or the citizens that demanded it? It's bread and circuses all over again. As the ancient Roman emperors had to support huge bakeries to supply the bread and put on the spectacular shows to entertain the masses, the modern politicians are also giving out the money and the citizens are demanding it in return for political support.

It doesn't look to me like this is a supportable system. Unfortunately for the Greek workers, the bankers keep good books. If the money was lent out, then they want it back. The bankers of the bankers will keep demanding the money back even if there is none. At this point the bankers need to be convinced that they can't get their money back without destroying the system. They will have to take a loss and it will have to be painful if the ordinary Greeks are willing to put up with their own pain.

Spending public money

You know what really gets me, when a government agency (or charity) that has been pleading for funds gets a new makeover. In Contra Costa County, the animal services agency is always after money. Used to be known as the pound. I drove by there last Saturday and there were a bunch of new flags hanging off the light poles. Labeled "Animal Services". This is not like a place where people driving by will see the signs and get in to donate. There are very few passerbys, this is across the street from the sewage plant after all, out in northern Contra Costa county at the end of the creeks that go into the bay.

If you want to donate, please check here. The shelter does good work, no doubt but I wonder. When I drive by on Saturday morning, the most striking feature is the "night depository". Like for a bank I guess where you can drop off a bag into a secure place. But is this case, it's a wall of stainless steel doors of various sizes. I guess for the cat, a small door will do. "See you later fluffy!" as you slam the door behind her. For the larger doors maybe you will be hoisting the big galoot in and hoping he's too tired to care. "Later, Adoph!"

The numbers for the shelter are really disturbing. So many killed and few saved. Total intake last year 15596. Returned to owner 2065. Killed 15442. These are listed as owner/guardian requested but I think if there is no guardian then the county becomes the guardian and requests the kill.

I guess the most disturbing thing is the bright new flags in front of this house of death. I don't see any point in it, but I may be wrong since Maddie's fund is throwing around money right and left to shelters. But I must say, a flag never saved a puppy or kitten at least that I know of.

Walk for this and that

I was out on my bike yesterday after a long time but it felt good. Along the canal trail I expect kids and dogs and strollers and the usual congestion of a Saturday morning and I'm OK with that. This time there were some signs along the way that said something like: Walk with Jerry for... well, something.

I was wondering if Jerry Lewis had a new thing going or what. There were a few people in yellow tee shirts with similar slogans at the intersections but they weren't doing much. In fact I startled a young girl along the path as I went by. Something enthralling on the iphone it seems.

I went out to my usual turn around and then came back the other way. Now there were bunches of these folks coming towards me. Some like the picture above, carrying jerry cans. Huh?

Their route on the path was just a couple blocks so I was soon clear of them. Except the professional looking photographer who was standing in the middle of the path with her back to me taking a shot of the oncoming walkers. Hello! Not a good idea to have you back to traffic leaning down and sticking your butt out to get the shot for your client! I yelled at her as I went by.

When I got home, I looked it up and it seems this group is raising money for clean water in Africa. That's a pretty good cause, but not always a good use of your money. The best thing they can do is a simple well, with a hand pump that provides clean water. Some of these overly ambitious water projects that use an electric pump with no certain source of the power are just a big boondoggle.

The jerry can idea is based on the fact that often these plastic containers are often used in Africa to transport water and not just in rural areas. Seems a little weird to me to carry an empty can for a couple miles in suburban California to collect some money. How about the African who gets out there with a 20l plastic jerry can full of water to bring back to the house when you're a 12 year old girl? That's the reality, and then wash the clothes when you get home.

It might be simpler to just find the right charity and give them some money. Except in this world of donor fatigue (yes, that's a word) charities need to come up with new gimmicks all the time. I wonder is we can come up with a simpler way?

Harrison Street

Maybe named after President Harris but considered more likely to commemorate Henry A. Harrison, who was a member of the Ayuntamiento, or Town Council, in 1849-50, and a member of the pioneer mercantile firm of DeWitt & Harrison.

The city directory of 1850 lists:

Harrison, Henry A., of Dewitt & Harrison, com. merchant, San b P and Bdway .

The second street is most probably Broadway, but what's San b p? I'm guessing Sansome, since between the current Broadway tunnel and what was then the shoreline that's the only street name at all close. Also the advertisement mentioned here from the "Alta California" in 1849 lists photographic equipment for sale at the store on Sansome street.

The store is also mentioned as being in operation in 1848 in a nearly deserted city. More mention of Dewitt here than Harrison however, but the scene of a town developing into a city is quite compelling. In 1899 Dewitt's obituary ran in the New York times and listed Harrison as a "business friend".

In this transcript of an oral history interview Harrison is mentioned only is passing as having "died or something" after the store was founded and a Mr. Kittle took over as partner. This link to a New York historical society newsletter lists the store address more exactly at 187 Sansome street which would put it at Pine street. That sounds more like where the city was at that time, I wonder if the numbering system changed along the way? And sure enough, in 1861 the numbers were redone starting everything at Market street and heading north and south from there. Now again, looking at other addresses in the guide, I think the store address can be decoded as Sansome, between Broadway and Pine.

Harrison street is another of those SOMA routes that takes a big bend southward after crossing Tenth street and peters out in Bernal heights. Not much in the way of restaurants or entertainment listed on Harrison, but I can recommend the (relatively) cheap and convenient parking lots between Bryant and Harrison at Second street, under the freeway. Noisy but dry enough to provide a bedroom for the two to four vagrants that I walk by every morning.

Bryant Street

To my point of view the first of the real SOMA streets, it's south of the freeway, at the top of Rincon hill and the beginning of the downward slide to the bay. Named for Edwin Bryant an early settler and newspaperman. He came across the plains from Independence, Missouri in 1846 as a Second Lieutenant in John Fremont’s expedition. (more about Fremont when we get to his street). Appointed the successor of Washington A. Bartlett as the second American Alcalde in February 1847.

As Alcalde he started the layout of the city grid with Montgomery street along the waterfront. Today's is quite a bit inland but still historic what with being my preferred BART station and all. The next Alcalde George Hyde had all the lots surveyed and then sold off over the next few months.

After his California adventure, Bryant returned to the "East". There he wrote and published "What I saw in California". Bryant's book describing his journey and California became the guide for the later Argonauts (gold seekers) who traveled the overland route and was updated with maps and mining information by the publishers. It makes for very interesting reading today when the landscape he described has mostly disappeared. Elk in Elk Grove? Today only in the name.

For me personally, Bryant street is where my Dad had his own business. Known as Power Mac supposedly because the lawyer that was registering the name had abbreviated Power Machinery on his notepad it was a great joy to us kids and sometimes more of a worry to Father. The address was 1999 Bryant which is way out west almost under highway 101. There is still some state money there to be claimed if you can prove you are owed it.

Dirty Harry had a scene or two on Bryant street since the county (city) jail is there. Whoops! Should have been termed the Hall of Justice. "Do you feel lucky?"

Here's a 1906 earthquake photo between Bryant and Brannan.

South Park, the real park.

When I first arrived in the SOMA scene in 2000 this was still a pretty disreputable area that had started out with gold rush bravado, gone along and then way down and was climbing back up. Laid out between 2nd, 3rd and Bryant and Brannan streets in 1857 it's now a techy millionare dream with houses going for prices above the clouds. I can't really include any links here because they will all be broken so soon. One ad I found described "South Park, a lush green park encircled with interior designer showrooms, boutique shops, notable restaurants and cafes." Perhaps the usual realtor hyperbole but certainly more promising than just a few years ago.

Originally developed in 1865 as an American version of the English crescent it briefly flourished as desirable real estate but industrial development and the influx of foreigners and working people (for God's sake) doomed the location to tenement housing and factories.

George Gordon, the original developer of South Park was in Philadelphia when Brannan declared "Gold, gold" but soon came out west with two groups of adventurers, one by ship and a second land party to prepare the way to Eldorado. They never really managed to meet up as promised since things had changed to much while they were on the way over.

Gordon died in 1869 and is celebrated in one of the curiously dense obituaries typical of the time. One cause of death being "excessive labor".

These days besides the park which is pretty well kept despite the amazingly high dog population there are several notable restaurants and meeting places. I have no actual knowledge of these only that I walk by them everday. There's:

• California Grilled Cheese Kitchen - which you can look up since I refuse to link to yelp and similar. I guess that's what the sell, I do know that the guy who hoses off the sidewalk every morning is not that considerate of walkers like me.
• 21st Amendment - which I will link to despite annoying flash page. Real beer actually made here, I've watched the grain trucks blow their load up to the bins on the roof in the early morning. Right across 2nd street from the above.
• South Park Cafe - supposed to be good, it's right at the actual park.

Of these three above web sites all are just wrong in so many ways. But that's what this area is, a web driven economy that thinks twitter etc is the new gold rush. But maybe they're right, Twitter's main office it right near here too. Working to destroy the world at just a 140 characters at a time.

Brannan Street

Sam Brannan came out to San Francisco in 1846 with a shipload of Mormons. Two years later, on May 12, 1848 he ran through the streets waving a vial of gold dust and crying "Gold! Gold! Gold on the American River". In those two years he had founded a newspaper, The California Star, several stores, and also ran the Mormon community and extracted tithes from them, a real operator. As his wealth soared, from Utah, Brigham Young requested that Brannan in his turn submit his tithe to the church. Brannan demanded a receipt signed by God and was soon out of the Church.

The rush was really on now with Brannan's store in Sacramento perfectly located and stocked with the necessities of mining. Real estate investments in San Francisco also proved lucrative with Brannan supposedly owning a large percent of the city. As a sideline he imported grape stock and tried to start a resort in Calistoga that was not so successful. As his wealth was lost, including a supposed $500,000 payoff to Lola Montez his health failed and he died later in San Diego.

What's Brannan street doing these days? Still home to the wholesale flower market (at Sixth Street) , a Post Office renowned for it's slow service (between 3rd an 4th) and the location of Jack London's birthplace (at Third), now unfortunately an ugly condo building.

Check out this map from1847 where Brannan's house (marked as number 10) is shown as one of the largest buildings in the city. Walking home I usually cut through an alley that comes out right next to cotweet. One of several local web companies cashing in on (what I consider) tweeting idiots, but others consider as the wave of the future, or for at least a year or two.

Townsend Street

Named after Dr. John Townsend, pioneer physician. There's a couple of plaques in the sidewalk at the east end of the street where it intersects the Embarcadero. One mentions the Doctor as being in the first wagon train to travel over the Sierra Nevada mountains and they arrived with 52 persons after leaving Council Bluffs, Iowa with only 50, two were born along the way. (same route was made famous two years later by the ill fated Donner party).

One of the plaques references a Gold Rush era sign that was discovered at that spot reading something like: "There will be cholera here". In 1848 Townsend was appointed Alcalde (mayor) with the task of civilizing a town described with "bloody street fights were of a daily occurrence". Townsend only served a few months before running off to the gold fields with most of the rest of the city. Upon his return he resumed doctoring until he and his wife both died in 1850 from cholera while treating victims in San Jose. His grave marker in San Jose is pictured above.

The street is lined with historic brick warehouse buildings and reproductions too. For example, 178 Townsend, just about across the street from my office is a notable example of reusing/preserving one of the local historic brick buildings. It seems pretty far to go to build an entire new building inside the brick shell just to keep the facade. But keep in mind this is the city that spent $34 million to rebuild a draw bridge to look exactly as before while strengthening it to carry streetcars. This included a fiberglass fake counterweight produced with help from those masters of fakery, the Disney company. Two blocks south of Townsend on Fourth street.

More recently, Townsend street is filled with sorrow. A couple weeks ago my company's payroll manager, which everyone loved, including me, was crushed to death by a concrete pumping truck turning left and catching her in the crosswalk. One of the trucks that was working on the 178 Townsend project. It's certainly a shock and I avoid that intersection or at least that crosswalk. The dear old lady was a widow living with her daughter just a couple blocks away on Brannon street. At 8:45 am she was crossing Second Street at Townsend on the way to work where she had never missed a day in how many years and the truck turned and she was gone. Not immediately since the fire department headquarters is on that corner so she did get immediate attention. But a 71 year old women versus a concrete pumping truck? No contest. Makes me shudder.

Since I brought up the fire department headquarters, it's at the corner of Second Street, on the right of the photo (which is looking west) and Townsend, on the left. The building was authorized for construction by the city supervisors in 1907 after the earthquake as a pumping plant to supply bay water for fire fighting in the next disaster. There was another plant built on the north side of the city that completed the system. There are steel roller shutters that can slide down over the windows to protect the machinery, or at least they once could. Now it's the offices of the fire department.

The fatal crosswalk runs from right to left in the shot the same way Lourdes would have been walking. Rest in peace, Lourdes.

Streets of San Francisco (No, not that one)

When I walk home from my office heading north along 2nd street, I go seven (or eight including South Park) blocks crossing streets with names that are among the most historic in the City. This is the so called SOMA district, as in South Of Market. It's been reinvented several times, from a back water slough to a bustling sailing ship port to major modern port to dilapidated warehouse district to most recently a trendy internet business center with a fancy new old looking baseball field. Since I see them everyday these streets and looking into the names and found some interesting and fun facts. The streets in order, going home, are:

• Townsend
• Brannon
• South Park
• Bryant
• Harrison
• Folsom
• Howard
• Mission
• Market

Seven blocks may not seem like much but these are extra long. In each block are two alleys so the whole distance from Townsend to Market is about one mile according to google maps.

First of all, you need to understand the weird geometry of San Francisco. There is a diagonal slash of Market Street that divides a northern grid of north/south streets with a southern grid that is made of northwest/southeast streets. That's what mathematicians would call a "discontinuity" and drivers just call a mess. The intersections on Market Street provide all kinds of opportunity for different and probably illegal maneuvers. Add in a few one way streets and bike lanes and you better have your wits about you to survive. Notice on the map that further south the orientation goes back to pretty much north/south. It's part of the charm.

As I walk back and forth, I'm collecting some actual facts and some local color to illustrate my pedestrian life. So let's start on Townsend and head north.

Slug a CEO

Today I missed another chance to slug a CEO. Like giving them a major undercut into his/her belly, just to let them know how I felt about their effect on my life.

I met the outgoing CEO of my company in the elevator, going down. I knew who she was but had seen her rarely even though her office was right down the hall. Obviously didn't need to mix with the rabble like us. Raised the health care premiums, didn't live in this state and was an obviously bleached blonde to boot. She didn't acknowledge my presence and who cares, she was being stroked by her "assistant" and laughing about stiffing the restaurant across the street by not showing up for her reservations. Very low class all the way.

The previous opportunity was Jerry Sanders, AMD CEO. After I got fired from there, for basically mouthing off to my lame ass boss, I think I used the term "Has your brain been erased?" When I went back a week later to pick up my final check and make my various savings plan choices, there he was walking in the front lobby at the same time I was. Green leather (green is AMD colors) briefcase in each hand, plodding through. I could have turned and slugged him easily since both arms were weighed down.

Didn't do it. Didn't even say anything. Oh well, some things need to just be left behind as regrets. I have the luxury of this memory for as long as I like. Sweet.

No that's not Colonel Sanders, that's Jerry Sanders, look him up.

Choosy Moms

Choosy Moms chose Jiff. Sounds pretty old fashioned and stupid in this world of tweets and faces doesn't it? But somebody is still paying for that advert and getting their monies worth. That somebody is Pillisbury. Home of the doughboy and everything else. And they are owned by General Mills which I am happy to say are "Nourishing the future". Started in a Minneapolis mill, their empire now includes such favorites as Cheerios and Haagen-Daz.

So why am I bringing this up? I think because the same old pitch still sells. I'm sure all their brands have facebook pages and twitter feeds, but they are still making plenty of money from the good old TV commercial. That choosy mom is pretty hot these days and if that's what it takes, I'll eat some of that oily swill too.

They even have a youtube channel too. Good thing this linux box doesn't have any player for that or who knows what might result.

What a dreary day.

I guess nothing too exciting is going to happen today, the weather is overcast with heavy rain predicted starting in the afternoon. I bought a couple books at a garage sale when I went out to look for the BART train that was reported derailed. I'm not even a lawyer but maybe thought to see some small local disaster.

My thoughts are on the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and the amazing images, particularly of the tongue of debris filled water rolling up the farmland.

I guess the latest bigger disaster always pushes a smaller (or maybe less telegenic) situation off the front page. But I am thinking about the civil war in the Ivory Coast that seems to be starting up. When the one side killed several women by shooting into a demonstration for peace, it's just really disturbing. The cynical side of me writes it off to just another bunch or black poor people dying in a disastrous continent that nobody cares about anyway.

But these are real people and they are really being killed.

My boss at work would never be able to pick out Cote d'Voire on a map or even guess any country on this continent. So many Americans are just so clueless.

Football excitement

I have made a few jokes recently regarding Wayne Rooney, and I now take them all back and apologize profusely and say Wayne, you're a God.

Just now in the Manchester Derby (pronounced Darby) meaning a game between two teams in the same city, in this case Man United vs. Man City. Rooney put in a goal that will be remembered for the ages. A cross from Nani found Rooney near the far post and he, well what can I say?, he just put it in. See image above.

I'm not a huge sports fan, but when I see something like this, I tingle all over. And I wonder why? I am thinking it's because we are reminded on a moment like this that humans can be really amazing, and thrilling and just plain fun. This can happen in a lot of areas, like art and science. But sport is so immediate, meaning right now, in your face and makes me throw up my arms and shout.

Thanks Wayne Rooney. Your life and mine are better for this amazing shot. Whoo Hoo.

Inspired by the clones on my train this afternoon

Apologies to John Lennon where ever he may be.

Imagine there's no iPhone
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Actually face to face

Imagine there's no Apple
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to spend or charge for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living in the present

You may say that I'm a dreamer
and I might be the only one
I hope someday you'll go away
and the phones will all be gone

Imagine no smart phones
I wonder if you can
But you can't really hear me talking
cause those buds are in your ear
Imagine all the people
talking man to man

You may say that I'm a dreamer
even though I'm the only one
I hope someday you'll wake up
and dump them all down the john.

Filling in the gaps

Just now on the TV news there was an item about the Vatican's new iphone app. It allows users to perform and track their confessions. Guidance is given regarding sin severity and penance and that is now being tracked. This information is then updated to VatGod, the Vatican's world wide Believer Information System (BIS).

This reminds me that I have been remiss in reporting the other side of this massive effort. There is also a Vatican project whose code name I have forgotten but to the insiders is simply known as GodNet. I have been following this for quite a while and have several insiders that feed me updates as important development occur.

So I checked in with one of these fellows, they're all men you know, for any news. The final sticky problem is, and has been for a while, the interface between BIS and GodNet into Him himself. There have been encouraging signs of contact and they are being researched and refined. Thanks to a generous grant from Google, the entire bible in all it's variations is being scoured for relevant knowledge.

The most recent breakthrough is based on data from 1 Kings 7:14. Bronze is prominently mentioned as the work required for King Solomon. Bronze, as we know has a resistivity constant just slightly below that of the copper that has traditionaly been used in electronic circuits. Substituting bronze in place of copper in the God Interface Module (GIM) has greatly increased the signal to noise ratio of the connection. He can be heard quite clearly now.

The final step is to simply hook up the GIM to GodNet and thence to the BIS. This will come soon. We can all look forward, at no extra cost, to the big guy, God, embedded and guiding our iphone use. What a glorious day! Please support this effort by sending $19.95 by simply texting to 78666 with promo code "count me in".

copyrights owned by their owners, all others are not. the bible is all truthful and don't you forget it. 2000 BC - 2000 AD all rights protected.

Dictators

The TV is full of images from street demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt and now Yemen. All are calling for the removal of the current dictator. These guys have all been around for 20 or 30 years. I've posted about this before, but to remind you... Dictators are not individuals, they have built their power by creating a structure around them of people that are benefiting and controlling people around them. It's a classic pyramid structure. Think multi level marketing.

That's what makes it hard for Americans to understand why they don't get over thrown sooner. Would you kick out your boss if he was providing a lucrative payroll by controlling you and allowing you to control the next level down? Probably not, and that's why it's only the people at the very lowest level that will protest. Everyone else is in on the game. And when the lowest level becomes big enough, meaning that all the middle/upper level positions are full, and nothing is left, then "Viva la revolution!".

Of course it's hard for the American President to stop supporting Mubarak after his sucking down billions of aid dollars but it will have to happen. Good lesson to Obama, how to cut loose a loser. That will be hard on such a pretend moral high grounder. But good for his training.

I was looking for the next group of 20+ year dictators and I'll see what I can find. I suppose those CIA guys have beat me to it, but they are not sharing the data.

Looting the world

Last year's totals are in: 333 rhinos killed by poachers in South Africa. All for the horns to be sold to the "Asian" market.

Am I the only one who has noticed that "Asian" in this context is just a code word for Chinese? Like we are trying to not hurt their feelings? Let me tell you, this primitive civilization that claims to be so advanced has never gotten past the most simple beliefs of the proto humans. If the horn is so strong and comes from a huge beast, then it will give me strength for my "horn" if consumed. This is nothing more advanced than the most simplistic magical belief that an animal or plant with a desirable characteristic can give it to me if eaten.

This has got to stop. These "Asians" are destroying the world to satisfy their superstitions. These poachers are using helicopters and night vision equipment to swoop down and grab the horns before any local police can respond. They leave behind a bloody carcass, minus the magical horn. And make plenty of money doing it.

President Obama met today with the Chinese president but I doubt this topic was discussed. There are more immediate economic issues on the table. Like the huge U.S. trade deficit fueled by we'all buying plastic crap from the Asians.

May I suggest that we should refrain from making that trip to Walmart to save a couple bucks and speak out against the rape of the world's wildlife? Please, let's keep some of these magnificent beasts around and not in some quack doctor's display case.