It’s just 11 days before I leave on my trip. It’s funny because when I first started preparing, buying the plane tickets and everything, it seemed so far away.
I finally finished putting together the San Francisco plan and I printed it out late Friday night (more like Saturday morning). The total plan is over 300 pages, mostly contingency plans in case I get lost or something takes longer than expected. It’s a solid plan but there are a few concerns.
First, there’s no scheduled time for eating really. Breakfast is factored in and I can eat dinner but there’s no time specifically designated to eat lunch. I’m planning on having a backpack with me and I’ll probably have some snacks or something so that I’ll skip lunch. On the Colorado trip, I skipped dinner. I had a big breakfast and then a late lunch. If I can, I’d like to do that and there are a couple spots in the plan where that might be possible but nothing is scheduled definitively.
Next, I’m checking weather reports and while it’s far too early to change plans around, it’s supposed to rain the early part of the week I’m going out there. To get good pictures, I need the weather to cooperate. But if it absolutely must rain, Thursday’s the best day for it. Much of Friday afternoon would be okay too, other than I’d be out there walking in it.
Third, my side started seizing up yesterday and a couple times today. In fact, there were several points where it was really hurting today. That’s the biggest concern because over the last couple weeks, it seemed like it was improving but…
And that leads to my last major concern…The plan calls for over 12 miles of walking (basically a half marathon). I’ve looked at this several ways and I can’t figure out a realistic way to chop that down any without skipping going to certain places. The most likely place to skip is Buena Vista Park, which is on Friday. It’s not just that I’ll be walking but apparently San Francisco is a hilly place and that’ll make any walking more difficult than it would be anyway.
I’ll have plenty of painkillers on hand and will try to grit through it but obviously it’d be better to not need to use them.
Oh, and I don’t remember if I mentioned this or not but I was granted my other off-day request. There was a slight concern since I was only given one of the two days off that I’d requested. But everything’s fine on that end.
Crime Alert
While this is not so much a major concern, it is noteworthy. I was reading about the San Francisco crime rates and the most dangerous area is the Tenderloin Neighborhood, which is a few blocks from where I’ll be staying. Earlier this month, a guy was shot about five blocks from my hotel and a few weeks earlier, gunmen opened fire killing one and injuring five people in the area.
On the other hand, the Tenderloin is where ‘The Maltese Falcon’ was set, so that’s pretty cool.
Is This Crazy?
I’ve been looking into the frequency of earthquakes in the area because I’d really like to experience one while I’m out there. I don’t mean a giant one or anything. I’d just like to have a small one but big enough to feel it. Of course, if I had to choose between not feeling it and it being a major earthquake…
According to stats, earthquakes happen several times a day in the general region around San Francisco (though not necessarily in the city itself) but rarely do they measure above 2.0. Most are even under 1.0 in magnitude. In order to feel it, the quake has to be at least 3.0 but I’d like it to be at least 4.0. On any given day, there’s an average of around an 80% chance of an earthquake of 2.5-3.7 occurring in the area. Here’s hoping I’ll be out there when it happens.
Creed News
I was watching ‘The Office’ deleted scenes and one of them references Creed Bratton (who I knew was played by a guy with the same name) as being a member of the Grass Roots, a 60s band. I thought it was so out of left field that it might actually be true…and it was. Creed Bratton actually was a member of the Grass Roots. Check out the link because it has an old picture of Creed, which is funny to see.
Most of the famous stuff the band did came after Creed left in 1969. While he was there, they put out Midnight Confessions and Let's Live For Today. After, they had hits with I'd Wait A Million Years, Temptation Eyes, Sooner Or Later and Two Divided By Love.
Check out his website at http://creedbratton.com/ which has some pretty funny things, most notably a Creed for Governor sign with the slogan ‘Exploiting People Who Believe in Vampires.’ There are several pictures of Creed from back in the 60s that are worth a look too.
Final Thoughts
I’ve had this word that I’ve been trying to remember for several months. It had to do with urban renewal but I couldn’t remember the word. The other day, I was reading and saw the word gentrification and I think that was the word I was trying to remember.
I’m completely sick of the NCAA Tournament. And it’s not just because my bracket looks horrible now (Michigan State?) but it’s because the analysts for college basketball are weird. Dick Vitale keeps screaming and Digger Phelps matches his tie to his highlighter. If I see either one ever again, my brain will explode out of my ear.
I'm putting together my list of the Best and Worst Movies of 2008. I have a couple more movies I need to see and hopefully before I leave for San Francisco, I'll post the list.
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