Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Bernal Heights Pride
I have lived in the San Francisco neighboorhood of Bernal Heights since the day I moved to San Francisco. By sheer luck, this is where my then roommate Jennifer and I landed our first flat. What a fortuitous life moment that was. I have come to love this tucked in the corner of San Francisco neighborhood. If one had to compare it to another neighboorhood in San Francisco, Bernal Heights is Noe Valley but subtract about 10-15 years of hip and yuppieness. It's a real place with real people. Even the San Francisco Bay Guardian recognized it as one of the top "hoods" in San Francisco. I could go on and on, but I won't to save you the pain of reading it.
This past Sunday was Bernal's annual Fiesta on the Hill our neighboorhood's street fair in the great tradition of San Francisco neighboorhood celebrations. The mailing asking for volunteers for the festival came sometime in early September and I was feeling a great deal of Bernal pride at the time so I said I would put in time at the festival. I was originally assigned to take money at the dunk tank, but when I arrived, the person who was to be dunked had not yet arrived and there was great pressure for me to do this...
However, just as I was about to take get up on to the plank, the dunkee showed up and I was off the hook. Instead I got to pick up and distribute balls to paying contestants. However, this lasted a mere ten minutes before two very cheerful and motivated young woman told me they were my replacements and so I was done with my shift.
I then spent the next hour strolling along a transformed Cortland Avenue and saw all the booths and the musicians.
Along the way, I drank a lemonade, almost bought sunglasses and most importantly purchased a...
I have been eyeing one of these shirts for a couple of years now and since they were right there in the booth, it was time to buy and make a proud statement of living in Bernal Heights. At one booth, I stopped and talked to this Bernal filmmaker who is doing a documentary about the summer of 2003 when a wild coyote took up residence on Bernal Hill. Check out the short film clip at Still Wild at Heart. Lastly, I stopped into the Bernal Beast Pet Store to try and find, try and follow me here, my friend Aleeza's sister's partner Michelle. Michelle and Alana S. are life partners and own a home near the top of Bernal Heights. Alana S. and Aleeza are sisters who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and I went to college with Aleeza. Aleeza has been hounding me to meet these two since she found out I moved to Bernal Heights. Connection has been made.
The afternoon was cut short due to the start of these rainstorms that have been pounding the Bay Area this week. Bernal Heights RULES!!!
Members of The Compound
Many of you who haven't been to visit me here at the casa at 121 Cortland Avenue might have a hard time understanding who all these people are who live in and or around my building. This post is to help provide you some clarity by putting names with faces. However, you truly will need a scorecard to keep the family trees straight.
Brian S. and Meredith E. (she is due in late November) are my upstairs neighbors and with whom I own the building
Stefanie E. is Meredith's sister. Stefanie and her family used to live in my unit and now live in the house with which we share our backyard.
Brian S. is Stefanie's husband and father of the twin girls Amelia and Isabel
Amelia (Mimi) and Isabel (Izzy) S., the twin daughters of Brian and Stefanie
There is one missing picture in this compound gala of photos. I rent the downstairs of my unit to Gary S., who is Brian S's brother. 121-123 Cortland and 356 Winfield are truly a family affair.
There is one missing picture in this compound gala of photos. I rent the downstairs of my unit to Gary S., who is Brian S's brother. 121-123 Cortland and 356 Winfield are truly a family affair.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Kevin O. makes an appearance in San Francisco
Kevin and I have been friends for going on seven years now. We met when I lived in New Jersey and he was "doing time" in the state of Florida. Since then, I have moved from New Jersey to California, remaining a teacher, and he has moved from Florida back to his home state of Ohio, remaining a reporter. When I first picked him up at the airport last week, the first question I asked was "what is it like to live in a state where you actually see and hear from presidential candidates?" Kevin being a political reporter for The Cincinnati Post has actually covered visits by George Bush and John Kerry. What a concept for anyone here in the state of California!! Kevin's specialty is hounding local politicians who don't live up the the expectations we hold for them, here's a story he wrote for the Post.
He arrived Wednesday night and on Thursday night, we went out to the bars in the Castro. I guess it took a while for me to get used to what Kevin calls the "Midwestern politeness" but I kept wanting Kevin to tell me what he wanted to do, instead of him deferring to what I wanted to do. I told him that he needed to be "bitchy" about what he wanted and so it happened and things went fine from there. Not being a real bar hopper myself, I did manage to stay out for more than three hours, which is probably a record for me.
On Saturday afternoon, after I proctored the PSAT's at school in the morning, he and I hit the road and toured San Francisco. I took him to my favorite little set of hideaway steps (Harry steps) and a walk around the top of Buena Vista Park. We had a bite to eat in the Haight and then wandered around Amoeba records. I managed to remember that the band that Natalie Portman's character was listening to when she met Zach Braff's character in the movie Garden State was called The Shins and I bought a used copy of this album:
I burned it onto my iTunes and then gave it to Kevin as a memory of San Francisco. That evening, Kevin and I dined at a restaurant called Foreign Cinema. Arriving without reservations at 9PM is not advisable if one is truly hungry and wants to eat right away. Kevin and I finished dessert and coffee at 11:45PM.
Kevin is now back in Cincinnati, and I hope that the candidates are making him work!!!
On Tuesday the 12th, Chris felt that I should go ahead with having the mechanics take apart the the engine block to see if there is damage as well as. I agree later on in the afternoon, Chris calls and tells me that the overheating was so overwhelming that the short block (yes, the short block that was only 3 or 4 months old) in addition to all the radiator parts and the other miscellaneous charges. I got the fax and it said $7,015. I didn't know what to say. I had no idea that it would be this high. I decide to not get all wound up at that moment and that I would handle it with a clearer mind in the morning. Chris called me on my cell as I was walking to the Escort asking me pointedly to give him the ok to begin ordering parts for the repair. I must have really sounded irritated and annoyed on the phone (which I was in real life) because Chris ended the call with, "let me see what the parts department and I can work with you on." Perhaps I should be that nasty more often? I'll get things I usually wouldn't get.
I decided that because Subaru had ruled against my claim and was holding me responsible for all the repairs, I would liked to have had a outside mechanic make his assessment of the situation and then try and price out a repair amount. Over the past few weeks, I have continued to work with Paul at Art's Automotive. He listened to my explantions, often answering my questions before I had formed them. There were times in which he, like Candy from before, were able to explain how a piece or system worked and thereby gave more pieces of the engine puzzle.
On Thursday, Subaru came back with an estimate of $5,800. Chris apparently had negotiated for me to pay a certain number of parts at cost. The estimate from Art's was $4,500. Significanly less. I was about to arrange to have the car transferred from Oakland Subaru to Art's Automotive. I called Chris and it was only then that he told me that I was on the hook with the dealership for $900, essentially the amount is has taken them to disassemble the engine and to do the diagnostic. This brought the HRS estimate to be $5,300. I decided to keep the car at the dealership and have them deal with it.
So what is this about legal action? It took me a while for what was happening around me to sink in. But my Dad was right from the beginning. I did nothing wrong, although it took me a while to realize that it wasn't my turf to determine who was to blame, but to simply recognize that I wasn't to blame. Because of that, I slowly became incensed that I was being hit with a huge bill for something that I didn't cause. I spoke with C, my friend and colleague Shahana's husband. He told me that I should just get the car fixed and simultaneously begin the process of legal action against Subaru of America (SOA). I wrote up a detailed list of all the service work that had been done on the car since my parents first leased it back in Seattle in 1999. Every minor and major service was done under the auspices of a Subaru dealership. C is now in possession of all those documents and will write an initial formal letter of complaint to SOA. After that if we need to continue down this path, C will refer me to someone who is more versed in this kind of law. At this point, I'm along for the ride.
Lastly, in writing up the car's history, I think I may have a theory as to why the car overheated twice. We are sure that the reason the car overheated here in Oakland was because those four bolts holding the fan/motor assembly had loosened and disappeared causing the assembly to fall into the radiator, which lead to overheating. But back in Indiana, we had the same overheating leading to the replacement of the short block, but we never figured out why the overheating occurred in the first place. If we put it all together, perhaps back in Indiana, that fan/motor assembly was still attached to the shroud, but the bolts had begun to loosen and the entire assembly was being tossed around but still physically, albeit loosely, attached to the shroud. Perhaps, the fan could have caused some slow leak in the radiator and thereby causing overheating to occur, but with the assembly still attached, a mechanic would not have noticed something was loose and the fundamental problem could have been passed on without having it fixed.
I'm done with cars, at least for now.
I decided that because Subaru had ruled against my claim and was holding me responsible for all the repairs, I would liked to have had a outside mechanic make his assessment of the situation and then try and price out a repair amount. Over the past few weeks, I have continued to work with Paul at Art's Automotive. He listened to my explantions, often answering my questions before I had formed them. There were times in which he, like Candy from before, were able to explain how a piece or system worked and thereby gave more pieces of the engine puzzle.
On Thursday, Subaru came back with an estimate of $5,800. Chris apparently had negotiated for me to pay a certain number of parts at cost. The estimate from Art's was $4,500. Significanly less. I was about to arrange to have the car transferred from Oakland Subaru to Art's Automotive. I called Chris and it was only then that he told me that I was on the hook with the dealership for $900, essentially the amount is has taken them to disassemble the engine and to do the diagnostic. This brought the HRS estimate to be $5,300. I decided to keep the car at the dealership and have them deal with it.
So what is this about legal action? It took me a while for what was happening around me to sink in. But my Dad was right from the beginning. I did nothing wrong, although it took me a while to realize that it wasn't my turf to determine who was to blame, but to simply recognize that I wasn't to blame. Because of that, I slowly became incensed that I was being hit with a huge bill for something that I didn't cause. I spoke with C, my friend and colleague Shahana's husband. He told me that I should just get the car fixed and simultaneously begin the process of legal action against Subaru of America (SOA). I wrote up a detailed list of all the service work that had been done on the car since my parents first leased it back in Seattle in 1999. Every minor and major service was done under the auspices of a Subaru dealership. C is now in possession of all those documents and will write an initial formal letter of complaint to SOA. After that if we need to continue down this path, C will refer me to someone who is more versed in this kind of law. At this point, I'm along for the ride.
Lastly, in writing up the car's history, I think I may have a theory as to why the car overheated twice. We are sure that the reason the car overheated here in Oakland was because those four bolts holding the fan/motor assembly had loosened and disappeared causing the assembly to fall into the radiator, which lead to overheating. But back in Indiana, we had the same overheating leading to the replacement of the short block, but we never figured out why the overheating occurred in the first place. If we put it all together, perhaps back in Indiana, that fan/motor assembly was still attached to the shroud, but the bolts had begun to loosen and the entire assembly was being tossed around but still physically, albeit loosely, attached to the shroud. Perhaps, the fan could have caused some slow leak in the radiator and thereby causing overheating to occur, but with the assembly still attached, a mechanic would not have noticed something was loose and the fundamental problem could have been passed on without having it fixed.
I'm done with cars, at least for now.
Instant Runoff Voting
This past week, I received my absentee ballot in the mail. I am registered as a permanent absentee voter because I like the fact that I can vote while laying on my bed, or slumped down in my couch. It's just decadent to be exercising one's civic duty while wearing a ratty t-shirt and boxer shorts. But the reason for this posting is not to talk about my slothfulness, it is to highlight the fact that San Francisco is the first jurisdiction in the country to use a method of voting called Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). We are using it ONLY for the supervisors races. In San Francisco there are 11 districts, each electing a representative to the board of supervisors. This year, the odd numbered districts are up for election, which meant that I was going to using IRV to determine which person will serve District 9, which encompasses the Mission, Bernal Heights and the northern third of the Portola district.
I've dug up some articles about IRV but our best source of voting theory and execution is my friend Jeff O who has spent the two summers between his years in law school working for two different voting rights/reform organizations. During our camping trip this summer he was able to show me why our "winner take all" method of determing winners is the worst way we could do it. Here is an FAQ about IRV and an article praising IRV.
Voting went off without a hitch. Let's hope that my preference for president is able to sway enough voters his way in Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio and Florida to name a few places.
Two worlds, one ice cream shop
I spent the weekend of October 9th (Happy Birthday Marl), 10th and 11th (President's day holiday for us teachers) down in Los Angeles with my friend Steve and his friends Tom and Jeff. I went down to get away from San Francisco and to check out the LA scene. We had a great time, ate a lot, partied like rock stars, and barely even left the San Fernando Valley. Yeah, we had a great time in the valley. At one point, I had a landmark moment when I stepped into the Sherman Oaks Galleria, ground zero for the "valley girl" movement of the 1980's. Good times.
I flew back to Oakland on Monday morning and was immediately faced with the reality that I was still in the midst of dealing with my car. The truck of the first week, which I grew to really enjoy driving, was returned to Enterprise. My new rental was to be a Ford Escort and when I got the keys, I got the keys to a Ford Escort. No free upgrades this time. I will say this, driving a Ford Escort does NOTHING for your mojo.
Monday evening I was scheduled to have dinner with my friend Lynn K. Back during my childhood in Seattle, my parents played mah-jongg and socialized with a group of other Chinese families. All of us children became friends as well, even though our ages ranged from high school seniors to elementary school kid. Lynn and I were members of that crowd and as is the case in life, we had lost touch. Our parents were talking one day a couple years ago and they discovered that the both of us lived in SF (Lynn now has moved to Berkeley). Lynn and I reconnected and now do the "dinner" thing about once every three months. This Monday was our dinner. We walked down and had Thai.
My friend Carlos, up from Santa Cruz for a conference in SF, was scheduled to stay with me Monday night. It didn't work out that the four of us (the fourth being Charlie B.) could coordinate eating together, but with a bit of cell phone tag, I arranged for all of us to meet up at Mitchell's ice cream. We then rolled back to my place and had wonderfully all over the place conversations. I remember that at one point, Lynn was asking questions and getting the answers of three gay men and thereby seeing that we all have different opinions about issues such as wanting a baby.
Lynn and Carlos hit is off. The two of them had a wonderful time and all I can remember of their banter was Carlos determing that Lynn's boyfriend Justin is absolutely perfect for Carlos. So I have been mandated to arrange for a time for all us to meet. It's on my list of things to do.
Charlie B., Lynn K. and Carlos P.
I flew back to Oakland on Monday morning and was immediately faced with the reality that I was still in the midst of dealing with my car. The truck of the first week, which I grew to really enjoy driving, was returned to Enterprise. My new rental was to be a Ford Escort and when I got the keys, I got the keys to a Ford Escort. No free upgrades this time. I will say this, driving a Ford Escort does NOTHING for your mojo.
Monday evening I was scheduled to have dinner with my friend Lynn K. Back during my childhood in Seattle, my parents played mah-jongg and socialized with a group of other Chinese families. All of us children became friends as well, even though our ages ranged from high school seniors to elementary school kid. Lynn and I were members of that crowd and as is the case in life, we had lost touch. Our parents were talking one day a couple years ago and they discovered that the both of us lived in SF (Lynn now has moved to Berkeley). Lynn and I reconnected and now do the "dinner" thing about once every three months. This Monday was our dinner. We walked down and had Thai.
My friend Carlos, up from Santa Cruz for a conference in SF, was scheduled to stay with me Monday night. It didn't work out that the four of us (the fourth being Charlie B.) could coordinate eating together, but with a bit of cell phone tag, I arranged for all of us to meet up at Mitchell's ice cream. We then rolled back to my place and had wonderfully all over the place conversations. I remember that at one point, Lynn was asking questions and getting the answers of three gay men and thereby seeing that we all have different opinions about issues such as wanting a baby.
Lynn and Carlos hit is off. The two of them had a wonderful time and all I can remember of their banter was Carlos determing that Lynn's boyfriend Justin is absolutely perfect for Carlos. So I have been mandated to arrange for a time for all us to meet. It's on my list of things to do.
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