San Francisco - April 2008
This will be my final month in San Francisco for a while as my three months is up and I have work to go back to in the UK in May and June. Not so much going on this month either, I am feeling time running out on my Solar Two module as its exam and coursework deadline are both approaching fast. Also the biodiesel-book’s deadline is coming up frighteningly soon too.
Spent first week of the month doing what feels like nothing but book writing and study. Went all the way out to Berkeley University to see a man at RAEL about possibility of doing an thesis project there but he turned out to be a massive waste of my time, which was very disappointing and a wasted day.
First weekend of the month was nice, got embarrassingly drunk on the Friday night and had to send myself home early in the evening which was a stupid thing to do, but it happens sometimes when one am not watching how strong that really nice beer is. Saturday was almost a hangover day but was rescued by the idea of using our bus passes to ride the bus all the way to the San Francisco zoo, we did not get there until about 4pm, but had a good hour-and-a-half to assess that this is a fairly crappy zoo. It has one or two good exhibits, a handful of OK ones and a whole load of very sad ones, most notably the bear display of which I am pleased to say did not have any bears in them. After that was a bracing walk along Ocean Beach with sand stinging our faces and a bus ride to 16th & Velencia where we found a great Vietnamese restaurant. Sunday was another late start but a fantastic day, less windy and more sunny, we cycled from home all the way to Ocean Beach again via Haight Street and the length of Golden Gate Park.
Flew to San Diego with Virgin America (strange, i seem to be developing an affiliation with an airline) for the weekend of the 12th (missing Adam Freeland in SF, but you can’t do everything and it was Amanda’s birthday weekend).
We were immediately unimpressed with the city so instead we got the cheapest rental we could find and spent two days in the desert instead.
Visited Salvation Mountain Joshua Tree National Park Twenty Nine Palms 29 Palms Inn , thousands of wind turbines near Palm Springs which boasts a 40% gay population and an average age to match its average temperature, 88.
Back to SF on the 6am flight on Monday morning, by Monday evening we were at the “Nobel’s for the environment” awards at the SF Oprah House, the Goldman Prize, a star studded, no expense spared, international award ceremony, and then reception (free food and booze then) at the City Hall.
Back to SF for more book. Loads of writing to do now.
Following weekend was Monkey’s birthday, went to the Horses on Sunday and the Tonga Room on Tuesday. They are terrible, that lot.
Final weekend in SF was a gorgeous one which I spent inside writing the book. Did manage to get out to a club one night, the DNA Lounge to go to Bootie which is something of the home of the mashup; kinda double your money, music wise; cleverest mashup of the night, 99 Red Balloons with 99 Problems. . A good snapshot of San Francisco too, lots of people watching to be done, cool clubbers and podium-dancing gay boys and trannies, bit of a meat-market but lots of people having a lots of fun too.
Last few days in th city will be spent inside writing and revising Solar 2 then off to the UK for paid work and family and university things.
