Mar 01, 2007 22:41
San Francisco!
I forgot what a real
Me
tro
po
lis
was like! SO dense. I leave SF today for Ashland, OR. I am so ready. My Pac is at max capacity with a large guitar bag strapped to it and I'm riding around on my intimidating Schwinn Predator BMX I got for $100. Its pretty nice, needs a front brake and a good overhaul but a tiny maneuverable bike is much fun in a huge bustling city.
I was in the Black Panther's hometown of Oakland yesterday. I got off the greyhound and walked over to a park directly across the street and began to reassemble my BMX, when I smelled a foul smell. I saw a bit of yellowish/brown pastyness on the hubs of the bicycle and smelled closer, but alas, not the source. Then I looked next to me, the corner of a cement wall and spied small mound of human feces, in a few days of decay. Oakland reminds me of Cincinnati, it seemed to have a similar economic status, a good deal of it pretty run down seated next to pretty upscale neighborhoods. I couchsurfed with a fellow I may be related to, but I'll have to ask around to know for sure. He was very very cool and took me to a yoga class. I got a taste of what a young professional social circle can be like. I really enjoyed it, actually. Most of the people I met at the yoga class seemed to be somewhat financially secure(obviously an inference) but were very kind and humble, not a hint of pretension to be found. My host worked for G&E and he inspects solar powered set ups that companies have proposed to make sure what they propose is what they build and get energy credits for. His other job is working with and promoting hydrogen. He didn't go into too much detail but he owns that business. I asked about the embodied energy of hydrogen, all the energy it takes to compress and prepare hydrogen and he said if the power required to prepare the hydrogen is clean, than the hydrogen car can be clean, emitting only water. Hydrogen is apparently much less flammable than gas and studies show that if you punctured the hydrogen tank and inserted a lit match, the small fire won't even enter the cabin of the vehicle where as the gasoline car immolates the entire vehicle.
I took the subway(BART) to SF for 2.75 and was even able to take my BMX on with me. I saw a beautiful Asian girl with a rather tricked out beautiful fixed wheel and I even moved closer, obviously admiring the bike. I felt a little dorky for having a Schwinn BMX for a moment. I ogled her bike but she didn't bat an eye and had her ipod on the entire time anyway so I didn't even try to speak. I read a funny Zen koan that goes like this; Two monks are walking in heavy rain down the road. They turn a corner and see a beautiful girl who cannot cross a muddy impass and one monk immediately offers to carry her across and she accepts. When the two monks arrive at their destination, the monk who did not offer to help the girl said to the other, "I don't think you should have carried the girl, we monks are not supposed to go near women, especially beautiful ones like that." The monk who helped the girl replies, "Are you still carrying the girl? I left her when I set her down." Har Har. Moment to moment, y'know.
I got off at the SF civic center and turned about face to meet the gilded dome of the UN building in SF, rather stark. I looked about and the sheer population density is astounding. I hopped on my bmx, but alas, got spanged(spare changed) twice before I could get moving.
My ride has called! We leave earlier than originally plan. I must bolt!