The Chronicle Laid A Turkey

November 28, 2013-Thursday-Thanksgiving Day-I was about to leave the house for my early morning stroll through Fishermen's Wharf that I noticed a plastic wrapped "San Francisco Examiner" newspaper in front of the house. The "Examiner" is the City free newspaper published Sunday through Friday, excluding certain holidays except today. They use to home delivery, but many residents complained about the wastefulness; therefore they only home delivery on Sunday and place in corner newspaper rack the rest of the week.

I can still recall in the 1950's the City had three main newspapers, "San Francisco Chronicle" published mainly in the morning and the two evening papers: "San Francisco Examiner" and "San Francisco Call-Bulletin," which eventually merged into one evening paper the "San Francisco Examiner." I can still recall the cost was only a dime for the daily and my father always brought the three stars edition of the "Examiner" on his way home from work, because it had the closing stock market quotations.

Today the City really have one basic newspaper…"San Francisco Chronicle." The price for the newspaper have gone up and the contents have shrunk.  The paper list the daily at $1.00, but I have seen some newspaper rack list it at 75 cents. The Sunday's papers now cost $3.00. The electronic age have hurt the printed newspaper industries, since people can watch the evening news on TV and get up-the-minute news report in their computers or cell phones. I normally buy the Sunday's, since it is usually packed with store ads and my favorite "Food" section.

On my way back home from the stroll, I stopped by my regular newspaper vendor in front of the "Safeway" on Bay Street. I wanted to see what's this year "Black Friday" deals. He informed me that today newspaper would be treated like a Sunday's edition at the cost of $3.00.

The left is the "San Francisco Chronicle" at $3.00; the right is the "San Francisco Examiner" home delivered and free.

The "Chronicle" did not have any of the regular Sunday's extra features, therefore a regular Thursday daily filled with store ads. The "Examiner" had most of the same major stores ads, the only exception were "Chronicle" had more cell phone companies ads, "Walgreens" and "Walmart" store ads.

"Black Friday" have become the standard for most major business to jump start the holiday shopping binge. This year was the start of a new trend called "Gray Thursday," forget Thanksgiving and hit the stores. "Walmart" and "Best Buy" had stores opening at 6 p.m. Thursday, while the others major stores are opening at 8 p.m. Thursday. Next year the opening should be 3 p.m. Thursday after a turkey lunch.

The "Chronicle" wanted to get into the consumers spending mode by raising the price of today newspaper, which is 75% filled with store ads. As I can recall, the store ads insert are paid by the stores; therefore the old "supply and demand"…consumers demand to know the sale ads. My neighbor said screw "Chronicle" and Google "Black Friday Ads" next year!

North Beach Oddities

November 17, 2013-Sunday-8:05 a.m.-The City of San Francisco have over 100,000 registered dogs, which some claims to be more than the number of school-aged children enrolled in the City. I decided to sit in front of my window and count how many dogs passed by from 7 a.m. to  7 p.m. I picked a day which I had no chores or errands needed be done, the wife was mad that I camped in front of window with a TV tray during lunch and snacks, I told her it was an important "scientific experiment," unfortunately she was not happy about my quick bathroom dash and subsequently mess. My count were for the initial pet owners and their dogs, since several walked by in the morning and again in the evening. I counted in that time period: 37 dogs, 2 loose cats, 11 bums and 186 vehicles not making a complete stop at the 4-way "STOP" intersection (I really quit counting after 2 p.m.-it was getting too frustrating).

My main problems are the "irresponsible dog owners," especially the ones that refuse to pick up their dog's poop! Several of my neighbors have other grips: dog urinating along side of their building or sidewalk and pet owners tossing their doggie poop bags in planted trees area or sidewalk. Dog owners would cried…"Dog-less person, what's your problem?"

In the summer of 1976, I adopted a mixed breed labrador/mutt puppy from SPCA. After 16 years, she died in the operating table from a bleeding ulcer. In those days the neighborhood only had a total of 5 dogs; a Italian chef-german shepherd, a Oriental mailman-chow chow, a Oriental city worker-german shepherd, and a Irish retiree-mixed breed husky/german shepherd. We all curb the dogs, meaning dogs did their business between the parked cars. In 1978, supervisor Harvey Milk passed the "pooper scooper law" requiring dog owners to scoop up their pet's poop in public. People were mad at the few dog owners allowing their dogs to poop all over the City's parks. The City had "pooper scooper officers" to issue citation to dog owner whom did not compiled. I can still recall walking the dog and holding the scooper-a broomstick brush with a broomstick dustpan. The law is still on the book today,  since dog owners have more clout than before…there are now special-made dog park in the City and some dogs are even roaming freely in regular City park areas.

Now back to the problem…January 31, 2012-8:15 a.m.

Doggie poop in the middle of the sidewalk on the 600 block of Greenwich Street.

March 17, 2013-7:57 a.m.

Doggie poop in the middle of the sidewalk on the 1900 block of Powell Street.

Back to this morning on my daily walk, I noticed the following

Someone or two person tossed their doggie poop bags by the side of a storefront.

The store which happen to be a pet store called "Jeffrey's Natural Pet Foods" at 1841 Powell Street.

Maybe the dog owner or owners were in the act of defiance of the store high prices or bad dog foods selection.

Or maybe,

Just a case of "lazy and irresponsible dog owner."

Postal Worker Antics

November 2, 2013-Saturday-8:56 a.m.- I noticed this on my way home...

A "US Government" license plate vehicle parked within a yellow striped crosswalk on the corner of Stockton and Filbert Street. 

Assumption #1-Why yellow striped crosswalk...an intersection with heavy pedestrians  traffic, usually proximity to a school.

Assumption #2-What's the fine for parking in crosswalk...California Vehicle Code V22500B is $100.

Assumption #3-What's attractions nearby...to the right-Liguria Bakery, to the left-Mama's restaurant, farther left-St. Peter and Paul Church, and behind to the left-Washington Square Park.

Assumption #4-Government vehicle...first two letters license numbers "PO" which means Post Office.

Reality: A postal worker making a "Express Mail" delivery this early in the morning? Nope...he standing in  line at the Liguria Bakery at 1700 Stockton Street, home of the best focaccia bread in town; to make a purchase! 

The postal worker is loading his purchases into the back seats.

Sadly the Postal Service is losing money each day and they blame it on Congress forced requirement to pre-fund future worker's health plan. The last time I checked a Ford Focus do not cost less than $100 even if you buy in bulk, plus the cost of maintenance, insurance and fuel do add up. 

Oddly postal workers thinks that they are exempt from driving rules, but a police officer once told me that parking violations are issued to the vehicle and workers usually tells their supervisor they cannot find a legal space to park. Unfortunately moving violations are issued to the drivers and recorded to he/she driver license. This postal worker would tell his supervisor that he was there to pick up several outgoing brown paper bag package or maybe it was a supervisor breakfast run!

Chinatown Oddities #2

November 2, 2013-Saturday-8:40 a.m.-This morning on my walk through Chinatown along Stockton Street, as I approached the corner of Pacific Avenue...I noticed a rushing stream of water flowing along the western curbs of the 1100 block of Stockton Street. The enormous amount of flowing water was causing a miniature pond at the Pacific Avenue corner drainage. I was able to take a giant leap across   the puddle, but many elders had to walk up Pacific Avenue to cross the street. As I walked up toward Jackson Street, I could see in the far distant a big gushing of water. I can also overheard several of the merchant workers explaining to customers that whoever cannot turn off the water, therefore what happened must had occurred not just the last few minutes but at least 15 minutes ago.

What happened...

The water was gushing out of the fire hydrant at the corner of Stockton and Jackson Street.

At the location were several police squad cars with officers outside keeping an eyes on the traffic and onlookers. A fire truck crew was there too with a crowbar attached to the shut-off valve---but cannot shut the water off. Everybody is waiting for whom...The Water Department! 

The normal response time 45 to 60 minutes; first to arrive would be a supervisor in a pick-up truck to  evaluate the situation and then a crew truck comes along to cap the opened pipe. I figure total time 1 hour and half of water down the drain when the City is facing a drought-like October month.