Pride and Proud

No time makes me prouder to live in San Francisco than Pride Weekend. This year was more special and emotional due to the Same Sex ruling. This year's parade was filled with families and couples and with each one of them passing by it was hard not get overwhelmed by the moment.

It is not who you love it is how you love.

Bing

Here's a great idea, let's head out to the orchards in the Central Valley and pick some cherries! They'll be cheaper than we can get here plus it will be fun to find that perfect cherry. What!? You're charging 2-dollars a pound for cherries!? And I have to pick them?! You've got to be joking?!? I can buy them at my neighborhood produce store for cheap and I don't have to work at all. 2-dollars for pick-your-own cherries!?

Burrrr!

Herb Caen once wrote that the coldest winter he ever had to endure was a summer in San Francisco. Oh, how the wise, great Herb was. It has been downright cold in San Francisco. 50-degress in the afternoon and if that was not enough the wind has been blowing harder than political windbag. Walking home tonight I saw somebody wearing earmuffs. I see more scraves now than I did in January. Walking to the produce store last night I found myself at my closet reaching for my parka.

I love San Francisco but the weather is starting to get to me. As I approach my ten year anniversary of living in this magical and mystical place I find myself wondering how much more of these tempertures I can take. How long can I battle the wind whipping my face as I step outside in June? How long must my summer clothes be relegated to only two weeks every year....in January? How long must I shiver in shorts running against the wind while others melt? Then I think to myself...and I look around...and it is at that moment I realize I do not want to be any where else.

Sunset

I may not own a house, have a backyard, BBQ, or be overly crafty but I enjoy Sunset Magazine. There. I admit it. Sunset is based in Menlo Park and it had its annual Sunset Celebration Weekend featuring cooking demonstrations, design ideas and crafts. There were tons of free samples, goodies and hand made things to take home.

Crankie Old Man

Okay, I am going to sound like a crankie old man but I am tried of being nickle and dimed for every little thing I do.

I am getting charged for services at the restaurant, at the gas station, and even at the shoe repair store.

You may have heard that San Francisco passed a measure months ago forcing restaurants to pay for employee health insurance. Meaning all this time the wait staff either had no insurance or had to pay for it entirely by themselves. Now, when you go to many higher end establishments you see on your bill a 'health service charge' ranging from a dollar to as much as two bucks.

Filling up for cash I see more and more stations charging a fee if you use a debit for credit card, usually something like 50-cents.

Now, to top it off, I went to a shoe repair store to replace a buckle on a shoe and was charged a 25-cent handling fee. I asked the clerk what exactly was being handled for my 25-cents, since I brought the shoes in and paid cash. When she could not answer and became frustrated with my incessant questioning she called the manager over who then, in an annoyed and un-businesslike manner said it was for recycling. "We recycle, that is what it is for. We recycle. We recycle." In the process he dragged a trash can full of bags across the floor as if to make his point. Recycle? How does that cost me 25-cents? Now, 25-cents does not break my bank but I am one customer out of many. I think this guy is making a enough to pay for his staff's lunch once a week off this small charge. I am not fully against the charge I am against the way it is being sold to the consumer. I am sure many like me feel the same way about being charged for every little thing. Instead of placing a separate item on the bill just add it into the cost. Raise your prices a bit to cover whatever added expense you may have. If not, business owners run the risk of making more customers angry at this petty charges.

It is more expensive where?

I was doing some research on U.S. cities and comparing the cost of living in various places. In doing so I found this great site:

http://www.bestplaces.net/col/

You type in two cities you want to compare and 'wahlah.'

I come to find out my hometown of Denair is more expensive than my college town of Fresno. I would have to make more in Denair to maintain my standard of living than if I lived in Fresno, 13% more, meaning Denair is 13% more expensive than Fresno. Why is that? Housing. Housing costs 42% more in Denair than Fresno according to this site.

The site is addictive and fascinating giving users a statistical breakdown in over 100 categories.

Flowers Like a Baby's Head

One of the most entertaining parts of having Michelle's parents here was seeing her mother oogle and oggle over all of the flowers everywhere. We walked over to Golden Gate Park and strolled through the Rose Garden and Michelle translated what her mother said, "They (the flowers) are like a baby's head." What? A flower that looks like a baby's head? I have to see this. "No. The flower is as big as a baby's head."