San Francisco and what to do in it

did it stop?

was in the San Jose airport this morning and saw some crazy footage

it's coming again tonight

hang in there. sacramento has been hammered, midtown looked like a warzone with all the downed trees, our neighborhood has had like five down in a 10 block radius

Yikes!

We’re just getting only the good stuff in emeryville - no trees down, no flooding, no power outages, just lots of delightful rain and wind. Also lol at the two thunderstorms we had which each consisted of a single lightning strike.

Phew and then some.

insane bursts of storms all day in Berkeley/emeryville area, 20 minutes of torrential hail and downpour, then the sun would come out for 30 minutes, then more crap.

An unusual amount of thunder today in Oakland... we rarely get any around here

Hard times, man

https://missionlocal.org/2023/01/san-francisco-storm-missions-homeless-weather-rain-hail/

xp - as opposed to thunderous gunfire and fireworks? ... seriously, earlier there was a loud boom and I said out loud, "That's actually thunder ... wow."

did someone say thunderous

Or just plain cold

Returning to start-of-the-year vibes today.

this rain is awesome but I can't help thinking about all the dead undergrowth in the east bay hills when the hot dry winds come back

one dramatic weather event at at time please

Holy shit at the twist in this case: https://sfstandard.com/criminal-justice/beating-of-ex-fire-commissioner-defense-attorney-accuses-don-carmignani-of-bear-spray-attacks-on-homeless-people/

That's fucking nuts! Maybe he got what was coming to him after all

Not uncommon knowledge by those following the case, the real surprise that the SF Standard (right-leaning, at least by SF's standards) did a 180 on this, they framed this guy as a real decorated Fire Chief in their previous coverage. He was only on his job for 4 months before he was dismissed for domestic violence charges. They backtracked and now refer to him as a "cannabis entrepeneur"* in their edits.

*I've had 2 friends do hard time for being "cannabis entrepeneurs", and unlike Carmignani they didn't bearspray any homeless folks.

yes, Don Carmignani was found guilty of a domestic violence incident in 2013 and was fired from the Fire Commission. Catherine Stefani, District 2 Supervisor, surely had to know that, as did the SF Standard - but maybe not, maybe they didn't investigate and just reacted. I like Stefani, she is one of the sane members of the SF Board of Supervisors, but that was a big misstep

Maybe related to his attack, but SF is featured in this AI generated, totally bonkers new RNC attack ad... seems we're populated by cigarette-smoking Avatar freaks, so they'll have to shutter the city:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLMMxgtxQ1Y

Imagine if the RNC discovered Oakland!

D'oh.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/anchor-steam-18192913.php

If paywalled: https://www.grubstreet.com/2023/07/anchor-steam-beer-closes.html

Yeah, discussing in the 'beer in the new era' thread.. super bummer

On a totally separate note, THIS is interesting (per a mailout just now)

We are excited to announce that UCSF Health is in preliminary discussions with Dignity Health to acquire their clinical presence in San Francisco, including St. Mary’s Medical Center (SMMC), Saint Francis Memorial Hospital (SFMH) and associated outpatient and urgent care clinics.

Interesting because, looking back a few years:

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/hospitals-health-systems/ucsf-drops-affiliation-dignity-health-following-protests

(I've used Dignity's urgent care a couple of times for convenience, and I was glad for it. I would be even more glad for this.)

kinda lol mostly annoying

https://sfist.com/2023/08/14/fridays-north-beach-self-driving-car-clusterfudge-has-sf-officials-begging-the-state-to-reconsider-approval/

The SF Fire Department has logged 55 separate incidents of robotaxis parking in front of stations, driving right up to fires and blocking engines, etc. That's not so lol

yeah it’s pretty much fucked top to bottom

I saw at least five waymo driverless cars on the way to stern grove on Sunday; then they were announced as a sponsor of the event. You’ve never heard so many boos.

Well, they picked a 19th Century city for a 21st century experiment

I only ever see them empty, never with passengers.

I rarely see ones with drivers too.

The thing that sends a shiver up my spine: Imagine an earthquake that knocks out the cell phone network. Will fire vehicles be obstructed by a sea of dead robotaxies?

Err....riders not drivers

Oh in other SF news:

https://abc7news.com/emergency-response-systems-hawaii-wildfires-sirens-san-francisco-sf-funding/13652389/

Lol.. here's another:

A Cruise vehicle got stuck in wet concrete driving around San Francisco’s Western Addition Tuesday afternoon.

...a San Francisco resident who lives in the area, told SFGATE in an interview that he saw the car stuck at a construction site on Golden Gate Avenue between Fillmore and Steiner Streets. The car had no passengers inside.

“It thinks it’s a road and it ain’t because it ain’t got a brain and it can’t tell that it’s freshly poured concrete.”

lol

This is so stupid. It is only slightly gratifying to feel like Oakland doesn’t have the market cornered on stupid. … relatedly, I wonder how easy it is to steal one of these

it just seems weird that there's such a push to get these approved for 24/7 use when they're clearly not ready for prime time

Okay, it now seems like they should call a moratorium on this Deathrace 2023.. a new incident every couple days

SAN FRANCISCO - A passenger in a driverless Cruise vehicle suffered injuries on Thursday after the vehicle was struck by a San Francisco fire truck that was responding to an emergency call.

JFC, enough already!

On Aug. 14, two stalled Cruise vehicles delayed an ambulance from leaving the scene of a crash in which a driver had hit a pedestrian with their car, according to reports from the San Francisco Fire Department. The pedestrian later died of their injuries, which first responders linked to the delay in getting them to the hospital...

Seventh and Harrison in SF is a very wide intersection with multiple lanes in both directions though, so this article is a little hard to believe tbh

my friend in philly said "jesus christ, can you imagine if they did this here, people would be setting them on fire" and I really wonder how long it will be before that starts happening in SF as well. There should be flash mobs mobilizing on these things with baseball bats.

that is hyperbole. and SF Gate is a trashy website. if you want actual SF news subscribe to the Chronicle, which would be supporting a local institution, and it is a much more legitimate news source

Dan S OTM

It's true that Chronicle is a local institution and Gate is a trashy website... but they do operate out of the same exact building and are both Hearst companies.

but they were separated 4 years ago and there is no comparison at this point

I think people should subscribe to their local newspapers, otherwise they won't survive. I also think people should be active with opera, symphony, ballet, art museums, etc in their communities

i also agree sfgate is trash now, but I also think these things are trash and if SFFD hates them then all the better

it's such an absurdly different set of standards re safety/planning compared to housing ... which is something SF needs.

coming to SF to do a reading at booksmith and staying just one night at the Metro Hotel, in/near the Haight... If I can only eat/drink one thing in the neighbourhood, any tips for specific dishes or locations?

I think I'll have just one afternoon and morning to myself; was thinking of wandering around in (pick one) Japantown/Valencia St/City Lights zone... I've been to SF only once before, explored the Castro/Dolores Park and had a burrito in the Mission