Skip to main content

Spare the Air

By
It's rare that it gets hot here. After all, the Mark Twain quote has been proven time and again by the hapless tourists halfway across the Golden Gate Bridge: their shorts betraying the fact they thought this was California, and their overpriced fleece sweatshirts emblazoned with "SF" giving away their acquiescence to the cold fog. However, on occasion, the fog takes a vacation, and the mercury climbs. When that happens, valleys quickly produce smog, making it unhealthy to breather. Hence, the government calls for a Spare The Air day: all public transit is declared free, so that less people will drive, keeping smog down.


This year, the three Spare the Air days were already used up in June, unseasonably. Then, the heat wave hit: last week, we have been breaking records. As I write this, it's triple digits within 10 miles of here: unheard of. So, three more Spare the Air days were declared last week. And the ferries were PACKED: tourists, who used it as an excuse to see the Bay for free, along with kids groups, and more. Man, what a circus. Since I was riding the bike, not much of a problem, but still! At least the scenery cooperated: nothing like the Golden Gate on a Spare The Air Day. :-)

Now you see why I cut my hair? ;-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Loyalty Review: Kohl's Yes2You

By
 As some of you know, I've spent over 15 years in the customer loyalty space. So, when I come across a new retail loyalty program, I can't help but see the pluses and minuses. After this many years, it's kind of ingrained. Periodically, I'll share my thoughts with you. Today, it's Kohl's turn under the scope. Let's have a look, shall we? I've divided the review up into three sections: what's good about the program, what's bad about the program, and what I'd change about it. That last one has some actual value: I charged hundreds of dollars per hour for loyalty program consulting, and had over a dozen clients, before I moved to JustAnswer FT. But, being a pandemic and all, I'm giving it away for free here. Kohl's, you're welcome. Here we go! The Good Sign up is opt in Seems odd to praise Kohl's for this, but in department store loyalty, this is a rarity, and a smart one. It means the customers who are opted in are already prime...
1 comment
Read more

Revisiting Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1

By
I recently started rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation from the beginning. I have nothing but fond memories of the original run in the 1980s, given how excited I was for a new Trek series in my lifetime (I had only reruns and the movies to stoke my Trek interest), and it recently occurred to me that, while I diligently consumed every TNG episode, I had not experienced the series since it's original run.  Why did I do this? Well, a few reasons: With the triumphant return of Sir Patrick Stewart to the smaller screen as the venerable Jean Luc Picard , I thought it would be interesting to contrast this version with the previous, and see how far he has come. It would add color to the character, as well as Sir Patrick. Frankly, with the COVID19 lockdown, the series I have binged upon have been intense, dark, and disturbing. Combined with the activity of the world, including insane politics, homicidal police who seem to view people of color as "prey," rather than their ch...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Shed A Tear For Movie Theaters

By
Atom Films had an article that really hit me hard. It seems that Scott Gustin , who covers entertainment, went to the opening of Avengers: Endgame a year ago, in Los Angeles. Like all of us, he had been waiting for this film for seemingly forever, but Scott did something I bet none of us did: he recorded the sound of the crowd reacting to the film. Cool, right? Now, take a moment to visualize a year ago. No people trapped in their homes, worried about illness or financial uncertainty the likes we've never seen. Responding to Trump's latest with a roll of the eyes, rather than a frustrated scream. No overwhelming frustration leading to riots at state capitals . And no horrific illness, robbing us of friends and family, in a wave not seen in a century. No, in this time, early April of 2019, we were watching Trump still bitch about his border wall. Over in Ukraine, a country most of us hadn't really thought about, they were electing a comedian as president, and we...
Post a Comment
Read more