City Living
Mar. 31st, 2010 09:30 pmI'm going to skip a lot of zipcar-induced trauma, but let's just say that driving in San Francisco will quickly destroy any illusions about driving competence. Once upon a time I was lousy at Beltway driving too, and I got better at that, so I'm trying to keep that in mind as I am traumatized by city driving.
My new living situation has many pluses (hi, Golden Gate Park!) including a gas stove and multiple former inhabitants' abandoned furniture and kitchenwares. So far I've found a rusted can opener, two or three churchkeys, two or three wine openers, no vegetable peelers, parts of several sets of cheap measuring spoons, a coffee machine no one's used in a year (at least, give or take), and my favorite find, a Pyrex 9"x13" glass pan, soon to be known as the mighty brownie pan. The coffee machine and its accouterments will be on Craigslist as soon as I can post a picture: I found the battery recharger in a box yesterday, which is good, since my rechargeable AAs are extremely dead.
My last boxes arrived yesterday, in one fantastically obnoxious glut - see also "driving in San Francisco" - and I started serious unpacking by opening the cookware box. I was very pleased with my minimalist decorating and simple life until yesterday afternoon. Now I have 25 boxes and need a dresser, a dehumidifier, a large filing cabinet and two bookcases.
Tonight it's pouring cats and dogs, and my internet connection is going downhill from "flaky". I'm hoping it's the DSL and not the laptop. I'm going to try the wifi at one of the local cafes tomorrow and then I'm calling either my landlord or my in-family IT support.
My new living situation has many pluses (hi, Golden Gate Park!) including a gas stove and multiple former inhabitants' abandoned furniture and kitchenwares. So far I've found a rusted can opener, two or three churchkeys, two or three wine openers, no vegetable peelers, parts of several sets of cheap measuring spoons, a coffee machine no one's used in a year (at least, give or take), and my favorite find, a Pyrex 9"x13" glass pan, soon to be known as the mighty brownie pan. The coffee machine and its accouterments will be on Craigslist as soon as I can post a picture: I found the battery recharger in a box yesterday, which is good, since my rechargeable AAs are extremely dead.
My last boxes arrived yesterday, in one fantastically obnoxious glut - see also "driving in San Francisco" - and I started serious unpacking by opening the cookware box. I was very pleased with my minimalist decorating and simple life until yesterday afternoon. Now I have 25 boxes and need a dresser, a dehumidifier, a large filing cabinet and two bookcases.
Tonight it's pouring cats and dogs, and my internet connection is going downhill from "flaky". I'm hoping it's the DSL and not the laptop. I'm going to try the wifi at one of the local cafes tomorrow and then I'm calling either my landlord or my in-family IT support.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-01 06:47 am (UTC)Even more exciting, I had my 4 month old niece in the back. Nothing says 'hi, drive safe...if you can!' like BABY ON BOARD.
...
You'll get used to it, though! If you like driving and do enough of it eventually it will become pretty ... natural. Well, maybe not natural, but you know. (Of course, zipcar means you probably won't do enough of it... alas.)
Welcome to SF!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-01 03:56 pm (UTC)I'm very lucky: my sister used to live in the City, so I got to ask her about driving on the hills the last time I saw her. I think that was a very smart move on my part: now I'm only a little nuts with the accelerator.
Nothing says 'hi, drive safe...if you can!' like BABY ON BOARD.
Ha ha HA. Good luck with that!
You'll get used to it, though! If you like driving and do enough of it eventually it will become pretty ... natural. Well, maybe not natural, but you know. (Of course, zipcar means you probably won't do enough of it... alas.)
Ha. I'm interviewing on Friday for a position down the pensinsula. If they make an offer, I may be doing more driving than I want to think about.
Welcome to SF!
Thank you! I am terrifically excited to be here.