ROOKS AND MACBOOKS

When I drove up two weeks ago I said a tearful goodbye to the sun, assuming (as past experience foretold) that I would be driving into a perpetually grey place of mist and scarves. In actuality, the weather these last two weeks has been blissfully pleasant. There is a perpetual cool breeze that took a few days to adjust to, but other than that there has been nothing but endless, gorgeous sunshine and lots of it. The sun sets here a bit later in the day and there hasn't been a cloud in the sky.

And everyone is out on the street to enjoy it.

Much like London (but without the grey) everyone here mostly relies on their own two feet to get around. My car is incredibly dirty from it's varied, tree covered resting places and the fuel gauge still reads 1/2 tank from when I filled it up at a little truck stop north of Fresno on the drive up two weeks ago. I've also recently joined the ranks of the alternate-transportation commuters; opting for my bike or the BART to get to and from work in the city. And I must say, I feel quite bad ass throwing my bike up on my shoulder on the station stairways with my pants leg rolled up, my REI pack buckled around my chest, and my helmet resting unsecured on my head. Unfortunately, my badassness is somewhat hampered by my inability to get through the tiny little gate in the 0.5 seconds they give people to clear it as well as the most inconvenient ache in my damn hip again. I vow to take more care in my stretching exercises and not pump away like a mad woman down 4th Street for a few days to recover. Of course, working back to back 10 hour shifts on my feet did not help either.

About that... on my last real post I mentioned that I got a job with Andrew at a total hipster-centric coffee bar in the SOMA district of San Francisco. There are fedoras, there are girls in cat glasses with sleeve tattoos, and there are definitely "right on"s being exchanged. Well, the manager cornered me on my first training shift and said how great it would be if I were to come on as the weekend cashier at the taqueria next door as he really needed someone he could trust and it would mean more money for me, obviously. I agreed because it was my first day and I aim to please on these occasions, and also because only two shifts a week at a coffee bar would not mean much in the way of financial stability and it is too soon to start with the green business plan. So this is what I was doing this last weekend and holy jesus is it hard work.

Firstly, even though both establishments have the same owner and manager (not to mention a connecting door), the two atmospheres couldn't be more different. You've got your twenty-something hipsters sipping espresso on one side and your sports enthusiast burritos and beer crowd on the other. You have your young, white, part-time musician/artist baristas on one side and your Mexican immigrant, Spanish-only, multi-job holding, poverty level cooks on the other. It's kind of night and day and I am apparently the only person to work in both locations. Ever.

A plus side to this exhausting weekend work (it's not the tips) is that I get all the free food and horchata I want, and I did get to watch the Euro Cup Final and have become an expert in pouring pints. However, as soon as I get another job offer I think I will take it, green business strategy be damned. Honestly, now that I am inside the business, I have no idea when Iver (the manager) would even have a minute to sit down and plan something out with me let alone meet regularly about it. Also there is so much initial consideration that needs to be made towards treatment of employees and making a comfortable work place that I don't really know what the manager would be willing to go through with. It's clear that the business model did not initially start with the Triple Bottom Line in mind so I have my reservations.

In regards to looking elsewhere, I did actually have a phone screening on Friday for an event coordinator position at UC Berkeley, but we will see how that progresses. I will also apply for a few more jobs tomorrow and may start looking around the Oakland side for server or bartending jobs. At least I wouldn't have to cross the bay if I found something local and the tips would probably be better. Now that I finally have food handling experience maybe I could sound like I know what I'm talking about.

It's a pretty sweet neighborhood over here. Right now I am seated comfortably in a little coffee shop on Grand Avenue with about 12 other people on their Macbooks. They all have headphones of various sizes on and look very serious. More animated are the 12 or so middle-aged, male chess players. This is an interesting Lake Merritt phenomenon. Both the Starbucks and the Peet's Coffee have tables filled with older male chess players chatting loudly and laughing about this or that chess move I assume. In the late evening to early morning when the Peet's and Starbucks are closed these same players can be found at the 24hour donut shop sipping on dollar coffee and eating their maple bars while they battle over the black and white squares. I don't get it. I really don't. It's just one of those quirky things that happens here.

Week at a Glance

Ate at:

Rick & Ann's  - oh man the potato pancakes with cheese and applesauce and sour cream

Fentons - the king of ice cream parlors, truly


Tacos Mi Rancho - what would we do without late night taco trucks? this one is fabulous


Saw:

Brave at Grand Lake Theater

Explored:

The Claremont - oh my god it looks like The Shining hotel up on the hill... spooky