Brave New World

[charliearon 3,108]

9 minutes ago, newtie said:

Well said. Being born and raised here, I couldn't live anywhere else and I've traveled extensively. But, we pay through the nose for it. I'm reminded every time I cross the Golden Gate Bridge early in the morning usually in October (no fog), the bay flat as a pancake. Beautiful.

I used to live in the Richmond District and listen to the bridge foghorns all day long!

 

[dave2013 1,161]

15 minutes ago, newtie said:

Being born and raised here, I couldn't live anywhere else and I've traveled extensively. But, we pay through the nose for it.

Well, you actually "could" live anywhere else, but you choose not to.

You also acknowledge that where you live is very expensive.  SF has had one the highest costs of living in the country for decades now.

Yet you complain that you don't make enough money.  Like I said, either take it up with your local govt., or move somewhere else.

We moved to a small town of <10,000 people, and relatively remote as well, so that I could have a good job.  The job wasn't the highest paying, but it checked most of the boxes for what I wanted, and the pay and benefits were pretty good.  We didn't much enjoy living in the small town, but we made the sacrifice and made the best of it.  Before that we lived in a place that we really didn't like(didn't know until we moved there), but we stayed for the duration of the contract(4 years) and saved a lot of money as the cost of living was very low.  This was a 20+ year ordeal, not just a few years.

It's all about what you want out of life and what you're willing to do and/or sacrifice in order to have it.

Dave

[newtie 541]

39 minutes ago, charliearon said:

I used to live in the Richmond District and listen to the bridge foghorns all day long!

 

There's that too!

[Mike A 352]

For us “old timers”:

 

[newtie 541]

I remember it! Great!

[newtie 541]

Remember Al Collins? Here ya go!

https://bayarearadio.org/al-collins_ksfo_c1963

[birdguy 3,966]

I was born and raised in San Francisco.  But it was Herb Cain's 'Baghdad by the Bay' San Francisco and I fear it is long gone.  It was Fisherman's Wharf without Ripley's Believe it or Not tourist trap.  It was the 49ers playing at Kezar Stadium.  35 years ago I would go TDY to 6th Army HQ at the Presidio three or four times a year and it had already changed a lot.  I'm afraid it wouldn't be my San Francisco anymore.

Noel

Edited January 1 by birdguy

[Mike A 352]

12 hours ago, newtie said:

Remember Al Collins?

Absolutely, Jazzbo was the denizen of the “Purple Grotto”.

Edited January 2 by Mike A

[Mike A 352]

15 minutes ago, Mike A said:

 

12 hours ago, newtie said:

Remember Al Collins?

Absolutely, Jazzbo was the denizen of the “Purple Grotto”

 

I loved his opening theme:

 

[newtie 541]

19 hours ago, birdguy said:

I was born and raised in San Francisco.  But it was Herb Cain's 'Baghdad by the Bay' San Francisco and I fear it is long gone.  It was Fisherman's Wharf without Ripley's Believe it or Not tourist trap.  It was the 49ers playing at Kezar Stadium.  35 years ago I would go TDY to 6th Army HQ at the Presidio three or four times a year and it had already changed a lot.  I'm afraid it wouldn't be my San Francisco anymore.

Noel

Things have changed here Noel for sure, however, the City is still intact. If you ever came back, you’d say, “ Yup, San Francisco.” 😁

[birdguy 3,966]

46 minutes ago, newtie said:

Things have changed here Noel for sure, however, the City is still intact. If you ever came back, you’d say, “ Yup, San Francisco.”

Yup, Somebody's San Francisco, but not mine anymore.

The cable cars still run. The Fairmont Hotel and the Mark Hopkins are still across the street from each other.  The Golden Gate bridge is still there but the Bay Bridge has changed.  The Trans America tower is an abomination on the skyline.

Polk Street is still there but the names on the store fronts have all changed.  The Alhambra theater was a fitness center the last time I looked and the Royal Theater was a furniture store.  The father of one of my chums was the manager of the Royal so we used to get in free.

A few years ago I visited the grammar school I graduated from.  But all the teachers were lay teachers and the only nun I saw was in the main office.  She was Sister Superior of St Bridget's on the corner of Broadway and Franklin.

Thomas Wolf  said, "You can't go back home again."  He was right.  If you have left home and come back later you notice all the changes.  If you never left you don't noticed them so much because they have slowly sneaked up on you little by little.

But don't get me wrong.  I was born in that city and I was raised there through my junior year in high school (St Ignatius...the old one on Stanyan Street).  But I still put up my dukes and am ready to fight anyone who dares call it 'Frisco'!

Noel

[birdguy 3,966]

On 1/1/2024 at 9:56 AM, dave2013 said:

We moved to a small town of <10,000 people, and relatively remote as well,

Well, we retired from an apartment on the 38th floor of a highrise in downtown Denver to a small city of about 50,000 in a remote corner of New Mexico. We are 200 miles or so from the nearest Interstate Highway.  Going north it is 100 miles to Vaughn.  Going east another 100 miles to Tatum.  Going south 40 miles to Artesia and another 50 miles to Carlsbad.  Going West 60 miles to Hondo and another 30 miles to Ruidoso.

Nothing here but dairy farms, pecan orchards and chili pepper fields.

While there are bars in our restaurants we have no freestanding nightclubs or bars.  There's a sports bar in our local Applebees and a Texas Roadhouse opened up last year but both are too noisy for me.

If I need to shop downtown there's no problem getting a parking space on Main Street on the same side of the block the store you want to go to is on.  Did I mention we have no parking meters?

300+ days of sunshine a year.  On most days from the north end of town you can see the 12,000 foot crest of Sierra Blanca 90 miles to the west.

The only thing missing for me is an Olive Garden restaurant.

Noel

[martin-w 3,289]

16 hours ago, birdguy said:

If I need to shop downtown there's no problem getting a parking space on Main Street on the same side of the block the store you want to go to is on.  Did I mention we have no parking meters?

300+ days of sunshine a year.

 

Not that many days of sunshine, although better than the UK, but we don't have parking meters either. 😁

 

Quote

  On most days from the north end of town you can see the 12,000 foot crest of Sierra Blanca 90 miles to the west.

 

 France can be seen on a clear day, another country... beat that. 😃 And dolphins! 

Edited January 3 by martin-w

[birdguy 3,966]

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

 France can be seen on a clear day, another country... beat that. 😃 And dolphins! 

I can drive down to El Paso and see Mexico on any day.  No dolphins though.

Noel

[martin-w 3,289]

41 minutes ago, birdguy said:

I can drive down to El Paso and see Mexico on any day. 

 

yes but that's a long drive. Not a few minutes walk. 😁