Browse Category: projects

7 months and Good Friends

We are at the end of Month 7 in our “We Have No Car” Experiment.  This also marks the time in which a car will be occupying our parking spot once again.  I will be starting my teaching job on September 8th and the Sokol-Juns have kindly allowed us to borrow their car for the next 4 months.  Thanks guys!!  We bought insurance, registered the CR-V under our names, will be purchasing two new tires, and will gladly babysit Jack as needed.  It’s going to be weird having a car again but I’m sure I’ll get used to it very soon.  🙂

It’s a year later…

…and we’re still in SF.  One year ago, I was crashing at Jimmy’s house and exploring SF as a newbie to the city.  We hadn’t yet closed escrow on our condo and I was enjoying my first couple days of unemployment.  Ah…those were the days.

So, one year later here we are, South Beach residents surviving on overpriced fusion fare, organic produce from the Farmers’ Market, and foggy skies.  We’ve learned how to minimize our belongings, ride the bus, and take a reusable bag to the grocery store.  Koa has found a few favorite sniffing spots and made some new friends.  Jesse is still enjoying his job (amazingly) and I’ve become sort of a “feeding expert” for babies.

I still miss my old life in Southern California and I really miss my family.  At the same time, there’s plenty to do and see up here and it’s been so nice to have friends close by.  So, for now, we’re here to stay but who knows what the future has in store for us.

Oh yeah, it’s also the end of Month Six of the “We Have No Car” Experiment.  Has it been that long already?!

Experiment Update

So, Month 5 of our “We Have No Car” Experiment has just come to an end and things are going well. Commuting on public transportation, using zipcar, and just plain walking has been fine. The only inconveniences may be day trips or weekend trips that require a little more planning than just hopping in your car and driving off. However, when it comes to daily activities and local weekend activities, I don’t seem to feel the need for having my own car. So, with the money that we’ve saved on just the car payments alone (not including insurance and gas), we have plenty of money to take a nice week-long trip.

belize_map.jpgI got a week off at the end of August and we are heading to Belize! It’s located in Central America with lots of little cayes (keys) to explore. I guess this is a fitting place to visit considering it’s the pioneer of eco-tourism. All the fuel I’ve saved on not having a car will go towards my 5-hour flight each way to and from my destination. I booked our flights on American Airlines last night and I just booked one of our three hotel stays today. My co-worker just spent two weeks there in April and she got me really excited about lounging around drinking rum-spiked punch, snorkeling just outside of my hotel room, and trekking through tropical forests to find ancient Mayan ruins. It sounds awesome.

As for the experiment…it looks as though we may not be able to go carless for much longer. Starting in September, I’ll need a car in order to get to my teaching job. Sure, my teaching job is only 1-2 times per week and it’s in Oakland too but I’ll also be working 9-hour days on my non-teaching days as Daylight Saving Time also comes to an end. We’ll probably be looking for something small, fuel efficient, in the $15-20K range, and won’t be very tempting to the hoodlums in OakTown. So, if anyone has any suggestions on what we should consider, let me know. I just know that U.S. News and World Report ranked Honda Civic, Honda Fit, and Honda Civic Hybrid as #’s 1, 2, and 3, respectively. How boring.

I rode the Bum Bus.

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Today I had afternoon tea at Leland Tea Company before my Machine Hemming class. As usual, I ordered the tea lunch complete with a turkey and cheese sandwich cut into little triangles, a fresh pot of tea, side salad, bowl of fruit, and madeleines. With my tea, I added some of these Honey Pearls along with a dash of milk. Perfect. For some reason, the silverware, presentation of the food, and packaging and name “Honey Pearls” was very appealing to me so I ended up taking a snapshot of my meal.

My class went rather well and I learned how to do a blind hem (by hand), a machine blind hem, and how to shorten pants while keeping the original hem. I now have a brand new pair of pants to wear to work tomorrow!!

My classes usually get out between 9:30 and 10:00 so it’s pretty late. I usually take a cab home, which costs me about $11 and I get home in a jiffy. For some reason, I was feeling a little adventurous today and decided to save myself $11 and caught the 47 bus home. It was a free ride home (with my Muni pass) but it was pretty sketchy. After a couple of stops, I realized that I was taking the Bum Bus. It goes down Van Ness, past Market, turns onto Mission, goes down 10th street to Bryant and ends up at the CalTrain Station. With each stop, more and more bums got on and the bus started to smell like everyone was overdue for a bath. At Bryant and 5th, pretty much everyone got off and I realized that it was a homeless shelter. I guess they were all heading “home” after a long day out on the streets. One guy insisted on sitting right next to me even though the bus was pretty empty. I guess he wanted to talk to me and he did. I think he was a little crazy…nice, but crazy. So was it worth saving $11? Technically yes but not sure it’s worth the risk of getting harassed by a crazy dude. At least I can say I tried it out and survived to tell the story of how I rode the Bum Bus.

Doing My Part

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Today is Earth Day and I’m happy to report that I’ve done my part so far this year.  We’re on Day 84 of the “We Have No Car” Experiment and so far it’s been just fine.  With the rise of gas prices, constant “Green This” and “Green That” everywhere I look, and more money in the bank to play with, I think the slight inconvenience is worth it.  Zipcar has been working out well and has become a fun game against the clock.  Public transportation has been mostly efficient with a sprinkling of annoyances and getting cab in the city has been pretty easy.

SF is certainly a liberal place but maybe there’s a little benefit to it.  Grocery stores are no longer allowed to use plastic bags, there’s a recycling bin just about everywhere you go, and bike lanes are everywhere.   All of this might help us reduce our carbon footprint a little but I just consider it a nice excuse to buy a cute tote bag.  🙂

Coffee Anyone?!

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My back has been pretty tweaky this week and I was in so much pain that I was sent home early today. So, I laid in bed and crocheted this little guy. I shall call him my SuperDuper Cafe Con Leche.