Autocross Round 4

Spent last Sunday at the McAfee Stadium doing autocross again! The weather was cold and just a little wet in the first round. By the time I ran at the very end of the day, everything was dry and the sun was out. Pretty windy though. I worked on the timing/computer for my work assignment instead of pickup up cones. That was fun and pretty easy, sure beats being on your feet out on the course.

The 10 Commandments of Public Transportation

Having begun taking public transportation on a regular basis now since I moved to SF, I've realized that there are no rules set in stone as how to behave on the bus, Muni trains or BART. Heck this even could include air transportation as well.

1. Thou shall not flatulate or burp. We all have to share the same air as you, and chances are that no one likes stinky air.
2. Thou shall relinquish your seat when an elderly person, woman with child or other person in need boards the vehicle.
3. Thou shall not eat food, particularly ethnic food.
4. Thou shall not listen to your music, especially if an annoying genre, too loudly even with headphones. When I can hear your music over the noise of the Muni and you are on the other end of the car, it is too loud.
5. Thou shall not spread your open newspaper in my face.
6. Thou shall not let your kid run around screaming.
7. Thou shall not take photos of other riders, unless permission is granted, especially flash photography.
8. Thou shall not stand in front of the payment gate/machine digging through your purse/wallet/pocket. Come prepared, have change in hand.
9. Thou shall not speak too loudly on a cell phone, especially if discussing inappropriate or sensitive matter.
10. Thou shall not wedge yourself in as the last person possible into the Muni car as the door tries to shut for the 3rd time. There is no space left, please wait for next train. We are not sardines.
    

Got my cookies

I ended up finding some cookies at a Starbucks located almost an hour from my house this weekend. I was out meeting someone to pick up some new car parts and we were going to stop and get a coffee to hold us over until lunch, when low and behold we saw the highly visible green, red, and yellow boxes of Girl Scout cookies! 1 box of thin mints and 1 box of the peanut butter paddies.

My Happy St. Patrick's Day

Yes I wore green. On my mom's side of the family is some Irish, I mean last name Bailey that has to be Irish. There were people everywhere today. More than usual on the streets, even at 8am. Lots of people wearing all shades of green. After work, plenty of people were packed into the bars and overflowing into the streets. I didn't feel like getting lost in the crowd on my own. So I headed home.

I managed to buy the last .57 lbs of corned beef from my local butcher, 2 carrots, 3 little potatoes and 1 small head of cabbage for $6.25. I got home and threw it all in a small pot and cooked it for a couple hours, voila! Dinner! It was decent tasting for my efforts, but I don't think the dish has much flavor to begin with.

Luck was with me too, as I signed up a Premium account today, woo!

Visit to the California Academy of Sciences

What an awesome place to visit! I'd say that I'm spoiled when it comes to visiting science museums, aquariums, zoo's etc. I was quite impressed with the Academy, as it is referred to by many. I purchased an annual membership for $99 which gets me in unlimited times with 1 guest each time. I can also get in 1 hour early on Sundays. I thought that was a pretty good deal considering it costs $25 per adult. I figure I can take friends who visit. Getting in an extra hour early makes a big difference, as you notice the crowds increase throughout the day. Live penguin exhibit, an impressive aquarium area, 75' diameter all digital planetarium, giant green house, plus interactive displays. There's even a restaurant that takes reservations along with a cafe. I was fascinated with the actual building itself, 3 stories that cover approximately 1 hectare (2.5 acres). The roof has real plants and grass on top that act as insulation to warm/cool the building. Check out all the pictures, plus some from Golden Gate Park at http://picasaweb.google.com/rdiddy.douglas/AcademyOfSciencesGoldenGatePark

My Second Autocross

Last Sunday I went to down to Marina, CA which is about 10 mins north of Monterey. I met up with my new Mazda friend Jeremiah, his roommate and their girlfriends on Saturday afternoon here in the city. We just cruised down Hwy 1 from Pacifica to Marina. It was an awesome drive. I had the sunroof open and from time to time I was blasting some great tunes. We stopped to see a lighthouse and take some pictures.

Sunday was autocross day. It was sure nice to wake up and be at the site, which was an unused area of airport tarmac, in 5 minutes and not have to make the 2 hour drive. The course layout looked fast. I ended up posting some fast times for a novice FWD car. Most of the fastest times were by cars with higher horsepower. Nonetheless I posted the fastest time between me and my friends in ST. I was still about 2 seconds off of the fastest STX cars. Because I was the only one in my class, I gathered another 200 pts in the series. You can keep track of my standings throughout the season by visiting http://sfr-solo2.org/solo2/Results/2009/Championship/stx.html




I'm working on getting some pictures from one of the guys, and some off my camera.

Cookie update...

I still haven't found any Girl Scout cookies. I used http://www.girlscoutsnorcal.org/pages/product_sales/booth_finder.html? as I posted in a comment to my previous cookie post. I showed up to the locations listed at the times specified and there were no scrumptious cookies to be found. I received some help from Twitter user @ktempesta. I've struck out all week. I even saw people walking on the sidewalks in the vicinity of supposed booth locations. I think they are hiding, making it more difficult to find, thus increasing your desire to pay any amount for cookies once you finally find them. I better find some cookies soon.

New look to the blog

I found a pretty cool template from http://freetemplates.blogspot.com/ and chose the San Francisco themed one. There was actually an error trying to get this installed but I was able to follow some help guide from another blogger account and get it to work. I was also able to add my recent Twitter comments to my blog by using the a widget which can be found at http://twitter.com/badges/blogger

Let me know what you think of the layout!

All I want are some cookies

Is it too much to ask for some cookies? Specifically some thin mints and peanut butter patties from the Girl Scouts. I know they are out there, it's that time of year. In fact someone brought in a box of cookies, and one day I saw a group of them at my local Safeway. Unfortunately they have not returned to the areas they can commonly be found, busy shopping centers, grocery stores, etc. I'm not sure if its any different here in SF than Riverside for the rules and regulations on which days girl scouts can sell their cookies, but I just want some. If you know where I can get some locally, preferably in the next 24 hours that would be great.

Rain in the Bay

Rain creates puddles, ruins your styled hair and makes everything slippery. Not things I like. I knew it would be colder, gloomier and all around foggy. I didn't quite realize that San Francisco and the Bay Area would get so much rain. On average, San Francisco is wetter than Riverside by 9.6 inches, and Riverside is warmer by 11 degrees. I never really used an umbrella and only had light rain jackets/windbreakers when I lived in Riverside. Now I want to spend a paycheck at The North Face or REI for good, warm, waterproof jackets and clothing. I went through a can of scotch guard water proofing spray to treat my shoes and jackets.

First Autocross Results

The results are in. My lap times were 59.473, 55.838, and 55.273 which was good enough to put me first in my class, STX novice. After two events, and only having competed in one, I am tied for first place between about 7 or 8 cars in class. I think I'll do my best to attend the rest of the events. Next one is Mar 7, in Marina, CA.