AC Capehart capehart

The past 3 weekends have all been wet in some way or another. I went sailing on the bay on a 30′ Hunter a few weeks ago. Last weekend, we went to a beach that’s a 10-or-so minute drive pretty much due west of our house, and this weekend we went to the 36th annual NCMA boat show. It was great except that we got a late start so that we didn’t get much time there before we had to come back for nap time.

Last weekend, we were dining at our favorite local Thai restaurant and we had a seating neighbor who was fairly loud. Since we’re north of Berkeley (and in the San Francisco area), the fact that she was “naturally” dressed and appeared to be on a date with her female companion went completely without note. That she was on an easily overheard and extended rant about her neighbor’s behavior was a little bit annoying.

People have complained (or admired) Apple computer for its effective product launches and getting a great deal of excitement about upcoming or just released products. This has not escaped the watchful eye of the onion. Probably a quarter of the people in my office already have the iPhone. And yet truth is at least as strange as fiction as I saw this teaser at the top of another commuter’s paper today: “Apple ready to announce what’s next.

I’m pretty sure there’s a name for this — the discord between the name of something being an inaccurate description. You know several government examples like “The clean air act” or the “defense department”. Yesterday morning on my commute, I had a moment of disconnect until I realized that distinction again. I saw a van a lane or two over with a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge on it, and in big letters, “Bridge Painters.

We went to our second museum since Sam’s birth today. And it was a much better experience than the previous time (in Princeton during Sam’s first conference.) Sam lasted for a full 40 minutes or so at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). They were having an exhibit of Picasso and American artists that he influenced. It was neat to see Picasso beside the artists the he inspired, whether direct derivations, or connected more tangentially.

I hate when I’m stopped for directions in San Fancisco. I’ve not been in the area long, and I spend astonishingly little time in the city that isn’t 1) in the office or 2) on the walk to/from BART/carpool. I was stopped on the walking portion of my morning commute today by an older Hispanic man and his obviously embarrassed wife. He told me, in fairly unaccented English: “I am looking for the office of Miglatude.

I am reminded this weekend of why it is that we uprooted our lives and moved across the country. For starters, weather. As I write this, it’s 2-degrees F in Altoona. Here, it’s 54-degrees F. This weekend, we went to the Berkeley marina where we stumbled upon the Cal Sailing Club which I intend to join. Right there, there was also an adventure park which we did not yet explore and another playground where Sam stomped around in the sand, rode on the swings, and slid down the slide.

When I was a member of City Car Share, before my wife, daughter, furniture and car came out to join me in the bay area, I got to drive a Prius around. It was kinda cool. It could be erily quiet at stop lights, it got up to highway speed well enough, if occasionally hesitant. But one of the things that amused me most about it was a sticker on the window.

I often (though no longer “frequently”) take “casual carpool” (or creepy carpool as my co-workers call it). This is an amazing thing to me as it feels like something that can only happen in the bay area. There are places around the east bay where people and automobiles congregate to get across the bay bridge. The advantage for pedestrians is a free ride across the bridge over into the city. The advantage for the driver is that they get to go around the toll plaza, and use the carpool lane.

While I have been missing some of the aspects of our previous life (see previous post) — one aspect I’m not missing so far is the weather! Today in Altoona, PA, was a high of 48 degrees F with a low of 32 (and a chance of light snow.) Today in El Cerrito, CA was a high of 72 degrees F with a low of 49.