Earthquakes and Sergio Romo -- March 28, 2022

usgs.gov

I was doing the dishes this morning when I felt a sharp jolt. The USGS says there were three earthquakes in about four minutes, but I felt only the first one. The poor cat got spooked. Our daughter felt it in the Outer Richmond, but the people at KCBS did not.

Sergio Romo came back to the Giants to pitch an inning in the last game of the Bay Bridge Series. He didn't get anyone out and the Giants lost, but I don't think anyone cared. It was nice to see him in uniform. 

John Madden, RIP -- December 28, 2021

listal.com

John Madden has died. I used to watch Raiders' games with my father when Madden was their coach. I remember that he seemed to retire early, but he went on to have a long career in broadcasting. I used to hear him call in once a week to Gene Nelson on KSFO and later to KCBS. While he was broadcasting, he travelled in a custom bus because he didn't like to fly. He did a lot for charity. 

Career Day/Fire/Robbery -- January 28, 2015

It has been an exciting few days.  Monday morning the radio went off and the announcers on KCBS said that there was a four alarm grass fire in Pacifica.  They didn't say where except that it was near the home of one of the announcers.  Later they said it was in the canyon behind Rockaway Beach and that Terra Nova Boulevard was closed.  I decided to work from home.  My wife had to drive out to the beach in Linda Mar to get to Highway One.  The condos and homes up the hill were evacuated, but no homes were damaged. 

Tuesday morning the announcers on KCBS said thieves had driven an SVU through the front window of the Wells Fargo History Museum on Montgomery Street and made off with the gold nugget collection.  These jerks should remember:  Wells Fargo Never Forgets. 

Later on Tuesday I went to Saint Anthony-Immaculate Conception School in San Francisco for Career Day.  They sent us around in pairs.  My partner used to be a nanny.  Her talk about all the opportunities it opened up was very interesting.  First we spoke to 5th and 6th grades, then 4th, then K and 1st.  I adjusted my talk about Wells Fargo and IT for each group.  I didn't mention three-tier architecture to K and 1.  The kids asked good questions.  In K and 1 they all said what they wanted to be.  They mostly wanted to be police officers.  Later I told the policeman that he had been a big hit.  Someone mentioned that the fire department was coming later.  He said that then they would all want to be firefighters. 

BART Adventures #2 -- June 14, 2013

Yesterday the BART board approved a 2014 budget that includes funding for the process of replacing the current fleet with the Fleet of the Future starting in 2017.  The new cars will be built by Bombardier Transit Corporation. The image is from the BART website (www.bart.gov). 

This afternoon I was on a conference call dealing with a production problem at work when my cell phone rang.  My wife wanted to let me know that BART was having big problems on this side of the bay.  I checked www.511.org and found a report of delays but no details.  The KCBS website said that this morning grass caught fire by the line between Balboa Park and Daly City and damaged the interlocking plant. 

After I got off the call, I left the office early.  I had to get home so I could work tonight.  The platform at Embarcadero station was crowded.  There were announcements about service delays, but I caught a 10-car Airport train seven minutes later and got a seat.  The train went to 24th and Mission and stopped.  The operator explained that we would be there for a while because they were single tracking ahead.  We stayed there and saw two trains go by the wrong way on the other track, then went on to Glen Park.  We had a shorter wait there, then we went on to Balboa Park, Daly City and Colma with no further delays.  I couldn't see the burned area. 

Madison Bumgarner and the Giants just shut out the Braves 6-0.  Last night Matt Cain shut out the Pirates. 

Earthquake and Tsunamis -- March 11

Last night Japan had a monster 8.9 earthquake. They can't count the dead yet. Tsunamis went up to three kilometers inland.

This morning the phone rang at 5:11. The school secretary told us that all schools in Pacifica were going to be closed today because of a tsunami warning. KCBS said that BART might close the transbay tube, and that beach areas of Pacifica were being evacuated. The Great Highway was closed, even north of Golden Gate Park.

I considered working from home, but I'm glad I didn't. It was a busy day at work. KCBS kept reporting that the tsunami warning was getting extended from 10am to 11am to 1pm to 3:30pm.

There was no damage in Pacifica. Boats were damaged in Crescent City and Half Moon Bay.

The image is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Tsunami Warning Site (http://ptwc.weather.gov/).

KCBS Centennial -- November 29, 2009

This morning on KCBS In Depth, the guest was Gordon Greb, a San Jose State professor who wrote a book about Doc Herrold. He interviewed Herrold's widow and several of his students, and believes he met Herrold once in the 1930's. The banner, from http://www.kcbs.com/, advertises the station's alleged 100th anniversary. I think Professor Greb made a pretty good case for it.

Radio Site #2 -- January 17, 2009

A view of the Palace Hotel from New Montgomery Street. I took it on 19-December-2008. The Palace was the home of several radio stations, including KSFO and KQW (now KCBS) when it moved from San Jose in 1942. KCBS has been advertising this as it's 100th year. They make that claim because Doc Herrold started regularly scheduled broadcasts from his Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in 1909. Herrold went on to make demonstration broadcasts from the Panama-Pacific Exposition to the Fairmont Hotel and San Jose in 1915. He had to shut down his broadcasts after America entered World War One. He started up after the war but had to give up his arc phone in 1921. He received a license for KQW in late 1921. CBS took over KQW in 1942 and moved it to San Francisco. It became KCBS in 1949.

Today we took a drive down One to Pescadero and the Fipps Ranch. Traffic was heavy around Half Moon Bay.