Haircut, Rain, Palm Sunday -- March 31, 2012

I left the house to get a haircut.  It was raining hard and our traditional puddle had formed out front.  After, I drove by the Little Brown Church where E Clampus Vitus was dedicating a plaque, but I didn't stop because of the rain.  The rain stopped by the afternoon

We went to Good Shepherd for Palm Sunday mass at 5 o'clock.  The deacons handed out palms before mass and Father Jess blessed them at the beginning.  That way I didn't have to hand them out after. 

We went to Guerrero's for dinner.  We saw the goats up on the hillside.  When we came out, it was raining again. 

I took the photo on 27-January-2012. 

Dance of the Cranes -- March 30, 2012

For the last month or so, we have been watching these cranes pick pieces off of a building on Folsom Street.  Lately the workers have been dismantling a structure on the roof.  Every day there are loud booms and crashes that shake our building.  I think the workers enjoy it when they set off car alarms. 

Yesterday I got to work and found fencing stacked up on Third Street.  There were ladders and rolling platforms in the lobby, with a bunch of workers.  One got into the elevator with us.  I asked what was going on.  He said they were going to tear out the lobby and the plaza and open it all up.  When I got to my desk, I found an email about it.  For six months, they will be working in our building.  They have walled off all of the lobby except the elevator lobby.  We can use only one entrance.  They fenced off our half of the plaza.  Next week they will demolish the plaza and the lobby.  Should be noisy.

15,000 Sacks of Barley -- March 28, 2012

"Yesterday the steamer Merren towed the big barge Attus (Atlas? - JT) down from Stockton with 15,000 sacks of barley, which is to be loaded in the whaleback City of Everett for New York by way of Panama."

Several shipbuilders promoted whalebacks as the next big thing in the 1880s and 1890s. The hull curved like the back of a whale. From the 29-June-1895 San Francisco Call. William A Coulter did many maritime drawings for the newspaper. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Farewell to Back on Basin Street -- March 26, 2012

I was getting ready for bed last night and I turned on KCSM.  Sunday nights I always look forward to Mal Sharpe's program Back on Basin Street.  Last night he said that he was doing his last show.  I'm sad.  I've been listening to the show since he replaced Jazzbeaux.  He played a Coyle and Sharpe routine, the DIY operation, saying that was the last time anyone on KCSM would play Coyle and Sharpe "expect maybe Alisa Clancy."  I went to sleep before the show was over, so I missed Jimmy Durante singing "Goodnight, Mrs Calabash." 

It's Hard Work Being a Cat #57 -- March 25, 2012

My daughter took this elegant portrait.  All rights reserved. 

Clement Street and Rain -- March 24, 2012

Today our daughter went to an event at Star of the Sea Church.  My wife and I wanted to walk around our old neighborhood.  It was raining lightly when we parked in the lot on Ninth Avenue.  We went to the Walgreens in the former Coliseum Theater and bought a nice golf umbrella.  We walked past Pinelli's Flowerland, where I bought her flowers every ten days after we got married.  I had to slow down after we bought a house.  We walked past the doughnut place where I used to buy us treats.  We went to Schubert's Bakery and bought pastries.  I had forgotten how small it is.  We wound up by Busvan's, which closed recently.  We bought the computer desk I am sitting at as I type this at Busvan's. 

On the way back, we stopped at See's Candy and bought some items for Easter.  The clerk was talkative.  A man came in with two small children who were very excited. 

We went to the Richmond Branch Library, where I had spent a lot of time when I was growing up.  We walked through the door and the desk was gone.  I was disappointed to see that there are not many books, upstairs or downstairs in the children's room.  The library is cleaner and brighter than it was before.  I found only a few books I had read still on the shelves. 

It was raining harder when we left the library.  We went back to the car and went for a little drive.  

After the event was done, we went to Bill's Place to have lunch, but it was jammed.  We drove back to Pacifica and ate at Rockin' Robs. 

We went home and listened to the Giants on the radio.  Spring training is nearly over. 

We went to five o'clock mass and it was still raining hard. 

Ghost Sign #5 -- March 23, 2012

This sign on California near Grant reminds us about the late, great Sing Fat Company Oriental Bazaar, seen below in an old postcard.  The sign is on the uphill side of the building on California Street.