The Compact

One thing I love about SF is the great public tran...

2009-10-13T09:14:28.944-07:00

One thing I love about SF is the great public transit -- makes it so easy and fun to experience the city and the areas around it

I agree with the idea as well. Car alarm is someti...

2009-10-07T01:00:02.412-07:00

I agree with the idea as well. Car alarm is sometimes annoying.

I called the park and there is no mass transit to ...

2009-10-06T12:27:36.581-07:00

I called the park and there is no mass transit to the park at all during the non-peak season. So unless you have private transportation, you can only get within 30 miles of SeKi between September and May.

I'm re-considering my bike options now. I'm not sure how steep the 30 mile ride is, but I could likely do it in a day. That's if the regional transit is equipped with bike racks to get me within striking distance.

But I'm pretty frustrated at this point!

How cool! I wanna see Non-Commercial House so bad....

2009-10-06T12:21:33.414-07:00

How cool! I wanna see Non-Commercial House so bad. My friends in London say it's a great space and I'd love to hear more about it.

What a great place, im wearing a t-shirt i aquired...

2009-10-06T05:10:57.367-07:00

What a great place, im wearing a t-shirt i aquired from the shop yesterday. I'll be back to donate all my items i no longer require.
Thanks so much.
Ross

I saw that initially and thought all was good. The...

2009-10-05T18:46:28.268-07:00

I saw that initially and thought all was good. Then last week I downloaded the schedule and found that it runs only in peak season, stopping after Labor Day.

I'm going to call the park tomorrow to see if there's another option in the off-season. That was the suggestion of a kick-ass NP ranger that I met today.

Meanwhile, I've posted rideshare ads on Craigslist SFBay and Hanford. Fingers crossed!

I can't see missing this chance to see Sequoia, but so far I can only seem to get within 30 miles or so of the park.

There is a bus that goes to Sequoia: http://www.np...

2009-10-05T17:13:50.572-07:00

There is a bus that goes to Sequoia: http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/publictransportation.htm

Thank you! I'm trying to hang onto the excitement,...

2009-10-04T09:00:36.968-07:00

Thank you! I'm trying to hang onto the excitement, even still.

Congratulations! I'm excited for you!

2009-09-15T05:23:56.671-07:00

Congratulations! I'm excited for you!

What are they going to do, put huge electric fence...

2009-07-30T18:21:46.680-07:00

What are they going to do, put huge electric fences around the parks to keep people out? I'm going to visit them whether they're open or closed, I don't care. I'll just arm myself to keep the vandals away.

This was amazing!

2009-07-26T12:27:24.005-07:00

This was amazing!

I so enjoyed your pictures and descriptions, Rache...

2009-07-25T13:01:31.423-07:00

I so enjoyed your pictures and descriptions, Rachel. I'm over 50 and spent my first 40 years as a California native enjoying the beautiful and diverse habitats the state has to offer. Thank you,
Susan in CO

Sounds like a blast! I work at a drug rehab in Okl...

2009-07-18T08:35:06.397-07:00

Sounds like a blast! I work at a drug rehab in Oklahoma and this venture sounds like something we do out here every weekend only probably not as breathtaking as San Francisco. I enjoyed reading your article.

Armstrong Woods - one of my favorite places on ear...

2009-07-09T20:58:25.838-07:00

Armstrong Woods - one of my favorite places on earth. Enjoy.

you mentioned compostable stickers here...do you k...

2009-07-06T09:18:43.113-07:00

you mentioned compostable stickers here...do you know where to buy those? i'm looking for some that I can use with my home printer but haven't had any luck. suggestions?

Ha, you're right. 10 million in LA County. Was hal...

2009-07-06T09:14:23.044-07:00

Ha, you're right. 10 million in LA County. Was half way between typing 10,000,000 when I decided to use words. Thx!

I'm pretty sure you don't mean 10,000 million peop...

2009-07-06T04:37:12.101-07:00

I'm pretty sure you don't mean 10,000 million people. Isn't that bigger than the whole world population?

Organic products are essentially earth-friendly, s...

2009-06-29T19:01:43.053-07:00

Organic products are essentially earth-friendly, sustainable and natural, not only in its entity but in production mode. Which makes safer and healthier.

I'd call myself a "spend as little as possible" pe...

2009-06-26T06:01:22.161-07:00

I'd call myself a "spend as little as possible" person - in order to reduce consumption in as many areas as possible.

Your information re skipping is an eye opener. Very good.

Skipping may be more prevalent in Canada than I am aware, but I've never thought of asking local merchants what happens to their waste or if there's any useful items in it. I think the Q and A would make a good weekly column. I'll give it a go,

Cheers,

Gord H. - writer
It Strikes Me Funny
London ONT
Canada

i just had to sit through what would have been a b...

2009-06-25T20:10:06.055-07:00

i just had to sit through what would have been a beautiful thunderstorm, if not for the alarms the rolling thunder and crackling lightening kept tripping. this is one of the few anti-car alarm hits i found with a quick google search. seems like there should be more people out there who despise these horrible and useless devices, but at least it's a start.

if this becomes a grassroots thing, maybe we could add silencing keyless entry systems too?

Spot on. I've had similar conversations with fami...

2009-06-24T13:44:21.432-07:00

Spot on. I've had similar conversations with family members so many times. All the stuff that just gets thrown out. Whether it's food, clothes, materials, whatever. We (especially in the US) just eat through things like a plague of locusts, only the locusts have the decency of wasting pretty little.

I was a little confused... when you say skipping (...

2009-06-24T09:50:20.307-07:00

I was a little confused... when you say skipping (dumpster diving) did you mean for food? I've heard of doing it for furniture (done it quite a few times myself!) but not for food- where do you go? I mean... I hate wasted food - *hate* - but wouldn't it be out of date or have gone bad already? Assuming that that's what you were talking about... interested to know! :)

PS - I enjoy reading your blog, it's always very interesting!

Wow, I didn't realize crawdad's could get so big! ...

2009-06-23T00:56:37.564-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize crawdad's could get so big! The ones I used to see as a kid in Georgia were way smaller and only one, kinda ugly, brown color.

I'm wondering if this is the procambarus clarkii linked to above. (A species from the South apparently! Guess I just don't know my crawdads.) I don't know enough about crustacean id to say, but to my untrained eye my picture looks like a lot of the ones I'm pulling up in searches.

In a cursory investigation, I can't find any info on native or non-native crawdad's in Lake Merced. However there's lots of info on the existence of procambarus clarkii, including in the Bay.

In other news, I saw a third snake species today. Gopher snake on Bernal Hill at 11 AM. Makes 13 in 3 city parks so far this year.

Looks like some form of crayfish (aka crawdad) to ...

2009-06-22T16:28:21.465-07:00

Looks like some form of crayfish (aka crawdad) to me. I didn't know they grew so far north. I'm more familiar with the gulf coast variety. I certainly caught enough of them growing up.

I believe it's a crayfish. Susan CO

2009-06-22T10:43:59.566-07:00

I believe it's a crayfish.
Susan CO