I don’t make it up to San Francisco as often as I would like, as I am reminded by how much I enjoy myself on each visit, even a quick overnite stay like last night.
I came up at the invitation of Dr. Sally Pipes (one of the country’s top experts on health care policy) to speak over dinner to the Board of Directors of the Pacific Research Institute, an outstanding think tank that produces tremendous amounts of useful research on a myriad of policy issue.
I thought I would make a "Top Ten" list of silly or astounding observations made – in no particular order:
— Oakland PD motor officers are now tooling around in Harley Davidsons, stopping crime and making a LOT of noise.
— According to my cabbie, more people are using cabs during this period of high gas prices. But cabbies are still losing money because the City of SF won’t let them raise rates to accomodate for a 100 percent rise in gas prices in one year.
— The "stress releiving" lotion provided in my hotel room did little to relieve my stiff neck from watching the Lakers lose their second straight game to the Celtics.
— There are far fewer homeless people in the park at the top of Nob Hill – presumably they don’t want to hoof it up the incline.
— There was enough litter on the streets of San Francisco that I didn’t notice if there were no more plastic bags around from grocery stores — which, if I recall, have been banned here.
— It’s nice having room service as an option when working on the FR in the early hours. Eggs Benedict and website publishing — a great combo!
— Joe Nation still has campaign signs up all over town. A lot of good they did him.
— Staring out of the window of a hotel room in SF immediately makes you feel like Jimmy Stewart in Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
— There are no conservatives in elected office here. Republicans are forced to support the self-absorbed selfish officials who are marginally more palatable than the socialists.
— In the park in front of my hotel, in front of the historic Flood Mansion, was a homeless man with an Apple iTouch player. I wonder if somehow that was a gift from the taxpayers?