San Fran, Weeks One and Two

The best news first. Drum roll please... we're now both gainfully employed. If you would like more details, please send us an e-mail.

We've decided to keep the blog rolling, to chronicle our West Coast exploits and adventures since the majority of our readers are on not in this time zone. Butter Lamb will continue to make appearances, and continue to rest comfortably in our freezer next to the veggie burgers and ice cubes.

So, highlights of weeks one and two

- A welcome dinner at Joe and Jasmine's in North Beach. Our introduction to the city's MUNI system which is not necessarily convenient on Sunday evenings.

- A visit to Hockey Haven, the nearest watering hole to our apartment which is apparently owned by a Canadian and does in fact show hockey games throughout the season.

- D and D welcoming us to the joys of Gestalt and its European beers and "I can't believe it's vegan sausage and buns" fare; and welcoming us into their great group of friends. We all continued the European exploits with a Bridget Bardot/Bastille Day celebration yesterday evening here.

- A hike through part of Golden Gate State Park.

- Discovering the backyard of the Park Chalet after a day of walking around the Haight, the Castro and the Mission.

- Visits to two of the best bookstores EVER, City Lights and Green Apple Books. I think Dan bought every available Anthony Bourdain book at Green Apple, including a used one already autographed, "To Jennifer."

- Discovering cheap, cheap dim sum just down the street from us and relishing in not knowing what the hell half the stuff was listed in Chinese on the walls of the restaurant. And also the Chinese restaurant down the street that serves vegetarian "chicken."

- While the rest of the country blisters under insane heat, we're wishing we hadn't packed our WINTER coats. In storage. For two months. In Oakland. In a storage we can't touch. We're not lying. Outer Richmond at night is so cold, our landlady puts on the heat sometimes.

- Learning how to park on a San Francisco hill without busting the car in front or in back of you.

- SEEING TRANSFORMERS!!! And Harry Potter not just in IMAX but in 3-D! Okay, okay. We also saw Sicko last night, which is classic Michael Moore. You, too, will be purchasing a one-way ticket to France, Canada, Great Britain or dare we say, Cuba.

- Shopping at the Ferry Building Marketplace on Saturdays. Holy... this is a foodie and wino's dream come true.

Vehicular and Political Fun

A more general post about Butter Lamb and beginnings of life on this Left Coast is overdue, so once Dan gets through his California drivers license written test today, we'll be back on track with our more adventurous musings.

On that note, both of us have to obtain California drivers licenses. Neither of us have taken a written drivers test in years. Try 12 years. We obviously know how to drive or else we couldn't have made it across the country in one piece. We know basics. A stop sign means stop. Green light means go. We've even learned that in SF, when parking on a hill, tires need to either be turned in or out.

However, after picking up the California drivers booklet, we have figured out that we know much less than we thought. An embarrassing amount less. For example:

- Going less than the speed limit may be illegal, even when a tsunami has hit.

- Low beam headlights might be the same as regular headlights which may or may not be the same as your fog lights, depending on make and model of car.

Then again, at least we knew the obvious:

- Do not shoot at road signs while driving.

- If you refuse to wear a seat belt for the driving part of the exam, you will not be allowed to take the test.

- Individuals are not allowed to ride on or in parts of your car not intended for passengers. Ie, the trunk, the roof, the exhaust pipe.

It's also disturbing to see the Gubernator on the "welcome" page of the driver's manual. The man who starred in Kindegarten Cop runs this state, the seventh or eighth largest economy IN THE WORLD. Didn't people learn that actors don't make good politicians? Three words - Bedtime for Bonzo.

Not as if things are better on the national level. Turning on the news today, I saw that the current Czar of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, has a "gut feeling" that there's another terror attack coming. Are you serious? I mean, I could go to a psychic for that sort of expert analysis. Or, think about it myself, since we've been spared by terrorists for awhile now. You know, maybe I should have this job. I have a gut feeling that my landlady is slightly nutty, but you know what? I'll leave that to the Secretary, the expert analyst and CABINET MEMBER to figure out that one. Maybe I can color code my gut feelings, too.

In the News...

While skimming newspaper headlines, I found an unsettling story about a wildfire that swept through our favorite town in Neveda, Winnemucca. Sad...

Butter Lamb Lives!

Still alive, hanging in the freezer, now sporting a flat top hair-do due to some desert thawing. We've decided more photos will come forth from our West Coast adventures. Stay tuned.

Scenes From Nevada and First Steps Into California

The BBQ restaurant outside our hotel in Winnemucca, NV. Open for breakfast and offering video poker.

Our first San Fran road sign on the twisting, turning road through the Sierra Nevadas.

Our official introduction to San Francisco - driving into the city via the Golden Gate Bridge. Wild and beautiful.

California Here We... Are, Part II

That's the Pacific. Within walking distance of our apartment. Whoa.

The view down our street.

Since landing yesterday in California, we've accomplished the following:

- Moved into our sublet in the Outer Richmond, a mostly residential neighborhood just blocks from the Pacific Ocean that has beautiful views of the Ocean, more beautiful views of Golden Gate State Park, lots of delicious looking dim sum and Asian restaurants, cold temperatures (no, seriously. You cannot walk around past sunset without a good coat.) and fog. As we were walking back to our apartment from getting groceries this evening, we stopped and watched the fog start to roll in.

- I had two interviews today, both completely different, both pretty good. Fingers crossed, everyone.

- We figured out neighborhood essentials like groceries, laundry, the nearest post box, etc.

- Made good attempts to understand a new city's bus system.

- Got connected to the internet in our apartment. Seems like a ridiculously trivial thing but hey, Butter Lamb Must keep going.

In other news, Dan has an interview in Oakland tomorrow, and gets to drive across the big, bad Oakland Bay Bridge by himself. Keep the good thoughts coming.

California Here We... Are

All I can say is wow. Wow. We are in San Francisco, having come into the city, rightfully so, across the Golden Gate Bridge. This is a short post, as our friends Joe and Jasmine have made an incredible dinner for us at their equally incredible apartment, and we are hungry for homemade food and good friends.

We will post photos from the last part of our trip soon, but we must get ourselves together for our interviews in the next few days. I think we're going to to keep on blogging away from this coast, so stay tuned.

We miss everyone on the East Coast, so stay in touch. And to our West Coast comrades, we're so happy to be here.