As I descended into the depths of the Embarcadero station, on a last-minute call to my sister for a ride from the BART station, I noticed that my reception wasn’t so bad, and I didn’t end the call with a disconnected tone… While I stood there waiting for my Daly City bound train, all four bars on the phone were showing, “Extended Network” flashing on my screen… Hmmm, this is new…or maybe I’m the last to know, I thought.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, BART became the first transportation system across the nation to offer wireless communication.

San Francisco stations where wireless devices work:
– Embarcadero
– Montgomery
– Powell Street
– Civic Center

San Francisco stations where wireless service is planned:
– 16th Street Mission
– 24th Street Mission
– Glen Park
– Balboa Park

East Bay stations where wireless service is planned:
– Oakland 12th Street
– Oakland 19th Street
– Lake Merritt
– North Berkeley
– Berkeley
– Ashby

Courtesy of this SF Chronicle article.

What does this mean for our BART ride? Extra conversations overheard…

We’ve turned 35!

Welcome newest kids on the metblog, Metroblogging Islamabad and Metroblogging Vancouver.

Oops, did I say 35? I meant 37! We’re damn near middle age but we don’t feel a day over 21, we swear. We’re still fresh as a daisy.

Pop on over to Metroblogging Dubai and Metroblogging Miami while you’re surfing today.

Welcome to the Castro, Zig Zag Café!

The sorely-missed Le Bon Gateau, gone before it really got going, has been replaced with a French-esque bistro; opening this morning at 476 Castro Street.

Sunday brunch is promised, starting at 09:00. Beer & Liquor license in three months, they say. No WiFi (yet). Pictures and narrative to follow.

Over the Thanksgiving long weekend, we spent a few hours crossing the Golden Gate and were treated to a spectacular view. For many who live in the Bay Area, crossing the bridge seems like such a tourist thing to do. The Golden Gate Bridge Gift Shop is full of t-shirts, bridge magnets, and even cans of fog… Definitely aimed at San Francisco visitors. In fact, I’ve only crossed it when friends were visiting from out of town. Last Friday was no different.

But what a deal - $2 for two hours of parking on the SF side - less than what most parking meters in the rest of the City charge. Parking is free on the northern side of the bridge, but you’ll need $5 to cross back over if you’re from the City. There’s also a free muddy lot just down the road on the SF side if you’re brave enough to leave your car there unattended. And if you are public transportation-inclined, the 28 MUNI bus drops you off right there.

Also, don’t forget to bring a jacket. SF is a very windy city, especially on the Bridge…

It’s that time of year again and my favorite touring band, Rasputina, is playing the Great American Music Hall this week and tickets are still available. They sold out last time and I expect this time will be no different. I saw them at the same venue earlier this year and it was a great show as always. I’m going to share with you a little trick that I learned last time. If you can spare the cash and if there are any left, I would soundly recommend getting the dinner tickets. The meal sucks ass but you get a reserved seat on the second level balcony with a great view of the stage. Last time I tried going down to the floor but the stage is so low it’s hard to see if you get there late. The balcony seats on the other hand are totally unobstructed and well worth the extra cash.

The show is on Thursday December 1st. Doors at 7 and show at 8. General admission tix are $15 and dinner tickets are $34.95. More information can be found at the venue’s website.

Hope to see you there!

No, I’m not talking about a night in Brussels’ red light district.

To celebrate my having achieved further advancement through the aging process, my sweetie surprised me with a night on the town. After devouring a most delicious piece of medium-rare bovine flesh at Acme, we began an evening stroll. It took roughly a second after I saw the big hersheys kisses of merchandising in the parking lot of Candlestick Park, to realize what we were in for. She must have cashed out our retirement fund and bought tickets to the newest Cirque du Soleil show! I didn’t even know they were in town!

CdS shows are always based on a story. That story is usually about a francophone dreaming about a troupe of acrobats, and Corteo is no exception. One could say that when you’ve seen one of them, you have a pretty good idea of them all. I won’t say that, because their performances never cease to amaze me. I find myself looking all over the place, trying to catch all of the myriad of simultaneous action. It isn’t just the often manic main floor that I watch. The musicians, though under dim lighting at the edges of the stage, are always amazing. And then there are the ceiling and sides where props and performers enter and later vanish. The coordination of the show is nearly as impressive as the acrobatic feats.

“What was your favorite part so far?” she asked during the break. “The one with all the bouncing and flying and spinning in the air”, I replied. I’m notorious for avoiding straight answers, but in this case, it was adequate. Every one of the acts is incredible.

Cirque du Soleil is doing their west coast leg in San Francisco through the end of the year , and then (oddly) one hour south in San Jose for some weeks. Sorry, Socalites and Northwesterners!

I’d like to welcome our friends in Islamabad and Vancouver to the Metroblogging family! Islamabad is our third Pakistani blog and Vancouver is our third Canadian blog bringing the total family to 35 cities worldwide. Man this is so cool :-) Go say hi if you get a chance!

This is kind of a national thing, but it does affect us locally too, so I thought I’d mention it. If you haven’t heard, SBC will now change its name to at&t (ooh, lowercase! it’s so “hip”!). This is after SBC, formerly PacBell, was split off from the big conglom AT&T. But wait, it gets more confusing — Cingular, which once bought up AT&T Wireless, has also been rebranded as at&t. And let’s not forget that Cingular was an SBC company.

So to get things straight, it’s AT&T/AT&T Wireless -> SBC/Cingular -> at&t. Woo.

This affects us locally because, well, at&t is now our local phone company. And now that we’ve gotten used to calling that baseball stadium SBC Park (formerly PacBell Park), it’ll of course now be at&t Park (doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue does it?).

Perhaps it’s time I start looking towards VoIP as an alternative…

I’ve started working in the SoMa area recently (which may explain my absence, but I’ll admit to just being lazy), and I’m still getting the hang of the surrounding area for lunch. South Park seems to be the hot yuppie spot, but it’s not terribly near my office, and I don’t want to trek too far. Co-workers seem to flock to the typical lunch joints like Lee’s Diner (this is almost always crowded), Specialty’s, and some curry in a hurry Indian spot. I’m planning on walking a few blocks to Whole Foods and stocking up on stuff to store in the company fridge, but I don’t want to be eating lunch in the office all the time either. I figure lots of you probably work in SoMa (or know people who do), and might be able to recommend some cool lunch spots in the area. Any suggestions?

One of my many duties when I moved to the Inner Sunset was to join up at the local gym to help get my fat ass into shape. While I haven’t actually had a chance to go to the gym for an actual workout I made the effort this morning. I got out the front door and looked at the beautiful morning blue sky and said screw it and headed to the beach.

As I walked down Kirkham the sun started to peek over Mount Sutro and bathe the rooftops in a beautiful morning gold. The sunrise seemed to follow me until I got to the ocean and the morning sun just poured over the Pacific Ocean and it reminded me why I love this city. Some days it’s just awe inspiring to go off your beaten path and just go for a walk. Especially before the city wakes up, or goes to bed for some of you.

Tomorrow is my one year anniversary at the job that got me here and it feels like I’ve explored about 2% of the city so far. There is so much to see and do here and it’s all new every single day and I just dig it so damn much. On that fine note tomorrow I’m going to LA for the Holiday so I wish you all a happy turkey day and the following carb coma. Eat safe.

Next time I go for a sunrise walk I must take the camera, And if you do the same post some links to your pics in the comments!