And All That Jazz

San Diego, CA

USA

After joining the boys for the final episode of the Aussie Hour, it was finally time to get out of Sac. I jumped in a cab (with a cabby who couldn't get insurance because he has a hit and run on his record - don't ask how that came up). With only one night of accommodation booked for SD, I boarded the 13-hour Greyhound at 3am (yes, 3am) which wasn't so bad as it could have been.

On arrival in SD, I checked into the hostel (in the Gaslamp Quarter)and checked again if there was any accommodation available for thefollowing nights. There was not (I learned it was a long weekend which may have had something to do with it). So I hit the streets searching for somewhere to stay next night.

Nothing.

Anywhere.

I was starting to stress a bit, but I figured if worse came to worst, I'd hang out in the first hostel til late and then just sneakily crash on the couch. Cos I'm shifty like that. It was that busy that even the couch I had planned to sleep on had been let out for the night. So I decided to be stubborn and refused to leave. I figured they'd have pity on me eventually. Finally, a bed became available when someone had to go home to visit a dying relative. Awesome.

So the luck continued next day when i discovered that the street had been closed off for a Jazz and Blues festival. A big one. $50 bucks a ticket all day. But because the hostel was in the street - free passes! It was great. Awesome lineup. Dancing in the street, sitting in the window of the hostel watching from above, free drinks, t-shirts. Great fun. And then as a bonus, the manager of the hostel knew a guy who knew a guy and I got free tickets to an unrelated concert that night. So for my
$20 a night hostel fee, I got close to $100 value... Not bad really. Some unexpected fun, from what started out as a pretty stressful, depressing time.

If you ever do San Diego, walk out to the cliffs at Ocean Beach, have a burger at Hodad's, visit the zoo, and stay at USA Hostels on the Memorial Day long weekend.

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Sacramento, CA

USA

So, I'm in Sacramento now, living in the dorms at Sac State, and so far the highlight (and it's Sacramento, so highlights are few and far between) was heading to Brewfest with Glenn and Harry. The deal was this: $30, 5 hours, all the beer you can drink. Now that was fun, but the best was yet to come. Thanks to our ingenious plan to take two complementary beer mugs each (to reduce queuing time and increase drinking time), we discovered on the walk down the long road to the taxis that our chalices made rather effective percussion instruments. We commenced riffing.

When we came to the corner where we had agreed to meet our chauffeur, Dino, and he was nowhere in sight, we stopped, but the wicked beer-mug beats continued. I dropped my hat to the dusty road, Harry did the same. Almost immediately we earned our first dollar. The crowds continued to pass: Some on foot, others by car, slowing and then moving on. Some gave money. Some stopped to dance. Still others threw corn chips from the window of their SUV.

After 20 minutes, we'd earned the grand total of $4.70. That's more than the minimum wage (although admittedly it was split between 3 people).

So, $30 entry × 3 = $90, less $4.70 = the solution to this country's poverty problem.

A thought

Sacramento, CA

USA

I don't understand this place. The toilets overfill, people drive around in small tanks, and yet we have the hole in the ozone layer.

Where My Head's At (and the rest of me)

I've made a map with markers at some of the places I've been.
My Google Map
Don't know how religious I'll be about updating it, but we'll give it a go.

Whatever happened to predictability? The milk man, the paper boy, evening TV?

San Francisco, CA

USA

San Fran turned out to be a great week. Among other touristy things, I visited Alcatraz (it was pretty frightening to imagine what it would have been like to be in confinement there, able to hear the parties across the bay, and no way to get everything you want even though it's so close) and biked the Golden Gate Bridge with Paul - a highlight. I ate some of the best Mexican food I've ever eaten at The Mission, and the best sourdough bread I've ever tasted at the Boudin Bakery (it's at Fisherman's Wharf if you're there - try it, seriously). I went to numerous museums (the SF Museum of Modern Art was a definite highlight), rode the cable car and shared the buses with some pretty interesting people. The public transport here is great - there's almost no traffic in SF.

San Fran definitely grew on me over the week.

Of course, it wouldn't be right if I hadn't been ripped off at some stage. During the week, I purchased a US power adaptor which turned out to be faulty. I took it back to the somewhat shady-looking Mexican salesman, who was quick to point out the "no refunds" policy of the establishment. When I was forced to make some noise, he pulled out a screwdriver and went to work on it.

"I'm not comfortable with this. You're not an electrician," said I.
"I've be in this business 25 years," he shot back.
"That doesn't make you an electrician. Are you an electrician?" I asked.
He didn't even skip a beat: "Yes."
"You're an electrician?"
"I've be in this business 25 years."
"That makes you a fully qualified electrician?"
"Yes."

So now I have a US adaptor minus one prong. Useful.

Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair

San Francisco, CA

USA

My first impression of San Francisco is that it's nothing like Sydney. I mean, people say it's like home, but it's not. The people are lovely (although there's always that uncertainty: Are they being nice when they talk to you, or are they just crazy? Or both?) I've gotta learn to not always be so nice back - it gets expensive. I must give off a backpacker vibe (maybe it's the backpack I'm wearing) because I've already been offered more unsolicited assistance in the street than... well, I have no simile to offer. Just lots of assistance.
In my room at the hostel, I can climb out the window onto a balcony of sorts. It's one of those external fire escape staircases. Just like in the movies. Everything here is just like the movies. But it's also got a realness about it. And it just feels comfortable.