Was a nice day to walk around the Albany Bulb.

The Grim Reaper has had a busy 2016. He decided to take a lot of famous people and just make fans miserable. Boomers were losing the people who mattered when they were young and reminding them they are old and the Grim Reaper is around the corner.

So after this busy year does he take a mini vacation and not be so rough on us mortals. We need are hero’s and remembrance of youth as long as we can. Hard to take so many dying in one year. Hey Grim spread it out a bit.

Personally it is the Grim Reaper I fear, it is the Guardian Angel. Me and Grimm go along way back. He comes for visits to tease me with death but all he does is say, “Hello.” He is more a Guardian Angel. I have asked him who my Guardian Angel is so I would know when he comes. Grimm refuses to tell me. I guess he wants me to be surprised. There is a cruel streak there.

So good-bye 2016 and hello 2017,

Glad that my job is ending and starting another one. It will be good to get away from public transit. Commuters and tax payers are not getting a bang for their buck.

Riding BART is a pain in the ass and that is on a good day. They should change their name to Cattle Car Transit. Bad enough that during commute hours people are crammed into cars. But when I get off at three and get crammed into a four car train really sucks.

I’m going to be glad to get back into my car. Yes traffic sucks, but it beats riding BART. At least it is just me. I don’t have to stand on a platform and smell cigarette or marijuana smoke. Though it is illegal to smoke on the platform but BART has no motive to put a stop to it. Then there are the homeless who smell and people playing there music through smartphone speakers to annoy all around them. I’ve had enough of the loud arguments between people and over their phones. My car is quiet.

Public transportation should be at my convenience and not something I depend on. I don’t mind hopping on BART to go to San Francisco every now and then. But the daily commute is a grind and not worth it.

I hear people complain about BART every day but maybe it is time for people to do something about it. Find a job closer to where you live. But what is peace of mind worth?

When I left this morning it was 41 degrees and blue skies. I put on my favorite cold weather riding jacket and gloves and hit the road.

It is always good to hop on the bike.  Find a quiet road and leave the world behind.

Though today I’m not the only one and there are plenty of group riders.  This slow rider will never keep up with this crowd. Then again I would not want to.

No matter how you ride just ride and enjoy the adventure.

Winter has hit the SF Bay Area and it is like spring out here. So it is perfect riding weather. So the perfect ride is along San Pablo Damn Road to Orinda. Nice view of the San Pablo Reservoir and the ride is pretty quiet. Plenty of room for bikes so I don’t feel like I’m being squeezed off the road.

There really is nothing in Orinda. Basically a bedroom community for rich people. But the downtown is quiet. There is a Stabucks, Peet’s, and Nations. There was a Kasper’s but it isn’t in business anymore. I miss Kasper’s. What a great hotdog.

So I stop at Peet’s for a green tea. Peet’s use to give two tea bags but since they bought Mighty Leaf Tea you only get one tea bag and can pay extra for the second. Honestly Peet’s hasn’t been the same since they got bought out, but I have lived long enough to get use to it. Have a good place someone will buy and ruin it or just shut it down. Just move on to a different spot. The green tea is still good and hot. Acutally too hot. Always got to wait for it to cool down. Good excuse to sit back and relax. Got to wait for it to cool down a bit.

I get my nice comfy chair and pull out my book. Always got to have a book. Nothing better than green tea and a book. One thing about this Peets there is plenty of seating and it isn’t usually crowded. Most people get their drinks and leave.

Now to head off to Orinda Library to catch up on some magazines. Orinda has a great library and it is always quiet. People in Orinda respect the quietness of a library.

In my world this is a great day.

California birthrate at a record low. This is no surprise. It is expensive to live in California, especially the San Francisco Bay Area. Taxes and housing alone will put a dent in your budget. Then you want the tech gadgets and maybe a car. Try to add a child then it gets rough. Wages have not kept up in California with all the raising prices.

I wake up and it is thirty-six degrees. So what do I decide to do? I jump on my bike and go run errands. Sounded like a good idea when I thought about it. Now not so good an idea. But when there is energy to burn, I must burn energy.

I got a good jacket for cold weather riding and my gloves are perfect for riding in the cold. But the face takes a beating. I tried wearing something to cover my face, but all it does is fog up my glasses.

Once I get the shopping done I’m stopping at the library and do some reading. Also a good place to warm up. I will even take some time to play on my chromebook.

A chromebook is perfect for bike riding. One thing they are expensive and pretty durable. I’m pretty rough on it and it always keeps working. Wouldn’t want to have a $800 computer in my bag and destroy it. Besides all I want to do is get online and look at some websites.

I always carry a book too. The book is more important than the chromebook. But it is always nice to have both, I tend to forget one. I’m not much of a morning person and my brain isn’t functioning. So I have to really take my time and think things out.

People say I should just put everything together. But that doesn’t always work. I’ll start grabbing things and leave something behind. I have left my phone plenty of times, but really don’t care about the phone. I was raised in the era of no cell phones and I still can’t get use to carrying one. But leave a book and I’m pissed for half the ride.

So now I’m thawed out and it is time to hit the road.

It was cold today and didn’t want to hop on the bike. IYeah I have those days. So I decided to go to San Francisco and walk the streets.

Around Japantown:

Walking down Sutter Street and Powell Street:

Was a good way to kill a few hours

Fitbit buys Pebble and now Pebble is being dismantled. I hate when companies do this. Not a Fitbit fan. I like Pebble. Now it is gone.

Still remember when HP bought Palm. Palm was a great operating system. HP did nothing with it and let Palm die.

Microsoft buys Nokia and then Microsoft does nothing with the Windows Phone. I was a fan of the Windows Phone.

I’m still mad at Murdoch for buying MySpace and letting it die. I enjoyed MySpace more than Facebook. At least on MySpace was able to make my page look like I wanted it. Facebook was just a boring corporate look.

Bigger companies buy what they consider a threat and consumers get some water down version or the same old garbage. But life moves on and off to the next gadget.

The temporary job is coming to an end so that means riding the rails is coming to an end. Some might think riding the train all day for the job is fun. It gets old quick. But it is the easiest way to get to stations to do the work on ticket machines, add fairs and bill to bill changers.

The guy I replaced is coming back to work. So I go back to my job. It was a nice adventure but I’m ready for it to end. Get back on my schedule. Getting off at four is rough. The gym is crowded when I go. Getting off at two and I miss the crowds.

One thing I will miss about riding the rails is stopping at some of my favorite places to hang out for a break or lunch.

Life moves on.