I'm on a business trip to Sunnyvale today. I'm taking training on Tropos networks. if you're interested in what that is, google it. The training is good, and the subject interesting to me. I hope to use the skills I'm gaining soon.
I drove up to San Francisco after class today, with no idea where I would eat. I also wanted to see where M5 industries is located - that's where they film the TV show mythbusters.
I drove by it but didn't get too close, not wanting to be considered a stalker or something. The thing I found most odd is that the area there is FILTHY. Trash is lieing all over the place, there's scaps of garbage everywhere. It doesn't look that way on TV. It's very strange. to see it in the "real world". The street in front of M% is very narrow, and taxis come from a lot at the end of the street constantly. I wonder that they havn't been seen more in the show.
I found this excellent little bistro called Aperto on 18th St in SF. I ordered a risoto dish with fennel sausage, peppers and an interesting hard cheese.
I also ordered a Caeser salad where the croutons were slices, not cubes. really good.
My over all impression of SF is it's dirty compared to the last time I was here... 10 years? There's more trash on the streets. Sunnyvale is likewise dirtier than the last time I was here for a shuttle simulation exercise. The city looks a lot dirtier than it does on TV. SF looks a lot more dirty than on TV.... The streets here reminded me of the Monk TV show scenes, but dirty, grimy, etc. There's lots of papers on street poles, mostly political signs. There were surprisingly few Obama signs. They were mostly for local propositions.
I dropped by a little market before driving back, Located near 18th st and mississipi. It looked like a convenience store in San Leon, that is, a scary place. The area was pretty much a slum, except that there were a lot of nice bistros.
When I drove back to Sunnyvale, I heard the SF city council proceedings on the radio. They counded civil, which is good, but you would never get the impression that any government business is conducted civilly form watching the news. They were a little annoyed that one person didn't provide some budget data.
Some discussion on a Navy enviro impact some dort of remeidation... I think its for an old hanger in the area, possibly of historic value.