Has anyone else noticed that the new energy-efficient Muni buses have really wimpy-sounding horns?
Anyone who’s ridden Muni knows that its drivers LOVE blaring their horns to warn other drivers they’re a-comin’ and give them one last shot at dodging certain death, and the old buses have a fairly loud, satisfying horn that makes it clear. (You’d think it’s clear enough that an enormous vehicle is bearing down on you and about to accordion your car, but no.)
But the new ones make a “Meep, meep!” sound roughly equivalent to the horn in a Honda Civic. Not very threatening, is it?
– Beth W.
Written by:
Beth W.
San Francisco’s health department is launching a public awareness campaign called “Infect Me Not,” Chronicle’s City Insider reports. It promotes basic “healthy habits” like stay at home when you’re sick, wash your hands often, don’t share personal items, etc.
Unfortunately this public campaign doesn’t have rules specific to Muni, which I think really deserves a public health campaign of its own. If you’ve been reading our Gross section, you’d know that health department should include a “Do Not Fart or Defecate” rule, a “Avoid Spraying Toxic Fumes” rule, and a “Leave the Personal Grooming at Home” rule. I mean, at the very least, as the ladies at Muni Manners would agree, cover your mouth when you cough and please, for the love of god, use the other hand to hold the metal rail!
Written by:
eugenia
October 8th, 2008 in
diaries,
gross |
1 Comment
This is my favorite book - too grim for the bus?
This is a true story: a single guy friend was sitting on the bus when he spotted two attractive women sitting across from him, both carrying the same book. He decided to strike up a conversation with them by asking them why they had the same book. They told him that they were in a book club and had just bought this book together at a book store for their next meeting. They told him all about the books they’ve read and what this particular book was about, and, well, digits may have been exchanged.
Well, what book was it, I asked him.
“It was The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Juno Diaz,” he said.
Did it matter what book it was?
“Of course! I mean, if it were Eat, Pray, Love, I don’t think I could even talk to them!”
I actually know another guy friend who tries to carry an impressive or interesting book on BART so that, “just in case,” he can strike up a conversation with the right girl. He leaves the programming book in his backpack for the BART ride and busts out his more literary reads.
I too love books so I can sympathize, though I would hate to think that some random person is looking at my book choice in barely concealed disgust!
What do you read on the bus? Have you started a conversation with someone based on their choice of books? And what’s the book you’d be too embarrassed to carry around? (come on, who loves the Chicken Soup for the ______ Soul series?)
Written by:
eugenia
October 7th, 2008 in
muni romance |
6 Comments
UK blogger Jake Stride snapped a picture of an Obama poster at the Bank London Underground station (via the fantastic London Underground Tube Diary). As the blog reports, there was no branding attached to the poster, which was a part of a series of photos that included the Cern Collider, a woman doing yoga, and various other seemingly unrelated things.
It turns out that this is a series of advertisements - a teaser campaign - by the Times. Clever, no?
With the election heating up here, have you seen any election-related ads on Muni or its stations? I don’t think I have seen official ones (and probably unlikely too). However, I certainly have been very tempted to ask fellow riders who they are voting for, and in the unlikely chance that they are going the way of Alaska, I might just give them a piece of my mind.
I remember that in 2004, after voting on election day, I was on the 1 California and saw a lot of other people wearing the I Voted stickers. I was too shy to give them a high five even though I wanted to, but this election I just might!
Written by:
eugenia
I found an amazing photostream on Flickr by “Telmo32″ - his beautiful black and white photographs made me look at our Muni stations in a totally new way.
I was very excited to get a hold of the photographer via Flickr. He said he got rid of his car in 2000 and have “no regrets.” He told me that he is out on Muni at least weekly for photo expeditions all over San Francisco.
“I am particularly fascinated with the spacial geometry of the underground stations.”
Check out Telmo32’s Muni photo stream.
Written by:
eugenia
This week, SFMTA announced the CultureBus (a.k.a, the 74X). The new line shuttles riders - or should i say tourists? - to different museums and cultural points across town, from Yerba Buena to the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park. For $7, adults get to hop and ride across town from 8:40 a.m. to 5:50 p.m., at 20-minute intervals. Or, if you tote a Muni Fast Pass, get the full-day ticket for $3.
What’s good about the CultureBus? Money from riders goes back to the City and SFMTA instead of getting harpooned by the other tourist buses operating similar routes.
What’s potentially bad about it? Running a new line which no one uses, thus costing us money.
We’ll see if it works. Keep your eyes peeled for the new 74X buzzing around town, which is yellow, incidentally. I’d test it out just to visit the new Academy of Sciences which opened last weekend. But then again, I live near Golden Gate Park.
If you ride, let us know how it goes.
Written by:
jenny
October 1st, 2008 in
Uncategorized |
6 Comments
I was sitting across from a young woman who was talking on the cell phone, most probably about some relationship woes. When I got on the bus her conversation sounded like it had been going on for some time (”Well there are some things that I haven’t discussed with him but we need to talk about it to see where he stands…”). All sounded ordinary enough.
She was talking away about her relationship when an old man got up to get off the bus. He walked right up to her, his face tight and clenched. “You will never be happy. You are too selfish and mean to ever be happy,” he said.
Then he got off the bus.
The young woman was embarrassed and said to her phone companion, “Yeah, some guy on the bus, sounded just like mom, huh?”
Written by:
eugenia
So you think Muni riders have bad manners? Looks like BART can very much hold its own in the bad behaviors category. I came across a blog post that made me laugh:
The fight began, as all things worth fighting over do, with a heated discussion over WHO REACHED THE LAST AVAILABLE SEAT FIRST. The aggressor, a man who looked as though he worked in an auto shop, began by pushing and yelling at the unfortunate businessman who had chosen to cross him, “What the fuck!? What do you think you’re doing, man?” The businessman, who was equally incensed over the situation, screamed repeatedly, “You’re crazy! You’re crazy! I’m calling 911 on ou!” The lame verbal argument degenerated into a physical fight, complete with both men windmilling their arms and slapping at each other in the manner of two teenage girls.
Read the rest of Bart Adventures: Grown Men Slapping Each Other.
Oh how I love a good, awkward fight between male urbanites … kind of reminds me of that scene in Bridget Jones’s Diary where Mark Darcy punches Daniel Cleaver in the face and the two clumsily wrestle each other, tumbling into that Greek (?) restaurant.
Written by:
eugenia
September 29th, 2008 in
diaries,
funny |
2 Comments
with the ladies of Muni Manners
We here at Muni Diaries had a blast at CBS5’s local blogger party last night! We felt so warm and cozy among new friends whose blogs we have admired from afar. We met CBS5’s lovely Brittney Gilbert, author of Eye On Blogs, who was so gracious to bring all of us bloggers together. And boy, does CBS5 know how to throw a soirée (three words: bacon deviled eggs).
If you’ve checked out our blogroll before, you know that there are some excellent transit-related blogs in San Francisco. Last night we met the ever-observant Rachel of Fog City Notes - check out her cross-town reports. And we finally put a friendly face to Greg at N-Judah Chronicles, a blog of which we are all big fans. We also got some face time with the Transbay Blog, SF Ordinary Girl, and the delicious Canyon of Cheese.
And for the moment you have all been waiting for: we met the ladies of Muni Manners! I was in mid conversation about the awesomeness of Muni Diaries when Suzanne nudged me and whispered, “There! Muni Manners!” The impeccably mannered Julie and Angelie bonded with us over the craziness of the 47 line and our collective co-dependent relationship with Muni.
Happy Friday and happy riding!
Written by:
eugenia
From today’s Ingleside Station SFPD newsletter, though the incident likely happened sometime last week:
2:30 pm — Silver Ave. & Mission St. — Strong Arm Robbery
A 15 year old Portola District male was set upon and beaten by three robbers who broke his jaw and took his iPod. A MUNI bus driver stopped the assault and the perpetrators fled. The robbers were described as: black males aged 16 to 18 years old, standing 5′9″ to 5′10″ tall, weighing 150 to 160 pounds. All were wearing black sweatshirts over dark jeans. One was wearing a black beanie hat, one was carrying a black back pack.
(Emphasis mine)
Written by:
Beth W.
September 25th, 2008 in
muni news |
1 Comment
