Weekend Photo Diary 07.31.09
Photo by Troy Holden
What a week! We’re still riding the high of being voted Best Local Blog by readers in the Bay Guardian‘s Best of the Bay 2009. We’re honored and humbled, and truly, seriously, honestly couldn’t make this site what it is without our readers and contributors. The stories on the site come from you and your friends. That’s the idea, anyway. And we say: Keep ‘em comin’!
What else? Well, as Greg at N-Judah Chronicles was wise to alert us all to, tonight is Critical Obnoxiousness Mass, that monthly hullabaloo that snarls traffic both public and private, and really seems to have lost its political message. Before you get all self-righteous on me, I ride my bike almost every day, so I know what I’m talking about here. Expect a particularly fucked-up Muni commute this evening.
Tomorrow’s August 1, and you know what that means: The month with no holidays officially begins! Yay! It looks like our late-to-arrive, typical July weather will extend into the weekend, with dreary mornings and some sun, if we’re lucky.
Also, Sex Pigeon will be selling nifty Muni tees tomorrow from 12:30 to 4, roughly, at Dolores Park. They’re only $15, and they’ll prompt you to decide what Muni lines, if any, you have an emotional attachment to. Tough one … love/hate, anyone?
Go forth on your merry way and enjoy yourselves! See you Monday!
xoxo
Muni Diaries
Tragic Death of Muni Driver 07.31.09
This very sad news just came into our inbox via Andy at SFWeekly: a Muni driver jumped off of the Golden Gate Bridge and died last Thursday. The coroner told SFWeekly that he was wearing his full Muni uniform. Rene Lee Ing, 56, was a veteran Muni driver with 20 years of experience.
From SFWeekly’s Joe Eskenazi:
At least a dozen calls to the Transportation Workers Union have not been returned, and our queries to Muni’s management haven’t been answered yet either. But several Muni drivers — speaking on background as Muni has supposedly “really been coming down on” drivers who talk to the media following this month’s train collision — paint a hazy portrait of a desperate man in an unenviable work situation.
Read the rest of the SFWeekly post.
Details about Ing’s employment situation are still fuzzy, but we will keep you posted.
BART, union reach deal; strike averted (updates) 07.31.09
Photo by Flickr user zbolwing
Update 3: SF Appeal is on it.
Update 2: SFGate gets the story first, as far as we can tell:
BART asked its five labor unions to agree to $100 million in concessions over the next four years. The transit district targeted the costs of employee benefits along with work rules that it says contribute to excessive overtime.
Update 1: ABC 7 has the story headline, but no story.
Original: KCBS reports that BART negotiators and union reps have reached a tentative four-year labor contract agreement. Check back here or here for details on the agreement.
Muni Mind Reader: The Drunkard 07.31.09
Muni Mind Reader is back, y’all! After a one-week hiatus (she refuses to disclose her where- and whatabouts, as any true mental maven would), Tiffany is back, and in high fashion. This week, she takes us down, around, over, and through the sloshy synapses of … the drunkard.
Wahoooooooooooo!!! Nothing like a killer happy hour to get things rocking and rolling. Am I right? You! Yes, you right there. Yes! You have got to be able to see me. I’m sitting directly across from you. Helloooo!!!. C’mon buddy, I’m wasted, but I’m certainly not invisible. WE WON’T BE INVISIBLE!! Oh, wait, that’s “invincible.” WE WON’T BE INVINCIBLE. Gimme five if you like Pat Benatar. Anyone? GIVE THE BOY HIS SCOOTER BACK!
Oh man! What a crazy afternoon. Lay-offs suck, but the parties sure are killer. I thought about driving, but then I realized I left my keys in Jackie’s purse, so that’s no good. So then it was like TAXI! And then as if Muni were reading my mind, out of thin air appears a 30-Stockton. Suh-weeeeeeeeeeeet! You can’t get much luckier than that. Well, I guess I could get much luckier, but that’s later tonight, am I right? Heh, geez people, where is your sense of humor?
Busted! Muni operator caught smoking ON THE BUS! 07.30.09
The ubiquitous Plug1 tweeted a photo by crow_soup showing a Muni bus operator smoking not only on the job, but inside his bus:
The last time we posted about Muni operators smoking on the job, the operators in question at least had the decency to step off the bus. I love how this guy is all “FTW (the original meaning of the term), I’m smoking in my seat, bitches!”
L-Taraval, car crash? (updates) 07.30.09
Photo by Flickr user warzauwynn
Update: SF Appeal reports that the L-Taraval is running again. No injuries have been reported (yet?).
Original: I’m seeing a few tweets about a possible crash involving the L-Taraval and a car. Namely:
@cellojules Just heard a MUNI collision involving an L and another car. Yes, heard. Avoid 19th and Taraval and expect L delays. Glad my bus not involved
@cwbuddha Getting reports of an SUV/Muni collision at 19th and Taraval. Situation Snarled.
Please comment if you know more, and of course if you were on the LRV or saw this happen. Or have photos/video.
San Francisco = Springfield? 07.30.09
This humorous little anecdote arrived in our inbox yesterday from reader Joe:
About 8 years ago, my wife and I were on either the 14 or 49, going from the Mission to the Metreon to see a movie. I think it was a Sunday morning, because the bus was very empty – fewer than 20 passengers the whole trip. At the front of the bus was a mother and her developmentally disabled son. The entire trip, he was talking to himself – nothing crazy, really, just normal stuff. When they got to their stop, the kid turned to the entire bus and yelled, “So long, stink-town! That’s Homer Simpson!”
My wife and I just about fell over laughing – we had just seen the episode of the Simpsons in which Homer says that line. I guess the kid had, too…
If you’ve had funnies happen in front of your eyes on Muni, let us know.
Muni Diaries Wins Best Local Blog — SFBG Best of the Bay Reader’s Poll 07.29.09
Holy euphoria! Thanks to your votes, Muni Diaries just nabbed San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay Reader’s Poll for Best Local Blog! We are breathless with excitement and so thankful to everyone who voted for us, especially those of you who submitted your gross, funny, and poignant Muni stories, reenacted them on stage at our spoken-word party in June, or gave us your two cents in the comments section.
We created Muni Diaries as a place where anyone riding Muni can share stories and talk about our public transit system — one of the few common experiences shared by San Franciscans of all stripes. We created the space, but you made the blog, so thank you, thank you, thank you! Our sanity as bloggers depends on our supportive network of blogger friends such as whatimseeing.com, SFist, SFAppeal, MissionMission (winning editor’s choice for “Best Virtual Mission“), MissionLocal, I Live Here: SF, Eye on Blogs, Tenderblog, and Broke Ass Stuart’s Goddamn Website (which won “Best Local Website” this year!). Our transit blogger friends like Muni Manners, N-Judah Chronicles, and Transbay Blog also keep us in check.
So please keep the stories, photos, and videos coming! We can’t get enough.
xoxo, your Muni Diaries crew:
Eugenia, Jeff, Jenny, Suzanne, and Tara.
Is it hard to show courtesy to others these days? 07.29.09
Photo by Flickr user moppet65535
Originally written on Wednesday, September 10, 2008
It seems like every time I am on the bus and it becomes crowded, I notice this one thing: Everyone expects for someone else to do what they’re told to do, rather than being initiators and following suit with orders. Recently, the buses have been installed with “new” bus announcements, telling people to “move to the back of the bus for others’ convenience” and also to “clear the front seats for seniors and disabled persons.” I know the bus drivers are able to press these buttons when they need to, because I hear these announcements only when the situations arise.
But unfortunately, nobody else seems to pay attention to them. People stand in the doorways, in the front of the bus, trying to ignore the announcements about moving to the rear of the bus so others could board. Is it so hard to show courtesy? Does it make THAT much of a difference of where you are standing?
On the stepped-up Proof-of-Payment game 07.28.09
Photo from Plug1
You might have noticed (we have, on buses, trains, and Twitter) a few more Muni fare inspectors lately. A few more, or, in some cases, 10 more.
It’s happening. Muni is finally getting very serious about ensuring that all riders pay and/or show proof of payment.
The following just arrived in our inbox from the tireless Plug1:
as i off-boarded my T Train this morning at EMB/Folsom, i was greeted by no less than 10 SFMTA Fare Inspectors, accompanied by 4 officers from the SFPD. it was definitely a very thorough operation, almost like a dragnet or DUI checkpoint. everyone was checked and several tickets we administered. naturally, i fired off a few shots with my iPhone. i also met Robert Wolfgang, who is the (new) Security & Transit Fare Inspection Manager. we talked about Fare Evasion, Fare Inspector #32, and how Judson True might in fact be the hardest working man at Muni. Mr. Wolfgang seemed fairly serious about enforcing Proof of Payment, acknowledging that far too many people evade paying fares daily, some even running off when confronted by a Fare Inspector.
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
