Bruno on the 44! 08.30.11
D made a new friend on Muni the other day.
So I was riding the 44 home the other day and heard a little girl squeal with delight. I saw her petting this charming pug whose owner told the little girl his name was Bruno.
I called out his name to get this shot and when his owner put him down on the floor he waddled over to me to introduce himself. He was in sheer ecstasy as I scratched his rump! He’d turn in circles as one of his hind feet tapped in pure joy.
Pug on the bus! Bruno and this Yoda Dog should have a cuteness battle. I don’t even know what that would involve, but I’d totally pay to see that.
A pleasant morning Muni experience 07.18.11
Photo by Tito Perez
Jim needs to get something off his chest.
I just want to say thank you to the 44-O’Shaughnessy outbound driver who picked me up at 9th Ave. and Kirkham around 8:20 a.m. last Friday for being such a great driver!
and…
Thanks for giving a short and friendly honk farther on to a man and his daughter walking toward the Laguna Honda and Clarendon stop, asking them if they needed to be picked up by the bus. (answer was yes…with smiles all around)
You really made my day!
Who made your day today? Share your Muni story on Muni Diaries.
Winner of Endanger Bus Photo Contest 05.31.11
Photo by J. Fred Decker
We’re honored to announce the winner of the Endanger Bus photo contest: J. Fred Decker, whose winning photo is featured in this post! The competition was judged by Cheryl Haines of Haines Gallery; the winning photograph will be printed in the summer issue of Bay Nature magazine. Congratulations!
A little more information about the photo from the photographer:
I’m excessively enthusiastic about geolocation apps on my trusty iPhone and the real time mapping of endangered bus locations (and tracking paths) spoke great coolness into my fevered brains.
I noticed the Mission Blue bus just had to be the wonderfully-routed 44 O’Shaughnessy and would therefore pass through two of my most favorite places: Golden Gate Park and Glen Canyon, each replete with gobs of urbanized nature in various states.
Even better, I had just been up atop Glen Canyon volunteering to remove invasive plants in a CNPS (Cal. Native Plant Soc.-Yerba Buena Chapter) Wednesday Work Party.
Coincidences? You be the judge.
So I lay in wait first in the park and then along O’Shaughnessy below the area where, just days before, I was roaming about removing invasive plants and making new floral acquaintances…
So, the “44 Mission Blue” was captured in habitat that might someday host the original Mission Blue’s!
The second place winner is Karen Schneeman, who will receive a pair of tickets to the San Francisco Zoo and two $10 Clipper cards. Four random winners were also chosen to receive a $10 Clipper card. The lucky four: Kristen Hopper, Robert Goins, Mike Collins, and Andrew Sawadisavi.
We received many great submissions for this contest. It was exciting to see the results of chasing after a bus that looks like a Mission Blue butterfly, a brown pelican, or a school of salmon swimming past your bus stop. Congratulations again to the winners.
Teens Off-Board 44-O’Shaughnessy, Shooting Ensues 04.07.11
Muni rider Tony sent us these photos of this morning’s shooting. Some teenagers allegedly got off a 44-O’Shaughnessy and shot an 18-year-old (possibly 17) man.
Tony says:
I was on the 24 which had to turn around bc of “police activity”. Woman next to me was an aunt of the victim. Said he was just 17 and was shot because he refused to move his bag when asked. They waited for him to get off the bus and the started shooting him. She said he was shot 10 times.
SF Appeal has more on the story.
Someone Spilled the Beans on the 44-O’Shaughnessy 04.04.11
Photo by moppet65535
Devin’s got the details:
Someone (or quite a few someones) had gotten open a multi-pound bag of food bank dry pinto beans on the 44, and distributed them vigorously around the bus. Several rows of seats had neat piles of beans, and the floor was liberally decorated pretty much the length of the bus.
A woman who got on several stops after us was pacing the length of the bus, taking tons of pictures with her blackberry and talking disgustedly about the scene. I was a bit nonplussed. It’s Muni. They’re dry beans. You can push them off the seat and it’ll take five minutes to sweep up at the yard. In the meantime you get to fantasize about the scenario which led to the beans getting there. Stuff happens on the bus, y’know?
We know. Strange tales of the 44-O’Shaughnessy continue …
Is it selfish to argue with a fare inspector? 03.23.11
Photo by Joey Yen
Muni rider Adam vocalizes a frustration:
Okay, I get some people have issues with fare-checking, but my problem is: Doesn’t he realize he’s holding everyone else hostage, because the bus isn’t going anywhere until the fare inspector’s done? Does he realize how selfish he’s being?
We doubt it, Adam. What do you think? Is it cool to argue the legitimacy of Muni’s Proof-of-Payment policy, all the while holding PoP in hand?
44-O’Shaughnessy Dies a Bloody Death 08.06.10
Muni rider Ryan spotted the slow-bleed death of a 44-O’Shaughnessy yesterday, and snapped a photo so you could all bear witness. Here’s what Ryan had to say:
The 44 bus had a transmission blow out [Thursday] morning at 7th and Lawton. That is blood red transmission fluid gushing out of the back of the bus
That is sad, is what it is. And awesome at the same time.
Photo diary: Seasonal bounty of the 44? 12.08.09
Photo by Pavani
We never get tired of photos of random shit left on Muni. Here’s the latest we received, from Muni rider Pavani:
Saw this fruit and vegetable still life in motion on the 44. It was left on the bus when the bus emptied out on California.
Seen strange things left on Muni? By all means, show and tell!
Muni Hookups on Craigslist 09.24.08
So you’re sitting on the bus and you spot a hottie sitting across from you, what do you do? If you’re a bunch of “suits” on the 41, looks like the thing to do is to stare at the said attractive woman shamelessly and then apologize for it! I found this hilarious post on Craigslist’s Missed Connections section:
Woman on the 41, jeans, sweater, too much attention
So you got on the bus somewhere on union today, you sat facing forward, the suits with their blackberries and the awkward stares filled the back of the bus, 9 old guys trying to catch a glimpse of you. my buddy and i had our backs to you and could not stop laughing watching these guys. the best was when you got off the bus and walked into the old jamba juice, full floor to ceiling glass, looked back and caught the ENTIRE group of dudes staring… so for two of us, we apologize. You are extremely beautiful and the staring was intense, but still pretty funny.
Thanks.
Lovelorn Muni riders have also posted for the dark hair beauty on N-Judah, the intense blonde on the 44, and a hoodie-wearing guy again on the N (hmmm is the N the hottest line in the Muni system?).
Do you have a Muni missed connection?
p.s. Don’t ask me why I’m reading the Craigslist Missed Connection section! I’m doing it for the greater good of Muni riders!
44 rant 05.30.08
This is something that’s been on my chest for four years. Four years! I used to ride the 44 line religiously each day at the start and end of my very, very long commute to Mountain View. I even dedicated a personal journal to the 44 just to vent my frustration in a positive way. So I figured I’d share my woes with you guys on Muni Diaries.
For those of you who still ride the 44, I hope the line has improved its on-time performance. It really couldn’t have gotten much worse. The 20-minute interval between buses as displayed on the Muni schedule is a bunch of packed-in crap. Just writing all this now takes me back to the days when I’d wait and wait and wait for the bus, sharing my angst with fellow Muni goers. I guess you could say that the 44′s habitual inconsistencies brought the community together. But I’d rather engage with fellow San Franciscans at an antique show at the Cow Palace than stand around talking about how long we’d all been waiting for the bus. And I hate antiques.
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