Photo diary: ‘Yaarrrgh!’ 11.09.09
Muni rider Katie retells this odd encounter from last week:
I was on the 9x Friday, and a guy got on with a parrot on his shoulder around Market St. The parrot didn’t seem to be tied down, but it was very well-behaved and quietly stood on his owner’s shoulder. He was wearing a little red sweater. I got off at Broadway and Columbus, so I don’t know where the parrot (plus the pirate) was going, but it definitely made me smile as I surreptitiously took pictures.
Seen any funny animals (human or other) on Muni lately? Share stories and photos with the faithful readership of Muni Diaries.
Most epic 9X commute EVER 06.03.09
This happened to me about a week ago. I was running late for work so I hopped on to the last 9X running before it switched to a BX/AX. We were doing fine until the bus started to stall on the 101 going north, then it stopped! From there on we went coasting down the exit with our engine off.
We finally got to the stop after the 101 when the bus driver decided to try to turn the bus on. It worked for a few seconds, then it died on us. So everyone had to get out and wait for the next bus, mind you I was running very late so this was not good to me, But luckily, another 9X arrived a few minutes later, so everyone hopped on this bus and I proceeded to go to the back. I found a seat in the rear of the bus, so I sat down only to find out that the girl in front of me was throwing up. Somehow she got her boyfriend to open the emergency window so she could puke out the window as the bus was going. I’m afraid to say she didn’t always make it outside the window. After moving a few seats away from them, I noticed that the floor had a liquid that was coming from the girl’s direction, Not knowing what it was I just kept my feet up. Eventually they got off and everyone avoided the area. I’m not sure what the Muni driver did about clean up, but every time I hop on the rear of a Muni bus, I look out to see if that seat is the one she threw up on.
More photos after the jump:
Windowless on the 9X 03.27.09
Getting on the 9X today at Balboa Park and moving to back, I noticed that a side window had been removed and placed on the seat next to it. The gentleman shown here greatly enjoyed this unusual situation and made full use of it, frequently spitting on the parked cars the bus was passing along Geneva Ave.
A short while after this picture was taken, a colleague joined him. Upon discovering that the window was occupying a perfectly good seat, without hesitation he picked it up and threw it out of the bus, then sat down to continue his rapport with his friend.
Also note the amount of trash on the floor, a usual sight on buses around the Balboa Park area.
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A Truck That Can Tow Mountains 10.23.08
Here we are on Powell just south of North Point on a Wednesday afternoon; I think we’re looking at a 9 or a 9x. And yes, it’s definitely getting towed.
So, what? Dead engine? Run out of gas? Flat tire(s)? Kind of embarrassing if any of those is the case, because a Muni hotel (parking lot/servicing spot) is less than a block from here. Also, this is the third or fourth stop from the start of the line. I think I speak for everyone when I say, “WTF?”
Obvious questions include: why’s it getting towed? Were people on this bus? Did a bus come to save the day? (SuperBus wasn’t that one in the background, if you were wondering). And was this a freak mechanical/electrical uh-oh or does this happen fairly regularly? Where’s Judson True when you need him?
– Tara
pee-pee shed 08.03.08
I hopped on the 9x this week on North Point, right after work. Though this bus stop is on the same corner as my building, I’ve never needed to take a bus from it. I suppose we won’t count the time I tried in vain to grab a crowded 9x heading north toward work; that’s another dear-diary moment altogether.
I do walk by it quite a bit, and it always smells like an olfactory one-two of food garbage and piss. There is a garbage can nearby, and it is a Muni shed; so, months ago, I stored it in the Obvious folder of my brain and called it a day.
But now, we’re talking about now. And, now, up-close and personal, this thing smells horrible. Awful. Shit-awful, almost, but piss-awful is more like it. I sat in the shed for a second, until that rancid, nostril-filling smell of urine hit my nose. At first, it just smelled like a somewhat-dingy public bathroom. Then it smelled like a Port-a-Potty. You know, those really bad ones at beer or wine festivals that you wouldn’t be caught dead in, had it not been for the gallon of liquid now floating about your insides.
The Occasional Random Niceness of … People 06.20.08
(Reposted, with permission, from Tony Long’s North Beach Examiner)
Legendary Chronicle columnist Herb Caen used to run what he called “Sight ‘ems” — interesting little oddities he (or one of his legmen) spotted wandering around the old town. Back in Caen’s day this wouldn’t have rated a mention, it being a more civilized burg, but in 2008 I found the scene jarring:
Three tourists, all women, riding a northbound 9x-Bayshore Express, and clearly lost. They didn’t speak any English (I think that was Portuguese I was hearing, but maybe it was … well, who cares?) and the bus driver spoke nothing but English. As they chattered away at the driver, laughing and waving a map under her nose while she crossed Market and headed up Kearny, I expected to hear some very colorful English indeed.
North Beach Examiner on Proposed Muni Changes Afoot in North Beach 06.06.08
The Examiner takes a close look at the proposed cuts on a couple of linnes with paltry ridership.
A little teaser from the story:
These cuts are two of many proposals being studied by Muni as part of its Transit Effectiveness Project, which, if implemented, would result in the most comprehensive bus rerouting done in my memory. And I’ve been here a long time. There isn’t a single line passing through or near North Beach (save the cable cars) that wouldn’t be affected in some way.
