An Ode to the Cable Cars
SF resident and cable car lover Carlos put together the homage up above.
A lot of us love San Francisco. Some of us find cool ways to express it.
Category: diaries
Photo Diary: Muni, in Color and B&W
New to the Muni Photos Flickr group, Jaymi Heimbuch is really good with color, don’tcha think?
Full-Metal Muni
Mr. Eric Sir, at it again … He made this video (how else?) on his iPhone. And I’m drooling.
And they say people aren’t happy on Muni …
No one riding Muni ever looks happy. Public transit clearly suuuucks.
While I disagree with the sentiment, I had nothing to back me up. No proof. Until …
The photo above, by jennifer7people, showed up on our Muni Photos Flickr group pool a few minutes later.
When I got married a few months ago, hella people asked me if we would take photos on Muni. I was all, “No way! We don’t wanna get that dirty!” This brave couple couldn’t care less, obviously. Bravo! And congrats to you two.
This is neither here nor there, but that guy on the far left looks like Steve Carell, eh?
Muni Diaries Live! Friday, Oct. 29 at the Make-Out Room
Photo by Troy Holden
This time our story tellers include Derek Powazek of Fray Magazine, comedian Bucky Sinister, and Isaac Fitzgerald, whom you may know from The Rumpus, but did you know he is also the recipient of a royal Bhutanese sword? Tara the sea shanty songstress from our first show will be back too, so we hope you’re ready.
This just in: author Andrew Lam will be telling his Muni story onstage — he is the author of Perfume Dreams and East Eats West, and a champion of Literary Death Match!
Also, if you’ve been wrangling with your Clipper card and silently mourning the end of the paper “A” Fast Pass, come to this show to see the beginning of the final faceoff between the paper Fast Pass and the Clipper card. You’ll have to be there to see what we mean…
And as always, you will have an opportunity to tell your Muni story on stage, with prizes galore! We’ll be announcing more about the lineup and prizes in the next two weeks. If you missed Muni Diaries Live! one, two, and three (how could you miss out on so much fun?), we hope to see you at this one! A mere $5 at the door will get you a night of entertainment and camaraderie, so get your stories ready and see you at the Make-Out Room!
Details:
Muni Diaries Live!
Friday, Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Only $5!
Make-Out Room — 3225 22nd Street
Routes serving the area: BART 24th St. Station, 12, 14, 22, 33, 48, 49, 67
SF Welcomes Me Home … Clipper, Not So Much
Photo by 0x0000org
1. Tara exits turnstiles at 24th and Mission BART station after a sleepy ride back from SFO. Clipper cash balance falls below threshold; Autoload triggered, just as it should.
2. On first commute back to work two days later, BART turnstiles say “see agent.” Agent shows, on his little machine thingie, a message that says, “BAD DEBT” (all caps, very scary). A customer-service call is in order. BART ticket must be purchased. (I am Tara’s boiling fit of not-really-contained public rage.)
3. Clipper Rep #1 says there’s nothing wrong with the account. Maybe the card itself is broken, she suggests? Add Fare machines couldn’t read it, so this seemed likely. (How much will it cost me if I don’t get a new card right away? Will I get a refund? I am Tara’s frustrated, tearful self-pity.)
4. Tara calls Clipper back to say, yes, something must be wrong with the card. Clipper Rep #2 checks into it further, and, at some point, mentions the last four digits of the credit card on file. This is an old card that does not exist! Ah: Clipper Rep #2 says this is why I have “bad debt,” triggered by the Autoload a couple days ago. But! It was updated! (Right? Hmm…)
5. Tara learns that she did, in fact, update her information in July. Tip: Always ALWAYS keep confirmation emails from Clipper when you update information; they contain reference numbers that should help if/when they don’t know what you’re talking about. She makes third call to Clipper that morning. (I am Tara’s violently flashing incompetency-radar.)
6. Clipper Rep #3 has no idea what Tara is talking about with this “bad debt” and “card not working” business. Everything looks fine, just as it did to Clipper Rep #1. No, no. Something is wrong. Look harder. Tara eventually gets the equivalent of, “Oh, there it is.” Info was updated correctly by the user, but it failed to be processed by Clipper.