No fire without smoke

After already arrived in Sweden since a couple days and Sarah in Hong Kong, though with a few days delay via Dubai, we got a pic from our friends in Nevada, close to Reno and Lake Tahoe. The big Rim Fire in Yosemite is spreading and the smoke is spreading even further, actually much further. Maybe you don't see anything special in this pic but the truth is in the distance there should tower beautiful mountains - now it's a smoky haze. Our friends are pretty pissed, because who wants to live in a house that smells like a Ranger's cabin?

The flight

It's a 4-hour flight to O'Hare. Been there before. Sarah doesn't mind the airport but my experience of it is no good. Hope this time will change my opinion.

From iPad

Gate 94

The San Bruno mountains with the ocean layer on top and parts of South San Francisco
can be seen from our Chicago bound gate at SFO this Wednesday morning.

From iPad

Stuffed

Our friendly neighbor Terry is driving us and our luggage to our rental apartment in SF. Sarah and I are flying together to Chicago tomorrow and then Sarah will go for a 3-week working trip to Hong Kong via Dubai. I'll be heading back to Sweden. This is her stuff for her trip. It fills up a whole friggin car (!).

From phone

1st Year Anniversary

1st year Anniversary breakfast! We have the whole day ahead of us to do whatever we want. No one else. Just us. Gotta love that...

From phone

[EDIT: We will be uploading our private photos onto Sarahs FTP throughout the day, so sign in any time you like and browse at your heart's content.]

Playful reference - serious business

A superhero agency is certainly needed to deal with the chaotic traffic situation in the Bay Area...

Bay Bridge opens

Looks like the new Bay Bridge will get its Grand Opening on Labour Day Holiday weekend after all, despite the broken rods and all. Feds have signed off on the temporary fix.

Photo: The Chronicle

Yet another veggie eatery pops up

My old colleagues took me to a relatively new veggie restaurant in Oakland today. Crazy cheap lunch and a crazy amount of dishes and entrees to choose from. The verdict after my sesame "chicken" lunch? So so. I have had better. The soup that comes with the lunch menu was absolutely OK but the spring roll was stale.

From iPad

Vintage SF

At the corner of Geary and Larkin. A piece of vintage San Francisco.

From iPad

Change of theme

Speaking of murals, the good old whale theme on Olive is now gone. Instead there is a clown theme of sorts.

From iPad

Say whaat!

There's a new mural on Geary, one block from our rental on Jones street. I don't know what it's supposed to say. It's well done but it doesn't emit good vibes. It's like it wants to say: You're close to Tenderloin so get 'scared to the bone' and 'jump out of your skin' cuz you're gonna get chopped up anyway. Weird.

From iPad

Filbert street

A part of San Francisco I can never get tired of...

Community BBQ

Every other Sunday we're having a community bbq on the hill. Good for the neighborhood and for maintaining friendships. Today Sarah's the emcee :-)

The "other" America

You can easily tell you're in the Bay Area by the liberal standpoints just about anything. Sweet.

Stay on your toes - and don't scratch

California's got its share of monsters. Real ones.