This post is a completely collection things that I’ve noticed and thought during the 1st half of my journey.
*AT&T is horrible. See previous post about my need for a new phone.
*It’s amazing the reaction you get when you call someone by their name. I learned this lesson from my dad and if you’ve never done it I challenge you to give it a try. The next time that you’re at a store and someone has a name tag on say, ‘Hi, _____’. Most of the time they’ll look up in shock. This is especially true of TSA employees.
*TSA is scary. By scary I mean I’m scared by the stuff that I see get thru security. No, not terrorist level stuff but today I didn’t even think about it and got thru security with my liter water bottle full of water. It’s a metal water bottle. It was in my bag. I don’t know what kind of x-ray machine can see thru a steel bottle, but I’m fairly certain the one at SFO can’t.
*Public transit is awesome, minus the interesting odors.
*San Francisco is foodie heaven. Simply amazing. Check out this place called Zero-Zero. Also check out every single eating establishment located inside of The Ferry Building. If reference to an earlier post where I polled everyone as to whether I would gain or lose weight on this trip… Courtesy of San Francisco I’m fairly certain I’ve gained.
*I should have purchased a pedometer for this trip. I wonder how many miles I’ve walked in 15 days.
*Random acts of kindness are awesome simply because of the reaction you get from people. Example: I purchased a 3 day MUNI pass here in San Francisco. I only needed it for 1.5 days but it was cheaper than 2 1 days passes. When I get to the airport and was leaving I saw someone about to purchase a pass. I walked right up to her and handed her my pass and told her it was good until the end of the day tomorrow. She thought I was lying to her. Same story regarding the $3.80 I had left on my BART card. Try it sometime.
*I experienced voter fraud in San Francisco. While walking around yesterday I was asked if I was registered to vote. I said no. This was a 1/2 truth… of course I am registered to vote in Charlottesville, but not out here in California. They asked me if I wanted to register to vote. I was curious as to how this would play out so I said yes. I was handed a clip board and asked to fill it out. When it came to the ‘address’ part I looked up and stated that I didn’t have a local address and that I was living out of my backpack. Completely true statement on my part. The response? “Do you know a friends address? If you do just use that.” SERIOUSLY?! I tried to get my phone out so I could record this, but i wasn’t able to pull that off. Some media outlet in San Fran needs to investigate this, I couldn’t believe it. Because I didn’t want to cause a scene I politely peeled away.
*I’m going to jinx myself by saying this, but I haven’t had a bad weather day yet!
*Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ really does make people smile!
*I’m in love with photography. I want to take a class when I get back to Charlottesville. Do any of you want to teach me? It’s amazing to see things thru a lens; it gives me a totally different perspective.
*Social media really is amazing. I knew this before I started the trip, but I never realized just how powerful it is. Also, Twitter may just be another fad, but it is THE fad right now and this trip wouldn’t be possible without it.
*JetBlue rocks. I’m not just saying this because of the fact that without JetBlue this entire journey wouldn’t be possible. I’m saying it because every member of the JetBlue team is awesome. From the pilot right down to the crews at the gate. They make flying enjoyable.