Letter From An Occupant

Science may not back me up on this yet, but my own 10 year experiment has shown that SF landlords tend to be a little insane. I still need to do some research to determine if being a landlord in San Francisco makes someone who was once sane go a little nuts, or if one needs to have a touch of crazy in order to become a landlord in the first place.

On of the few positives of moving was getting away from our SF landlord. We lived just below him which, initially, seemed like a plus. He’d be there first thing if there was a problem and I thought having a landlord on the premises might help keep the building quiet. This turned out to be wishful thinking.

Our landlord was the problem person in the building. He stomped when he walked, he slammed doors and when he talked, he shouted. We cringed overhearing him berate a customer service people on the phone so loudly we could hear his every word in our dining room. “You people at HP are SO stupid!,” he screamed. “God you’re stupid. Where are you, in India?”

His relationships were turbulent and, at times, violent. He seemed surprised when we mentioned that we’d been bothered by a physical fight he had at 2am and unnerved to hear him screaming”STOP HURTING ME” and “PUT DOWN THAT KNIFE!”. I’d never called 911 before but I called them on our landlord. (The dispatchers were unsurprised, “Oh that house? We were there earlier today.”)

Any communication from him seemed like further proof of his unstable condition. We contacted him about a problem once and he emailed us that he wasn’t sure he could get to it right away because of his “heath and personnel” problems. We puzzled over this statement, ultimately realizing he meant that he had health and personal problems.

We arrived home one day to find the following note on his door: UPS Knock LOUAD (and yes, we ran to get our cameras.)

That said, he’s now a memory, a kooky character in our stories about our first home together. And despite his many heath and personnel problems, he was good at the landlord essentials: every year, he gave us a check for interest on our security deposit and a few weeks after moving out, we received our full security deposit back.

Another Reason I Love SF

Where else would you see this first thing in the morning in the heart of the Financial District?!

California All the Way

Yet another reason I love California: locally grown tomatoes in February!

Bruins’ Farms is able to grow such perfect looking tomatoes in the midst of winter because they use greenhouses.

It’s a little gratuitous, I know. Especially since there are lots of  things to eat at the market. With all these carrots and greens and even early fava beans, we don’t particularly need tomatoes yet. But I bought a few because when a recipe calls for a can of tomatoes, I love being able to use fresh, California-grown tomatoes instead.

Setting My Sights

Until we moved, I didn’t realize how much I relied on my SF staples — the places that soothed me, fed me or kept me entertained. I have no such places in the East Bay yet. No favorite walks or restaurants or shops or neighborhoods.

But I did come to the Eastside with a decent list of places to go and restaurants to try, and when I’ve felt lost without my usual routines these last few weeks, it’s helped to remember the things I’d like to do with this year in the East Bay, like:

• Pie – The EB happily has many pie options (Sweet Adeline, Fat Apples, Bakesale Betty) and I plan to try them all.
• Good Mexican food – Apparently, it exists!
• Breakfast – Will anything beat our old trips to the SF Blue Bottle Cafe? One can hope.
• Camino – Restaurant (like so many East Bay restaurants) run by a Chez Panisse alum.
• Brown Sugar Kitchen – Southern food with a local/organic focus (AND Blue Bottle Coffee).
• Ici – Something has to fill the giant Birite Creamery void.
• Parkway Theater – Food, drinks and movies under one roof.
• Wine tasting at Rosenblum’s Alameda tasting room (wouldn’t mind popping into Hangar One either).
• Cheeseboard/Arizmendi
• Hike – We’ve explored the wilds of the North Bay far more than the East Bay. I’d like to climb Mt. Diablo and explore some of the may parks in this neck of the woods.
• Stroll the Hood(s)- Neighborhood walks were a favorite past time in the City, I hope it proves fruitful here too. Our impromptu stroll through Elmood recently was lovely.
• BBQ – We finally have enough outdoor space to get a barbecue and start grilling.

Police Blotters – January 2009

• 10:59 a.m. — A caller reported someone stole an 80-pound cement flamingo from the front yard.
• 5:09 p.m. — A caller reported an unknown 5-year-old just walked into the caller’s house. The child’s parents picked up the child.
• 1:53 p.m. — A caller reported a man lying in a field with his arms stretched out. He was found to be napping.
• 7:48 p.m. — A caller reported a man had his pickup winched to a tree and was “poking” the tree. He left before the police arrived. [I've read this one many times and it still makes no sense to me.]
• 8:28 a.m. — A caller from a business reported the back roll-up door of a delivery truck was spray-painted with the word “meat.”
• 4:16 p.m. -—A caller reported a white Ford coupe with the words “I love” and a large male organ painted on the back window.
• 8:51 a.m. — A woman requested a welfare check on her mother. The mother said she was fine and her daughter was “dingier than heck” and heavily medicated.
• 11:26 a.m. — A man called from a freeway overpass reported a Middle Eastern man wearing a red turban was on the overpass, possibly praying, and might be suicidal.
• At 6:07 p.m. Thursday, a person reported seeing a woman “flapping around, trying to fly.” Police could not find her.
• 9:53 p.m. — A woman reported she saw “clumps of dark brown hair” in the parking lot that morning.
• 8:48 p.m. — A woman reported a store had its doors locked but all the lights on, and she was concerned. Officers discovered a sign on the door saying the store was closed at 8 p.m.
• 5:02 p.m. — A caller reported a loose horse that “lives across the street.”