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I've heard a lot of people complain about the fog here in SF. I guess if you're really not a fog person, then it could really get to you. But, if that's the case, then you probably shouldn't be here in the first place, or at least move to Berkeley, which has the same weather, minus the fog.       I happen to love the fog. I love to watch it roll in and I love watching the weather report on TV that says that a place just 30 minutes away is incredibly hot, while we're here, safe under our blanket of fog.       Fog is good tea weather as well. It's nice to make yourself up a tasty cup of whatever your preference is while the dreaded vapor comes cascading through the hundred foot manmade trees of the Financial District.       Probably one of the reasons I like it so much is because I always remember when it would come in back in my hometown and everything would get incredibly silent. That freaks some people out, but I like it. It's like someone has thrown a blanket on nature for a little while.       Hate it or love it, it's here to stay. All I can tell those in SF who hate to do is to move down to Noe Valley or Dolores Park. I hear that it doens't come down there much, but if you're living that far away from teh center of town, you might as well live in the East Bay where it's sunnier and the rent is cheaper.

I don't really know what they do and aren't really wanting to find out, but some nefarious little twerps, living in their parents' basement have started unleashing this really good looking virus attachments, which look like they're an email from Microsoft. They're really convincing, except for the fact that Microsoft will never email you anything!       This, combined with the "You must delete this file to save your computer." hoax are really scary.       Long gone are the days when attacks on computers were conducted by some pale-faced guy who was just sitting there trying to get into the machine. Virus authors have become sociologists. They're able to create these things that prey on fears, assumptions, greed, etc.       Probably the first instance of this was the "I Love You" virus, which as seen by the spread of it, showed how much people were in need of someone to love them, or were at least curious to see who the special someone was.       What is probably the most amazing to me is the fact that a of these viruses and worms are written outside the country, so there is a language barrier they have to deal with, since admittedly, the majority of computer transactions still take place in English. But, even with this barrier, we're not seeing and goofs in grammar or odd ways to say popular phrases.       It's amazing the lengths someone will go to, to appease themselves when they're angry or bored.

I'm not exactly sure what it is, but there is a problem that some of us have, wherein we allow our mouth to get way ahead of our minds. While this may seem to be a problem with people that not that intelligent, ironically, I've seen this problem again and again in very smart people.       It's only recently that I've truly been trying to figure out what the problem is and what a possible solution to it may be. Is it because the mind is skipping ahead to the next thought, leaving the mouth behind to flap endlessly, enunciating words that it never meant to, or is it more of a problem that you've got a lot on your mind and speech becomes secondary.       I guess the solution to either of those problems would be to focus more. It's not a bad skill to learn. It seems that alcohol helps me to focus on certain things such as writing and creative endeavours, but that probably isn't the best thing to use when trying to make sure that you say what you mean.       I personally have never found a good solution to this problem, whether it is the two causes I've outlined, or some other grand, masterplan of the universe. The truth is though, I really need to get a handle on it. It has spoiled some otherwise very good relationships and opportunities. Yes, yes, there is a lot of truth in what they say about being yourself and being true. But, it is my believe that two synapses accidentally colliding to produce some sudden thought that murmurs about how the CEO's shoes look uneven during a job interview is one of those dips or spots in one's self that probably shouldn't be voiced to the rest of the world.       Beats me. All I know is that I know I do it and I'm trying to overcome it. Any suggestions welcome.

So, I've discovered one of the big perks of living in this mighty metropolis; tons of performing art.       Now, I've always liked movies. I tend to try not to watch them at places like the Sony Metreon and like to support small theaters. I always like to rent. Once again, trying to avoid Blockbuster, which is pretty easy around here since there are several small movie rental stores in the area. Of course there's a Blockbuster as well, but that's bad bad.       I had never really been into theatre, live performance, musicals etc. until a fantastic trip to London with my girl. We saw productions there that chnaged my whole mind on the subject. Maybe I've just grown up as well, who knows. But, that's the other thing that is sweet about living here is all the plays that are going on. It's a very different situation when you have to check your watch to make sure that you catch the last Bart home and being able to hang around and really enjoy a performance. And you can watch theatre very cheaply here. The half-priced ticket booth in Union Square has some good deals daily.       Add in your rather regular protests and some drunken and/or crazy guy screaming about "Jesus Mustard" and you've got a full schedule of entertainment.       Now all I have to do is try to remain focused and get some work done once in awhile!

So, I'm a geek. I love computers and I love programming them. So, this means I need high-speed internet all the time, at home. I'd love to have it on the run as well, but that's a little out of my price range right now.       DSL is a great technology. It's too bad it came about and became affordable so late after the web boom, but so be it and now we've got it. It just happens that for some reason, it's still tough to get it hooked up right the first time.       My new install with Speakeasy (www.speakeasy.net) seemed to go all right and they're good, knowledgeable people, unlike SBC. So, the internet is all up and running right? Wrong. After three days of tinkering, I finally discovered that quite literally, there was a screw loose. One of the termination blocks for the jack was just floating there. It's amazing I got anything at all. Thankfully that's all fixed and I'm a happy campy, cruising along at speeds that were unimagineable fifteen years ago. Well, okay, imagineable, but hard to grasp since 800 k was wicked bad-assed then.

So, I found what may be the place that I've always needed while living here and I've started to move in.       It's this gorgeous old building in the TenderNob (area between the Tenderloin and Nob Hill, although my area is quite a bit more Nobby than Tender.)       For once in my life, I finally have a view of something. Looking north, I can see the tall buildings of the Financial District and all the fancy hotels in the area. I'm pretty thrilled with the whole thing really. As my friend Michael says, "I have arrived."

I was a proud proud East Bay resident ever since I arrived in the SF Bay Area in the fall of 1998. There were trees there! Trees! The floral attributes of Berkeley were a great transition for a rural country boy like me (not midwest rural, just the Sacramento Valley rural.) I was happy, but time wore on and I realized that the real reason I have avoided the big scary City known as San Francisco was due to the fact that it was a tad pricey at the time due to this thing some of you may have heard of called the dot-com boom. Rents had tripled in many areas and it was way beyond what a poor college kid like me could afford.       Well, the dot-com craziness died down and with it, so did the rents. The dropped off so far in fact, that after five years in Berkeley, North Oakland, and Piedmont, I was finally able to move into San Francisco proper.       So, that's where all this is starting. I'm currently a freelancer (the polite term for those of us laid off and living off contract jobs when we get them) and so I thought I'd start this up to see where it goes.