Clipper Card Glitch Screws Passengers Again - When Will it Stop?

Broken readers is just one of many problems.

If you have a Clipper card, you may have been a victim of glitches or problems that are not your fault.  Throughout the years that I've been blogging about Clipper, I've written my fair share of issues and try to get MTC, and Cubic Transportation Systems (the contractor running the Clipper card) to get it fixed.

And while they do admit to their errors and fixes them as soon as they can, the problems continue to persist, like this most recent issue:

Starting on June 1st, Muni decided to end the paper version of the free ride transfers for those who exit Daly City BART and switches to the Clipper card handling the transactions.  This matter was concerning to commuters who used the SF State free shuttle as the transfer policy requires the passenger to ride the 28/28L line bus away from the station within the first hour of exiting the station; by taking the SF State shuttle, the transfer on the Clipper card is void and a return trip from SF State to BART will be charged at regular price.

Muni and SF State worked out a plan, effective August 1, 2012, instead of the one hour policy, it was extended to 23 hours for the first Muni ride.  The reason behind this is students that take the campus shuttle away from the campus, and can still ride the 28/28L line going back to BART with no fear of being charged a $2 fare (as long as it's within 23 hours of exiting BART).  Read story about the change in transfer policy.

But things didn't work out as planned.  As reported by the Golden Gate Xpress, the supposed reprogrammed transfer policy had a glitch and students who took the campus shuttle away from Daly City, was charged a $2 fare for their return to BART when taking a Muni bus.  Muni admitted the error and promised to have a fix by October 26th and Clipper will refund any passenger affected by the glitch.

The problem I have with this is, why do these glitches keep cropping up, and why isn't the contractor (Cubic Transportation Systems) not making sure it works perfectly the first time, every time?

It's not an isolated problem for Cubic, it's a chain of failures due to idiots programming the stuff without testing it.  Here's a list of their failures for the past few years:

1. In August 2012, there was a discovery that happened in 2010 when their cards enrolled with autoload funded their cards, but didn't charge their credit card at the time of the reloading of funds. Passengers were finally charged in August 2012 on their credit cards for the reloaded funds.
2. Back in May 2012, AC Transit passengers complained that when they rode an AC bus, transferred to BART, and took another AC bus, they were overcharged on their fare.  This glitch was the same problem Muni passengers faced before (see below).
3. At the same time, passengers who rode Muni, took BART, and transferred to Muni was also overcharged.  I originally reported on the problem back in June 2011 and while Clipper promised to get it fixed, people were still getting screwed until May 2012.
4. A software glitch delays the implementation of Clipper on Samtrans.  MTC fails to notify public until I broke the news.
5. In October 2010, I reported on the Clipper card readers beeping like crazy and it wasn't fixed until February 2011.
6. In early August 2010, those who linked their Clipper card with Wageworks was very angry when a glitch in the system resulted in pre-tax transit benefit users not getting their passes or funds loaded to their card in a timely manner. (Via my blog and SF Appeal)
7. On one day in July 2010, a software update to Clipper card readers on Muni failed to work properly resulting in disabled Clipper card readers.
8. April 2010, software update disables TransLink (pre-Clipper era) card readers.

I think I've made my point clear.  MTC needs to force Cubic to wise up and make sure that whenever there's a software or firmware update, that everything is throughly tested BEFORE the public uses it.  For every mistake or problem, people lose money from their Clipper card from errors or overcharges, transit agencies don't generate the correct revenue, and the time wasted for fixing the errors and issuing refunds to those affected.

Serra Bowl - Up For Auction, Never Comes Back

It’s pretty much the end of Serra Bowl. Instead of ripping out the lanes and moving to another location, or trying to fight back and get the lease renewed, they’ve pretty much made their choice.

They put the last nail in the coffin and will be buried under cement. This Friday, April 27, the alley will be having an auction on everything, including the lanes and machinery.

The preview will start at 9AM and the auction starts at 11AM. This is an opportunity if you want to buy some souvenirs, but it’s mostly the people who have a lot of money to buy the lanes and machinery to hopefully open a new bowling center or get some spare parts.

So this is how the saga of Serra Bowl ends, in total disaster. I’m very disappointed.

No More Paper Transfers at Daly City BART - Going Clipper Only June 1st

Some not so great news for those of you who love the yellow paper transfers at the Daly City BART station's paid area...

Effective June 1, 2012, the machines will be taken out of service and those who ride BART and transfer to Muni must use a the same Clipper card they exit BART to get a free Muni ride away from the station (as per Muni updates page).

How it works:
When you exit BART at Daly City (regardless if you pay with e-cash or HVD), you will automatically receive an e-transfer encoded on your card.  When boarding a Muni bus (14L, 28, 28L, and 54) and tagging your card, you will receive a free ride and get your card automatically encoded for a free ride back to the BART station within 24 hours.

[Big secret] perk:
The Clipper system is a little bit dumb.  Let's say you exited BART and took the 28-19th Avenue bus away from the station.  You get off at Geary Blvd. & Park Presidio and you want to transfer to the 38L.  Because the Clipper system (for Muni) does not know what bus route you are riding or which direction, your second ride (on the 38L) is FREE.  This works on all Muni lines, it doesn't have to be the 38L.

This basically means, you get two free rides regardless of whatever line and direction you take, as long as you meet these minimum rules:

1. You tag your card on a Muni bus within one hour of exiting Daly City BART.
2. You take your second ride on a Muni bus within 24-hours when you complete the above task.

Unlike the two part paper transfer, you can only use the paper transfer to leave BART and return to BART.  Clipper: Free reign!

Disadvantages:
One disadvantage is if someone picks you up from the station or you take your car home from the BART lot.  If you take a paper transfer and get an alternate ride home, getting back to BART via Muni is free because you still have a piece of paper giving you the right to a free ride back.  But with going Clipper only, your free ride the next day is void because of the one hour rule when exiting the station.

The second (and WORST) disadvantage is if you ride the SF State shuttle.  This is going to be the biggest headache.  Back in May 2011, I mentioned about this big problem and said the easiest way to beat the problem is with the yellow paper transfer.

Here's the problem: Let's say you exited Daly City BART, earned your e-transfer on your card, and take the free SF State shuttle away from the station.  When you want to return to BART from SF State, you are left with two options:

1. Take the SF State shuttle back to Daly City BART (free ride, no Clipper required).
2. Take the 28 or 28L bus back to Daly City BART, and it will cost you $2 because after one hour after you received your e-transfer from leaving the BART station, it becomes VOID on the Muni ride back.

Option two becomes a big issue.  Lots of SF State students take the yellow transfer and can easily decide while waiting in the SF State shuttle line (back to BART) that if they see a 28 bus approaching, they'll take that instead and get their free ride.  But... with going Clipper only on those BART transfers, they'll learn that they lost $2 from their Clipper e-cash because they took the SF State shuttle to campus instead of Muni.

Is there an easy solution?  The answer is no.  You have to remind yourself:

• "If I take the SF State shuttle to campus, I must take the shuttle back to BART."
• OR: "If I take the Muni 28/28L to campus, I have the option to take either the SF State shuttle or 28/28L back to BART."

The SF State problem is the most challenging.  I am hopeful that the city, BART, Muni, and SF State officials can work out a deal that allows all SF State affiliates, including the staff and faculty the privilege to have free BART rides extended to Daly City station.  If you want to read more about this possibility, click here.

Serra Bowl - Rest in Peace, My Final Thoughts

Just yesterday (Sunday, April 15th), was Serra Bowl's last day of service to the community. It was a place for people to go bowling, drink beer, sing karaoke, have a meal, celebrate birthdays, and play in a league.

Now, Serra Bowl is permanently closed. Things are silent, the parking lot empty, and now the lanes will have to be taken out and the place emptied in not a lot of time.

I'm going to share some last thoughts about Serra Bowl. Some of it is good memories, and some I have some questions about:

The best memories...
For me, Serra Bowl has been here since I was a little kid, bowling with friends with the air blown bumpers in the gutters. I started bowling again just months ago when SF State started their first staff & faculty league, and while it was just monthly league games, it brought a lot of my co-workers closer together, and allowed me to find a physical activity that was both fun and challenging.

Sure, I hit a bunch of gutter balls and accidentally rolled my ball into the gate, but looking at the environment, it showed a lot of benefits, especially the kids. It's nice to see the kids having so much fun with their families, whether it be playing the latest video games, having a pizza party, or just rolling the ball down the bumper lanes. The alley kept the kids out of trouble, and since it's so easy to access via BART and Samtrans, even people without a car can go bowling.

There was always ample parking all the time (except when the carnival was here), a feature that even the Classic Bowling Center can't replicate. The prices was fair and the staff was always helpful. And I'll always remember getting my first custom drilled bowling ball after getting lessons.

Questions and Doubts
Sometimes, I wonder why the lanes had to close. There's not been much information told to us patrons about what's going on, only a bunch of rumors. What I do know is the 99 year old landlord that lives next door in the brown house, did not want to renew Serra Bowl's 50 year lease. Even the daughter of the landlord stated it's basically time for the alley to go, and there's no clue on what's going to happen next to the piece of land.

Some have said (as rumor) that it's about the money; Serra Bowl was definitely profitable, even with the decline in alleys and bowlers, but some said the landlord wanted double the monthly rent, from $20,000 a month to $40,000. Others have said the landlord and the owners of Serra hated each other and once the lease was up, it was the end of the alley.

Nobody really knows what happened behind the scenes or why the month notice of the closure. It made the organizers of our league scramble to make arrangements for our May [monthly] game, and was fortunate to have the management let us play just last week.

The rally that got no attention
Serra hosted a community rally and there was a nice crowd that showed-up to hold signs and chant to save the alley, but we didn't get much attention. Channel 2 was the only station that stayed around for a little while to tape the rally, and just a few local bloggers passed the word around. If we had some more media attention to this, I think it would be a better influence in renewing the lease.

Also, the rally was contained in the parking lot, including the marching. Serra's parking lot is pretty secluded and with that, you don't see a lot of cars pass by to take a look at the rally. A handful of us thought it was better to hold our signs, including my "Honk to Save Serra Bowl" sign at the nearest major intersection (which is also a freeway off-ramp), and nearly every car and truck passing by blew their horns in great support. However, a manager of the alley didn't like the idea, calling it a "liability" and told us to go back to the secluded parking lot for the rally. If they allowed us to stay near the intersection and on the sidewalk, hundreds of cars would have honked in support and spread the word of the bowling center's demise. I've learned that when you want to fight to save something, you rattle the cage as much as you can and gain the support of the people; shunning us for asking people to honk in support was a big downer; it was like hardly anyone knew Serra was to close, other than the regulars of the alley.

I wonder, how many people who attended the carnival at Serra Bowl's parking lot even knew the alley was going to close? I'd bet, not that much; although, I did get a high number of hits on my blog mentioning about the carnival and Serra's upcoming closure because (1) nobody advertised it online, and (2) my blog was the top search result when people searched for the carnival.

Where to bowl now?
Serra's closure means an influx of bowlers going to other alleys, such as Classic and Brentwood. Brentwood is planning to open a new bowling center in the future, but for now, what's is around is what Serra's patrons can use.

I know new alleys just opened in the Mission and across from AT&T Park, but those don't cater to Serra's clientele. For example, the new Lucky Strike alley across from the ballpark has a strict dress code, fancy food, a dozen lanes, and very expensive hourly lane rental rates; Serra doesn't have a dress code (as long as you are not butt naked), has simple food and snacks, 44 lanes, and hourly lane rentals starting at no more than $26 an hour. The Bay Area is an expensive place to live in, we don't have the money to go to these fancy bowling alleys, we just want some place that's simple and casual.

Lastly
Losing another alley is another red X on our list of surviving bowling alleys. Thanks for all the great memories and smiles you brought to everyone, Serra Bowl. Rest in peace.

Happy Sendoff for Serra Bowl's Last Days - A Carnival!

Update (4/16/12): Serra Bowl is now closed. Read my blog entry about my last thoughts about the bowling center.

Original blog entry:
In one week, Serra Bowl will close its doors on April 15th, and there's a lot of great memories for everyone that's been there. For me, it's being with my co-workers on the weekend to practice our techniques, and to compete with fellow SF State staff & faculty for the first ever league.

If Serra Bowl closed with no celebration of its existence, everyone would have sad memories and frowns on their faces. But something special is coming on their days of operation...

A carnival will be at Serra Bowl's parking lot from Thursday, April 12th to Sunday, April 15th! Food, games, and rides; a nice way to say goodbye to Serra (and taunt the landlord living right next door).

I'm not exactly sure how big this event will be and how it will have an impact on parking, consider taking BART to Colma and walk to the alley for it's final days. If you want to bowl on Serra's last days of service, I'd suggest making a reservation on their website to guarantee a lane.

Updates:
KPIX (Channel 5) News did a live report about the alley closing down. You can hear me yell "strike strike!" at 2:48 in the video, but I was watching the TV in the alley and there's always a live vs. TV delay.

Also, I am suspecting the carnival was not Serra Bowl's idea. Someone informed me the folks at the alley doesn't even know the operating hours of it. Also, there's a security guard at the parking lot entrance of the alley asking drivers if they are going bowling or the carnival; if you say carnival, the guard will tell you to park somewhere else.

Muni Fast Pass Access to Daly City BART? Might be a Reality

From a Twitter source I rely on, Jerold Chinn has mentioned the city is working on a deal to possibly expand the Muni "A" Fast Pass access on BART to also include Daly City Station.

It's a big piece of news that's not getting a lot of media attention. Who wouldn't want extra access?

The "A" Muni Fast Pass
The Fast Pass provides passengers the opportunity to ride BART within San Francisco with no additional fare. It's been a big hit for those who lives near a SF BART station and needs to reach their workplace in downtown SF or attends City College of San Francisco because it gets them there quickly without the hassle of riding a bus.

But for SF State students, it's been a hot issue as the "A" pass does not cover Daly City Station; even though SF State is within San Francisco, Daly City is the closest station to the university campus. This forces students to choose to pay for BART in cash, or save money by taking a longer ride by utilizing Muni.


What's up with Daly City BART?
Daly City station is a very unique station as it lies right on the border between the two cities. Since BART declares Daly City Station not part of San Francisco, Muni does not have the privilege to allow their passengers to use their "A" fast pass, and all BART passengers who rides a train crossing the city border pays a surcharge, which costs a rider of a total of $2.95 to go from Daly City to Powell, and vice versa; while a ride starting and ending within SF is just a mere $1.75.

To compensate for the surcharge, Muni offers all exiting BART passengers a coupon (or Clipper e-transfer) to ride Muni's 28, 28L, and 54 lines for free away from the station, and a free ride back within 24 hours of the coupon issued.

SF State has also contributed to help people get to their campus with a free shuttle service where they run mini buses from the BART station to 19th Avenue & Holloway, and vice versa.

Combining the efforts of Muni's 28 and 28L, and the SF State shuttle has provided students a free way to get to the main campus, even though they pay a premium for the BART service to reach Daly City.

What would happen if BART allows the "A" pass to be accepted at Daly City?

Benefits to passengers:

1. BART passengers who lives near Daly City and only rides BART to SF now has an unlimited ride option and would obviously save tons of money with a flat rate pass.
2. Do the math: $2.95 one way from DC to Powell, times two (for round-trips), times 20 working days in January 2012 (not includes January 2nd and January 16th for holidays) = $118.00. By using a $70 pass, a passenger saves $48 a month, or $576 a year.
3. Faster access for SF State students, meaning reduction in loads for Muni Metro's M-Ocean View and 29-Sunset lines (these are alternate ways to connect to SF State; M-Ocean View for downtown BART stations, and 29-Sunset for Balboa Park BART).
4. Since no SF BART station has a parking lot, now there's a station that has one along the "A" pass boundaries. Perfect for those who attends games at AT&T Park and wants their car waiting for them after their BART ride, like me.
5. Samtrans passengers who rides the feeder buses to Daly City also benefits with the flat price pass savings when riding BART.
   

Negative reaction/problems:

1. Increase in passenger loads on Muni's 28 and 28L lines.
2. Increase in passenger loads on the SF State Shuttle.
3. With a lower cost to ride BART and increases attraction to ride to work in downtown SF, it may cause higher demand for parking at the station's parking garage and lots.
4. BART ticketing machines don't sell Clipper products, only e-cash. This means passengers would have to buy it at a retailer or at a Muni metro station.
   
5. The possible end of free paper transfers for the 28, 28L and 54 Muni lines. If Muni is in a major financial problem, they'd likely kill the Daly City free ride transfers because it costs up to $4 per passenger for the free rides. Muni has to somehow compensate for the switch.
   
6. Muni could decide to maintain the coupons for the Muni lines, but only offer the 25 cent discount, just like all SF BART stations have.
7. Samtrans passengers may use BART Plus for unlimited rides on Samtrans and Muni, but doesn't give unlimited BART rides within SF/Daly City.
   

Akit's Opinions
In my opinion, I think it's a great idea. It's a great way for SF State students to get to campus. This will also encourage more people to use Clipper to ride BART and Muni to get to/from campus.

Since I have a "M" pass, adding an extra $10 for the premium would help me during baseball season since a round-trip ride on BART from Daly City to Powell station already costs $5.90 round-trip. I would park my car at the station (free parking after 3PM weekdays and all-day on weekends), and take the train to/from the game.

People who Can't Park Their Car Annoys Me

A lot of things annoy me (and maybe you too), from Muni buses running late or no-shows, to those who feel it's OK to cross the street against a red light. Those are puny versus what annoys me the most in this city, those who park like dimwits.

You've probably seen them before and they'd likely frustrated you when you are hunting for a parking space; they enjoy flouting with the law, and unlikely to get a ticket from the parking cops since it's not street cleaning day. I've already had a few close calls with illegally parked cars, especially in narrow streets like on Fulton near USF where the lanes get so narrow, that if a car parked in a tow-away zone, I'd likely lose my passenger side mirror.

My only relief from these parking clowns is to humiliate them on the internet by posting a photo of their car on Flickr. Call the parking cops? Haaa haaa haaa, yeah right.

Here's some great ones I caught on camera:

This idiot thought it was cool to pin me in my legal parking space while he/she decided to also park in a tow away zone next to Forest Hill Station.


This BART station agent at Daly City thought it was cool to park in two reserved parking spaces. Just to make it more amusing, I caught BART officials four times at Daly City and continued to humiliate them online until they changed their ways.


There's a general rule about street parking, if the other cars are parked 45 degrees, drivers shouldn't park 90 degrees. This idiot alone took out the parking space on the left. I've been begging the city to paint 45 degree parking stripes along Font Blvd. near SF State for a long time.


I'm waiting for the day the SF Fire Department has to smash the windows of a car parked next to a hydrant to run a hose through it. Other agencies have done it before.


Parking hogs are the worst ever. Sure, they can comply with the laws about parking legally (e.g. curbing wheels and no more than 18 inches from the curb), but the unofficial rule is to never take more than one parking space. In this photo, one of my neighbors is an asshole and it really pissed me off because there was no other spaces available on my block.

Want to see more photos I've taken to humiliate people?

• Parking hog photos
• Idiot parking photos

Pro Wrestling Back at the Cow Palace?

It's a gloomy Thursday around here with the pouring rain, and I got an interesting e-mail from Ticketmaster late last night.

They told me that WWE's Smackdown and ECW crews will be wrestling at the Cow Palace on Sunday, March 14th at 5PM (sorry, it's not January) and tickets will be sold starting this Saturday at 10AM. From the looks of the ticketing website, it's going to be a non-televised event based on the seating arrangements within the Cow Palace. Tickets range from $15 to $75 and parking will be $15.

Save money on parking by taking Muni's 8X-Bayshore Express.

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Pro wrestling is back at the Cow Palace? The last time I recall the Cow Palace hosting a major wrestling organization is when the WWE hosted a pay-per-view event known as "No Way Out" in 2004 and I believe the late Eddie Guerrero won the title belt. WCW also hosted a pay-per-view event as well.

Just an odd question: I remember there's this old lady in the front row of the wrestling events at the Cow Palace, will she be back again?

For the past few years, I've been noticing a lot of national event touring companies like "Disney on Ice," and the "Harlem Globetrotters" avoiding the Cow Palace and always hosting their events in venues like the Oakland Arena and San Jose HP Pavilion. It used to be all three venues at once.

I've always wondered why a lot of the national entertainment touring organizations are avoiding the Cow Palace. Surely bringing big events can help the local economy (ok, not SF's because it is technically on Daly City's land), plus no hassling with driving across the Bay Bridge and paying both toll and parking at Oakland Arena, taking the torture walk from BART to Oakland Arena, or driving a huge distance to San Jose.

Maybe this is a comeback for the Cow Palace to host big events.

Translink works on BART - Here's Video Proof

Riding BART using the Translink card works easily and perfectly. I filmed this after taking my furlough adventure. A high definition version of the video is available.

If you want an easy to understand demonstration to "tag" your card to ride BART (some have complained of difficulty), watch this animation from BART that uses their EZ Rider card.

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One minor flaw is that I exited the Daly City BART station and transferred to Muni's 28-19th Avenue bus line, but instead of giving me the free ride as agreed in their transfer policy, it charged me the $1.75 and is equivalent to the 25 cent off coupons you get for transferring to Muni between Balboa Park and Embarcadero.

But here's the funny part, Daly City BART's free Muni transfer is valid for only one ride and you don't get a paper transfer to ride a different line (if you use non-Translink media), thereby, I would pay an additional $2.00 to ride a second Muni bus. Since I was charged $1.75 in error, it gave me the 90 minute transfer to take a second bus, and I saved a quarter in the end.

Translink customer service told me that transferring from Daly City BART to Muni gives "two free rides," which is the equivalent of the two-part Daly City BART-Muni transfer. I'm not 100% sure if they mean I get two rides without a 90 minute transfer each, or I don't get one.

The sorting garbage law absurdity of San Francisco - Makes me want to move to Daly City

Remember the slogans I posted here a year ago? Here's why I would move to Daly City:

• "We still use plastic bags and styrofoam boxes."
• "Lower sales tax rate and we've got TARGET!"

We can add to the list for literally any city other than San Francisco: "at least I don't have to sort my trash without a garbage company rat reporting to the city government." (News stories at SFist and Chronicle).

Can I just say, I really hate the way our city operates. We now have this new law that if we don't sort our trash correctly, we will get fined. What the hell is this bullshit? Why does this city need to be some kind of "nanny state?"

Sure, I'm proud this city has the highest recycling rate in the country as it sets a good example for other cities and towns to do the same, but now making it a law to tell people to do it or be fined with $100 fines is total crap.

So like... what's the standard to get a damn citation?

• Finding one piece of paper in a garbage bin full of legitimate trash in the black bin?
• Finding a non-greasy pizza box in the compost bin?
• Finding a plastic fork in the garbage bin?
  

What happens if your neighbor wants to seek revenge or some random person on the street dumps the wrong items in the trash? Is this city going to have to buy every citizen a padlock to secure their three garbage bins?

Isn't torturing us citizens with the ban on styrofoam and plastic bags at the grocery store enough? Sheesh.

BART Station Agent Parking - Abuse of Powers?

I like going to Giants games on Friday nights and I park at the Daly City BART station. I keep noticing this car hogging two parking spaces, and then I noticed that it's the BART station agent parking spots. I took these photos on two separate Friday nights:

(Photo taken 8/12/08)


(Photo taken 8/8/08)

Does anyone think this is abuse of parking privileges? Please post a comment.

In my opinion: Especially if you are on-duty, you don't do something this embarrassing, especially when the guy who caught these photos is ME (a "transpo (transportation) vigilante..." thanks Curbed SF!). It's just the same if a Muni driver cussed you out, you don't do it when on-duty.

My 100th Posting & Was Featured on SFist

I can't believe that this is my 100th posting on my blog since I started just a couple of years ago. I bailed on the website concept and started blogging because it was easier to update and manage.

Just to make things a little sweeter, I was also featured today on San Francisco's most popular news blog site, SFist (the blog sister of Jen Chung's original creation known as Gothamist). They featured my previous posting about my creative slogans I've made about local San Francisco Bay Area cities and people on SFist posted their ideas of other slogans.

It's odd they would title it: "We Know You Can Kick Akit's Ass" but I give them credit for saying that I'm a "local fave." I don't even really know who reads this blog site! Please comment so I know who is frequently (or even infrequently) reading my "complaint" material.

My favorite quote I found from SFist about my fun list:

Daly City: "It's only foggy due to the large per capita ownership of rice cookers per person." Thanks SFist member Dick Powell.

I love SFist! The articles/postings is always interesting to read, and commenting on the stories is always fun. I especially loved the articles targeting ex-supervisor Ed Jew ("Oh No, Ed Jew!").

Thank you SFist! Because of you guys, I received 333 hits in just one day. This is the biggest record in one day's worth of visits to my site. Ever since February 2007, I've recieved 13,037 visits.

My List of City Slogans of the San Francisco Bay Area

The Chronicle did a funny article about odd slogans that is used around the SF Bay Area. For example, San Francisco: "The city that knows how."

So here's my list of local Bay Area cities. If you don't understand what it means, you don't read the news or live in the Bay Area:

• San Francisco: ""Home" of disgraced ex-supervisor Ed Jew."
• San Francisco: "Muni sucks."
• San Francisco: "Blaming problems on the Mayor on a daily basis."
• San Francisco: "We've got bums."
• San Francisco: "Locals hate tourists. Get off the Cable Car and don't visit Pier 39."
  
• Berkeley: "Smokin' weed and the know it all Cal students sleeping in trees."
  
• Burlingame: "That's our international airport! Why did San Francisco claim it?"
  
• Oakland: "Who the hell is Mayor Ron Dellums?"
• Oakland: "Birthplace of Kaiser Permanente, damn that's creepy."
  
• San Jose: "Kickin' San Francisco's butt on a daily basis."
• San Jose: "Home of silicone valleys... we do boob jobs instead of making computer chips these days."
  
• Daly City: "We still use plastic bags and styrofoam boxes."
• Daly City: "Lower sales tax rate and we've got TARGET!"
  
• Sausalito: "Small town, expensive toll bridge nearby."
• Milpitas: "Outlet shopping galore."
• Emeryville: "Sold out to IKEA."

Restaurants and San Francisco Universal Healthcare

I really think the City and County of San Francisco needs to keep the "universal healthcare" plan, as paying for medical insurance can at least be about $150 to $250 a month for most healthy adults through an HMO program.

Most employees who work in grocery stores, or just gain a simple wage without any benefits really need something to maintain their health. How would you like the fact that if someone was sick and contagious, and could not go to the doctor or SF General Hospital, would you eat the food at the restaurant?

And we look at the Golden Gate Restaurant Association protesting this universal healthcare idea! They claim it will ruin businesses and many will fold due to this. With the money that the OWNERS (not employees) make, the owners can sure pay for their own health insurance, but does not want to give the hourly employees who is the backbone of the establishment basic healthcare needs. Like I just mentioned earlier, would you like some TB or Influenza in your dinner tonight?

So here's how some restaurants are trying to protest it: They put right on their menu that they will add an additional 15% surcharge to the bill. Sure, the association is pissed off and wants to protest this way, but how about the customers that go in there? I feel if they look at this notice, they would get right out of their chair at the establishment and walk across the street to the fast food joint serving the same fried chicken you were going to pay 15% more (and possibly an extra 5 bucks for the "special" "free range" shit).

Instead of moaning and groaning, and putting it to a lawsuit with expensive lawyers (which I assume the association members share the cost, thus each restaurant spends even more expenses), just do it the easy way!

Here's my solution: Just raise the price of the meals to cover the healthcare coverage the City of San Francisco requires. 15% added to a $7 meal is only $8.05.

OR WHY NOT JUST MAKE THE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION DO A GROUP MEDICAL INSURANCE PLAN? Hell, many large corporations and government agencies do this! You might get a cheaper rate than the 15%.

The other alternative to not being ripped off is: Go eat and shop in Daly City! They don't require the insurance rule, and their sales tax rate is 0.25% less than San Francisco's 8.5%. PLUS, YOU CAN GET PLASTIC BAGS AND STYROFOAM TAKE OUT BOXES! (Thanks Supervisor Ross for a odd balled law, where I can still get styrofoam and plastic bags at my local San Francisco "Smart & Final."