The Ten Annoyances Akit Experiences Almost Daily

I haven't blogged in weeks!  Things have been quite busy at my job and now I have a little relief to blog again.

Being a native San Franciscan has its perks, you always know the fastest way on Muni and alternate routes to get to where you need to go, you know the restaurants that are good and pure crap, and you have a bullshit alarm.  I'm quite an observant person and that bullshit alarm goes off a ton of times for people doing some stupid crap on the streets of my city; so I want to highlight them:

(1) Idiot Pedestrians - There's nothing worse than the entitled pricks who thinks it's absolutely okay to cross a street against a red signal or jaywalk; and then there are those super entitled pricks who cross in front of an approaching car, as shown in the video above.

(2) Nail Clipping - Nail clipping ain't cool in public.  Just yesterday while riding the 6-Parnassus, a lady sitting behind me was clipping her nails during for about 10 minutes.  After she finished clipping her nails, I could hear her feet shuffle and her hands sweeping from her clothing; SHE WAS LITTERING HER CLIPPINGS ON THE FLOOR!

(3) Hogging a Muni seat, WITH YOUR FEET - Come on people, don't put your feet on the seat, especially when the vehicle is standing room only.  You look like an asshole, and if it was legal, I'd slap you in the face.

(4) Parking #FAIL - It's something I always take with my cell phone when I'm walking the streets.  People think it's absolutely fine to park illegally where ever they want.  There might be that lucky chance the fine folks at the SFMTA will be around to give a nice fat ticket to the car, but likely car owners will get away with it; and even if they get a ticket, they'll say it's well worth that fine.  In the photo above, I caught this car on Saturday parked on 9th Avenue in front of Kiki's restaurant; having a disabled placard is not an excuse to park like an idiot.

(5) Bad bicycle riders - There are some good bicycle riders, then there are the ones who deserve to get hit by a car.  On Saturday, I was waiting my turn to cross the street directly across from the Exploratorium at Pier 15 and I see two bicyclists decide to go through the intersection while an incoming car was approaching and had the green light to proceed through the intersection.  If it wasn't for the actions of the driver to slam his brakes, swerve, and blow the horn, the two helmet-less bicyclists would have been likely dead.  Just yesterday, I can't believe how many people blow the stop signs on the bike route known as "the wiggle."

(6) Illegal U-Turns - Ever since I moved into the Inner Sunset district, I'm not too far away from the 9th Avenue business district.  I see tons of drivers making u-turns in the middle of the block, and most of the time, do it unsuccessfully in the first attempt.  It turns up to be more like a nine point turn.  But as you see in the video, making a u-turn in a business district is a traffic violation, and especially since 9th Avenue has metro rail tracks, those who u-turn might as well be lucky a train hasn't slammed into their car, because in the battle of Muni metro versus a car, Muni metro wins with a flawless victory.

(7) Bad neighbors - I hate my next door neighbors because they don't shut the hell up.  They like to talk loud with their window open at 3AM.  One night, the idiots decided to crank the music so loud, I can feel my walls vibrate.  At least when I yelled at them that I would threaten to call the cops, that's when they stopped.

(8) Stopping at intersections - Driving my car is stressful, especially when approaching an intersection.  I always follow the rules, such as stopping completely before the limit line, and at an all-way stop, making sure to go when it's supposed to be my turn.  But you always see those who pull a "California stop" by only slowing down at the limit line, but then hits the gas and goes through.  There's also those who go out-of-turn at the all-way stop intersections, which frustrates me because they know the basic rule: First come, first served, and if two vehicles stops at the same time, the right vehicle goes first.

(9) Last minute lane changes - Another instance of why I hate driving.  People try to make a last second lane change because they don't want to be in the turn lane they are in.  Here's a bad one I was nearly a victim of: Three lanes, a Muni bus in the far left lane, and I'm in the middle lane.  At the green light, the Muni bus speeds forward to cut me off and cut from the #1 lane to the #3 lane to reach the curb for the bus stop.  Not cool.

(10) - I'm leaving this one blank for you, my blog fans.  What would you suggest for number ten?  Leave a comment.

Clothing Donation Bins Blocking City Parking Space & Meter - SF 311 & DPW Doesn't Care

For the past month, I've been noticing these white donation bins at the corner of Portola and Evelyn.  There used to be just one bin dropped off, but a second one showed-up just a couple of weeks ago.

What's unusual about this is the bins are dumped in a city parking space and in front of a city operated meter.  Since both bins take over a majority of the width of the parking stall, no vehicle can park there, therefore the city cannot generate any money on the meter.

My basic knowledge about these donation bins is they are supposed to be on private property with the permission of the land owner.  But this is on public property and I know the city would not welcome this, especially if its blocking a parking meter that makes money for the SFMTA.  If this bin was in a public metered parking space on Irving Street, you'd get a lot of ticked off people.

Contacting 311

I sent a tweet to San Francisco's 311 with the same photo you see on this blog entry.  I was expecting the city to give a proper response to get those bins removed as soon as they can... But here's the response I got back:

@agentakit As per SF DPW, they don't go out and collect the bins. You can call the 800 numbers on the bins. Thank you.^KH
— SF311 (@SF311) January 28, 2013

Seriously?  DPW wants me to call the bins in?  Wouldn't it be more effective for the city, SFMTA or DPW to make the phone call and demand it to be removed from public property?  The city's voice is much more powerful than a citizen making such a request.

311 got on my nerves.  Here's my response to those lazy pricks at 311 and DPW:

@sf311 I'm not calling them, the city should because they are losing parking revenue on a city meter.
— Akit (@AgentAkit) January 28, 2013

UPDATE 8:27AM:
It looks like I got the city's attention real fast:

@agentakit Issued SR#1944688.The City's goal is to inspect within 5 business days and require the responsible party to correct
— SF311 (@SF311) January 28, 2013

@agentakit immediately and/or issue a Correction Notice or Notice of Violation of the Public Works Code.Thank you. ^jr
— SF311 (@SF311) January 28, 2013

Akit's Opinion

I'm very disappointed at 311 for their laziness and DPW for making me do the job of calling them.  I reported the problem, and they should make the effort to remove it.  For all I care, get a forklift and remove it if the company who dumped it there in the first place doesn't take it away in 24 hours.

I don't know what kind of people the city hires to respond to 311 requests, but I've had my share of idiots responding back.  Here's one idiot who can't read where exactly the problem is:

@agentakit Please let us know which N stop specifically, and what type of pavement defect. If a pothole, how large, deep etc.Thank you.
— SF311 (@SF311) December 22, 2012

Many Drivers Don't Respect the Do Not Pass Laws at Muni Metro Stops

"Hey, what the f--- are you doing!?!?!?!"

That's the first words I blurted out loud when I just exited the metro yesterday morning before 9AM. To those I offended by saying the f-word in public, sorry.

Here's what happened:
I had to visit a local x-ray center to get my teeth scanned, so I took the M-Ocean View metro from my workplace at SF State to 14th and West Portal. When the train got to 14th Avenue, I exited the train, looked both ways to make sure it was okay to cross, and noticed a grey SUV approaching at about 300 feet towards the train in the right lane (the train was in the track lane on the left).

There was enough time to reach the curb with the assumption the SUV would stop as well (even if the SUV was approaching, I could walk fast enough to cross), so I hopped off the train and was about eight feet away from the sidewalk/curb.

Instead of the SUV stopping, it decided to keep driving through the stopped metro train with inches to spare from clipping me. To make matters worse, two other passengers stepped off the train (exited) and saw the SUV pass by IN FRONT OF THEM. That's when I yelled out, "HEY, WHAT THE F--- ARE YOU DOING?!?!"

Instead of the SUV driver admitting to a mistake and quickly coming to a stop, it decides to quickly stop at the intersection and speed off very quickly down West Portal.

As for me yelling out the f-word, I sure had a lot of people staring at me, but hopefully they knew why; that idiot driver could have mowed down up to three people, including myself.

--------------------

This brings me to the topic of the day: Why are people disrespecting the "Do Not Pass" laws when a light rail and cable car is stopped at a designated stop to discharge and accept passengers?

Every time I ride the metro or the California line cable car I see it every time, some prick driver deciding to speed through while the vehicle is stopped to discharge and accept passengers.

It seems to be worse on the California cable car line because tourists sometimes don't look both ways and you get a bunch of rude drivers who just doesn't obey the law; in one case, I was a driver, and stopped for a cable car discharging passengers. The taxicab behind me decides to blow his horn at me, so I give the driver the finger as more passengers discharge from the cable car.

Even Stanley Roberts of KRON took on this issue with this video report:

The law states that if a metro train or cable car is stopped to pickup/discharge passengers, a driver must stop behind the vehicle to allow the passengers to board and exit without fear of being hit. A driver can attempt to proceed/pass a railed vehicle on the right side only when the vehicle starts moving.

In some circumstances, the boarding island will have a sign saying it's OK to pass, but at a reduced speed. You find these on Ocean Avenue for the K-Ingleside line where you can pass on the right, but only at 10MPH when the light rail vehicle is stopped at the island. In other cases, you can pass at full speed because the island has barriers to separate pedestrians from vehicles (e.g. St. Francis Circle metro stop, see photo by clicking here).

In my case, 14th Avenue and West Portal didn't have a barrier, only a boarding island that only covers half of a one car train, therefore the "do not pass" law applies.

Drivers who violates the law: What's your damn hurry? Is it worth a $250 fine and a point on your driving record? Is it worth facing a judge in traffic court and possibly spending time at traffic school? It is worth raising your insurance rates? And is it worth possibly hitting a pedestrian, paying their medical bills/funeral costs, getting arrested, prosecuted, and spending time in jail? Hell no.

So do me a favor drivers, when a metro train or cable car is stopped and passengers must exit by crossing a traffic lane, just stop behind it. All I need is more x-ray radiation to check for a broken arm, leg, and other stuff.

Muni is Paying Attention to Akit's Blog - But There's One Mistake They Made

As a result of some recent Akit's Complaint Department reports, Muni has taken the positive steps to make changes after I challenged them to do better.

Youth and Senior Muni Paper Passes - Extended Until May
I was the first to report before the news media and the press office of Muni said it was official: the youth and senior paper passes was extended from January to May.

I first got word from Clipper on their Twitter account, and not long later, Muni quietly updated their website to say the paper passes will end in May.

My initial post about the delay.
My second post about Muni quietly confirming the delay.

But I still challenged Muni do to a little better; they needed to at least get the word to the general public, and their press room did. Read the press release here. They also sent out the same press release via e-mail to local media outlets.

The 2.5 Hour Gap for Saturday evening service for the 38L and 38-Geary
I argued that it was not appropriate for Muni's most heavily used transit line to have a 2.5 hour gap of no service on Saturday evenings when the last 38L departs 48th & Point Lobos at 5:37PM, and the first 38-Geary (regular) bus leaves at 8:02PM.

One of my commentators pointed out Muni posted a service alert over a week later to give notice to the general public about the 2.5 hour gap. Sadly, the agency took the easy route by publishing a notice, and did not correct the bus schedule to at least fill in the large gap.

(The best solution is to have all Fort Miley operators during the 2.5 hour gap to make a right turn on Point Lobos at 43rd, pick-up the folks at 48th Avenue, and start their run inbound towards downtown.)

To make matters worse, I drove by the bus stop just after 6PM on Saturday the 15th and noticed about a dozen standing at the 48th & Point Lobos stop. Some of them looked like tourists while the rest are locals. Since Muni made an effort to put a public notice online, did they post at a rider alert sign at the bus stop? The answer is no. There was ZERO signage at the stop. I saw the 38L outbound that just dropped off passengers drive off back to the garage. There wasn't even a Muni supervisor at the stop, unlike on Saturday the 8th when I noticed the white city truck at the location.

As a courtesy, I decided to pull over my car and give a call to 311. I told the person about the issue and asked for a Muni supervisor to go over there and inform the people because there was no signage telling them to walk six blocks to 42nd Avenue.

It took five minutes to explain this to the 311 operator. Why? The operator is a total moron; he said: "the 38-Geary doesn't run to 48th Avenue from 8AM to 6PM." Well, no shit Sherlock, I live in the Outer Richmond district and know the 38 and 38L lines very well; were you listening to a word I said about the problem? I told him to go to the SFMTA website and look at the alerts.

--------------------

I like it when one person can make big changes to a major city agency; but it's only bittersweet for me because Muni messed-up by not modifying 38-Geary service or posting a notice at the bus stop.

BART Passengers to & from SFO Have Bad Manners

This photo just shows the poor manners of BART passengers by leaving their luggage on the train seats and not letting anyone else be allowed to sit on those seats.

I took this picture yesterday (Sunday) on the train heading towards San Francisco International Airport. The trains are a popular option for passengers going and leaving the airport on weekends as most of the seats are usually taken.

In other cases, I have found luggage hogging all the seats in the "quad" area, and on this same train where I took this photo, found a huge piece of luggage blocking the doorway.

Proper manners with luggage is to park your stuff in the open space where wheelchair passengers use or put them in your lap. Here's a photo of people doing it appropriately.

Want to see more photos of bad passengers hogging up space on the train with their luggage? Here's one, another one, oooh another one, and this one is the worst of the worst!

What Annoys Akit - Inconsiderate Shoppers at Costco

I'm going to take a break today from the Muni and Clipper entries and talk about one of my annoyances, idiots at Costco.

I got the motivation to write about this one today from "The Poop" parenting blog on SFgate, and I was reading about the author's experiences at Costco when the free sample tables are out there giving away food to try.

Free samples, one of the features of going to Costco. That little piece of pizza, or a sample of their bagels; sure, they are tasty, but it doesn't beat that $1.50 hot dog.

I hardly ever go for samples because I'm only there to get in and out as quickly as possible. I've got my shopping list and coupons in hand before entering to zoom down the aisles to grab what I need and find the shortest checkout line.

When the samples are going out, that's when it gets nasty. There are a bunch of inconsiderate people who wait in line for a sample and leave their unattended shopping cart in the middle of the thoroughfare or aisles, thereby blocking others who want to just pass by and continue shopping.

Gees, a little taste of an item a person will unlikely buy, and being an asshole at the same time by blocking the aisle. At least move your cart away from the sample tables.

I haven't done it yet, I sometimes feel like grabbing their unattended cart and moving it far away just as punishment. I'd bet those I'd snatch would not even know their cart is missing.

SF Muni FAILS to Provide Information on Re-Routes Due to SF Marathon

The SF Marathon is tomorrow and it will cause a world of hell for everyone in the city, especially those who have to drive through Golden Gate Park, cross the Golden Gate Bridge, and get in and out of the Inner and Outer Richmond via 26th/27th Avenues.

With all these marathon routes, you'd expect Muni to be up to date with the latest information about any re-routes or changes because it does affect a lot of people who are trying to get around the city. The answer is NO.

I've got proof, the photo I've attached is the "updates" page of the SFMTA's transit section and was taken at 9:10AM on Saturday, July 24, 2010. There is NOTHING specific on how the marathon course will affect transit lines.

I even gave 311 a call to get information. The operator admitted he could not find anything on the SFMTA website, and he looked through his other resources. He told me one of the lines I'm interested in more information will be "going around the [Golden Gate] park." I asked for his source of information and he said he was reading it off a flier given to the drivers. I also asked him if I can get that information in writing and the answer was a big fat NO.

What the hell is wrong with this city government? As a citizen, I have the right to know what is going on and how it affects my movement around the city. The SFMTA should have posted the re-route information at least a week in advance prior to tomorrow's event, but they FAILED.

The reason why I'm arguing this is because I am meeting a co-worker tomorrow at the Academy of Sciences on Sunday, and I will have to take the 44 line in order to get there. Since the marathon goes through Golden Gate Park, I'm worried I won't make it there in time as Sunday service on Muni is far less frequent than weekdays.

Will the City Ever Reopen Great Highway Southbound from Sloat to Skyline?

View Larger Map

It's been nearly six months since the southbound stretch of Great Highway between Sloat Boulevard and Skyline Boulevard has been shut-down due to massive erosion of the shoreline from the winter storms (SF Gate & KPIX).

The articles stated the roads may re-open during the "Summer" and now it is the Summer months and the stretch of road has not been reopened to traffic. Even more odd is for the past couple of months, I have not seen a construction crew working on the closed stretch. It makes me wonder, when will the city ever reopen the road?

Since the city shut-down the southbound stretch, drivers who need to reach Skyline must turn left from Upper Great Highway to eastbound Sloat, and turn right onto southbound Skyline. Since the closure, drivers have been driving like aggressive maniacs (Vietnam flashbacks?) on eastbound Sloat:

View Larger Map

1. Just today, I saw a driver pass me on the left lane at 45 MPH when the speed limit is 35 MPH (as stated in the city's transportation code, section 702, subsection "B," bulletpoint #32).
2. The same driver (above) and many other drivers aggressively cut their way into the right lane. Eastbound Sloat from Great Highway to Skyline has three lanes; the right lane is dedicated to the turn-off to Skyline while the middle and left lanes continue eastbound on Sloat after Skyline. The driver I witnessed today was in the far left lane, and sharply cut into two lanes of traffic while failing to signal.
3. I fear the safety of pedestrians who cross the street on Sloat. I stop for them as per "right of way" laws, but the additional traffic and speeding has contributed to those refusing to stop.
   
4. Due to the long-term closure of Great Highway, the city painted a white stripe so both lanes of Great Highway can safely turn left onto Sloat, thus preventing sideswipes and collisions by the far left lane illegally veering into the right lane of Sloat. It turns out I continue to witness near collisions and blatant disregard of the white stripe by left lane idiots who feel its OK to simply go past the white line so they get into the right lane first.

Get the Great Highway reopened. It's a matter of time until someone gets hit and killed on Sloat.

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

More Stupidity on the Streets of San Francisco (Involving a Dog)

Remember watching Inspector Gadget and at the end of every episode, Gadget would always give one of those quick safety/common sense PSAs, just like what the GI Joe program would do?

There was this one particular PSA where Gadget talked about safety in the car, and particularly mentioned that dogs (in particular, the dog "Brain") should never stick their head out of the car.

Well... on the streets of San Francisco yesterday (Saturday), somebody didn't watch that particular Inspector Gadget episode. Dr. Claw strikes again. Or maybe the late George Carlin wanting to smack you in the back of the head.

Behind me was this SUV with a dog in the rear driver side window sticking out, with its front paws on the window edge. I was approaching a signal that turned yellow, and pressed my brakes to slow down since I did not want to risk running the red. But the SUV behind me with the dog sticking out did a sharp and speedy swerve into lane to the right of my car, ran the light, and the swerve forced the dog to fall out of the car.

I literally screamed, honked my horn like a maniac, and the lady stopped her SUV about 100 feet away. I thought the dog was messed up, but then it stood up and walked around like nothing ever happened.

Hours after this incident, I was thinking to myself... damn, are there people in my city truly deserves the idiot, stupid, and/or moron award? Buy one of those mesh cage things that most pet lovers put in their station wagon and SUV trunks. At least they won't fall out of the vehicle, unlike the dummy lady did yesterday.

So remember parents, make your kids watch cartoons, they tell important life lessons that you might forget to teach them, like how to hack the cable box to get HBO.

Idiot Parks in USPS Drive Thru Mailbox Lane

What's wrong with this photograph? (If you can't see the photo, please go directly to: http://www.akit.org)

Well today, I had to drop off some very important mail at the post office at the Lakeshore Plaza USPS post office in San Francisco. They also feature a drive thru drop-off mailbox since parking can be a little difficult at this location.

So I get there, and this clown messes it up for everyone. What's wrong with the photo?

• Parks car in the drive thru.
• Parks car the wrong way.
• Parks car in a no parking zone.
• Pisses off everyone.
• Driver is nowhere to be seen, not even the post office.
  

And just to add to the suspense and humiliation, other than posting it on my blog and Flickr photo page, the security guard came by and took a photo of the license plate to send the driver a citation.

Do you know who this person is? California License Plate: 6BUA854.

Lastly, vote for Akit's Halloween costume! Will he wear the Bill "I Miss Monica" Clinton costume, or will he wear the Arnold "KAA-LEE-FORN-YA" Schwarzenegger costume? Vote on left column on my blog site: http://www.akit.org.

Learn to PARK YOUR CAR! Space Hog!

On my block, parking on the street is not too challenging, but I hate it when my neighbors pull this crap (see photo above).

You S.O.B. parking space hog! If this car parked correctly by moving his/her vehicle up to the end of the curb about six to ten feet ahead of it, then someone else can fit their car behind there. Or... back-up your car about four feet in front of the white Mini Cooper so that someone can park their car in front of you. The Cooper has plenty of room to get out because of the driveway of the blue house.

JUST BECAUSE OF THIS, I HAD TO PARK MY CAR FAR AWAY. BASTARD.