Ten things I've learned in my first three days in San Francisco

I arrived Sunday afternoon, and it's now Wednesday morning. In no particular order:


  1. There is a palm tree on my street! I know, I know, this should not be shocking. And yet somehow, it is.
  2. There is another person with my same name living in San Francisco. Well, it's possible we have different middle names that start with the same initial, but I know the middle initial is the same. I discovered this when getting a public library card, so at least the other me is also a reader. The librarian, an immigrant judging by her accent, asked me if my first name was common. No, no, it isn't.
  3. Card management is going to be a thing. In addition to the usual credit card, ID, and debit card, I now need to manage my work ID and the pass that lets me past the building lobby, as well as my Clipper card (for riding the Muni). I think a different wallet might be in order to help me easily access the Clipper card while keeping the others less available. I'm also surveying coworkers on how they manage their work and building badges to see what sort of thingamajig I might need to acquire for that.
  4. Speaking of Muni, it is, in fact, pronounced Myuni (like municipal) and not Mooni. I was pretty sure, but decided to confirm with the nice guy at Whole Foods who sold me my Clipper pass.
  5. My iPhone is now old enough that people ask me, "What iPhone is that?" I can feel an upgrade coming soon though because . . . 
  6. City living requires more apps. When Google maps strangely stopped showing Muni routes the night before I needed to commute to work, I downloaded CityMapper. (So far, I'm really liking it.) There's also SpotHero, for finding parking spots (installed when we were apartment hunting in May); What's App, which my landlords like to use to communicate with me; the Whole Foods app, which gives me the code to scan for the Amazon Prime discount; and once our car makes it out, there's an app that sends you an alarm to remind you to move your car for street cleaning.
  7. My plan to spend my commute listening to podcasts needs to be adjusted because the Muni is often loud. Listening is great during the walking portions, but is frustrating during the riding ones. Nevertheless . . . 
  8. Bluetooth-enabled ear buds are brilliant. I frankly couldn't really see the point before, but now that I've spent a commute or four trying not to get tripped up in my own headphone cords as I shift my bag around to take up less space, I totally get it. Fortunately, right before we moved, my parents sent me an Amazon gift card, and I have a recommendation for a reasonably priced pair of ear buds to purchase. 
  9. It is windy here! I like hearing the wind whistling around in the afternoon and evening.
  10. I can hear birds from my apartment. This makes me unbelievably happy, as I had thought birdsong would be one of those things I'd give up when I moved to the city. 
I have a few more things, but I'll save them for another post. I've had a lazy morning, and I need to head out and explore some more.



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