Things continue to settle down. I signed up for a new cell phone, from a nice man named Peter who had a little pile of his fingernail clippings next to him on the desk in his store. I went out and bought a bike, at a place called Pedal Revolution, where they get police auction bikes and get homeless kids to work on putting them together. Its a non-profit collective, which I like.

So, with a bike, I was able to travel out to Golden Gate Park, thence out to the mighty Pacific. Which is an impressive sight, even when it is cold and overcast, as it was the day I saw it. There was also signs up that said that people drowned in this spot, which were ominous. But it really is an overwhelming sight, and made more so by the giant cliffs that edge the water. In the old days, there was some kind of outdoor bathouse cut into the rocks, and the remains of that still are visible.

Further up the hill is where Robin Williams lives. That was something at least three people mentioned to me. I should point out that I'm not really a fan. He is, however, quite a hairy man. Nor am I a fan of Sharon Stone, another famous San Franciscan. The third, and final famous person whose name came up a few times is Sean Penn, who I like, but lives in Marin, which is technically not in the city.

Speaking of Marin, I did go bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, which was pretty spectacular. I called home on my cell from the Marin headlands, where I was standing in my shorts and t shirt, to hear about the snow storm. As it happens, it was the worst snowstorm in 100 years, but it just made me feel guilty, thinking of my poor father digging out the snow.

I came home and bought a DVD player, which was great, except I had no way to hook it up to my tiny TV that my neighbor loaned me. But the nest is really getting feathered these days.

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I did go down to watch the rally, which made my blood boil due to all the anti-Israel nonsense. Later, there was sort of a small riot, where some police fired tear gas.

Not counting the fact that every morning at 3:30 AM my upstairs neighbor goes stomping off to pee and wakes me up, I have settled in to my living quarters without incident. But I think early to bed, early to rise is a good policy, which is how I justify falling asleep every night before 10 PM and getting up before dawn.