From Space-Age to Dinosaur

In 1975 Daly City was at the end of the line.

BART celebrates its 50th anniversary with cars that are 50 years old: [bold added]

But half a century later, as the agency celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, many of those same silver-and-blue trains are still chugging through the Bay Area. And keeping them running — even in the country’s technology capital — requires a special breed of ingenuity.

BART mechanics rely on Frankensteined laptops operating with Windows 98, train yard scraps and vintage microchips to keep Bay Area commuters on the rails...

When a BART car runs into trouble, Shawn Stange steps back in time. He pops open a circa-2000 IBM Thinkpad running Windows 98 and opens a portal into the train’s brain — the Automated Train Control system — through the DOS computer language.

Much as if he were conducting a vehicle diagnostic test, Stange uses the software as a mechanic’s roadmap. “This stuff was written so long ago. So you have to take Windows 10 and open up a virtual Windows 98 box and then run the (DOS) program to download the log files,” he said. “It’s primitive.”

From the vantage of 2022, BART runs on obsolete software. However, those "primitive" DOS programs must have been an upgrade to the original control system. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system began service in 1972, and the first IBM-PC with PC-DOS didn't arrive until 1981, nine years later.

The repair men who can fix the cars and the electronics all have gray hair, and their specialized skills are applicable to no other transportation systems. It's a safe bet that that knowledge will be gone in the next 50 years, and it's an open question, given the many changes to come in work, commuting, urban development, AI, and alternative energy, whether BART will be around to celebrate its next 50th anniversary.

Hankering for Ramen

Hankering for a hot and hearty soup on a cold day, we stopped for ramen noodles at Serramonte Center in Daly City.

The rest of the country may favor creamy chowders, beans, and bacon, but here in California ramen can be stocked with vegetables, pork, and eggs to make a filling meal.

This ramen is different from the dried, MSG-laden product that we heated on the hot plate in our dorm. At $12 it's 50x the cost of the 1970's packaged version, but we’re happy to pay the price. It’s cold outside.

Retro Carbo

We are fans of Krispy Kreme, especially when the doughnuts are served hot, but steady price increases, plus their diminutive size, made us yearn for a traditional offering last week.

So we made a detour to San Bruno. When we moved to Daly City in the '70's, we made regular stops at Rolling Pin Donuts, and we're happy to confirm that RPD is still in business. (The sign reads "since 1958.")

We ordered a baker's dozen (13 for the price of 12--take that, Krispy Kreme!) of the non-fancy doughnuts, which by the way were plenty good. While prices are slightly higher than KK, two Rolling Pins more than satisfy, whereas your humble blogger has been known to partake of three (or more) Krispy Kremes in one sitting.

Rolling Pin is open "Midnight to Midnight, 7 days a week". You hardly see that any more.

Below is a review from two young foodies who show off their jiu-jitsu moves during the first two minutes ("it was tiring, but I think we had no asthma attacks").

St. Elizabeth's, South San Francisco

St. Elizabeth's in South City was the first church we attended in the Bay Area 40 years ago. The exterior looks better than I expected. For a mission that's always on the verge of closing, it's looking good. (The website history is out of date; due to declining attendance the Diocese has combined its congregation with St. Andrew's, San Bruno.)

(Photo from All Saints)

I have a distinct recollection of the Vicar, the Rev. Richard Byfield. As a young priest he worked with Bishop James Pike, whose once-revolutionary ideas (ordination of women, LGBT ministry) have become mainstream Episcopal thought. Father Byfield became rector of several large churches before he moved on to St. Elizabeth's. He gave his full attention to ministering to our small congregation, which loved him. That's one aspect of the Episcopal priesthood that I've always admired---everyone I've met puts aside worldly ambition and prestige and goes to where they are needed the most. R.I.P.

Happy Hour at Buffalo Wild Wings

I’ll have a Michelob.

“May I see your ID?”

Really? (Pause to glance at waiter’s face, because some like to kid their customers.)

“Really” (no smile).

I produced my driver’s license, along with my AARP card. Still no smile.

Just as TSA pats down four-year-olds and grandmothers, certain institutions tell their employees to follow the rules with no exceptions in order to eliminate human error (as if).

I like Buffalo Wild Wings but will be more watchful. No room for human judgment often means trouble on the horizon.

Putting Our Stuff to Good Use

SVDP items to be sorted later

The neighborhood must be getting more upscale--we used to have only one Peninsula charity that sent a truck to pick up donations such as clothes, furniture, and electronics. Now two others from the East Bay visit once a month (frankly, I'm not sure they're real charities).

We decided to donate our stuff the old-fashioned way by taking it to the receiving location for St. Vincent de Paul.

A bedroom at Catherine Center

SVDP received only three stars (the best get four) from Charity Navigator, but I've seen the good work that the SVDP Catherine Center in Daly City does to help women prisoners transition back to society. Per a NY Times article on the California prison system:

Inmates are often released with no warning to friends or family, with no money, no means of transportation and no clothes other than the jumpsuits on their backs.

A donation of cash or goods to SVDP is not only charity, it's insurance. © 2013 Stephen Yuen

The Year of the Pig

The lobster tail is featured on weekends.

Buffet restaurants appeal to my worst instincts. When gluttony wars against self-control, self-control is the loser, and I’ve learned not to go near all-you-can-eat joints. But the laws of the universe are suspended on one’s birthday, so after a four-year hiatus I revisited Todai in Daly City. (The clincher to the decision was Todai’s offer of a free meal--photo ID required—on one’s birthday. Gluttony and greed--two deadly sins to which I still easily succumb.)

On the first plate I heaped piles of sushi and sashimi, while on the second I grabbed a generous helping of steak and crab. My digestive system was strained to the breaking point, but the pastry bar sang its siren song. Assorted cakes and chocolates pushed the body mass needle into the red zone. It was only early November, but I was fortified for the winter. © 2007 Stephen Yuen

Special Occasion

Lobster salad is a specialty at the Koi Palace.

We haven’t seen H. since last year, and this week was her birthday, so we threw her a surprise luncheon at the Koi Palace in Daly City. We invited twenty-four friends and family members and twenty accepted--a high hit rate given the haste with which the event was put together. It was one of those parties where it all came together: former strangers find they have a lot in common and every dish turned out well, even the cake which I forgot to order till that morning.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a social event without a couple of gaffes on my part—I messed up the place cards and the appetizer order—but that simply means I will be assigned less responsibility at the next event (the economists call that a perverse incentive).

The food was put away, we sang a robust Happy Birthday, and the guest of honor smiled. The more birthdays you’ve had, the more special the next one seems. I wonder if the economists have a term for that. © 2007 Stephen Yuen

The Birthday girl with her two flower girls, 59 years after the wedding.

Uneventful

During a weekend filled with headline events---Bluegrass festival, Fleet Week, Raiders at 49ers---I stayed close to home. There was nothing that I absolutely had to do or see. Recalling that old saw about buses, if nothing on the Bay Area calendar is appealing, we just have to wait 15 minutes for the next one.

DirecTV’s digital video recorder (model R10) finally stopped working after months of steadily deteriorating performance. Although I had purchased the extended warranty from Best Buy, I was reluctant to return the now-discontinued recorder for the newer model. Beginning with the R15, DirecTV has been too cheap to pay license fees for TiVo's superior user interface (think Mac OS vs Windows or iPod vs. other MP3 players), so DirecTV devised its own software. But when the machine rebooted every 15 minutes I threw in the towel.

The Best Buy “Geek Squad” (an homage to Apple’s Genius Bar) said the R10 could not be repaired and gave me a new R15. As I suspected, the new DVR hardware works, but the interface is user-hostile. The remote control has too many buttons, and the menus aren’t intuitive. When we become a high definition household, we’ll select a cable or satellite company that offers TiVo, and it won't be our current provider.

I drove the youngster to the City to visit Maggie, who’s cut his hair ever since he was an infant. She took special care with him after his surgery and makes him comfortable. Maggie opened her own shop on Ocean Avenue and appears to be doing well. She’s hired two assistants, and the wait is an hour on weekends. © 2006 Stephen Yuen

In-n-out, Daly City: the best things aren't always expensive.

A Tiny Bit

Volunteers on a lunch break.

The youngster sat on the curb and voiced his frustration. “I’m not doing anything useful. I’m just pulling weeds and hauling garbage.”

I’m doing that, too.

“Why can’t I help you? I want to use a hammer.”

You can’t step into the buildings because of the insurance. The insurance doesn’t allow kids to be on the site. Once some children probably got hurt, and their parents sued Habitat for Humanity for a lot of money. Habitat needs money for materials, not lawsuits.

“But I want to do something important.”

You are doing something important. Building a house is more than hammering and sawing and painting. Someone has to clean up the outside and pick up the trash. The guy who installs the balcony is no better than the guy pushing the wheelbarrow; each has given eight hours of his time. Do you think that they’re doing it for recognition?

“No.”

Are they getting any money?

“No.”

So why are they here? Why are you here?

“To build a house for people who don’t have a house….?”

Yes. You gave up your Saturday to help somebody, instead of playing games or going to the movies. I’m proud of you.

My brief sojourn into the Socratic method had reached a dead end. With young teens there’s a limit to subtlety and inductive reasoning. You have to tell ‘em, then show ‘em, then tell ‘em again and hope a tiny bit sticks. © 2006 Stephen Yuen

Building Five Homes, in Daly City. 15 Peninsula churches participated.