Books:

• Larry Niven’s Ringworld

  I was drawn in by the concept of a ringed artificial habitable structure orbiting a star — one of the inspirations for the Halo universe. I was pleasantly surprised to find not only did Niven deeply expand upon the technical considerations of such a structure, he managed to weave a captivating story alongside. Niven has an odd, matter of fact writing style but his unique alien characters clearly punched through his plain style.

• Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead, his sequel to Ender’s Game

  I was pleasantly surprised with Speaker. It took an abrupt turn from Ender’s Game, which was primarily a space-war novel. Speaker is a philosophical anthropological ‘what if’ tale — what if humans colonized a planet with an existing sentient species. I found it very rewarding.

Music:

• Junior Boys – Count Souvenirs
• Cut Copy – Time Stands Still

Online:

• Reddit.com – best described as “the new Digg.”

  Like Digg, Reddit accepts submissions of web links. But, unlike Digg, clicking on a link in Reddit doesn’t lead to the ‘link metadata page’ before actually bringing you to the external site — it just links to the external site. Reddit encourages you to read the ‘link metadata page’ by way of its perfectly threaded and moderated comments. This encourages thoughtful and complete discussion, whether the external link in question is a silly picture of a dog or a depressing world affairs story.

  I enjoy the discussions, but I recognize a significant bias toward libertarian viewpoints. (Ron Paul has an unusually high share of voice on the site. Frequent posts argue for returning to the gold standard.)

• James Howard Kunstler speaks about the tragedy of suburbia. I feel similar emotions as he expresses, but never have I felt comfortable expressing it publicly in such a way. Watching his speech is a pleasure as he strongly emphasizes our nation’s real tragedy: poor city planning.

  Choice quote, “…When you think about those young men and women who are over in places like Iraq, spilling their blood in the sand, and ask yourself, ‘What is their last thought of home?’ I hope it’s not the curb-cut between the Chuck-E-Cheese and the Target store, cause that’s not good enough for Americans to be spilling their blood…“

Radio:

• Selected Shorts – Odd Couples. I loved the first story of this program, Aimee Bender’s “The Meeting.” It starts around 7 min, 30 seconds. (MP3 Link)
• Fareed Zakaria on KQED’s Forum speaks about post-Americanism — what is America’s world role now that it’s waning as a super-power? I was also inspired by Mr. Zakaria’s array of statistics pointing toward the positive direction, a nice break from news stories I usually see in the media about the falling of the sky.

KALW’s Manager’s Report took place in the late morning, preempting an episode of a local call-in forum show.

Similar to Indiana University‘s arrangement with public radio station WFIU, the San Francisco Unified School District provides KALW with discounted real estate and other ancillary business support services such as telco, Internet access, payroll processing, basic utilities, etc. But, they must find revenue sources to pay for staff, production costs, and purchase programming from NPR and other sources.

I enjoy 91.7 KALW’s positioning as an ‘alternative’ public radio station — an antithesis to the standard NPR fare of 88.5 KQED.

Of course, as a public radio junky, I also enjoy KQED’s great standard NPR program offerings, but KALW provides a nice alternative view with a heavier focus on world news, especially BBC programs like World Have Your Say and the BBC World Service through the wee hours of the night. KALW is also my source on Sunday morning for unique radio programs like Working with Marty Nemko and Harry Shearer’s Le Show.

Keep up the good work, KALW!

MP3 direct link to KALW Manager’s Report

• I notice that fares run together in my memory more than before. I’m not sure of the cause. Do I pay less attention to customers? Am I becoming the cab driver that can chat up any customer without really listening to what they’re saying? (No, I don’t think so, but I still worry about it.)

  Maybe I start to see the same patterns of people over and over. What sets one business commuter apart from the other?

  Or, maybe I’m now waiting too long after my shifts to write these posts. (It’s probably that.)

• Late mornings and early afternoons the Kaiser calls are off the hook — 2, 3 or 4 orders waiting for cabs, most of them armed with City paratransit scrips, ready to spend a nice clip going across town. I like Kaiser calls.

  The dispatchers call those orders as “Geary and Divis.” Or, when there are too many, they simply say “2 [3, 4] times for the Kaiser” or “Kaiser calling back.” Good times to be a cab driver in the City.

  I picked up a guy Monday from the Kaiser. He was older, extremely tall and moved slowly but precisely. When he walked it looked like a slow motion film. A 30 frames per second video played back at 20 fps.

  He was black but with rather light skin and noticeable freckles. But, his defining feature was his glasses. They were perfectly round, thick plastic frames. He wore classy khaki pants, a sports jersey and a dress shirt. He had great style.

  When he sat down in the cab he handed me a twenty. “That’s your tip.” Making the assumption that is best to be made in such situations, I assumed he meant, “That will cover the fare plus your tip.” People do that sometimes.

  He gave his destination neither as a request nor as a command. Just a statement of truth. A fact. Our destiny, as sure as the sun would set tonight and rise tomorrow. “We’re going to make a stop at the Cala [Grocery store at California and Hyde] and then back to my apartment at [address].”

  As I’ve said many times before, I don’t normally enjoy waiting. I have a well-founded propensity toward constant motion as I usually earn more while in motion than waiting, even if the meter ticks up for time at $0.45/minute. But, I didn’t argue. He seemed set in our path.

  We pull into the Cala and he gets out. I try to relax. I’m getting better at it, even in these situations where math constantly ticks through my head calculating how much money I’m losing while waiting for this guy to scan through the frozen food aisles.

  What I perceive to be minutes later (but is probably just a minute later) I turn around and look in the store. Maybe I’ll see him grabbing something from the impulse aisle so we can keep going. He’s still outside. Searching for a cart. He hasn’t even entered Cala. I try to relax again. Of course, the meter is still running.

  I listen to some NPR. I flip around from one NPR station to the other. Ralph Nader’s on KALW. Interesting enough.

  15 minutes later I blow my top. This is insane. The meter’s up to $15. I grab a cab receipt and write down my phone number, grab his medicine from the back seat and $5 change for his $20.

  I find him in the Cala in the frozen food section. But, I couldn’t maintain my anger at him. Restated, I couldn’t direct my anger toward him. It just wouldn’t go. I just wanted to laugh. Actually, I wanted to help him shop. Maybe things would go faster. And, he shared my taste in food. Frozen popcorn shrimp, nice! “There are things at this Cala I just can’t get anywhere else in the City.” Tell me about it.

  I said, “Look sir, you’re really nice and all but I really can’t wait this long. I need to find other fares. Here’s your change from the meter, your medicine, and a card with my number. Call me when you’re done and I’ll pick you up.”

  “Oh no, don’t give me any change, that’s your tip. I’ll pay you whatever’s on the meter. I’ll just be another few minutes.” Oh, really? Now the numbers tip in his favor. And, to his credit, his Cala cart was approaching capacity. “Okay, I can wait a few more minutes.”

  A few Nader tirades later and he finally emerges from Cala. “Thanks for waiting,” he said, “It’s hard to get cab drivers to wait for me to do my shopping. That’s the last thing on my list for the week. Now I can relax the rest of the week.”

  I took him a few more long blocks up to his Nob Hill apartment. He paid me another $30. “Woah, sir, you’ve paid me 50 bucks. This is a lot. Are you sure you’re okay with that? I have no problem giving you some change.”

  “No, no, take it, you were very helpful. I’ve done everything on my list.”

  I thanked him profusely and finally said what was on my mind, “You have some awesome glasses.”

• I picked up an Indian guy and his girlfriend from the CalTrain station on Tuesday. I don’t think they take cabs often.

  He asked, “We are going downtown, are you going that way?”

  I wasn’t trying to be smart, but this just popped out of my mouth, “That’s not really how it works. I’m a cab driver, I’ll go wherever you tell me.” They told me to go downtown.

• I scored an Oakland Airport fare off the street from 555 Market, the site of my former office job. Karma?
• I dropped a guy and his elderly mom off at her retirement home from one of the hospitals. She was a bit out of it, so he was handling her paratransit scrips. He wasn’t sure where to sign and I pointed to the line and said, “Just fill in this field here. Did I just say field? I’m not even sure what the proper word is.” You see, I’ve been working a website quite a bit in my spare time.
• I picked up a bouncer from a downtown club Tuesday morning. He had finished his graveyard shift and was heading home to his NoPa apartment. He talked about work. He worked a lot. 7 days a week. He made a lot of money. He spends it all.

  I felt like asking him, does that really make you happy? Do you like working 7 days a week? Why not just spend less and work 4 days a week? Or 3?

  I’m proud to share that I’m living below my means, (finally) paying off my credit card, and working only 3 days per week. I earn about $25k per year and live in one of the most expensive cities in North America. My secret? I don’t buy things. (Nor do I have kids.)

  I didn’t feel it appropriate to lecture him though. I think it’s a lesson people have to learn for themselves. Of course, I have no problem lecturing you on this blog.

• I picked up a guy from a nice SOMA apartment building heading to SFO. We had a fun chat about politics, Obama and the state of the Union. As I dropped him at the terminal he said, “I’m glad I had you as a driver. I always like your cab company, you have good drivers.” Thanks.

While sitting in the queue to pay the toll for the Bay Bridge Monday, I heard two great counterintuitive pieces on KQED.

The first was a thoughtful comparison between our quality of life now compared to the distant past. It is a true and important comparison and a nice reminder of how great our lives really are in modern times.

“A Very Rich Man” KQED Perspective:

• >MP3 Direct Link<
• Program Page

The second was a nice piece by NPR’s Morning Edition which sought to answer the question of why Americans have built up so much personal debt in the past 20 years. I liked this part: for some, debt it good. Debt is not always an evil thing.

In my case, I know that my income will be considerably higher in a few years than it is now. As exemplified by the example in the story, it would make little sense for me to save money now given my limited income.

“Why Do We Borrow So Much?” Morning Edition Story:

• Segment Page

I recently stumbled upon another great radio show: Radiolab.

Radiolab tries to explain things. Big things. Philosophy and science things.

Radiolab features a simple theme for each episode such as Love, Pop Music, or Deception. My initial frustration while listening was that they didn’t always get to the bottom of the theme. Why do we fall in love? How has pop music evolved? You won’t get an absolute answer. (Will we ever?)

But, that’s okay. Let go of the need for a perfect, direct explanation of the theme and embrace the unique experience of Radiolab and you’ll enjoy it just fine. Each episode features at least one nugget of unique radio that keeps me coming back for more.

And, the host’s name is Jad. How cool is that?

Links

• Program Website
• MP3 RSS Feed (Podcast)

NPR’s Morning Edition recently featured an excellent two part series on the aggregate effects of our living decisions on the environment.

The stories hit hard from the angle that suburbia increases per capita carbon footprint while denser, urban living offers significantly lower per capita carbon footprint. Yes!

Here’s the underlying important point: living in denser areas can INCREASE quality of life while DECREASING our impact on the environment. Wow, a win, win?

So, what’s the problem? It takes a coordinated partnership between centralized government and private developers to create these desirable dense urban areas. It doesn’t happen by itself. As seen in Atlanta’s sprawl, if left to private developers with minimal government intrusion, suburbia will continue expanding.

Here’s a dose of crazy: what if suburban housing prices didn’t properly take these cost of living issues into account? (That is, what if the value of suburban real estate didn’t take into account the cost of living decrease caused by significant commute time and energy costs?) What if, in addition to our current short-term housing pricing adjustment, suburban real estate will have a long-term trend downward (or, at least, not upward) relative to urban real estate? This downward pressure will only increase as energy prices continue to rise.

Links

• Part 1 – “Life in the ‘Burbs: Heavy Costs for Families, Climate”
• Part 2 – “Atlanta Family Slashes Carbon Footprint”

BONUS: Related, check out this NYTimes story about New York’s continuing love affair with cars despite increasing energy costs and an impending congestion fee near city center.

Do you like chocolate? Yes? So does Chloé Doutre-Roussel. Ms. Doutre-Roussel is a professional chocolate taster.

Marketplace’s “Working” series did a surprisingly touching segment on her unique profession.

Links

• MP3 Direct Link
• Segment Page

Who says the golden age of radio is dead? I’m amazed at the depth and breadth of radio these days and I’m blessed to have cabbing force me to explore these depths during long shifts.

My latest find is a wacky but great show from Simpsons voice actor Harry Shearer. You’ll recognize his voice instantly.

It’s difficult to summarize, but imagine a mix between the Daily Show, Colbert Report, SNL and the Onion with a cogent editorial voice similar to an anti-Rush Limbaugh. He tackles serious subjects like the inability of FEMA to sort out disasters and also the silly (but funny) with the ‘Apologies of the Week’ section featuring some great background music. It’s worth a listen.

I listen to it on 91.7 KALW Sundays at noon.

Links

• Show Page
• Podcast MP3 RSS Feed

When I drive an 11 hour shift and make only fifty or sixty bucks I feel pretty sour. This doesn’t happen often. But, it does happen a few times a month during this time of year when demand for cabs in the City is seasonally low.

My angry mind jumps first to the cab company. How can this evil cab company charge me so much for my taxi, gas and dispatch services when I’m just barely making money to pay rent? What sort of evil people must they be to squeeze pennies out of the pockets of immigrants and hard working laborers?

(I don’t usually feel these thoughts. In fact, I have a great deal of respect for the cab company I work for.) But, many cab drivers feel these thoughts often. Some of them have posted on this blog or others to express their frustration at high gate fees and poor treatment.

Many American workers have these same thoughts about their employers. Whole websites are dedicated to venting these thoughts about individual companies.

STOP! Take these angry thoughts elsewhere: Aim them at your government.

Robert Reich is former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and a regular commentator on my favorite radio program, Marketplace. He has an hour full of extremely wise words on a past edition of the Commonwealth Club of California radio program. (Unfortunately, these wise words are only available in Real Audio format.)

Among many other thoughts he shares in this program, one I latched on to with the whole of my heart is that American citizens can never look toward corporations for true social change. A corporation is a machine. It is a machine with one relentless goal: to create value for its shareholders. Let’s not judge this as bad, good, or whatever. It just is.

Accepting the fact that corporations are value creating machines let’s revisit our anger from above. Let’s not blame Wal-Mart for bad wages. Let’s not blame the taxi company for a high gate fee. Let’s not blame health insurance companies for refusing to accept high risk subscribers. These corporate entities are nothing more than the result of an evolution of best practices to create value for shareholders.

The only true accountable way of making significant societal changes such as a minimum wage or universally available health insurance is ONLY through government regulation, not through the magic of an oxymoronic corporate conscience.

Links

• Commonwealth Club Broadcast
• KQED Forum Interview with Robert Reich

NPR hosted a radio debate Tuesday between the Democratic presidential candidates.

It was a radio-only debate with no cameras, no audience, and no strict time limits for candidate answers (although they were kept thankfully brief). It was an excellent forum to hear their ideas.

Link (You can also get it as an MP3 for you mobile audio junkies.)

One scary thing I learned:

• Seemingly “progressive” Democrats seem to be frighteningly against free trade, especially with China and Mexico. Their justifications were varied and had some juice, but I am a fan of trade first, regulate later most of the time (with regards to product safety, environmental impact, fair pay). Rarely should we ever significantly restrict trade but for human rights violations or other egregious acts. But, restricting trade to keep “blue collar jobs in America” is scary, antiquated thinking. We need better education for our displaced workers, not more shitty jobs.