A rapid trip under the bridge

Yesterday I took the BART across the Bay into Oakland to visit Dave at his work.

We walked to a little lunch spot called Specialty’s in the bottom of a nearby office building, and then he took me around his office to meet his coworkers.  They were all very friendly and just as he had described them.  I enjoyed putting some faces to the names of the people he has been spending most of his days with for the past five weeks.

Most of Dave’s coworkers are Californians, and they all had something similar to say when meeting me, which was: “You know, now is a great time to move to San Francisco with the Giants doing so well!”  Why yes, it is … spoken from some true sports fans.  (It certainly is cool that the first game of the World Series is being played just minutes away from where we live tonight — but as far as timing — let’s just say the Giants didn’t make our stuff get here any faster, and they haven’t introduced me to any friends!)

Reflections (actually, let’s call them tidbits) from my visit:

• Taking the BART (i.e. Bay Area Rapid Transit, or the subway) is totally easy, but not super cheap.  It was more than $6 roundtrip to get to Oakland and back, which is only a couple of stops.
• Oakland is noticeably warmer than San Francisco.  Although just across the Bay and connected by a bridge, there’s always about a ten degrees difference between the two cities, and you can certainly notice when you go from one to the other via a quick BART ride.
• Cell phones occasionally work on BART.  Unlike the dead-zone subways of NYC, you can actually get reception at times and even check your emails while on the train.  In fact, the 70-year-old woman next to me had no trouble zipping through her Facebook newsfeed during our ride back into the City.
• Blue and yellow makes for a great sports logo.  Dave works for the Golden State Warriors, and the team’s colors include a bright yellow and a royal blue.  Something about the colors just pops, and I really like them (they also remind me of my high school’s colors, as well as Dave’s college).  It is even more apparent that the combination works, when you step out onto the platform above the team’s practice court, which is located at the team’s corporate offices.  Along the walls of the court, there are painted depictions of jerseys throughout the years, which show the progression of the logo and colors.  They’ve come a long way from the teal and orange of years past.

While visiting Dave was a nice midday diversion, it required changing out of workout clothes and it inhibited my noon group fitness class.  That being said, it’s probably the $6+ BART trip that will keep me from doing it too often while I have my days free before finding a job.  Even though I no longer have a car payment, nor do I have to pay for gas, I’ve yet to accept the necessity of paying for public transportation required of city living!

At least I was able to compile some useful knowledge to impart on my thrilling blog.