Orange is not a colour, it's a state of mind

We’ve got such a great little team in the San Francisco office now. After the 2 of us being in the office a while it’s great to have the other 4 guys all start around the same time so we can all feel part of the founding team here. We’ve now got a couple of specific customer-facing guys, events and our US MD. Nice having American accents in the office too. Hopefully we’ll look back on this photo in the not too distant future and marvel at how much we’ve grown.

I’ve decided to help Kara find her way around San Francisco – we’re always swapping public transport adventure stories but there are a few options here and the terminology is quite confusing. I don’t think I’ve got it quite right but if she knows what I’m talking about then at least we’re on the same page!

BART – the underground subway – price per distance, starting at $1.75, Clipper card allowed, scan at turnstile on station entry and exit, to get out, just wait for next station – all doors open automatically, sometimes you can hear garbled announcements about what the next stop is, otherwise study map and look out the window as the train pulls into the station.

MUNI – the above ground trains, that sometimes go underground, $2 flat fare, Clipper card allowed, scan at turnstile on station entry and exit, or above ground, scan on-board on entry only (front or back door), to get out press bell or pull chord – doors will open automatically at next stop, usually a red neon sign displays the name of the next stop.

Rattly trams – over ground central city tram – sometimes old sometimes newer and shiny – I think they’re officially known as street cars, $2 flat fare, Clipper card allowed, scan on entry, on-board (front or back door), to get out pull chord (sometimes press button) and step down into the stairwell to activate the back doors to open – don’t stand in there if the tram is crowded or the doors won’t close and you’ll be shouted at. If you’re lucky the tram driver is rather jolly and will loudly call out the name of the next stop – otherwise look out the window.

Tourist tram – goes up the big hills from Market Street with people hanging off the taking photos, $5, not a tourist so never been on it 😉 I imagine you just leap off in manner of an action film hero when you’re approaching your destination.

Bus – goes everywhere, some bendy, some regular, $2 flat fare, Clipper card allowed, scan on entry, on-board (front door only), to get out pull chord (or sometimes press button) and when bus arrives at the next stop, step down into the stairwell to activate the back doors – don’t try this at the traffic lights, you look like an idiot, if the bus is at a stop but the back doors aren’t open and someone yells “BACK DOOR” in the direction of the driver, roll your eyes and give them the ‘have-you-never-ridden-on-a-bus-before-my-vegetables-are-wilting-while-I-wait-for-you-to-figure-this-out’ glare and if no-one else beats you to it yell back “STEP DOWN” – it’s their first time. Sometimes doors open by pushing on the long vertical bar handles on the door – I suggest you sit where you can maintain eye contact with the back door at all times in order to familiarize yourself with the signs – like a big yellow one that might say “To exit bus, push door handle’ and to watch what other people getting off at stops along the way do.

Caltrain – goes out of town down to Silicon Valley – never ridden it, not sure of the cost, I *think* Clipper card is allowed as there were some card dispensers at the train station, not sure of the scanning rules, stopping rules or door rules.

Stepping out for work! Boots a third the height of Beckett’s but I think I’ve seen her in this shirt!

Tried to get a picture of the full moon over the bridge a couple of nights ago but it hasn’t worked very well. For all the fog and haze that hangs around the hills and bay here usually, the night sky here is just stunning at the moment. The hills over in Berkeley and Oakland are extremely clear and sharp and all the lights are very sparkly and reflective on the water. It’s a joy to come home to.

Went on another #5 bus adventure today! Our main reason was to visit the Matching Half coffee shop and then get back on the bus to travel further along to the other end of Golden Gate park with the idea of exploring that. I knew we were going to be fairly close to the ocean when we got to the other end of the park but when we got off the bus and we could see it just a block away we decided to go and have a look. Very blue and lots of people out and about on a very warm winter’s day.

We looked along the beach and saw some kind of look out up on the corner so ditched the idea of a walk in the park for a walk up to the top of the hill – by now I was excited that just around the corner was the Big Orange Bridge. It was a pretty spectacular view in both directions from the point but the bridge was further around. Lots of people were milling about taking photos on the next point we could see around in the direction of the bridge, so off we went.

Through forests, along paths, up and down hundreds of steps, around another point and ta da! There it was. Spectacular sight and no fog whatsoever thanks to winter. We’d gone quite a long way by then so rather than doubling back we turned up through a very flash neighborhood for a couple of blocks and joined onto another major bus route that took us back to town – hello #38! A nice 5 hour round trip!! We worked out the walk was about 2 miles (3.2 km).

Always hard at this time of the year walking past abandoned Christmas trees in the street.

When The Mister put ours out I refused to use the front door of our building until it had been cleared, and even then convinced myself that a nice man in a truck came along to get it and all its friends to set them free back in the forest …

Discovered the #5 bus took a very favorable route from just across from our apartment, via 2 great looking cafes, to Golden Gate Park so that was our New Year’s Day out and about. The park is enormous and quite different to Central Park – I think because it’s really open – lots of sky.

We wanted to visit the California Academy of Sciences while we were there but almost turned away when the tickets were $35 each! However – it was actually worth it. The museum (not sure if that’s what you call it, perhaps science center is better) was small enough with enough different things that we got to see every corner of it (well, except for gift shops and cafes).

There are 2 large domes inside the center – one a planetarium where I think we both had our first planetarium visit where reclined in the big seamless dome you really do feel like you’re flying through space and the other an actual rain forest with an airlock so that no animals can get out.

The rain forest was amazing, steamy hot with birds, frogs and butterflies in the trees and ponds just doing their thing. It was awesome having colored butterflies flitting across your head and so close to touch and other than people taking photos and using a flash in front of signs where it said ‘no photography’ with an explanation about how light-sensitive the bird or animal was, people seemed to just leave the butterflies alone.

The aquarium under the rainforest was cool – not that large but some big fish and interesting jelly-types.

There were also reindeer outside!

The roof of the building where it humps over the planetarium and the rain forest is living – they’ve planted native species over the domes and around the vents. It looks really cool! The Living Roof.

Spent so much time on the couch today trying to relax in true Boxing Day style that we were treated to the very rare sight of the bridge emerging from the fog – firstly because it doesn’t usually get foggy in this part of town and secondly because if it does we’re usually at work during the day and miss it clearing.

It took about an hour from thick pea soup all morning to clear.

Last night we had our little Xero Team US holiday party (more PC than saying Christmas) – we’re now up to 3 on staff! President Jamie surprised us by bringing Santa hats to the office and The Mister surprised me by agreeing to wear one!

Of course he couldn’t take it off all night for fear of what his hair might look like underneath and even walked all the way home wearing it! We invited Kara and James (who manages the shared office space) along to dinner as well as a couple of new staff who’ve just been hired but don’t start until the New Year. It was a great evening of pizza, wine and ice-cream. It’s going to be a big year for us next year and it was great to go out as a group and all get on so well.

We got it from a much smaller city lot than Bev and Dan’s tree, with a little water tray already attached – perfect for apartment living. It’s actually our first real Christmas tree. The Mister carried it home through town with lots of little kids squealing to their parents about the cute little tree.

We’ve decorated it orange and put it up in front of our window like everyone else has – I hope our neighbors can see it and enjoy looking at it as much as I do all of theirs out our window.