Days one and two

Day One

Arrived safe and sound yesterday morning at 11:00 AM, stepped out of the terminal to beautiful blue skies and 57 degree weather. It really made me miss the two feet of snow we got in New York two weeks ago. First things first, I have to find a job and an apartment. Though before I can do any of that I need to unload my 80 pound suitcase.

Thats right, 80 fucking pounds. Of course Virgin America Airlines has a limit of 70 pounds, so I had to pay an extra $100 on top of the $20 I already paid for it. What a fucking ripoff, if I had one 70 pound bag and one 10 pound bag, that would be fine and it would only be another $20. Whats the fucking difference, it would still represent the same weight being loaded onto the plane. "Well the baggage handlers have to do more work to get it loaded" Granted, they do have to deal with my heavy ass bag. But do you think the airline passes the money onto them? I don't think so. Just a total screwjob for the consumer.

So I head to the hostel where I made my reservation, looks like a pretty decent place too, not at all what i expected. Lugging my heavy suitcase uphill for what seams like eternity. I get there and the guy asks me for my student ID.

Me: "I don't have one, I'm not a student"

Clerk: "Well then you can't stay here, this is for students and international travellers only"

Great, so my only place to sleep is now no longer an option. He points me in the direction of another hostel down the road (downhill too, thank god) that doesn't require student ID's. Now this place was alot closer to what I expected when from the other one. From the moment I walked in the door, the place reaked like weed, the front desk clerk was passively rude. By passively rude, I mean he's being rude, without realizing it. Things like interrupting every sentence that comes out of my mouth and saying everything with a condescending tone. I paid for one night, I don't want to be here any longer than I need to be.

Room #5...Three bunk beds, reaks of weed even worse than the lobby, only two other tenants from what I can tell. One of them is actually home, he introduces himself as Logan (at least I think thats his name, I'm terrible with names). His teeth look like he's been chewing on gravel, fewer left than a texas redneck. But regardless of my initial impression, he is a generally nice guy. He gives me the rundown on the other roommate, Alan. He lives and works in the hostel (by the looks of him, at least in his 40's), so the front desk guys barely assign anyone else to the room in order to keep it more comfortab;e for him, which is nice.

After getting settled, I need a shower and change of clothes bad. The shower frightens me something awful, but I have no choice. I need to buy some sandals before I step in there again. I have an appointment to look at an apartment between one and three, and it is two, so I rush out the door and hop on the M train heading south. This place is a bit of a hike, over 30 minutes on the train. I don't mind it really though, gives me time to relax, and the train has a few stops in a really great neighborhood between the city and my destination. The apartment itself is not bad. Looks like it was once a normal apartment that was converted to have every common room turned into a private bedroom in order to get more money. Three rooms available, all varying sizes and prices. All with a closet/dresser thingy (there's a formal name for them that I can't think of right now), this is enticing because I have no furniture and do not want to live out of a suitcase. Unfortunately this is the only furniture included, which means I'd be on the floor. Filing this away as a maybe, and I'll come back to it later if nothing else opens up.

Time to make my way back to the city and start job hunting. I'm pretty much hitting every place that doesn't look family-owned or sketchy. Got a few good prospects, a cafe/bakery called Specialty's, another cafe/bakery named Peet's, as well as a couple small retail gift shop places. My phone is dying after listening to music for the whole flight and every second since I landed. My friend Avi wants to hang out, so I go back to the hostel and charge my phone and laptop for like an hour before I head out.

Avi lives one block from the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets, for those of you who are going "Huh?" This is a pretty hip area, I'd say about half good "punk rock loving, kindred spirit" hip and half "preppy douche bags and tourists trying to see the cool neighborhood" hip. Still a place I would very much like to live. Avi told me a month ago that he was moving out of his room and needed a replacement, to which I responded "Oooh!! Me Me Me!!" He brought me up with his roommates and said it was a possibility but I shouldn't get my hopes up just in case. Then last week he told me they had a number of people look at the place, one of which they were pretty stoked about, this made me sad. Well I got a chance to hang out with one of his two roommates the whole night and I believe I made a very good impression. Before I left, he gave me his number and told me that if things didn't work out with the apartment search, to give him a call. As great as that is, I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm just gonna go with the flow and se where it takes me. Hell, I'm in San Francisco, I don't really care where I lay my head, as long as I'm here.

[Curtain Lowers] End of day one, what a milestone :)

Day Two

I awake promptly at 10 AM. I'm supposed to go look at another apartment today at 3, but I don't really want to as it is further away than the first one I looked at. I think I'm gonna blow the woman off. Yesterday for jobs I hit up all the places on Market St in the business district (hence the numerous coffee shops), today I'm gonna head to the biggest touristy areas and try my luck there. Lots of retail, customer service, and food service positions there, which I have a lifetime of experience with.

One of the first places I went to was The International Spy Shop, which I had seen in an ad on Craigslist was hiring. I didn't apply there because it said it was necessary to include a letter saying why you wanted to work there. I've never heard a more ridiculous thing in my life. I NEED TO PAY MY FUCKING BILLS. Add to that the fact that it's a mother-fucking spy shop and thats all the reason I need. Hopefully if I just walk-in and inquire, I won't need to explain my desire to may my bills with their paychecks. The gentleman inside tells me they are indeed still hiring, but they do not have any real applications.

Clerk: "Do you have a resume? You can just leave that"

Me: [Shit, I knew I forgot something before I left New York, I wanted to print a stack to bring with me] "I don't have any one me, I'll bring some by tomorrow"

Luckily he didn't strike me as management, so bad first impression narrowly avoided. Avi offered to let me print some, so I'll take him up on that and return tomorrow. Next few places are not hiring but "We're always taking applications!" I work in retail, I know what that means, my application will become the piece of scrap paper you write on the back of when you can't find anything else. So I keep moving. Boudin Sourdough has a huge bakery/restaurant/bar/cafe rigt near Pier 39, they actually are hiring so I fill out the application and hope for the best. Onto Pier 39.

Never been here? Without a doubt the most highly visited tourist spot in the city. Not really much to see here though, just alot of overpriced shopping ($45 for a Boondock Saints t-shirt!) and some worthless dirty seals. Unfortunatley EVERY store here said they're not hiring till the summer (late May, early June). Onto the Ferry Building.

Unused since the 50's, this place was renovated in 2003 into an upscale gourmet marketplace. I would love to work here. Again everyone is saying they're not hiring but "They're taking applications!" One shining light is a place named Sur La Table, an upscale kitchen supply store. Like Bed, Bath, and Beyond but alot smaller and without all of the suck. They are hiring and the manager is in today!

Manager: "Sure! let me get you an application. [rummages in some drawers] Sorry, we're out of applications. You can just leave your resume"

Me: [FUCK! foiled again!] "Is it ok if I drop it off tomorrow?"

I found a nice cafe to sit and fill out all of the applications I had collected and eat my lunch (an organic apple and asian pear I bought at the Ferry Building farmer's Market). Applications I filled out today: another coffee shop, a chocolate store, a huge gift shop at Pier 39, Cold Stone Creamery, and the Boudins Sourdough Bakery. I've seen plenty of fast food places (McDonalds, In-N-Out, Burger King, etc...) I know from working at Wendy's, that these places are always looking for people. So, if noone else wants to hire me, I will start applying at those places.

Took a few relaxing hours lying in a park reading my book [I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, read it, seriously], then back to the hostel for some much needed rest.

[Bow and exit]