People started lining up before sunrise. Police officers were on hand to help out with crowd control. And when supplies ran out in less than two hours, some still waiting got a little ugly.
And no, the event had nothing to do with iPhones. It was all about rice.
It appears that life on the lam has come to an end for our favorite Tiburon socialites-turned-fugitives, Rebecca and Terry Solomon. The couple, wanted by U.S. authorities for allegedly bilking some $20 million from Bay Area investors, was arrested in the Philippines earlier this week, according to a Filipino newspaper.
The taste is really what struck me. The saltwater flavor of the Bay seems somehow more potent than it does off San Francisco's Pacific shores. But other added aftertastes seemed to linger. And while I didn't really have the contextual wherewithal to identify what they were, I tried to analyze them as best I could. I thought I tasted metal, for example, which seemed obvious, as well as a hint of gasoline (again, obvious). But also a little, hmm... was that rubber, perhaps? Sidewalk? Urine? Maybe a hint of Formica? Strange thing is, first thing I remember thinking after I climbed out of the bitingly cold, green-tinged piss-water this morning (having forgotten to remove my shirt, having lost all semblance of pride, shivering, my teeth chattering, saying "hghghghghghghggggggfuckiss c-c-cold" only to myself and making other assorted weird noises), I had an abnormal flashback to a couple months ago, the first time I walked past Extreme Pizza on Filmore. It was then that I wondered aloud to a friend, the aforementioned Sexy Bitch, "What would someone put on a really extreme pizza?" She answered: "Golf balls, maybe? Socks? Tweezers? Banana peels?" But that was wrong.
The furtive joy of discovering a $20 bill in an old pair of jeans is all the proof you'll need: Money found truly is sweeter than money earned.
Uncovering cash that should have been paid to you from private businesses but, through a series of convoluted processes, ended up in the State Controller's vaults –- well, that's not bad either.
The state is holding several billion dollars of unclaimed money owed to millions of individuals or businesses. Think you might have some cash waiting for you? You might be surprised. Give it a whirl here. We'll wait.
And if you are owed money, you have some lofty company:
The Mayor’s public housing proposal, “HOPE SF,” (PDF) has cleared committee and goes to the full Board of Supervisors next week. Bean counters say it’s likely to pass, with the only objection coming from Supervisor Chris Daly, whose objections really can’t be called “principled” by now.
The plan will commit $100 million dollars over about 20 years (starting with $5 million next year) to recreating two large public housing projects, one in Bayview Hunters Point and one to be determined, from top to bottom. They’ll be turned into desirable housing units and divided evenly between low-income housing and market rate housing -- about 900 units each -- so that rich and poor will live side by side.
This will, in the end, reduce violence and help lift families out of poverty, right?
