Ahhh, fame. Finally, finally, at long last it has arrived. I shall wear it lightly and do my best to remember all you little people. Well, most of you.
I’ve had my final visit to the orthodoc last Monday and he cleared me to take off The Boot except, for the time being, when i’m riding the Segway. Oh and by the way, the bone that was broken was my left fibula, just above the ankle, and if i’d known that in the beginning, i’d have been saying that my leg was broken rather than my ankle because it sounds so much worse.
I took my leg out for its first unsplinted walk last Tuesday by going out to the car and picking Jeff up and driving down to Mayes on Polk Street for dinner. Yes, Mayes. It’s now a pitiful shadow of its former glory, a quarter of its former size with a very short menu, but i was lucky enough to get to San Francisco while it was still at its peak, one of the grand old seafood palaces like Spenger’s in Berkeley with two foot square menus jammed with a huge variety of dishes, all done capably. I guess we don’t eat like that anymore, and that killed off Mayes back in the eighties. Best things Jeff and i had were the steak sandwich and the french fries. Enough said. Well, except that by walking like an old man i managed to get a half block from the car to the restaurant and back. Yes, i am one, but i sure hate looking like it.
I strapped The Boot back on last Thursday and Segwayed down to the Bartlett Street Farmers’ Market, which has been renamed Mission Community Market but is still on Bartlett Street between 21st and 22nd. I like going to it because it’s new and is struggling to add vendors, and i feel like i’m boosting a worthwhile cause. Besides, they’re gradually getting a good collection of vendors. Like Yerena, Twin Girls, Arata, and Dirty Girl…and others i’m blanking on. I hit Yerena for a flat of raspberries so i could make my first jelly to celebrate my recovery.
This morning i booted up, threw the Segway into the back of the Prius, drove down to near Sybil’s building on Mission, and Segwayed the remainder of the way to the Ferry Building, where i met Sybil and her daughter Sunny for some marketing. Since i’m going away for a week i didn’t get anything but a celeriac from Tierra Vegetables, but it was great fun to market with Sybil while i pitched an adventure.
What we could do, i proposed, is walk back to my car and drive out to Ocean Beach, where i would drop them, find a parking place in the park, and return on the Segway so that all three of us could take part in the Dump Citizens United demonstration. They had other plans, so i drove out and parked near the buffalo enclosure and Segwayed to the beach, where i joined my fellow demonstrators on what turned out to be a gorgeous day with a light offshore wind, which brings higher air temperatures and waves more readily surfable.
There were lots of surfers, but we barely had enough people to fatten the letters up properly, so i was much disappointed in the turnout. I was also disappointed in the Segway’s performance, or lack thereof, in deep soft sand. I’d thought it would do better but ended up having to tow it in places where the beach wasn’t sloping gently downwards. Still, i made it.
Click Dump Citizens United to see me. I’m the one in the red shirt in the bottom bar of the last “E”.
I just love collective action, especially the nonviolent kind. And late note, here’s another link to the event.
And speaking of collective action, i spotted this on the way to the drawbridges the other day. Of course i added one.