Ooof, how was everyone’s week back at work/school/life? I’m happy to report Dave and I are already a few books into our new years resolution to “read better”, with some more books already lined up.
The rainy weekend means we’ll be hunkered down, watching movies, the Golden Globes, and eating junk food. (Is that the most Californian thing I’ve ever said? It must be close. But, it’s supposed to be a lot of rain, people!) It’s not a bad way to relax after the holidays. Do you have any fun plans? Maybe convert Potrero Hill into a giant slip n’ slide?
Have a great weekend everyone!
From around the web this week:
The rain thing really is no joke. We might see up to 7 inches of rain, most of it Saturday night. (Monday’s storm was only 1 inch.) Tahoe is looking at 7 feet of snow. Stay dry and above water!
Lordy lordy lordy, you know the whole NextMuni debacle that was the beginning of SF 2017? Muni arrival predictions were rendered meaningless for most of the week. IT’S GOING TO CONTINUE FOR AT LEAST A FEW MORE WEEKS. It’s been so bad, you guys, I’m not sure I can take it. (I appreciate SFMTA keeping us informed as to the why’s and how’s, though, and it doesn’t seem to be an easy problem to fix. Thank you for all the hard work, Muni!)
It’s been bad transit news all around this week, with BART experiencing a shutdown this morning and a freak accident at 24th street that saw a man pinned between the platform and BART car. Seriously, stay behind the yellow lines, everyone.
Oh, it is now illegal to operate a cell phone AT ALL while driving in California. Yes, even if you’re using Google Maps. (I think this was long overdue. #justdrive)
I’m still agog that I can download Kindle books for free via Overdrive.com. (This also fits well into my plans for the upcoming rainy weekend!)
This happened while we were out for the holidays, but China has also now banned the sale/trade of ivory. (Following a similar US ban over the summer, and a California state ban last year.) This is HUGE, as 50-70% of all ivory is sold in China. The elephant population has decreased by 30% just in the last 7 years, all due to the ivory trade. Hopefully, this will be a major turnaround for elephants.
Here is the final batch of White House photos for 2016. Any photo with a kid is incredible, but you also need to see the photo of Half Dome with Marine One.
This National Geographic story about bringing to life a 9,500 year old skull is fascinating and amazing. I get the proud squirrelies whenever I hear about scientists protecting ancient treasures for future scientists, and future technologies — in this case 3D imaging — to uncover. This is a story a half-century in the making. Science!
