Dead Frank

Last weekend, I was hanging out downtown San Francisco waiting for my friend.  We were about to partake in one of the finest burgers that our fair city has to offer.  As I watched the world go by, I saw a late model Ford Police Interceptor approaching me.  The side searchlights were still attached.  All other markings had been removed.  No light bar across the roof.  No decals on the side.  The driver was a middle aged man with a couple days of stubble on his face and an ill-fitting stocking cap on his head.  He did not fit the mold of a current or retired law enforcement official.

Then the car rounded the corner and I caught a glimpse of the bold decal that adorned the trunk lid.  Check it out for yourself: http://bit.ly/6ffhHd

They have an official website with very little information and featuring a much more stylish picture of the vehicle in question.

I took down the last few posts.  The removed items were “old school” blog posts, which is to say they essentially contained links to interesting things I found around the web.  That type of content is useful and interesting and worthy of merit, just not for deadfrank.  I would rather keep this space dedicated to my personal experiences and musings.  Plus I felt the writing sucked.

My father suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure a few weeks ago.  He lost many files, including some old pictures from many years ago that he had scanned into the computer.  Thankfully he sent me a copy of those on CD shortly after he scanned them in.  I found that disc this morning.

I took a fun trip down memory lane, looking at two-decade old pictures of my cousins.  I just visited many of them down in Arizona recently.  Seeing how the years had changed us all invoked a very special kind of nostalgia that I haven’t experienced in years.

It reminded me of a couple of things.  One is that we should be taking more pictures.  You, me, and everyone you know.  Carry a little pocket digital camera.  Use the one on your phone.  The best camera in the world is the one you have with you at the time.  Capture those moments.  They will be more special to you a decade or two down the road.  Your kids, grandkids, parents, aunts, uncles, and friends will all appreciate it down the line as well.

It’s so easy to get caught up crossing off items on your to-do list or being frustrated with that guy in another state who isn’t doing his job properly.  You can always be thinking about that party coming up this weekend or what you did last night.  Pictures help you get back t those moments which really matter the most.

I think that a life worth living is a life worth recording.  I think it’s worthwhile to revisit the notion of keeping this blog up to date.  The time has come to put my keyboard where my mouth is.  Ew.  On second thought, maybe not.

Plus, you can thank my mother.  She dutifully reminds me that she visits the site on a regular basis and wonders when I’m going to start writing again.  So this post is for you mom.  Thanks for inspiring me to start writing here again.

I wrote a little bit about the trains when I first arrived in Japan.  Now that I’ve returned to San Francisco and had some time to compare the two, I decided to elaborate on about my experiences.

Getting around Tokyo via train is an incredible, enlightening experience for Americans.  Our public transportation systems are a hollow and lifeless copy of those overseas.  It reminds me of the old movie, Mulitiplicity, with Michael Keaton where he clones himself.  Our public transportation is much like Doug #4.  (Watch the trailer to get a hint.)

Japanese trains run efficiently.  They are on time with remarkable frequency.  There is an information display at every train station that will accurately tell you which train will arrive when.  There are limited trains, express trains, limited express trains, and bullet trains for the long hauls.  There are systems of subways that cover the dense urban jungle of Tokyo.  There are buses and even a monorail.

There are multiple companies that operate different lines.  JR (Japan Rail) is the largest company providing rail service around Japan.  There are also dozens of regional line such as the Odakyu, Keio, and Toei lines run by smaller operations.  Switching from one line to another is a relatively simple affair, especially if you have a prepaid IC card.

There are two systems for obtaining a prepaided card: Suica and Pasmo.  You can purchase a card for 500 yen from most ticket machines.  The best part about these two systems is their interoperability.  It’s kind of like Visa and Mastercard here in the US.  It doesn’t much matter which one you have.  They’re both going to work in the same places.

Once you have one of these cards, you can just wave the card over the reader and pass through the turnstile.  Once you reach your destination, the system will debit the amount of the fare from your card.

Plus you can use the cards for more than just the trains.  All bus systems also use the IC card systems.  So do many vending machines for when you need a quick can of coffee before your voyage!  And I’ve heard tales that some mobile phones have the IC chip so your purchases can be charged to your monthly bill!  How convenient!