There have been rumors floating around for the last few weeks that a strike of mass (or not so mass) proportions is potentially upon us San Francisco Bay Area residents, and according to the official Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) website, these rumors could quite soon become truth.

From BART:

The Amalgamated Transit Union has announced its intention to strike at the close of service on Sunday, after the BART Board of Directors voted Thursday to impose terms of employment on the union. A strike would halt BART service. The Board took the action after members of ATU, which represents train operators and station agents, rejected a tentative labor agreement and the board said an impasse had been reached in negotiations.

Looks like fun times ahead, huh?

The site then goes on to give a few handy dandy tips for dealing with this pretty large inconvenience, two of my favorites being…

“Adjust work hours – Ask your employer about adjusting your work hours to avoid commuting during peak traffic periods.”

and

“Telecommute – Ask your employer about working from home during some of the time you’d normally be in the office.”

I don’t know where BART thinks I work, but if it was the kind of place where I could just tell them my demands and they would submit to my every whim and will, life would be much much sweeter.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Bay Area public transit warriors though. Bart will be running a limited bus service between five of it’s stations. In the morning you have

Dublin/Pleasanton BART to West Oakland BART (10 Buses)
Fremont BART to West Oakland BART (10 Buses)
Walnut Creek BART to West Oakland BART (10 Buses)
El Cerrito del Norte BART to West Oakland BART (10 Buses)
West Oakland BART to San Francisco (Fremont/Folsom) (16 Buses)

and in the afternoon

San Francisco (Fremont/Folsom) to West Oakland BART (16 Buses)
West Oakland BART to El Cerrito del Norte BART (10 Buses)
West Oakland BART to Dublin/Pleasanton BART to (10 Buses)
West Oakland BART to Fremont BART (10 Buses)
West Oakland BART to Walnut Creek (10 Buses)

Each trip cost 5 bucks and parking at the BART stations is free during the strike. That’s good right?

Hooray for poor negotiation skills and greed!

So lovlies, do you rely heavily on BART to get you from point A to point B? Any ideas for turning shit into sunshine if this actually hits the fan? Do tell!

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This week has been wonderful! The weather has been amazing, people are out on their bikes in large numbers, layers are coming off! On top of these great things there is, of course, much more to love…

big smiles – staying in all weekend watching canceled tv series on hulu – branching out and getting involved with the union at work – teeth that get into all kinds of mischief and adventures @ my milk toof – sailor inspired t-shirt from Em & Sprout – falling asleep to chanting monks under my pillow – smelling lovely

writing down all the ideas that pop into the brain whenever possible (possible millions to be made on ideas!) – bike baskets and the freedom of not having to worry about getting overly sweaty in the back region – a boy named chris in a mustard cardigan = hell yes! @fashionist – jelly fish for your neck! – oh so sweet and deliciously cold ice cream sundaes from Maggie Mudds – short shorts!

two warm days, a cold day, and a warm day once more – entertaining thoughts of getting someone else to tidy the house and the freedom and happiness that could bring – planning for next months vacation to copenhagen and stockholm – fruit flavored carbonated water w/ no sugar – phallic mammary pet! – increased reporting on homelessness in america

a delicious soy chorizo burito at mariachi’s (first time there, woot!) – pie! – Dr. Daniel Jackson & Teal’c geekery

How about you? What’s tickling your fancy right now?

photograph taken by TruShu and used under creative commons.

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Hunter-gatherers roam the TL fo’ sho.

@ 459 Turk Street.

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Social Entropy Presents the Damask Boudoir Fashion Show & Performances will be happening at the Oakland Metropolitan Opera House on August 8th and I totally want to go. Look at the dress on the lovely lady above, it’s gorgeous!

Designers Dollymop, Anna Quinones, Luma Gallegos, and Erika von Petrin are a few of the creative fashion minds that will be present and showing their works at this Saturday nights event. There is also talk of treats of music, art, drag, burlesque, belly dancers and more.

What else could you want on a random Saturday night in August?

Via Haute Macabre.

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Time passes differently in San Francisco. Without the blazing hot days of summer and the overly blustery rainy days of winter to divide the year it all just blends together into one even keeled weather ride of bland. Days blend into months blend into years…

Those of you keeping track of the SF equivalent for the “dog days of summer” know that we are now at the top of our warm weather hill and that we will be rolling on down into autumn soon enough.

Many of us who have spent our summer so far hanging out in the back of Zeitgeist, going to white trash themed parties, and vomiting in the street might feel the need to start nursing their brains back to health.

Carolyn Kellogg, author of the Los Angeles Times book blog Jacket Copy, has created an interesting list of 61 essential post-modern reads. This list features a range of books and is easily skimmable thanks to a slightly intense little key that tells you things like whether a book is fat, thin, plays with language or has a self-contradicting plot, among other things.

It’s time to start training your brains people because you and I both know come the end of the summer you have to get a job, and no one wants to hire a dummy.

via Good – Check out the comments of this article for more books people are digging this summer.

photograph taken by Juan Pablo and used under creative commons.

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