Hey! I haven’t experienced a sharp decline cognitively- I’m as sharp as Biden and Trump combined, and…what were we talking about?
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So you are senile AND a madman ??!! 
Meantime the tomster bored as fcuk after a hour cycling along the beach on the now closed great highway. Beautiful awesome warm day today in SF sunny and 17c
3 miles out and a pit stop at a nice cafe with a decent ocean view and coffee
Then 3 miles back to the house
Decided to jump on the L taraval streetcar to Embarcadero and the 635 ferry to Jack London
Having a couple tacos and a beer then the 805
Pm ferry back
Awesome day off
And thinking shit if I wasn’t working I would have nobody to even talk to? Sucks huh
2 fish tacos for 16 and a draft for 6 added up to 27 with tax and service
Pretty good too
Better than the same price for a 1/2 lb burger I bet
A lot of restaurants dont do burgers well unless they specialize in them
Come to Jack London don’t forget to pet the wolf
SF giants fans headed out to the stadium with muni at Embarcadero tonight
I been there for a game it’s pretty cool
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Oh hell yes
You’ve been outside Taiwan for way too long if you think 17c is warm. Brrr…
$26 for a couple of tacos and a beer? Lord have mercy! Think I’ll go have a tallboy and a righteous guabao about US$4.50. Prices sure have gone up a lot. Would you believe that a guabao is now NT$70 in Taipei? Still good though.
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Yeah bro in SF EVERY night is a Taipei cold front at about 8 to 11c year round
17c and sunshine brings everyone out to the beach in shorts and t shirts and 26c is a rare HEAT WAVE for SF of which we only get about a week or so a year
Right now it’s 12c and night time and tomorrow is sure to be packed at the beach when it gets up
To a scorching 19c !!!
Those prices are nuts, though they look extra big and location must count for a lot.
Rubios, the fish taco fast food, charges about half that, 4.50-5.50, and I think that’s for a single. They left the bay area in 2024 apparently.
I checked a decent place in San Diego I go to when I visit, Oscar’s, in a strip mall - $2.25usd for a battered fish taco, and they got the best sauces.
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times have changed brother man. in 1999 when i started living here, a nice bowl of pho was bout 7 bucks , today its 17 bucks at almost all pho places tax and 15pct svc included on both prices. Some of my fav restaurants have closed because they were all about 10 dollars more then they used to and higher prices killed off the customer base. One of my fav italian places in berkeley with ‘student’ prices started with 8.95 for an entre and slowly crept up to 16.95 plus tax and svc coming up around 24 bucks or so when bout 12 bucks used to do it. Fav greek place, same two people with entree and a soft drink each used to run bout 25 for two , now its like 55 dollars. The place has thinned out considerably. Sometimes only 2 or 3 people in a restaurant that can seat 100. Many places, even high end ones with high prices decided the thinning business cut their already thin margin to unsurvivable.
Many restaurants at jack london have closed. Place i went to the pricing was standard these days, not tourist prices. Not really many tourists at Jack London, which is a shame as its a nice place with low crime (for Oakland).
Fav indian place in berkeley i been going to since 1999 it was about 15 including tax and 15pct svc for a curry chicken and rice plate and a mango lassi, now its 28 bucks for the same. I go there a LOT less. IN fact with recent round of price increases last year i been eating at home most nights, whereas before wifey and i used to eat out every night. Not fancy places but it would be 30 for the two of us, now thats closer to 60 and not workable.
If you come to SF be prepared to PAY for your meals, they aint cheap. A big mac meal runs easily 10 bucks. Think 15 dollars for a meal at Popeyes or Pollo Loco each.
At jack london last night i was thinking of this small and nice looking place specializing in Sushi wraps (they cost what 100nt each in taipei for a good one) and they were 8 bucks to 17 dollars each (depends on what exactly is in it) two wrap “special” for 25 bucks and three wrap “special” for 32 dollars !! And thats before tax and svc charge which today is 15pct to 25pct ( i give 10pct for mainly self service places like the place i went to yesterday , which all they did was bring out the food, no “real” service). TAx depends on the city but runs 8.5 to 10.5pct
yes you have to seek out cheaper places and there are, but it still adds up. A nice , well known “cheap” mex food place on university in berkeley has tacos for bout 4.50 each and 6 for a fish taco , beer at 5 and flan (super good) at 6 each.
say you got 2 x fish tacos thats 12 and a beer thas 5 and a flan at 6 you got a bill of 23 bucks plus tax and svc comes out to 30 bucks !!! Course that is a nice meal and you could eat less, no beer, no flan and “escape” with bout 13 bucks svc and tax included for two regular tacos and free water.
Thats still like 420 nt !! I am sure 420 nt buys you a pretty nice meal in taipei.
I know. Sit down lunch for two was 60 bucks with drinks five years ago at Magnolias in SF. f-ing cheap!
2023, Greens for two $120ish for lunch.
I generally eat at dive spots though.
Honestly was surprised Rubios charges 4 bucks for a fish taco when Oscars is almost half. Similar level food.
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yeah i generally DONT even eat out anymore …
My favorite pho place in San Jose used to be $6 back in 2000, and in my gut I still feel like a bowl of pho should be $6. But here’s the rub - $7 to $17 in 26 years is only a 3.5% increase a year. I don’t know about you, but I want my pay to increase more than 3.5% / year, so it’s not bad, and whatcha gonna do?
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well my pay is roughly the same as it was in 99 in “real” money adjusted for inflation sorta. so…every cent UP in pricing is a cent UP in money owed.
whatcha gonna do? well i have gone done NOT eat out much anymore. Maybe once a week outside of lunch when i have to buy something so i get a micky meal and spend 10 bucks and eat at home at night. Throw some pasta i bought at trader joes in hot water, fry up some spinach and thats a meal.
DRink a beer (12 packs run 12 to 15 bucks at the super market) at home.
Living like “normal” people now.
i really should bring my own lunch as most of my coworkers do to bring costs down.
Yeah like when Three Musketeers bars were 25 cents
@foc my favorite version
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Some of your estimates in the past have been way off. So hopefully your “sorta” means you actually make a lot more. 
My dad passed away in 2001 and even then he would scoff at starbucks price for a cupa joe which i think was bout 2 bucks for the normal pot coffee and he used to say , dang a cupa joe was 25cents not too long ago.
Well i read back in the 50s and 60s a man could work a “regular” job and still buy a house and a new car near every year and his wife could stay at home. The paycheck determines the size of the house and the location and the brand of car but still a dude could support a family by just him working a day job. Today, two people working and the family RENTS most likely and is probably deep in debt.
yeah i make more but tommy cant count wortha shit so all i know is my credit card debt is higher than it has been like 4eva. Maybe one day i better “escape” to indonesia and never come back to the good ol Trumpopia when he declares himself Emporer
I wish Californians wouldn’t wait until they’re old and decrepit to make some changes in Sacramento. No idea why y’all put up with that shit.
Due to airport issues at SFO in January 2024, United gave me a US$25 meal voucher. Airport food is expensive everywhere (often with special use fees and higher sales tax in a tax district created just to encompass the airport), but I reckon just US$8.75 + tax is just too much. $25 didn’t even buy me a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a drink. 
Good Lord. should be illegal.
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dam that is some SERIOUS ice tea, just say NO !! UNless there is vodka in it and at least two shots.
Yeah I just took a pic, I didn’t buy. I reckon US $8.75 plus tax would buy me enough green tea to fill a bathtub in Taiwan.
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You know modern times do have some cool things . LIke you guys have the Yoyo card? That can be used for tranportation? And even at 7/11 and the such? Well we have something similar for SF (cant be used at stores though) that can take care of ferry rides, muni streetcars, cable cars and buses in SF . And also usable (useable?) on caltrain …and BART. But not on the HIgh Speed Rail (oh no worry we dont have a high speed rail).
And you can have that in card form or have it transferred to your phone OR your watch (but not fone and watch). So i got it on my watch and its cool to be able to tap your watch and pay for all the services aforementioned. And your watch tied up to your credit card can be used to pay for stuff too.
I still marvel at my “dick tracy” watch where i can make calls and send texts too, and even navigate on and play music (but navigation sucks up the power tremendously and so does music so dont use those). Plus it gives me “real time” on when the next bus / streetcar / caltrain is..think BART also.
pretty cool. What gives you the next train/bus etc in taipei? is there an app for that?
i think i will get a separate card for my phone , in case i forget to wear my watch and need to ride bart, etc. OR when i have a visitor the visitor can ride with me using my phone ? OR he/she can just buy her own fcuking card.