Happy New Year!
And now that's done, back to blogging:
One time when I was a teenager my Mom made me join the Girl Scouts because the lady up the street was the Den Mother, or whatever they're called.
Holy terrible idea, batman! I hated it. The snotty girls in the group hated me. It was a mutual hate-fest. BUT, we did a couple of things that were good life experiences, and then I never went back to Girl Scouts again. Oh, and I sold A LOT of cookies because I was that kid whose Dad took her sell-sheet to his chiropractic office and all of his patients bought cookies. Yup.
But I digress...
Thing one that I remember doing with that crazy group of scouterly girls: Filming a fake news spot at a local news station. I wanted to be the camera-woman, but I didn't know the lingo, so I thought the cameraperson was called the Anchor-person. Uh, yah. So I was stuck doing what I REALLY didn't want to do - being ON camera instead of BEHIND the camera. Yuck. I learned that I did NOT want to be a news anchor that day. Amen.
Thing two I remember: walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was probably for some kind of fundraising thing, but the point is, that was my first up-close and personal experience with the Golden Lady! And let me tell ya, that is one long bridge! Or at least my thirteen-year-old self thought so when I was walking across it and then back again.
Nowaday, as a bay area local once again, The GG is something I don't cross unless I have to, for three reasons: Traffic. Toll & Tourists.
But I do admire her from a distance, from Crissy Field or emerging from the Caldecot Tunnel on the Berkeley side, or from the deck of a sailboat on the bay or from Alcatraz. GG is a San Francisco fixture, an icon, a warm-fuzzy on a foggy day.
The Facts on the Grand Ol' Gal:
-Named for the Golden Gate Strait, which the bridge spans, or "Chrysoplae"as Captain John C Fremont christened it in 1846. The Strait reminded him of the Golden Horn Harbor in Istanbul, Chrysoceras.
-It took four years to build the bridge, which opened in 1937.
-19 men fell into a safety net that was suspended under the floor of the bridge during construction. Those 19 men unwittingly joined a club called the "Halfway-to-Hell Club."
-There are 600,000 rivets in each tower.
-GG is the 9th longest suspension bridge in the world
-Contrary to popular belief, GG is NOT painted every year. It's orange lacquer is, however, continuously "touched-up."
-Sadly, GG is the #1 place for Suicide in the world! The count was over 1200 by 2006. In 2008, voters approved a measure to install safety netting under the bridge, but it has yet to be completed for lack of funding ($40-50M)
-The bridge has been crossed by nearly 2 billion cars to date.
-The Bridge was not originally intended to be orange, but silver. The orange color was originally the primer for the bridge. Once the primer was finished, the architect liked the way the color complemented the hills so much that he convinced locals to keep it. The color not only complements the surrounding hills, but it also aids with visibility on foggy days, which are very common in the Bay Area.
Facts gleaned from: http://goldengatebridge.org/research/facts.php
And now that's done, back to blogging:
One time when I was a teenager my Mom made me join the Girl Scouts because the lady up the street was the Den Mother, or whatever they're called.
Holy terrible idea, batman! I hated it. The snotty girls in the group hated me. It was a mutual hate-fest. BUT, we did a couple of things that were good life experiences, and then I never went back to Girl Scouts again. Oh, and I sold A LOT of cookies because I was that kid whose Dad took her sell-sheet to his chiropractic office and all of his patients bought cookies. Yup.
But I digress...
Thing one that I remember doing with that crazy group of scouterly girls: Filming a fake news spot at a local news station. I wanted to be the camera-woman, but I didn't know the lingo, so I thought the cameraperson was called the Anchor-person. Uh, yah. So I was stuck doing what I REALLY didn't want to do - being ON camera instead of BEHIND the camera. Yuck. I learned that I did NOT want to be a news anchor that day. Amen.
Thing two I remember: walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was probably for some kind of fundraising thing, but the point is, that was my first up-close and personal experience with the Golden Lady! And let me tell ya, that is one long bridge! Or at least my thirteen-year-old self thought so when I was walking across it and then back again.
Nowaday, as a bay area local once again, The GG is something I don't cross unless I have to, for three reasons: Traffic. Toll & Tourists.
But I do admire her from a distance, from Crissy Field or emerging from the Caldecot Tunnel on the Berkeley side, or from the deck of a sailboat on the bay or from Alcatraz. GG is a San Francisco fixture, an icon, a warm-fuzzy on a foggy day.
Sunset over GG. Shot taken from Alcatraz island.
The Facts on the Grand Ol' Gal:
-Named for the Golden Gate Strait, which the bridge spans, or "Chrysoplae"as Captain John C Fremont christened it in 1846. The Strait reminded him of the Golden Horn Harbor in Istanbul, Chrysoceras.
-It took four years to build the bridge, which opened in 1937.
-19 men fell into a safety net that was suspended under the floor of the bridge during construction. Those 19 men unwittingly joined a club called the "Halfway-to-Hell Club."
-There are 600,000 rivets in each tower.
-GG is the 9th longest suspension bridge in the world
-Contrary to popular belief, GG is NOT painted every year. It's orange lacquer is, however, continuously "touched-up."
-Sadly, GG is the #1 place for Suicide in the world! The count was over 1200 by 2006. In 2008, voters approved a measure to install safety netting under the bridge, but it has yet to be completed for lack of funding ($40-50M)
-The bridge has been crossed by nearly 2 billion cars to date.
-The Bridge was not originally intended to be orange, but silver. The orange color was originally the primer for the bridge. Once the primer was finished, the architect liked the way the color complemented the hills so much that he convinced locals to keep it. The color not only complements the surrounding hills, but it also aids with visibility on foggy days, which are very common in the Bay Area.
Facts gleaned from: http://goldengatebridge.org/research/facts.php
