Friday Before Christmas In The City By The Bay; The Calm Before the Storm; Bars Are Packed; The Pulse; Happy Holidays

 The freeways are barren--it's Friday and anyone worth anything already split and has headed for home or Tahoe or better yet, Tommy's Joynt, for a couple of shots and some brisket before the storm begins, the figurative one.

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of the rain already, sorry Paul and Roberta, Bill Martin, and Mike Pechner.

You can tell it's a holiday and Friday--Downtown on a Friday before Christmas and every office is pretty much deserted --poor KRON building on Van Ness. Vacant, gray, and perfectly sullen on the Van Ness strip. So sad, so compelling ...ventured over nearby North Beach early on to catch a quickie at Geno & Carlo--two SFPD cops on bikes sped by and I quickly glanced to see if any of the Northern Station vets were ready to hit the after-work scene--Geno & Carlo: old school SF, pretty good spaghetti and meatballs and later Friday, a great place to get smashed before heading to that last holiday party.

Used to run into Fat Tony a lot at Geno's--he always bought the bar a round until Jimmy Dennon got pissed and jealous and marched out in fury over to the Iron Horse. Jimmy didn't like attention and if he perceived he was getting the business, he took it personally. Poor guy. He was usually hammered which sort of pissed off Fat Tony--the upside? Free drinks for everybody. Miss the crowd. Where's Stevie McPartlin? remember him, late of KTVU "Mornings on Two" and celebrated NY Yankees fan and loyal buddy of Kevin O'Brien --speaking of KOB, now you want to know how to party? Wow. I can only imagine Kevin holding court at Perry's on the Friday PM before Christmas --hell, the broads alone would be worth the price of admission. KOB is a fine saloon man--maybe he goes a tad crazy but who cares? I'm waxing poetic and nostalgic which is worth nothing today other than describing the good old days, how dare I!...

FRIDAY PM--Union Square, in spite of the weather, is packed galore--cars honking, taxis barking--more than the usual--Screw you Uber, I never did trust you but that's another story...The Salvation Army bell ringers are everywhere --what a nice scene --and always my favorite part of the holiday scene. I try to pick the Friday before Christmas to venture out in the city all about and see what's going on--BART is packed too, which is good because if you dare get in your car today and navigate the streets, you're more nuttier than I am and that's saying a lot ....Walking along the Embarcadero--bars are packed and people are on the go, even in this stinking weather...A few of the KGO-TV trucks are double parked on Front--whoa?!, I thought you guys weren't as bad as the PIX guys but I guessed wrong....Battery Street looks empty except the Old Ship --not surprised --they make the best martini in town and a little whiskey in the eggnog isn't so bad either--especially on the Friday before Christmas --hunker down, stay dry and warm and enjoy the weekend.

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