Whole Foods Sonoma. Excellent customer service.

Stopped in while doing a delivery to our charming wine country neighbor to the north and every WF person was just great. Perhaps it's the slightly slowed down pace versus the immediate Bay Area ones or maybe it was just my sparkling personality being returned.
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Not as green though...

Just ran into NBA future all-star Monta Ellis in a parking lot. His car is nicer than mine. Decked out Rolls vs Ford Escape Hybrid.
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My first Black Friday camper siting. Emeryville Best Buy Weds here since 8.30am. Well he'll be first in line....

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Fast technology, slow economy are killing the messenger | San Francisco Examiner

Fast technology, slow economy are killing the messenger | San Francisco Examiner

The City is on fire. The parade is gonna be nuts.

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Down at the Ball Park. Absolute zoo! Giants fever reaching new high.

Will be trying to get in free section. Gonna be nuts.
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Traffic alert Wednesday. Giants World Series Game 1 and Warriors Opening night.

Sports nirvana.

Our courier friend in Marin.

www.marincourierexpress.com  Whenever we are in a pinch in the North Bay we call upon these guys and they always get it done. 

Delivery to Granite Bay CA. Who knew it was so nice. This must be where the wealthy Sac folks live. Surprised they let me through security.

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Delivery to Soledad. Yes Soledad. No not to prison.

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Cookin now baby. 104 out here near Walnut Creek. Indian summer now kickin our butts.

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Yea Alameda County with a cool little electric utility van.

Very sleek. Although the county employee driver had a confused look on her face when I stopped to take the pic.
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Considering expanding free cup of Peets promotion for all clients calling in a RUSH delivery.

Thinking folks who need RUSH service may need it. 

Saw this quote on a blog today.

LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF BREATHS WE TAKE, BUT BY THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY.

Gonna be a great green Dig week. I can feel it coming.

Lombardis Deli & Gourmet BBQ

Had to make an emeygency stop at the Ford dealer in Petaluma and asked them where I should grab a bite. They all directed me to Lombardis which I now know is a bit of an institution up here in the North Bay. Wow was I blown away, I had a tri-tip sandwich that was out of this world. They have a lineup of old school grills right out in front just cooking away. Nice selection of other items besides the terrific bbq and some good house made pasta salads as well. As a courier and SF resident for over 20yrs I'm not often surprised to this extent. I'll be going out of my way to come back here now. Great stuff. Truly a silver lining moment in my dark cloud of sudden auto woes. 3412 Petaluma Blvd North. Petaluma.
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Taco Grill muy bueno

3340 E 12th Street Oakland at the Fruitvale Public Market serves some good authentic mexican cuisine. Niman Ranch meats, fresh ingredients in this little family run place. Bonus that you can sit outside in their cute little patio area.
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Big lines at Cupkates in downtown Oakland today.

The mobile food biz just keeps on truckin. Enjoyed Nomads Kitchen yesterday in the city, excellent sandwiches from their food bike. You can find them both on twitter.
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Escaping currently the coldest city in the country with a delivery up to the Gold Country. Roseville now that's summer heat.

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Love this place.

1 South Park. A master stroke. www.americansf.com
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Smart Electric available in 2012

http://www.smartusa.com/electricdrive/

Giant 35ft windows smashed at The 1 Kaiser building in downtown Oakland.

In lock down mode. My customer had to come out through security to hand me the package. Not pretty.
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Boarding up in Oakland as the verdict will be announced at 4pm.

I was just delivering at Oakland City Hall and they are telling all city workers to leave and they are shutting down the building. Let's keep it peaceful people everywhere. Thankfully I'm heading to Palo Alto with a rush delivery.
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Gambinos makes a mean sandwich.

Tough to beat this lunch spot for a great quick sandwich. Don't know if there's a better little lunch joint in the financial district for a real solid sandwich. East coast and west coast styles available, solid rolls, quality meats and produce. Located at 1 Embarcadero off of the front street side. Highly recommended.
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Huge crowds watching the Spain victory at the Royal Exchange in downtown SF.

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Dig Courier will be joining the masses and be on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Francisco-CA/Dig-Courier-Deliver-it-Green/130525376980629?v=app_6261817190&ref=sgm#!/pages/San-Francisco-CA/Dig-Courier-Deliver-it-Green/130525376980629?v=wall&ref=sgm&ajaxpipe=1&__a=3

Looking forward to seeing the new Ford natural gas van

Could be a winner for delivering, I like the transit but not green enough.

Heading to Davis for a delivery. Could be more electric vehicles there per capita than anwhere else in country.

Love our little progressive city to the east.
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Beautiful but rainy Seattle wedding.

Hopefully weather will be better for this weekends Green Festival up in the Emerald City.
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Don't think I'll be taking this shuttle even though they say "for comfort and safety".

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Twitterfeed again

lets see if this works

Inspired Bicycles - Danny MacAskill April 2009

watch out for this guy!

Nice pool scene at Aria for MCAA.

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Great time at Messenger Courier Assoc of America conference in Vegas.

Seeing Michael Studebaker of DMS days and Freddie Flores of Ultra Express to name just a couple of the great courier folks.
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Impressive architecture at the new City Center in Vegas. Checking out some sites while attending the MCAA conference.

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Bay Thai in San Raphael. Nice little reasonable quick lunch spot.

I'm always interested in finding good family run asian places for a yummy quick bite. Bay Thai Cuisine at 809 4th Street in downtown San Raphael is exactly that kind of place. Casual, cheap, with just a few tables, friendly fast service. I had my standard red curry beef which was spiced nicely with a good amount of veggies. Next time will try some noodles perhaps pad kee mao which I envied at the table next to me. Recommended.
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Amazing piece of art in Hayes Valley Park. Ecstasy by Cuslolito and Das Mann

First displayed at Burning Man in 07. Really worth checking out.
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Hardest $20 delivery turns out well worth it after all.

Picking up a prescription at a Union Square pharmacy at 5pm is tough enough but then they change the location as they didn't have medication in stock. Meter running parked a few blocks away up a hill then had to find an elderly woman on a walkup street on Russian Hill, where we had about 17 phone calls to make the transaction happen. After over 20yrs of delivering in SF I can still find some gems of streets and people. Very appreciative customer, a real San Francisco treat!
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Tesla. As electric and sporty as you get.

My first sighting of the famed silicon valley green sports car. Plugged in in Japantown.
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Besides the good food at Viks, nice easy waste setup.

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Viks new location in Berkeley. Still have the spork!

Always a favorite for great cheap indian food in West Berkeley now at a new location. Much nicer while still retaining the special Viks flavor. Of course I love the spork and it's still the only utensil offered and needed IMO.
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Ok it's not a green sign but really funny as it's in all the elevators in a nice medical building in Berkeley. I was holding my wallet tight after seeing that as those pickpocketers are running rampant there. Watch out.

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A relaxing ride down Market Street in 1905. Take a break from your busy day for a moment and chill out with music by Air

Not green but local. Nice little sign.

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Hybrids vs Biodiesel - An answer I like. "All"s well that ends oil"

Here's an response to that question many of us tree huggers have faced over the last several years, that I found in Yahoo Green by Umbra Fisk or grist.org.  Keep in mind that both technologies continue to improve with diesels making the greater strides lately. Hopefully all will be replaced in the near future by electric as we need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil....


"Either choice is a good one as long as you continue to find alternatives to driving, and your car-n-fuel expenses do not prohibit other environmentally beneficial acts (e.g., insulating your house). These guidelines apply to everyone, not just you. I usually mention them at the end, but thought I'd try setting them up front.
A good passenger diesel car will get about 34 mpg, according to the EPA, and about 50 mpg or more according to the word on the street. A good gas-electric hybrid, the Prius, will get in the mid-40s mpg, according to both accounts. Gasoline emits about 24 pounds of CO2 per gallon, regular diesel about 28, biodiesel (B100) about 7.3, and your 20-80 mix (B20) around 23.
We can do a little math to compare the emissions from two cars: Using the EPA's handy charts, I chose the '06 diesel VW Bug to go up against the Prius. In 100 miles at 45 mpg, the Prius emits 53.3 pounds of CO2. Over the same 100 miles, the 34 mpg Bug will release 81 pounds on diesel, 21 pounds on B100, and 67 pounds on B20.
To go further with this little cul-de-sac of carbon math, you would then figure out how many months and miles of B100 vs. B20 per year for your climate. Compare those to the emissions from yearly gasoline miles of your chosen hybrid, and there you are. (I'm not going to bother with the further calculations, as we would be delving too far into the theoretical.)
Diesel fuels are also responsible for significant particulate matter emissions, which are almost all reduced with both B100 and B20. Nitrogen oxides are slightly increased -- here's a handy chart [PDF]. The Biodiesel Board also provides an interesting Emissions Reduction calculator for diesel fuels.
That's the emissions roundup, but as to which will be better for the environment ... Down here in the stacks it's always Clark Williams-Derry Appreciation Week, and Clark has interesting things to say about car comparisons. Here is a thought-provoking Clark piece about the role of spending money in car choices, which you may enjoy: Is it better to put money into a car (and its expensive fuel) or keep the money in your pocket for that insulation project?
As I said at the outset, I think both your choices are good, with the added benefit of pushing the car economy toward more efficient private vehicles. Just avoid plain old diesel, whatever you do."

Cute electric car in Berkeley.

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Velo Rouge Cafe out by USF a good find.

If you find yourself looking for grub out in the Richmond neighborhood of the City you can't go wrong by stopping in at Velo Rouge Cafe. Excellent coffee using Blue Bottle which only allows you to use their fine beans if you go through their training process. Each cup is individually brewed, this may take a minute more but it's worth it. The food is fresh, with some good breakfast and lunch offerings from their smallish but interesting menu. They do have some special dinners during the week and have a pizza night as well.

Nice ambiance with good music usually going and free wi-fi making it a bit of a hangout. Vibrant and active cafe. Live a music on occasion. From a courier perspective, good parking but not always the fastest of service (yet friendly) and line can be long at times.
www.velorougecafe.com

Taqueria Monte Cristo

One of the better burrito places in Berkeley, they do offer a nice assortment of other mexican grub as well.  Found the burrito to be on the large size with quality ingredients, I especially enjoy their mole. Burritos come with small amount of yummy house made chips. Above average salsa bar, not a ton of choices but very good. Nice environment. Located at 1446 University Ave, Berkeley.  Recommended.

Good Green Sign

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Cactus Taqueria

A slightly upscale taqueria in Oaklands Rockridge neighborhood is always worth a stop when my deliveries get me close to here. Not your standard menu as they offer some nice variations on your typical mexican fare. I enjoyed a burrito mole con verde which their take is chicken in a green sauce of roasted pumpkin seeds and tomatillos. They do have a nice salsa bar and of course you get a small amount of chips with most meals. My only gripe would be that the burritos are a bit on the small side, other than that highly recommended. 5642 College Ave across from Bart.
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Good riddance 2009. Let's have a great green 2010.

Rough year and really not the best decade, whatever it was called, I prefer the "aughts".  Here's a take on it from Wikipedia which I like-

'Unlike previous decades, the 2000s have not yet attained a universally accepted name in the English-speaking world.
Orthographically, the decade can be written as "2000s" or "'00s". Some people read "2000s" as "two-thousands" and thus simply refer to the decade as "the two-thousands". Some read it as the "00s" (pronounced "Ohs"), as the single years within the decade are usually referred to as starting with an "Oh", such as "Oh-Eight". On January 1, 2000, the BBC listed "The Noughties" (derived from "nought" (a word used for zero in many English-speaking countries), by analogy with e.g. "The Eighties" for 1980-1989) as a potential moniker for the new decade^. Others have advocated the term "The Aughts", which was widely used at the beginning of the previous century, sometimes even combining it with "Naught" to put a linguistic twist on the time period, such as "The Naught Aughts", "The Naughts", "The Aughts", and even "The Naughty Aughties". Previous decades that begin a new century have generally been referred to as "The Hundreds", for example "The Nineteen-Hundreds". These various names for the decade 2000-2009 have been suggested due to the ambiguity of the term "the two-thousands," which could apply to any of the following: the decade, 2000-2009; the century, 2000-2099; or the millenium, 2000-2999." This is also an issue for the following (and current) decade, the 2010s.'


Looking forward to a better 2010. The Chronicle had a good review of the Top 10 Environment Stories from 2009, worth a read-http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=54378


All the best for a wonderful, prosperous and green 2010.
 Chris