The San Francisco trick

Alma and I are out in San Francisco for her latest conference. This has got to be the single most expensive city I've ever been to, at least as a self-paying adult. The cab ride from Oakland Airport into the city cost $60. Sixty freaking dollars! (Could we have taken BART? Yes, although you have to catch a connecting bus to the actual train, and I wasn't sure how close it would get us to the hotel. The answer turned out to be "Very close," so the trip back will be made by train. But still, people! It costs 80 cents per mile more than Chicago to ride in a cab, so if you're going 20 miles, that's $16 more to take a cab in SF than Chicago.

I guess apart from that it hasn't been that bad - more expensive than Chicago, to be sure, but not by quite as large a percentage. Still, I can't imagine living in a place like this full time unless I was making an absolute crapton. (There are plenty of other reasons I couldn't live in San Francisco full-time, but that's a good one to start with.)

We're going out to check out Fisherman's Wharf, and/or Chinatown, since today is our more touristy day. So hopefully I have more interesting and/or positive things to say later.