[sf-perl] "Emergency Social Meeting" on Thursday at 7pm

[Joe Brenner]

Luis Motta Campos <luismottacampos at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Joe Brenner wrote:
> > The "Emergency Social Meeting" is at 7pm on Thursday night, April 8th:
> >
> > "Naan-N-Curry" at 336 O'Farrell Street, between Mason and Taylor.
> > (but unless you're feeling adventurous, always approach from the
> > east, e.g. along O'Farrell Street):
> >
> >    http://naancurry.com/branches.php?brn=5
> >
> > It's only a few blocks from the Powell Street Bart/MUNI station.
> > Shortest route: walk north on Powell, and west on O'Farrell.
> > Possibly nicer: north on Powell, west on Geary, south on Mason.
> >
> > This is across the street from the Hilton, in the same building
> > as a large parking garage.

> OK, ok, please slow down and explain me why shouldn't I just follow the
> instructions on my rented car's GPS to get there, all this is a bit too
> confusing for my first time ever in San Francisco... :)

Beats me, what is the GPS telling you to do?  The automatic trip
planners out there still don't understand the concept of "hills", but
at a guess your robot guide will probably do okay.

The directions I posted are oriented toward public transit, and I'm
mostly concerned with steering people on foot away from areas that
might make them uncomfortable.  But then, those are the areas that I
myself would look for parking if I were driving there, because no one
else wants to park there.  If you want to play it safe, drive straight
there and duck into the parking garage, it has an entrance right there,
on the corner of Mason and Taylor.  I don't know what the charges are
but here's some reviews of the place (note: the star on the map is in
the wrong place):

  http://www.yelp.com/biz/mason-o-farrell-garage-san-francisco

> is the traffic in this area *that* irritating, or is there something
> else I should be aware of?

SF traffic is weird enough to not want to drive around if you don't
have to:

  http://diagonalgrid.com/sf/driving.html

Unfortunately, you can't really use Caltrains for things like this
either (the station is in an inconvenient place, and the last train
back is usually a little too early).

> If there's a landmark or parking lot that you guys recommend me to aim
> my GPS to on that area, I will appreciate that someone point it out for me.

Well, like I said, it's across the street from the San Francisco Hilton.

My driving directions:

  o  take 101 North to the Van Ness exit

  o  at that exit you will hopefully be able to follow the signs-- I
     haven't checked, recently [1]-- to get on Van Ness heading north;

  o  continue north on Van Ness for a little less than a mile, to Post
     Street;

  o  make a right turn on Post, continue for around half a mile to
     Mason;

  o  make a right turn on Mason, and just two blocks later...

  o  make a right into the parking garage entrance.

[1] Just looking at google's map:

  http://maps.google.com/maps?&q=mason+st+and+o%27farrell+street,+san+francisco,+ca&fb=1&ei=jX66S8OaI5H4iAO4i9HFCw&ved=0CBcQpQY&view=map&geocode=FWiSQAIdJS20-A&split=0&hq=&hnear=O%27Farrell+St+%26+Mason+St,+San+Francisco,+California+94102&ll=37.787369,-122.413316&spn=0.009785,0.014033&z=16

It looks like the "Van Ness" exit has you bearing right, and then turning
right on to Mission Street, and then a few blocks later you'll need to
make a left at one of San Francisco's fascinating 7-way intersections
in order to actually get on Van Ness going north.  If you're in one of
the middle three lanes at that point, you should be okay.  Stay out of
the extreme left or right lanes.