Angelika Unfortunately, San Francisco has always had a large number of homeless people living within city limits. A variety of factors exasperate the problem: Cost of living is at an all time high, there's a shortage of affordable housing, and currently we're experiencing a full-fledged housing crisis in general. People who lose their job and don't have savings, quickly end up on the street, because there are no social safety nets. San Francisco is known for its liberal city politics and, despite all problems, there are a variety of services for the homeless. Clearly, they're not sufficient to deal with all the cases, but at least they exist. But San Francisco's very mild Northern California climate and the fact that there's no rain during the summer months, and no snow at all in the winter, makes some people think they can just pitch a tent somewhere on the streets and stay there. At the beginning of 2015, there were a total of 6,690 homeless people living in the city. As long as we can remember, every mayor has promised to get the problem under control, but every single one has failed to do so, or has quickly switched to other priorities after a successful election.

Michael In the previous installment of this publication, I had reported that a program run by the state of California had offered me one thousand Dollars to take my 1991 Acura Integra, nick-named "Perly Perlman", off the streets. I had somewhat tongue-in-cheek announced that I'd be reporting live from the junk press soon, and little did I know that it would actually happen this fast! But recently, Angelika had told me that our backup car started acting up while she was driving across the Bay Bridge, and reportedly had to stop and pull a stuck clutch pedal back up by hand, so I acted quickly and purchased a new commuter mule for her: a 2011 Honda Fit. There's a hard to ignore trend to three car households in the U.S., but we only have two garage spots available, and parking on city streets means dealing with frequent break-ins and car theft, let alone the constant hassle of moving the vehicle because of residential parking and street cleaning days. And for that reason, we had to say good-bye to our beloved Perlman, after 17 years of service, and at the still young age of 24. Boo-hoo!

Michael As a relaxing vacation during the break between Christmas and New Years, we set out to fly to the small town of Sedona in the state of Arizona. We had booked a vacation rental home and spent some time exploring the beautiful rock formations surrounding the area, famously radiating their intense red light. The desert climate in Sonoma presented below freezing temperatures, which really felt nasty cold to us, being used to San Francisco's milder coastal weather now. We had booked a standalone vacation rental via VRBO ("Vacation Rentals by Owner"), and since the consumer price index in Arizona is still miles away from the current inflated craziness in the Bay Area, we paid about as much as for a rundown San Francisco motel room, but got an entire house with three spacious and tastefully furnished rooms that would have slept six. The vast living room featured a real cast-iron wood-burning oven, which I practiced my fire making skills on every single evening.

Angelika We had mentioned in a previous issue that our neighborhood recreational area, Dolores Park, has turned into a major attraction, to the point where it recently started resembling Oktoberfest on the weekends ( Rundbrief 04/2015 ). A while ago, the city completed its renovation to the sound of a whopping 20.6 million Dollars, and now there's bike racks, improved tennis and basketball courts, the lawn is brand new and offers lush greens, and significant number of restrooms were built. But because of the non-stop party scene on the weekends, the number of local resident complaints has skyrocketed, mainly because the neighbors don't find it very appealing that party goers kept releaved themselves onto their plants or doorways. The city reacted quickly and spearheaded a one of a kind pilot project in Dolores Park, namely the erection of the first San Francisco open air urinal, following designs popular in Paris, Amsterdam, and other European cities. It might not be too much of a stretch to claim that this project is probably unparalleled in the entire United States.

Michael When we're on vacation, I can't help but worry what's happening at home. Is the house on fire? Are burglars breaking in? Luckily, one glance at my cell phone shows footage from several strategically positions surveillance cameras, and I can relax because everything is fine and dandy at its place.

Angelika Ever since Michael has developed a passion for surfing, I keep hearing a lot about what the surf conditions in Pacifica are like. Pacifica is located about 13 miles south of San Francisco and Michael often goes there surfing on the weekend. Almost every Saturday and Sunday morning, the first thing he does is check the surf camera on the Internet. The waves can't be too small, too big, too blown out, and have to meet a specific set of criteria, in short, it's a science in itself. Thankfully, he has a lot of respect for giant waves and stays away from them, but some of the best surfers in the world can't get enough of these monster waves and keep jetting around the world to chase them.