Sprint is more worried about their executives than their customers

I keep hearing about the wonderful improvements to Sprint's network.  They're happening everywhere, but apparently, where I go.

Sprint made a big deal about having LTE available for the Super Bowl last year.  This summer, I was on Georgia Street in downtown Indianapolis with the Tri-Fi mobile hotspot and my computer trying to do some work before an event.  0.75 Mbps (or 1.0 Mbps on 2013.11.09) on LTE didn't seem quite right, even by pathetic standards.  I was told by the @sprintcare team that two towers were having problems and that the third tower in the area was being stressed more than usual.  It's possible.

As I've said in the past, putting one tower in a town and saying that you have coverage is not the same as having useful coverage, but I know that Verizon does that.  Seeing someone with a phone showing "4G LTE" taking two minutes to switch to 3G (EVDO) to actually do the work is sadly amusing.

No one has really good coverage right now, so it's all about who doesn't have the worst coverage.

I was thinking to myself "Why can't Sprint handle their current customers' needs now?"  I decided to take a look at the network.sprint.com site and check on 3 metropolitan areas.

• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Overland Park, Kansas
• San Jose, California

I'm near Cincinnati and WiMAX (4G) is just as overloaded as EVDO (3G) is.  I've yet to see any LTE (4G LTE)  coverage (that changed with my 2013.11.13 visit), but I don't always take my mobile hotspot with me.

Overland Park is where Sprint's headquarters are.  It's in the Kansas City metro area.  The KC metro area is about the same size (~2.3 million people) as the Cincinnati metro area, so I thought that it would be a good comparison.

San Jose is the third largest city in California with just under 1 million people.  It's in the San Francisco Bay Area, but at the furthest south point.  WiMAX is present and worked reasonably well for the first 6 hours of my 3 day stay there.  It was supposedly repaired before I left, but wasn't working correctly, so perhaps, the problem is that the technicians can't be bothered to test.

I must be confused.  If the KC metro area is no bigger than the Cincinnati metro area (and Overland Park isn't that much of the metro area), why are they receiving roughly 4 times the enhancements?  They're even receiving more than San Jose, California, which has about 4 times the population.

The only thing I can reason is that the executives complain about their inconvenience and plan around themselves.  I can't imagine any other logical explanation because I would think that they would want to convince people who aren't Sprint employees to go with their service, especially when Sprint employees get a discount (100%?) for service, unlike typical customers.  It also seems that with the recent addition of 70 new LTE locations that many were planned as vacation destinations for Sprint executives.

I had learned in the past that they had no way to gauge data performance.  I suspect that they're just not collecting any information, so that they can't be blamed for what they don't know.  Having worked with internal networks at various companies, there are tools for Quality of Service (QoS), so I find it difficult to believe that the major carriers aren't using similar tools on their data networks, except to escape blame.

Oh, and by the way, marketing has created a new boasting area to talk about their plans for tri-band LTE: http://faster.sprint.com/category/spark/?INTCID=TSC:UHP:103013:spark&adSelectData=1:Module_spark_103013

I'm with a lot of the comments that say "I'll believe it when I see it." but they talk about 2014 and 2015.  2014 isn't that far off, but I have a feeling that I won't be seeing LTE at home until 2016 at the rate they're going.  Whether it will be reliable or not is another matter.  I don't consider any data communications technology sufficient if it struggles to get my e-mail, although I've been told several times by Sprint support (not customer service) that if sometime during a 24 hour period the data rates are within their advertised numbers, they are acceptable rates.

Update 2013.11.11: I had recent conversations with local Sprint employees and ended up extending my relationship with the company by buying a new iPhone 5c.  They said, according to the local network technician, this area will have LTE about 6 months from now.   Whether it will be working (well) or not is another matter.  Returning from Indianapolis the other day, I noticed that the phone was showing LTE for all but about the last 38 miles of my drive, so it seems they're working their way across the state.

Update 2013.11.13: I was in the Springdale area, just outside Cincinnati and was surprised to find LTE.  Speedtest.net told me that it reached a little over 10 Mbps at the peak, and settled on 7 Mbps.  That's good, but as with my experience with WiMAX being overloaded in the area, they're going to need a lot of capacity.

Springdale, Ohio

Update 2013.11.26: I was in Eaton, Ohio today.  It's a town just big enough by state law to be designated a city.  LTE was working there but has not been officially announced yet.  My previous experience is that the town had 3G data service prior to where I am now, since Sprint had bought the area's wireline business, apparently.  Verizon had bought the service in this town.  In any case, it seems that LTE is closing from all sides and it's going to be pleasant until everyone moves over to LTE.

Eaton, Ohio

 I really love the Sprint Zone app.  It's so precise with the Free Memory figure.  Additionally, the Data Connection is hard-coded to show 3G no matter whether 1xRTT is there (even roaming), or LTE is the current connection.  It doesn't matter how many times I've mentioned it to them.  It's like the Sprint Speedtest.net vanity page saying that connections are in Megabytes per second, rather than Megabits per second.

3G connection while LTE or 1xRTT is active...hmm

Update 2013.12.27: I was able to use Sprint's LTE in the Dayton, Ohio area today.  It was less than spectacular, but the availability hasn't been announced yet.  Since they don't actually provide much coverage when they announce an area, I don't think it will be good for a while anyway.  Indianapolis, Indiana was announced quite a while ago, and it's consistent with what a good EVDO connection should be.

Update 2014.01.21: I got a text message from Sprint today:

I'm actually somewhat hopeful that things are changing, even though bandwidth seems severely constrained at the moment.  On Monday, I was in the small city of Eaton, OH using their LTE, which has yet to be announced.  Instead of the 7 Mbps I was receiving previously, I only got 2.48 Mbps, and there was a hole where 3G/EVDO showed up that wasn't there previously.  It almost looked as if they'd re-deployed equipment already.

LTE is finding its way into every area

Of course, the text message I received says to me that out of 4 towers in town--there should be at least 5 but they've ignored a large area south of town--should be equipped but I'm not exactly convinced.  I was expecting everything from the noted area on the coverage map east to the Ohio state line to be covered, but that may be more hope than reality.

Update 2014.12.02: It's been a bit over a year and the company has made some progress toward their LTE buildout.  That's a good thing, but they're still failing.  They're still far too interested in helping themselves than helping their paying customers.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, my phone usually works on LTE and generally works well.  There are still some really ugly problems but they are fewer than I'd seen in other parts of the country.  Being that I live about 75 miles from San Jose, there are more ugly problems the further away from California's third largest city.  Surprisingly, I had very good service in San Francisco itself, which is a tough city to cover.  Since WiMAX has been decommissioned, along with Nextel's iDEN network, Sprint has two more frequency bands to use.

However, the numbers of the changes to towers--their "upgrades"--still show too much activity around their headquarters, compared to taking care of their paying customers.  I would assume that Sprint employees don't pay a lot for service, so why are the rest of us paying to help them when many of us are still dealing with poor service?

I've noticed that they're not interested in showing us where LTE is being deployed any longer.  The only press releases I've seen lately as concerned with telling the story that they have good service in individual cities.

Why am I on 1xRTT so often if LTE is everywhere?

Where is the roaming zone now?

In my own town, I noticed that they hid a large roaming zone from customers' view, even though service is often unusable.  Apparently, the @sprintcare people were not informed, so they kept telling me about the roaming zone, only stopping when I showed them the coverage map I could see.

5702 miles

That's a long drive.

You can see from my iPhone photos how far I've been

Of course, it wasn't coast-to-coast, as I'd be in the ocean but even round trip, that sounds like a lot.  I remember 2800 miles from the Orlando, Florida area to Los Angeles, California in 2005/2006.  My car (2012 VW Golf TDI) averaged just under 40 mpg with air conditioning, compared to the 1999 VW Golf 2.0, which likely averaged 28-29 mpg with some use of air conditioning.

My latest drive took me on:

I-70
I-57
I-55
I-40
U.S. 64
U.S. 71
U.S. 66
U.S. 60
California SR 99
California SR 58
California SR 46
California SR 152
U.S. Hwy 101
I-5

I believe that was the order.  I started on the edge of Ohio/Indiana, traveled into Illinois, through Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and finally into California.

A lot of I-40 crosses/replaced U.S. Highway 66 but not in the hearts and minds of those who were young at the time.  There seemed to be a lot of nostalgia from Arizona to Oklahoma--diners, casinos, museums, and gift shops.

I seem to remember my parents going this way (on U.S. 66, calling it the southern route, compared to taking U.S. 40 through Denver) when I was a small child, and we spent some time on I-40 in 1977 on a trip to/from Mexico.  I was surprised to see how Tucumcari, New Mexico had grown from a restaurant on one side of the road and filling station on the other side to something like 30 restaurants, including all the chains you'd expect.

It wasn't a bad drive, although rain and other situations caused my trip to be lengthened.  e.g., I stopped in Conway, Arkansas due to massive thunderstorms, when I wanted to be on the western edge of the state.  I had planned to stop in Albuquerque but the motel ratings were so low that I stopped in poor, little Moriarty, NM instead.

I had somehow planned that I could go from Albuquerque, NM to San Jose, CA in one 13 hour drive.  However, I wanted to photograph two Madonna of the Trail statues (one in Albuquerque, NM and another in Springerville, AZ).  I stopped in Gallup, NM at Plaza Cafe for breakfast since it was so highly rated and it was worth the trip, but photographing the statue in Arizona was a huge detour (100 miles each way, maybe), and I lost time, especially with construction, more rain, and bad roads.  Had there been flooding along those U.S. highways to Springerville, I'd been in real trouble.  So, I ended up in Barstow, California for the night.  That meant I'd have a 6 hour drive to San Jose.

Getting to Barstow was interesting because it meant crossing the Mojave Desert.  It wasn't a problem, but in fact, a delight to view the sunset behind the small mountains and other geological formations.  Of course, you could claim that I had been in the desert from about Oklahoma, so it shouldn't have been a big deal.

When people think of California, they think of Marina del Rey or the beach at Santa Monica or the palm trees somewhere in Los Angeles.  They don't think of farm country or desert.  For the next 6 hours of my drive, I saw practically nothing but farm country or desert.

My parents never drove from San Jose to Los Angeles, so I didn't know which way to go.  I used Google Maps to print a some directions for different portions.  I used a combination of Apple's Maps app plus Waze to get me where I was going.

North of Tehachapi, it became interesting as the mountains and canyons showed themselves.  Along SR 152/Pacheco Pass Highway, things moved very quickly and it was apparently a typical business route for big rigs, as well as people trying to take their boats and RVs to a state recreational area.  I'm not sure how they got across the traffic as it seemed no one slowed below 65 mph at any time, and some were probably going 90 mph in the occasional Audi or Mercedes-Benz or Porsche.

By the time things were flattened, I'd reached Gilroy and Hollister.  Despite the clothes company's marketing, Hollister, California is not near the beach.  It's a farming community, which may not be as glamorous but it pays the bills.  While traveling through the area, I was treated to many fruit stands offering apricots, pistachios, etc.  Unfortunately, I didn't stop.  It would have been a good way to get fresh pistachios, rather than those things in stores that could be a year old.

San Jose wasn't far.  It was just a trip up U.S. 101.  When I was young, that was the highway.  There was no I-80, I-280, I-680, I-880--or any other 80.  According to my parents, that was El Camino Real--the royal road, and we used it a lot apparently.  It was my first experience in the driver's seat.  I'm fairly sure it was re-shaped, as there was a Bayshore Freeway and Old Bayshore Freeway on this trip.

Finding my way to a motel on North First Street wasn't difficult but neither was amusing myself with the notion of staying in a bad area that didn't seem particularly bad.  The motel was particularly convenient as there was a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail stop just across from the motel.

It was a cheap motel using Booking.com through Trivago.com (how many travel aggregators are there now?) which saved about $9.99 per day.  I hardly needed luxury since I wouldn't be in the motel most of the time.  As long as the air conditioning and plumbing worked, and I wouldn't be fighting with multiple-legged visitors, I'd be fine.  As with cheaper motels and smaller chains, internet access was an extra expense, but I have a mobile hotspot.

That first evening, I found my way back to the old neighborhood, and it was somewhat disturbing and reassuring.  I didn't expect to be welcomed.  I was too small and it was too long ago.  If anyone remembered me, that would have been shocking.  Even people from high school don't often remember me.  However, I stopped at a certain point, remembering where we were when Overfelt High School was being built.  It's odd to remember such things from a very young age.  There was a many washing his driveway and he was curious as to what I was doing, as I was curious about the house.

I finally walked across the street and walked over to the house, trying to find some fragment of familiarity.  I told him what I was doing to alleviate any concerns he might have.  He was friendly about it.  I couldn't remember the house number.  I'm not sure if I even saw it as an adult.  I commented about the palm trees on the other street.  He mentioned that the yards didn't go back that far, and I mentioned Darwin Way, which was the next street.  He didn't seem to know.  I walked around the block and paused at the intersection at Bermuda Way.  I remember sitting there in a stroller with my mum talking to a Japanese woman named Taka but it was opposite the end of the street, facing the opposite direction, than where I expected to have the feeling.  I never found the palm tree my dad helped plant that was in someone's back yard.  The trees on Darwin Way were out front of the houses.  Maybe, my parents told me differently, or I just didn't remember correctly.

I've had an online acquaintance in the area and he gave me some restaurants to try.  I also made an acquaintance on Yelp and she told me an up-and-coming area, San Pedro Square Market.  I tried my buddy's suggestion for tacos before going to the old neighborhood and it was okay, but such trouble getting there and there was barely any parking.  The next morning, I called VTA and had a little session on how to use their services.  30 minutes later, I was in downtown San Jose looking for San Pedro Square Market.  On the way, I could see multiple Bail Bonds offices.  Uh Oh!  I've been in those areas in other cities and they're not all that great...or safe.

Expectations are everything and expecting San Pedro Square Market to be like Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia was a huge mistake.  There wasn't really anything integrated.  I went into an entrance under the big sign and found a coffee place and a closed bar.  I talked to someone at the coffee place and he was genuinely friendly and interested and then, I got a reasonably-priced, mediocre coffee.  I guess I'm just not a hipster, as the coffee was supposedly really good.

The rest of the area was made up of bars and over-priced restaurants, so I think it's all about perception, and perhaps, how much alcohol you've had.  Of course, friends make the experience more entertaining.  If you don't know how to cook, I'm sure the food tastes better.

I found the whole area to be great, reassuring, and chill.  People were friendly beyond belief.  Los Angeles can be confrontational and to be certain New York City/Philly/New Jersey can be.  During my day in San Francisco, I didn't feel that people were close to friendly, except for a female store owner in Chinatown.

My day in San Fran was spent hoofing it here, hoofing it there, up, up, up, down, down, down and asking "where the hell am I?" far too much.  I ate Italian food in one of the apparently more impoverished neighbourhoods (Tenderloin), and the trick was that it was run by Chinese people.  I was saddened to see another baby formula scandal on the Chinese TV channel while I was there.  The food wasn't bad, especially for the price and the quantity, and every time I looked over at the TV, someone came to fill my iced tea, which was amusing.

I never found Ghiardelli or Apple or Fisherman's Wharf or Cliff House or those things that really make San Francisco.  Apparently, I missed Union Square when I was busy taking photos of a cable car across the street.  Had I turned right, instead of heading toward Tenderloin, I would have found Union Square.  I spend some time on the loading dock (Embarcadero), which was somewhat entertaining but by that time, my feet didn't work well (purple toe?!) and I got all the way to Pier 39 and headed back to the Caltrain station.

Caltrain went from San Jose Diridon station to 4th Street in San Fran for $9.00 each way.  That's a huge bargain.  Parking is more expensive.  Is it a wonder one of the world's larger economies (California) is in such trouble.  They take care of people.  Public transport is a wonderful thing and making it inexpensive is a wonderful but disastrous thing.  Until fuel becomes free, it's expensive to run.  Reading the reviews, I expected that Caltrain was horrible and smelly and it didn't turn out that way at all, but that was one day.

The highlight of San Jose came in two steps: meeting my online buddy, and finding a late night taco place in the old neighborhood that made tacos similar to what my mum learned to make in San Jose.  I only took a few photos and three of those were of the house and the high school and foothills in the old neighborhood.

After that, it was a road trip again.  I returned to the motel at Barstow to collect the pillow I left there.  That was quite reassuring that the motel cleaning staff were so helpful.  I then stopped at the craziest, busiest In-N-Out store to eat, and headed toward Indiana on I-40, once again, across the Mojave Desert.

I stopped at Flagstaff, AZ for the night, ate lunch the next morning at Plaza Cafe in Gallup, NM again, and stopped in Amarillo, TX.  The next night, I stopped early in Alma, Arkansas.  Since I photograph high school sports, a couple of athletes had asked me to consider photographing them during the school year.  Since it was along I-40, it was no big deal to stop to see the town.  It's about 13 hours' drive from home, which isn't terrible.

I used to think that Arkansas was the most backward state.  That's just not true--Indiana is more backward than Arkansas.  It was surprising in a town of 4700+ that they had 2 Mexican restaurants, 4 pizza places, Sonic, and much more.  Plus, they were close to the cities of Fort Smith, Fayetteville, and Bentonville--it was Walmart territory, for sure.

I made an appointment with a Volkswagen dealer for my free 20,000 mile service, thankfully, on Wednesday.  There was a defective part and they resolved it the next day at some loss of fuel for me, and loss of time for both of us.  It gave me time to see the town.  Their bad Walmart was better than any other I've seen.  The local Target store was not nearly as wonderful.  Fort Smith wasn't nearly as friendly as Alma, but overall, the area was quite friendly, neat, and clean--way ahead of Indiana.

I seriously thought about living there but it's not an Asian life, and it's too far from either coast.  I don't hunt or fish, unless you include "shooting" animals with my camera.  Taking two days to get to either ocean wouldn't be my preference.  I have a Yelp friend in Oklahoma City and I've learned a lot about that area and it seems to be full of fake Asian places.  i.e., Japanese places run by Koreans or Chinese, Chinese places run by VietNamese, etc.

I headed home on Friday without trouble.  The car did really well and now has over 22,000 miles on it.  That's about 17,000 considering that I got it around the first of February but it hasn't been nearly as much fuel as the gasoline-powered car, thankfully.  I congratulate Volkswagen on making a diesel engine as easy as a gasoline engine.  I still remember the days when you had to heat the glow plugs and wait (20-30 minutes?) and wait and wait.  Of course, at that time, the price of fuel was much cheaper than gasoline, but at least now, it fuels 50 state, Clean Diesel cars.

The trip averaged 38.67 mpg with a total of $565.50 on fuel.  It could have been $25-$30 less but for the fuel leak.  Considering that the gasoline-powered 1999 Golf GLS averaged a little over 30 mpg on road trips, there was significant savings with 8 mpg more.  It was certainly better mentally to have more range, as certain areas tended to have less of everything available--no restaurants, truck stops, fuel of any kind.

Update: 2013.09.06:  I took the car to the local dealer after the problem with the 20,000 mile service.  They said that they didn't find anything wrong but it still has an odd stuttering.  The service adviser and I were talking about the car.  I bought it around the first of February with over 5500 miles on it--it was a demonstrator.  The day I called for the appointment, I mentioned 23232 miles, as that had just happened and was memorable.  At roughly 18,000 miles extra in 7 months, that's a lot, about 10,000 of which were driven in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois.

Do you know the way away from San Jose? (updated with photos)

I hit the road Sunday morning, missed all the good traffic on U.S. 101 south of San Jose.  Found Gilroy, but I was too early to buy pistachios or anything fruit or nut-related.  Durn.  I stopped a few times along the way.  It's quite boring on U.S. 101, I-5, SR 99, or SR 58 (except for Pacheco Pass Highway, which has some good vertical angles and some decent speed) on the 6 hour drive from the San Fran Bay Area to Barstow or the Los Angeles area.  You see a lot of farms, which is good because there are a lot of people to feed in California.

I had to laugh at a place in Wasco, CA because I couldn't believe that they were selling Pastrami and Teriyaki at the same place.  I can't imagine a Jewish deli having Japanese food--although I've seen some Kosher-version of a Teriyaki sauce--but not the real marinade.

In fact, there were a lot of Pastrami places along State Road 46 in Wasco.  The Carl's Jr. there had a copy of the original menu with Pastrami on it.  I should have tried it, but I wasn't sure of the quality and being sick on the road is not something I wanted to do.

I stopped briefly at Tehachapi to get fuel and admire the scenery.  It's very pleasant, even at the Love's Travel Stop.  (I've been to plenty of them lately, because they're consistent and do what they say they will.  Besides, getting diesel fuel is still a bit hit-or-miss and I want to make it to the next fill up, even if it is 600 miles away.)

I stopped at the Super 8 motel in Barstow and they still had my special memory foam pillow that's been so good and would be difficult to replace.  I didn't expect that they would be so good.

I went from there to In-N-Out on Lenwood Avenue.  I have never seen such a crowd.  It was difficult to find a parking place at all, but it was attached to a craptacular outlet mall (across from Tanger Outlets), and I parked further away.  Walking into the store (only one of two I've seen with an inside) was even more spectacular with maybe 100 people, more people at outdoor seating, and more yet in the drive-thru line.

It didn't take long to order but getting food took a while, and my food wasn't hot.  In any case, it was better without the spread, California tradition or not.  Carl's Jr./Hardee's has better sandwiches and so does Checkers/Rally's, in my opinion, of course.

I stopped at Del Taco in Kingman, Arizona a second time to get my $1.00 off from my feedback, and had fish tacos that weren't bad.  Safeway grocery store was interesting, trying to look all upscale with the dimmed lighting.  I hadn't been in one since I was a child, although they are Vons in Southern California, for whatever reason.

Had some weird contact with drivers on I-40.  Sunday night, someone with a Kia from California with a pillow where the rear view mirror would go, just wouldn't leave the passing lane.  When I went around him, he had to pass me.  It went on for a while.  Then, Monday morning through Arizona, two men in a Ford crossover from Florida passed me, pulled in front, and slowed down, causing me to change lanes.  This continued for a while.  Finally, I'd had enough and I was speeding at 90 mph for a while.  I slowed down for some construction and guess who was there?  I ended up pulling off at Gallup, New Mexico for lunch, and never saw them again, thankfully but on the way through Texas, someone pulled in front and forgot was speed he was going.  I only had the cruise control set to 76 mph, and he apparently was upset when I had to jump around him to avoid a collision.  Weird.  Then, the same kind of behaviour again.  I swear, I didn't do anything to provoke it.

I had an odd feeling about Tucumcari, New Mexico.  My parents and I had stopped there on the way to Mexico.  There was a restaurant on one side of the road and a filling station with two pumps on the other side of the road--in 1977.  It was 104 degrees F at the time and we got drinks and the ice melted immediately.  Now, they have 3 or 4 exits on I-40 and 30 restaurants, plus motels, trucks stops, etc.

Anyway, I stopped for the night in Amarillo.  I could see a storm in the distance, and I really like to see the road, or after the storm in Arkansas the other night, I like to see the hood of my car.  It was pouring like mad.

Hopefully, from Amarillo, I can make the drive home in one day, 15 hours maybe.  Hopefully, not more than that because I will have to stop.

I made it to Alma, Arkansas in about 6 hours.  I have an acquaintance there and we wanted to spend some time but didn't know about getting together because of schedules.  I ended up staying a couple of extra days and it was good to make a new friend.  It was good that I stayed the extra time, but it didn't go smoothly.

I found a Volkswagen dealer to do my free 20,000 mile maintenance in Fort Smith, AR, but there was a defective part in what was changed and I had a massive fuel leak.  I had more than half a tank with about 245 miles (half a tank is usually 300 miles), and when I got the car I thought that someone had taken a joy ride because it was somewhat below half.

The next day, they fixed the problem, but it bothered me that they didn't notice the problem before I left the dealership.  I'm not blaming anyone, but it was an oversight that cost everyone.  In the end, they did the right thing and fixed it for free, even allowing me a loaner car for a while.  They even apologized almost as much as I do, which was comforting.  However, the technician did not re-fill my tank, even to half, which is close to where it was, despite being told to do so.

I really appreciated the people in the northwest part of Arkansas.  I really didn't expect people to be so friendly.  Sure, people in restaurants and other businesses are supposed to be friendly but that never stopped anyone in Florida from being rude.  I think my only bad experience was when I walked into one of Alma, Arkansas' 4 pizza places (with a population of 4700+) and someone looked at me and laughed.  Whether she was actually laughing at me, I don't know, but it was a rare moment.

People cared and that was something unusual for me.  People in Indiana will do for you in a take-it-or-leave-it fashion, which changed a lot from the 1960s.  Even some people around Philly and New Jersey act that way, although I trust that I know how people feel at all times.  I think people in Florida, Texas, and Arizona just don't give a damn about anything.  San Jose, California seemed a very caring place and they were all friendly to me.  San Francisco wasn't quite as friendly, and Los Angeles can be downright confrontational at times.  San Diego was too sedate to be bothered.  I don't think they help anyone, not even themselves.

If I were to move today, I would hope that I could afford something near San Jose or somewhere in New Jersey not far from the coast.

Update 2015.03.11: I live in a small city in Northern California, as I couldn't afford to live in San Jose.  San Jose is one of the more expensive places in California, and in the country.  This small city is adjacent to another, smaller city, so the area has an aggregate population of around 100,000 people.

I miss the Philly and New Jersey terribly, but the weather they've experienced has confirmed that my decision to live here is a good one.

My trip here was as odd and interesting as the trip in August 2013 was, even though I took a few different paths.

One thing that always resonated with me from the song "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" was the line "LA is a great big freeway, put a hundred down a buy a car."  San Jose has some crazy freeway action, and I'm there often enough to know that it's probably still not as bad as LA from the 1960s.  Having sat on the Hollywood Freeway, inching along, I don't think there is any other place on the west coast that is quite so bad, though crossing the metro LA/OC area took around one hour, mostly sticking close to I-5.

Back in San Jose (and San Francisco), California (updated with photos)

There is something great about feeling comfortable, especially when you've been without that feeling for a long, long, long time.

San Jose, California has special meaning to me.  It's the first place I ever lived in the U.S.A.  It's the third largest city in California, with just under 1 million people.  There are multiple highways/freeways/expressways crossing it.  There are too many cars, but light rail, commuter rail, and buses are available.

Way back when, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) was building down toward San Jose but then, it stopped.  Conflicting opinions and a lack of money forced changes, I suppose.  Building around earthquake central is difficult anyway.

The Light Rail map is fairly extensive

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has put together light rail transit at an amazing cost--$6.00 for an adult day pass.  It not only includes light rail, but also access to buses.  That's just amazing to me, especially having used Philadelphia, PA's SEPTA on a daily basis and New York City's MTA on occasion.  SEPTA's Independence Pass is $12.00 for unlimited travel and their day pass is $8.00 but limited to 8 trips.

A typical light rail car

I am conveniently located at a motel along North First Street, and there is a VTA light rail station across from the motel.  This made it extremely convenient to go to downtown San Jose.  On the Winchester-bound train, I can even connect with Caltrain for a $9.00 (one way) trip to San Francisco.  Consider the price (and headache) of parking and that's a huge, huge bargain.  In fact, public transit almost anywhere is a huge bargain.  The last time I was in Philly, I paid $17.10 for parking near Independence Hall for a little over 3 hours.  Obviously, I was paying for the union and not the parking, as it was about double what I paid in 2012 at the same location.

Even though I am essentially a stranger to the city, people have been extremely friendly.  I remember asking people in Los Angeles for help, and people were rather rude, and either didn't know anything or didn't want to give away the secrets.  I also remember people complaining that LA was just weird!  :-D  Of course, people say that San Fran is weird, also!  :-D

I stopped at Walgreens to get something to drink.  For some reason, 7-Eleven does not have stores downtown.  I found zero convenience stores of any kind downtown.  That seems odd.  However, I found a really expensive breakfast, at almost $20.00 with tip, and it was a casual Mexican place.  I could have made better food, to top it.  In line at Walgreens, I was talking to a few people about the weather, as it's really chilly, not exceeding 80 degrees F when 95 wouldn't be unexpected.  Normally, Summer in San Fran can be under 80 degrees F, but not San Jose.

One of the people from the line was giving me some advice and we talked for quite a while about getting around the city and things that were happening.  In my experience, there are few people like that to help a stranger, but time and again, I find that people from San Jose are willing.

I even went to our old neighborhood and looked for our old house.  The builders had plowed a sugar beet field into non-existence to put up houses.  Things are much the same now, and it's the bad side of town but it has a good view and I can't really see a downside to the area, except in people's minds about location.  It's not cheap, as housing prices have rebounded from the worst.  I won't be buying a house here, or even living in an apartment.

A pleasant backdrop to the old neighborhood, on the wrong side of town

There was a man washing off the driveway at the house and I spoke to him briefly.  I was afraid that I scared him, having parked across the street, looking at the houses.  Funny how the little two lane road has four lanes, parking on either side, and a high school directly across from it.  We grow, and the city grows with us.

I could remember bits and pieces from my early childhood there but nothing too serious, I suppose.  Through it all, I had this calm, secure feeling that was certainly never replicated when we moved to the midwest.

San Jose may not coddle you, but it certainly feels that way.  Chill is a great way to describe it.  Now, if I can just find my way to San Fran for some photography.

Update: Wow, I didn't even write about my trip to San Francisco.  When I returned, I was so tired, and my feet hurt, and my toes felt as though they were going to fall off my foot.

I took the Winchester (like the Winchester Rifle company family) VTA train to San Jose Diridon station.  I crossed under the tracks to the Caltrain side of the station.  I bought a second day pass for Caltrain, which was US$18.00, the same as a two way only pass.  Thankfully, any of the trains were going all the way to San Francisco.  There are some express trains that do not stop everywhere in-between, so you have to be careful with the Baby Bullet trains.

It took something like 90 minutes to get to 4th Street, near the Embarcadero (loading dock!), near the AT&T/Candlestick Park.  I walked with the crowd out of the station, not sure exactly where I was going.  I had been in San Fran as a baby and had zero memories.

SoMa, or South of Market district didn't look very good.  It wasn't the worst area but it looked very worn.  I wanted to see a few things like Ghiardelli, Chinatown, the Transamerica tower, a Crumpler store, and an Apple Store, plus possibly ride a cable car, and get seafood.  Little did I know...well, I have the more interesting (but not really good) luck.

Flatiron Bldg., as in Manhattan

It seemed that all I was doing was walking.  I had my camera bag with me, and I assembled the dSLR with the heavier "normal" lens, so I wouldn't have to carry it otherwise.  In hindsight, I should have planned light, and used the lighter, older equipment to ease my burden.

The cable car that led me astray

I did find a cable car full of passengers, most likely tourists because I doubt people from San Fran bother with being pushed and shoved when they're not on BART.  Now, about that time, I was close to Union Square, but did I realize that? Nooooooo.  A right turn probably would have put me near a Ghiardelli Store, an Apple Store, and the Crumpler store.  Oops.

So, I walked, and walked, and walked.  At some point, I needed to stop for various reasons and saw "Little Henry's" which looked like a coffee shop from the 1950s.  There was a Chinese TV station on the TV, and I was seated and given a menu.  I was surprised to see that it was an Italian restaurant.  I took a look at the menu, and mentioned that I forgot the specials, and there was a piece of paper taped to the wall a bit further up that I just didn't see.  I guess I'd been walking far too long to see what was in front of me.  The linguine with clams sounded just right, as it's normally a favorite.

They brought my iced tea, a small basket of bread, and a skimpy (errr, artfully-placed) salad.  I'd ready on Yelp about the overwhelming portions, so I was finding the reviews to be difficult to believe.  While I was waiting, I messaged my buddy in San Jose, asking where I was, but he'd never been to that section, and had no clue.  In a very short time, the food arrived and there was quite a lot, especially for a special of the day.  Thinking about it, I should have asked for chopsticks, but did not.  It's rather difficult to eat pasta with a fork, except maybe for ravioli.  It was good, but it didn't have a lot of taste.  The pieces of clam weren't very big, though it was more than sufficient.

Every time I looked over to see what was on the TV, the server came over with the iced tea and water to fill my glasses.  When I was getting to the end of my food, I asked her about Stockton Street because I wanted to find Chinatown.  She suddenly didn't understand English, and my Zhong Wen isn't sufficient.  After I used the restroom, another woman, apparently the owner, was able to point me in the correct direction--back the way I came!  She suggested a bus number, but I didn't want to wait.  In hindsight, I should have just taken a tour bus and enjoyed the ridiculous banter--and the ride.  I saw plenty of double-decker tour buses, plus the MUNI buses that transport the city.

Stockton Street tunnel, to Chinatown

I didn't have much luck with Maps applications on my phone.  It seems to me that I tried Apple's Maps, Google's Maps, and Waze eventually.  Waze showed me the streets ahead, so that was helpful.  Once I found Stockton Street, I got a good photo of the tunnel, and ventured into Chinatown.  Surprisingly, it wasn't much different than other Chinatowns in other cities.  Eventually, I found a park with some culture center, and lots of people just sitting.  My feet hurt, and because I was thirsty, I found a small shop selling Aloe drinks, which are usually Korean, not Chinese, but the owner was Chinese.  We had a good conversation, and I went back to the park to sit for a while.

Somewhere along the line, I ended up at the entrance to the Transamerica tower and got a few good photos of it from a very tight angle.  It is very tall and could be seen easily from Chinatown, which is at a higher elevation of the city.

Transamerica Pyramid, from Chinatown

I walked to the Embarcadero, once again passing Union Square without seeing it.  I was told to visit Pier 39 on the loading dock (Embarcadero), and it was of course, at the far end.  Sadly, I did not research MUNI, the city transportation, and had no idea how things worked.  I suspect I could have got a pass on the way, or possible, even in the Caltrain station.

Embarcadero Ferry Station, from Sue Bierman Park

 Pier 39 was as close to a New Jersey boardwalk, as I'd ever seen on the west coast.  It lacked the rides of Santa Monica pier but it had the restaurants and shops and other attractions.  As it was a must-see, I was looking for more but it was interesting to see all of the tourists and how they reacted to their situations.

Pier 39, on the Embarcadero

As I hobbled back to the Caltrain station, I really though about how beautiful everything was.  They were doing some America's Cup preliminary bits and some of the boats were on the water, and it was loud and obnoxious.  Then, I had to pass AT&T Park, and they apparently had a game starting in a couple of hours, as people were making lines.

Using Caltrain to return to San Jose was not as easy.  The had little paper schedules on the walls, and there seemed to be a person in front of each of them.  I finally asked if my pass would work.  I ended up on a Baby Bullet, and it probably reduced the travel time by 30 minutes by not stopping everywhere along the line.

I was never so glad to find my way back to a motel.  I took some ibuprofen and went to lie down.  After a couple of hours sleep, I wanted something to eat.  There was a McDonald's next to the motel, but gaaaah, why eat at a place I didn't like just for convenience?  I looked at Yelp again, and didn't find much there, but the airport, which I didn't know was close.

I ended up driving around the old neighborhood, as I'd seen several places.  I suddenly saw Tacos Autlense and went there, instead of a safer choice like Carl's Jr. or Jack in the Box.  I really didn't know what to expect but I ordered steak tacos, sat down, and when they came to me, I couldn't help but to smile.

When I started eating them, I thought that my adoptive mum must have learned to make tacos from the same person who started the business.  It was like being at home with fresh, fried corn tortillas, just warm, and the meat and lettuce and onions and tomatoes--OMG--it was the best.  It was also a great way to end that day.