This is from my dog, Gus. (We live very close to one of the sirens. BTW love the hours posted…read morehere!) "Every Tuesday at noon I have to do the same thing. The siren comes on, and I wait until the voices in English and Chinese. As they're talking, I howl and howl and howl. I am translating it into dog language, since the City is not considerate enough to realize how many dogs there are and how we'd like some communications ourselves. I mean, what if there were a tsumani and we decided it was time to head for the beach for a swim? How would we know that was a bad move? Fortunately I dabble in English so I know what they're saying (even though my people barely can understand it) and I communicate it to my fellow dogs. Do I get any thanks from the City? No! Or from my people? No! They just laugh at me and take videos. But I know the dogs of my block appreciate me. I get lots of pee-mail on our tree telling me so."

Better than Swiss Cuckoos!…read more SITREP Was staying nearby downtown in the Financial District / Union Square hoods in the Wyndham hotel for the week when wanding up Grant Avenue in Chinatown I hear the "Tuesday Noon Siren" go off. SETUP The Tuesday Noon Siren has become one of those community events that is based on a serious effort to be "at the ready" to broadcast important community information should a local / national disaster take place and there is an important need to disseminate information. Admittedly, it almost seems pointless in this day & age of cell phones and "news in your palm" via smartphones. But what people forget is that sometimes these "hard-wired" networks to pass information that are supported with back-up generators and independent energy-sustainability may be the only way in an emergency to get information out on a broad-scale "town square" or "herald" effort when the cell towns are town and the power grid has died. KITSCHY COMMUNITY HIJACK In the meantime, the Tuesday Noon Siren has become it's own sort of entity and "local character" that people look forward to hearing and event tracking time to. It's also example of when a utilitarian / emergency system starts to take on a life of it's own. I'm kinda reminded of the Interstate Highway system that President Eisenhower established in the 50s as a means to transport military hardware such as tanks and military vehicles quickly throughout the country. And yet, for example, we all use I-80 and I-5 to take us to our vacation destinations now. SIREN GOES OFF Humorously, there's a video on YouTube already that shares "the excitement" of the klaxon horn going off. It's pretty sedate, but cool nonetheless as you hear th klaxon horn, the emergency announcement in English, then followed by the emergency announcement in Chinese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o3sEVVVTVo&feature=youtu.be THE LOWDOWN One of those totally random quirky, yet interesting local events, that captures a moment of fun in general, but serves a vital community purpose specifically.

This place is completely unprofessional and disorganized. We had a confirmed appointment at 2:10…read morePM, but when we arrived, the office was closed without any notice. According to the security guard, they were supposed to call us to come in at 10:00 AM instead. What kind of professional business operates like this? We never received a single call, text, or email. To make matters worse, the staff we did encounter were extremely rude and used inappropriate, offensive language. It was clear they had no idea what they were doing. I would not recommend this place to anyone under any circumstances.

Best great easy fast online for fill you forms I recommend it helps lots I received my application…read moreanswer fast and clear

Called to find out some information on joining, woman told me to hold, then said she couldn't help…read moreme till after chinese new years. Took down my info, and I still haven't heard back yet. I guess everything is still winding down, and I am chinese....but Business is business. Those stores are only closed the day of chinese new years, and some are even open half a day. Thats the one day chinatown closes down...how the hell is this place lazy like that? Also their contact information is kinda off?

We are 900 feet away from the station, but it still took them 15 minutes to arrive on scene. Don't…read moretrust these fools with anything!

#30/2016 The crew of…read moreSFFD Station #2 could not have been nicer. Having heard this great tip that you can buy t-shirts with the station's logo - in this case, the Chinese dragon in honor of Chinatown- we made a quick stop. Around the corner and down a short alley, we found the brass doorbell for visitors. We were greeted warmly and enthusiastically and given a quick tour from firefighter Suzanne including the firemen's personal quarters where one of the crew was making dinner. A call came in, we were asked to stay and we quickly shoved ourselves into a corner of the stairwell. The nice fireman who was on dinner duty grabbed the t-shirt my little boy wanted (they have two designs) and then we got a nice photo opp with him and one very happy 8 year-old who's got bragging rights and a cool t-shirt ($20, supports our fine men and women of the SFFD). As we go about our everyday lives, I think we forget to appreciate and thank the men and women of both the SFFD and SFPD who keep us safe. And the t-shirts are really excellent with neighborhood stations sporting varying logos (Italian flag for North Beach and I can't wait to discover the rest!) Pick one up for your niece, nephew, your own little kid- or yourself!

Amazing service. Very understanding, respectful and polite officers. The office is very clean and…read morethe employees maintain the order. Great, great experience.

This center is fast, efficient and the staff is very courteous…read more We came in at 9am and left at 9.48am. There were about 10 people ahead of us for biometrics. The process was simple and easy, Rajahn was fantastic. He was cheerful and we had a fun conversation with him, he made a stressful experience pleasant and easy. I agree with the other Yelp review, Best government office ever!

Useless. Completely useless. It's 3:30 AM on November 1st in north Beach, corner of Grant & Green…read morewhere someone has been blasting high decibel noise through a sound system. It's Halloween in a high-use area, where people from all over the city an the greater Bay Area come to get drunk, get high, and act like idiots and there are no police around. Dispatchers only response is they've been getting noise complaints about this location all night...two blocks from Central Station. This is an assault on the people who live here who have to put up with this b______t every weekend, some of whom have kids, have to go to work, are elderly, or sick. SFPD is just useless. They all live in Novato anyway.

Special place in hell for these guys. Working in the Financial District, already paid $28 to the…read moremeter, went to reload about 5 minutes behind. Found two tickets $108 for the meter violation & $117 cause someone the day before backed into me and busted my front license plate so I temp had it in the window but still got a fix it. This city just needs to fall into the ocean, apparently it's cool to rob, assault, use drugs and shit on sidewalks but slip a meter by a few minutes or have a missing front license plate trust all hell they will prosecute.

In at 10am, out at 10:50am. Processed efficiently and politely. Just don't crowd security officer…read moreat the door. One at a time.

This place was very efficient and really organized. From the security when you first come in to the…read moreteller. Customer service was on point. Iwas trying to get my passport same day but it wasn't possible but they made me an appointment for the very next day whi h I really appreciated. I will defined recommend to anyone who needs a passport asap.

[from their website]…read more Project Ahimsa is a global effort to empower youth through music. An internationally-recognized non-profit dedicated to the empowerment of youth through music, Project Ahimsa provides music education to youth in poor, under-served areas around the world. Since 2001, Project Ahimsa has funded sixty six youth music grants around the world, presently operating in six countries including India, Thailand, USA, Tanzania, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Argentina. Project Ahimsa is a cultural initiative of the Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel Foundation for Global Understanding (http://www.global-understanding.org/), a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For the first time ever, renowned musicians such as Michael Franti and Spearhead (San Francisco), Karsh Kale (UK), J-Boogie (San Francisco), Funkadesi (Chicago), Tablapusher (San Francisco), DK (NYC), Sunny Jain (San Francisco), and Janaka Selecta (LA) are joining forces with our sponsored programs such as Youth Movement Records in Oakland, California (USA), Manav Sadhna in Gujarat (India), and Ritmo en los Barrios in Managua (Nicaragua), and beyond to record and remix original tracks for a full length LP. *************************** Significant funding for this organization comes from fundraising musical events produced with the amazing musicians and djs involved with the program across the united states and europe. I respect and like the artists involved with this project and its goals. The music they have produced is, in word amazing. The message good. Go to any event benefiting this organization, buy their music, or just give them lots of money to go do good things. They are good people.