SATURDAY'S GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN UPDATE, UPDATE

The Muir Woods, No Closed Until Further Notice.

As we enter the third week of the Government Shutdown, I felt it incumbent upon myself to give an update.

The Muir Woods and Alcatraz are still closed. Shockingly, Yosemite IS open, sort of. Only the companies which have concession contracts are operating. The visitor center, ranger stations, and many of the popular trails are closed.

If you choose to go, enter at your own risk. If you decide to throw caution to the wind and hike along one of the open trails, be advised you go at your own risk so bring a partner. If you twist your ankle, make sure you have a first-aid kit with you as there are no rangers to call in an emergency.

In San Francisco, businesses depending on that end-of-the-year boost to their revenue had to scale it back. Typically, San Francisco welcomes 1.2 million visitors during Fleet Week, and 150,000 of those on the last day to see the Blue Angeles perform. Fleet Week isn't just the Blue Angels; there are all kinds of events planned for the visiting ships from the US Navy.

Some of them are open to the public so an average person can see what a real naval vessel looks like. There are also programs in the Presidio which honor our veterans, and those were also canceled. Fleet Week also welcomes other countries. As there was no American presence the Canadian areal acrobatic team, the Snowbirds, filled in for the Blue Angeles. The Colombian naval vessel the Gloria opened its hatches for visitors when there were no American counterparts doing so.

Whenever there is any reference to Fleet Week in the local media, the image of the Blue Angels is usually the only image you see. However, there are many dock-side businesses south of the Ferry Building that are dependent on those other Fleet Week attractions which didn't come to fruition.

Also canceled was the parade of tall ships, which is another crowd-favorite at Fleet Week. Many of these businesses stocked up on supplies, in anticipation of the onslaught of visitors for the other non-Blue Angels events which didn't come due to the government shutdown.

TSA is affected as well. By now, you probably heard the Hollywood/Burbank Airport had major delays due to the fact there were no air traffic controllers in the tower and the San Diego tower had to guide the planes.

Suffice it to say, give yourself an extra hour if you are flying out of SFO or Oakland Airports and go easy on the TSA agents. It's already a crappy job to begin with, and now they are not even getting paid.

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