excuse me... my mind was just blown.

This isn't an official post.  I'm just telling you guys this because at the moment you are the only people I can think of who might care:
For the last couple weeks I've been doing a bit of research into a family called the Lutgen's who lived in Alameda from 1883 to some point in the early 1910s.  There is no reason for me to go into detail about them, but the patriarch was a liquor wholesaler whose company was based in San Francisco.  In fact, almost every hit I've gotten on Mr. John Lutgen have been turn-of-the-century ads for the Wichman, Lugten & Co.  I know the ads well enough that I can spot one just by glancing at a newspaper page.  But in all this time I never really looked at the address of Wichman, Lugten & Co, until I just noticed 431 Clay Street.   And then in clicked.  That is exactly where I've worked for the last eight years!  The address to my hotel (The Le Meridien Hotel) is on Battery St, but if there was a 431 Clay, we would be it.  I know it's menial, but this felt like the historical equivalent of suddenly seeing somebody you know on a nationally syndicated television show, like The Colbert Report or something.
I remembered seeing a picture of 1906 earthquake damaged warehouse at the corner of Clay and Battery and hoped it was Wichman, Lutgan & Co.  I found the picture, but it was a tobacco and cigar warehouse.  I think it was across the street.  Damn.

Is it bad form to hope for the destruction of livelihoods and property of people who died a century ago just so you can get a small thrill from saying, "I know where that is!"?
(I'd make a poll asking that question, but once again the CHMN site is being fickle)