You guys totally have an accent, it's just not as noticeable because Hollywood dominates pop culture so it gets heard all the damn time. Well, that, and you're around it 24/7. I barely notice the supposedly strong and funny accent we have since I'm around it, and only really notice it the closer I get to Canada and North Dakota.
That's a pretty crazy ride for such a short distance, and probably the exception rather than the rule. I had a 1.5 hour one each way to cover a 12 mile distance when I lived in Minneapolis a couple years ago, which had me getting on one bus to get downtown at 11 AM, then transferring downtown to another bus that ran to a transit hub through the roughest part of town (which, during the daylight and in general, is still pretty safe compared to what it used to be as well as compared to the worst parts of some other cities), and then a second transfer at that station to get to my school. And then I did this commute back in reverse starting at 7 PM. My commute now is nice, despite being only 4 miles shorter, since I live basically in the middle of nowhere and I go the opposite direction of traffic, so it takes 10-15 minutes at most. I'd hope you'd at least have a better commute now than you did when you lived in SF.
And how the heck were you popping those tires?