Hooking Up

Forgive me, it's been 11 days since my last post... how many Hail Marys!?

We've hooked up with some old IBM friends: Dan in downtown Palo Alto, Graham in Lafayette and DMT in Santa Barbara.

Dan and I worked on IEEE 802.5 architecture together when we were both working in Raleigh, NC. His family are plugged into the Bay Area music scene, he plays mandolin and horns, son Julian drums and wife Claudia violin, all for different ensembles; maybe it'll give me the push I need to get back performing?

I got together with Graham in a Danville pub after a pick-up game of soccer, (him not me), the old boy still looks fit and is still enthusiastic about his football, so much so that he's just got an MBA from Liverpool Uni specialising in football administration, so look out for a resurgence in football in Northern California! Graham and I also met while we were both on assignment in Raleigh. The weeked before last, he invited us up to his lakeside property for a spot of jet skiing, lazing about and drinking. Now that IS the way to relax into a weekend. Several attempts at doubling up with Lynda on a jet-ski resulted in us being dumped ceremoniously in the lake, but I did manage to get a good circuit on my own. Watched the sun disappear over the Lakeside mountains while glugging Californian micro brewery ales. Need to decide if I'm too old to take up footy again.

Drove down to Santa Barbara last Friday to stay with DMT and Barbara. DMT is my mentor cocktail-wise, Lynda swears by his Cosmos. We both worked for IBM in Croydon in the bad old days, he in telephony and me in performance management, and we discovered a mutual liking for ale. I picked up a few tips on the art of the Cocktail, did some wine and beer tasting in Santa Barbara itself, and rounded off with the all-American Breakfast at Cody's on Sunday morning. Took us 5 hours for the 310 miles from SB to home, up US 101 to San Jose and 680 home, maybe a bit slower than I5, but a much nicer drive.

I've been having fun reading bed-time stories for the grand children across t'interweb. I've chosen Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox and I'm currently at Chapter 8. Thanks to Facebook and our new Flip cam-corder, it's really easy to post short, nearly HD videos on to FB. Now, how can I make money at this?

Some good and some bad, NB incomplete lists:

Bad: companies cold calling on the telephone via automated call systems; road discipline; parochialism, the bureaucratic civil service and "little Hitlers", talk radio, biscuits, bars (expensive), food from service stations, lock-in culture masquerading as marketing, california taxes,

Good: weather, store opening hours, postal delivery, internet speed, cheap liquor, wine & lager (except in bars), Trader Joe's, Ranch 99 (availability of asian food stuffs), food in general, magazines, Border's, Bagels - proper bagels, kitchen shops, gas (petrol) price, geography

So far, so good. Missing all the usual things (people, ale), but enjoying the good (see above) stuff.

Until next time...

P & L