Out and About

While I feel I am kind of crashing into the end of the year I have managed to do some fun things! Last night I went over to the East Bay and had dinner with some new folks I have met and then went to a Tori Amos concert. It was very cool, she's amazingly talented, the light show was great and I was very taken with the string quartet that accompanied her. Before the concert we had dinner at Pican restaurant, which bills itself as a "taste of the south". It was very good.

Two of the people I was with are involved in real estate and the third an attorney for a union......so it was lively conversation as they are all variously smart and people orientated.

Funniest moment was arriving and realizing I didn't know the last name of the person who booked the restaurant, fortunately the two others had arrived (and no I didn't know them prior). The Maitre d pointed them out so I walked up and introduced myself. It's moments like these that have me realize how much more confident I am in my social world. Navigating life here has pushed me to be far more outgoing in my interactions with people (I could easily have waited outside for the host to arrive....but didn't).

Irene has left for Australia which also means Lotte has left for Santa Cruz.....although she did stay with me one night. Marcia and her friend are staying upstairs so there are folks around. Three more working days to go then I leave my work laptop behind and to NZ for summer adventures!

Dinner and drag

Friday night Irene, Connie and I headed out to dinner at Nojos, a fab little Japanese restaurant.

Chicken skin skewers

Yummiest Miso Soup ever

Tempura!

Connie preparing for the feast

Afterwards we headed off to Marlena's, a drag bar.....it was a riot.

And Connie again, with her very cool white bike!

Bar had 1100 santas festooned from floor to ceiling

The girls were fantastic!

Quotable Quotes

American: "I love the way British people say Harding Park.....Jody say Harding Park in a British Accent"
Me: "I'm not British I don't know how they say it.....:
American: "No, no, just SAY it"
Me: "Harding Park"
American: "Yeah I love the way British people say that"

Monica about died laughing .....

This next one is NOT the first time I've been asked this.
Americans: "So it's summer in New Zealand in December?"
Me: "Yes"
Americans: "So what do you call it?"
Me: "What?"
Americans: "Well it's winter so what do you call summer....winter?"
Me: "What are you talking about? We call summer summer and winter winter.....we have all the seasons."
Americans: "So you don't call summer winter?....[long pause] oh, you must think we are really dumb and just think we are the center of the universe...."
Me: "Pretty much..."

Dinner

At Steve Jobs fav Japanese restaurant in Palo Alto



It was good....didn't see him....

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More new toys

Irene decided "we" needed a leaf blower/vacuum and now we have it....





Lotte not quite so impressed....


She has better things to do with her time...



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OccupySF

Ran to the Ferry Terminal and checked out one of the OccupySF camps.


Can't say I really understand any of this......

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Week is flying by....

And variously crawling along. Working from home today and tomorrow (yippee). Been busy organizing my NZ trip (double yippee) and hoping that NZ does have a summer while I am there. The "American's" aka my work colleagues, are ribbing me about going away for a month (that would actually be two weeks)...I have reminded them that they don't seem to know how to have real holidays. The average American can barely bring themselves to take a whole week off and think it entirely unacceptable that europeans (kiwis included) take months off at a time! Really funny, but they are, of course, all very envious.

Meet Mika

I'm on a roll with this blogpress! Meet Mika, he's Irene's parents dog and has been hanging out at mine over Thanks Giving


Although a little arthritic he did manage to discover the tempurpedic so had a sleep over last night.
Thanks Giving day was fun. Long chat with Michelle in the morning, cleaned my house, then up to Irene's for turkey and pumpkin pie, including some delightful red wine.
Loving this long weekend.



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Happiness is....

Having a new "toy".....


No excuses now!

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Thanks Giving

Do a "Search this blog" for other posts on Thanks Giving. This year, I am so happy to have four days off. I had no idea we got two working days off as well. When I was with TechProse we didn't get holiday pay so when the client closed or I took holidays it was what it was. Yesterday I casually had a question about Friday (the day after Thanks Giving).....total immigrant moment, "Really we get Friday off?". Kept the team entertained for hours!

Randomness after a long weekend of work

Changing out the lights...that would be Irene, not me...
The blue



To the white


To the light



And the pretty of autumn under the fluorescent light as I leave work...




PS Big Sur Half....never happened, working.......next year!


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Adventuring in the East Bay

Irene, Lotte and I headed across the Bay Bridge to visit Ikea (coming to the kiwis sometime soon). Irene then took me on a little tour of the art at the local landfill.














Me and my buds!



Irene practicing her surfing moves in advance of doing the real thing in Aus at Xmas.
This shot taken at Fort Funston this morning.




All cultured out.....
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Location:6th St,Berkeley,United States

Ugh

Work is stressful as we head into our big release.....really it's not big like the Cisco days but big because it's big in the context of the work we are doing (okay I think that whole sentence probably doesn't make sense.....enough to know work is BIG). I've all but committed to buying a treadmill. It's now dark when I leave the house and dark when I get home. I'm also going to join the local gym (two short blocks away) so that I don't lose all my fitness over the dark winter months. Not running is depressing.
Simple things are making me happy. For the first time in along time I have heating in my house that I can turn on and the house is cozy within 5 mins (bonus for Irene, all the heat goes upstairs, she might be enjoying a sauna). We appear to be beating the Raccoon who wants to make sashimi of the fish. They are clever little shites, work'n it though, determined not to have "it" win. Lotte still hangs at my house (sitting with me on the couch as I type, which is sweet - like being a god parent or aunt, lots of the benefits but none of the real responsibilities!) I'd love to have my own little dog too but nothing about my lifestyle makes it work, nor would be fair at this point. One of those moments where you can't have everything (Lotte would have to like him/her of course!!!).
I think this weekend is going to be about work - well I know it. The list of "to-dos" is long and the timeline short.....good times.

NY NY....marathon memories

The other day I got a text from Michelle reminding me that this time last year I was running the NYC Marathon.....wow. Actually when she sent the text it wasn't quite today but Rose had arrived from NZ, we had our housewarming at Halloween and Rose and I flew out for NY on the Thursday. I've just read back through the November 2010 posts (this is why the blog is fab, it's my online journal!). I still grin from ear to ear when I think about crossing that line. Training for that marathon and deciding to do more fundamentally changed my life here and, clearly, set a path for my health and welling being! I think too it's brought a whole bunch of different types of folks into my life and opened me up to engaging differently with people. I can tend towards reclusiveness (caving), running is essentially a solo thing for me....but then I've pushed myself into volunteering and now chat randomly with strangers about it so connections are made along the way. I am still working at finding some running buddies. I keep thinking joining a club is a good idea but then feel overwhelmed by the obligation it brings. Negotiating runs with one or two people feels vastly easier than fitting into a club running schedule. All excuses I know but valid enough to hold me back. I still haven't found an ultra marathon coach. I am not sure why this is proving so difficult....and no I don't accept it's because I'm not supposed to do it!

Note to self....

Big socializing on a Wednesday night leads to lower work productivity on Thursday! Had a team dinner starting with a mega meat extravaganza at a Brazilian BBQ (accompanied by some very good wine). Then off to a "pirate" bar where I strictly avoided the shared volcano concoction (this my saving grace as I didn't drink at all!). Then off to a piano bar where the singer took requests and we (that would include me) danced. Home 1ish up at 6 am to commute .... These are the good times, right?


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Location:E Caribbean Dr,Sunnyvale,United States

Back on the running train

I've had a great weekend! I did do my 9 miler on Saturday and felt pretty good. It was hot and my goal was to just chug it out. It's my longest run since Berlin so I was happy with it. Michelle and her friend came over Saturday night for a bbq and Irene and I double teamed (that mean's Irene did the bbq and provided some yummy bread and I assembled various other foods). That makes two dinner parties I have had (well three if you count the first time Irene came down for dinner). It was all very nice and easy.
Today I went with Irene and Lotte to Fort Funston - this is always a lovely start to the day. Then I needed to go buy a hairdryer so I put my running shoes on and ran the 2.5 miles there and did stop/start running back. This is part of the new regime of getting used to running on tired legs. It's making me so happy to be out running again on a regular basis. It really helps to ease the stresses of day to day living (read work) and has me reengage with the city as I hit the pavements.
Hmmmm well and I've finally had to concede that I've lost my i-pod.....arrrrrrrgh, seriously I don't know where. I guess "things" leave you when they should so I dropped some cash on getting a new i-pod nano, headphones (same as the last pair, they are the best for running) and an armband to carry it in. Kind of excited to have it arrive now.
The weather here is insanely good, after having been so mediocre for the past weeks. Making the most of it and not really enjoying how early it gets dark. I am back to leaving home in the dark and arriving home in the dark....bleech. Although I did get to enjoy a very gorgeous sunset as I ran the ponds close to work last week. It's so much easier for me to run in Sunnyvale rather than drive home and put my running gear on. It's all flat so I work the hills more in the weekend.
This week we have a team dinner on Wednesday, in San Fran so that's nice. I really do enjoy the team dinners but it's hard going when we have the dinner and I still have to drive at least 45mins to get home. I take the commute distances for granted now but not because it's easy so much as I'd rather live in the city and commute than live in the valley!

occupy protest protest How to really annoy the banks and finance compani...

Liked this idea.....

Craziness....

The week that was! I feel like it's been the longest, busiest week - okay punctuated with some very pleasant, and unexpected social events.
Work has just got beyond busy as we approach our go-live. One of the team resigned from ACN and I'm very sad to see him go, although think he's made a great decision for himself. I've had terribly early mornings.....todays onsite 7am meeting meant an early 545am start. There's been a few late nights but I did get two runs in.
I'm feeling very slack on the running and have now put in place a stricter routine. My goal this week was two runs then a long run this weekend. Just gotta do the long run. Sadly I'm not sure if I will be able to do the Big Sur Half. When I registered I hadn't realized it was go-live weekend so I think I will be working. Bummer.
Michelle in town this weekend, although not staying with me. Catching up Saturday for a bbq. I'm seriously looking forward to some downtime and easy company.

Crazy times - end of marathon tourism

Mum has left and is now back in NZ.  Her final week here was a little crazy for me work wise.....including several very late working sessions.  One of those times when everyone just has to step up and make things happen.  Friday saw Monica and Jung-Ah larking about in the office late in the afternoon.  It was a welcome relief after the intensity of the week!  I went for my first run in over a week on Friday as well.  Leaving the office earlyish to be reminded that running is still my fav thing and great for stress.
Thought too I'd better finish the "Marathon Tour"!  Other sights we saw and adventures we had.....



Starting with a pleasant easy day in the botanic gardens.

Worlds largest greenhouse....apparently 

     

Some mighty big plants to be seen

Pretty!

We also visited a concentration camp, which sounds a little grim but proved to be a remarkable journey through history and I was very impressed with the way they had found some kind of balance between memorializing individual stories, capturing the political history and educating along the way.  There were quite a few school groups so clearly this is part of the learning curriculum.  To give you a sense of it some shots below.

Map showing where this camp fits into the "network" that was created

Entrance to the Camp

A typical sell, this camp held both jewish and other political prisoners and has a long history both during and post WWII

Doctors used these samples to characterize prisoners features, which were all carefully recorded, which made for a comprehensive list of internees, many of the records have been preserved

To preserve the buildings glass walkways have been created in several places.  This is the hospital....each of the rooms have these amazing collections of stories about individuals, some of whom survived

This was the "Potato" room, these cartoons where scattered throughout and thought to have been done by political prisoners at some point in the camps history

The Memorial 

I didn't really feel overwhelmed by it all so much as felt it's important to preserve these places both as memorials and as a way to never forget.
After the trip to the camp (about 45mins out of town) we headed back to the city for some lighter activities and to get ready to fly home the following day......or me fly to San Fran and mum to head to St Thomas to meet Karen and Brice.

Rock'n River 50

At the Ultra volunteering for the day.















Next year!

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Location:Footbridge,Sacramento,United States

What I'm looking at right now

View from my home office/gym......


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Marathon Tourism Part 3

Brandenburg Gate took us most of the morning.  Tuesday was the only grey/rainy day we had, the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny!  On our way to our next adventure (off to check out East Berlin) we stopped at a restaurant and sat outside to enjoy the wine and beer. On to the metro we headed off to see some more iconic Berlin sights.

Berlin Alexander Platz Clock

Berlin TV Tower

The Berlin TV Tower was kind of fab as we travelled up in a fast lift to enjoy the 360 degree views of Berlin.  The great thing about this was, not only is the tower in the old East part so you get a sense of how that must have been before the wall came down, but you can also visually see the change in architectural styles.  Overall this part of Berlin felt dirtier and less well maintained (there are multiple development projects underway but that all costs money in difficult economic times).

No idea how one actually reads that clock but we did find Wellington!

Just checking out the architecture.....

Ugly but attracted a lot of sightseers, including us

Local City Hall

Post East Berlin we headed to the more ritzy shopping part of town where we checked out some shops and had a yum meal, again at an outdoor table.  Stumbled into this rather cool church, that didn't look much on the outside but proved to be quite stunning from the inside!!!!