The Pets

I’ve been pet/housesitting in San Jose since Sunday and won’t head back to Santa Cruz until Friday the 31st. One of my folk is currently on a walking tour with her husband in the Alps and I volunteered to be on pet duty. So meet the pets (text mostly curtesy of Lila who wanted to give me some insights into their personalities – it’s been very helpful in interpreting their behaviour)! The Dog - Cheechoo - named for a Sharks hockey player, Jonathan Cheechoo. Big and friendly…..and could easily pull me off my feet if he got it into his head that life could be more interesting without his lead……he hasn’t tried, he’s very gentle. We have a walking regime which is proving to be very good for my health!
The Kitten – Frances. Lila picked her up off the side of the street after Frances launched herself at Lila’s feet, having been abandoned (Lila is a sucker for this type of behaviour, that’s why she has five cats….sweet). She’s quite friendly and lively, once she is sure you’re okay. Frances and Cheechoo play some scary-looking games, but unless she squeals, they are okay (apparently if Frances does squeal I am to yell at Cheechoo).
Orange Cat - Gus – The ‘gift bringer’ and the talker….skittish and shy, I haven’t received any gifts yet! He’s the soulmate of the White Cat who has a folded-down ear - Charley. Charley and Gus believe they are litter mates, they aren’t but were born a week apart and Lila got them from the vet at the same time. I guess as long as they believe they are related, they are.
Gray Cat (Russian Blue) cat - Gorda. Described as the grouchy queen of the household. Also quite talkative, with a Dick Cheney-ish tone.
Persian Cat- Missy. Quite a Zen character. Often persecuted by Gorda. Believes herself to be persecuted by Frances, but Frances just wants to play. Friends with both boys – if I had a fav it would be Missy......but I shouldn't say that out loud.
Bonus Cat - Max. A frequent mealtime visitor…….if he’s there, I feed him. He’s the neighbourhood cat, although Lila clearly takes the lead in making sure he is okay.
Fishcher's Cat - Mary, who lives across the road looks a little like Gus and will sometimes try to come over for a meal. The only bad thing about that is she will often hesitate, and sit down right in the middle of the street. Scary.
Given the diva personalities, feeding time can be a little dodgy so many logistics to manage! Bedtime is a whole other thing as everyone sleeps somewhere different. Given my parenting responsibilities it's proving easy to stay out of trouble!

Love it

Economic times.....well and the odd emotional one.....this made me chuckle - it might have been the sheep thing (7:1 in NZ btw).

Skunked

oooooook, so everyone knows about skunks, they are quite special and, well, kinda cute when you look at them.  They are not special nor cute when they freak out and decide to expend that special skunk smell.  Thursday night I'm having a perfectly nice time sitting in my house watching a DVD when a very special smell hits me (yeah I knew what it was, I've smelt it on the road....but then you get to fly past it....).  Shite, so bad I get up turn on the outdoor light and open my front door....hear scrabbling and a quiet voice from the new renting neighbors say "hello"....well "hi, is that a  possum (because I've forgotten I mean skunk because I'm startled someone spoke!)".....very quiet reply "no, my dog just got sprayed by a skunk"....."okay, well worse for the dog".....close my door, fairly confident most of what I said was lost in translation. Friday I wake up like I have the flu.....feel terrible.  Working from home and drag my laptop into my bedroom and literally work from meeting to meeting feeling like I want to curl up and leave the planet....that would be good, but I have a job to do!  Takes me all day to get to the Tylenol (read Panadol) because I don't immediately think "find pain killers"  and I am seriously napping between meetings.  Thankfully I am working from home - napping in the office might not work.  Note to self: skunks may have a detrimental effect on your physical well being, even if they don't mean to.  

Doin stuff

So I am just back from a week in NZ - had a grand time. Flew over to surprise my mum for her birthday. Spent time in Auckland, Napier and Wellington. Family time included a very lovely visit to Kathy and Janine's holiday home (check out this months NZ House and Garden article on the Sharing Shed). Although it was a very brief trip it was lovely to catch up with people where I could (and they could, everyone is busy). This is the first time I have visited since I left nearly 3 years ago - I did feel like a tourist and the nicest part was realizing that I now get the best of both worlds..........and right now I get the best of a California summer (I'm not going to mention the rain rain rain.......NZ was lovely and green though).
Now that I'm back and it's summer I'm planning a few new adventures. Biggest one is I am going to try and finish my helicopter pilots license. I am currently checking out a few places and have found one that teaches in the same helicopter I have already flown solo in. I need to find out if I can credit my other flying time - it's been several years since I've flown so will see how that all rolls out. I'm also keen to take up shooting (claybirds not animals) and have found what looks like a very fab club. They offer an intro course so will do that first.
Starting on the 19th I am house sitting a dog and three cats in San Jose for two weeks. I'm going to bring the car and the bike over the hill so that I can ride to work (it's only 7 miles and it will be great fun to ride when the weather is good). It will be interesting to have a holiday away from the beach!
Summer is always a very inspiring time and the California culture is very active so it's not hard to feel motivated.

Comments have been switched on

So in the three year life of this blog google have made some upgrades - some I've used without anyone knowing - it's now even easier to update the blog and change the look and feel (although I haven't done that because at least one reader assures me it's fine as it is because she can read it on her blackberry....).  One change they did make that I missed was that anyone can now comment - you don't have to have a blogspot account - so go on, I dare you!  

I've also loaded up my travel map.  I don't really like how it looks but I can't do anything about that right now, so will live with it.  Best of all it's been amazing to think back about the places I have visited and shameful to realize the chunks of the globe I have missed!  Whole continents remain unexplored.  Three places are high on my list: China, Russia, Alaska - gonna make me a plan.

Back up to the big city

So Ruth has been and gone and Michelle and I think we haven't laughed that much in forever - we had a great weekend.  Ruth arrived late Friday - we all stayed at this fab hotel in SF that uses mostly recycled materials for everything, including bedding.  The Good Hotel really was good. Saturday we headed out to Brunch with Marcia taking us to a fab diner - unfortunately I got a work call so after lunch had to go back to the hotel to do some work for an hour or so (how sad is it that I thought ahead and took my work laptop to SF!).  Anyway I met up with Ruth and Michelle and we wandered around the shops for a while then grabbed the car and headed to the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was a fantastically clear day (see the pic) and I realized I'd never driven across the bridge before.  After that we went to The Cliff House - check out the slide show.  Just the most beautiful coastline and near where the old public bathes used to be.  Michelle then took us to her favourite Thai restaurant - food was yum.  

We headed back to the hotel, changed and headed out to The Lex.  The Lex is an iconic Lesbian bar, tiny and jammed packed.  I'd never been before - mostly it is packed with young things but the night we were there the crowd was more mixed.  The pic on the right is the bathroom - they encourage the graffiti but here's the best thing, despite appearances it's possibly the cleanest club bathroom I've ever been in at 1 a.m in the morning.  Following day I drove with Ruth down to Santa Cruz for gay pride (this is my third year so I guess I'm creating routines).  We came down the coastal road, stopping in at Half Moon Bay then going to another local legend for lunch.  Duartes Tavern looks like a dodgy bar when you pull up (Ruth commented as much).  Very typical US experience, you never can tell what's behind that door. As well as its fresh fish it's legendary for it artichoke soup (given we were foreigners the woman who served us brought us a free sample, wasted on Ruth of course but I enjoyed it).  We met up with Michelle and then went to Gay Pride in the park - fun and the San Fran cheerleaders were still the highlight.  After that we dropped Ruth back at SF Airport and came back to Santa Cruz to recover.  All good fun.

Since I seem to be on a social roll (and owed Dee more than one meal) her and I went out for Dinner in San Jose on Wednesday (SJ is about half way between Santa Cruz and SF - where Dee lives - so it was a nice compromise).  Went to the most fab restaurant - Morton's the Steakhouse. I have to confess that when I think about steakhouses I think back to the good old days of Cobb and Co, well let that one go!  This place was to die for (and it's a chain restaurant). The food was fabulous, really lovely surroundings and a wonderful suprise (it was recommended to me so I had some confidence).  We ended up staying four hours chatting and eating - meant I got home around midnight but worth it.

This weekends been very light socially and I've enjoyed lazying around the house.  End of July I am house sitting in San Jose for one of the folk that work for me.  They have a dog and 3 cats and couldn't find anyone to house sit so I volunteered - it will be fun and it's only 7 miles from work so no real commute (that will be a change).  I guess I can think of it as a holiday away from the beach.

Out and about

Seem to have had a very busy social life of late....nice! The highlight had to be Saturday when I went along to the NCLR fundraiser in San Fran. This is the group that has been fighting Proposition 8 - which is the vote that overturned gays and lesbians right to marry in California. I went to this dance last year as well (before prop 8 happened; they fight for equal rights around lots of issues btw). There were upwards of 1000 women all dressed very fine, lots of dancing and fun. Dee invited me to join her friends (including her date) for dinner before the event (originally 6 of us but we met up with another group so had a random gathering of 12). Funniest part was I assumed everyone knew each other - turned out no, there were a couple of connections but it really was a spontaneous moment (pic on ther right is Jaclyn, Dee, Me and Sim). After dinner and before the dance we went to a pre.dinner party....more new folk to meet. Dance kicked off at 8pm and went to midnight. It was a really good mixture of music so I did end up dancing the night away. I met up with Marcia, Michelle and Sim as well...so between them and the new folk I had met I had plenty of people to hang with! I decided to stay in SF for the night so had a hotel booked about 5mins from the venue. It was fun to wake up Sunday morning, having had a great night, and stroll around until I felt ready to drive back to Santa Cruz.

Also last Thursday I drove in to SF after work to meet Dee who took me to this weekly gathering that happens in a local bar. It's a "networking" event, which really translates into girls meeting up after work. That was fun too (I did meet a couple of the people I spent Saturday night with there, so not complete strangers). Must have been between 80-100 women - a small affair by SF standards!

Ruth arrives this coming weekend so Michelle and I head into SF on Friday night, staying until Sunday when Ruth heads back to NZ. Not quite sure what the adventures will be yet - but we will figure something (shame she wasn't here for this weekend!).

Work continues to shift and turn......and grow. I've been given some new responsibilities and I am also about to do a communications needs assessment around the entire operations team (not just the change part that I currently manage)....have to make recommendations to my boss and the VP - things happen quickly here so who knows where this might all lead!

Summers here which is making me very happy as the suns out early and stays out longer - of course it also means more riding time.....yayayayayayay (not that I need much of an excuse).

Santa Cruz Derby Girls

Okay this is too cool and too geeky but not only did I take this video on by blackberry but I figured out how to upload it as well! Saturday night Sim, Michelle, Cristi (American friend of Sims who got her Masters at the University of Canterbury....would you believe) and I headed out to the roller derby....it was fab!
Oh and now I know how to take video and upload it.....expect more original work.

Sick, sick, sick, i-fly and pow wow

So two weeks ago I got a terrible head cold...yes right in the middle of all the drama about swine flu. I definitely didn't have the flu but I was decidedly unwell and still have a low level cough. Didn't leave the house for six days, although did work (as you do). Luckily Michelle, Marcia and Sim bought supplies. Anyway I'm still not right and fed-up with the whole deal...complaining over.
Forgetting all that a group of us headed off to i-fly. I wrote about this maybe a year and a half ago. It's sky diving in a wind tunnel. It's way fun and quite physically demanding. Anyway had such a good time I'm going to see if I can do the training camp so I can learn to do all the tricks!
After i-fly we headed to the pow wow...I also wrote about this a year ago. It's really big with different American Indian Tribes competing in various dance competitions.
Weather here's turned and it's now really feeling like summer has arrived - all the more reason to find excuses to ride or have the top down on the car!

Barn dancing, Mango and old friends

Two weeks back Marcia gave me a call about a barn dance that was happening at a place called Pie Ranch, just north of Santa Cruz. We hit the road just as the sun was setting, top down and the most beautiful sunset. We stopped at a local café just short of the Ranch – fab food. The “barn” is just off highway 1 and really is a barn! The place was packed with a live band and a guy who called the moves. I’ve never square danced…..it was hilarious fun. People were really into it. Really eclectic crowd, friendly and good clean fun. Dance is dry, just as well if folk were drinking it could get really untidy, the place was so packed.

Following day, with record temperatures, I headed off to Big Sur on the bike. WOW, this is the most beautiful ride. The coastline is honestly breath taking. I rode down by myself, about 80miles south of Santa Cruz, along the coast

line. The weather was scorching hot so I got to try out my new summer weight bike jacket and gloves. Perfect - I’m not one for shorts and teeshirts on the bike!
Sim has arrived to stay for a few weeks. She’s camping out in my spare room, changing out with my roomie Ruby on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Over the weekend we (Michelle, Sim, Dee and I) headed off to San Fran to go to a “tea dance” – read dance held outside (mostly), starting at 3pm and heaving with people! It’s mostly for women of colour but all welcome. It was great fun and nobody cared how anybody looked or danced…..my kind of venue. Afterwards Marcia joined us and we went off to a fundraiser for the group Marcia works with in San Francisco (El/La Transgender Latina HIV Prevention Program). These girls were wildly funny and even got some audience engagement! Sunday was mostly a day of recovery as we drove back from San Fran at about 1am in the morning.
Life certainly isn’t dull!

OMIGOD - this is fantastic!

So YouTube won't let me embed this....this link might work.  If it doesn't go to YouTube and search.....Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics).  It might not be around forever on YouTube so get in quick if you are interested.

Les Mis is my all time favourite musical...but this is quite the thing to watch!  It is somewhere between "why not me" and "I have too much to lose".

New car, Dinah Shaw and commitment

So I went and bought a car....I didn't actually intend to buy one, it was a spontaneous moment!   I had reached the point where I realized only having the bike (yeah I still have the bike!) wasn't quite workable.  I really only went to look at the car - rode the bike to San Jose, took her for a test ride and....bought her.  She's an 06 Mazda MX5 Miata and (as Marcia says) as close as you can get to a motorcycle in a car.  She's fun and has me feel entirely rewarded for the last few months of never ending work (that's my story, sticking with it).

Dinah Shaw in Palm Springs was last weekend.  It was great to see everyone and the house we stayed in was as grand as expected.  The whole event was very Southern California (very L-Word) so not exactly my thing but I really did

 enjoy myself and the "sights" ....Katy Perry (I Kissed a Girl) sang at the White Party, which was fun- I danced alot and had lots of laughs watching folk, quite an eye opener.  We also went to the "pool party".  100s of women all in various states of undress, music blasting and more than enough going on to keep everyone 

entertained.  The NZ gals were in fine form and held up remarkably well given they had travelled.  I've never been to Palm Springs before and as part of the adventures we went up the Cable Car which takes you just over 8000ft up the mountain then there is a huge park where you can hike.  It was incredibly beautiful and, get this....we hit snow.Given Palm Springs is in the desert it was an odd shift in mindset.  A couple of us then went on a self guided architecture tour....very interesting. It was so lovely to not be working, see the kiwi gals and relax. Coming back to work has been funny (and predictably full on).  This week I've had to repeat myself several times when talking - I clearly took on Kiwiana again and my accent came back in full force, it's always there but there's no doubt that spending time with Kiwi's brings it on even more!

As to commitment, well I've signed on for a second year in my little cottage.  I'm still open to the house buying but want to see how the next financial quarter goes.  It really is tough times here.  Lots of layoffs and you can't be complacent about having a job.  Work continues to be very busy, complex and full of challenges.  My boss is incredibly supportive and I've learnt alot about budgets, she also lets me get on and do my thing so it works for me.  I am also enjoying the role I have with the consultancy I work for - building business and day-to-day client liaison.  It does make for some stressful times when I have to manage small dramas but I feel like my skills have expanded hugely and I now have a far better sense of how business works here.  I've been very fortunate to land where I have and love the share size and complexity of Cisco.  In the Valley people acknowledge the different type of characters that can and do successfully work for the various companies e.g. HP, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo etc etc. Cisco is, apparently, closer to HP in culture....must be true there are a huge number of ex.HP workers at Cisco!

Michelle Shocked - 17 years on

Way back when Michelle and I went to a Michelle Shocked concert in Wellington. Here we are, 17 years on having just gone to a Michelle Shocked concert in Santa Cruz! Michelle's idea of course (I've hardly walked away from my laptop in weeks so was an easy touch when she suggested we go!). Tuesday night we headed to Moe's Alley - a legendary bar in Santa Cruz that proved to be a great venue. It's large enough to hold a crowd but small enough to create a lot of intimacy between performer and audience. The evening was a blast, particularly as both M and I remembered that Ms Shocked is, well, a little unlikeable when she isn't singing - that hadn't changed! She did put on a great performance though and had the audience singing along. At one point she invited someone up to play the guitar while she sang. A woman who happened to be sitting next to Michelle leapt up and gave a very credible performance. Only in Santa Cruz would that happen! Really was a fab night. Anchorage is a very well known song among Michelle Shocked fans, so for those that aren't, here's a taste of her folksy style (oh and just in case you missed it, she's got quite a political bent, so some of her other songs deliver some pretty hard hitting messages!).

Crazy times

It's been an all out crazy week!  As if work itself wasn't enough to deal with one of my team got fired.  Yeech, not a pleasant thing to do to someone in this economy - personally I could have done without the attendant drama.  Sometimes you can't save people from themselves and I really did try to save them (or at least was open to them saving themselves).  I'm learning a lot about management US style and, most importantly, discovering the things I do and don't enjoy about leading a group of people!  I'm still really keen to become an employee of Cisco (hiring freeze is still on) - I really do want to continue in a management role (not easy to do as a consultant) and think that Cisco is a great, complex and truly global company - culturally it seems the right fit for me.  Anyway in this economy it's hard to know what will happen. Economy wise the biggest challenge for now is to stop people talking it down so much, its becoming a self fulfilling prophecy.  There's been some notable change in the debate but if people lack any confidence to invest it's going to a very long haul out of this hole.

As you can tell, I got back from Berkeley safe and sound.  Riding the bike was a blast and I loved every minute of it!  The dance was interesting, but not really my thing.  Spending time with Dee was great and just being away from my laptop delightful.  Counting down to Palm Strings now.  So excited that everyone arrives soon.  Sim is already here in the US so one down four to go.  As well as a few "party events" Sim and I have talked about going on some outdoor adventuring, including driving into the redwoods to see the trees Dr Seuss  used as inspiration for his books - that could be fun.  Sims been to PS before so looking to her to be tour guide.

A long awaited day off!

Quick post in between getting ready to go to SF overnight.  Taking the bike to a friends in Berkeley then heading to a wine tasting in SF followed by a dance in Marin....never been to Marin, it's north of SF. Guess I'm about to find out what it's like.  I've been hanging out to have a full day off, not have to check my computer and not be on call (or get woken at 3am).  YAY I am delightedly happy to be actually doing something other than work.

Life of a working gal

So really my life has mostly been about work in the last week!  Apparently I've just been part of the largest ever IT release Cisco has had.  Now that is kinda cool and marks me as a true geek - this is one of the reasons I wanted to work in the US, you get to be part of big arse things!  Being part of it has meant incredibly long hours (closer to 15 than 10) and great highs and lows.  For the release weekend I had planned two nights in San Jose but stayed three - there came a point where going home was pointless.  While working days I've "enjoyed" being on call from 1am to 9am for several days now....which has also meant being woken at 3 and 4 am when the system crashes.  It's a global company and there is always someone somewhere awake that requires an explanation! At the same time the rest of my team goes on and I have to keep managing that.  Honestly it's been a grand thing to be part of, I've learnt alot and have been surprised at my own stamina.

Staying in SJ did mean a TV for three nights...still bemused why people pay for it when they can watch for free online (yeah okay you pay for your internet connection).  But I did get to watch Slumdog Millionaire - it's a great movie, kept me on the edge of my seat though.  I thought it was very clever how they put it together.  Kept me awake between midnight and 2am...when I had to physically go into work.  I loved loved loved the dancing at the end!

It's been raining endlessly here, making Californians a little grumpy.  It's a good thing though - this place had got way to dry and it's a welcome relief for farmers.  

Countdown is on for Palm Springs and the NZ girls.  So looking forward to that!

A Tribute to Wellington, New Zealand

This was sent to me by an Aussie that I work with in San Jose......I gotta say Katherine Mansfield looks strangely like Alison Holst.....I'm thinking something is a little "off"....you be the judge! That said this about sums up Wellington!!!!

Just to prove I do more than work

.....I did have a small adventure this week!  Yesterday I headed off to the Santa Cruz Clam Chowder Festival.  Michelle, Marcia, Dee and I headed down to the boardwalk to join the masses......and I mean masses.  Place was jam packed.  Grand fun though - you buy a tasting kit that has 5 tickets in it, paper cup and spoon (serviette too!).  Then you walk around and choose which chowder you want to try.  There were dozens to choose from.  If you want to you can then vote on your favourite.  Tasting sizes are relatively small....still I was hard pushed to use up all five tickets so stopped at four......Dee and I shared a giant can of beer as well (they do everything big here) so I think that filled me up along the way!  After the tasting three of us decided to do one of the rides - the Fireball....says it all really.  Mostly these things make me laugh hysterically (okay so it's restrained hysteria....but you get the picture), Michelle provided the screams and Marcia the wahoos.  We couldn't convince Dee; the possibility of throwing up put her off (none of us did but someone on the ride was less fortunate....I didn't see that so it proved to be good clean fun for me).  We then went on a second ride (all of us) that was less thrill but provided a wonderful sensation of flying - nice.

Gap week

So this is supposed to be my "gap week".  The week I was to have between IT releases - completed one on Jan 31, next one Mar 1.  Ha!  No such thing as gap week.  For the past three weeks my days have started with a conference call at 730 am (this as I commute to work)...busy, busy, busy commute home at 515 pm, back online by 630 pm then stay on line for as long as required (as early as 8pm on a good day and as late as midnight on a not so good day).  Weekends less time online but not far from my computer.  It's fair to say I am feeling a little tired.  Folks around me are (mostly) working as hard as I am so I am not alone in the pain (and I don't have a family waiting at home for me so in someways I am better off).  The economy is really tough so those of us that have jobs are committed to making sure we keep them - so I don't want to sound like a complete whiner.  I am still really loving what I do and feel like I am continuing to build my professional/management skills; not everyone can say that with a smile.

Last weekend, in the interests of demonstrating to myself that I had some kind of life, Michelle and I headed out to a girlie dance in Santa Cruz.  I've never been to a dance in Santa Cruz so this was a whole new world.  It was cute - Michelle and I figured we would either be among the oldest (given the university is here) or among the youngest.  The latter proved to be true!  It reminded us of the good ole days of Wellington and the Brooklyn dances.  The music was.....hmmm not what it could have been.  I did dance though so there must have been something in it.  All up we had a good time and it was nice to get out.

Sunday I took Michelle along to a friends beach house for dinner.  This was grand fun.  Six of us - four new folk - lots of laughter, smart conversation and fab food.  Had me feeling human again.

Weather here has been torrential rain (yikes I mean bucketing down).  Made me smile to think my bike was safely undercover but it does mean no walks on the beach (well I say that like I don't get home, get into my PJs and sit at my laptop!).

I'm really looking forward to April and heading to Palm Springs.  I am most definitely not taking my work laptop...although the boss did ask if I would have my cellphone (lol).  Oh well it is nice to feel needed.  I'm not expecting to get any calls, I've already organized a stand in and she is more than competent.

The cutest thing

Not only was the Koala wildly cute to look at, but the firefighter was just fab. He knew what to do (or was prepared to do something) and also thought his daughter would love to see the video. It was filmed on a cellphone. Culturally it's a very Aussie moment.
The fires in Aus are so sad...shocking....this is a little heartening.

Farewell January

January has flown by and with its end comes the biggest IT release one of the programs I manage comms for has.  That has meant craziness as emotions are high (hard to think about IT changes like that I know!) and everyone is working incredibly hard.  It's exciting and stressful (well I guess the stress is part of the excitement....in my mind anyway).  It does mean I am staying in San Jose Sunday night and working with one of my developers to make sure we get messages out etc etc etc.  I can't believe how much I have learnt about all this.   Given I have never worked in high tech before it's been an incredible learning curve.  I still feel very lucky to be here and more than startled at where I have landed!  

I am getting to do some fun creative stuff at work too.  We are pulling together our team profile for my bosses boss.  He is an amazingly energetic, outgoing, competitive smart guy. Wants everything yesterday and inspires you to want to deliver it yesterday.  To create the profile we are doing online videos and creating very cool graphics to go with it.  I have never seen myself as a marketer but at various times I have the opportunity to get a little creative, it's fun.

Last night Michelle and I went to an Amy Ray concert - she was fab!  Santa Cruz is a pretty laid back town so the show was almost like watching a band rehearsal.  Interesting crowd to, she's got quite a girlie following.

In April I am catching up with some of the NZ gals in Palm Springs - we are going to the Dinah Shore Weekend.   It is, basically, a four day girl party.  Not usually my thing I gotta say but I figured if the pals are coming from NZ I could at least make the effort to get over myself and hangout.  Thanks to Sim we have found a fab house to rent.   Pool and spa of course....very nice!

So life isn't all work....

President Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration and Address

Sat in the office this morning playing this on my computer. People around me were hugely excited (even some of the republicans - although I haven't met many). I thought his speech was great to listen to and love the way Americans don't blink from celebrating their country. All very patriotic; it appeals to me. Interestingly I had a couple of people ask me if I was going to become a citizen (actually I can't apply until I have been here for 5 years, but yes, I do want to become a citizen). Not sure what prompted the sudden interest so much as thinking those listening to the speech were feeling very proud to be Americans.

Back to everyday life

Well Xmas seems like long ago.  This week proved to be, I think, the busiest week I've had at work yet.    Mostly it was driven by needing to pull together a very complex, high risk message that was being sent out to senior executives.  I double teamed it with my sponsor comms developer - what that really means is that I gathered the info and she did the writing.  The great thing is that she is very good at what she does, calm and keeps a sense of humour!  Concurrently I have caught a cold so, as much as I liked the idea of working from home all week, it wasn't to be. Now it's Saturday and I have been able to stop and I am not sure if I feel better or worse for the pause.

Weather here is spooky warm, like in the 70s.  I so want to be out on the bike but don't think it's a good idea to be riding when I don't feel well.  Best of all, Michelle has moved into her new apartment and it comes with a covered park so I am going to move the bike there for the "winter".  

I am looking forward to watching the inauguration - history in the making and I'm very interested to hear what Obama has to say.  Given the economy I don't envy him, expectations for change are very high here.

The horsey shot

Can't believe I forgot to include this.  If, in the last few years, I've wondered what it is I am good at, what do I enjoy, what brings out the best in me..........riding horses ain't it!  

That said, bundled up against the cold (cool but not a breath of wind) and sitting on a very fine saddle, riding "cowboy" as opposed to "english" on a beautiful, gentle horse.....well I might never be good at it, but I can appreciate it!

Welcome to 2009

Post Michelle's departure Ranch adventures continued.  One very memorable day we headed out to Santa Fe and went to see the "Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen" Exhibition.  It was fantastic.  Showed costumes from some really well known movies including Dangerous Liaisons (pic on left) and Out of Africa.  It was interesting to hear that, for some movies, they do sometimes use antique fabrics for part of the design and also often make two versions of the same costume so if one gets damaged they have a backup. Given how intricate some of the designs are it's all rather impressive.  

After the exhibition we took mum to Madrid.  I think I've mentioned this long ago as a place we went to when I was living on the ranch.  It is where the movie Wildhogs was filmed.  It's a quirky little town and has a great bar/saloon that has the most interesting characters.  It's a bikers destination as well so you see a lot of motorcyclists on any given day.  It was fun.  

As promised in the last post....Xmas pic on the right, me, mum, Michelle and Brice.  As always a beautiful table setting and outstanding 

food. Here's a nice shot of Karen and mum too....I'm sure they won't thank me for posting it!

I flew back via Denver, some delays but at least I had my laptop and free wi-fi.  Stayed in San Jose as I didn't land until 1115pm and it seemed pointless to drive an hour to Santa Cruz to turn around and come back at 645am.  The economy continues to bite and most vendors are taking pay cuts to keep contracts.  Everyone is sharing the pain but I still feel very fortunate - I have a job and I don't have a mortgage or dependents.  I am quite focused on saving as I think I will buy a house here within the next year or two depending on how the job prospects roll out.  Cisco continues to offer me opportunities and I love my job and the people I work with.  

Apart from the bike I have decided to take up another "hobby"...well I am thinking about it. I've found a shooting range that does clay bird shooting and think I'd like to try that (I tried it on the Ranch a while back and thought it was fun).  I enjoy shooting (no, not hunting, definitely not hunting).  So when it starts to get a little warmer I am going to go out for a half day and see if I like it.  You walk a course so it also means I get some exercise.  We shall see, the other alternative is to take up archery again.  I will figure it out.

It's Saturday and I have woken up today with a minor head cold having slept 15hrs..guess my body wants to fight it off as much as my mind does.  I'm tucked up at home, heating on and not doing much - although my fridge is bare so I am eventually going to have to venture out!

Grand adventures & good times

Time seems to be racing by!  Landed safely in Albuquerque (albeit a little later than anticipated) and arrived at the ranch to snow on the ground.  Nothing like it was in 2006, but snow no less. Michelle and I were safely housed in the bunk house, me in the Cowboy Room and her in the Flag Room; nice to see that the painting job I was part of still held up to scrutiny.  Xmas eve I worked for half a day, so not as bad as it could have been.  Xmas morning was lovely.  Slept in then headed up to Karen and Brice's (5 miles up the road) for breakfast, presents and generally lounging around.  Mum is here too and in good form.  I have to confess to feeling generally exhausted when I first arrived.  These last months at work have been full on and I have been pushing myself hard and not getting much exercise (2009 brings a whole new set of resolutions about making sure I do exercise more so that I don't get run down!).  

Xmas dinner was a lovely affair and the food fab (as always).  We then sat around and watched DVDs - all in all the perfect way to spend Xmas in my book.  

As well as adventures at the ranch (horse riding being one - actually I really enjoyed it and Michelle was delighted.  I am not much of a rider but meandering along is workable and we were well bundled up against the wind).  Spent a full day in Santa Fe on Saturday.  Starting with a visit to the Georgia O'Keeffe Musuem. Georgia is an incredible artist with a long local history.  We then wandered around the shops before Michelle and I headed off to Ten Thousand Waves which is this gorgeous mountain spa.  Karen and Brice had given us massages for Xmas and before we had them we sat in the dry sauna and the outdoor (in the snow that is) spa.  It was lovely.  Afterwards we headed out for a wonderful meal at a local restaurant.  Made all the more enjoyable as the waitress was very funny and engaging.  

Seeing everyone on the Ranch has been lovely and they make me feel very very welcome.  

Time flew by and before I knew it Michelle was heading back to Santa Cruz (and had also spent time helping out with feeding animals etc etc....I think she agrees - life living on the ranch had been tough for me...not).

More to tell and pics to add but I will post this for now.  It's New Years eve and the mother is calling saying I need to get out of bed and come do some "chores"!

Birthday celebrations

So my birthday has been and gone and Michelle and I have celebrated hers as well!  I had a great day out with Michelle on the 20th.  Slept late then went to brunch, did a little Xmas shopping then headed off to the "Mystery Spot".  This place really is a mystery.   They describe it as a "gravitational anomaly".  It's a circular area about 46m in diameter.  When you are in the Mystery Spot the laws of physics and gravity change...true story, nothing works quite the way it's supposed to.  A tour guide shows you around demonstrating all the oddities.  Physics freaks would love, Michelle and I laughed alot - good enough.  After the Mystery Spot we headed back to Santa Cruz and went and had snacks at a very cute downtime wine bar.  By the end of the day we were both pretty tired and work has been so full on that I really has happy to land in my bed at 830pm...having enjoyed a very lovely chat with some NZ friends.  Skype really is fantastic.

Sunday we celebrated Michelle's birthday, heading to the da Vinci exhibition in San Jose.  It's the only place in the US that the exhibition is coming to and it was fantastic.  Lots of interactive display and explanations about how he created his art and his various engineering feats.  

Monday it was back to work.  I am so ready for the break but have to work Xmas eve as well.  On the upside, and rare in these times.  I am hiring two new people for my team.  I am fortunate that the program I am in is part of Cisco's growth strategy so we still have funding.  Tough times for a lot of folk here and I don't think it's going to get easier for quite a while.

I am typing this at Denver airport, about to board a plane for New Mexico - yay, Xmas in the snow.  Happy holidays all!

Catching up

It's been a while...went fast though.  Family came and what a fab visit.  Renting the house next to mine was a winner.  So easy to come together each day and/or have people able to head off to bed with ease.  It really was four full on days!  Some big adventures and some little ones.  Much good food, good wine and laughter.  I really had a very grand time.  One of the very best standout moments that stays with me was the Monterey Aquarium.  It is remarkable for many many reasons (conservation not being the least of it, on occasion they have great white sharks that have been caught in fishing nets, they bring them in and nurse them to the point that they can release them!).  But apart from the kelp forest they have a jelly fish display.  We all went to the 15min talk on "jellies" and then were totally wowed by the display......the reason you don't see jellies many places is that it is incredibly hard to replicate their natural environment - it was quite fantastic. 

It was lovely to see everyone, share stories and laughter.  Marcia, Michelle and Margarita came over for a BBQ on the Sunday before everyone left, nice to merge some parts of my world and nice to enjoy the good food as well (yay to having chefs and foodies in the family).

Back to work and all thought of holidays forgotten, what a difference 4 days makes.  It proved to be a very big week (but I am thinking I say this constantly!).  As well as delivering on our (more than big) work program I am part of negotiating the next Qtrs contract.  I am fortunate to be part of a series of programs that are focused on growing the business so, while not easy times, my job is secure....or so it seems, and (frankly, more importantly) I am not looking at having to downsize my team.  Hard to say how people here are feeling about the downturn.  It is tough times, but we are busier than ever.

Counting the days to New Mexico, seeing the mother and Karen and Brice.  I am really looking forward to it, although I will have to work some days and I am on call throughout.  It's snowing in New Mexico and I (for one) am looking forward to it - my love affair with snow remains undiminished, although Karen assures me it is nothing like the snow I had when I lived on the ranch....that was rather special and lovely, particularly for my 40th....

Bright Lights and Thanksgiving

Have had the most fab thanksgiving break. Managed to finish work around 1pm Wednesday (that in itself was a small miracle) and Marcia, Michelle and I headed to San Fran.  Took the scenic route up the coast and stopped at this very cool eatery that was a little like an old tavern. Marcia had to go to a meeting so Michelle and I hung out in a coffee shop surfing the net and generally being idyll (nice).  Had a quiet night in then headed to Mary and Rubys (two in the left of the photo). They own this really cute wooden three story house (two floors are self contained units) and even have a cute little garden.  Anyway we spent five hours cooking various things laughing and chatting.  It was really lovely, I excelled in dishes, not really being one to do much cooking and clearly surrounded

 by folks who knew what they were doing.  Afterwards we sat around playing scabble and generally having a nice time.  

Slept late the next day (we were staying at Marcia's friends house in Fruitvale, near Oakland) and Michelle and I watched a DVD while Marcia went out and did stuff.  We headed back to Mary and Ruby's for leftovers then hit the road for Santa Cruz.

During December a park off the 880 sets up this amazing light display for Xmas so we swung off the freeway, got in line and proceeded to drive around the park checking stuff out.  The funniest thing of all was that they give out these 3-D glasses and when you look through them you see either dinosaur heads framing everything or flying angels; once we realized we were beside our selves with hysteria.  Michelle and I wore them all the way home - best trip I've had on the 17 yet.

Family come this week and I am about as organized as I am likely to get.  It will be lovely to see everyone.  Although it's a little cooler the weather has been pretty good, some rain but it doesn't hang around for long....Wellington's rainy, windy winters are long forgotten, rain remains a novelty. 

Unexpected guests and Thanks Giving

Had an unexpected visitor over the weekend. Sim happened to be in San Fran so she drove through on Friday and we hung out through Saturday. Sim was a pal back in the Auckland days. It was fun, haven't seen her in over two years. She's been working in Madison but this is the first time we've been in touch. We ended up going to a great local restaurant (2mins from my house) called the Drunk Monkey. Kind of Asian Fusion food - very pleasant. Saturday we met Michelle and Marcia for breakfast at another local haunt. We then walked the beach and strolled into town.
Sunday I did some shopping and then went to Marcia and Michelle's for a BBQ....easy to tell they are back in town, my social life has picked up considerably.
I've had several work dinners which have been fun but make for a long day as they are inevitably in San Jose.
Thursday is Thanks Giving and Ruby has invited me (well I slid in on the M&M invite) to come up to San Fran for Thanks Giving dinner. We are going to head up Wednesday and hangout until Friday. Going to stay in Oakland. I haven't been to SF for quite a while so should be fun.

It Takes Balls To Be A Woman

You see, sometimes country music ain't all "Standby your man".

Seriously funny

Well I liked it, made me laugh. It's a little dark (a lot dark) but British humour at its best!

Life under an, almost, Obama Govt

Well it's fair to say I am, mostly, surrounded by folks who are desperately excited and relieved that Obama won.  I'm also surrounded by some who are hugely impacted (dare I say humbled) by the change in their economic fortunes.  My pick is this, Obama will spend much of the next four years navigating the economic times...he will, most likely, do okay.  Come the next election most will be sympathetic that much of his social agenda got stalled....and give him another chance.  But then, perhaps, that is my natural optimism.  Either way politically it's a fantastic time to be living here.

On a more mundane level work remains the dominant thing in my life.  Not a bad thing as I am enjoying some quite lovely and unexpected moments.  I have a team of nine and that brings its challenges as they are, without exception, smart, engaging, clever and challenging.  The theory of managing a high performing team and then actually having one - well, it keeps me honest. I've developed (I think) an honest and supportive relationship with my new boss.  On a lovely note I've also kept in touch with my old boss.  At this stage, despite the economic times, I don't think I am about to lose my job and, if I do, I will survive it.   I don't take anything for granted nor feel complacent - when you have job you can't worry about not having a job, just do a good job (or the best you can) and then roll with whatever happens.  

I have done a little socializing.  Stepping back into my other world.  Went to a friends beach house for dinner and wine tasting on Saturday night....very nice and a mix of funny, entertaining and engaging folk.  Stayed over and it would have been even lovelier if I hadn't got a 730am work call that had me race back home to sit in front of my computer for 6hrs.  Oh well, I guess it's what I choose to do!

Plans for the family visit are finalized and tickets for Xmas booked - all of which is making me very happy!

Obama : 'All things are possible'

BOO! Halloween has come and gone

Halloween (or at least the day before) proved to be quite a cultural moment.  I work in an open plan office where desks are not assigned so you can sit anywhere.  We do have neighbourhoods that group different teams together.  On the week of Halloween there was a competition to decorate our work areas.  People went all out (well Cisco is a pretty competitive environment). We had mummies and zombies and a whole graveyard set up inside a blackended room (even had an ipod playing spooky music and white ice for the judging!).  If that wasn't enough at 1pm when everyone could go and look at what people had done all these folks arrived on our floor from around the building dressed up in Halloween outfits....some of them were amazing.  I found the whole thing hugely funny, Halloween is all about the grown ups.  On the actual night it rained so I didn't go downtown - stayed inside snuggled up and warm.

My MacBook Pro has arrived so I have been having fun figuring out how to use all the different cool things.  It's quite intuitive although very different to use compared to windows.  Now I have split my mind between by work laptop and the Mac!

Last week was a huge week at work.  I am not sure why but it seemed that every time I turned around there was mini crisis going on.  It made for a very long week and I was relieved to have Friday roll around.  

Last weekend I did have a little adventure.  Moss Beach Distillery is at Half Moon Bay and has an interesting history.  During Prohibition the bootleggers used to land on the beach below the distillery to unload.  The Distillery owner always managed to get a few barrels!  Rumour has it that the Distillery is also haunted by The Blue Lady - short, long story of lost love and death, the story has been featured on Unsolved Mysteries.  I went up to check it out as a place I could take the family to (okay also an excuse to do a good ride on the bike).  I had a great time.  Sat out on the patio looking across the sea, ate crab cakes and drunk lemonade (no beer, figured that wasn't a good idea before riding home).  It was fun and definitely a lunch venue for the family.

Oh if you think the election is a done deal, check it out.

Beached Whale

So even the Americans laughed at this one!

Halloween.......

So today I carved two pumpkins for halloween. It was one of those things that made me perfectly happy. I sat in the sun at the picinic table in my backyard, enjoyed a Corona and carved pumpkins! What you can't tell from the pic is that I have put battery powered "candles" in them both so they glow at night...... There's a competition at work to decorate our areas as well. Halloween is, I think, the best holiday of all in the US!
Last week I rode the bike to Sunnyvale (near San Jose) for her 600 mile service (okay closer to a 1000). Funniest of all - to avoid the worst of the traffic. given it was a Wednesday - I arrived half an hour before they opened. So, all dressed up in my leathers, I stood in the carpark, pulled out my work laptop, propped it on the saddlebags of the bike and promptly logged on to the free Google wi-fi so that I could download my work emails.......even sent a few and instant messaged some folks, that's kinda how work goes here! Or maybe it's always been like that for everyone.....nah not how I remember it in, NZ nobody carried laptops into meetings as a matter of course and no option to IM! It's a new way of working but suits me.
Oh now speaking of laptops - this weekend I have bought the new MacBook Pro for my personal computer. Having vaguely speculated with folks here that I needed a new laptop the crowd come in on going with the Mac (oh yes and one very loud voter from Aussie as well). Apple just launched a new laptop so I went with it......ordered it on line so should be here this week.
I've booked tickets to New Mexico for Xmas and New Year (Michelle's coming along for Xmas). I'm looking forward to it. I won't have the whole time off but can work remotely so that's easy!

Ever been a public servant?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27228287

Presidential candidates and working life

It's been fascinating to watch the whole election saga roll out - what a costly why to go about it. I watched the first presidential debate and heard some of the second. Not really debating I didn't think. Funny too, alot of the Americans I speak to aren't watching the debates at all but they are passionately interested in the outcome of the election. As to Sarah Palin - yikes.........although she was much better in the VP debate than I expected.....still she feels like a train wreck waiting to happen. The pic on the left comes from a Facebook page called "Everytime I hear Sarah Palin speak I feel sick to my stomach".
The economy, well that's incredible to watch. Panic selling isn't helping! Listening to the candidates I think Obamas got a better handle on it but then that's my biais. McCain initially saying he wouldn't debate the bailout package until it was a done deal didn't inspire confidence.......Fascinating time to be living here.
As of last week I took on my bosses job. It was a huge week, for some reason the program went crazy and we had multiple "firedrills" (you know hurry hurry crisis crisis) - some real and some imagined. Still even my boss said she was sorry my first week had been so full on. Thankfully the Leads in my team really stepped up and we somehow managed to keep all the balls in the air and maintain the appearance of being under control! A really fun part of my job is that I have recently started to have weekly 1:1s with my bosses boss. Igor is the Director for the wider team we are part of. He is Czech, amazingly energetic and visionary in a slightly random way. Best part is that I am now helping him with some of his comms work, learning all about new technology (web 2.0) including a whole new suite of online collaboration tools. So strange to find myself excited by what some of the new IT stuff can do.
Concurrent with this I've landed in Facebook land - now that really is amazing. Its fun and interactive and full of quirks (I'm a vampire) and you get to do fun odd things with friends online. It's very immediate.
I still like my blog though, well it's more of an online journal I guess. Everytime I think about changing it or moving to another provider I remind myself that it works, I don't need it to be more than it is. I like that it is simple!

I have a new job

Not quite as startling as it sounds! Actually I now have my bosses job. She has moved on to another role and I was offered the chance to take on her role, so I move from being the lead on one program to overseeing all the comms folks across several programs. Kathy (my boss) was a real champion about it and put me forward........it comes with the opportunity to possibly convert to becoming an employee - a whole other opportunity full of risks and potential rewards. Either way my new role is another big step in firmly establishing myself here and, I guess, demonstrates a renewed commitement to my professional life. I'm surprised by the things I am good at (well I guess I've been at this for nearly 15 yrs in one form or another), delighted at how much I have learned since I arrived, ecstatic about the quality of people I work with (and how hard they push me to keep up and be as professionally competent as they are) and grateful for the opportunity. I really am ready to give it my best shot and hugely fortunate to have the backing of some very capable people who are committed to having everyone be successful. Couldn't ask for more really.
On another note.....I've tracked down a pal that I met while I was in Bosnia (in fact more than that, we shared a room for 6 months!). We haven't had contact for 13 1/2 years so it is quite a blast from the past.
In between all of this my new room mate (2 days a week) is now in residence and is a delight to have around. It's a little like my rideshare.......we don't spend much time together but the time we do is full of laughter and insight.
On balance life is grand.....

Bunch of stuff

Life has been busy both at work and home. Long silences (well in the scheme of the blog this is long), usually mean I have “something” to share. Well as it turns out I do and I don’t (but it is time to update the blog….apparently).
On the work front things are changing…..again…..and I am waiting to share…..but as of today nothing looks quite like it did yesterday (how’s that for a teaser). So far it looks good for me but nothings a done deal until it’s done! Oh and it's just occured to me that next month I will have been contracting at Cisco for a year - that went by fast. I've learnt a huge amount, not only about Cisco but working life in the US in general. People here (or at least the ones I work with) work incredibly hard and I've met some amazingly competent people; both comms professionals and others, keeps me on my toes I have to say.
I went on a grand adventure several weekends back. It was Marcia’s birthday and she arranged a trip to Mendocino. Mendocino is 228 miles from Santa Cruz………well somewhat longer if you get on the coast road. A 6 hour trip going there; somewhere around 4 hrs coming back on the freeway. As it turned out Marcia’s bike was off the road so I followed her and Michelle who drove up in Marcia’s car. Being on the coast road and riding through red wood forests was really very spectacular. Redwood forests really are stunningly beautiful and I love riding through them. It was grand!!!! The pic on the left was taken just before we headed out of Santa Cruz……….yep, my hair is that long…..I like it and no one in California knows me with short hair so I thought I would "come out" and show the world.
Hair aside, we stayed at this very fab house on over 100 acres owned by 13 (?) women who bought it in the 70s. A couple of Marcia’s friends came from SF as well…….turns out Marcia and her pal can sing so we spent one night sitting on the deck (pic on left) while Marcia and Adrianna sung a whole bunch of songs…..it was an easy time, fun and full of laughter.
Nice turn of events the WHOLE family are coming to visit in December! While I live in a small cottage (see the earlier bike pic, the house in the pic is my house) the landlords have built something a little grander next door as their “holiday home”. They rent it out so I’ve rented it for early December - it will be fun and mum is going to New Mexico for xmas as well so I’m planning to go back to El Rancho ………. Thinking maybe the snow won’t be quite so big……..just thinking it, not sure I believe it and I really did/do love the snow.
Watched the first presidential debate – not convinced by McCain…..still think Obama needs to prove himself ………..didn’t like McCain pulling out the war record again…..didn’t like the edge of smarmy from Obama…….don’t get to vote anyway but have some interesting debates with my ride share about all of this! Okay so yes, I’m more Obama than McCain (well way more) – fascinating to live and work with Americans who actually get a say. I really do enjoy the culture, it is remarkably transparent….and complex.
Watching the response to the economic storm is equally fascinating. It's not something that is directly impacting me but it's pretty clear some people are really feeling the pain and there's going to be more pain to come for those facing foreclosure. Sad. In the end I am looking to buy a house somewhere and have a loose plan in my head about how I can make this happen - in the interim I am sitting back and watching how the market goes. I see from the papers that NZs feeling the pain as well - let's hope the bailout works!

2nd Anniversary

It has been two years since I immigrated……WOW. I really don’t think I knew this at the time but 1 Sept is also Labour Day in the US……..so I have the day off work! I am, honestly, startled to reflect back. The day I arrived in the US wasn’t all that I had expected nor hoped for, a year on I was, I think, equally bemused. But here I am, startlingly happy. I had some very clearly defined dreams for the US…….honestly all about me and it's all proving to be the grandest adventure. Somethings are exactly how I imagined and some things are different and bringing new and different adventures. I never did imagine living on the west coast…..I did think the East coast (NY) was where I was going. Silicon Valley? Well no, but a job that used my skills, yes always. I really am having a grand time and having the bike and my new home brings new grown up moments and a greater sense of being settled.

Two weekends back I did a road trip to Half Moon Bay. It's about 50miles north of Santa Cruz along a very scenic coast road. It was the first big ride I had taken with the windshield. What a difference that makes. Don't get nearly so tired and very comfortable to sit back and enjoy the scenary. I hadn't exactly planned to do the trip but was at the bank on the North side of town and decided I would like to spend some time on the coast, hit the road and saw the sign for Half Moon Bay. I'd travelled the road once with Michelle so I just decided to keep going. Turns out Half Moon Bay is this cute little tourist town full of galleries, a fab kitchen shop and an amazing antique store called "Half To Have It". I had quite a fun time ferreting around. No militaria but some fun stuff to look at. It was a great day and I also saw some great art along the way. Coming home I hooked in with a couple of other riders who set a nice pace. I really enjoyed the whole day.

During the week Marcia arrived back from LA so we headed down to the wharf to have some dinner. I decided to walk as I was feeling the need for exercise. The entire beach and wharf were engulfed in a sea fog - very funny to be out on the wharf and have no sense of there being an ocean out there somewhere. Rather than sit at the window we sat up at the bar and watched surfing videos taken along Santa Cruz beach.....somewhere. Marcia introduced me to Meyer Lemon Drop Martini's. Three down and I was glad I was walking home. I needed both the exercise and the fresh air. I had work the next morning so drunk gallons of water before falling into bed (worse for Marcia, she had a 6am flight out of San Fran!). It was fun though and the food was good......seafood of course.

This week we have a two and half day global program meeting. People flying in from all over the world. It will be interesting to meet some of these folks in person - given how well I've come to know their voices.

The power of grump

Culturally the single biggest hurdle I have dealt with here is that, sometimes, you just have to be grumpy and let people know you are! It is very un-british and very un-kiwi. It is a necessary survival mechanism. I have just spent two hours on the telephone with my internet provider who then informed me…..oops, bad modem installed, hey here’s a number you can call, gee only available four days a week and most definitely not this weekend…..kinda random……..sorry. So I took a breath and demanded to speak to the supervisor….well they had just billed me for the full month and taken my credit card number….that seemed to work fine. It seemed to me they took my credit card readily enough and now I had an erratic, limited service - not to mention the fact that come Monday if I don’t have internet I have to go into the office and, regardless, come Sunday if I don’t have it I have to go find it……’cos dealing with emails before Monday helps me survive the week! It takes a lot for me to get grumpy with anyone (seriously it is a deep personality flaw, I’ve never mastered spontaneous grumpy and don’t much hang on to real anger…..frustration and disappointment yes, anger no). Mostly I have to think about it and decide I am going to do it. It’s not spontaneous – it’s not a natural way of being. I resent having to do it because mostly I think people should behave and do the right thing, well…….they don’t. So grumpy muppet worked, or at least maybe worked. On Sunday they promise someone will arrive. I will lurk…..they better arrive or I will have to wind myself up again! On balance Kiwis are “passive aggressive”, we invite people to get it, we really are not as direct as the average American or European I might add (my pop psychology insight). There are merits in both but, of late, I’ve figured that throwing my toys from the cot is sometimes the only choice…..maybe, just maybe, it might work….

Of bikes and books

So this weekend the bike got all her finery. Best of all, because I had a little complaint with the bike shop, the sales guy came to my house in Santa Cruz (pictured) - a 1.5hr drive and fitted everything for free!!! Needless to say I did tip him......a very Amercian moment - complain, you get the service in a new and special way and you tip for the pleasure. Now she's looking like a cruiser, windshield, saddle bags, boards (rather than pegs) and a backrest.....that is not really because I think I want to ride two up so much as a convenient place to tie things to!
On Sunday I braved the 17 and headed to San Jose to visit some bike shops. Found the first one easily but then spent a CONSIDERABLE amount of time trying to find the second one. I think I crossed SJ at least twice and went down the same stretches of freeway many many times. The only reason I didn't give up was that I felt it was simply too moronic to ride all that way and then fail to complete the mission. Anyway as it turned out the illusive leather jacket (I am still wearing Karens) remains illusive so I have resorted to ordering online, seeing what I get and sending it back if it's wrong. I pretty much order everything online now or call it in - so easy and one way funny moment - I went to order a cover for the bike and had to call an 0800 number. The person who owns the business is a woman, has my name, spelt the same first and last with one extra letter in the middle name.......good grief, it was very funny!
I have also just finished reading Jodi Picoult's novel, Nineteen Minutes. Very interesting, and I quote "deals with the truth and consequences of a smalltown high-school shooting. Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offers readers a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes." This is a good read if anyone has ever pondered what may or may not have happened behind the scenes of a high school shooting. It's not a really big pychological insight just.......an interesting read. Highly recommend it.

Living a life

So I guess there would be no surprises - apart from working I've been out riding, enjoying the summer evenings and beautiful California countryside. The pic on the left was the sunset view from by deck a few nights back, I'm not sure the picture captures just how spectacular it was but thought it worth sharing.

Anyway back to the bike. Being mobile again means I have really started to be able to explore the Santa Cruz area - both the mountains and the coast. Last Wednesday Marcia and I headed into the mountains and did a fab ride through the redwood forest. Despite the picture, it wasn't actually raining or even vaguely damp - I raided this off someone elses blog to show what the road was like. We dropped down from the forest and headed along the coast road. On the left is a picture of the beach that forms part of Natural Bridges state park. Going from the mountains down to the coast in a ride of roughly an hour was pretty amazing.

On Saturday we rode through to Corralitos - maybe a 45min ride. It's this tiny little town that has an amazing reputation for sasuages! There's a local store with a great meat selection. The local "fair" was on and it was just like any small town fair in NZ - Scouts were out in force.....strangely (as these things go) there was also a break dancing demonstration. The pic on the left is mine and Marcia's bikes and on the right Marcia getting ready to ride. Before anyone thinks to ask - yes you do have to wear a helmet in California, yes I only ever wear a full face, no I don't ride sleeveless (I wear a leather jacket) and my riding boots.......lessons learnt long ago!

Anyway the weekend ride was fun as we drove through a lot of orchard country. A little sad too as Corralitos was hit baddly by the fires and we passed a lot of burnt out country where houses had been destoyed. Oddly too at times the entire surrounding area would be burnt out and houses untouched - kind of creepy.

Other things - works busy, as always. My new home is lovely and I am well settled in. Took the ex.room mate and her boyfriend out for dinner on Friday. Had a lovely evening and drunk some very good NZ Pinot Noir. Also watched some of the Flight of the Conchords. Haven't seen it all yet but was more than a little surprised that I could hear the accent - not at all unpleasant but strange!

Meet my new love

She's not wearing all her finery (still some accessories to come) but this weekend I picked up the bike! She is a Honda Shadow Aero 750 and, in what may seem startling, she isn't black! Actually the Aeros have a great retro look and I fell in love with this colour combination - there are other colours you can play with if you follow the link in the post (okay this is quite possibly something only I am interested in). You don't actually get to test ride here so I purchased her on the back of alot of research! Marcia drove me over to Sunnyvale (about 1.5hrs away) on her Yamaha VStar 1100, then she took me on a fanastic ride through the mountains/forest and down along the coast - about 1.5hrs. It was way more scenic and, quite possibly, less dodgy than the 17. This is the first brand new vehicle I have ever owned and so I have to break her in - which mostly involves making sure not to rev her to full throttle and change gears alot. It was the perfect first ride and I wouldn't have known how to do it. I'm very grateful to Marcia as following someone made it so much easier, I could concentrate on the bike.......not figuring out which turns to take. The motorcycle safety course really paid off. I had thought I might feel more nervous but felt relaxed and the bike is very easy to ride. Needless to say I am more than a little happy!
On Friday I moved into my new house. It's lovely, easy and bachy. It only took two carloads (although I felt that seemed like way more stuff than I should have!). I have made some effort and done some little homey things (new linen being one notable moment) and some other little things. Really I need Karen to come and visit - help me add some personal touches.......I get the theory, just not very good at implementation.
Decided not to get a TV but will go and get a monitor for the laptop so I can watch movies and online TV if I want to. Funny, in NZ I watched alot of TV.......I've just lost the moment here. I like being able to pick and choose online. I will have a room mate two nights a week. I've picked up Michelle's room mate, one of the professors from the University. Lives in San Fran but comes down here two days a week. It's a nice middle ground, not full time but some help with bills and easy company.
Work is still busy. Even though I was moving on Friday morning I still had the laptop on and was responding to calls. I've been getting some nice feedback so (while it is good for the ego) it has me feel I am able to do the job and be successful at it.
Michelle's back, briefly, before heading to LA. I've had dinner with her and Marcia a couple of times and will miss ME when she goes. Still LA isn't far and all going well Marcia and I will be able to make a bike trip down to see her before the summer is out.
Okay long post, I've been holding off waiting to share the bike.
PS - wow crap weather in NZ.......looking and sounding more like an US East Coast winter.......yikes!