Xmas, training and randomness

Okay so this is my second attempt to post this......blogger is a relatively easy site to use.....I guess that's relative to a user not screwing it up!
So in a moment of de juvu I will try to remember what I said last time starting with Xmas plans. Mum is flying over from NZ and her and I are going to Las Vegas for a week - this should be great fun. I managed to get a great deal, including flights and accommodation at the MGM Grand (right on the Strip for CSI followers), arriving Monday 21st and leaving on the 26th. As well as the varied and many "free" events I've booked us in to see Ka. For anyone that hasn't seen Cirque du Soleil in action it's a real must do - not only is the staging and costuming great but the athleticism of the performers is mindblowing. I've seen other shows including O (which is a water show) on a previous visit to Vegas and, way back when, under the bigtop in Auckland....although I can't remember the name of the show the standout in that one was a clown act, where I think for the first time I began to understand what clowing is actualy about. Going to other things of course (apart from play pokies, I'll let y'all know when we win), Hoover Dam, strip malls, maybe Grand Canyon (I've done that before, helicoptering to the bottom WOW, very cool). Other than that, randomness rules and we will see what the week brings.
I am off to an appointment to see about getting Lasik surgery so I can become a non-glasses wearing seeing eye person. I've been thinking about it for months and finally got my act together and made an appointment.
Mostly I've been training and now see my trainer three times a week....my new best friend, well that doesn't seem quite right given how hard he works me. Still I am loving it and the race is December 5, so not far away......gotta run faster......
Works quiet (which is both a blessing and a bore). Weathers changing, although it never gets really really cold here and it is lovely to have an autumn - I am sure Wellington only ever had summer and winter, okay maybe maybe a day or two of spring.

County Fair, adventuring and Untouchable Girls

Friday night Marcia, Michelle and I headed out to the Santa Cruz County Fair in Watsonville.  It was great fun and just what you would imagine, a very "All American" experience.  There was all the traditional rides, fair ground food and "competitions" for the largest squash, best apple pie and produce.  Arriving early evening we parked way way in back of the carpark and started walking only to have a tractor pulling a trailer (no hay bales sadly) pull up and ask us if we wanted a ride - sure we did, it was a fun way to start as we toured the carpark on the way to the fairground proper. They had a seal from the Monterey Aquarium there too and Marcia and Michelle each got a "kiss".  Personally I quite enjoyed watching the giant model train go around it's circuit....but then I would.  It was simple fun and we even did a couple of rides that had us all hysterically laughing, especially the one where we were hanging upside down for long periods of time.

Saturday I headed up to the city to go to a party with Dee.  We started in the Castro at a "tea dance".  I am not sure why they call it that, there is nothing "tea" like about it.  Eclectic crowd and all quite fun.  After that we headed out to the birthday party.  It was great fun, complete with mirror ball and lots and lots of dancing.  Met some nice folk and enjoyed myself.  Didn't get back to Santa Cruz until 2am so a little tired (I could have stayed in the city but waking up Sunday morning in my own bed seemed like a better option).  I drove us around SF and it still makes me giggle every time I remember that I really do live here and I am driving around San Francisco (does anyone remember The Streets of San Francisco?).

In a funny twist the roomie (Ruby) is at the Toronto Film Festival and was approached by organizers to interview the Topp Twins - she emailed Michelle and I and asked if she should....of course we both gave her a dozen reasons why, not to mention that we thought she would get a laugh out of it.  Now I see that their movie won best documentary - nice.

I'm still obsessively going to the gym and running.  I'm feeling fitter, losing weight and enjoying having a new goal.  I've set up a separate blog to track my progress.  It's only about running and training to run so not likely to be a "best seller" but a nice way for me to reflect back and chat about all things running (I'm even finding running buddies to talk to - although not run with, I like running alone and have no interest in pairing up, some people do but I prefer to go solo).

3 year anniversary and new obsessions

Well gee....I missed it! Sept 1 was my 3rd anniversary of being in the US.  I've always done something to "celebrate" and this year I just plain forgot.  I'll blame it on work, visitors and hmmm my own lack of attention.  

The last month flew by and was busy.  We survived our release remarkably well and, while I did do an all nighter, everything went in smoothly and we had limited issues to deal with - nice job. My team were fantastic.  We had a whole new set of tasks for this release and the team stepped up and did the job beautifully.  Q3 is a much bigger, more complicated release so this was a great practice run to see if our approach around the comms worked.  

Ruth and Karyn were here for four days which was grand - I didn't see alot of them (although they stayed at my house) but really enjoyed seeing them both when I could and felt very envious as they flew out for Barcelona.   

The gym is my new best friend.  I'm having a great time and feeling way fitter (even out running the streets and surprising myself with how good I feel - okay so I did have to battle through several weeks of aching muscles while my body adjusted).  I see my personal trainer twice a week and he keeps me honest!  I have signed on for a trail run in December, around the Marin Headlands just north of San Fran, which involves climbing to around 900ft (so 50% uphill) and includes spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay area in general (of course that all assumes I am physically conscious enough to notice!).  It's only 10k (she's says lightly) although there are others doing 20, 40 and 50km runs (sure next time, not).  It's great to have a goal and I'm determined not to make a complete ass of myself.  The only other thing I've done that was comparable was Round the Mountain and then I was 19 and had the added incentive of an Army Sergeant reminding me it was my body and I controlled it!

It's Labour Weekend here so I have been enjoying some quite time - been out on the bike down to Moss Landing to check out the Antique Shops.  When I ride I like to have a destination so always decide where I'll go and then enjoy the journey in anticipation of the destination.

Beautiful sunny day here today too - going to walk downtime and check out bookshops...then off to the gym then....who knows, it's a day for unstructured adventures.

New obsessions

So I took a breath, joined the gym and got a personal trainer!  I love it.  I see the trainer twice a week (shades of Army training I have to say) and "we" have chosen a mountain run to aim for in December.  The whole things been driven by a couple of things - got some inspiration from my visit to NZ (thanks G, inspiration has turned into obsession), I'm surrounded by 40 something year old women all deciding they need to run half marathons (very California) and work this year (fiscal year that is) isn't nearly as intense as it was last year when I was working anything from 50 to 65 hour weeks (and I'm not kidding....it was full on intense).  Woke up out of the work haze and realized I was doing very little beside work and hadn't been able to commit to any regular activity - now I'm totally committed.  Trainer gets how to motivate me too...."well 15 would be good, 20 excellent.....okay you can push out 5 more...." stubborn self comes into play and before I know it I have pushed out 5 more (quivering wreck of course but determined!).  

Spent last Saturday in San Fran with my friend Dee.  Went to Women's Will, Shakespeare in the park then for a two hour hike through one of the state parks near Berkley.  Lovely - not least of which because the fires that are just outside Santa Cruz have made the air quality here terrible (I'm kind of glad I get to commute to San Jose each day, just to get out of it).  Sunday Michelle and I headed down to the wharf for the Polynesian Festival, saw some very cute tots doing Hawaiian dances (hula isn't quite the word......!) as well as some of the more accomplished older dances.  It was fun, with lots of kitschy stuff for sale (none of which made it back to my house).

Works really interesting - it just keeps evolving and Michelle has reminded me that this is the longest time I have spent in a single role for maybe five or six years.  Economy's still tight but we did manage to keep all the team employed for Q1 (folk are still being laid off here, but it's slowing).

This week we did our final practice run for the big release next weekend (basically we turn off our quoting and ordering tool and they add new functionality.....takes 30 hours and it's Cisco wide so (while my part of the organization does monthly releases, this one involves the organization as a whole so a different set of compliance required).  While my team share shifts I get the midnight to go-live (when we bring the system back online) shift, so staying in San Jose.  I end up doing that shift because that one requires the most co-ordination (I wouldn't exactly call it a privilege of rank).  We send out messages throughout and then final messages when the system comes back online.  Then it gets even more intense as we manage any messages around the system not performing as expected and status......it's a full on time at work that often involves rapid turn around of information and juggling many balls at once (it's part of what keeps me interested).

Other than that looking to plan some other adventures and some holidays.

Keep'n on keep'on

Been an interesting busy few weeks.  I have joined the gym and got myself a personal trainer (feels not unlike Army training!).  Actually my first session with him is today but I've been at the gym and/or using the exercycle all week - get my body used to the idea that exercise is now at the center of it's world!

Michelle and I are off to see the King Tut exhibition on Sunday.  First we are visiting with Ruby and Mary in San Fran....Ruby being my roomie during the academic year.  Not sure if I mentioned this but Ruby was the person who "discovered" Whale Rider.  She was selecting movies for the Toronto Film Fesitival and came across a very raw tape of Whale Rider - decided it was a great pick and invited the film makers to the festival - that was the launch of Whale Rider into the world!  

I haven't seen my pal Dee since I got back from NZ, she lives in San Fran so we always have to be a little organized about catching up (she has the beach house down the coast that I've mentioned before).  Bonus - she's in town overnight so I'm going to head over there for dinner this evening.  

I'm counting down the days to our big quarterly release - these are the ones where I stay in San Jose, get not much sleep and lots of stress (love it!).  I don't think it's going to be as painful as March (well I'm hoping not) and I have more of my people involved this time so I'm not working all the nightshifts.  Sadly it's the exact time Ruth and Karyn are visiting so I'm not going to see alot of them (and if things don't go well.....even less than I am planning!). 

Back in Santa Cruz

My childcare responsibilities are over....I'll miss them.  It was quite big to be looking after five live in cats (plus one visitor) and a dog for two weeks - there are alot of logistics and a lot of personalities to deal with.  In the end we settled into a very pleasant routine and it was lovely to have pets around.  The neighborhood  I stayed in was very pretty too. Established by a civil war general it's this little pocket of colonial type housing in downtown San Jose - everyone knows everyone and they all know each others pets!  Best part was a little cluster of eateries 5mins walk away including Naglieeparkgarage.  This is a clever (and it looks like) lucrative restaurant.  It really is an old converted garage that has great out door seating.  They serve beer in jars and have a really really simple menu of good food (can't beat the trout!). Every Thursday they have live music and the place is jammed, they also play movies on an outdoor screen (not sure when that starts up).  Anyway it's a very popular local haunt, I loved it!  It's prompted me to think about where I might buy a house (actually I'm looking at a condo) and I'm seriously thinking that I'd like to buy in Capitola (south of Santa Cruz and still on the coast).  This is a very cute village that offers good restaurants, fab beach and affordable condo living.  Santa Cruz really is just a little too nutty/hippy for me.  I figure if I get something that isn't too expensive I can live in it for a while then if I want/need to move I can keep it and rent it out (or have it as my "beach house".  All quite possible as I'm saving and do/will have a good deposit.

Work is in the calm before the storm - we have a major quarterly release coming up in August, that's always very intense and (to date) has lead to those early early morning phone calls.  I've started to talk to my boss about "where next" in a career sense.  Not planning any big moves right now just want to have a sense of possibilities I should be thinking about when the economy starts to turn.  I've taken on wider responsibilities at work so I'm still learning - I'm still not convinced I'm an operations girl though, but that's the job for now!  My boss is fab, she gets that I'm way more interested in the business side so is happily coaching me.

Going to join the gym today (yep finally decided it was time to get into regular exercise - walking the dog twice a day turned into a nice routine).  Guess I also need to gear myself up to the return to the daily commute, it was lovely to be 10mins from work and be able to ride the bike everyday - still there is always a tradeoff somewhere and it's not like I'm not spoilt for choice!

Way to do it!

The video of a Minnesota couple who boogied down a church aisle with their wedding party to the surprise of their guests is a hit on YouTube.
This made me smile for quite a long time!
Kevin Heinz and Jillian Peterson, their seven bridesmaids, five groomsmen and four ushers danced down the aisle to the Chris Brown song "Forever" before the couple exchanged vows June 20 in St. Paul.

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!).