Nashville, new job and relocating

Been a busy few weeks.  Clearly I survived Nashville!  The run was tough, 

hot and hilly…….I really slogged it out.  Still came out in the top 25% for age and gender (these things matter……to me, at least) BUT took me over two hours.  Around mile two I knew it was going to be ugly and I never found the love.  That’s a lot of miles of feeling unloved I have to say.  Still I loved Nashville.  Around 34,000 people run in this race so the place was humming and the streets lined with spectators.  A pending thunderstorm meant organizers had to close the course earlier than anticipated so folks running the marathon who didn’t hit mile 11 within 2hrs 30mins got diverted to the half marathon.  Can’t imagine how devastating it would be to be running your first marathon and not be able to finish.  One very cool story……well two. The woman who won the half didn’t know it started 15 mins earlier than originally announced (once again trying to make sure folk weren’t on the course when the storm hit) – she was in the bathroom cue when the start gun went.  She raced out of the cue, jumped the fence onto the course (before the start line so her time was recorded) and sprinted to catch the lead runners…..she was just as shocked as everyone that she won!  Another woman who was running her first marathon got turned back to go to the finish line at a couple miles short of her being able to complete the full 26.2 miles so she crossed the finish line and found some guy with a Garmin gps watch and he ran around the race track with her until she had completed the full distance….way to go!

Saturday evening of the race I had dinner with the work pals family (having slept on her couch the night before we flew out of San Jose for Nashville……..6am 2hr flight to Denver then change planes for a further 2hr flight to Nashville).  Tried fried green tomatoes, yum and had several glasses of the most divine red wine (or maybe it’s just that I drink so seldom these days that all wine tastes good).

As well as the runners expo I went to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  This was really interesting……..got to see Elvis’s gold plated car……..ugly…..but gold nonetheless. 

I love this view on the right, the building in front was dated early 1800s, no prizes for guessing the date for the one in back.  This was very representative of Nashville architecture, a real mix.

On another note…….I have a new job.  Yuh it’s that time again.  I’m heading off into management consulting land going to work for Accenture as a manager.  Long story short it’s time for me to make a big career change, this is it!  Most likely I’ll travel 4 days a week and will, ultimately, be back to running teams.  Accenture is huge (170,000 employees globally) and has a fantastic learning culture.  They have their own training school just outside Chicago and and and – it’s a fantastic opportunity and if I can do a good job opens up many doors.  I almost can’t believe it, this is why I came to the US!  If I can do this well I will have the opportunity to work on a huge number of different projects, continue to work with fantastically capable, smart people and across a range of different organizations.  It’s exciting and scary.

Which also leads me to the other change – I am moving into San Fran.  Need to be closer to the home office and the airport.  I think I’ve found a very cool roomie who also has a dog!  She currently lives in Santa Cruz and is a lecturer at the University – she’s keen to move into San Fran so after my NZ visit we are going to start to look around for a place.  I think we will make a good team and it will be good to live with someone if I am travelling. 

In between all that I fly out for NZ on May 5 for 2.5 weeks......so as you can tell…….not much happening……..

Proof.....kind of

Santa Cruz half marathon, by Wilder Ranch......ummmm can't see my number, hidden, wrong colour, shouldn't be running with the big kids.....trainer made me do it, honest!

Hmmm not sure, mile 6 (9.6 km) maybe, not quite half way, windy but not unmanageable, well not a head wind at this point.  No rain, but a mighty stormy sea, rain and headwind came later!

Seriously....why would anyone do this?

Swine Smash - meat based cocktails

Santa Cruz Half, Nashville and Visiting NZ

Alright finally getting around to posting about the Santa Cruz Half.  Woke up to an overcast cold day with the promise of rain!  So no question that I would be wearing a jacket to run in, which was fortunate because as it turns out the colour of the numbers for the half versus the 10k was different and I wasn't actually registered for the half (registration was full but I ran it anyway).  Even though the weather was bad around 3.5 thousand people showed up on the day (pic on the left is the teeshirt logo, I thought it was kind of quirky and creative, I like it).  Cute at the start, they read out the places people were from (other than the US).  Turns out Australia, Sweden, Germany and New Zealand....couldn't tell if there were other folks there so might only have been me!  The course is really scenic taking you along the Coast and then out to Wilder Ranch (which I've mentioned before) - only this time we ran the coastal track, rather than the hill.  The weather being rough meant the sea was spectacular.  The last 4 miles were hellishly windy and the last mile it rained.  Somewhat meanly, I thought, we finished with a short beach run....very short but sand no less!  It really was a great race and I'd love to do it when the weather was fine too.  Of course now I realize if I ran that course from my house that would make for a very nice 15/16 mile run...between now and NY it's all about building miles.  
I was good and only looked at my watch for distance, not pace....unbelievably my chip time came in at 1hr 48mins....I find this very hard to believe but keep getting told "the chip don't lie".  So if it is true I would have been around 16th for my age group in a filed of 380ish.  Very credible but a little freakish.  Case, of course, was beside himself with it all.
Nashville is next weekend.  It will be very very different....hot for a start.  Around 20 degrees (please let it be at least that "cool"...my running buddy tells me temperatures have been around 26 for the last two weeks).  Oh and for the record I do live my life in fahrenheit and miles these days but translating to make it easier for the NZ folk.  Nashville will also have thousands more runners and, of course, bands every 2 miles or so.  They start the race in waves as well so this will be my first time doing something similar to the NY marathon.  Now I am staying the extra day I am even more excited to be able to do some additional sightseeing.  I am just going to focus on clocking the miles, enjoying the run and the music.  I am taking my i-pod just in case I don't like all the distraction - head off into my own country music concert.

Because I know just how dull all this running/marathon chatter can get for those that aren't interested I've attached a pick of my latest purchase.  If you pop it open you'll see the dude on the left is just yapping on marathon, marathon, marathon....guy on the right speaks for itself!  On the back it references the NY Marathon and I did get a running cap which mentions training for the marathon....going to wear that in Nashville as it is white so might offer some protection from the evil sun .... which is most welcome to be in attendance after the race, just not during!
NZ trip is all booked, including some catchups (although not all of them....I am starting to feel organized out).  Tripping into Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown, back to Wellington then last few days in Auckland. 2.5 weeks all up, which is longer than last year so I am making the most of it.  Queenstown is on the list as I want to go and stay at Karen and Brice's house, they were building when I was living with them on the Ranch so I feel like I know it but have only seen pictures.  It will also be nice to have some downtime...not to mention the Ledge Bungy overlooking Queenstown (this has been on my bucket list for along time now, the last time I had the opportunity the darn thing was closed....better not be this time!).

Changing plans and expensive teeshirts

Tomorrow I had planned to run the Santa Cruz 10k - I'd enrolled months ago and with Nashville on the 24th it seemed like a good idea.  On Wednesday Case announces that he thinks I should just run the half........so it is.  Although registation is full for the half I am just going to keep running at the turnaround point.  Seems hillarious to me that I've gone from barely being able to run 3miles to running two half marathons in a month.  I'm not going to run it for a personal best (although some have their doubts given, what appears to be,  my deeply internalized competitive streak) but just clock the miles......honest, I'll really try to suppress the urge to look at my watch too often.  It's a beautiful run along the coast but weathers suddenly gone all sad again so it might be a wet one - that could be kind of fun too.
I've also had to add an additional day to my Nashville trip.  Airline called to say I either flew out at 5am on the Sunday after the race or next best time was 3pm Monday.....ummm let me think about that for two seconds!  Of course adding a day adds a days accommodation.....this race really has proven to be very expensive (and all I get is a teeshirt!).  But then it is all about country music and Nashville!!!  On the upside I do get extra time in Nashville to do things other than run.  Lila and her family have invited me to dinner on the Saturday night then I'll use Sunday/Monday to do the touristy things.  I also think the extra day off work will be refreshing so while I sound a little whiny this is going to be one of those memorable moments that make for good story telling, particularly as no one I know likes country music like I do.

As at noon Wednesday April 7 EST

It's real.......this is the official official last word....they drew the lottery today - charity runners have automatic entry but still freaky to actually see it here, made my stomach lurch a little.....entry number 548409/26.2 miles/42.1km/$2620 to raise - it's all just numbers, really, isn't it?

Way to market and not.....

I don't think this quite makes it into the factoid bucket but was most amused to get the latest promotional material in the mail for the NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights) annual fundraising Anniversary Party.  You can buy one ticket or lots of 2, 4 and 10.  Why was I amused? The pitch for:

• 10 tickets: Couldn't decide which one of your exes to invite? Invite them all...and before anyone decides to get smart arse about it, no this was not specifically designed for me!
• 4 tickets: Skip a threesome, have a foursome! 

2 and 1 tickets wasn't wildly interesting - in fact the one for a single ticket was so wildly dull I thought it was a missed opportunity: Buy a single ticket or treat your family and friends to a night out on the town. As a single girl nothing about that sounded wildly fun!!!!  At 90 bucks a ticket this isn't a cheap night btw.  I've been to these dances for the last two years, not sure if I'll go this time and the sales pitch (or lack there of) isn't helping sway me!

Thinking outloud

So I'm kind of bored - shouldn't be, it's quarter end so lots of busyness at work, couple of staff "challenges", personal trainer twice a week, acupuncture once a week, running running running AND organizing NZ adventures for May.....okay bored is an overstatement, but I have to justify my current little obsession - noticing random, largely irrelevant factoids.  This weeks batch:

• President Obama used 22 pens to sign the health care reform bill into law. They are being given as gifts to some special folks who helped get the bill passed
• Oscar winners live, on average, 4 years longer than nominees who don't win.  Must be true the NY Times said so
• Muscle is not heavier than fat, it's all about density and volume (well maybe everyone knew this but I had in my mind muscle weighs more than fat, nope, wrong and duh, when I think about it of course it's wrong a pound of fat = a pound of muscle, cos it's all a pound - I hate it when I am stupid)
• The September 2007 issue of Vogue weighed a record breaking 5+lbs and was 840 pages.  I know this because I watched The September Issue which documented the making of the magazine by following editor-in-chief Anna Wintour (also known as Nuclear Wintour, because she is so cold and distant with people.....my 5th factoid)

While I fear that sharing this doesn't make me more interesting to anyone else it does, in reality, keep me hugely entertained and The September Issue was worth watching!

My year of books....

This year I decided that if someone recommended a book and it sounded okay I would read it.....it's leading me down some very interesting pathes.  One of the joys of the Kindle is that you can download a sample chapter, so when someone recommends a book I can, if it's available electronically, at least check it out.
This has lead me to some interesting books.  The Professor and Other Writings is a series of essays from a Stanford University Professor described as a "cultural scholar and essayist".  Not at all sure what that means but the essays themselves are very entertaining.  Given they are written in biography form she's more than willing to share details of her life.  Best of all (and most necessary) the Kindle has a cool function where I can look up all those words I don't understand.....given she teaches 18th Century English Literature this function comes in handy every other page!
One of the best reads so far has to be Don't Stop the Carnival. Written in 1965  "It's the story of Norman Paperman, a New York press agent who, facing the onset of middle age, runs away to a Caribbean island to reinvetn himself as a hotel keeper".  It sounds awful doesn't it?  It wasn't it was a great read and very well written.
I succumbed to the Twilight Saga too. Vampires are not usually my thing but I have and am really enjoying it.  It's really a love story focused on human's, vampires and warewolves.  Nice easy, entertaining read.
Here's another one I really enjoyed - Long Way Down.  It's about two guys motorcycling from Scotland to South Africa (follows on from the movie Long Way Round).  It's a fab story about perservarance and getting outside your comfort zone.
My heaviest tombe to date has to be Cultural Amnesia it's written by Clive James.  It's a compendium of 110 biographical essays of a whole bunch of different people (artists, politicians and intellectuals). This one I dip in and out of - it's a fascinating read.
The next two I picked up last year but are so worth mentioning.
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise is a great read.  It's written by a woman who used to be the NY Times food critic.  It tells the story of how she used to dress in disguise and go out to various restaurants, with varying results, depending on how she looked.  I loved the way she describes some of the food as well.
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an all Night Runner - this, folks was the inspiration to run a marathon.  I'll say no more, check it out.
So there you have it, some proof that I do more than work, run and go to the gym!

Frog Fail

Not something you see everyday.

Old Friends and Visiting NZ

Rachel has been here for a week and it's been a lovely visit. In an unexpected turn of events it just so happened that while here she has had her 40th birthday! Low key affair with Rachel, Michelle and I having dinner at mine (ummm Rachel cooked, was that a bad thing?). Best of all Michelle organized the famous Princess Cake, which proved to be a hit. Over the week we have had lots of laughs and it's been a remarkably easy time. I've still had to go to work and did see Case and my acupuncturists (well crossing the finish line in NY won't happen just because I want it to.....and Rachel was very gracious about it, given we haven't had a lot of time together).

I did manage to, for the first time, schmack myself up in training. I missed the box when I went to do a box jump and gave myself a nasty shin scrap.....ow ow ow. Of course it was at the beginning of the session so I sucked it up and told Case we could keep going (it was my second jump and I had another three sets of 25 to go - no point dwelling on it, job to be done). Best of all was coming home and Rachel having some magic gel to put on it - my personal bathroom cabinet is a little light on these things!
Last week I decided I needed a break and, given how the work front is going, think that if I am going to visit in NZ it needs to be sooner rather than later. I'm heading back for 2.5 weeks in May. Auckland and Wellington of course and four days in Queenstown. Finally going to visit Karen and Brice's - really looking forward to that as I want to bungee off the platform at the top of the gondola. It would also be nice if it didn't rain the entire time I was in NZ (unlike last year) so May seems a good time. Honestly I am so tired I'd love to have a break in April but I have the Nashville half marathon on the 23rd. I really am looking forward to that!!!!
Despite our collective best efforts and the release having gone remarkably well, we are still in the final stages so I am co-ordinating daily messages.....and was a little startled to be reminded that the distribution includes a number of very senior executives, so the fact that I am over it shouldn't be confused with the visibility the messages have.
On another note, may have found a prospective room mate when/if I make the move to San Francisco. Waiting for a few other things to fall into place but think my time in Santa Cruz is done. Nothing to happen in the next two months but could move July/August....so will patiently wait to see how things fall.

Voice is back, release is done and visitors

My voice arrived back on Sunday so my near silent vigil lasted two days....much to the delight of my work colleagues. It really was the oddest thing. It's hard enough to be understood at the best of times (what accent?) without the added complication of being the horse whisperer. The room service guy told me he thought I was playing a joke on him, most embarrassed when he delivered to the room and realized I really couldn't speak. I gave him a tip anyway, he wasn't rude so much as giggly on the phone! The release has gone fine, with a few odd moments. I'm over it though, been there, done it, got the medal etc etc etc. I did get to watch movies in the hotel, which was nice - small compensation for only getting two hours sleep. Jill did arrive into the office at 2am with coffee and a Hershey bar - would I usually eat a Hershey bar at 2am (or any other time for that matter) or have a very strong black coffee at that hour???? No. Did I? Hell yes....it was soooooo boring I had to fill the time, it's not like I could chat to anyone - my voice didn't start to come back until later in the day. Hershey's bar....I had eaters remorse.
This weekend Rachel Rose comes to visit! I haven't seen Rachel (beyond Skype) for maybe 7 years!!!! We were at University together and, well, have a history (I know Rachel reads the blog so shall say no more). Rachel's now a buddhist nun and, frankly, looks fabulous in her robes. I think there is a certain irony in my now having long hair while Rachel has none.... It will be lovely to see her and she knows Michelle as well (well at one point we were all at University together) so going to be quite the kiwi reunion. I still have to work, which is a bummer, but might see if I can swing an "at home" day so we can hang out together some (even if she is reading a book while I'm on a call!).

Speechless....literally

No voice......reduced to a whisper, the "almost cold" has taken the words right out of my mouth. I am sure it's a pleasure for some but a little awkward given I am in communications and working this weekend. Oh well, lesson in patience I guess......other people's.

Almost colds and working life

All this healthy living has resulted in the "almost" cold! Everyone around me has been crushed by this hideous cold that's been going around (and at least two got stomach flu). I'm so full of vitamin C and whatever mysteries lurk in the chinese herbs that I seem to have some low level cold that doesn't amount to anything beyond being tired and having a gravelly voice. Oh well, not complaining so much as explaining.
Big release is this weekend ..... I'm so bored with it all. Spent the last few days "explaining", "repeating" and "revisiting" what we have been doing for two years! Off to stay in San Jose for Saturday night. One of my peeps is going to come onsite with me for the 11pm - 10am shift. Wants to see how it all runs - it will be a moment of disillusionment (and all my secrets revealed) but she has promised to bring "real" coffee, as I'm refusing to drink the coloured water that is usually available.
Michelle has a new job in LA (yay Michelle!!!) and we've just been out having a little celebration. I am also thinking about moving into San Fran. Santa Cruz feels a little over for me - need to move on to the next thing. It's been lovely living here but it's not really my town. Mostly I will miss my rideshare, we've been commuting four days a week for two years now - hard to believe. I will also have to give up Case, but he has finally got into his nursing course, although doesn't start until January next year. Really I just think somethings are going to change, seems inevitable given how my life runs.

Doin it for Charity - ING NYC Marathon 2010

I can't quite believe I've signed up for this, but I have. November 7, 2010 I'm hitting the road and running for charity in the NYC Marathon. Makes me feel nervous just typing this. I decided I wanted to run the marathon before my Marin race last year and, as it moved closer to putting in my entry, I found out more about options for entry. I started reading up about other people's experience of the marathon and realized that it would, indeed, be very cool to do it for a charity. The main charity is Team for Kids, which fights childhood obesity. You can read more about it if you check out my page, you can also make a donation if you want to. Basically I've pledged the full amount ($2.6k) and then I get to go and beg money from folks. I've never raised money for charity before - always having written cheques. Given I'm not much of a "joiner" it's novel for me to land into a community of folks all with the same goal in mind....running the marathon and raising money for TFKs. I figure it means I'll have some people to hangout with on the day too (unless I can lure some buddies to NY to hangout with the 2 million other folk who line the roads and watch!). I'm not sure exactly how many people TFKs aim to enroll but last year they got fully subscribed. It's early days and I think there are less than 100 of us at the moment. I am so freaky nervous/excited about it that I've already booked my accommodation! ING negotiated discounted rates but it's still ridiculously expensive to stay in NYC, but I figure if I'm going to run then where else would you want to stay but in Manhattan?

Groundhog day

It's quarterly release time, which means late nights and lots of grumping at people while we prepare for a Cisco wide IT release that sees all our systems go down globally. This time around we've added some new "tools" to our box of tricks so it's been beyond painful to get the information we need and we've had to engage with a whole new set of people. Best moment so far is when I contact someone who is funded to provide support to our project team and supposed to be my go-to guy when I have a problem:

Idiot boy to me: "okay well Jody if you can set up a meeting and invite ...."

Me to idiot boy: "I'm not your executive assistant, if you think you need a meeting you set it up, I'm escalating the issue to you to fix it and this is a courtesy call before I send the email letting everyone know that's what I've done. If you think it requires a meeting go and organize it yourself."

All this at midnight I might add and it didn't quite end there but enough to say HE did set up the meeting and I got a very conciliatory message from him. He also helped solve my problem (which was his job) - none of which excuses him from thinking I'm here to organize his meetings. I don't suppose he will ask again.
On a more "only in America" note. My landlords have replaced their very nearly new couch with a new couch and want to swap out my very old couch for the very nearly new one. All fine and dandy but in order to get the new couch through the front door they have to take off the door frame.....true story. They seem very happy to do it and I am very happy to have a new couch - nobody seemed at all phased at the logistics so I just nodded, smiled and said having a new couch would be nice, thanks. What are we doing with the old couch? Well putting it on the street of course, whatelse?

Chicago and life in general

Michelle and I had a great time in Chicago! While temperatures were below freezing, each day had clear blue skys and snow on the ground....quite a change from California. The Swissotel, where we stayed, was very near to downtown and not far from Millennium Park where we went to visit the bean. Delightfully when we went to use the hotel gym we discovered it had spectacular views both over Michigan Lake and downtown - making the whole treadmill thing way less tedious. Michelle's panel went very well and her presentation was a hit (pix below on the right is the post presso cocktail). It was interesting to hear the other presenters as well and I did manage to get in for free as nobody seemed to be checking! We were both pretty exhausted so spent the following day lounging around the hotel and generally lapping up the luxury.

Friday we went out for dinner and to a bar and Saturday we wandered around town.  I concluded I could very happily live in Chicago!  We stumbled across the Scuba Team as we were out walking (see pic below).  Given the temperatures my pick is you'd be long frozen to death before they dragged you out of the river, but then I guess that's not really the point is it.........
I am back into training with Case and have now extended my health regime to include not only acupuncture but chinese herbs.  Some special concoction he's put together to help with hydration etc etc etc.  Anyway, in my usual fashion I've happily said "sure, lets try that" and he's smart enough to know I really really don't need to know what each ingredient is, so much as enjoy the ride.  
Biggest change probably is that I have decided not to apply for my job at Cisco.  Had an epiphany and realized I'd done the job, why would I keep

doing it (for less money I might add) and I was aiming too low.....I need to be braver about the next role I go into - think bigger.  This has all been encouraged by people I've been talking to about what I should do next.  Boss at Cisco has been grand about it - she'd like to keep me as long as she can and is extending my role into a new area, although I think there are some better opportunities emerging elsewhere.  I guess nobody is surprised to read this.  It's been nearly three years at Cisco, about the time I always get itchy feet and look to make a change.  If I am really clever I will land a role that works to that timetable....they are out there, I just have to get one!

I did manage to watch Precious - now I get what people are raving about.  I had dreaded that it would be much like the usual hollywood/American tale - struggling kid in dire circumstances, heroic committed adult saves the day - it wasn't, it really is far grittier and deals with some very taboo subjects.

I'd recommend it, not when you are feeling down though, any sense of optimism you are left with is tenuous at best!

Done and dusted

Beautiful day, clear blue sky, cool and perfect.....if one feels the need to run 21ks!  It was lovely, 10000 people entered in the combined half marathon and 5km run (funny that they talk about the metric 5 and 10ks).  Looking at the results 6080 finished the half (7000 entered the half with 3372 women). Results: 1:59, overall placing 2457 and 863 among the women, age group placing 127 (but then I can't seem to figure how many women were in my age group!).  I'm well puffed up coming in under two hours. I gotta say the last mile hurt!!!  Official photos i.e. the sweaty shots posted sometime this week.  In the meantime.....me and Michelle the night before the race.

It's fair to say we had a different approach to
preparation but Michelle did get up to catch the shuttle with me at 630am for the 8am start....oh and she did know the most fab Korean restaurant we could go to for dinner.....we stayed in Japan Town so we were surrounded by the most devine eateries.  Second shot before

the start - I was cold so spent sometime draped in Michelle's very stylie jacket, trying to warm up, or at least not have my lips turn blue!  Michelle met me at the end (having gone on her own little marathon from the start line!).  Post the event we hailed a taxi (I so love that in America you can just raise your arm and not have to hike to some taxi stand and get in a que ......) headed back to the hotel where I got to have a long soak.  Along the way we had a vintage American moment.  The taxi driver was as startled as we were and took photos on his i-phone.  Never pays to question really, just to enjoy the moment.  Showered checked out we 

went out for a very lovely lunch. I'm not one for taking photos of food but I'd so earned this meal....and the beer was mine, all mine.

Then off to a local girlie bar to watch the Superbowl.  Home by 7pm, not a bad days work.

Countdown, tennis and Chicago

Less than 24hrs to go and I have that slightly sickly feeling....wondering why I am deciding that running 13.1 miles, possibly in the rain, is a good idea!  Then I imagine finishing at least close to my target time and feel all happy and excited again. Besides which, this is a warmup for Nashville!  Michelle and I head up to the city this afternoon, staying in a very nice hotel that offers a shuttle to the start line in the morning (cheap rates for racers so way better option that driving up from Santa Cruz at 5am in the morning).  Even so with 10000 people running this will most likely mean an early start...I'm not sure I told Michelle exactly  how early.  After the race Michelle and I are heading off to a bar to watch the Superbowl - at which point I will down a beer or a Bloodymary and most likely fall over (yes she is driving).
We fly to Chicago on Thursday.  On Wednesday night we are staying in San Jose and going to the SAP Open Tennis Tournament to watch a singles match with Andy Roddick and Fernando Verdasco.  Why?  Ummm well the University had courtside tickets and there is a small group going and, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time and and and......we are catching some god awful flight the next morning (like 615am) so staying in San Jose makes sense.  Michelle gives her paper  on Civilising Images: Violence and the Visual Interpellation of Maori Women" at the visual arts conference that afternoon (long day for her) then we get to play. If we can find interesting stuff we might go to some of the other presentations as well.  As geeky as it sounds the conference itself is actually quite a fun thing for me - this is all wildly outside my corporate life, so fascinating insight into other worlds.  Other than that we are planning to go dancing, see the sights and generally kick back and relax.

Don't Ask Don't Tell

I can't embed this and I'm not sure how long it will stay where it is but watch this: http://www.ktvu.com/video/22418151/index.html, put Alameda: Local Naval Commander Reflects on Senate Hearings in the search box and it will come up as the first item on the list, video will play from there (I hope!). Zoe is a key player in fighting Don't Ask Don't Tell and is the co-chair of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.  She is part of the change team I work in at Cisco (she is also a keen runner so we have become fast friends.....even if she can run faster than I can!).  Given my passion for all things military and interest in Don't Ask Don't Tell it's been amazing to meet her and hear about the work/lobbying she is doing for SLDN.  She's a frequent media commentator but these particular Hearings are unprecedented......it's not if they remove the ban, it's when.