My Flights Suck

Guess what? Today is the second heaviest travel day in the U.S. - the busiest day is Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I forgot about that. The airports are crazy crowded. And do I have a nice San Francsico to Stockholm flight? Nooooo. That would be too easy. I am going San Francisco to Chicago to Amsterdam to Stockholm. Since I got these tickets at the last minute, all the direct flights were sold out. This is the best the corporate travel desk could do.

I hope I can get some sleep on the flights. Need to work as soon as I hit the ground. Fortunately the first day of work is pretty lightweight. My job consists of two things, I fix bugs and I make things work - sometimes by going to a customer's office and figuring out what they are doing wrong. Sometimes, making things work is as simple as showing up - customers get cranky and just need to see the guy from HQ - to yell at him for a while. I take it, and then make them feel better. In the office, we call this the "group hug" visit. That's what I'm doing in Stockholm - visiting a cranky customer to calm them down.

Thanksgiving

Enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Liz’s down in Morgan Hill. Liz is Lynn’s boss from work, and she is a great cook. (For new readers Lynn is my BFF and drinking buddy). We had all the standard Thanksgiving fare – turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. But there was also turkey long rice, pork adobo, lup chong, lumpia, haupia, and a bunch of other filipino food that I can’t remember what it was. Liz is half Filipino and half every other race that has mixed together in Hawaii. She is from Hawaii too – it’s amazing how the Hawaii folks stick together even after relocating to the mainland. Her husband Tom is Jewish, I think from New York.

I brought 2 bottles of red that I thought would go well with Turkey. An '04 Ravenswood Shiraz and an '03 Sokol Blosser Oregon Pinot Noir – nothing extravagant and quite accessible wines (that means even non wine snobs can enjoy them).

Lynn brought her sister Stacey who is visiting from L.A. She’s a really cute kid. She is going to USC getting an advanced degree – masters if I recall correctly - somehow related to medicine. There was quite a crowd of other Hawaii exports there as well. We played a rousing game of "What high-school you went?" It’s a Hawaii thing.

The food, wine, and conversation were all wonderful. Someone brought a DVD of a recent University of Hawaii football home game, they are rarely televised here. This was shown on Tom’s new ginormous plasma TV. I am generally bored by non-participation sports, so I stayed in the kitchen and helped Liz clean up and chatted with Stacey. She didn’t care for the wine I brought, but opted for after dinner white zinfandel. After the game the crowd thinned. Tom, always the generous host, brought out a very nice single malt scotch that he had been given as a gift last Christmas. Tom doesn’t drink – but he knows that I do. It was an Oban, 14 years old, not too peaty, and really smooth and flavorful. I had a couple of glasses, neat.

The party was nearly over with Jim (Lynn's other half), Lynn, Stacey and myself left as the guests. We sat in the family room discussing work, sports, politics, the weather in Mililani and such. As it was time to leave Tom asked if I was OK to drive – although I wasn’t really drunk, the truth was it would have been a bad idea. Jim offered to take me home with him. "We have the guest bed," he said "I don’t think Stacey would mind sharing." I never know what to say to things like that. To be honest, the thought had crossed my mind (was it obvious?), but this wasn’t how I envisioned going about it. I really wanted to look at Stacey, but turned to Lynn instead. She made a slight – almost imperceptible - roll of her eyes. Liz broke an uncomfortable silence by offering me a room. "You’re welcome to stay here, we have plenty of room." They have a 5 bedroom house and there are just the two of them living there. I accepted Liz’s offer and took their guest bed.

Liz and Tom have an amazing relationship. They have been married about 10 years and even from a distance you can tell that it is still fresh. They are genuinely best friends and lovers. I have seen them disagree, but never be disagreeable to each other. Perhaps they save that for when they are alone, I don’t know. If I ever get married I’d like to have a home like theirs.

I woke up a bit before 6:00 on Friday with a pounding headache and a mouth that felt like a rodent had crawled in and slept there. (OK, maybe I was drunk) I took a shower and poked around the bathroom for some aspirin. I couldn’t find any. I changed into my clean clothes. I keep a set in the truck, along with a toothbrush, just for events like this. I made a mental note to add aspirin to my overnight kit. The headache was bad enough that I decided to head out to the local Safeway to get some aspirin. I also picked up some breakfast. Some fresh thyme, chives, and tarragon, a dozen eggs, some brie cheese and black forest ham. I couldn’t remember if Liz has coffee, I don’t recall her drinking it at the office. So I also got a pound of Starbucks and a bag of oranges.

I went back to Liz’s house and made the coffee and squeezed some oranges. I sat and read the San Jose Merc and had a chat with buster until signs of life started to emanate from upstairs. Buster is their pet ferret that they keep in a cage in the family room.

Liz came down first. "Good morning! I see you found the coffee maker." I offered her a cup and some orange juice. I started to chop up the herbs for omelets and began heating a frying pan I found in the kitchen. Liz protested, "Stop, you can’t cook breakfast. I’m still full from last night." I looked at her and could tell that she didn’t mean it. "Your mouth says no but your eyes say yes." She laughed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Have you ever had pork adobo for breakfast?" she asked. "We’ve got plenty."

"Thanks, but I’m partial to eggs in the morning." I really do love a brie cheese omelet. I made three and Tom was down by the time the third was done. Tom made exaggerated "mmm" sounds while eating. I love it when people do that - when they are eating my cooking. When he finished his fresh squeezed OJ he jokingly asked if I’d move in. "That’s the best offer I’ve had all week." I replied, "But the commute would be a bear from down here."

I headed back home at about 10. Scott (my housemate) had gone to visit his family in Yakima so he wasn’t home. Jason (my other housemate) was out somewhere but I didn’t know where. I sat on my bed and looked around at my room, my head still pounding. I had moved in more than six months ago and half my stuff was still in boxes. This isn’t what I had in mind for a bachelor pad. I went to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. When I got there I saw that Jason had left an empty can of chili on the kitchen counter and some dirty dishes in the sink. Hell of a thanksgiving dinner.

I suddenly felt terrible for him.

On the Road Again...

I wasn't really intending to make this a travel blog. But it seems to be turning out that way.

Just got notice from the boss-man (that's Dave) that due to my hard work and dedication (well, those are my words, not his) I get an all expense paid trip to Europe. Yes, Stockholm, London, and Munich. 3 Cities in 7 days. Get ready for the joy of business travel. I leave Sunday.

On a brighter note, since European tickets with a Saturday night stay are a lot cheaper, I get to stay in Munich on Saturday, with no work to do. Yay!!

Back at Work

I’m back in the office. Work is located at a large cubicle farm in what looks like a large warehouse in Sunnyvale. The top managers get offices, which are at the edge of the cubicle farm but inside the building. The executives get window offices along the outside walls. There are about 200 8’x6’ cubicles in the area that I work in on the second of two stories in the building. Everything in the office is colored a different shade of oatmeal.

I just returned from a month long road trip. Well, 2 weeks and then another 2 weeks. The idea was to drive California’s state highway 1 from one end to the other. I did that and then some. Starting from Mountain View I drove down to Santa Cruz and picked up highway 1 north until it ended in the town of Leggett. I continued north to Gold Beach in Oregon. This trip took 2 weeks. You can make the drive in about 20 hours if you take it like a race car driver. If it weren’t for the need for a steady paycheck I could have taken 2 months. Lingered in Eureka for almost a week – I like that town, or maybe just the nice folks there.

One of my rules for traveling is that I do not stay or eat at a place that has a location within 25 miles of where I live. This rules out McDonalds, Starbucks, and Motel 6s. I make an exception for grocery stores – so stopping at a Safeway or 7-11 to load-up on provisions for the drive is OK – although I try to stop at the local stores if I possibly can. This makes for some great discoveries as well as the occasional disaster. Most of the times the disasters are when I find something touristy just off a main drag. When I look for where the locals go it is almost always a winner.

Once back in Mountain View (and after a week of cleaning up the crap that ad piled up at work), I drove to Santa Cruz again and went south this time to Dana Point where highway 1 ends in southern California. Then I continued south on 101 to La Jolla, where I visited my Aunt and Uncle. There I ran out of time, and had to come back from my life of leisure wandering and return to the world of the working. I did drive 5 down through San Diego to the border with Mexico, just cuz, before heading back home to Mountain View.

High point on the trip down south - catching up with my old friend Chrissy. Low point, well there wasn't really a low point (unlike like the northern leg, where there definitely was a low point). If anything, the first day in Santa Cruz. The staring point in Santa Cruz was a bit hard, but that was the whole point of the trip. You see, I recently became "un-engaged" – well, OK, dumped to put it bluntly. I’ll try not to get maudlin about it. This blog is not a whine-fest for poor-old-me, but – for now – this is a big part of who I am and part of what shapes my view of the world. So I’m not going to bury it either. Anyway, Sarah and I used to spend a lot of time in Santa Cruz – First real date, first week-end outing, I even proposed in Santa Cruz. Driving through the town I get this pit in my stomach – even though it has been almost 6 months. Folks say to give it a year. I know that you can’t try to be with someone who wants to be elsewhere. Although, it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier.

The long ride home

La Jolla to Mountain View - 518 miles

Spent the weekend with my Aunt and Uncle in La Jolla. They have a great house with a view of the ocean and the weather was wonderful. They don't bother with things like WiFi - so no updates from their house.

Got home very late last night after about an 8 hour drive.

Got up early Sunday morning and spent the morning on Coronado Island (see pic, not mine but it looked so cool I had to steal it!) - cruising down the beach, and watching all the people go by. Drove down to the border crossing at Tijuana. Didn't go into Mexico, no time, and did not bring the passport. But since I was so close, I thought I'd make the trip go all the full length of the state.

Got into work this a.m. to another avalanche of work. Had lunch with my buddy Lynn, who caught me up on all the gossip. Rumors of layoffs, as the economy tanks, and our stock price is at a 17 year low (lucky for me I don't have any). Word is Tony got 2 margin calls in one day. Also, it turns out there is a certain receptionist who was seen taking a long lunch with the newly divorced manager. Newly divorced manager just turned 50 and bought a Porsche. In my book he gets an F for originality - OK your going through a mid-life crisis, but put some imagination into it, will ya?

Anyway looks like a late night, with dinner from the vending machines. Or maybe I'll treat myself to the indian restaurant down the street. I'm hungry.

Sushi Nazi

Irvine to La Jolla - 87 Miles

Had dinner with Larry at Wasabi Sushi in Irvine. This place is pretty incredible. There are no prices, there is no menu. The Sushi Chef may turn you away if he doesn't like the looks of you. It is a small hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall and very unassuming. The sushi chef decides what you will eat, and at the end he makes up a price. You will eat what he serves you, and you're done when he decides. He has really fresh fish.

The sushi was outstanding. Among the best I've had. The chef was quite perceptive. He looked at me and served me various tuna, including albacore, which I love. Then he gave me a limpet (Opihi, if you're from Hawaii). This is something that I normally won't eat - he chopped it up finely and made a mousse, and seared the top with a blow torch, like you'd do with a creme brule - creating a great taste and texture. He looked at me again, shook his head and said "No Tako for you". (tako is octopus) I smiled and nodded. He broke out in a big grin. He read me right. But he truly is the sushi nazi.

Larry is doing well for himself. He picked up the check for dinner (over my protests), and it was not cheap. He claimed that he cannot brag about doing well, and not grab the check - I guess he's right. No steady girl-buddy, but that does not surprise me. He spends too much time in the office.

Today, I'm off the visit my Aunt and Uncle in La Jolla.

Old Days

Huntington Beach to Irvine - 18 miles

Chrissy has an incredible zest for life. We stayed up 'till 3 in the a.m. almost finished a bottle of tequila and reminisced about the old days. She's kept in touch with more people than I have. I learned about who's getting married, who's getting divorced, and (in 1 case) who's going to jail. Yes, I now have a former classmate who is incarcerated. Yeah, I went to a *good* school.

Chrissy's got some guy she's been dating for about 6 weeks, I give it another 2. She had her heart broke something awful back in our sophomore year in college. Since then I haven't seen her get attached to anyone. That's kinda sad. But she seems really happy.

Tonight I'm going to see my buddy Larry, also a school-mate from way back when. Larry lives in Irvine. He's a corporate lawyer - plays monopoly with real buildings. Buys and sells shopping centers and commercial real estate, that sort of thing. Has a disgusting amount of money, unless he's lost it all in the down-turn.

Day - whatever

I'm on vacation. I can't remember what day this is. Seems like the end of the vacation should be soon, darn.

Malibu to Huntington Beach - 58 miles

Made my way down to Huntington beach where I'm visiting my good friend Chrissy. I've known her forever - since at least the second grade. Chrissy was a math major in college and was scary smart - although I never knew what she was going to do with a math degree. She works for some aerospace company doing I don't know what - and I don't think I'm supposed to know. Something about national security - probably a front for the CIA or NSA.

Chrissy has a small townhouse a few blocks off the beach, and she agreed to put me up for this night when I called. She travels a lot so I wasn't sure if she'd be in town.

Chrissy is like a sister to me. And we can talk about anything - and I mean anything. She has told me, in very graphic detail, what a yeast infection is and what the cures are like. In middle school she told me how girls masturbate and why I should always keep my fingernails very well trimmed and as smooth as possible. It's kinda cool and gross at the same time. I think it gave me a pretty unique perspective on girls. Everyone should have a friend like Chrissy.

She is a serial dater, keeping a guy for one or two months and then dumping him. She seems to really enjoy it, but I thought she'd settle down as she got older. Not yet (well, we'll see if she has any 80 proof confessions). She's pretty enough to have a steady stream of guys coming to her door.

She's always been a big tequila drinker, so I'm bringing a bottle of patron silver (see "what I'm drinking..."). It will be good to catch up with her.

I can't leave...

... and you can't make me go.

Yes, I know, I said I love Santa Barbara - but that was before I saw Malibu. Now I love Malibu. I can be so fickle. Is that so wrong?

This place is unbelievable. I know why movie stars pay a fortune to live here.

Fantastic room service breakfasts in bed, and the ocean out my door. The weather is perfect. Pretty girls walk by in bikinis.

Dined last night at the Sage Room - no link, couldn't find a web site for it. Good Italian food and fish. I'm guessing they focus on the food and not the technology. Based on the crowd there, they don't need to advertise.

Malibu

Or Living Like a Movie Star

Santa Barbara to Malibu - 69 Miles

OMG! I was driving down California's Highway 1, and saw this awesome hotel on the beach. I am sure that I've seen this in movies. It's on the beach in Malibu. Nestled between movie star houses. I pulled into the parking lot and went to the front desk. I chatted up the pretty girl working there. She was able to give me a good deal on a bottom floor room (well, good for Malibu), right on the beach. You can hear the waves, and taste the salt air. This is like camping, only there's a toilet, hot running water, 350 thread count sheets, and room service. I'll report on how good the room service is tomorrow.

Right now, surf's up - right out side my room.

This place is awesome.

Santa Barbara

Morro Bay to Santa Barbara - 118 miles

I love this town. If money were no object, I could live here. There's a relaxed attitude, a casual elegance. It is an incredibly target rich environment for good food. I got a motel where I can hear the waves from my room. It's too expensive for beach-front in this town, but I'm close.

I'm going to go decide where to have dinner.

More Camping

Big Sur to Morro Bay - 91 Miles

Spent the last few days camping, and making my way down the coast of Big Sur in central California. I spent the few nights before that in some really nice hotels, and a man can only take so much really good food and luxury - and if I ever get to that point I'll let you know. But, of course, there is the practical matter of being able to afford this trip down the coast. And I got in some good surfing, too.

Yesterday I met up with a nice group of folks surfing near my campsite on the beach. They were kind enough to invite me to their campfire and to dinner. I'm not sure their campfire was legal - there are a bunch of wild-fires going on here in southern California - and there are signs all over the park saying "no camp fires", but this was out on the beach near the water and the wind was blowing off-shore. Which blows any sparks out to sea - and creates great surfing conditions. They broke out a case of really cheap beer and we drank until the early morning. While I'm not a great fan of american beer, I graciously accepted their hospitality.

One of the girls needed to get to San Luis Obispo today and asked me to give her a lift. I kinda thought that maybe she wanted to spend some time with me alone, but while she was a bit tipsy she said, "I hope you're not the kind of perv that's going to ask me to blow you while you drive." mm-kay... Not that I wouldn't like it, but that kind of thing only happens to the guys who live in Penthouse Forum letters - so I won't be asking. "Nope, I'm not that kind of perv" I replied. I left her to wonder what kind of perv I am. She took a ride with me anyway.

It was nice to have some company on the drive. There's great scenery, but it was good to talk with someone. She made fun of almost all the music on my iPod and tried to figure out my life from the receipts in my glove box - gas, truck repairs, dry cleaning and laundry, too many from burger king, and a bunch from K&L wines in palo alto. She told me that I am anal, since I had the oil changed in my truck at almost exactly 5000 mile intervals, I have gay tendencies since I visited the dry cleaners almost every week - that shows that I cared way to much about clothes to be straight, and that I can not handle my money, as I often spent more than $50 on a bottle of wine. "There's lots of wine there for under $15" I protested. At which point she decided I am an alcoholic. Hmm, what do your receipts say about you?

Anyway, I dropped her off at the college in SLO, and then headed back to Morro Bay, where I found a not-too-expensive hotel - with free WiFi.

I'm going to wash out all the salt and sand out of everything I own.

It's good to back in civilization.

Day 4

Carmel to Big Sur - 42 Miles

I think I'm getting fat. After a wonderful dinner at Citronelle, I had a room service breakfast this morning. And followed that up with a late lunch (or early dinner) at Nepenthe - good food, great wine, awesome views.

I sat and soaked up the view and drank too much, climbed in the back of the truck to sleep it off.

After I was ready to drive, made my way down the coast a bit to a campsite, and pitched a tent for the night.

Actual sign on the side of the road:

Day 3

Monterey to Carmel by the Sea - 11 miles

Yup, I'm really roughing it. Decided to play tourist in Monterey. Went to Cannery Row, The Aquarium, hung out on the waterfront. Spent the night in a corner balcony room at the Monterey Plaza hotel. The hotel is right on the water, and a pretty nice place. Sat out on my balcony and watched the sunset (well, OK, fade into the clouds) and enjoyed a bottle of really good chardonnay. The weather was surprisingly good for mid-November.

Moved down the road a bit and am spending tonight at the Carmel Valley Ranch. Damn this place is nice. I could really get used to living like this. Dinner tonight at Citronelle.

Day 2

Santa Cruz to Monterrey - 51 miles

I was really planning to make some progress today, but I stopped by the side of the road near Marina beach and watched folks hang gliding. They fly right on the beach. It's amazing. I really want to try this one day. Turned out the flight school was closed on Mondays, so I couldn't take an impromptu lesson. And the winds were higher than recommended for a beginner.

I talked with a few of the pilots. I think I''m really going to do this sometime this summer.

Just what I need - another expensive outdoor hobby.

Road Trip - part 2

Mountain View to Sant Cruz - 38 Miles.

Going through Santa Cruz lately puts a knot in my stomach. Sarah and I got engaged there and spent a lot of time in that town. One of our hangouts was the crows nest. Yes, it's a cheesy beach restaurant. They serve mediocre food. The decor is tacky. But they have a patio that over looks the yacht harbor, and you can sit there and swill drinks with umbrellas and pineapple in them while you watch the boats go in and out.

We used to take off work early on Wednesdays in the summer and watch the boat races. Good times.

I started my southerly drive with the intent of making some good progress (I have lots of folks to visit in LA and San Diego). But I found myself at the Crow's Nest - taking my usual table at the window overlooking the water. And the waitress (who knows me) kept bringing the drinks. I wasn't drunk, but I had more to drink than was good for driving. So I made my way to a motel up the street.

I'll get further tomorrow.

Overtime

Didn't get out on the road until Sunday.

I've managed to take a month of paid vacation this month - after being on my new job for only 6 months. This puts me 3 weeks into debt to my new employer. But before I could take the second 2 week jaunt, I needed to complete a to-do list from my boss as long as my arm. That was the agreement. I thought I could get it done last week. Despite pulling an almost all-nighter on Friday I couldn't hit the road.

Came in on Saturday to finish up. My friend and drinking buddy Lynn came by the office late on Saturday with a pizza and a bottle of Merlot. Which slowed my progress considerably, but it sure was nice of her.

Before she came she texted me, "RU done?"
I replied "5 more mins"
"See you in an hour..." was the quick reply.

Anyway, I'll be packing up Sunday morning

Overload

Damn it. I'm going on a trip tomorrow and there are so many things to do before I leave. I'm going to be here all night. Aaargh.

Shopping

The latest in Fall Fashions:
Gloves
Dry-top



BootiesMesh bags for all my gear.

Just spent more than I can afford at NRS. Doing what I can to keep the economy running.

Prop 8 Passes

Un-f*cking-believable.

Back in the Office

Mountain View to Coos Bay and back - about 1,200 miles

I'm back in the office after a 2 week road trip. Actually, this was part 1 of the road trip - stay tuned for part 2 next week. Even though I was generally checking e-mail for major disasters while I was away, work sure does pile up. I can't believe how many e-mails I get in a week.

The trip took me up highways california 1 and U.S. 101 up the california and oregon coasts. Best moment: when a cute blonde tried to pick me up in a bar in Eureka (it didn't work out, but it's the thought that counts, right?) A close second was the Halloween party at the beach house in Eureka. Worst moment: Shortly after the cute blonde tried to pick me up.

Anywho, I need to pile through 3 weeks of work here in the next few days. And I just wasted the past hour at the coffee bar regaling Lynn with my exploits over the past 2 weeks.

Why wasn't I born rich?

Day 15

Coos Bay to Mountain View - 547 Miles

Need to get back to the office. Suspending my travel rule against superhighways. Actually, broke all my rules of the road

10 hours. Long. Boring. Painful.

Day 14

Eureka to Gold Beach, OR - 139 miles

Overcast and drizzly – not a real good day to be out.

But what were you expecting - Welcome to Oregon! In November.

Not sure why I left Eureka. Nice folks. Cheap houses. Surfing at least as good as the bay area. Better paddling and windsurfing. Cute girls.

I think I fell a little bit in love.

Gold Beach is nice. Small town feel. Stayed at a small beachfront motel. Nothing special. Smelled like my Grandma’s house.

I’m ready to head home.

Halloween Party

It was an epic Halloween party – and I had no costume. It was threatening to rain. Nothing more than a mist fell. It was cold, but we built a bon fire on the beach and huddled around it until well past the witching hour.

I’m on a road trip up the California coast – but have spent most of the last week in Eureka. I’m staying with my new surfing buddies and they insisted that I hang around for their Halloween bash. There was lots of booze, and, I’m sure, more.

A stunning beauty in a French maid costume (oh la la!) caught my eye early in the evening. I’ve really got a thing for the French maid, but then what red blooded American boy doesn’t. Despite using every charm that I have, she wanted nothing more than a good night kiss. I think the fact that I’m leaving in a day or two killed the deal. She did spend most of the evening flirting with me – which was very nice. I did give her my jacket, as her costume was way too skimpy for the cold evening.

But in the end, she ruffled my hair, told me I was sweet, gave me a quick kiss goodnight, and walked away.
Oh, well.

Also, no sign of the party girl from the Red Lion lounge. Guess it’s not that small a town.