California pt. 3
So yeah, almost a year behind. Traveling to Europe, moving, gardening, going to school, and maintaining my social life really kills my free time. But if I'm going to dig myself out of this hole, it's time to start writing.
In the mean time, I hope you've been enjoying the tweets. I'm still figuring out what/how to write them, but it's a nice, convenient outlet for stuff that could be significantly longer on the blog, or get put off and never get written.
Back to the California trip. When we left, Cindy and I had just had a great mini vacation in Pacific Grove and then drove to Palo Alto for my conference at Stanford.
6/26
Conference; Straits; Nap; Picnic; Sundance
Conference at Stanford started early, and we were asked to be there on time because apparently they introduced the attendees program by program, and it had looked bad in previous years when most of us, you know, hadn't bothered to show up. I got up and got ready, but the shuttle bus was full.
Cindy to the rescue! She was wonderful enough to drive a few of us that had missed the bus over to Stanford, where I proceeded to sit through a couple boring talks before sneaking out after the first session.
So we organized a lunch with Jessie, his fiancé, and one of her friends. We ate at... well... it was sort of Asian-Pacific. I'm trying to remember the exact cuisine... maybe Singaporean? Well, whatever, it was good. Big lunch, since we were on the company dime.
After that I put in an appearance at the poser session, and then I think we managed to squeeze in a nap before heading to the conference picnic in Stanford's sculpture garden.
We skipped the mediocre catered food and instead headed for Palo Alto's nicest steak house, Sundance. According to the receipt I submitted, I had a salad, two appetizers, the surf and turf, and dessert. And Cindy had a bottle of wine. Reality was, we each shared our orders.
It was actually my first experience eating lobster tail, and, honestly, I wasn't all that impressed. I don't see the appeal, especially at the price. Although just about anything that you dip in melted butter isn't going to be bad...
It was pretty late by the time we were done with dinner, and we called it an evening.
6/27
My neck problem made itself known that morning, so I skipped the rest of the conference, and then we packed up the Pontiac and headed to the airport. We stopped off at In 'N' Out for one last burger (wow are the employees ever friendly), and I figured out that stopping by Apple corporate headquarters was only a minor detour.
It was easy to find; just off the highway. We got there right around lunch time and saw a bunch of people walking around, many of whom looked very happy. I have to say I was a bit jealous and certainly let my mind wander to the possibility of working there.
The only building open to the public is the corporate store, where they have logoed merchandise that's not sold anywhere else. I grabbed a spiffy looking water bottle and an ID badge clip.
From there we headed on to the airport. Cindy had forgotten to pack the hot sauce we had swiped from Nepenthe in her checked luggage, so we had to grudgingly ditch it at security. I still need to call and find out what brand it was and order some via the magic of the internets.
We were waiting for our flight, when they announced that it was overbooked and started offering vouchers in exchange for taking a flight the next day. When the value hit $200 we went for it. An extra day in Cali, free, and $250 each? Yes.
We had already ditched the rental car, so our options for the day were limited. They put us up in a hotel, and I called Grambo to see if I could tag along with them for the evening. Cindy called her brother up and he came down to spend the evening with her.
Graham was kind enough to pick me up from the hotel, and we joined some of his Silicon Valley friends (including some Googlers) at a nice wine bar in Palo Alto. It was in an old house and had a great back yard area. I enjoyed siting in on the gathering, thinking about what life could be like working for a tech company instead of doing science research. One of them generously picked up the check.
We went around the corner to a place that served gourmet hot chocolate (e.g. you could spend $10 on a cup with herbs or spices added in). I had a cappuccino.
6/28
Cindy and I caught the shuttle to the Airport, grabbed some breakfast using our meal vouchers (which, sadly, could not be applied to alcohol), and then caught our plane back.
In the mean time, I hope you've been enjoying the tweets. I'm still figuring out what/how to write them, but it's a nice, convenient outlet for stuff that could be significantly longer on the blog, or get put off and never get written.
Back to the California trip. When we left, Cindy and I had just had a great mini vacation in Pacific Grove and then drove to Palo Alto for my conference at Stanford.
6/26
Conference; Straits; Nap; Picnic; Sundance
Conference at Stanford started early, and we were asked to be there on time because apparently they introduced the attendees program by program, and it had looked bad in previous years when most of us, you know, hadn't bothered to show up. I got up and got ready, but the shuttle bus was full.
Cindy to the rescue! She was wonderful enough to drive a few of us that had missed the bus over to Stanford, where I proceeded to sit through a couple boring talks before sneaking out after the first session.
So we organized a lunch with Jessie, his fiancé, and one of her friends. We ate at... well... it was sort of Asian-Pacific. I'm trying to remember the exact cuisine... maybe Singaporean? Well, whatever, it was good. Big lunch, since we were on the company dime.
After that I put in an appearance at the poser session, and then I think we managed to squeeze in a nap before heading to the conference picnic in Stanford's sculpture garden.
We skipped the mediocre catered food and instead headed for Palo Alto's nicest steak house, Sundance. According to the receipt I submitted, I had a salad, two appetizers, the surf and turf, and dessert. And Cindy had a bottle of wine. Reality was, we each shared our orders.
It was actually my first experience eating lobster tail, and, honestly, I wasn't all that impressed. I don't see the appeal, especially at the price. Although just about anything that you dip in melted butter isn't going to be bad...
It was pretty late by the time we were done with dinner, and we called it an evening.
6/27
My neck problem made itself known that morning, so I skipped the rest of the conference, and then we packed up the Pontiac and headed to the airport. We stopped off at In 'N' Out for one last burger (wow are the employees ever friendly), and I figured out that stopping by Apple corporate headquarters was only a minor detour.
It was easy to find; just off the highway. We got there right around lunch time and saw a bunch of people walking around, many of whom looked very happy. I have to say I was a bit jealous and certainly let my mind wander to the possibility of working there.
The only building open to the public is the corporate store, where they have logoed merchandise that's not sold anywhere else. I grabbed a spiffy looking water bottle and an ID badge clip.
From there we headed on to the airport. Cindy had forgotten to pack the hot sauce we had swiped from Nepenthe in her checked luggage, so we had to grudgingly ditch it at security. I still need to call and find out what brand it was and order some via the magic of the internets.
We were waiting for our flight, when they announced that it was overbooked and started offering vouchers in exchange for taking a flight the next day. When the value hit $200 we went for it. An extra day in Cali, free, and $250 each? Yes.
We had already ditched the rental car, so our options for the day were limited. They put us up in a hotel, and I called Grambo to see if I could tag along with them for the evening. Cindy called her brother up and he came down to spend the evening with her.
Graham was kind enough to pick me up from the hotel, and we joined some of his Silicon Valley friends (including some Googlers) at a nice wine bar in Palo Alto. It was in an old house and had a great back yard area. I enjoyed siting in on the gathering, thinking about what life could be like working for a tech company instead of doing science research. One of them generously picked up the check.
We went around the corner to a place that served gourmet hot chocolate (e.g. you could spend $10 on a cup with herbs or spices added in). I had a cappuccino.
6/28
Cindy and I caught the shuttle to the Airport, grabbed some breakfast using our meal vouchers (which, sadly, could not be applied to alcohol), and then caught our plane back.
Labels: Apple, restaurants, school, trips
posted by L. Maxwell Ward at 1:44 AM
