On the road again: Silicon Valley, day 1

I slept very little and rather poorly last night, so when today's first flight failed to deliver on the bandwidth it promised, I mostly dozed and twisted and turned in my oh-so-comfy exit row slice of space.  I'm sure if I was under five feet tall and less than 100 pounds in weight, with shoulders no more than a foot wide, that my seat would have been luxurious; alas, I am none of those things.

We had to rush between gates at DFW, but we were able to make the second flight in the half hour we had for the task.  This plane's in-flight bandwidth setup was actually working, so I worked pretty much the whole time.  That's a good thing, because it meant I wasn't as far behind when I landed as I would have been.

As is my habit when staying at this particular hotel, I drove by a nearby Safeway to pick up some Coke Zero and pretzels for the room.  The Safeway was no longer there, though construction was well along on the replacement bigger store.  Fortunately, a nearby Walgreens offered the same merchandise, albeit at a higher price.

Dinner tonight was at Max's, where once again I ate the patty melt and sent a photo of it to Elizabeth, a woman who loves a good patty melt as much as I do.  I'm sure she appreciated the photo.

Most of the rest of the evening went to work.

Tomorrow, meetings I can't discuss!

On the road again: San Francisco, day 4

I found today's keynote address and the technical sessions I attended quite interesting and informative.  Yeah, I know:  what a geek I must be to really enjoy sitting in technical presentations about computer stuff.  Well, yes, I am a geek.  Being a geek has been good to me. 

For dinner tonight, a small group of us went to the nearest Max's, where I stuck to tradition and ordered their absolutely delicious patty melt.  The sandwich did not let me down.  As soon as it arrived, as always I took this picture (click on it to see a larger image) and emailed it to my friend and colleague, Elizabeth, to torture her. 

I know it's cruel, but it's also fun--for me, at least, and I think for her. 

Now, back to work for me, and then some sleep, because the conference resumes early (for me) in the morning. 

On the road again: Silicon Valley, day 1

The travel gods ate today whole and barely noticed the snack.

The first leg of the flight, the shorter one, was almost as pleasant as it could be, courtesy of a first-class upgrade and a mostly quiet seating companion. I did have to explain to her how everything in first class worked, because this was her first time there, but that was fine. Less acceptable was her reading of my email over my shoulder, a practice she abandoned when I requested that she do so.

The second leg proved to be an American Airlines 30th Anniversary Celebration Flight. Half a dozen AA folks mingled among the passengers, attempted to spread good cheer, and gave away gift bags that contained certificates for thirty thousand free AA miles. What they didn't give us was our upgrades, so I'm afraid that Bill and I were rather less chipper about the presents than they would have liked. Still, the extra miles are a treat, and we thanked them.

Our seats on this flight were in an exit row, which is good, but wow, was it cramped. Working was rough, so for much of the four and a half hours we were on the plane I just sat and tried to doze, my shoulders rolled inward because they didn't fit in the space available between the bulkhead and the very pleasant and fortunately small guy in the middle seat. My back is only now beginning to un-kink.

Dinner was at a nearby Max's, which makes the best patty melts I've tasted. (I always email a picture of my meal to Elizabeth, who loves those greasy concoctions as much as I do, to torment her. When you work with me, it's all about the love.)

Work itself, of course, is not on the table for discussion; confidentiality is at the heart of our business.

Tomorrow, client meetings and a lot of time on the 101!

On the road again: San Francisco, day 6

Today was one of those days filled with work, so I don't have too much I can discuss. After a morning of email and phone meetings, I moved hotels and am now in easier reach of clients in Silicon Valley. The process involved the Enterprise car rental company and convinced me that I really don't want to rent from them again if I can avoid it. The people in their San Francisco office were unhelpful and broke commitments they'd made.

My meals today were simple but deeply enjoyable, because they were at two favorites of mine: the Pancho Villa Taqueria for lunch, and the nearby Max's for dinner. A super burrito and a mandarina at Pancho Villa is enough to make any day better, and a patty melt at Max's is similarly powerful.

Janis Joplin has, for no particular reason I can cite, been on my mind a lot lately, so I thought I'd close with a classic from her. She was a force, a damaged, crazed beast of a singer. Enjoy.

On the road again: San Francisco, day 4

Work and the conference are ramping up, so I will be able to discuss less of each day for the rest of this trip. Today's non-work portions included some time walking in the Haight, which was a pleasant break in the afternoon. We enjoyed a good lunch at Cha Cha Cha, where the Cubano was as good as any I've had in a very long time.

The temptation of ice cream was too strong to resist today, so we hustled over to the Bi-Rite Creamery for some of their justly famous ice cream. I wouldn't rank them as high as Jeni's, but it was still mighty darn good.

Our small team held its pre-conference dinner at the nearest Max's, one of their Opera cafes, and I once again was unable to resist the patty melt. I keep hoping to have a better one elsewhere, but to date that hasn't happened.

The day was cool here, the night cooler, and back home the temperature is also dropping. Fall is coming, summer is fading, and time keeps chugging along at what feels like an ever faster pace. I long for each day to last longer, to have more hours, to give me more chances to accomplish something of value, but of course the standard twenty-four are all any of us get. I wish it felt like enough.

On the road again: San Francisco, day 3

More secret work I can't discuss. Sorry about that.

In additional news, I've reviewed the proof pages for all the new stuff in Jump Gate Twist. I'm excited to see that book. I think you'll really enjoy the new material. It plus the Picacio cover are worth the cost of admission even if you already own the two novels. Come on, admit it: You want to read a Lobo Christmas story.

Dinner was at Max's, which has one of the best patty melts ever. Yes, I ate one; no, I shouldn't have. It sure was tasty.

Off now to more work, then packing, then an early morning departure for the airport and a day of flying. After that, perhaps I'll get to be home for a few weeks!

On the road again: San Francisco, day 4

At lunchtime today, I took a brief and brisk walk to clear my head. In the course of only fifteen minutes I saw a man begging for the last $0.99 of ransom money he needed to save his kidnapped wife, a woman lighting and then smoking a joint while sitting on steps maybe fifteen feet back from Mission Street, the drivers of two pick-up trucks screaming angrily at a bicyclist and then coming perilously close to smashing him between their vehicles, and many more interesting sights. San Francisco mid-day life is vastly more interesting than what goes on in my company's office park back home.

Dinner was at a perennial favorite, Max's on the Square. As usual, I had the utterly unhealthy and completely delicious patty melt. Though not quite up to the level of past patty melts I've consumed there, it was still better than any patty melt I've had anywhere else.

One of our group ordered Max's self-styled "gigantic" eclair for dessert, and the pastry that arrived was indeed huge, the biggest eclair I've ever seen. Half of it went home with my colleague in a plastic container; I was impressed that he could eat that much of it.

Children No More calls to me, and work starts early in the morning, so off to write I go.

Travel day

I got up a little after eight, still groggy from having less than four hours of sleep, and showered and headed to the airport. Travel was the usual joy, though this time the free bandwidth in both the RDU and ORD Admiral's Clubs worked without a hitch. The flight from ORD to SFO was over an hour and forty minutes late, but I spent the time in comfort and finished some work, so I have no room to complain.

Once upon a time, you'd land in an airport, grab your bag quickly, catch a rental car shuttle, and get your car. In SFO, you go down an escalator, wait a half hour or so for your bag, go up two escalators, walk a couple of blocks, go up another escalator, ride a train for ten minutes, stand in the rental car line, and eventually get your car. You then follow a course plotted by a drunk trying to draw concentric circles, and if you're lucky you end up heading to your destination. Today, I enjoyed that process--in the rain. Big fun.

Dinner actually was fun and tasty, because it was at one of my Bay area eating traditions: Max's in Burlingame. I should have demonstrated better self control, but I couldn't resist the patty melt, which is one of the best of its type anywhere.

I'm actually typing bits into the Overthrowing Heaven outline, so I feel vaguely better about the book. Of course, I'll feel a lot better when I'm actually writing it--for a while. Then the dread will come, and the cycle will repeat, as it does.

But I gotta write, so I will. And at least right now, I think this one is going to be good.

Back to it.