After riding down I-5
to the airport in San Diego
and getting this picture
instead of the killer picture telling me where cruise ships
are supposed to exit, I got on the plane to fly to San Jose. Once
in San Jose and then settled in Palo Alto, I ventured out to dinner with
the DeMillo family
in a bit of a blur
which was corrected when I joined their family
at least for this picture.
The next morning, I had the first of 3 breakfasts at Hobbee's with Kai
Li
who ordered this coffee cake
to go with my BDBIT
all nicely brought by Rey
our waiter. After a long breakfast, I made my way past the
swimming pool at The Westin
and past the falling roof
of the building next door to get back to my room and get ready
to drive down the peninsula to my next meeting. I was early,
so I stopped at the Java Street Cafe
where I had this simple meal
and then captured this fine hand washing sign
(Chineese translates as
"maintain public sanitation,
please wash hands often")
for my collection. Next I drove across the street
to Network Appliances where they had the big logo sign
and the smaller one
to tell me that I was in the right place. Dan Warmenhoven brought his
lunch
to accompany me with my lunch
which was more liquid.
Back at the hotel, I ran into Jacobo and we drove out to Princeton-by-the-Sea
where we saw this picture
for my collection of MezzaLuna restaurant signs and this close up
of the restaurant
and this view of the Princeton Inn
which is not in New Jersey. We drove down Harvard street
past the intersection with Columbia
and parked for a walk on the beach by this grafitti
of little endorsement. Having no dog, we had no need for Mutt Mitts
but appreciated that others were using them. The walk on the beach
and view out over the waves breaking near the rocks were so beautiful
that I forgot to take pictures which is just as well since the combination
of clouds and waves would have made for very white images. After a visit
to the facilities which are not being cleaned once per week for
10 employees (thank me for not providing the picture to prove it)
we headed back up to Woodside for dinner at the Woodside Bakery and Cafe
which is adjacent to Buck's. The menu offered great choices
and they brought this nicely baked bread
for which Jacobo made an oil and vinegar mixture
to help us decide that Jacobo should have the calzone
and I should have the pizza
nicely delivered by this waitperson
team. All this made Jacobo very happy
but not nearly as happy as he would be after we went to Fry's
and he got to show me all of my options for when I decide to finally
build my own machine part by part.
The next day (Tuesday) began with a walk to Hobbee's where we met this
man
who needed directions and insisted on taking this picture of Marsha and me
as we headed off for coffeecake. My coffee cake looked quite good
as did this one
which Marsha
insisted was taller and she used her knife to prove it. After comparing
notes at breakfast, I was given my marching orders for the morning
and took my mints and directions
along with this map
and the car keys
to get in the car
with these plates
and head off to see John Little
at Portal for a long and serious discussion of what had happened in the
advisory committee meeting and directions that the department might
take next.
I left John's offices and headed back to Mountain View where the parking
lot offered me 2 choices.
I saw Marsha in the distance
and so knew to take this route
into the building where I would be met by the keywords used in the
most recent searches
their Google cooler
full of natural fruit drinks and the ever present lava lamps
that define the place. We began by going to lunch where Jim, the sous chef
from exit 98 on the parkway, had wonderful offerings
all of which are listed on the day's menu
for us to enjoy. On the way out of lunch, we ran into Larry Page
one of the founders and the guy who built PageRank. Next we went to
a conference room with Eric
Monika
and Rob
and traded business cards
while discussing topics of mutual interest. Once back at the hotel,
I was met by the maid's cart
at my room and so had to pass some time admiring this collection of vases
and this fireplace
and this tapestry that might have come from a John Nash movie
in the lobby. Once back in the room, I was able to record my
collection of badges
and a Snapple label from Portal because they had insisted on taking
back my badge while getting a short rest between events.
Next we headed to Los Altos to have dinner with the Goldman's. Sydney
was shy as she sat on Susan's lap and read the book that Marsha
had brought
as Marsha and Phil
discussed things. Eventually, she got down from Susan's lap
and played on the floor
stopping to pose for a few pictures
before we sat down to dinner
as prepared by Pauline. My meal differed somewhat from this
menu
but my salad
was excellent as was my main course of asparagus and couscous
which I forgot to photograph. The dessert
brought me back to my senses so that I could capture a memory
of a great meal. As we finished dinner, I was able to record
Sydney from across the room as she engaged in the family passion
after which we headed back to our hotels after a happy meal ending
a productive day.
On Wednesday, we began at this Redwood Shores building
where Avistar is headquartered. I had an animated discussion with
Jerry Burnett
Alan Usas
who gave us his business card
and Marsha
about the delivery of video over networks. Before leaving I
captured this picture of Jerry's beautiful object d'art
made of glass from Murano and these 2 paintings
that adorned the lobby of the building.
The next stop was to have this lunch
with Matthew
from Nuance, a company specializing in speech understanding. After lunch,
we drove back to Mountain View to park across the street from Handspring
at Pinnacle Systems
where we met Tim Heidmann
and took him
to lunch at this restaurant
with the marvelous display of hats.
After a short rest back at the hotels, we headed for Larkspur where
we were greeted with a plate of bruschetta
as we met J. Michael Mahoney
for dinner at Fabrizio
where the menu
offered wonderful suggestions. We began with this bottle of
sparkling water. I began with the insalata mista
and as I was taking this picture of the salmon
that Mike had
this waiter came by
with my plate of gnocchi porcini
after which he took this picture
of the 3 of us. I finished my food photography with
this glimpse of the fish
Marsha
had. The dessert tray
required 2 pictures before we could agree to share the white chocolate mousse
with 3 spoons. The meal ended with complimentary port
after which I went back for some hand washing signs
for my collection. The restaurant wasn't done with us still
bringing us some complimentary cookies
with which to finish our meal. In all, it was a good dinner!