I was very glad to see that our political system is still working, and can catch the country before it goes too far wrong. In my opinion, that’s the great strength of democracy. It has all sorts of faults, but it usually catches us before we get too far out on a limb. That’s more than the other systems have ever managed. Oh yeah, there was that little thing with the war between the states, but we survived even that.
Today we took a drive over to the Pacific Coast side of the Peninsula. The trip over went through the hills and redwood forests, but that’s not what I’m writing about. It is a lovely trip, and we enjoyed it, but we wanted to get to the ocean before the winter weather hits. We hadn’t seen it since we moved back up. As you can see, it was lovely. We came across a beach filled with kite surfers, who used parafoil kites to pull themselves along on surfboards.
A way up the coast we came to Pigeon Point Lighthouse, a lovely old lighthouse that has been converted into a Youth Hostel. It’s a classic design, similar to a number of west-coast lighthouses.It was damaged in a storm last year, and they haven’t had money to fix it, so we couldn’t go up inside it We’ve been there before, but this was the first time there was someone in the little shop to talk with. They seemed almost as hungry for company as the keepers must have been.
While we were there, we saw what looked like miniature palm trees down at the surf line. They obviously weren’t real palms, since they were in the water, so we went back to the little museum shop and asked them what they were called. Rather to our surprise they are called Sea Palms, which seems far too logical. It was enought to look them up when we got back, though. We learned two important things about them. There are a lot more resorts named “Sea Palms” than you would believe, and they are edible and in danger of being overharvested.
The November issue of PassageMaker magazine has a very nice article on the Roseate. It even made it onto the cover. If somebody (Charlie?) can get permission from the magazine, I’ll post the article online. Otherwise, I’ll put it on ballfam.net as soon as I get the current bug in my installation worked out so I can make it available to family only.
In the mean time, go buy the magazine, they deserve support.
Microsoft sent me and some other software architects (that’s a job title) to a resort in the Napa Valley. I’ll discuss the meeting in my professional blog, but I’ll talk abut the trip here. The Napa valley is in the heart of the California wine country, and the wineries compete with each other in poshness and pretension as well as the quality of their wines. The resort where we met was pseudo-Victorian, though most of it was of fairly recent construction. It wasn’t a winery. The site included a croquet court, complete with a dress code (tan pants, white shirt). It was supposed to be a “team building activity” though it was never made clear how a cutthroat game like croquet will build team spirit. It’s more a war of all against all. I declined to participate.
We did have a trip to a real winery, complete with original art and dinner in the cave where they age the wine. See the pictures for more on that.
Overall, it was OK, and I did get to meet a lot of interesting people. I think they were trying too hard to entertain us, and would have done better just to let us talk.
I’ve often argued that terrorism is a poor tactic because it doesn’t achieve its political ends. My son Kevin, one of the smartest people I know, argued that terrorists really weren’t trying to achieve political ends, but were trying for glory within their group. After we talked about it for a while, we decided that both statements were true, but only covered small pieces of the phenomenon. Now Louise Richardson has written a book that covers both and much more in What Terrorists Want. Her thesis is that terrorist groups have primary political aims, but individual terrorists are motivated by what she calls the three R’s, Revenge, Renown, and Reaction. To these individual, the primary aim is mainly used for self justification. I’m oversimplifying, of course, but it makes a lot of sense. She also offers solutions. I think they make sense, and perhaps we will someday try them. In the meantime, read this book. It’s worth it.
I just set up my professional blog again. You can find it at http://mike.ballfam.net/professional or from the blogroll link in the sidebar.
Lots of people mix their personal and professional blogs. I prefer not to do that. For one thing, I started this blog mainly for family and close friends, and I think many of them won’t be interested in my professional notes, even if they are more personal than formal. I also can’t see bothering those who are interested in professional matters with my day to day travails. Anyone who wants both can read both.
Setting it up took up most of the evening. I’m giving up now and going to bed.
Blogs are a fascinating phenomenon. I indulge very lightly compared to many, but there are still more than I can keep up with. I list some of them in the sidebar. I was reading a post in presentsimple (she has problems keeping up too), but I was struck by her mention of culture. Can you say that you are part of the local culture if you never watch TV? All of the cultural catch phrases seem to come from TV shows, and people sometimes have to explain what they are talking about. Often I can fake it without their noticing, but sometimes I get quite mystified. It’s a culture gap. I think she must have a rather bigger one, living in a land that makes foreigners perpetual outsiders. Of course, I know that I don’t understand the Japanese, so I’m impressed by her bravery.
There’s a deeper question underlying that one, and it’s bothered Americans since 1776. Just what makes a person an American? It’s not ethnic, it’s not cultural in the traditional sense, because we have a blend of other cultures. What are American attitudes? I’ve taken several courses on the questions and I’m still not sure of the answers. Some people believe that the lack of a simple answer is a grave weakness. I think that we’ve managed pretty well without it. Maybe, in a world that’s changing so rapidly, there’s something to be said for making it up as we go along.
I’d say that things were getting back to normal, but everything is different, so it’s really getting to a new normal. Oh, did I mention that while I was gone to Washington, they moved my office? I have a nice window, looking out at the parking lot and the freeway. It’s actually not bad. The parking lot has trees that are starting to turn, and there are squirrels bouncing around there, too. The soundproofing is good, so I don’t hear the freeway. It’s actually kind of soothing watching the traffic going by. It’s sort of like watching water flow by, but a bit lacking in the aesthetics.
Slowly we’re starting to have more time, and may soon be able to have a social life again. How nice it will be to go out to dinner for good food and pleasant conversation, rather than quick sustenance before getting back to work.
No, I’m not claiming to have reached nirvana, but I do think I’ve gotten enough sleep for the first time in quite a while. The week before last, we moved. Last week, I went to Redmond. This weekend, I slept. I slept 11 hours Friday night, 3 hours Saturday afternoon, 9 hours Saturday night, 1 1/2 hours Sunday afternoon, then 8 hours last night. Today, I actually felt alert and awake without coffee. The last couple of weeks I couldn’t get in that state with a near overdose of caffeine. Things were a lot more productive at work, and I actually feel bloggy ambitions.
I’ve had people asking me about my professional blog, which I haven’t touched since Sun. I think I’m going to set one up on my own website rather than on Microsoft’s blog site. I also have a collection of documents and bibliographic notes that I think I’ll put up there. I had them on the intranet at Sun, and some people actually came to depend on it. The difference is that I can’t put local copies of most of the documents on the web, so I’ll have to locate them again. Fair use may extend to my local group, but not to the whole web.
Oh, we may be in the city now, but we’re right next to a park, and at least the squirrels are abundant. There are the big grey ones, and the little black ones, and the monster kinds that land on our roof and scamper off loudly…..
We made it to Cupertino, though it’s been a trial. I’m back on the air, but we still haven’t found Flo’s computer, and it looks as though it went to storage. It wasn’t supposed to, but lots of things like that have happened. It’s still possible that it will show up. Things are seldom where you would expect them to be. Moving again at our stage in life had to be madness! Of course, we sort of had to do something about that huge house anyway….
Now we have to sell our house and buy another, then move again.