Saturday, June 23, 2007
I was in the Bay Area last week for WWDC. Overall it was a fun week. Highlights:
• Of course, lots and lots and lots of driving. I miss driving. So much fun. I love my Miata. Especially when I fly by cars that cost 10 or even 20 times as much. Freeway ramps are the best. I can slide the car with no problem at all.
I let Aki drive it back from Santa Cruz on Saturday. I think he was impressed. "It's very sticky." Well, it has cheapo $50 all season tires on it. So it's not about the tires but about a well designed, well balanced car. You can't beat front engine, rear wheel drive, 50/50 weight balance, low weight, low center of gravity cars with high red lines!
• Giants game. Lots of fun. I love AT&T Park. It's a beautiful park in a gorgeous location, great views. Much better than Yankee stadium.
• Wine tasting in Santa Cruz
• Best sushi I've ever had at Sushi on the Run. Tiny place in Los Gatos. Every piece of fish was soft as butter, and about 3 times the size of a cut anywhere else. The fish completely covered the rice. It was amazing. I couldn't even finish the sushi lunch special.
• Dinner at Delfina (yummy!) followed by SF Wednesdays. A huge turnout because of WWDC.
• Friday night met up with Alvaro and had dinner at Home. He's in the Bay Area for the summer so if you know him, call him!
• Saturday went hiking in Big Basin with Aki
• Had a horrible flight to LA. After 12 hours at the airport (which included 5 hours sitting in the plane on the runway), my flight was cancelled. Basically sounds like what happened to the JetBlue flights a few months ago. The quality of the American airline industry is a joke.
• Had a painful flight back. Red eyes suck. People who think traveling for work is cool have never done it. I don't think I know anyone who does and still thinks it's a perk. I just qualified for Silver Medallion on Delta so maybe it will get a little better!
Every trip back to the Bay Area makes me think about what it would be like to move back. And even though I had fun through the week, I still can't imagine moving back yet.
An interesting thing I realized is nearly all my Apple friends live in San Francisco. The few who don't, live in the Santa Cruz area. Nearly all my Stanford friends live around Mountain View. What is it about these two groups of people that makes them choose such different lifestyles? Do people who want a better work/life balance work at Apple? Or does working at Apple allow you to have a better work/life balance?
In any case, the time I spent in SF and in Santa Cruz last week was great. It's the parts between SF and Santa Cruz that I find incredibly depressing. If I moved back, I would have to live in the Mission. Maybe when I'm old I could move to the South Bay, but even then I see myself in Palo Alto or Los Gatos, definitely not Mountain View.
Castro Street (MV) may have a couple busy bars on Friday and Saturday nights, but the other 90% of the time it looks like a deserted ghost town. And though it is lined with restaurants, I can't think of a single one I would consider to be very good.
• Of course, lots and lots and lots of driving. I miss driving. So much fun. I love my Miata. Especially when I fly by cars that cost 10 or even 20 times as much. Freeway ramps are the best. I can slide the car with no problem at all.
I let Aki drive it back from Santa Cruz on Saturday. I think he was impressed. "It's very sticky." Well, it has cheapo $50 all season tires on it. So it's not about the tires but about a well designed, well balanced car. You can't beat front engine, rear wheel drive, 50/50 weight balance, low weight, low center of gravity cars with high red lines!
• Giants game. Lots of fun. I love AT&T Park. It's a beautiful park in a gorgeous location, great views. Much better than Yankee stadium.
• Wine tasting in Santa Cruz
• Best sushi I've ever had at Sushi on the Run. Tiny place in Los Gatos. Every piece of fish was soft as butter, and about 3 times the size of a cut anywhere else. The fish completely covered the rice. It was amazing. I couldn't even finish the sushi lunch special.
• Dinner at Delfina (yummy!) followed by SF Wednesdays. A huge turnout because of WWDC.
• Friday night met up with Alvaro and had dinner at Home. He's in the Bay Area for the summer so if you know him, call him!
• Saturday went hiking in Big Basin with Aki
• Had a horrible flight to LA. After 12 hours at the airport (which included 5 hours sitting in the plane on the runway), my flight was cancelled. Basically sounds like what happened to the JetBlue flights a few months ago. The quality of the American airline industry is a joke.
• Had a painful flight back. Red eyes suck. People who think traveling for work is cool have never done it. I don't think I know anyone who does and still thinks it's a perk. I just qualified for Silver Medallion on Delta so maybe it will get a little better!
Every trip back to the Bay Area makes me think about what it would be like to move back. And even though I had fun through the week, I still can't imagine moving back yet.
An interesting thing I realized is nearly all my Apple friends live in San Francisco. The few who don't, live in the Santa Cruz area. Nearly all my Stanford friends live around Mountain View. What is it about these two groups of people that makes them choose such different lifestyles? Do people who want a better work/life balance work at Apple? Or does working at Apple allow you to have a better work/life balance?
In any case, the time I spent in SF and in Santa Cruz last week was great. It's the parts between SF and Santa Cruz that I find incredibly depressing. If I moved back, I would have to live in the Mission. Maybe when I'm old I could move to the South Bay, but even then I see myself in Palo Alto or Los Gatos, definitely not Mountain View.
Castro Street (MV) may have a couple busy bars on Friday and Saturday nights, but the other 90% of the time it looks like a deserted ghost town. And though it is lined with restaurants, I can't think of a single one I would consider to be very good.