Black Tie Decorations

Here's a look at the tables...before anyone got there...as well as the name tags and glasses...

These are from Judi's phone camera...

Pictures from Doug's phone

This set includes the beginning of a job interview (Ken got the offer...) as well as a great pic of lura and Brian just before the crowd arrived for the big event. Thanks, Doug.

More pictures

These were taken during Thursday's wine crawl by lura with her phone camera (except for the one in which Vern's arm wasn't quite long enough to get everyone in the picture...sigh...):

We have evidence...

Yes, the party did happen...

Thanks to Sheryl Pomerenk for these pictures...


here are some from Friday night's Pizza party...

and a shot of Judi and I early during the main event...

more to come...

the official invite

a copy for those who have discovered that theirs ended up in their spam folder:

Finally!

The decisions have almost all been made, and the invitations should be in the email or post office by the end of the week...

thanks for being patient...

Orange is the color...

First the Giants win the World Series, and tonight, Stanford wins the Orange Bowl. It's been a great winter so far...

In some ways I hope Jim Harbaugh stays, but these days almost everyone, especially at his age, is looking to move up to something better. In my experience, you can move on, but it is not always better. I applaud him for trying to make it be about the kids and the game, as opposed to what the media want to hear.

Countdown: 185 days until Vern is 64

Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

When last I posted, the Giants had just won the West, the World Series was just a hope, Thanksgiving (both Canadian and US versions) were far off, Christmas was distant, 2010 seemed like it would never end, and I hadn't spent 3 18 hour days last week breaking the back of a website re-design made necessary by offshore hackers. sigh...

Back then, this was the #1 song among Giants fans.

How things change, eh?

I was there...every game at Pac Bell, and, if you know where to look, you can see my orange towel waving at the :04 mark in this one.

We now live in a world significantly better because the Giants are World Champions! Life is good!

Oh...yes...and in  just about 6 months I'm hosting an event, so I need to get my act in gear. I have pretty much made up my mind as to what's going to happen, and when, but I need to make sure it will work with some of the most significant people in my life, so I'll begin to let you know soon.

In the meantime, if you are planning to attend, think seriously about making a reservation for a place to stay. I've blogged about some options, here, and here.

Countdown: 186 days until Vern is 64.

Good News and Bad News...

The Giants win the West, which means I get to go to postseason games again.

From here, it is a very looooong trip...thanks to lura, with whom I'll be staying at least next Thursday night, and hopefully even more...

UPDATE on housing possibilities

We've finally managed to find a link or two to condo rentals at Blacklake. These units would be within walking distance of our place, and the golf course.

Here's one that sleeps 4

Here's one that sleeps 6

Both appear to be available next July...at least for the moment...

Now we wait...

The gigantic project I've been working on for almost two years is now off my desk and on someone else's. Now we'll see what happens...

I've never been a patient person, so this may be the longest week of my life...so to speak...

which makes me remember that the wait every Christmas eve between dark and when Uncle Lloyd finally showed up after being the last one out of Breuners that day, probably seemed longer...even now...

Thought for the day

Blogpost at my other "professional" blog:
3 Steps to succeed by doing what it takes: http://is.gd/fdUiI #leadership

Progress, Progress...

Over last weekend, I had a long conversation with lura about some ideas for the party (Judi was out of town, at her annual les girles retreat in the bay area). It was helpful to bounce some ideas around, and we're making progress on the food, the decor, and other knotty problems. More as soon as I make some clear decisions...

I just said "no" to something...

This is not my nature, and is rare in my experience. But in this case, I think I made an adult decision.

The project was to mount a performance of the St. John Passion during Holy Week, 2012, at the church. Ultimately, I decided that the space was too small, the cost was not recoverable without fundraising, and my time was not going to allow proper preparation.

But it was not easy to make that decision.

what to leave in...what to leave out...

Quick trip to the bay area today for a memorial service tomorrow, and some discussion about whether to get the playoff tix package...

Alone again...naturally...

Judi leaves for the bay area tomorrow, so it's going to be a bachelor week. I'll make a quick up and back trip on the weekend for a memorial service. I'll eat weird, work late, and, hopefully get a lot done, but it will be nice when she gets back next week...

Labor Day

Ten months to go...guess I need to get some plans going...sigh...

Been a strange week...including some self-imposed hibernation to do some important writing. The weekend has been great, and social...we were out Friday and Sunday nights, and are having people over tonight...it's good practice for the 64 celebration...

Everything is supposed to be "back to normal" starting Tuesday, with the official end of summer today. I hope to be more regular in posting once the routine settles down again this week...

But...but....where will we stay?

Time for my post about where you might stay in the area, so I did what any self-respecting netizen would do in 2010, I fired up google.

I wish I had better news about hotel prices, but we live in an area that is considered "beach" and tourists pay to stay here. (A little known fact...when you come over the hill on 101 into the Pismo/Shell Beach area, it is the first time you see the ocean from the highway going south after you leave the Golden Gate Bridge. Periodically we have a tourist that is so captivated by the view that they go over the edge, often landing in an ironically placed tennis court...forewarned...)

The other bad news is that there is not much to choose from right near our house. So you will end up staying a few miles away...the good news is, of course, that means you'll be, in general, close to the beach.

Here's the page for Pismo Beach Hotels

From what I know of that list, the Sea Venture is in a nice spot, has a great restaurant (we go there often for a sunset dinner with reasonable corkage), and it sits right on the beach.

The Oxford Suites are purported to be the best value in the area (short of the Motel 6 sort of place).

A little farther away, on the more northerly part of the bay/beach are the places in Shell Beach.

These places, like the Dolphin Bay, are generally pricier.

As the bay circles back on itself at the north end, you'll find the lovely little town of Avila Beach.

Avila is the place the locals go when there is only one spot with sun. It has a protected location, and thus better weather (i.e. less fog most of the time). The Lighthouse Suites are across the street from the beach, and fairly new.

On the way to Avila there are a couple of very nice places as well. Both of these are not on the water, if that's not your cup o' tea.

We go to the restaurant at the Sycamore Springs a lot. We've also sampled several of there +/-100 hillside hot tubs. They have had a mid-week deal where you can buy a meal and get a hot tub. Or you can get a spa treatment which comes with a hot tub. Again...if that's your thing...

Also along the way, in its own little community, is the Avila Village Inn

If college town atmosphere is your thing, and you like to shop downtown (including the world famous Thursday night Farmer's Market), then here is the link for San Luis hotels.

The Apple Farm Inn has country charm, and the also world famous landmark Madonna Inn is worth seeing (the men's room has been a tourist attraction for at least 40 years......really...) even if you don't stay there.

Finally, if you remember the Michael Jackson trial, it was held in the next large town to the south of us, Santa Maria. Santa Maria is big enough to find most everything, including almost all the typical hotel chains. Here's the google link to Santa Maria hotels. 

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Reunion Reflections

In many ways, attending my HS reunion last weekend was a rehearsal for my 64 party. (For those new to the site, here's the back story.) The reunion was in Stockton, which meant Judi and I had to find a hotel (more about that in a minute), and things to do during the weekend before and after (well that part turned out to be easy...we went to Pac Bell and watched the Giants beat Arizona) the event.

Here's what I learned. The reunion committee did a great job on the event itself, but the hotel (did I already say more about this later?) and the "tourist attractions" part of the package were not so good. So I promise to get you all some hotel information by the end of the week. As to the tourist attraction stuff, I've covered that in a lot of detail starting here with airplane stuff, here with stuff to see on the way here from the north and south, here about the many golf opportunities nearby, here for those who like wine tasting, and here for assorted other information and things to see and do.

OK...about the hotel in Stockton. My best guess is that it was built by someone or a company that intended to operate it as a franchise for a large chain (whose name starts with an S), but at a certain point (apparently just before the pool was tiled over the cement) the money ran out. The hotel had 4 floors, but the building had 6 or 7 (depending upon how you count), so I assume that the top floors were to be condos or apartments. Someone told me they had one sale in escrow on that but that it hadn't closed...

So it was a brand new hotel (built in 2007 they told us at the front desk) which had no sign. Not on the building, not on the street, not at the entrance, not on the phones (the name had been sort of blacked out with a magic marker), not on the front door (well...unless you count the piece of paper taped to the door...). The room felt as if it had hardly, if ever, been used. I'm guessing that either the bank, or somebody acting entrepreneurially, had hired a (mostly incompetent) staff to keep the hotel open as it was and try to get some cash flow.

Whoever planned the hotel thought it would be cool to hire a great designer, and, I must say, the hotel looked good (at least on the inside...the outside was rather chrome/glass/boxy). But design, in my opinion, is more than just looking good. I'll give you a forinstance...the shower in our room was not completely enclosed. There was a sheet of plexiglass covering about half of the "interior" shower wall, but it was open at the end away from the shower head. Which meant that every hotel housekeeper had to mop every floor every day...and the linen service must be a nightmare, because we had to request extra towels to be able to walk on the bathroom floor after a shower. (Which, in a way, was a utilitarian use for our towels, since there was no place to hang them up...sigh...)

But to make matters worse, the open end of the shower was also next to the door into the rest of the room, and on the other side of that door was wood (or laminate, probably) flooring. Any guess as to how long that is going to survive the constant water?

Oh...did I say we got a great rate?

Live Like You Can't Go Home Again

This weekend Judi and I are going to Stockton to attend my 45th hs reunion. I left town (on a train! with a lot of books!) to attend Northwestern University in September of 1965, and essentially haven't been back for more than a few days here and there since. As one of my choir members said at rehearsal the other night: "Two days in Stockton...in August...how...fun..." Right...yesterday it was 106 there...and 72 here...sigh...

I got out my old yearbooks yesterday and looked through all the faces...especially the ones that are on the list of those who are attending the event. I remember a lot of them, but we had a big class...It will be interesting to see how many still "look the same"...

The event will be bittersweet, as I found out a few days ago that one of my hs musical colleagues (he was a year younger than I was) passed away unexpectedly. Gary Wright was one of three of us that I know of that ended up teaching music at the university level, which is a testament to the musical training we had in school (Frank...if you're reading this...thanks!).

In reading the tributes to Gary on facebook, it is clear that he was the kind of teacher that we all hope to be...involved with his students, and modeling as much as teaching. That's the thing I miss most about not teaching in an academic situation...watching students grow up, go out, and do well. Gary's death reminds me that life is short...take advantage of it...which also reminds me...I've got to go pack the good wine for the weekend...later...