My Greek Olympics: Eating

The hand incident:

Souvlaki shop in Monastirakix

One evening, I was walking around and ran into Jay and Semos. They were going to get something to eat and were headed towards one of the Souvlaki places on Metropolis Street at Monastiraki. We walked up to the area and looked around, I decided to get something to eat as well and Semos did his usual "this is really very nice" routines. We found a table in the area that was the Sabbas restaurant.

There were three restaurants that had tables out in the street and in the square next to Monastiraki. It seemed to be always crowded and the tables were very close together. Everything was very simple, plain wooden tables and chairs and music was filtering out from each place to round out the atmosphere. We sat down and got the menu and I tried to make out what was available. There were lots of Souvlaki and salads listed and I wasn't quite sure what the difference was, plus there was wine and sides dishes available. We ordered 3 Souvlaki with pita each, fries and a side of fried peppers with Tzatziki dip and wine.

Souvlaki, this is for Kabobs

As we were sitting there, we could see an endless stream of people walking by and a bunch of children begging for money. Semos said they were Albanian and they worked for organized crime groups. Some children tried to beg from us, but I ignored them. We got our food and it wasn't bad. The meat seemed a little strange, but it tasted OK, the peppers were good as was the rest. We all ate our food and drank some wine or beer. I found out that they put fries on the Souvlaki and call it 'vegetables'.

A standard Souvlaki consists of a log of grilled meat, some sliced onions, tomatoes and parsley sprinkled on top and fries if ordered, then a large blob of Tzatziki all on a pita dread. The peppers were long yellow peppers that where fried in oil so the skin was soft, they were not hot at all.

As we ate, a man came by selling little trinkets, Jay said no to him as well did Semos. The guy didn't leave and kept asking if we wanted the stuff. Jay said no and with a hand gesture to shoo him away. The guy got very angry and started to raise his voice, but Semos immediately got up and started to say 'no she didn't mean it' (which is how I interpreted it). Basically Jay had inadvertently made a hand gesture that meant the guy was sub-human or like the dead. It was an old Greek sign for people thrown from a village for a crime, the 'dead to us' gesture of an open hand to the face. It is a very bad gesture and was based on the fact that when someone was thrown from a village, a handful of ash was smeared on the face. Basically it was ash of the dead and it was considered to be a very bad thing to do.

Semos calmed him down and explained that Jay didn't mean it and it was an accident and she didn't actually give him the hand. Jay didn't care and said she meant it and couldn't careless what the guy thought. She was more than willing to fight the guy it seemed. Semos was always trying to fix things and see everything on the better side. I just watched the show. Our bill was about 7Euro each and we paid and left.

Drinking:

At first, Ron would have a glass of wine with us in the evening, while David drank his 7 or 8 beers, maybe I would have 2 or 3. Ron would just have a glass and have a good time with us. This later changed when Ron's wife came to visit, Chris joked that Ron would stay out late and drink a lot of beer and she was not happy. Soon Ron was under lock and key and he never came out with us like he did before. The beers were not cheep and they were in the 5 to 10 euro range which translated to 6 to 12 dollars. So David drinking 8 beers could easily spend close to 100 dollars a night with food. I would only drink a few, but I had to keep pace with David. I drank too much and spent too much on beer, but a coffee wasn't much less.

On most evenings, after changing from work clothes, we would meet at the annex and grab a large table at the front of the place. First one would order a plate of cucumbers, olives and dip. David would text me with one of his standard messages, "beer me". As others would show up and more drinks had, Leo the owner would come out and have a plate of snacks sent out which would be more vegetables with some meats as well.

After at least 2 or 3 beers we would all walk off to dinner somewhere and it could be as late as 9 or 10 o'clock. Only tourists eat at 5 or 6, most hawkers would try to get us to come in by saying "Nice dinner" or "Serving dinner". I would always say it is way too early to eat and walk by. After a while most people recognized me and wouldn't even ask.

George soon embarrassed us all at the annex by ogling women as they past. There was a low hedge in a planter by the table and George would part them to look at girls passing. It was embarrassing and soon we made George sit away form the bush. Unfortunately George kept doing stupid things like that and we didn't appreciate him for that.

Eating:

I soon get accustom to Athens, at least our small part of it. We would go to a standard few restaurants in the area and one was Poliathina. It was where one of my first real dinners in a standard Greek restaurant was and I thought it was great. We would have many drinks at the Metropol or other places, but go out to a restaurant to eat the main meal. We got to know everyone at all the places we would hangout at and become friends with a lot of people. The food at  Poliathina was very good but simple. The preparation of most items is simple in most cases which meant the food was either fried or baked. Fish is grilled as is lamb chops, but in some cases stewed.

Some of the food we would order was the country sausage or Lakoniko and the many dips and salads (Horiatiki or "Greek country salad", fish roe, eggplant and spicy feta, and cucumber - Taramosalata, Melitzanosalata, Skorthalia, Tzatziki). They had grilled sardines and lamb chops (Paithakia), stewed pork in tomatoes, stewed chicken in tomatoes (Stifado) and maybe Moussakas or Pastitsio (like macaroni and cheese). We would also get the stuffed zucchini which came in a white lemon sauce or roasted potatoes. Different kinds of boiled greens and fried vegetables like eggplant or zucchini.

We would just go into the kitchen and see what they had fresh and pick out stuff that we thought looked good. They would open drawers and pull out fish, show pans of baked dishes or stewed greens. We could pick what we wanted and they would bring it to us. It is very common to do that and if they don't let you, you leave. If Semos was with us he would order so much food and then say he was ordering it for us, he would get very carried away. At the end of dinner, Vassili would come out with a tray of cut fruit with chocolate sauce over the top or panicotti or both.

Vassili, at Poliathina is always happy to see us. His Russian waitress always smiles, but she doesn't speak much English. Later I found out that Vassili had rescued her from a Russian smuggling group. She would have been sold into prostitution if Vassili didn't pay for her, she was very grateful. The kitchen staff and other waiters always would come out and say hello or give us good service. I liked that place very much and I would be back many times in the future.

Noodle bar:

A block from the hotel was the "Noodle Bar". A small place owned by an Australian Greek who when he moved back to Athens missed the Asian food he had in Australia. So he opened a place that served a Thai type noodle dish, like wok fried noodles. It was good and a change of pace from the Greek food we ate every day. It was expensive compared to the other food available, but to us it was OK.

We would spend 20 Euro on dinner so it wasn't that much for us to pay 12 Euro for a plate and a beer. They were open late and were only a block away. It was very convenient and we made it a habit of eating there at least once a week.

My Greek Olympics: Athens, my new home

The Parliament in Athens

Vic told me that he would do an orientation to Athens for the few new people, mostly Ron and a couple of SAIC staff people. Vic, Jay and David have been in Greece for months already and I was still not as knowledgeable as they were. Vic had an apartment and Jay and David were staying in the hotel, more convent than having a place to deal with. They knew their way around and have made friends with people at different places.

I went down to the annex and met up with the others and then we all walked up to Syntagma Square. the main square in central Athens. We crossed the square and went down into the Metro Station. Vic explained the process of getting a ticket and going through the entrance. This was the largest stations since it connected the Red and Blue lines and it was under the Parliament Building.

We looked at the map and Vic told us where the lines went. Since we were only one stop from the Monastiraki station, it was more for catching the train to Omonia or going east to the Ministry of Defense. Since we were at the hotel still, we could walk to Monastiraki faster than going to Syntagma. The green line would take us to the port or way out East to Marousi or Kifisia. There are three main lines, the Blue, Red and Green. The Green line was the old above ground train and the other two are mostly underground. They all meet in the center of town.

At the station, they had some depictions of what was found under ground when they dug out the station. One wall had a cut-away of the different layers of the city over time, plus some artifacts they found while digging. Most stations had something like that though this was on a larger scale.

We then walked out and around the Parliament area and Vic told us about the changing of the guards and the big show on Sunday mornings. We looked at the guards as they moved about in a much exaggerated manor. They did a changing while we were there so we could understand what the big deal was. Vic pointed out other places around the square and we walked back across to the main area of the square. Vic had an apartment already and he had some things to do back at his place. He lived in the Thisseiou area which is by the Roman Agora.

We walked back to Ermu Street and saw the shops and stores, this was an expensive shopping district and I didn't know of any other places yet to shop. I would need to get a few new items so I was going to do some shopping later so I knew of at least one place to shop.  Later I would find places that were a lot cheaper, but for now that was all I knew. We headed back to the annex and met with the others in our crew, Jay and David were there eating already. Vic left and I stayed to have drinks and relax.

The annex had a breakfast with eggs and ham, plus bread with jam. They didn't have a stove, just an oven so everything was baked. The eggs were baked with the ham and they stuck to the pan, but it was OK. Coffee or Frappe was available and juice or tea. I would get an Espresso or two, maybe a Cappuccino. Ron was always happy it seemed and he never got upset, though he would be very serious sometimes with the customer. Since he was from Utah, he learned how to deal with the Mormons though I don't think he was one or a practicing one.  His wife was and even though she was five thousand miles away, her reach was felt.

My Greek Olympics: The Battle Plan and going to Siemens...

We had just finished the Olympics in Salt Lake and we had contacts with the Greeks who where doing the next games in 2004. Jay and David, plus Vic had all been working on getting in position to bid on the security contract for Athens. Since 2001 911, the need for security in these types of events had increased exponentially. We were in position to leverage what we did in Salt Lake and do it in Greece. The plan was to use what we had done as a model and expand and refine the system. This would allow fast integration and set-up so a system could be in place to allow for the needed training of the users.

Jay and David had been meeting with some Greeks the week after the games had ended and soon they were off to Greece to start the process. The Greeks would release an RFP and we would write a proposal to the specification. David was in charge of system architecture and Jay had the vision, Vic would provide the user needs requirements so the system would do what it had to do. I was to provide technical support in the areas of mapping and simulation, training and user support along with all the other system work I could do.

I went back to San Diego and resumed my old duties and waited for the call to go. I was doing training and traveling all over the country, but I wanted to go to Greece. Jay and David would call and email me to let me know what was happening and I would send them stuff as needed. We had assumed we would go straight in and start working with in a few months. Of course this didn't quite happen and it took a little while till I got over there. David and I went to DC to write the proposal, turned out to be $450 million when we finished. It ended up being $300 million after the "discounts" and negotiations.

Heading To Siemens offices going past the Parliament Building

Trip to Siemens:

The next morning we waited for the van to pick us up. We all meet down in the eating area of the hotel and had the breakfast that was provided. We planned to leave at a certain time, but we had to wait for the driver to show up. The van arrives and we start to go outside and then pile in the small van. Off we go in a flash, down the narrow streets that are no wider that the van which is forcing people to jump out of our way. The horn is a constant, we joke that the Greeks think it will speed then up. I have no idea where we are going and we finally get to a major road. Then we dart into traffic and start the agonizingly slow drive out to the Siemens headquarters. Our hotel is in the "center" of town and Siemens office is out on the edge of the city.

We pass the Parliament building and up past the embassies, then onto the main road out of town. Athens has only one freeway and at the time it was under construction. All traffic is on surface streets and Leof Sophia and Leof Kifisias are the main roads to the east. There are an endless stream of motorcycles and scooters that work their way between the cars. We are only going about 6 miles, but it take more than an hour to get out of the center.

There is massive construction going on and lots of digging and detours. We finally get to Siemens and I meet our Greek counter-parts, they all seem tired and smell of smoke. I had talked to some on the phone and heard them on teleconferences but this was actually meeting them in person. David and Jay are off to a meeting and I have to stay and go over the contract with George, Ron and a couple of new people.

This is the time when the people would show up and then disappear. One guy said he was getting married in a month and then he was leaving. I couldn't believe he was working on the project, but then he didn't seem to do anything. The Greeks never came to talk to us, they were in their own offices and we were in ours. I couldn't talk to anyone or ask for information and I was tasked to review the contract requirements and bill of materials. That was my job for the first two weeks.

My Greek Olympics: Meeting Semos and contract

Kolonaki Square named for a column fond on the sight.

The office is nice and it was an apartment at one time, there are two young people as staff who get us coffee and drinks as we sit. Semos arrives with Jay, this is my first meeting with Semos and I wasn't quit sure who he was and how he fit into the mix. He was nice and friendly as he usually is. I soon find out that the whole contract has been changed and nothing has happened because the government committee was pushing for more information. It was a mess, but I though Jay, David and Vic had it under control. We went out to a cafe a half block up the street. We sat and I listened to the talk and the bitching of Jay and David. I still wasn't quite in the loop yet and I didn't want to say much. Semos seemed happy but complained about the government committee.

We went to dinner that night at Tops or Tops of Kolonaki, which was just down the street from Semos and Trep's office. An old world type place and the seating area was under a large canopy with lots of little lights. The one odd thing was the floor was on a slope. This meant that half the seats faced uphill and it was a bit uncomfortable to sit that way. Lots of older men and young ladies sat around the other tables, this was not looked down upon. The restaurant is in the fashion district of Athens and also is a haven for TV and Movie star types.

The food was OK and the service was a bit slow, there was a nice waitress, Albanian, and the rest were older Greek men. The interesting thing was that Kolonaki being a fashion and shopping district, in one of the windows of the restaurant they played a constant stream of fashion shows on a large TV. The girls walked or strutted the runway and they were half dressed at best, no seemed to care or watch.

We were to have a meeting with Siemens the next day, but today there wasn't much to do. I was only going to be in Athens for a couple of months, then go back for a short time before returning for good, so this was an introduction meeting of all the players and get familiar with the "new" project. I still thought that it would be like Salt Lake, but I wasn't sure because of all the changes. It seemed like I was going to have to build a lot of the system. I though we were going to be doing a similar thing as before in Salt Lake, but with all the changes to the contract and the system being so much larger and complex, the work would be dramatically different.

The contract was divided into 30 sub-systems. SAIC would do about half of them and the subcontractors the rest. Out of the main command systems, there were about 12 subsystems. Subsystem 1 was the main command and control piece and the subsystems 2 through 7 were complementary. I was directly responsible for subsystems 3, 4, 6, and 7 which worked with chunks of subsystems 1, 5, 14, 15 and 17. I would work with the Police, Fire Brigade, Coast Guard and some of the intelligence groups along with civil protection (like FEMA). I would be doing the Bomb Management, Dignitary Athlete Protection, Fire, and Coast Guard components, which were added to the main command and control decision support system (CCDSS).

David was responsible for subsystem 1, 2, and 5. All of these were mostly software systems, but they had relations to the hardware also. That's why I had to deal with so many subsystems since the software would be working with certain hardware components. As it turned out, I would get dragged into several more subsystems before it was all through. When we wrote the contract in DC, we had planned to use specific software and by the RFP, we had to bid certain systems. SAIC wanted to use other systems that they had and they were inserted into the bid. When the contract arrived, Jay, David, Vic and some of the contractors had to re-write most of the proposal to get rid of these additions. It all had to be done that night and then new copies printed and delivered.

Since I was not there during this time, I didn't know the full scope of the changes. I did know that some things changed and new stuff added, but I didn't know exactly what the specifics were. So being there and getting to see the contract and to hear all of these things really made me wonder about this project. The government was continually pushing for more information and the company pushing for changes.

My Greek Olympics: Hotel, Metropol Cafe, First meeting

Metropol cafe in the square, across from the Cathedral.

Hotel:

We arrive at the Athos, a small European style tourist hotel. We go in and I register and get room 101, then walk to the elevator. I am shocked again at the size, about as a phone booth. I try to put my two bags in and I don't fit. The lady at the counter says I can, but I decide to go up the stairs, only one flight. The women insist I use the elevator, but there is no way will I fit with the luggage so I take the stairs.

 I get to the room and put my stuff down, the room is small, but not to bad, I have a patio out the narrow double doors. I see David and he says to get one hour sleep then I will have to get up, it is the best way to get over the time change. I am asleep in an instant. The next thing I know I am woken by a knock on the door, David is getting me up and says we are going to a cafe for some beer and food. I am still disoriented by the trip and the new surroundings. I hope to get settled in as soon as possible, I am looking forwards to the experience.

Metropol Cafe:

We walk out and up to Apollonius street (named after Apollo) and down two streets to the Metropolis square and the Metropol cafe, my second home for months to come. We eventually call the Metropol the "annex" and get to know everyone who works there very well.  We sit and I am introduced to Bobby, Paniotis, Stellio and Silvia. Beer arrives, Alpha, along with small plates of cucumbers, olives, bread, feta, and tomatoes. We have a few drinks and eat all the food, it isn't too bad but not very exciting either, mostly finger food.

Paniotis is tall and middle aged, but seems older. He is a structural engineer and works at the cafe as a second job. Stellio is younger and thinner than Paniotis and is a waiter. Bobby is also middle aged and works as the "greeter". He is the person who stands out front and greets people as they come in or tries to get people to sit and eat. Silvia is the cashier and works inside. It is a funny setup with so many doing jobs that one person would do in the US.

We walk off after a few hours and I am exhausted, David says I need to stay awake until at least ten o'clock, I try. I get back to the hotel and I have to deal with the short bed but I am asleep in an instant, the first real sleep since I left 36 hours ago. My bed has a foot board which means my feet must rest on the wood as they stick way out over the end. The shower head is to short and of course there is the no toilet paper rule, I flush it anyway.

First meeting:

The next morning we meet and I see Jay for the first time, we all get together and have the hotel breakfast. A standard fare of hard boiled eggs, yogurt, cereal, fruit, hard bread and coffee or juice, it is the same every day and is very common throughout all of Europe. Vic arrives and tells me that we were going to a meeting with Raytheon, I was to go and get an impression of what they had to say, there might be a possible partnership in the works. Vic and I take a taxi to the meeting, it was at a hotel not to far from where we were (Intercontinental). I find out that these people were the competition during the bid, much bad blood between them and us, but since we won they wanted to play with us now.  Later we find out that a $10 million bribe was paid by Raytheon and they still lost.

The meeting was short and I wasn't sure what the point was, we left and go out to get a taxi back to Syntagma square. We stand on the street and try to wave one down, it is kind of drizzly and we eventually walk to another hotel where we find a cab. Vic fills me in on what had happened and now I see what the meeting was about.

We get out of the taxi and walk up Likabettos street in Kolonaki to go to the offices of our consultant Semos and his partner Trep. It is a cool day and a bit of rain falls, on the way Vic fills me in on all the shit that has been happening with the contract, he is bitching and complaining about the stuff that went on with the contract award and what a mess it was. I had taken part in the contract writing but not the negotiations. We go up the hill and soon are at the office building which is in an area of embassies and private homes, we ring the bell and in and up the spiral staircase.

I worked on the initial proposal in DC and I thought that what was written then was the contract. During the process of the award parts were re-written to meet new requirements and expectations. When the proposal was brought over, it was hand carried to insure it made it on time. The idiots that were bringing it decided to take a sight seeing trip and the proposal wasn't delivered until late afternoon. It turned out that the proposal was changed and it had to be re-written on the spot that night, it was due in the next day.

My Greek Olympics: The beginning of my life as an expat

A view towards where my apartment is from the Acropolis.

I saw Greece from the plane's window as we pasted the southern tip of Italy. We had just crossed to the south of the "heel of the boot" and I was able to see some of the islands on the south-western coast of the Peloponnese. I wasn’t sure which islands they were and at first and I wasn’t quite sure if it was Greece, but I soon realized that it was indeed Greece. As we made the approach to the new airport of Athens, we descended over the Saronic Gulf and the intense blue water was a wonderful sight. After the long flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt, then to Greece and after a six hour layover, I was extremely tired.

From the plane the view was of deep blue water and Attica and southern Athens. Even though it was from a distance, it was exiting to finally see my destination. The countryside around the airport is a bit spares and a large marble quarry is visible on the descent. We touch down and make our way to the gate, as I am soon to find out, the Greeks don't always follow the rules. Before the plane stopped, people are up getting bags of all sizes and getting ready to push to the door. The German flight attendants on the Lufthansa flight try to keep people in their seats, but they never truly succeed. I eventually get off the plane and make my way through the customs area, but since we are coming from Germany, there is no inspection and I just walk right in.

The airport is only a few years old, but it seems older. I do see a lot of debris around and from what I could see out of the windows, the place still looked as if it was in a somewhat of a "construction" mode. I found out that this is normal for Greece, a kind of not quite finished look. I assumed it was because of the Olympics and they are still doing improvements, but it always looked that way.

I follow the crowd to the luggage area and find the carousel.  My bags are one of the first ones and I am glad I don't have to wait around, I am very tired and only the excitement of arriving is keeping me going. I walk out through the double doors and I see Vic and the driver waiting. A big hug and a hand shake, I am introduced to the driver, Peter. We walk out and across the street to the parking lot, get in the van and off we go. I arrived in the late afternoon and it was still winter, but the weather was nice and not to cold, a nice change from cool and rainy Frankfurt. It is nice to see the open sky again.

Some small talk with Vic about the trip and what is happening, I am surprised at what he tells me. This is still when there are only a few of us there since the big SAIC flood is yet to come. Things are in flux and David will fill me in later, I wasn't too sure of what I would have to do. I assumed we would all work together and that David and Jay would be the lead, Vic being the advisor to the customer and me being the SME on modeling and simulation and training.

We make our way onto the highway and I see the construction of the rail link to the airport, still not there yet. The countryside is already turning brown, but still with spots of green here and there. Lots of olive trees and small farms are along the road and a small village/town to the left (Peania) and some house to the right. Driving is interesting, speed is king and lanes are made to be changed. We work our way through the late afternoon traffic once we get off the highway. Lots of construction everywhere and Vic points out a few interesting things, we are on the road to Marathon (but going the other way), this will be the marathon route and they are working on improvements.

It takes more time than I thought it would because of construction. Athens is very dense, but this outer area it is still somewhat open. Once we enter the city things change, the buildings are uniform in color and design, more people too. We slowly work our way to the center of town, lots of changes and construction is everywhere. We pass the US embassy and other points of interest, the Hilton etc. Athens has no highways like the US, just main roads that are clogged with traffic.

We make our way to the center and I see the police with machine guns on the street. Vic says there was a protest that day, I will see this many times to come. We pass the Parliament and I see the Acropolis above the central square. It stands above the buildings and is all lit up, very dramatic. Then down and around the square and to a small street (Metropolis), I am almost to the hotel. This will be our home for the next several weeks, our plan is to get apartments which will be our permanent home while we are working here.

Our group consisted of Jay, David, Vic, George and Ron. A few other people who we worked with and were OK were Chris, Rick, and Eric. Most other people were corporate types and we tried to avoid them as much as possible. The only people with Olympic experience were David, Jay, Vic, George and myself. Everyone else didn't have any idea of what we were doing or why.

Sailing in the past...

I found these old pictures of sailing with my brother and his girl friend on their 25 foot sail boat. Must have been in the summer or spring. Sail all day then spend the night at Angle Island. While we sailed we talked to some other boater an they met us later that night for a drink or two. Then we piled on their boat and went to Sam's for more drinks. The trip back was fun to say the least.

BBQ for dinner, drinks on deck, and a great sunset. It is very easy to do the BBQ on the back of the deck and having some Bob Marley playing is nice as well. The morning is usually cold but it is so nice to wake up and have no one around except the birds or an occasional seal or two.

Keeping with the title...

I was looking through some old papers and came across these plots of a star I worked on doing Differential Photometry on eclipsing binary stars. This is part of the data set I collected over the '93 observing season.


A classic light curve of the eclipse.. I used a 6 filter collector and did a sequence of 8 second observation on each filter, then a set on a check star, then on a dark spot of sky to use as a reference.


To get the data it takes a precise sequence and you want to work as fast as possible to get the most data. We called it monkey work though, very repetitive.


Of course today this can all be done with a computer and automate the process. Gone are the days  of freezing all night, now you just program the computer and it can do it all..


Each clump is a data set for one nights work. The two stars orbit about once every 13 days so it take months to collect the data to fill in the plot.

You see one large eclipse then a smaller one, this is the primary being eclipsed then the secondary being eclipsed. The six filters show light at different wave lengths and the plots are different because of that.

Mass from one star is being pulled off and is sucked up by the other. This forms a disk of gas that obscures one star some what. The effect also causes the 'shoulder' after the main eclipse not to be a smooth curve.

The mass of the stars and their class can be derived from the information in these plots. The period of rotation, mass, type, and age are all gained by doing this study.

Snow...

Well today there was snow... I find it some what strange that so much is made of it here in Portland. It rains and it snows once in a while, but it does snow. So when the city practically shuts down I find it a little strange. I woke early and I didn't see any snow, I went back to sleep and I was awoken by the scrape of the snow plows. The city was covered with a dusting of white. Not counting the plows, it was quiet and looking peaceful. I turned the TV on and the morning news was just going crazy with the snow. It was like it never snowed ever... By noon it was melting and most of the snow was gone, only a memory.

Cool water and clouds...

I always like to see interesting pictures of clouds and water and this picture has them both. Sailing in San Diego or San Francisco is usually done with good weather, at least in San Diego. So I don't see intense cloud formations over water and in some cases I am glad I don't.

This type of cloud could  mean a front or squall is approaching, be prepared is what this could be telling you.

A view

On a clear day the peak of Mt Hood cam be seen from Portland It stands out and looks some what like the Matterhorn at Disney Land. It is quiet impressive. I like to find a spot where I can see the mountain and with the city in front, it can be very impressive to see the white peak behind the city.

Country road

Driving around Portland you soon may find yourself in a agriculture area. A wide open sky and fields of crops is a standard view. The other day I was driving and just had to take a picture of the clouds and fields. If it is clear a view of Mt Hood can be seen, or a view of the snow on the western coastal range. Driving out to the west to the coast, you get views like this in the picture. Only 10 minutes from downtown Portland.

Holiday weekend

A three day weekend is always a nice treat, but this weekend I was able to do a favor for someone special. Painting can be a time consuming task, so I offered to help do some painting. A multi-day task turned into a single days and now the finishing touches can be made. Also I had the opportunity to cook dinner and go for a nice run with a very special person. So this weekend, so far, has been great. I know the rest will be just as good if not better. It seems that every day is more wonderful than the last....

A passion: Surfing

I have a few passions in life, one is surfing. When I moved to San Diego in the mid 80's I soon learned to surf. A coworker offered to let me use a board and I soon found myself in the waves on warm summer evenings. Like all sports, it takes some time to learn and become proficient and surfing is no exception. To be honest it took a little time for me to be able to stand and catch a wave, then to actually be in control had taken a little longer.

When learning you are called a Hodad, think inexperienced. But with practice you become comfortable in the water and gain control. You join the 'tribe', you become a surfer and life is never the same.

It has been more then 25 years since I started surfing, more than half my life surfing has been a part of it. I can't imagine not surfing. Being in the ocean and interacting with the waves is an incredible feeling and something that I miss when I am not able to do it.

This last weekend..

Crab at Cannon Beach

Like most people, I look forwards to the weekend and getting out and doing something fun. This last weekend I went to the coast to enjoy the beauty and company at the beach. One thing I always seem to do while at the beach is find crab and enjoy a good lunch or dinner. This trip was no exception, a big sweet crab made a great lunch and I was quite happy when finished.

Not the first day of the Universe, but it is for this blog...

At transition between two worlds here on Earth.

So a very good friend suggested that I create a blog to just write about my adventures in life. So here is a simple blog, a place where I can put my ideas and thoughts down and if others wish to follow along, enjoy the ride.