Friday, December 16, 2005

Twas the Night Before Hawaii

And all through the house not a child HAD ANY CLUE where we are heading tomorrow:)

I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow we are off to Hawaii for a week. When we return on Christmas eve, Mom and Curt will be here. We will have Christmas and a couple of days later Todd and Chris and the kids will be here. And then at the end of the break, Dad and Darlene will be here (still not exactly sure who will be here when, but I am sure that Julie knows).

It is even better given how much prep there is both at home and work getting ready ... Today I flew down to Monrovia and back this evening. My second trip this week. Today was primarily because there was a Holiday Potluck. Since lots of the folks there work for me - I wanted to be there. We of course did work as well. Now my guys will take it from here over the next week. I did manage to close hiring of a guy in India. Got an announcement out for a guy that is moving to the US from the UK to run a part of my organization. And got my product management team working to prepare for my next trip.

And I caught up with two of my friends to schedule some things when we return from Hawaii.

Not bad!

Monday, December 12, 2005

Boys and Girls Club - Your Legacy

Julie and I attended a Boys and Girls Club fund raiser dinner last week. This was a good time for a good cause. But I got a lot more out of it.

The guest of honor was Rigo Chacon. I remember the name growing up. He was a news reporter for ABC 7 news. He has done a number of things since then and left a real legacy.

It is that legacy that really got to me. His son Rigo Jr. spoke about his father. He did a phenomenal job describing what his dad meant to him. What he stood for. How he spent his time and money. Things that he did back in the town that he came from. Rogo's father had just passed away a couple weeks before the dinner. So his memory was fresh in Rogo's mind. Rigo talked about what his father meant to him. What he stood for. What they learned from him.

So what will my legacy be. What did I get from my mother and father. What do I remember. What did I learn. And what am I passing along to my kids. To the community. What will I be remembered for.

It really makes you think!!

Friday, December 09, 2005

What a week

The week sure has gone by quickly. It is now Friday - my last entry was close to a week ago, on Sunday night. I was complaining about how bad our football teams are. This week's talk radio is all about how maybe the 49ers will end up with Reggie Bush. Is that a good thing or now. There are opinions on both sides. If we got him we would have the game breaker that we need and we would be back to scoring touchdowns. If we trade him we can fill a number of holes on the defensive line, wide receiver, etc.

But that isn't what I wanted to talk about. This week it is all about how close we are getting to Christmas and the vacation that we are getting ready to go on. Anthony and Nick don't know that we are on our way to Hawaii NEXT SATURDAY! We are going to have them pack up as if we are going to PG. Get in the car. And drive to SFO. It will be fun to see how long it takes for them to realize that we are not heading in the right direction:) My guess is that it will be a half hour. They will be reading their books and at some point will look up and not see the sand dunes and ask - "where are we?"

We will then give them an envelope. The envelope will have some money in it to spend while on vacation. In the envelope will be a clue as to where we are going. Maybe a word scramble with words like Hawaii or Maui or Hula or if we get really mean Mele Kaliki Maka. It might take a while ... but they will get it:)

So I am really excited. I can't wait. And I can't wait until we can put them through this next Saturday.


Monday, December 05, 2005

49ers and Raiders

What a lousy weekend for bay area professional football fans. We went to the 49er game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Alex Smith actually looked ok the first half. Early on he through short passes, sometimes shovel passes to a back right in front of him, but none the less he completed a bunch of passes. And just before the end of the quarter he threw the ball down the field and had some nice completions. But during the second half he really looked bad. I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt, but wow was he bad. He really looks like he has no idea out there. By the end of the game he was unable to find anyone - throwing interceptions that were just plain poor.

I am picking on Alex here. He is not the only problem. The bottom line is that the 49ers are just outmatched. Almost everyone they play is better. I am impressed with coach Nolan. He has the team playing hard. I am seeing some improvement. And I was very impressed by the rookies who started on the offensive line. But they are in need of better players. Until they get some, I don't expect us to win.

We did have a good time as we had good seats and the day was nice. It was the first pro game that both Nick and Anthony have gone to. They were impressed with the stadium, look of the field, size of the players, person who sang the national anthem and halftime activities. And with the small crowd, we could get something to eat and make it back to our seats well before halftime ended!

Once we got home we turned on Sunday night football. Our hope was that we would see a better game. The Raiders were playing San Diego - a bit of a rivalry. The game started off pretty good. The Raiders were hitting hard and making some good offensive plays. But as the game wore on, and especially after halftime, things really got out of hand. The Chargers started to own the Raiders. By the end I was pretty depressed. The situation is worse with the Raiders than it is with the 49ers. I think that the Raiders have enough good players. They just aren't winning. I can see that Randy Moss is hurting. But the problem is deeper. Maybe it is the coach or maybe the quarterback. Or maybe both.

So tonight I am watching some basketball. And there is soccer on shortly. I am loving college football. Cal is good. USC is great. I am looking forward to the Rose Bowl!