Thanks for San Francisco!

I was in San Francisco on vacation the first week in June. I had a great, wonderful time, and I owe that to my friends and my mom. They are all wonderful people, and I want to reach out to each of them. So in alphabetical order:

Barbara http://djangrrl.com

I met her not long before pycon 2009 via the Pinax community. She is a very talented developer, Barbara has the 'luxury' of working in the music industry. She's got mad php, mysql, python, and of course, django skills.

For the trip she found us (me, Noah, Zain) tickets to Spamalot, got us (me, Noah, Zain) into the DNALounge for a Zombie Beach party, gave me a walking tour of San Francisco, introduced me to really @#$%ing great vegan food, and took me to Alcatraz. Her knowledge of how to get around San Francisco is unmatched. The last day as we parted ways she tried to get me to go to more places on my own, but I was wiped out from her boundless energy.

Thank you Barbara!

Dave B http://davidbrenneman.com/

Dave is like me, living in both the plone and django communities. He has done some really fascinating work in both areas. He is bright and smart.

I met Dave Friday night for dinner at a really good sushi place whose name I wish I could remember. We challenged the sushi chef to pick what we would eat since he would have to impress us. The result was a number of subtle but delicious selections. Afterwards we went to his place across the Golden Gate park panhandle and I got to meet his lovely wife. They are expecting their first this year!

Thank you Dave!

Dave S. and Cecille P.

A couple of my DC area friends, they both encouraged me to go on a vacation. They've been great to me this past couple of months. I'll always remember their kindness!

Thanks Dave and Cecille!

Daryl http://yacitus.blogspot.com

I met Daryl at pycon 2008. He's a Canadian but don't hold that against him. He works for vmware in Palo Alto. His python and django skills are crazy good.

Daryl was busy the whole time but put a lot of work into finding things for me to see and do around the bay, since most of the time I was solo. He did hang with me for a bit on Wednesday (June 3, 2009) night and we had dinner at Pluto's. That place is like Chipotle on steroids. Next time I hope to visit his house and let his kids hit me with sticks or something else fun.

Thanks Daryl!

Katie http://elephantangelchild.blogspot.com/

My co-worker and our group's technical lead. Multi-talented, besides herding us cats... err... developers... she can code in php, python, draw, and write.

Katie kept the home fires burning at work. Or rather, she kept the fires from raging out of control and consuming the universe.

Thanks Katie!

My Mom

She used to work for a very scary government agency with three letters and retired at the level of 'bigtime boss lady'. Now she does lots of volunteer work, gardening, and many exercise classes.

Mom made sure I got to San Francisco in ways only a parent can. She also encouraged me to take pictures with me in them, and has happily listened to many of my stories about the trip.

Thanks Mom!

Zain
Last but definately not least is Zain. I met Zain at pycon 2009 in the midst of the infamous Django/Pinax fued. Zain is one of the those annoyingly bright young guys with a wonderful personality. Amongst other things he is doing Google Summer of Code for django core, working to augment the Admin UI.

Zed literally hosted me at his house in San Jose. He fed me, clothed me, washed my clothes, and took a day off from work to go cycling with me around Angel Island. He drives through the hills like a maniac too.

I can't thank Zain enough!

What I managed to get done in San Francisco

1. Visit my friend Daryl Spitzer in Palo Alto for lunch at VMWare.

Wednesday, June 3rd I ate dinner at Pluto's in Palo Alto with Daryl Spitzer and Zain Memon. It was good catching up!

2. Rent a bike at fisherman's wharf and go mountain biking on the trails of Angel island in the bay.

Thursday, June 4th me and Zain cycled Perimeter Road on Angel Island on rented bikes (get the rentals on the island since they don't ask for a hefty down payment). The views were incredible.

3. Rent a bike at fisherman's wharf and go road biking through the hills of the Marin Headlands.

Well, actually I did not do this, but instead on Tuesday, June 2nd I bike the Golden gate bridge, through Sausalito, up to Old Mill park, through Tiburon, and up into Belvedere (which has a monster hill that pushed me to my limits).

4. Spend some time at Fisherman's wharf since I'll be there for the bikes anyway.

Best seafood place there by far is Nick's, a hole in the wall where the cook is on the sidewalk. Ignore the pricey tourist traps and go to Nick's!

5. Go to the Exploratorium

Fail!

6. Go to the SFMOMA

Fail!

7. Rent a cheap hotel room somewhere and then wake up at dawn to watch the sun rise over Golden Gate or something.

Fail!

8. See Alcatraz.

Went with Barbara Shaurette on Sunday, June 7th. I was tired from walking around San Francisco for many awesome hours the day before, but it was worth it.

9. See giant trees in Muir Forest.

Fail! But I did see some pretty decent sized trees in Old Mill Park.

Images can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pydanny/tags/sanfrancisco/

Lots more detail to come!

The temptation is very strong...

I want a vacation. One away from home, my daily chores, work and anything involving responsibility. A clean break from life. Our finances are in improving shape, so a vacation is in our reach. I don't have expensive tastes, and neither does my family. Preferably I want to go somewhere warm and enjoy the ocean. The sea gives my soul energy. Ideally I want a $1000 vacation for the three of us (me, wife, 16-year old son).

However, upon any sort of reflection, now is not the time. We have so much that needs doing. A quick list of things to do:

• Take down the dying tree in back ($2300)
• Take down a tree growing on the side of our house ($1000)
• Redo the kitchen sink ($1000)
• Install a dishwasher in the kitchen ($1000)
• Electrical work in the basement ($500)
• Replace the upstairs toilette ($300)
• Replace all our 1960s era windows ($5000)
• Fix the back porch roof ($750)
• Pay back a hospital bill ($300)
• Buy me a new bike ($500)
  
• Pay back a bigger bill or three ($infinity)

And that is just after a minute of thought. Bleah. I think if I can consult more and use leave time to get regular salary while doing so things might be better. Hrm...

Vacation this fall, winter, or spring? Or not...

So my staycation sucked. I guess it could have worked, but really I want to be away from home, be pampered, and see water or something else but this area. Our finances aren't bad right now, so we've teased the thought of doing something fun away from home, and bringing our 16 year old son with us.

We've thought of the cruise thing. They are inclusive, in that that include room, board, and lots of food. I like the sea to boot. The problem is that the local cruises out of Baltimore and Norfolk are not cheap. Its cheaper to fly down to Fort Lauderdale and sail out from there. I've found a couple Royal Caribbean cruises that are six days and five nights that seem very affordable. Then tack on the $10/night per person per day fuel surcharge and the cost balloons.

We are also looking at renting places in out of season locales. Go to the beach or non-skiing mountains in winter, find a nice hotel, house, or bread-and-breakfast and you can get incredible deals. Think $500/week for everyone! However, I'm hesitant. I want to be able to hit a pool, run outside barefoot, and feel the wind on my face. I'm afraid this will turn into another staycation experience. Bleah.

Or maybe I ought to just wait until Pycon and bring the family. Then we can stay at the hotel a few extra days and see Chicago properly. I really did like the pizza there, and the architecture was to die for.

Finally, we might just not do a vacation, or send the kid off by himself, perhaps on a school trip? That would be the responsible thing. Our finances are still not in perfect order.

Hrm...