Jackie's Blog

We thoroughly enjoyed our Memorial Day weekend. First I dragged Dick to the annual Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras for an hour or two :-) It was originally meant for raising money for the local fire brigade, however since then it raises money for many different non-profit organizations. There are lots of vendors selling both local products or services as well as vendors selling jewelery, art and food, including mushrooms of course. We had a quick wander through them all and ended up at the regularly scheduled farmers market at the far end of the event. I was delighted to find that half of the market stall holders were the same ones that sell at the downtown San Jose Farmers market, which I enjoyed going to recently. Local cherries are in season right now and I could live on them! I'll be going there every weekend to get local produce :-) In the afternoon we put some of the superfluous boxes from the apartment back in the new storage unit and brought the motorbike over to the comp...

Yay! The week before last I flew back to Georgia to supervise the packing and shipping of all of our personal belongings. First I had to empty the storage unit and divide everything into two piles: one to go to the apartment and a second to go to another storage unit in Morgan Hill. I thought I did pretty well but since then I have been looking for some things that I should have put in the apartment pile that I did not. Anyway, I learned two lessons from this experience. I personally had packed many boxes (books etc) and had carefully labeled it all to put it in the storage unit in the first place- this part of the de-cluttering stage of trying to sell a house. I thought I had done well but I should have labeled EVERY side of any box which was fragile, as I learned that movers do not necessarily read one let alone every side of every box. So far, everything seems to have survived but we had unpacked very little... I am a bit concerned about the number of boxes that have crushed corner...

Having spent 4 hours in the emergency room last night with Dick, I am grateful that we have health insurance. It all started with a phone call from Dick saying he had fallen off his bicycle on his way home from work, and would I come and collect him as he was a 'bit banged up'? I rushed there and the first thing I saw was that I could hardly see his eyes- he was having a severe allergic reaction to something that was manifesting itself in his sinuses. All he could remember was having a huge sneezing fit after he 'woke up' having fell off his bike. 'Woke up'?? He couldn't remember hitting his head, although the scrape on the right side of his forehead showed he'd definitely banged his head. His first concern, naturally, was that the bike and his laptop were ok. However, we did not hang around to check them over, we just loaded them into the car- after he taken an anti-histamine that I always keep in my bag. For Dick to say he is hurting is unusual enough,...

Those of you who know us, know that fast vehicles are a big part of Dick's life in particular: first it was the motorbike- his baby, all cooped up still in Georgia; then came the Mustang convertible, the fun car, perfect for California; then the very swish Specialized bicycle, and now.... the razor scooter! I have done nothing but giggle since Sunday morning, when on a trip to Target to buy a new inner tube for the bicycle, Dick decided that a Razor scooter would be perfect to get about the campus at Google. So, as it was his birthday week, it came home. He loves it! The apartment complex is just perfect for scooting around, whilst I am walking Pepper- so long as no one is looking! As soon as anyone older than a child is around, Dick steps off it and pretends it isn't really his.. (although I must admit, I'd probably do the same). In case you don't believe me, I took this picture only yesterday (which he wouldn't have let me take if he'd have known what I was...

Today we hiked up 'El Toro'.... Wikipedia says.. El Toro means "The Bull" in Spanish. According to a local legend, author Bret Harte named the hill when he climbed it and discovered two bulls fighting near the summit (they subsequently chased him back down). The official name shown on USGS maps is simply El Toro. Elevation at the summit is about 427 m (1403 ft). The Annual Spring Hike up El Toro is the only time when you can officially hike up there as it is private land, so there were at least a couple of hundred people who took the chance. There are two start times, 7:45 am and 9:45 am, and we went to the later one this time. We had planned to get up earlier but as it turned out, the hill was covered in low cloud first thing this morning, so it may have been cooler, but the view would not have been as spectacular as it was later. The hike itself is about 1.5 miles to the top- all up hill. Kudos goes to a Morgan Hill Scout troop who had cut in steps and erected a ro...

This is an extract from some of the emails I have been sending friends since I arrived on the West Coast at the end of February. Since we arrived in Morgan Hill, I have explored all the shops in the small high street- they are very eclectic shops; there is everything from a knitting shop, to jewelery, one of a kind clothing shops, nick-nac shops and a large independent book store (with an in-store book-club!) There are also several restaurants (fish, Mexican, Italian, BBQ, a breakfast bar, coffee shop and a couple of bars). There is also a small local newspaper which is published twice a week, and a regular Saturday farmers market, and a fish and meat store- all locally run. Obviously there are the chain stores, a Safeway supermarket, and even a new Trader Joes (yay!) but they are a little further away, but within a mile or two. Just to help those of you who are not geographically inclined, Morgan Hill is about 20 miles south of San Jose, and 70 miles south of San Francisco. We are als...

Well we are finally here! The last day turned out to be an eventful one- the driving was very different and so was the weather at the end. Its strange to think that we arrived the day before we were supposed to leave :-) So from the beginning... We left Needles CA back on I40 into the Mojave Desert. Picture some sand but largely rolling hills and miles of desert plants- low lying due to the wind, some cacti and Joshua trees. We found at later that Joshua trees only grow in the Mojave desert- (they look like large Yucca plants!!) As you can imagine there is nothing but desert for as far as you can see- very beautiful and calm, with just one road running through it and the occasional pullover area. Amazingly, we had cell phone coverage the whole way, and a local radio station that told us of the conditions for both road and weather too. Talking of cell phones, I have a Sprint phone and I think I've had coverage just about all the way- one or two small dead spots- I know because the ...

Yayyyyy!!! We are in California! Admittedly, only just inside, in a place call Needles- the first town across the state line on I40. We are still a long way south of where we will end up -about 450 miles north of here, but it feels good to be here, and in the same time zone as Dick. He has had a very bureaucratic weekend in terms of the new apartment, so he'll be glad to see us too. We've now done 2050 miles, and I can truthfully say that its been fun and not hard at all- the first day was definitely the hardest, but largely because of the early start after a very late night and the stress and sadness of leaving the house. It was also the longest day in terms of distance. However, today was almost 550 miles too, and didn't feel anywhere near as long. Maybe we are just getting used to it! We left Albuquerque early this morning- we haven't really caught up with all the changes in time zones and so we are still tired early and awake early. As I said before, the car is fil...

Firstly let me explain to those of you who don't know, why we left earlier than originally planned (we were not supposed to be going until next Tuesday 27th). We planned our trip last weekend and made most of the final arrangements and suddenly realized that all we were waiting for was for Tuesday 27th to arrive, so it seemed logical to leave early, and be with Dick sooner. As you can imagine, he wholeheartedly agreed. Besides, Mary kept wanting to go shopping, and I knew if she did, we'd never fit it all in the car ;-) So she is now eagerly waiting to explore and shop in California instead. She is also addicted to Wal-Mart, and is getting slightly worried as we only saw 2 Wal-Mart trucks today! Obviously we made it through the tornado watch last night- it barely rained even. However.... we left to bright sunshine and headed back on Interstate 40. It's funny because we have started to recognize some of the trucks and even cars who are doing a long trip. There seems to be v...

This is a copy of the email that I sent whilst traveling across the USA from Berkeley Lake GA to San Jose CA... Just thought I'd tell you a little of what we've seen and experienced on our travels so far :-) In case you don't know, we (Mary- Dick's mum and I) are traveling in a Honda Accord Wagon (estate) with a very full back seat (largely clothes and bedding vacuum packed in Space bags) and Pepper, our 13-14 year old collie-lab. We left Berkeley Lake on Thursday 22nd February about 5.45 am in order to beat the rush hour traffic. Luckily we got on Interstate 20 very easily and headed towards Birmingham, Alabama. The roads were very busy to start with but the traffic thinned out the further away we got away from the big cities. As you can imagine, a lot of the traffic is huge trucks- especially the big parcel companies like UPS and FedEx, however, much to our amusement we've also been counting WalMart trucks and saw 12 alone yesterday! We also saw 5 trailer (mobile...

Yesterday was a perfect example. I was up at the crack of dawn as yet again my brain was ticking. I wish I could just flick a switch and turn it off. There is just a lot going on right now. Anyway, I packed a couple more boxes, and did some serious tidying up ready for the cleaner to arrive. As part if the packing experience, I had discovered things that I wanted to donate, so the first job was to take some of them to my boss who was collecting for a mental health hospital. It's interesting that the one year I was organized enough to buy my wrapping paper in the sales after Christmas, that we are going back to England for Christmas and I can't wrap anything before I go :-) That, and I really don't want to take to pack it and take it to California. So I donated it, along with some games and toys. I also discovered the purple martin birdhouses I had volunteered to clean, and they needed to go back to the coordinator. So after delivering both those things, I got to work. I al...

Packing- what fun! Actually I quite like it. It's time first to clear out the clutter to sell the house. I'm finding it quite therapeutic, although the dogs are very confused. The kitchen almost looks bare, but I have a feeling that I'll get used to using just what I have here. We also replaced all the 'pulls' on the doors and drawers and it looks so different. So now I am adding a finish to the doors to spruce them up a bit. Next we have to take the lights off the fan (which are very old fashioned), and then we just have to put up the new lighting to finish it off. Makes me wish we'd done it years ago. Tomorrow we move some of the clutter to the storage unit, and I start on the cupboard under the stairs..

Today we walked to the lake, and hauled out the kayaks which were remarkably clean considering they had been stored upside down all winter. We rinsed them off with lake water and took a slow leisurely paddle towards the beach. There was a lovely breeze, and there was only one other boat out there, so it was all very relaxing. Once we got to the beach we went for a swim. When Dick got out the water he watched a turtle make its slow way down the beach and in the water! He then admitted once I got in that he also saw a water snake! On the way back, we met up with Brian, Chip and Steve- three really nice guys who were cleaning off boats for other people just because they volunteered to :-) We also saw lots of purple martins having a great time flying in the wind. It was getting so hot, we headed back on home to shopping lunch and jobs.

Wednesday 10th May- To Death Valley The convoy parted ways at Kingman as we headed towards Death Valley and Joel and Stevie headed home to LA. Back across Hoover Dam, back past Vegas and past Area 51 , finally driving though barren areas of land that Dick kept noting as being 'straight out of the X files'. It was difficult to see exactly where the valley began until we found our first information station. There we picked up a map and headed to Dante's View, where we first felt the heat of the area. The long twisty road up there was worth it for the views- miles and miles of barren nothingness. In the distance we could see both the highest point in California, Mount Whitney at over 14,000 ft above sea level, and the lowest point, Badwater, 262 ft below sea level. It was very dry and very hot. We drove on to 'Zabriske's Point', where the rock formations look like huge claws of some unknown creature, and then to 'Badwater', the outside temperature continua...

Monday 8th May -Hoover Dam. Finally we left Vegas, and drove past the famous 'Welcome to Las Vegas' sign. I had enjoyed my time there but I was not sad to be leaving. Despite being very glitzy and clean on the surface, their policy to allow smoking everywhere finally got to me. Dick is normally the one who doesn't like crowded places, but I was with him this time. That and the men and women lining the streets slapping their hands to try and get your attention to give you an almost pornographic card advertising the 'services' of some young scantily clad woman. Lovely. You can imagine the litter build up at the end of the day. Not a place to take anyone under the age of 18. So we headed east out of Vegas towards the Grand Canyon. There was lots of building work going on near the Hoover Dam. It seems they are building a bridge across the river, so you won't have to drive across the dam itself in years to come. Probably a security issue these days. You have to go th...

Wednesday 3rd May- Flight to Vegas As usual, I was working right up to the last minute, so I was glad to get to the airport. Atlanta's airport is horribly busy, whenever you go. This time I was leaving from the C gates, flying AirTran for the first time. About an hour before the flight I sat down to listen to my Ipod when I noticed the case was covered in blue ink! A pen had exploded inside my bag. Luckily it was in a pocket, so I spent the next 45 minutes trying to clean it out, and suddenly realised my flight must be boarding! It was, but I was ok. The flight was very full, and I was sat next a woman who was travelling with her mother to go and see Celine Dion in concert. She was very excited.... The flight attendents were very friendly and helpful, though I wasn't happy with just a pack of crackers for a four hour flight. This saving money lark by the airlines may well backfire, as no food means that those who drink (and pay for every one) get drunk much quicker as the guy s...

Well I didn't write for a week and forgot my login and password! I think it is about time that I wrote down all my logins and passwords somewhere. I know I tend to use the same few passwords, so I need to do a bit of changing some too. Friday night I went to our annual bookclub sleepover, and Liz had a book with all her passwords written down. I hope she locks it away when she leaves the house! I also realised that Dick knows loads of paswords that I don't, so we need to amalgamate some too.

My thought for the day is how technology changes our lives. Tonight I sat and updated Dick's calendar from my Mac, and I know he will now know about everything that is on my calendar. I was amazed to discover that he had already put in my usual meetings. I know it is partly because he can plan his geek nights! In the same breath I had 50 spam messages since this morning (filtered out already thank goodness) and several emails to answer. Gosh it seems to take longer and longer to cope with emails. At work I had even more, and it has now become a chore to check them. It's not like they go away if you ignore them! I also realised how many chores Dick usually does, as he is still away in San Fran. When I came in late from work I scrambled to put out our trash, and the neighbors trash (a favor Dick always does for them), I forgot to check the mail, then I had to feed the dogs (something they won't let anyone forget but he also does it in the evening, as I do it in the morning). ...

Long day.. got to work early at the special request of someone, who then did not turn up! Hate that. Dick went off to San Francisco too, so didin't get much of a chance to chat to him before he left, as he was also trying to edit his podcast and get it published before he left. I think it is probably a good idea that he is not here, as I would not have seen him that much this week anyway! Just have to remember that I have to be home in time to sort out the dogs before I go out again. Social meeting tonight- good opportunity to network, but now I'm tired. At least my sinuses don't hurt as much and the headache has just about gone- maybe because I have not had much time to think about it! Will steam again before I go to bed though. Have to work out how to get the spell check working on this blog, as it does not seem to be working right now. Maybe because I am working on a Mac? Will get my geek to do some research if I can't work it out!

Last night the team played again and lost again. For me it is definately confidence. The more we played the better we became and we warmed up into it. We always seem to win the games we play after the official games are over. Also there is some conflict with the guys- having four of them and swapping in does not work as well as when it is a stable team. Poor LeAnne was out with a migraine. Today I think I have a sinus infection, though I am not sure as I've never had a sinus infection before. Does not feel good. Glad I am working from home today, though the meeting minutes could be interesting!