Note: local time in Oslo is 5:45 AM on August 28th. My blogtimes are always in SFT.
We finished up the 20030823
My first week back at work was way too busy, as to be expected. Just finished packing for a trip to Oslo in mere hours for a W3C CSS meeting early next week. I expect network access to be intermittent at best, unless I find some open wifi.
So go read the following while I'm away:
Rephrased as I remembered, from a progressive trance track I heard on the drive to work this morning:
Some see the world as it is and ask why, some see the world as it could be and ask why not.
A little googling found the history of this quote.
Last week I 20030812
Had a great time Saturday night wishing my friend 20030810
Call it a protest. Call it a free outdoor day party. Call it a chance to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Whatever you call it, make your way to 20030809
If you're in San Francisco, instead of reading this, you should be heading over now to the Golden Gate Park Concourse Bandshell for the 20030808
Hard to believe, but true. One year ago today (minutes ago) I posted 20030807
I Vacation
If you measure vacation as starting from the minute after you leave work for the day, then I have now entered my second week of vacation.
I've actually been doing a reasonably good job of staying on vacation. First I went off the Net for over 48 hours and spent the time in the outdoors, swimming/wading/jumping around for hours in a pseudo-natural pond (man made, but with plants, naturally green water etc.), and interacting the vast majority of my waking time with humans face-to-face (typically most of my waking time is spent interacting with a keyboard and one or more high resolution display screens).
I cancelled my W3C teleconferences (CSS & HTML) for the week, and have been able to resist writing any more than a small number of messages to W3C mailing lists. I admit, I checked my work email, and sent off just enough emails to keep division transition related activities moving forward, and to delegate of handling such duties to one or more co-workers.
My biggest transgression was spending several hours (through most of the night even) reviewing an online article draft that will supposedly be published anytime now. The draft made numerous false claims which I felt could be particularly confusing if not damaging so there was a clear obligation to speak up in a timely fashion. However the article certainly explained many good points, and here's to hoping that the feedback I and others have given will be sufficient for the author to make the necessary changes before publication.
I've programmed my cell phone with a "Vacation" profile, so that it will only ring audibly if one of four people (or my home phone) calls me. Three of those folks are co-residents of one sort or another (in case of house related emergencies), and the fourth, well, you can probably guess who she is. I think my cell will still "light up" when anyone calls. However, whenever I look at my phone, there it says in the middle of the display in bold letters: Vacation. A nice reminder.
But I digress. My point is, although I've returned home from camping, I've very much adopted a "vacation" mindset. It took me a week just to get around to writing up the first blog entry of the month. And just some minor redecorating, as I've been told a somewhat yellow background is easier on the eyes than stark white. The hyperlink colors have been muted slightly as well. All in all they remind me of the summertime outdoors. I'll probably do something with the layout and font choice when I feel inspired to do so.
Last weekend was nothing short of delightful. I stayed up most of Thursday night packing and getting ready for the weekend. Late the next morning, Nick and Shaina came by Amber's place to pick us up. Fitting all of us plus gear for four into the Saab hatchback was quite a feat.
We arrived mid-afternoon Friday, after a brief stop at the nearest town for burritos to go. Tents setup, we changed into swimsuits and hopped into the pond for a swim.
Sometime Saturday, two days into my vacation, I felt myself beginning to relax. And to my pleasant surprise I spotted a couple of familiar faces: Vera (who already posted about it) and Alex. I met and/or bumped into so many other great people too: Forest, Benji, Araya, Miranda, Ethan, Steph, Matt, Cindy, Memo and more folks than I can remember.
That night provided quite the aural treat, with superb DJs spinning smooth and banging beats all night and following morning long. Sunday's breakfast was enjoyed on the lawn to a mix of chill, downtempo, and other soothing tunes.
That afternoon we somehow managed to pack everything back into the car. Driving back along the dirt road to the campsite, we barely missed a bunch of wild turkeys that had decided to cross the road (no we didn't bother asking them why), and later came upon a young deer that was obviously quite scared and confused and took some encouragement to get out of the way and scamper off down the edge of the road.
Once we made it back to the nearby town, we opted to grab another burrito lunch (though this time at a different place, and sit down in the back patio). On the way home we stopped at a drive through A&W for root beer floats. All in all a great way to start a vacation.
Thanks again to the Friends & Family crew for a great campout. And much thanks to Nick and Shaina for the ride and their wonderful company. Hope to see everyone again next year (if not sooner).
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