2023 England and Scotland - Day #5 - York

The day included:

• Tom, Anna Marie, Sharon and I had breakfast at 8 am in the hotel lobby; Sharon, Tom and I had a full English Breakfast.
• After breakfast, Sharon and I hiked along the fortress walls; it was originally a Roman Fort.
• I ran back to the hotel room to get our jackets; while it was 70 on Saturday, it was 55 and breezy on Sunday.
• While Sharon shopped for an outfit for Carmen and Drew's wedding at Jigsaw, I read my book and had a beer at Victor J's Cafe & Bar.
• We took the outfit back to the hotel.
• Sharon and I stopped and had a glass and a beer at Oscar's Wine Bar and Bistro.
• We met Tom at the Jorvick Viking Centre; I was surprised by the experience. It reminded me of Pirates of Caribbean! You rode a ride through a replica of a Viking village and then wandered through a small museum of artifacts.
• Sharon and I toured the York Minster.
• Sharon and I visited National Railway Museum; we bought Lee a t-shirt!
• Tom, Sharon and I finished the day with dinner at Cut & Craft; I had a sirloin, while Tom and Sharon had filets.

2023 England and Scotland - Day #4 - To York

Moving day. We are going to be on the move a lot over the next three weeks. We are not staying anything where more than two nights until we get to Edinburgh. We have ten nights during the hike where we are staying just one night.

We packed up the room and then had a buffet breakfast at the hotel. We caught an Uber about 9 am to the Kings Cross Station. We met Tom and Anna Marie at the station.

The four of us caught a 10:30 am train to York. It was comfortable two hour trip. I worked on my blog using both the wifi on the train and my phone as a hot spot.

It took us a while to get a taxi to the hotel when we got to York. It turns out that this is a three day weekend with a banking holiday on Monday. The town is overrun with young people. Apparently, there are horse races over the weekend. York has the third largest racetrack in England based on total prize money.

Eventually, we got a taxi to the hotel. We are staying two nights at 23 St. Mary's Guest House.

After getting settled, we wandered into town. We had a light lunch at York Minister Refactory. Sharon and I split a Fishmonger’s board [Oak smoked salmon, coronation crab, black treacle salmon, oyster, pickled mussels & clams, a little prawn and marie rose cocktail, house pickled cucumbers, dill crème fraiche] and a Farmer’s board [Shaved heritage beetroots, picked girolles, crispy falafel, avocado, hummus, charred spiced peanut cauliflower, whipped Bluemin white, savoury granola].

Afterwards, Sharon and I explored the town, including wandering the Shambles, a famous shopping street. The whole town was overrun with people. It felt a little like wandering around New Orlean's French Quarter.

The four of us met back up and went to Mass at St. Wilfred's.

We had an early dinner at Guy Fawkes Inn. I had Sea Bass Tacos, while Sharon had fish & chips.

After dinner, Tom, Sharon and I wandered the area. I was surprised how few people there were compared to the afternoon. We crashed fairly early.

2023 England and Scotland - Day #3 - London

Sharon and I had a buffet breakfast at La Terrazza, the restaurant attached to the Xenia Hotel. After breakfast, we walked to the Holiday Inn where Tom and Anna Marie are staying.

Sharon got tickets for the Sky Garden at 10:45 am. Tom, his friend Mary, Sharon and I walked to the Underground and rode to the Monument Station. The Sky Garden is on the opposite side of the river from the Shard. Although not as tall as the Shard, it is an interesting large open space with some nice views of London.

Afterwards, I split off from the group. Sharon had made a 1:30 pm reservation for the Shard. I decided to pass. Jack, Sharon and I had a very nice visit to the Shard in '19. I felt like I would rather explore some places that we hadn't visited before.

I walked from the Sky Garden to Convent Garden. I explored the area. From there, I jumped on the Underground to the K Road Station and walked to Kensington Palace. I had a 1:30 pm ticket. I skimmed through the Crown to Couture exhibition. The show highlighted how the trailblazing fashion of 18th-century nobility had inspired today’s iconic red-carpet looks. I enjoyed walking through the state apartments, including the room where Queen Victoria was born.

After touring Kensington Palace, I looked for the Speke Monument. This monument is mentioned at the end of Candice Millard's River of Gods book.

From there, I walked through Kensington Park to Oxford Street. I explored this upscale shopping area. I continued down Regent Street to Picadilly Cirus and then back to Covent Garden. I jumped on the Underground and headed back to the hotel.

Sharon eventually wound her way back to the hotel in the late afternoon. We had a glass of wine and a snack (Trio di bruschette integrali ‘whole wheat’ with stracchino cheese, fresh tomatoes and olives tapenade) in the Terrazza Bar. Sharon struck up a conversation with the Italian manager of the restaurant.

We had intended to try and go back to Dishoom for dinner. We had dinner there in '19 and really enjoyed it. When we got to the restaurant, they quoted an hour and twenty minute wait.

We ended up wandering down the street to a Meditteran restaurant called Pascor. We had a very nice dinner. We started with homemade mini Challah bread served with sun-dried tomatoes butter and homemade labneh and a Watermelon & feta salad [Cherry tomatoes, herb vinaigrette, zaatar crisps]. For entrees, we split Sea bass [Pistachio crust, green peas cream, roasted spring onion and dried tomatoes] and Grilled Octopus [Cauliflower cream, kumquat, basil oil].

After dinner, we wandered back to the hotel and crashed just before 10 pm. For the day, I had almost 26,000 steps and covered almost twelve miles.

footnote: I wrote this long entry on the train from London to York.

2023 England and Scotland - Day #2 - London

Using the Polaris lay flat seats, my Oura ring showed that I was able to sleep a little more than three hours. We were on the ground at London Heathrow airport about twenty minutes behind schedule at 10 am.

Like when we flew into London in '19, we literally walked a mile from the plane to the passport control. We picked up our luggage and grabbed a taxi into London. We are spending two nights at the Xenia Hotel.

We got to the hotel about noon. Initially, they said that the room wasn't ready, but about ten minutes later gave us a room. Dropping our bags in the room and getting changed, we met Sharon's brother Tom and his friend Ann Marie in front of the hotel. We will be spending the next four weeks with them. They are just finishing up a ten day tour with the Jesuits.

The four of us took an Uber to the Temple Church. This church is featured in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.

From there, we walked to St Paul's Catherdal. Sharon, Jack and I toured the catherdal in '19.

Heading back the other way, we walked alongTrio di bruschette integrali ‘whole wheat’ with stracchino cheese, fresh tomatoes and olives tapenade the river and through the Victoria Embarkment Gardens to the Gordon Wine Bar. This is billed as London's oldest wine bar. We split a Meat Sharing Board [Pork Pie, Parma Ham, Pork & Duck Pâté, Roast Beef & Hungarian Pork Sausage] and a three cheeses board.

After a couple of glasses of wine, we walked to the underground and headed to the Altgate East station. Sharon and Tom had signed us up for a Jack the Ripper walking tour in Whitechapel. I was surprised at the size of the group; there must have been 25 people in the tour. Additionally, we past several other tour groups. I enjoyed the tour more than expected; it was cool to be in neighborhood that we hadn't explore before.

After the tour, we caught an Uber back to the hotel. I fell asleep in the Ubar. We crashed hard about 10:30 pm.

2023 England and Scotland - Day #1 - to London

Sharon's nephew Eric picked us up at 10:30 am and took us to the airport. As a surprise, Sharon had upgraded to first class on the first leg and Polaris class on the second leg. Checking the luggage and then getting through security with CLEAR and TSA PRE was a breeze.

We caught a 12:45 pm United flight from Sacramento to Denver. For the only time that I can remember, we had seats across the aisle from each other [4B, 4F]. Sitting in first class, we had a nice lunch. There was some weather in the Denver area. We ended up on the ground about 15 minutes behind schedule.

Walking from Gate 24 to Gate 36 took about 4 minutes. We boarded the 5:40 pm flight to London less than 30 minutes after we were on the ground.

Sharon had upgraded to Polaris seats on the Denver to Chicago leg: seats 10B and 10D on a 787. She was more than a little disappointed that our seats were separated rather than right next to each other. The seats in the Polaris section alternate. With two seats in the middle right next to each other and then the next two seats further apart. A first world problem. Compared to the trip to Athens on American, it was an amazing luxury! It is going to be hard to go back to riding in the back of the bus on the flight home!

Waiting for dinner to be served, I am using the Wifi on the plane to write this somewhere over South Dakota.

Carmen and Andrew - Save the Date

Celebrating the life of Marion Fiorio

I spent the day winding my way to Gilory and back for the Funeral Mass, Interment and Luncheon Reception at Kirigin Cellars for Mario Fiorio, Julie Tomasin's dad. The obituary is here.

Sitting in the car at the church, I was surprised to see Swedberg. I sat with him during the Mass. I ended up sitting with John and Julie at the lunch.

Last Hadrian's Wall Training Hike

With the trip to England and Scotland and the Hadrian's Wall Hike looming, Sharon and I did one last Hadrian's Wall Training Hike on Sunday morning. We covered 5.4 miles in just over two hours.

We started from Sunrise and headed down river. I continue to be surprised by the hiking trails along the American River Parkway. I never realized that there were so many trails separate from the bike trail.



We spent the afternoon watching Brooks Koepka win the PGA Championship. Sharon is a big fan of Koepka.

Piatti

After spending the shopping, packing for the England and Scotland trip and watching Brooks Koepka take the lead in the PGA Championship, Sharon and I had dinner at Piatti. We split an Arugula Salad [frisée, strawberry, fennel, pickled red onion, almond, feta, citrus mint vinaigrette]. For entrees, Sharon had Saffron Spaghetti [prawns, garlic, asparagus, spicy pickled peppers, parsley, white wine], while I had a very good Wood Fired Pork Chop [almond wood roasted peaches, delicata squash, white polenta, pt reyes blue cheese, calabrian honey].

Sharon noted that she feels like Piatti doesn't update the meal often enough. Sharon's super power is scoping out fantastic restaurants. One of my goals for retirement is starting a substack of her restaurant reviews and observations.

Anthony Benezet

I walked by this historical marker several times while I was in Philadephia for the Army/Navy Game.

Anthony Benezet
(1713 - 1784)
Pennsylvania Historical Marker
See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
See this location on Google Maps
This marker is located at 325 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The GPS coordinates for this location are 39° 56' 56.0" N 75° 08' 49.7" W.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.


Leading abolitionist in the 18th century, his writings influenced the antislavery movement worldwide and federal abolition legislation. A teacher and Quaker, he educated blacks in his home, 1750-70, and opened a secondary school for girls in 1754. He lived here.

Song for 2022

Drew and Morgan are both accomplished musicians. The Soundtrack for My Life includes several of their songs.

From late 2016 to May of 2022, Drew lived in a house on Glen Tower Street in Beachwood Canyon in Southern California. He called it Mirror Wall Studios. Last year, Drew released an album of songs that he had written while he lived there called Songs from Mirror Wall.

My song for 2022 is Taste of Rain by The Guest and The Host from the album Songs from Mirror Wall.



You can find the work in progress Soundtrack for My Life here!

What is this?

The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham

My book for May was The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham. Somewhat unbelievably, this is the 37rd book by John Grisham that I have read in the last thirty-two years. I am not sure that this is something that I should be proud of...

The story follows two young men, Marco and Rudy, who grow up in the same town but on opposite sides of the law. Marco's father is a mobster, while Rudy's father is a lawyer. As the boys grow older, they are drawn into their fathers' worlds.

This is not my favorite Grisham book. It is longer than most of his novels. There are a number of detours from the main story that I don't think really add much. These sections are supposed to add to the character development, but I don't think that they work very well. Nevertheless, I will continue to read Grisham novels as filler between more ambitious books. They serve as a nice mindless break.

Jack is off

Tuesday morning, Sharon drove Jack back to his apartment in San Francisco. I really enjoyed playing golf with Jack and Sharon on Saturday!

Artificial Condition

My second book for April was Artificial Condition by Martha Wells. The book is the second in a series called The Murderbot Diaries. I read the first book--All Systems Red--earlier in April.

Artificial Condition won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 2019. It was also a finalist for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Theodore Sturgeon Award.

The science fiction novella follows the story of Murderbot, a SecUnit (security unit) android that has hacked its own governor module. Trying to learn more about its past, Murderbot is recruited by a group of humans to help them recover some of their work.

As I said after reading the first book in the series, artificial intelligence has become a hot topic. I enjoyed the first two books enough that I am going to continue to read the series in the future. I am interested in seeing the author continues to expand world in the future novellas and novels.

Mother's Day 2023

Up early, I drove to San Francisco to pick up Jack and bring him home for Mother's Day. Taking Fair Oaks to Watt to 50 to 80, it took me an hour and thirty-nine minutes to get to his apartment. With a stop for gas and food, it took an hour and fifty-three minutes to get home.

The plan for the day was to play golf at Ancil Hoffman. We had a 12:28 pm tee time.


I was pretty happy with my round. I shot a fairly honest 104. For about the third time in the last couple of years, I have switched my chipping style. Jack can bomb his drives; he hit one about 290 yards on the par four 15th hole. Although not as hot as last Labor Day, it was warm.

One of my goals after I retire is to take some more lessons at Golftec. I feel like this round was something that I could build on!

The three us finished the day with dinner at Ella Dining Room and Bar. Sharon and I had dinner there for Valentine's Day. For starters, Sharon and I had TUNA CRUDO [WHITE ASPARAGUS, YELLOW TOMATO, TONNATO, BASIL OIL], while Jack had a STRAWBERRY FENNEL SALAD [BABY RED ROMAINE, WHIPPED CRÈME FRAÎCHE, QUINOA, BEE POLLEN, TARRAGON VINAIGRETTE]. For the entree, Jack and I had WOOD FIRED BEEF TENDERLOIN [THYME ROASTED MUSHROOMS, CARAMELIZED CIPOLLINI ONIONS, BORDELAISE, BLUE CHEESE BUTTER]. It was very good. Sharon had CRISPY HALF CHICKEN [SCALLOPED POTATO, BRAISED GREENS, ROASTED CHICKEN JUS] for her entree. For dessert, Sharon and Jack had CARROT CAKE [MASCARPONE MOUSSE, CARROT CARAMEL, ORANGE-PASSIONFRUIT SORBET], while I had a CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CRUNCH BAR [COFFEE INFUSED DULCEY MOUSSE, BOURBON CHANTILLY].

I got Sharon a Ceramic Caviar Beaded Bracelet from Lagos. For the second year in a row, I failed to get a picture of Jack and Sharon at dinner!

Another Hadrian's Wall Training Hike

With our trip to England and Scotland looming in a week and a half, Sharon and I did a long training hike for Hadrian's Wall with the Larkins and the Gainsleys. The Gainsleys came to our house and the four of us traveled to Hidden Falls Regional Park. We met the Larkins there.

We ended up covering almost nine miles in three hours and fifty minutes of moving time. Trying to get an early start, it was still 2 pm by the time we finished. With temperatures rising in the high 80s, it got warm.



After the hike, we took a dip in our community pool with the Gainsleys. The four of us finished the day with dinner at Rey Azteca.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Friday night, Sharon and I watched Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie on AppleTV. Sharon has become a big Michael J Fox fan. She watched all seven seasons of Family Ties and the first four seasons of Spin City. Sharon also listened to Fox's first two autobiographies.

In 1991, at the age of 29, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie chronicles Fox's life and career, from his early days as an actor to his diagnosis and beyond. Still is a powerful and personal film that offers a glimpse into Fox's life with Parkinson's.

Still is a story of hope, resilience, and the power of the human spirit. I recommend it.

Pregnant

Morgan is pregnant and due in early December.

Mario Charlie Fiorio

Julie's dad passed away.

Mario Charlie Fiorio - Born: November 28, 1929, Died: April 29, 2023

Mario was called to his eternal home on April 29, 2023 joining his wife, Ines, of 63 years who preceded him on May 23, 2017.

Born in San Francisco to Gaspare and Maria Fiorio, who immigrated from Italy through Ellis Island, his family moved to Gilroy when he was five. He proudly served his country in the Korean war in the Army’s 7th Cavalry division. In July of 1954 Mario married the love of his life, Ines Barbara Valbusa, and together they began the dance of life together and building their Legacy. Mario’s strong faith and love of family and friends guided him throughout his life. As he said “Without family… you have nothing.”

Mario is the father of Julie (John) Tomasin of Windsor, CA, Francine (Jon) Vorhees of Granite Bay, CA, Carol (Arliss) Duncan of Carmel Valley, CA, Danny (Dina) Fiorio and Richard (Ann) Fiorio of Gilroy, CA. He is “Nono”, and much loved by his grandchildren David (Lo), Chris, and Mikey Tomasin, Josh and Justin (Kara) Vorhees, Carissa and Danny (Rachael) Duncan, Hannah (Ben) Tyler, Zoë (Gabe) Calara , Bailey Fiorio, and Ryan, Graden, and Luciano Fiorio. Mario is affectionately known as “Bis Nono” to his great grandchildren Nathan Mario and Mia Vorhees, Griffin Tyler, and Lucas Calara, with three more joining the crew this year.

Mario is preceded in death by his parents, his sister Yvonne (Robert) Valencia, Ines’ parents Mariano and Elisa Valbusa, sisters in laws Esther (Joe) Perucca and Celeste (Marty) Zamzow and brother in law Lino (Irene) Valbusa.

Mario’s love of farming and tending to plants, instilled by his father, endured throughout his farming career, in his own garden, and in his “La Baracca” vineyard. He shared his love of gardening at Merrill Gardens and with his children and grandchildren who go to him for wisdom and guidance on life and growing their own gardens. Mario’s sons followed in his farming footsteps.

Mario was actively involved with ICF (Polenta dinner with his famous Stew), and a member of American Legion Gilroy Post #217, Farm Bureau and the Elks. He was the grower and winemaker of his own label, “La Baracca”.

Mario’s family wishes to thank the wonderful people at Merrill Gardens and Hospice for their loving care during his extended illness.

The family would appreciate donations to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at www.JDRF.org, Northern California Chapter or St. Mary School.

Vigil will be on May 21, 2023, 7:00pm, at Habing Family Funeral Home. Funeral Mass Monday May 22, 10:00am, at St. Mary Church, Gilroy. Entombment will follow at St. Mary Cemetery, Gilroy. Reception will follow.

To Visalia and back

I spent the day traveling to Visalia and back. To celebrate a successful cutover, Jennifer, Patrick and I met with the Visalia Medical Clinic and Central Valley IT teams and then took them to lunch.

Traveling 50 to 99 to 198, it took me about three hours and fifteen minutes to get there and then three and a half hours to get back home; a long day in the car. When I worked for Sutter Health, I used to spend a lot of time in the car traveling to sites. Particularly in the last three years, I have done a lot less traveling for work.

New CIO

Becker's Hospital Review - Adven/tist Health names new CIO

Roseville, Calif.-based Adven/tist Health has named Jennifer Stemmler as its new CIO.

Prior to her new role, Ms. Stemmler served as chief digital officer at the health system. During her time in the role, Ms. Stemmler led the rollout of digital initiatives such as online scheduling, according to an April 24 Adven/tist Health news release shared with Becker's.

"Jennifer's leadership and work in the digital consumer space is a reflection of her unwavering commitment to provide patients with easy, user-friendly tools that engage and transform their healthcare experience at Adven/tist Health," Adven/tist Health COO Todd Hofheins said in the release. "We are excited about Jennifer's new role and leadership to ensure technology implementations run smoothly and securely systemwide."