Friday, March 31, 2017

145 miles

I logged 144.93 miles in March. This is the most miles I have done in a month since January of 2016 when I was working out of the Napa Valley. Although it is not completely comparable because I also did 50 miles on the bike in January of 2015, I still feel very good about the result. After a rough fall and feeling like I lost a couple of notches of fitness, I am feeling stronger and more like my old self.


March 2017

144.9 miles

February 2017

95.7

January 2017

111.5

December 2016

101.3

November 2016

104.3

October 2016

118.1

September 2016

126.9

August 2016

135.3

July 2016

64.1

June 2016

113.2

May 2016

143.8

April 2016

116.3

March 2016

135.8

February 2016

117.1

January 2016

150.5

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Spamalot

After a dinner of Southwest Prime Rib at Arden Hills, Sharon and I went to see Jesuit High School's production of Spamalot. We ran into a couple of people we knew including Hugo Schmidt, Maureen Smith and Melissa Cook.

Spamalot

Sharon, Jack et al saw a production of Spamalot at the Music Circus in 2010.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Rosson House

I stopped at Heritage Square and the Rosson House briefly after dropping Tomasin at the airport.

Rosson House
National Register of Historic Places #1971000112
Arizona Historical Marker

See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
See this location on Google Maps

This historic place is located at 139 North 6th Street, Phoenix, Phoenix in the county of Maricopa, Arizona. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 33° 27.001 W 112° 03.962.

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

Rosson House

Built in 1895 by Dr. Roland T. Rosson, Army doctor at Fort McDowell. Phoenix physician (1879-1892) and mayor. This mansion is one of the few surviving examples of late Victorian architecture in Phoenix. It was acquired by the city through the efforts of Mayor John D. Driggs and the Phoenix Historical Society. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

By the Phoenix Historical Society and the Arizona Historical Society


Rosson House

Monday, March 27, 2017

2017 Kings versus Grizzlies

2017 Kings versus Grizzlies

I went to the Sacramento Kings versus Memphis Grizzlies NBA Basketball game with Phil. Holding a small lead for most of the game, the Kings held on to win by the score of 91 to 90.

Darren Collison led the Kings with 23 points on 8 for 13 from the field, 1 for 2 from three point range and 6 for 7 from the free throw line. He made two free throws to put the Kings up by one with 5.7 seconds left.

I enjoyed watching Buddy Hield. He was the Kings second highest scorer with 14 points.

The Grizzlies were led by Mike Conley. He had 22 points on 8 for 23 from the field, 1 for 7 from three point range and 5 for 6 from the free throw line. As a team, the Grizzlies were 5 for 26 from three point range.

I enjoyed the Sanborns' seats and the opportunity to go to the lounge underneath the arena! Frankly, this is a funnier team to watch without Cousins...

The Kings have 4 wins and 3 losses in games that I have seen in person during the 2016/2017 NBA season.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Nocturnal Animals

Sharon and I watched Nocturnal Animals on a BluRay DVD. This is still part of our continuing effort to see all of the Oscar nominated films.

The movie is based on the 1993 novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright. The film stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. Michael Shannon was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. We have now seen all five Best Supporting Actor performances.

It is a fairly interesting film with two interwoven storylines. One thread is Amy Adams' current life with flashbacks to her previous marriage. The other thread is a book that Adams is reading. Written by her first husband, the book is an allegory for the loss he endured from their divorce.

Walking Tiber after seeing the film, Sharon and I both agreed that we enjoyed the film and would recommend it. Sharon said that she liked the movie better than a couple of the best picture nominees, including Hell or High Water.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Dinner with the Martins and the Wongs

After spending most of the day cleaning the front porch, back deck and the house, we hosted the Martins and the Wongs for hors d'oeuvres. Afterwards, the group headed to Wildwood Kitchen & Bar for dinner.

I had Rock Shrimp Risotto, while Sharon had a burger. The food was better than the first time we went there...

Friday, March 24, 2017

Dinner with the Gainsleys

Sharon and I met the Gainsleys for dinner at Biba. We haven't seen them since the fall dinner party at Sea Ranch. While Sharon has been there recently, it has been more than ten years since I have eaten at Biba...

Sharon and I split Mozzarella di Bufala and Spaghetti Carbonara. I had Lasagne Verdi Alla Bolognese as an entree, while Sharon had a sturgeon special.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

2017 Kings versus Bucks

Sharon and Marlene went to the Sacramento Kings versus Milwaukee Bucks NBA basketball game. Trailing 69 to 50 at half-time, the Kings were never really in the game and lost by the score of 116 to 98.

Buddy Hield led the Kings with 21 points on 8 for 16 from the field, 2 for 6 from three and 3 for 5 from the free throw line. Tyreke Evans added 18 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 32 points on 12 for 22 from the field, 1 for 2 from three point range and 7 for 10 from the free throw line. He added 13 rebounds and 6 assists.

The losing continues for the Kings. They have dropped three straight, 11 of 13 and have a 3-11 record since the trade of DeMarcus Cousins at the All-Star break.

The Kings have 2 wins and 2 losses in games that Sharon has seen during the 2016-2017 season...

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Cisco Security EBC

I spent the day at a Cisco Security Executive Briefing in San Jose. The agenda included: Introduction & Cisco Strategy, Modern Network Digital Whiteboard; Security-Healthcare Perspective; Cisco Security Vision & Strategy; Cloud Security Overview; Cisco Stealthwatch with Titration Analytics; Threat Intelligence & Research (Talos); Ransomware Overview; Cisco Advanced Services, and; Cisco IT: Securing Operations.

Whenever I attend these types of programs, I try to walk away with a couple of key points. My take-away from this session was Cisco's operational strategy for connecting multiple types of devices. We need to fold some of this into our network redesign.

Monday, March 20, 2017

To San Jose

In bed just before 1:00 am on Monday morning, I worked most of the day before taking off for San Jose. I checked into the Courtyard San Jose North/Silicon Valley. From there I caught up with the rest of the team at Bourbon Steak. We had a nice dinner with the Cisco account team to kick off the Security Executive Briefing. I was surprised when I realized that the steak house was in Levi Stadium!

Sharon and I had dinner at a Bourbon Steak house a couple of years ago off Union Square in San Francisco when we were on our way to see Drew and Milo Greene...

Sunday, March 19, 2017

2017 Spring Training Day 3


Up early, Tomasin and I grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel. He packed up and I took him to the airport about 8:15 am for a 9:45 am flight from Phoenix to Burbank to Oakland. On the way back to the hotel, I made a quick stop at the Rosson House.

Back at the hotel, I ran about 4.3 miles on the treadmill. I miss having a chance to run with Wallen... There are some cool places to run around Phoenix.

Once I got packed up and cleaned up, I picked up Snipes and Keith at their hotel. We headed to the house that Wallens were renting. We hung out and watched more NCAA basketball.

Eventually, we headed to Goodyear. The game for the day was the Indians and the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks scored 2 runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game; the game ended with the score 4 to 4. I have only seen one other tie during Spring Training. Gregor Blanco lead off and played centerfield for the Diamondbacks. He spent the last five years playing for the Giants.

A log of spring training games I have seen over the years is here.

After the game, we headed back to the Wallens' rental. Snipes, Keith and I were ahead of the other cars so we stopped and picked up some more stuff for dinner.

Snipes and Keith caught a Lyft to the airport about 6:30 pm for a 8:00 pm flight. I eventually took off about 8:00 pm for a 10:00 pm Southwest flight. I landed back in Sacramento about 11:45 pm and was home in bed by 12:45 am. The only odd thing about the trip home was that they were only running one small train from the concourse back to the terminal. There were two or three flights worth of people trying to get into the train!

Saturday, March 18, 2017

2017 Spring Training Day 2

Spring Training Day 2 - A's versus Padres

Up fairly early, Tomasin and I hit the exercise room at the Residence Inn. I ran on the treadmill, while Tomasin used the bike.

After having breakfast and getting cleaned up, we headed over to the Holiday Inn to pick up Snipes and Keith. Snipes decided that they wanted to see the Giants at Peoria. Heading to Peoria, we ended up stopping at the Deli Sports Bar. We played pool and watched basketball for an hour and a half. Tomasin and I won four straight pool games.

From there, we wound our way towards the Peoria Stadium. I ended up going up one exit and working my way back towards the stadium. We ended up dropping Snipes and Keith about a half mile from the stadium.

Tomasin and I then took off to join the rest of the group at Hohokam Stadium. I haven't been to Hohokam since 2004. The A's moved there from Phoenix Municipal and the Cubs built a new complex. We walked into the stadium just as they were playing the national anthem and were in our seats for the first pitch.

The game for the day was to see the A's play the Padres. In a pitching duel, the A's won the game by the score of 2 to 1. We had some nice seats behind home plate in the shade. Marcus and his group never showed up for the game...

A log of spring training games I have seen over the years is here.

After the game, the group headed to Four Peaks Brewery.


Tomasin and I eventually caught up Snipes and Keith back at their hotel. They had taken a Lyft back to the hotel from Peoria at a cost of $181!?!

While most of the group went to dinner in downtown Tempe at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, we hunted for a Mexican restaurant. After a false start, we ended up at Tacos & Tequilas. I realized later that I should have called Moore for a recommendation.

After a stop at the lounge at the Holiday Inn watching drag racing, we crashed fairly early. Tomasin is heading back early Sunday morning.

Friday, March 17, 2017

2017 Spring Training Day 1

2017 Spring Training Day 1 - Maryvale

I booked a 9:00 am flight from Sacramento to Phoenix. Unfortunately, Southwest has having some struggles with a number of flights. The flight eventually took at about 9:40 am and got me to Phoenix about 11:30 am.

Although I supposed to get to Phoenix ahead of Snipes and Keith and Tomasin. I ended up about 10 minutes behind Snipes and just ahead of Tomasin. I made a decision to head for the rental car rather than meet everyone. Given all long it took me to get back to the terminal to pick everyone up, I probably made a poor decision...

Once I collected everyone, we headed to Maryvale. The game for the first day was the Brewers versus the Royals. The Royals won the game by the score of 8 to 5. The Royals scored 3 runs in the top of the first and the Brewers followed with 5 runs in the bottom of the first. I was surprised to see Eric Sogard playing for the Brewers.

A log of spring training games I have seen over the years is here.

It is a big group for all three days. I have affectionally called it the Wallen Family and Friends Spring Training Trip. Friday included lots of Wallens (11), including: Wallen and Jill; Bob; Kyle and Mary Rose; Bill and two of his sons; Jenny and CJ; and, Carol. The hanger-ons included: Tomasin; Snipes and Keith; Doug and Bob; and, me. Like past years, Marcus from Wallen's office was there with two of his buddies. They are like ghosts; I hardly ever seen them. Dennis, a friend of Wallen's who now lives in Tucson, was also there. The group totaled twenty-one.

After the game, Tomasin, Snipes, Keith and I ended up at the Purple Turtle near the stadium. We watched most of the UC Davis versus Kansas NCAA basketball game. For the first time in history, UC Davis was in the tournament. They won their play-in game on Wednesday. They got beat up by Kansas; the score was 100 to 62.

There was a wild mix of people at the Purple Turtle. In one corner near the entrance, there was off track betting!

From there, we headed to the house that the Wallens were renting in Northeast Phoenix. They cooked a nice pasta dinner. After watching more basketball, we eventually headed to our hotels. Although Snipes and I had coordinated, he ended up at a Holiday Inn about 3 miles from where I made a reservation at the Residence Inn. After dropping Snipes and Keith, Tomasin and I crashed at the Residence Inn after 11:00 pm.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

HBO, Simmons producing André the Giant documentary

Bill Simmons has talked for years about wanting to make an André the Giant documentary. It looks like it is finally going to happen...
HBO, Simmons producing André the Giant documentary | SI.com

In a statement, Simmons said, “Going back to 2007 and 2008 when I was creating and developing 30 for 30 for ESPN, André’s story rode the top of every single sports documentary wish list I ever made. We always hear about unicorns these days—André was the ultimate unicorn. He’s a true legend. Everyone who ever crossed paths with him has an André story—and usually four or five.”

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Leadership Council

I spent the day at Leadership Council at a new venue called The Falls Event Center. Coincidentally, there was an article about the event center in the Sacramento Bee on Tuesday morning. I read the article just before I walked out the door.

Most of the morning was spent on an executive message. The rest of the day covered Gallup StrengthsFinder. The afternoon agenda included: the Strengths-Based Organization Begins at the Top; Meeting the Needs of Your Followers, and; The Role of Coaching.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Novena

Starting Saturday, March 4, I did a Novena as part of the start of Lent. Although it expanded to include a wider variety of prayers, the impetus was really Sharon and my discussions about a couple of the things for which we are thankful. My intentions included:
  • Give thanks for the opportunity to serve as the CTO for Adventist Health;
  • Give thanks for my health;
  • Pray for Sharon’s health and happiness;
  • Give thanks for the life that Sharon and I have built;
  • Pray for Jack’s health and happiness and that he will start to from some deeper roots at Georgetown University;
  • Pray for Drew’s health and happiness, and;
  • Pray for Morgan’s health and happiness.
Over the course of the nine days, I went to Mass at nine different churches. I enjoyed the variety. The churches included:
  • 03/04 – 5:00 pm - Our Lady of the Assumption
  • 03/05 – 10:00 am - St. John the Evangelist
  • 03/06 – 7:30 am - Chapel of the North American Matyrs
  • 03/07 – 5:30 pm - St. Ignatius
  • 03/08 – 7:00 am - St. Mels
  • 03/09 – 6:30 am - Presentation
  • 03/10 – 8:30 am - St. Clare
  • 03/11 – 8:30 am – Divine Savior
  • 03/12 – 8:00 am – St. Mary’s
Sharon and I are targeting the fall of 2021 for a pilgrimage on the Way of St. James. The experience of seeing these churches during Lent peaks my interest in a different kind of pilgrimage. More on that in a future post...

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Jack back to school

Jack at SMFWe were up at 4:30 am to take Jack to the airport. With the Spring forward daylight savings time change, this felt very, very early. We left the house at 5:15 am. Jack caught a 7:00 am Southwest flight nonstop from Sacramento to Baltimore.

Sharon and I have had a big debate on whether or not Baltimore makes sense as an alternative to Dulles or Reagan Airports. Jack landed at 2:45 pm Eastern Time. He caught a Uber at 3:25 pm and it took just over hour (1:03) to get back to the campus. When we flew into Dulles last October, it took us just under an hour to get the hotel. It would be interesting to see how long it took from Baltimore Airport to Georgetown in traffic on a weeknight...

Jack will be finishing up the second half of his Freshman Spring Semester at Georgetown University. He is done with class about the second week of May.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Background on the Heringers for Jack's Interview

On Friday, Jack had an interview with an export company in Sacramento. The founder grew up in the delta and knows the Heringers. I put together the following summary so that Jack would have some background on the family.

My dad, your grandfather, was the youngest of eight sons of Stephen and Mabel Heringer. During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the six surviving sons and five first cousins farmed together. My dad was Richard (Dick) Heringer. The other five surviving brothers were Fred, Les, James (Scotty?), Wilfred (Bill?) and Bob. Two brothers, Joe and Stephen, died at a young age.

My dad’s cousins, Stephen’s brother John Heringer’s kids, were Donald, John, Jr, (Bud), Alta Genette (the only girl), George and Ned.

It gets complicated quickly when you start to talk about knowing the Heringers. Between the eleven surviving families, there were almost 60 people in my generation. My sisters and I are the youngest of this generation. I really only knew Uncle Bob’s kids (Pete, Doug, Diane, Robbie), Les’ boys (Steve, Les and Duke) and Fred’s kids (Haig and Christine).

Les’ son Stephen and his sons are the ones that are now involved in Heringer Wines.

Fred and Les were particularly prominent in the California agricultural community. Fred was very involved in the California Farm Bureau Federation. He served as President of the California Farm Bureau Federation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Les helped organize and provided leadership to many Agricultural organizations including California Tomato Growers Assn., California Canners and Growers, Council of California Growers, Valley Nitrogen Producers, UC Davis Advisory Board and The California Agricultural Leadership Program.

After college and a short tour in the army, Dick started farming in Northern California with his brother Fred. I was raised on this farm. It was 2,000 acres of peaches, pears and prunes.

In the delta, Heringers grew mostly tomatoes, sugar beets and alfalfa around Clarksburg and pears around Courtland.. They had a large alfalfa-pelleting mill that exported pellets around the world. At one point, the Heringers farmed over 6,000 acres.

The Heringers were very involved in popularizing the use of the mechanical tomato harvester.

My dad and a number of the other brothers and cousins sold out of the farming operation in the late 1970s. The remaining family got in financial trouble in the mid-1980s. This was probably due to the amount of debt that they took on to buy out the other family members. Most of the property was sold to a large Southern California corporation.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Madi Sipes brings sassy indie soul pop to Harlow’s

Madi Sipes brings sassy indie soul pop to Harlow’s | The Sacramento Bee

Keep your eyes peeled for the forthcoming debut album from San Francisco-based (by way of Placerville) Madi Sipes. “After Hours” was recorded with help of pal and former Milo Greene touring member Andrew Heringer. Sipes’ sassy brand of ultra-hip, soul-based and jazz-tinged indie pop has sparked plenty of interest in the record.

Thursday, March 09, 2017

Jack is back!

Jack and NorahFinishing up his spring break in Southern California, Jack and Drew spent Wednesday night at Nicki's. Jack and Norah slept on the couch. Thursday morning, Jack flew from Burbank back to Sacramento. Sharon picked him up at the airport.

It is nice to have Jack home for a few days... He is just about half way done with the spring semester.

Sharon, Jack and I finished the day with dinner at Mikunis.

Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Death's End by Cixin Liu

My book for March is Death's End by Cixin Liu. This is the final installation of a trilogy. I read the first book, The Three-Body Problem, in May of 2015. I finished the second book, The Dark Forest, in February of 2016.

Death's End has a number of interesting ideas, including 2-dimensional and 4-dimensional space, a "Black Domain" with reduced light speed, lightspeed by curvature propulsion and trails left by curvature propulsion.

The plot of all three books revolves around a race of aliens called the Trisolarans. It was a little dissatisfying to me that over the course of the three books you never really met these aliens or any of the other aliens that populated Liu's universe. I guess that is part of the point of the "Dark Forest" analogy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot more than than the second book. Although reading the first two books provides some background, this book could stand on its own. I give it a strong "B". I wonder if Liu will write any other books set in his universe...

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

Kenkoku Maru Grounding

Sharon and I walked out to Black Point on Friday night when we were at Sea Ranch.

Kenkoku Maru Grounding
1951
Marker 1-24

See this location on Google Maps

This site is located at the end of Black Point Reach near the Black Point Bench Access at Sea Ranch, California. The Sea Ranch Archives Committee has identified twenty-six historic sites scattered about The Sea Ranch. They have constructed trail markers with information explaining the significance of each place. They were placed as part of The Sea Ranch 50th anniversary being celebrated from Memorial Day 2014 to Memorial Day 2015. The GPS coordinates for this location are 38° 40' 59.6" N 123° 25' 53.6" W.

Kenkoku Maru Grounding

Enroute to San Francisco this 7,000-ton Japanese freighter went aground on the south end of the Black Point Beach. Efforts to reflect her lasted almost a month. Eventually a high high tide assisted a large tug in pulling her off the beach, after which the ship returned to Alameda for repairs.

Kenkoku Maru Grounding

Sunday, March 05, 2017

Jack's Spring Break

Jack and NorahJack started his spring break on Friday. He flew from Washington, DC to St. Louis to San Diego. Jack spent Friday and Saturday night in San Diego with some high school friends.

Today, he took the train from San Diego to Los Angeles to connect with Drew. Jack is then taking the train to Santa Barbara on Monday.

Wednesday, he is going to take the train back to Los Angeles and spent Wednesday night with Drew again. Thursday morning, Jack is flying from Burbank to Sacramento.

We are looking forward to seeing him on Thursday!

Saturday, March 04, 2017

Hateful Eight

With Sharon away for the weekend at the retreat, I watched the Hateful Eight. The film received a couple of Oscars nominations in 2016.

I have two general comments about the film. First, it is really long. The version I saw was 2 hours and 47 minutes. Apparently, there is a version that is more than three hours long. Second, the scenery in the opening chapter is amazing. The footage of the stagecoach in the snow in Wyoming is incredible.

Hateful Eight was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The casting is great. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Bruce Dern. The story revolves around eight strangers who seek refuge from a blizzard in a stagecoach stopover some time after the American Civil War.

The film received three Oscar nominations in 2016. Ennui Morricone won his first Academy Award for Best Original Score. The other two Academy Award nominations were for Best Supporting Actress (Leigh) and Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson).

While there are some great performances, I have mixed feelings about recommending the film. It is a solid movie with an interesting story, but like most Tarantino films the violence is over the top. It is also really long.

[Note to self], I do need to see Django Unchained... Tarantino originally envisioned the Hateful Eight as a sequence to that movie.

Friday, March 03, 2017

El Retiro San Inigo 2017

Sharon, Janie and Tom are spending the weekend at El Retiro San Inigo, the Jesuit Retreat House of Los Altos. They are attending a silent retreat for members of the legal profession titled Recollecting the Holy: 34th Annual Retreat for Members of the Legal Profession.

From 1994 to 2011, Sharon went to this retreat 17 out of 18 years, missing only the year after Jack was born. After missing 2012 and 2013, she got back on track in 2014. Sharon has now gone to this retreat twenty-one of the last twenty-four years!

Thursday, March 02, 2017

Visalia to Hanford to SMF to Carmichael

Sunrise at the Visalia Marriott

Traveling for work, I spent the night at the Visalia Marriott. Thursday morning, we headed to Hanford for a series of meetings. We finished the meetings about 2:30 pm and started north. It has been a long time since I drove the section of Highway 99 south of Modesto. We fought our way through the Sacramento commute and finally got to the Sacramento Airport about 6:40 pm. Dropping the rental car and picking up my car, it was about 7:20 pm by the the time I got home...

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Sacramento to Burbank to Bakersfield to Visalia

Traveling for work, I flew from Sacramento to Burbank and then drove to Bakersfield for a series of meetings. After the meetings, we drove to Visalia.

Sharon pushed me to go to dinner at Jack & Charlie's in downtown Visalia. The food was good. We had a series of small plates including: meatballs; scallops; devil eggs; spaghetti squash and brussel sprouts.