Map of the Skyline Ridge and Russian Ridge Hikes

We hiked the Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve on Saturday, April 28 and the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve on Sunday, April 29. I generated these maps using Runkeeper on my iPhone.

Back from Los Gatos

Up early, we had breakfast across the street from the hotel at Cafe Dio. Packing up and checking out of the hotel, we headed through Saratoga and back up to Skyline Boulevard to the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve.

We hiked 2.31 miles in just under an hour. A map is here.

After the hike, we headed to the nearby Thomas Fogarty Winery for the Spring Release Event. Sharon joined the wine club at this winery when she was here in March with Tom and Janie. We tasted and had a few hors d'oeuvres. Picking up the wine shipment, we headed for home about 12:30 pm.

With a stop in Emeryville and Fairfield, it took us about three hours and fifteen minutes to get home. It was a very nice weekend getaway!

To Los Gatos

Sharon planned a surprise getaway weekend. She didn't tell me where we were going or what we were doing.

We left the house a little after 9:00 am. Winding our way east, we took Highway 80 through San Francisco and then 380 to 280 to 92. We ended up heading south on Skyline Boulevard. It took us three hours and 20 minutes to cover about 130 miles; the traffic through Berkeley and the Bay Bridge toll plaza was very heavy. We finally stopped at the Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve Parking lot.



We ended up hiking for just under two hours and covering 4.34 miles. We stopped for lunch at Horseshoe Lake. We also walked through the David C. Daniels Nature Center. It was a very nice hike. It was definitely worth the effort to get there. A map is here.



After the hike, we wound our way down into Los Gatos. We spent the night at the Los Gatos Hotel. Sharon booked a nice junior suite. Sharon had stayed in hotel with Tommy and Janie when they went to the retreat house in March.

After lounging in the room, we got cleaned up for dinner. We had dinner at Dio Deka, a Michelin Star Greek restaurant located in the hotel. After an octopus appetizer [mesquite grilled octopus, lemon, olive oil, oregano], Sharon had a rainbow trout special, while I had the lamb chops [Double-cut, all-natural & free range from Southern regions of Australia, olive oil crushed potatoes, Cipollini onions]. We eventually wandered back up to the room and crashed.

Old Genoa Bar

Larkin and I stopped here with Gainsley et al on day two of the 2018 Petersen Shootout.

Old Genoa Bar
E Clampus Vitus
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This marker is located at 2282 Main Street, Genoa, Nevada. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 39° 00.196 W 119° 50.782.

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

In 1863, Al Livingston built this building and called it Livingston’s Exchange. In 1884, Frank Fettic bought it and renamed it Fettic’s Exchange. He operated it as a “Gentlemen’s Saloon” allowing no rough stuff or excessive drinking. It subsequently had three more owners until 1963 when Robert Carver purchased it. Now known as the “Old Genoa Bar” it is the oldest continually operating thirst parlor in the State of Nevada. “No Horses Allowed.”

Sunridge Course Scorecard

2018 Petersen Shootout

Genoa Ranch Course Scorecard

2018 Petersen Shootout

At the 2018 Petersen Shootout

GolfTec Lesson

After playing 36 holes of golf over the weekend, Sharon and I went to GolfTec on Monday night. This was my third lesson. While I have been trying to use the set-up from the first couple of lessons, my swing is still too vertical. It is humbling to see my swing dissected on video.

Sharon and I finished the night with dinner at Pete's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Rocklin.

2018 Petersen Shootout - Day 3

Up early, Larkin and I packed up the room. On Friday, Larkin texted me that he was bringing his skis. I probably would have, but I had committed to met Nooter's youngest Wes for breakfast on Sunday. Larkin headed towards Heavenly.

After a brief visit with Gainsley and Rick, I headed for Reno. It was about a 50 minutes drive. I got to Wes' house about 8:50 am and took him to breakfast at Denny's. We had nice visit. Wes is working in the Tesla battery factory east of Reno.

Back on the road about 9:50 am, I pulled up to the house just before noon. Laura was just leaving. Liz and Laura had spent Saturday night at the house with Sharon.

Texting Larkin, he didn't ski at Heavenly...

I enjoyed the weekend. I always enjoy Larkin's company. I am getting to know more of the regulars. Gainsley and his posse plus Borja and his brother-in-law are great additions! It will be interesting to see how big the group is next year.

2018 Petersen Shootout - Day 2

Up fairly early, Larkin and I had breakfast at Katie's Country Kitchen in the hotel. The package for the weekend included a $5.00 food voucher for use at the hotel.

We followed Gainsley and his gang to the Genoa Bar. This is billed as Nevada' oldest thirst parlor. The weather was beautiful; we sat outside at some tables.

The plan for the day was to play the Sunridge Golf Course. We played this course in 2014. Rod started with a closet to the pin contest on the 19th hole. This was followed by a shotgun start at 1:00 pm. The format for the day was a shamble.

Larkin and I played with Borja and his brother-in-law Scott. We played with Borja in 2016.

I ended up with a liberally scored winter rules 89. The scorecard is here.

This is probably the lowest shamble course I have ever had. I only three putted two greens. We used my drives on three holes, including two par threes. On the 177 yard 17th, I hit a hybrid five pin high about 20 feet to the right. On the 140 yard 4th, I hit a seven iron over the lake to a little over 8 feet from the pin. Although I was hitting pretty well off the tee, Larkin and Borja were outdriving me by 20 to 30 yards...

After golf, we headed back to the hotel and got cleaned up. The golf weekend included dinner on Saturday. We got to the banquet room just as they opened the door. There was a hosted bar from 7 pm to 8 pm with a buffet dinner at 7:45 pm. Our table at dinner included Gainsley, Rick, Art, Colin, Borja, Scott, Larkin and I.

Before dinner, they shuffled the scorecards from the day and randomly assigned foursomes. Larkin ended up winning $20 for the third place foursome.

After dinner, Rod's brother Scott emceed. They require all of the first time attendees to get up and tell a joke. Like last year, there were a lot of newbies.

After dinner, we wandered back to Rod's suite. At some point, we wandered downstairs to listen to the band. Although I am not sure how it got so late, it was after 11:30 pm by the time we crashed.

2018 Petersen Shootout - Day 1

For the seventh time in nine years, Larkin and I played in the Petersen Shootout [2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017]. We missed 2013 when Rod kept moving the date around and it finally landed on a weekend when Sharon, Jack and I were in H@waii. In 2015, Larkin wasn't available. I signed up with Borja as my wingman, but when he canceled at the last minute, I bailed.

I left the house about 9:00 am. Taking Highway 50 to 89 to 88, I got to golf course about 11:45 am. There were a couple of construction stops on Highway 50. I got to the Genoa Ranch Course about 15 minutes behind Larkin. We played this course the first year we came to the tournament in 2010.

Rod started the day with a long putt contest at 12:00 pm. The group teed off in a shotgun start at 1:00 pm. Larkin and I played with Jon Carlson, Mike O'Malley and Abel Caro. All three met Rod through Chico soccer, particularly the team's 2017 trip to Sp@in, and were playing in the tournament for the first time.

This year's group was enormous. While in most of the previous years, the count was in the mid-twenties. Last year, there were 42 people in the tournament. This year, there were 60 people! The group included Gainsley, Rick, Art and Colin plus Borja and his brother-in-law Scott.

I was pleased with how I played. I didn't strike the play was well as I did in H@waii, but I shot a very liberally scored winter rules 105. I pared two holes and bogeyed six holes, but three putted six greens and four putted one green. The scorecard is here.

For the second year in a row, the group is staying at the Carson Valley Inn in Minden. I stayed at this hotel in a suite once in late 1991 with she-who-will-not-be-named.

Larkin and I spent some time in Rod's suite before we headed to dinner. We had dinner at the J.T. Basque Restaurant down street from the hotel. We had lamb chops with the family style meal.

We made a stop at Rod's suite after dinner. Larkin and I ended up crashing fairly early (10:30 pm?).

Back from Napa plus Fish Face Poke

I spent the day working out of the Napa Valley. Starting back to Sacramento in the early afternoon, the traffic was horrible; it took me almost three hours to cover 94 miles [29 to 12 to 80 to Watt]. I didn't go the back way through Lake Berryessa because I needed to participate in a couple of conference calls...

Sharon and I finished the night having dinner at Fish Face Poke in the Milagro Center. I had a Spicy 41, while Sharon had Chirsashi. I liked the meal; Sharon not so much...

SmartRoom Go-Live

From January 2015 to September of 2016, I worked out of the Napa Valley. During that period, I was part of a couple of major projects, including a wireless upgrade of the St. Helena Hospital and a SmartHospital Implementation.

In the late morning, I headed back to the St. Helena hospital to check on the SmartRoom go-live. Following up on the earlier projects, this implementation includes Cerner's CareView dashboards, Roomlinks and MyStation plus Centrak RFID asset tracking.

After work, I headed to the Napa Marriott. I spent more than 300 nights at this hotel in 2015 and 2016. The whole day was very much of a déjà vu experience. I finished the day with a seven mile run along the Napa Valley Vine Trail.

Neighborhood Book Club

Sharon is part of a neighbor book club that meets about every two months. They met last Thursday night to discuss A Saint for all Seasons by J. Courtney Sullivan.

Other books that they have read include: Manhunt:The Twelve Day Search for Lincoln's Killer (Sharon's choice) and The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Michelle's choice).

I am always looking for books to read. I ended up reading The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair and enjoying it!

Mokuaikaua Church

Sharon and I visited the Mokuaikaua Church when we were on the Big Island for Becky's wedding.

Mokuaikaua Church
National Register of Historic Places #1978001015
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This church is located at 75-5713 Ali'i Drive, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 19° 38.364 W 155° 59.636.

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

Mokuaikaua Church, located on the Big Island of Hawaii, is the oldest Christian church in the Hawaiian Islands. The congregation dates to 1820 and the building was completed in 1837.

The Crown - Season 01

Sharon and I finished watching the first season of The Crown on Netflix. The show is a biographical story about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The first season covers the period from her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947 to the disintegration of her sister Princess Margaret's engagement to Peter Townsend and Winston Churchill resigning as Prime Minister in 1955.

The series is intended to last 60 episodes over six seasons, with 10 one-hour episodes per season. New actors are being cast every two seasons. The first two seasons star Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II, Matt Smith as Prince Philip, Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret and John Lithgow as Winston Churchill.

It has received several accolades, including winning Best Actress and Best Actor at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards for Foy and Lithgow, respectively, and receiving thirteen nominations for the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series.

Sharon and I have both enjoyed the series. I recommend it, but have a couple of nagging issues. While the show accurately portrays a number of historical events, I wonder about the real nature of the relationship between Elizabeth and Philip. Additionally, while Lithgow's performance as Churchill has been lauded, he physically doesn't fit the part. I really enjoyed Gary Oldman's performance as Churchill in the recent Darkest Hour.

Skool Japanese Gastropub

Sharon and I went to dinner at Skool in midtown Sacramento. It was a 2nd Saturday and midtown was packed.

We had a half dozen oysters, a small plate special, the sashimi of the day, Japanese "Karaage" fried chicken and fried brussels sprouts. The food and the atmosphere was very good. We need to go back and take another couple with us!

Cisco Executive Briefing

Up before 5 am, I was out of the door about 5:40 am heading to Cisco Executive Briefing Center in San Jose. I have done this as a day trip a number of times over the last fifteen years. It is more than a little bit of a crapshoot to figure out how long it is going to take to get there. With the traffic fairly light on a Friday morning, it took just a little over 2 hours and 20 minutes door to door [80 to 680 to 880 to Tasman].

I spent the loin's share of the day in a briefing focused primarily on video conferencing. We have to make some decisions about video conferencing equipment for the new building in Roseville. The agenda included: Future of Work Environments and Telepresence; Current State of Healthcare and Patient Treatment; Demo: Collaboration Solutions and Extended Care Telehealth.

Heading home fairly early, (just after 2 pm), the traffic on a Friday afternoon was a mess. It took more than 3 1/2 hours to wind my way home [680 to 580 to 205 to 120 to 99 to 50].

New York City Circle-line Sightseeing Cruise

John Vincent

John was Sharon's brother Tom's neighbor and attended a number of functions over the last few years.

John Kevin Vincent passed away on March 30, 2018, Good Friday, at home surrounded by his loving family. He was born in Peoria, Illinois on 12-10-1953, and his family moved to San Bernardino, CA when he was 3 years old. John attended Holy Rosary School and Aquinas High School in San Bernardino. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1976, and from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1979. Following Law School, John clerked for two federal judges, and spent a few years in private practice. He joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of CA in 1986, where he worked until his illness. He had a distinguished career, and received several awards during his tenure. He enjoyed his work, and the many life-long friends he made at the Sacramento office. John loved his family. He married Julie in 1991, and they have two children, Matt and Molly. John was a devout Catholic, and during the last year of his life, he and Julie made the pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. John will be forever remembered and missed by his family and friends. He was a humble and gentle man always there with a kind word and helping hand. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a ready laugh, a great smile, and was an incredible storyteller. In addition to Julie, Matt and Molly, John is survived by his brother Tom, sister Liz, and many nieces and nephews who dearly loved their Uncle John. He was predeceased by his beloved brother Art. A funeral will be held on April 14, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Ignatius Catholic Church. Donations may be made to a charity of choice.

Andre The Giant

Tuesday night, I watched the premier of the Andre The Giant on HBO. Bill Simmons has talked for almost ten years about wanting to make an Andre The Giant documentary. He finally got it made.

Although Drew was into the WWF figures and video games as a kid and I took him to a match at Acro Arena sometime in the early 1990's, I never paid any attention to pro wrestling. As a result, I didn't really understand that Andre was a big name. In 27 years, he wrestled over 5,000 matches.

Paralleling his life, the film tells a "B" story of the metamorphosis of the wrestling industry from regional markets into the national World Wrestling Federation. The advent of cable in the 1980's helped Vince McMahon transform the industry.

I was also fascinated by the interviews with Hulk Hogan and Vice McMahon in the last part of the film. Talking about Andre and WrestleMania III, they both came off as very emotional, caring human beings rather than the cartoon characters.

This was a very good film. I give it an "A." It is worth searching out and watching.

My Ancestry Timeline

Lost Weekend

After our East Coast Easter Trip, I ended up with a bad head cold that dragged into the weekend. I lost my voice starting Friday afternoon into Sunday. It turned out to be very much of a lost weekend.

Sharon with Janie and Terra wine tasting in the Delta. They went to Heringer Estates at the Old Sugar Mill and to Bogle. Sharon said that she wouldn't mind going back for Mother's Day.

Kamakahonu

Sharon and I wandered through Kamakahonu when we were on the Big Island for Becky's wedding.

Kamakahonu
National Register of Historic Places #1966000288
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This marker is located on northwest edge of Kailua Bay, north and west of Kailua Wharf, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 19° 38.349 W 155° 59.867.

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

Kamakahonu, the residence of Kamehameha I, is located at the north end of Kailua Bay in Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawai'i. At one time the residential compound included 'Ahu'ena Heiau, the personal heiau (place of worship) of Kamehameha I, thatched houses for ali'i (chiefs) and women, an enclosing wall, Hale Nana Mahina'ai (the personal retreat of Kamehameha I) work sheds, storehouses, and other buildings.

After uniting the Hawaiian kingdom, Kamehameha I returned to rule from his compound at Kamakahonu (lit. eye of the turtle) from 1812 until his death in 1819. Ahu'ena Heiau, the religious temple that served Kamehameha, was rebuilt in the 1970s as an accurate 2/3 scale model replica. The distinctive anu'u (oracle tower) indicated a heiau of ruling chiefs. This is a significant cultural site and must be treated with great respect.

The royal residences at Kamakahonu were served by a series of anchialine pools, upwillings of fresh and salt water found on young lava fields. These anchialine pools were used to raise balt fish and shrimp for larger catches.









Ahu'ena Heiau, the religious temple that served Kamehameha, was rebuilt in the 1970s as an accurate 2/3 scale model replica.

Beta Gamma Sigma

When we were in New York City last weekend, Jack mentioned that he has been inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma.

WHAT IS Beta Gamma Sigma?

BGS was founded in 1913, and is the international business honor society for AASCB- ccredited schools, which are the top 5% of business school programs around the world. Beta Gamma Sigma is a proud member of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS).

Beta Gamma Sigma members serve in corporate, entrepreneurial, government, non-profit, and academic sectors. Members currently reside in all 50 states and more than 190 countries. Notable members include Nobel Prize winners, Olympians, inventors, CEOs of major global companies and nonprofit organizations, deans of the top business schools, and others who are making the world a better place at all levels of contribution through social enterprise, service, and leadership.

Philippines shuts island of Boracay to tourists for 6 months

Philippines closes 'cesspool' tourist island of Boracay

The Philippines has announced a six-month closure of the popular tourist destination of Boracay over concerns the island's famous beaches and clear blue waters have been transformed into a "cesspool" due to sustained environmental damage.

More than fifteen years ago, Sharon, Jack and I spent two plus weeks in the Philippines. The trip included eight days on Boracay. It was a very cool vacation. It is hard for me to imagine cruise ships dumping people on to the island!

Ancestry Composition

For Christmas, Sharon got herself, Drew, Jack and I 23andMe ancestry genetic tests. Although I self identify as Dutch, I have always known that I was English (Holmes and Abbott), German (Lorbeer) and Dutch (Heringa).

The results of the 23andMe genetic test show that I am 48% British and Irish, 19% Netherlands and 21% Broadly Northwestern European. What surprised me was that I am 9% Scandinavian and 2% Iberian (Spain and Portugal). Even more surprising, there are very small pieces of North African and Arabian (0.4%), Broadly South Asian (0.2%) and Broadly Southern European (0.2%). I am going to post a couple more pieces of the results in the near future.

A Closed and Common Orbit

My book for April is A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. This is a sequel to her first novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet that I read last year. I finished the book on the flight back from New York.

The author caught my attention because this book was nominated for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel. It was shortlisted for the 2017 Arthur C. Clarke Award. The book won the 2017 Prix Julia-Verlanger, a French prize rewarding novels of science fiction or fantasy.

In the aftermath of the events in The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, the ship's artificial intelligence is loaded into an android body and leaves to pursue an independent existence in the company of Pepper, a technician. A parallel narrative strand explores Pepper's past as a genetically modified child slave.

This is the third book dealing with artificial intelligence that I have read in the last year. The other two are Origin and Ancillary Mercy. All three books raise some interesting ethical questions about how artificial intelligence might fit into society. I suspect that these are not real questions that we will have to deal with in my lifetime...

I enjoyed the book and recommended it. I give it a solid "B+." The author did a particularly nice job interweaving two storylines and bringing them together at the end of the book. Building on the first book, the world building and the development of the alien characters is very good.

Cerner IT Celebration

Last Wednesday afternoon before we took off for our East Coast Easter trip, I attended the Cerner IT Celebration at Strikes Unlimited in Rocklin. The celebration was to acknowledge the contribution of the Adventist Employees who are being rebadged as Cerner employees.

After lunch, they split everyone into groups for bowling. Steadily improving, I bowled two and a half games. My first game score was 120, while the second was 134. I haven't bowled in almost eight years. The last time I did a team building bowling event was almost nine years ago at Sutter Health.

2018 East Coast Easter Trip - Day 5

A post shared by Mark Heringer (@heringermr) on Apr 1, 2018 at 6:25am PDT

I set an alarm for 7:00 am. Sharon was up and moving before the alarm. We walked to St. Patrick's for the 8:00 am Easter Mass. I was astonished how quickly they sped through the service. It was done in less than 40 minutes! They ushered out through the side doors in the front as they were bringing another group in for an 8:45 am Mass.

Back at the hotel, we packed up and checked out. We caught an Uber to the Lamb's Club for brunch. It was a very extensive buffet.

After brunch, we walked back to the hotel and picked up our luggage. Sharon and I changed into more comfortable clothes. Calling an Uber for Jack, he headed to Penn Station to catch a 3:00 pm train back to Washington DC.

Sharon and I caught an Uber to JFK. Getting there early, we relaxed at Piquillo and had an adult beverage. The jetBlue terminal at JFK is very civilized.

We boarded the jetBlue flight back to Sacramento about 4:50 pm. We had the same seats that we had on the way to New York (5C, 5B). It was supposed to take off at 5:27 pm, but had a minor technical problem. At one point I looked at my watch and we were still on the runway at 6:20 pm. At more than 6 hours, it was a long flight home. I finished my book and then watched the Giants lose to the Dodgers. Sharon watched All the Money in the World.

We landed more than 45 minutes late about 9:40 pm. By the time, we got home it was almost 11 pm.

It was a great trip. When we started talking serious about going, I dragged my feet. Sharon pushed the idea hard. She was right. We had a very nice time with Jack. We started a list of things to do on an Easter trip to New York next year!