The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America’s Most Famous Residence

My book for May was The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America’s Most Famous Residence by Robert Klara. This is part of my long term project to read books about all of the presidents. I stumbled upon this book when I was reading one of Klara's other books. It was a nice follow-up to the No Ordinary Time book that I read.

We got a chance to tour the White House in 2011. I was very surprised to learn that they essentially gutted the house during Truman's second term. They left the facade and built a concrete and steel interior.

In addition to a good summary of the White House reconstruction, the book is a nice look at the Truman presidency. It is an interesting view of the windup of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Although I read the McCullough Truman biography years ago, I had forgotten that there was an assassination attempt while they were living in the Blair House and that Truman enjoyed going to Key West to relax.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I give it an "A" and recommend it!

Nevada Historical Marker #130

Wandering home from the Petersen Shootout, I made a circuit around the Carson Valley stopping at a number of Nevada Historical Markers, including: Luther Canyon (Fay Canyon) [#118]; Walley's Hot Springs [#120]; Pottsville [#121]; Sheridan [#122]; Boyd Toll Road [#124]; Gardnerville [#129]; Minden [#130], and; Dresslerville [#131].

Minden
Nevada Historical Marker #130
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This marker is located at 1599 Highway 395 N, Minden, Douglas County, Nevada. There are 17 other historical markers in Douglas County. The GPS coordinates for this location are 38° 57'09.9" N 119° 45' 42.8"W.


Minden, the seat of Douglas County since 1916, was named for a town in Westphalia, Germany, where the founder of the H.F. Dangberg Land and Live Stock Company was born in 1829. The company established Minden in 1905 to provide terminal facilities for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, which was then extending a branch line southward from Carson City. The passenger and freight depot was situated at this point.

Principal promoter of the town and its related development was H.F. Dangberg, Jr., secretary of the company and son of the founder.

My Life 2012

2012

All of the My Life Photos can be found here.

David Laskin at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships

Congratulations to freshman David Laskin on earning his 2nd top-20 finish at the Pac-12 Championships!!#BearDown #Pac12MGolf pic.twitter.com/B0qFqwBlKE

— Arizona Men's Golf (@UAWildcatsGolf) May 1, 2017

2017 Petersen Shootout Day 3

Up early, Larkin and I used our $5.00 food voucher for breakfast at Katie's Country Kitchen in the hotel. We had a chance to visit a little with Rod and Scott and Kevin and Rick.

We packed up the room and started for home. Almost everyone was getting an early start.

I made a circuit around the Carson Valley looking for a number of Nevada Historical Markers, including: Luther Canyon (Fay Canyon) [#118]; Walley's Hot Springs [#120]; Pottsville [#121]; Sheridan [#122]; Gardnerville [#129]; Minden [#130]; Dresslerville [#131] and Boyd Toll Road [#142]. Heading home via Highway 88 to Highway 89 to Highway 50, I rolled up to the house about 11:40 am.

Due to a number of factors, I probably enjoyed this year more than I have any previous year of the Petersen Shootout. I always enjoy Larkin's company. I am getting to know more of the regulars. Kevin and his posse were a great addition. Finally, I was very pleased with how well I played on Friday!

2017 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. After breakfast, with me feeling a little slow, we lounged in the room.

The plan for the day was to play the Carson Valley Golf Course. Rod started with a chipping contest at 11:30 am. This was followed by a shotgun start at 1:00 pm. I feel like both events should have started a little earlier. The format for the day was a shamble.

Larkin and I played with David [played football at Cal?] and Bob. They were playing in the tournament for the first time. They both crushed the ball; they were consistently driving 280 to 300 yards off the tee. Even when Larkin hit a solid tee shot, he would be 20 to 30 yards behind them.

In spite of the advance of using the drives, I struggled around the greens. The greens were fairly small. I had trouble landing the ball on the green and then putting once I was on the green. Unlike Friday where I only three putted twice, I ended up three putting eight greens. In spite of all my struggles, I ended up with a 94.

Play was faster than Friday. We were done a little after 5:30 pm.

We ended back to the hotel and got cleaned up. The golf weekend included dinner on Saturday. We got to the banquet room just before 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 Kevin, Rick, Art, Colin, Larkin and I.

Before dinner, they shuffled the scorecards from the day and randomly assigned foursomes. Rod, Scott, Larkin and I ended up in a foursome. Our foursome ended up with the second lowest combined score for the day and we each won $20?!?

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

After dinner, we wandered back to Rod's suite. Larkin wandered off at some point. We both crashed fairly early. Although I usually try to play some blackjack, I am just not interested in a table with a $10 minimum...

2017 Petersen Shootout Day 1

For the six time in eight years, Larkin and I played in the Petersen Shootout [2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016]. 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.

Scrambling to get going, I finally left the house about 8:50 am. Taking Highway 50 to South Shore to the Kingsbury Grade, I got to golf course about 11:10 am. It was an extremely easy drive with very little traffic. I was surprised how quickly I got to the Genoa Lakes Golf Course. We played the nearby Genoa Ranch Course in 2010.

Rod started the day with a long putt contest at 11:30 am. The group teed off in a shotgun start at 1:00 pm. Larkin and I played with Dave and Wes. While the sky was clear, the day was cold with a stiff north wind.

This year's group was big. While in most of the previous years, the count was in the mid-twenties. This year, there were 42 people in the tournament, including Kevin, Rick, Art and Colin.

After struggling at Se@ Ranch in February, I was very pleased with how I played. I shot a liberally scored winter rules 101. I pared four holes and only three putted two greens.

The course played slow. It was after 6:30 pm by the time we finished.

The group is staying this year 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.

After getting cleaned up, Larkin and I spent some time in Rod's suite before we headed to a late dinner. We had dinner at the CV Steak (Pacific Calamari Steak and spicy Seafood Linguine). We literally closed down the restaurant. We crashed in the room about 11:30 pm.

Rey Azteca

After a lap around Ancil Hoffman Park and through the Effie Yeaw Nature Center together, Sharon and I had dinner at Rey Azteca. Although we have been there fairly often over the last five years, I can't remember the last time that we ate there...

The next two weeks are going to be hectic. Sharon and I are going in different directions. Jack finishes his freshman year at Georgetown University and will be home on May 9!

My Life 2016

Jack graduated from Jesuit High School.

2016

All of the My Life Photos can be found here.

Bruges Beer Pipeline

When we were in Bruges last summer, we toured the De Halve Maan Brewery. During the tour, they talked about building this beer pipeline for two miles across the city.

146,322 steps

Last Father's day, Sharon give me an Apple Watch. Amongst its uses, the Apple Watch is a great step tracker. I have both the Apple Watch and iPhone connected to the Withings app to log my steps.

Feeling stronger over the last eight weeks, I did 146,322 steps last week. This is the most that I have logged in a week in the short time that I have had everything connected to the Withings app. This translates into 77.5 miles!

Sacramento Rainfall Records

After a cool and wet April, it finally looks like the weather is starting to dry out and warm up. For the 2016-17 season, the Executive Airport rainfall total is 33.66 inches.

At this point, 2016-17 is the fourth wettest record on record! The wettest rain season on record happened during the 1982-1983 season when Sacramento tallied 36.57 inches of precipitation.

The top 10 wettest years are:

1. 1982-83: 36.57

2. 1889-90: 34.60

3. 1981-82: 33.92

4. 2016-17: 33.66

5. 1885-86: 32.19

6. 1997-98: 32.16

7. 1994-95: 31.78

8. 1957-58: 30.73

9. 1940-41: 30.09

10. 1985-86: 29.83

When we were at the Kings game in mid-April, Larkin said that they had more than 90 inches of rain at their property near Greenwood.

House of Cards - Season Three

While we were on the East Coast Easter trip, Jack chided us about how long it is taking us to watch a season of House of Cards. Sharon and I banged out the last three episodes and finished the third season of House of Cards. We finished Season One in October of 2016 and Season Two in November of 2016. This season was originally released on July 7, 2015.

Season three starts six months after Frank Underwood's ascension to the Presidency at the end of Season Two. The season ends just after Underwood's narrow win in the Iowa Caucus. In between, there is a twisted mess of plots including the AmWorks Bill and dealings with the Russians.

I didn't enjoy most of the season. I just didn't find the storylines interesting. In particular, I just didn't care for the entire Doug Stamper arc. The show got more interesting as the story shifted to the beginning of the presidential campaign.

Arden Hills

Sharon and I had dinner in the restaurant at Arden Hills. Sitting outside in gorgeous weather, we used a couple of gift certificates for entrees that Arden Hills had sent us for our birthdays. We spilt a dungeness crab salad and both had blue cheese angus bacon burgers.

No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin

My book for April was No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I finished reading the book on the flight to New York City during our East Coast Easter Trip. The book was awarded the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for History.

This is part of my long term project to read books about all of the presidents. This book is on a Washington Post list of recommended books for each president.

The book focuses on the period between May 10, 1940 (the end of the so-called "Phoney War" stage of World War II) and President Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945. While there is a lot going on in the book in a wide variety of areas including race relations, women in the workforce and labor relations, I was struck by three things.

First, Eleanor and Franklin really lived separate lives with a number of people revolving around them. Eleanor had Joe Lash and Lorena Hickok, while Franklin had Lucy Mercer, Missy LeHand, Margaret Suckley, Laura Delano, Crown Princess Martha of Norway and Harry Hopkins. The number of different people living with the Roosevelts in the White House is fascinating. It would be impossible for them to maintain these kinds of relationship in this era of press coverage and social media.

Second, I never really appreciated how wheelchair bound FDR was. There are very, very few pictures that captured him in a wheelchair. Additionally, even as Franklin was running for a fourth term, his health was not good.

Third, I didn't understand how engaged Eleanor was in social issues. She used her position to travel the world and poke her nose in all kinds of places.

This is a very good book. I have always enjoyed Goodwin's writing style. I give it a "A-" and recommend it. It is an interesting look at War World II from a very different angle. My only qualm is that there are a couple of themes that get a little repetitive.

At the end of the book, Eleanor Roosevelt is cleaning out the White House. It talks about how the Truman's came to visit their new home and were appalled at the condition of the living quarters. This reminded me that I had The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America’s Most Famous Residence on the book shelf. I turned right around and started reading this book.

Chester Allan Arthur Statue

While we were in New York City for our East Coast Easter trip, I walked to this statue of Chester Allan Arthur. I have wanted to visit this waymark ever since finishing his biography.

Chester Allen Arthur
Statues of Historic Figures
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This waymark is located in Madison Square Park, New York City, New York. The GPS coordinates for this location are 40° 44' 34.5" N 73° 59' 14.9" W.

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

The sculpture is bronze. It was cast in 1898. The sculptor was George Edwin Bissell [1839-1920]. The founder was Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company. The architect was James Brown Lord [1859-1902]. The base is polished Barre, Vermont granite set on concrete. The statue was dedicated June 13, 1899.

Chester Arthur stands holding a book in his proper left hand. His proper right hand is bent at the elbow and rests at his waist. Behind him is an elaborate armchair which has the presidential seal on the back. An Oriental rug is draped over the seat of the chair.

The inscriptions on the statue include: (Right side near base of sculpture:) GEO. E. BISSELL/SCULPTOR 1898 (Back side of sculpture:) THE HENRY-BONNARD BRONZE CO./FOUNDERS, NY (Front side of sculpture:) JAMES BROWN LORD/ARCHITECT (Front of pedestal:) CHESTER ALAN/ARTHUR/TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT/OF/THE UNITED STATES/OF AMERICA signed Founder's mark appears.

This sculpture was the last installation of a group of four political contemporaries--Roscoe Conkling, Admiral Farragut, and William Seward--were already installed around the corners of Madison Square.

At Nationals Park

2017 East Coast Easter Trip Day 5

Up at 4:00 am, Sharon and I caught a cab to the Reagan National Airport at 4:30 am. We boarded a 6:00 am Southwest flight from Reagan to Chicago Midway. With two hours on the ground, we had a leisurely sit-down breakfast at Harry Caray's Seventh Inning Stretch. I can't remember the last time I saw Sharon eat pancakes at a restaurant...

We boarded a 8:50 am Southwest flight from Midway back to Sacramento. We were home about 12:30 pm. I ended up spending more than 3 1/2 hours on work calls in the afternoon.

Although we covered a lot of ground in a few days, it was a very nice trip. It was great to spend some time with Jack! When we first started the planning for the trip, I questioned the effort. In hindsight, it was important. I didn't realize how much the Georgetown campus shutdown for the long Easter weekend. Jack would have been rattling around a ghost town if we hadn't gone back to see him.

2017 East Coast Easter Trip Day 4

Easter Mass

A post shared by Mark Heringer (@heringermr) on Apr 16, 2017 at 9:14am PDT

A busy day... Up early, Sharon and I had breakfast at the hotel. Afterwards, we caught a cab to Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown. Getting there a little after 9:00 am for a 9:30 am Mass, the place was already packed. Sharon made a quick decision to head up into the choir loft. We were able to grab seats in the last row of the loft! Given the number of people milling around over the next 30 minutes, I felt very lucky to have gotten some seats. At one point, the priest asked people to move together to make room for the hundreds of people in the back!?! Jack wandered over from his dorm and joined us. It was a nice service; I enjoyed the homily.

After Mass, we walked to Jack's dorm room. He changed clothes and then we caught an Uber back to the hotel.

The plan for the afternoon was to go to the Nationals versus Phillies MLB game. We walked to the Foggy Bottom/GWU Metro station and took the Metro to the game.

We had some very nice seats down the third baseline. Although it was a good crowd, the area right around us was empty, including the whole row we were in [Section 114, Row U, Seats 1, 2 and 3]. With temperatures in the high 80s, we were in the shade after about the fifth inning. [Note to self], you need to be higher up on the third base side in order to be in the shade in the afternoon.

Jack was very motivated to get a foul ball. He had one very good chance; a ball bounced on the seat right in front of him as it went for it. He was not empty with his effort.

Harper hit a two-run homer in the third inning and a game-ending, three-run drive with two outs in the ninth, leading the Washington Nationals over the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 on Sunday.

After the game, we caught the Metro back to the hotel. Getting cleaned up, we headed to an early dinner at the Blue Duck Tavern. The Blue Duck Tavern was awarded a Michelin Star in 2016 is continuously listed as one of top restaurants in Washington, DC by the Washington Post, Washingtonian and Zagat. Sharon and Jack ate there last August and Sharon and I had a dinner there last October.

We had a very nice Cheese and Charcuterie Board for an appetizer. For entrees, Sharon and Jack had Moulard Duck Breast, while I had Braised Beef Rib. The food was very good. The service was not. The waiter was kind of a shit...

With a very early start on Monday morning, we put Jack in an Uber and sent him back to his dorms after dinner.

2017 East Coast Easter Trip Day 3

A lazy morning. Sharon, Jack and I slept late and then had breakfast at the the hotel. The lounge was not quite as chaotic as yesterday.

After packing up the room, we hung around the room and tried to talk to Jack about the next school year. We didn't use the morning as effectively as we probably should have... I had originally though about walking back to the MoMA to buy a Starry Night coffee mug; I might order one from the museum's store on-line.

A little before 11 am, we caught a cab to Penn Station. We took a 12:00 pm Acela train from Penn Station to Union Station in Washington DC. We got lucky and queued up in the right spot before they announced the track. We boarded the train, stowed our three big bags and grabbed seats quickly. Over the course of the trip, I was surprised at the number of people wandering through the train looking for seats.

It was an easy three hour trip to Washington DC. I was surprised how good the wireless was on the train. We got to Washington DC just after 3:00 pm. Unlike LaGuardia, it was easy to get a taxi. We are staying two night at the Georgetown Marriott. Since we stayed at this hotel during the move-in weekend, they finished a major upgrade of the rooms and the concierge lounge.

While Jack wandered back to his dorm room, Sharon met Mary Maloney at The Top of the Gate at the Watergate Hotel. I ran about five and a half miles on the treadmill watching the second half of the Cavs versus Pacers round one NBA playoff game. The Cavs won the game by the score of 109 to 108. CJ Miles missed a shoot at the buzzer that could have won the game for the Pacers.

Getting all back together about 6:45 pm, we finished the night at the Teddy and the Bully Bar. We had Caviar Deviled Eggs, Duck Fat Steak Fries and Oysters as appetizers. For entrees, the Jack had Oven Roasted Lobster, Sharon had Whiskey Braised Short Ribs and I had Seared Scallops. The entrees were unremarkable. While I had a very nice drink [The Conservationist], I don't recommend the restaurant.

Afterwards, Jack took an Uber back to his dorm.

2017 East Coast Easter Trip Day 2

While Sharon and I were working our way through the Oscar nominated films, we must have seen a trailer for the movie Dunkirk at least a half a dozen times. While I was reading No Ordinary Time, there was a fairly long section that talked about Dunkirk and Churchill's speech afterwards. Sleeping late, Sharon and I went down to get breakfast at the Residence Inn. As we walked into the dining room, the thought that popped into my head was "My God, it is the beaches of Dunkirk." There were people everywhere with dirty dishes scattered across many of the tables and long lines at most of the food stations. It was chaos.

The plan for the day was to hit a couple of museums. Jack is considering a minor in Art History. With a quick stop at St. Patrick Cathedral, we walked to the MoMA. Over the years, I have probably been to the MoMA at least half a dozen times. Nevertheless, I always enjoy the fifth floor gallery; Starry Night has always been one of my favorite paintings. Jack was disappointed that the fourth floor collection was closed. In an odd twist, a member ended up buying our tickets. As a result, we were able to tour a members only collection titled "Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction."

From the MoMA, we caught a cab to the Guggenheim Museum. Sharon and I had only been to the New York Guggenheim once in June of 1998. It seems to me that some of the building was closed when we there before. We had a forty plus minute wait to get into the museum. It was worth it. I really enjoyed this museum; it is a nice collection and a very interesting building.

Exiting the Guggenheim, we walked east towards the Upper Eastside to find a place to get a snack. We stopped at Ristorante Morini for some Carciofi (crispy artichokes, lemon) and Burrata (soft cow's milk cheese, olivada). Although we had been using cabs, I called for an Uber to take us back to the hotel.

While Sharon and Jack lounged in the room, I went for a walk about. I trucked about 2.5 miles to Madison Square Park and back. Ever since I read the Chester Allan Arthur biography, I have wanted to find his statue in New York City. I believe that it is the only tribute to him.

Back at the room, I got cleaned up. We had dinner across the street from the hotel at Avra Estiatorio. This is a Greek restaurant that specializes in seafood. After some oysters and stuffed calamari, Sharon had bronzoni, I had swordfish and Jack had Youvetsi (Shrimp, scallops, clams and mussels in tomato and herbs with orzo and feta cheese). We had a very nice bottle of Kosta Brown Pinot Noir.

From there, we caught an Uber to the Hudson Theater. Sharon and I had debated for a long time which Broadway play to see. With Jack's interest in art, we settled on Sunday in the Park with George. The play is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It is limited-run revival starring Jake Gyllenhaal as George and Annaleigh Ashford as Dot/Marie. It opened February 13 and is only scheduled to run until April 23. The original Boardway production opened in 1984. It tells the story of Georges Seurat painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

Both Sharon and I were lukewarm on the show. I am not going to run out and buy the soundtrack. Reading about the history of the play afterwards and realizing it was a limited run revival, I felt more fondly about the production...

Much to Sharon's chagrin, we walked back to the hotel from the theater. Jack and I finished the night watching game 2 of the San Jose Sharks versus Edmonton Oils NHL playoff game.

2017 East Coast Easter Trip Day 1

Up at 3:15 am, Sharon and I caught a 6:10 am Southwest Flight from Sacramento to Denver. With a short layover in Denver, we caught a 10:30 am flight to New York's LaGuardia Airport. We landed at LaGuardia on time about 4:00 pm. It was a very easy and uneventful set of flights... I finished reading No Ordinary Time, Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography of FDR.

At this point, the fun began. It took us an hour to get our luggage and get a taxi. The taxi line was at least 30 minutes long. It then took us almost an hour to get into Manhattan to the hotel. I am going to have to look, but I think that it is only 6 miles.

It was after 6:00 pm by the time we got to the hotel. We are spending two nights at the Residence Inn on East 48th. Jack had taken a noon train from Washington DC and met us at the hotel.

After getting settled in the room and finding some refreshments, we caught a cab to Gato. Sharon had made an 8:15 pm reservation for dinner. Gato is a Bobby Flay restaurant. We had an assortment of appetizers that included meatballs and eggplant. We split a pizza with green tomato. For entrees, Sharon and Jack had rabbit, while I had kale and Wild mushroom paella. It was an excellent meal.

By the time, we got back to the hotel and to bed, it was after 11:30 pm. It was a long day.

Drew at Eaton Canyon

Sharon and I hiked Eaton Canyon in November of 2013.

2017 Kings versus Suns

Larkin and I went to the Sacramento Kings versus Phoenix Suns NBA Basketball game. This was the last home game of the inaugural season in the new arena.

The Kings opened the game on an 11 to 1 run and pulled away in the second quarter. The Kings won by the score of 129 to 104.

Buddy Hield led the Kings with a career-high 30 points on 12 for 20 from the field, 4 for 8 from three point range and 2 for 3 from the free throw line. Ty Lawson had his first career triple double with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.

Tyler Ulis(?!?) led the Suns with 27 points on 10 for 25 from the field, 3 for 8 from three and 4 for 6 from the free throw line. Ulis was a second round pick in 2016. Booker, Bledsoe and Knight were DNPs...

I always complain about how all of the give-aways end up in the first couple of rows on the lower deck. For this game, the Kings sent people into the upper deck to toss mini-balls. I ended up with four mini-balls!

We talked to Hunter and Yuli during halftime. In an odd sequence, I spilled my drink while waving my hands talking to Larkin. A Kings employee asked me what I was drinking and went and got me another drink.

While I often complain about the seats in the upper deck, there were enough empty seats around us that it was possible to stretch out! At one point, a couple came and sat down in the seats to our left. They were literally there for two or three minutes on their phones, but they took off.

Larkin and I had dinner at the Foundation Restaurant and Bar before the game.

The Kings have 5 wins and 3 losses in games that I have seen in person during the 2016/2017 NBA season.

Jesuit High School National Signing Day 2017

Over the last couple of years, I have been fascinated by the national signing day process at Jesuit High School. It is interesting how few boys actually sign letters of intent and get scholarships. Out of a class of more than 250, only seven boys got scholarships as of national signing day.

Additionally, I still don't understand what a letter of intent with commitment is. Last year, there were ten boys listed with letter of intent with commitment compared to only one this year.

With Scholarship:

Baseball:
Tyler Adge - University of New Mexico
Darren Baker - UC Berkeley

Football:
Jonathon Amadi - UC Davis
Calvin Brownholtz - University of Texas El Paso

Soccer:
Casey Bravo - University of the Dominican
Lucas Churchill - UC Berkeley
Tyler Moss - California State University- Sacramento

With Commitment:

Rugby: Jake Vassar - Boise State


Jesuit High School National Signing Day 2016

Il Fornaio Regional Italian Dinner

Sharon and Tom went to a regional Italian dinner at Il Fornaio. The cuisine was from the Calabria region of Italy.

fun with passwords

Due to some struggles with passwords, Sharon and I spend almost eighteen hours trying to swap her iPhone for a new one. Thanks to some great customer support from AT&T, Sharon was finally able to get around the password problem and get everything restored on her new iPhone 7 Plus!

The AT&T customer service woman that Sharon talked to was based in Ohio. Fifteen years ago, it seemed like most companies had outsourced their help desk to India. Like Sharon's encounter, my experiences in the last few years have been very different than my experiences with the India call centers. When I have called help desks in the last few years, it seems like they are all based in the United States...

Nicki on the set of You Get Me

Captain Fantastic

Sharon and I watched Captain Fantastic as an iTunes rental on Saturday night. This is still part of our continuing effort to see all of the Oscar nominated films.

The film stars Viggo Mortensen. It was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten independent films of 2016. Mortensen was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor and an Academy Award for Best Actor at the 89th Academy Awards.

The story centers on a family that is forced by circumstances to reintegrate into society after living in isolation for a decade.

Sharon liked the film a lot more than I did.

Spring Cerner Security Council 2017 - Day 2

I spent the morning at the Cerner Security Council in Kansas City. The agenda included: welcome and recap; Application security at Cerner; Multi-factor authentication; Incident response, and; Wrap-up.

About 11:30 am, I started to wind my home. I took a town car with two other guys back to the airport. I caught a 1:30 pm Southwest flight to Phoenix. Boarding the plane, I had an unusual experience. I had boarding number B06. When I got on the plane, almost every aisle seat was taken; almost no-one was sitting on the window or in a middle. For me to get an aisle, I literally had to go to the back of plane and take the second row from the back...

When I checked the status early in the morning, my flight from Phoenix to Sacramento was delayed about an hour. Over the course of the day, the status showed more and more delayed. At one point, the flight showed four hours delayed. All of a sudden, it then showed on time. The flight ended up leaving Phoenix about 30 minutes behind schedule. I landed in Sacramento about 6:45 pm and was home about 7:20 pm.

Three notes from the trip. First, as I said before, the Kansas City Airport is a mess. I don't know that I have seen anything like it. There is no concourse and no room to walk around. It is literally just gates and seats. Second, I have flown Southwest a number of number over the last five months and every flight has been completely booked; I have a hard time understanding how this is possible. Finally, I usually adapt to time changes pretty easily. Even thought it was only a two hour change and a short trip, I could never get my body in sync.

Spring Cerner Security Council 2017 - Day 1

I spent the day at the Cerner Security Council in Kansas City, Kansas. The agenda included: welcome and council introductions; Vision: Cerner updates; Implementing a cybersecurity network; Vulnerability management; IP Security update; DOD impacts; Client collaboration topics, including Justifying a CISO, HIPAA security audit, Data classification and Risk assessments; Innovations in cloud-enabled environments, and, Wrap-up.

The group finished the day with a buffet dinner at the Grand Street Cafe in Lenexa, Kansas.

To Kansas City

Up at 3:30 am, I caught a 6:10 am flight from Sacramento to Denver. Changing planes in Denver, I boarded a flight to Kansas City. It felt like a quick trip. I am not impressed with Terminal B of the Kansas City Airport! I took a Uber to the hotel and was in the room by 2:00 pm.

After an an hour and a half Skype interview, I ran 6.60 miles on the treadmill. I finished the night at a welcome reception for the Cerner Security Council at Jazz - A Louisiana Kitchen. The reception was sponsored by Fishtech.

Frame Family Dinner

While Tom and Eric were hiking the Camino, Tom sent a group text saying that he wanted to start a monthly Sunday afternoon family dinner. He has been trying to do it the first Sunday of every month.

We headed over to Tom's a little after 2 pm. The group included Tom, Eric, Kevin, Leah, Lydia, Teri, Steve, Sharon and I. Tom served a variety of Spanish horderves and a great piaya with mussels, shrimp and sausage for dinner.

Snowshoeing

The original plan for the day turned into a little bit of a fiasco. Based on a snowshoeing trail book that we have, we were heading to snowshoe at Yuba Gap. Apparently, there was once a Snowpark there. Given the drought over the last few years, they must have closed it down. When we got there, the road was blocked off.

Starting to search on our phones, we decided to continue up the road to Boreal. Parking at the Boreal Snowpark, we walked under the freeway and pick up the Andesite Peak trail. This was a great alternative. It is a pretty heavy traveled trail; we passed a number of people both ways with snowshoes or skis and more than a few dogs.

We ended going just under four miles round trip. Partly due to the wind, we stopped short of Andesite Peak. In total, we climbed about 750 feet in two miles. We stopped for a late lunch about 0.40 of mile and 350 feet from the summit.

We finished the day watching the second of half of the Gonzaga versus South Carolina NCAA basketball semi-final game (Gonzaga won 77 to 74) and watching Capitan Fantastic.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Nicki, Drew and Norah

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.

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.

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...

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.

Sharon

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...

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.

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...

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!

2017 Spring Training Day 2

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.

2017 Spring Training Day 1

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.

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.”

Mission Day 2017

I spent the day at the fourth annual Mission Day at The Falls Event Center.

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.

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...

Jack back to school

We 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.

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.

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.

Jack is back!

Finishing 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.

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...

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.



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.

Drew, Norah and Jack

Jack's Spring Break

Jack 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!

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.

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!

Visalia to Hanford to SMF to Carmichael

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...

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.