Kelly and I took our second (of many, hopefully) trips to The City™ (San Francisco) today. We hopped CalTrain at the San Jose Diridon station and de-trained at the 4th and King station in San Francisco. From there, it was (too long) a walk up to Fisherman's Wharf.
The City gallery contains the pictures I've taken and will take of San Francisco.
It was way more walking than we wanted to do just to get to where we wanted to go. By the time we got to Fisherman's Wharf, we were pretty much done walking. We would have been better served getting off at Millbrae, taking BART to the Embarcadero Station, and then taking Muni's F Line to the wharf. Live and learn.
Despite the unnecessarily long walk, we had a great time. The Aquarium of the Bay was interesting and we had a great late lunch at Sinbad's Pier II Restaurant. What we decided, though, is that we want to take one of the trolley- or bus-based city tours and a boat-based tour of the bay itself. A visit to Alcatraz is also on the agenda.
What strikes me each time I visit the city is that this is a place I've wanted to be for long, long time and that I'm very happy finally to be here. What occurred to me last night after Kelly and I got back is that it's a long way from Huntsville, Alabama to San Francisco.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 09:57 2008-06-22 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
Fearless Leader (Work)
I work for NVIDIA. Our
Fearless Leader CEO is Jensen Huang. A while back,
NVIDIA was featured as Forbes
Magazine's Most Excellent Company in the Galaxy, or some
such. That issue's cover included a photograph of Jensen wielding
a plastic ray gun of some sort against an alien. Shortly thereafter,
a few life-sized posters of Jensen based on that cover photo appeared
in various NVIDIA buildings.
The folks in my building couldn't leave well enough alone. Bless their twisted, witty hearts. I'm glad Jensen doesn't take himself too seriously.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 23:33 2008-06-12 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
GEICO, You Suck! (Tirades)
As a wrote in another post, my father died at the end of May. Accordingly, I called GEICO to cancel his automobile insurance. After receiving a faxed copy of his death certificate, GEICO obliged.
They followed up this action with a bill. $15.39 for a policy change and $3.00 for a premium installment charge. WTF? Is GEICO so hard up that they charge an early termination fee when one of their policyholders dies? It's not like my father had a choice. He's dead you idiots. How can they possibly justify that?
Naturally, I'm not going to pay it. Of course, since I'm not authorized (yet) to speak for his estate, they won't tell me the exact nature of the charge and certainly won't listen to me explain where they can put their bill.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 20:20 2008-06-11 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
GardenWerks Returns (Gardening)
After too long a delay, GardenWerks has returned! And there was great rejoicing.
Rather, it will return shortly. I got a 20' × 15' plot in one of San Jose's community gardens, the Mayfair Garden, payed my $90.00 water fee, and will start planting it next week. First I have to get a shovel, a fork, a scuffle hoe, hose, and, of course, vegetables.
What surprises more than how much I enjoy gardening (and eating the fruits therefrom) is how much I've missed since I came out here in November. It turns out puttering in the garden is as much therapy and outlet as it is hobby and labor of love for fresh fruit and produce. Bless my wife's heart for allowing me this indulgence so long as I don't ask her to help in the gardening.
So, within the next two weeks, I'll be spending some time preparing and planting a garden. I'm happy about that.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 20:41 2008-06-09 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)
Dying Sucks (General)
My father died May 27th at 11:31 p.m. The death certificate lists his time of death as 11:45 p.m., but that is incorrect.
I know this because I was there and watched him take his last breath. As was my brother. It was a fascinating, excruciating, and grueling process. I'm glad I was there, but it exhausted me nevertheless and I didn't fully recover from the exhaustion until a week after the event. I don't think it's something everyone can (or should) do. It was the most gut-wrenching experience I have ever been through.
For the record, dying in a hospital isn't nearly as peaceful, serene, glamorous, sterile, or antiseptic as it is in movies, on television, and in your imagination. Of course, nothing is as peaceful, serene, glamorous, sterile, or antiseptic as it is in movies or on television, but my point is that I was unprepared for the reality of it.
Dying is messy, chaotic, shot through with mixed emotions. Watching someone you love die is all of those things, too. And pity the poor soul who both loves and doesn't like the person he's watching die. I should be clear here: I did not like my father. He was a lying, manipulative, abusive, anti-social man who managed to take advantage of almost everyone he ever met. Naytheless, I loved him. He was my father and he showed up for me in my least lovable moments. So, I hope I've returned the favor by holding his hand, wiping his brow, caressing his head, gently urging him to let go of this life and move on to the next one, and waiting with him until he did so.
We buried my brother-in-law on my birthday last year, so I'm relieved that my father had the courtesy to pass 29 minutes before my anniversary. He cut it close, but he missed.
Rest in peace, Otha Rhea Wall.
Posted by Kurt Wall at 22:15 2008-06-07 | Trackbacks (0) | Comments (0)