Saw the house this morning -- it needs work, but it's going to be way cool. Huge lot, although much of it is semi-vertical. Sarah's sister recommended bamboo, and I recommended a panda to complement it. We'll see.

Then off to a wine tasting, sitting in the sun eating cheese and drinking wine. Yummy. Then off to a Mexican restaurant overlooking the water, where we had chips and salsa and margaritas. Then home for a nap. Then a barbecue at Sarah's sister's place. Crude, rude and socially unacceptable. I had a blast.

Curse those early morning flights! I don't want to go home! (Especially not when it involves getting to the airport by 6 a.m.)

Jane can't find the cord for the AeroBed. She's trying to blow it up with lung power. I told her I'd sleep on the couch. She's dong it anyway.

Jane is odd.

Ah, sweet net access. I have missed you.

I'm at Jane's, and one of the first things she said was "You have to update your blog. Yes, yes I do. But I could never get NetZero to work from my hotel room, and I didn't want to pay for it at the business center again. Sigh.

I did, however, manage to check a couple of blogs yesterday from the exhibit floor, when i snuck in between sessions. Thank you, Career Builder.

San Francisco was sunny and gorgeous the entire time i was there (I'm in Alameda now), and I loved it. I spent the morning at conference sessions, then lounged around all afternoon in Yerba Beuna Gardens, right by my hotel. Also, Thursday night the conference had a private party at the Exploratorium, a hands-on science and nature museum. I wanted a small child, just because I had so much fun playing with all the exhibits and I already knew what was supposed to happen. I could just imagine seeing them with someone who would have been surprised.

Jane, Sarah and I went out to dinner at a little place in -- Oakland? I have no idea where we were -- which was cool. Sarah tortured me by confusing Denmark and The Netherlands, which pains me. I think she was doing it on purpose.

Tomorrow I get to see the house! Joy! And I don't have to sit in a conference session! Double joy!

The conference was good, and very useful, and I got a ton of ideas, but I don't need to sit in conference rooms any more, thank you very much.

Wedny, are you enjoying my apartment's aircon? Are the cats letting you sleep?

Quick update:

San Francisco: Gorgeous.
Hills: You call things with a 50- to 60-degree angle hills? Oy.
Afternoon walk up said hills: Gorgeous. And it kicked my ass.
State of thighs, butt and calves after said walk: Did I mention oy?
Meteron movie theater right near my hotel: Expensive, but way cool. It has a huge inflatable Spiderman hanging off the side of it.
Conference: Variable
Opening session: Cute British guy, telling us that everything we did was wrong. With hat accent. I loved it.
Following session: I never need hear anything about the difference between Boomers and Gen-Xers again.
Boomers: Yeah, yeah, you did some good, but you personally did not single-handedly change the fricking world. Get over yourself
Schmoozing cocktail parties: Yipe. I suck at those.
Today thus far: 7 a.m. sessions are cruel and unusual. Jerry Yang of Yahoo might actually be kind of cute. I also may be suffereing from getting up for that damn 7 a.m. session.
Coincidence due jour (actually du yesterday): I ran into Maureen Boyle, formerly of my company, outside the Ritz Cartlon as I was coming down from Nob Hill last night. She still works in Chicago, but was here on business. Weird.

Hi, Elaine. I know I'm on your turf, but I don't think I can get up to Santa Rosa. Curses! Foiled again!

I made it to San Francisco, despite having to borrow a suitcase off Angie and pack at the absolute last minute (Thanks, Ang!) My hotel is cool but authentic Victorian, in that the rooms are really small. I lived in Hong Kong, it's not too much of a trauma to me, but I can see how others might be taken aback. Interestingly, they seem to be pitching themselves at musicians -- the art of the walls in the rooms is abstract line drawings of microphones and such, and they have some sort of deal or alliance or something with a recording studio. Odd. But it's a cool place, and right of market street, and directly across from where my conference will be, which is good because I'm going to be attending some 7 a.m. sessions. Oy.

Business meetings were ok -- one site visit went well, the other... less well. These things happen.

San Francisco is gorgeous, as always. I met Ariel and Dave for dinner last night. We had cheap Indian food, then went for dessert at the top of the Grand Hyatt, which has amazing views out over the bay. So I got to eat Creme Brulee and watch the sun set over the hills across the by. Amazing.

I'm down the street from a huge movie theater, so I may finally go see A Beautiful Mind at some point. Plus, there's a "Where the Wild Things Are" store and play area for kids. Dude. It makes me wish I had access to small children. Except not in the obscene way that that sounds. Ew.

Wendy says the cats are lonely, but she has selflessly consented to watch my cable and eat my frozen pizza and keep them company. Yay, Wendy!

Traffic in the he Bay Area sucks. Just so you know. I've been traipsing around San Mateo and Santa Clara, and there is a certain amount of sitting around waiting for the cars to move. I return the car to the rental place tonight, as for the next three days I'll just be schlepping across the street, and I hardly need a car for that.

Then I get to play with Jane and Sarah. Huzzah!

By the way: I could live here. Except for the earthquakes. Sigh.

Oh, and Lotti, if you're reading this, I left your mom's number at home. Doh! Care to e-mail it to me?

When we got robbed, Paul from work warned me that I'd keep discovering things that were missing. As it's been four months, I figured I would have discovered everything by now.

Wrong.

I'm flying to San Francisco today for a work trip. I'll be there for a week.

They stole my goddamn suitcase. My perfect rolling fits-in-the-overhead-compartment suitcase.

Grrrrr.