John got back from a photo workshop in Alaska last Thursday. He was there to photograph bald eagles, but the cold weather with snow and ice and snow made it quite challenging. Despite the difficult conditions, he captured some stunning shots of the majestic birds in their natural habitat. The workshop was led by Aaron Baggenstos, a renowned wildlife photographer who shared his expertise and techniques with the group.
While the tour was focused on bald eagles, one of the most memorable shots was with the sea otters, who had come out of the water to rest and feed the young ones.
As the workshop was winding down, John was part of a small group that set out to find the great grey owl, but after a day and a half, it remained hidden.
Despite the cold and challenging conditions, it was a great experience. John came home with great shots, new skills, and a continued appreciation of the Alaskan wilderness.
For Valentine’s, Olivia and John went to a Sting concert at the San Francisco Symphony. It was a great evening at an intimate venue allowing Sting to be a little closer to his audience. He had good stories to tell about the origin of and meaning behind some of his iconic songs. The symphony orchestra added a beautiful and unique element to the concert, creating a nice blend of classical and contemporary music.
John had an opportunity to walk through the condo in Hawai’i. The floors have been ripped out due to water damage, and contractors are installing new flooring throughout. Once the first wooded boards were lifted, it was clear just how many termites were having a party underneath. Anyway, the project is progressing and we’re excited to see what it will look like, once done.
The house was pressure washed recently as dust from the city’s water tank project had added a brown tint to both house and patio. Probably not the last time, and they’re just started to build the roof of the tank and add the outside cable. They (still) expect the tanks to be done in March of ’24, but that is course dependent of the amount of rain we’ll see over the coming months.
John, Eli and Andy went to see the Blue Angels during Fleet Week. Fastly had once again chartered a boat to take staff + family out. Being on the bay offers a nice and different viewpoint, but sadly we were forbidden to go where we camped out in ’19. It seems that area is now prohibited – maybe because it’s directly under the flight path. Anyway, Great to see colleagues and their families in a different and relaxed setting.
Duke is Duke… He’s still Olivia’s shadow and follows her everywhere she goes. And when she’s not around, he tries to sleep through the misery. Still chasing squirrels in our backyard, but with the inability to climb trees, it’s unfair odds from the get go.
Adriana has picked up cheer again and somehow manages to take care of that in addition to two jobs – at Dizzy Lizzy’s and at the gift shop at Mills-Peninsula. Of course, she’s also very busy with High School including the extra activities she’s signed up for.
Everybody made it back safe from their travels, and it was quickly back to reality for most. That includes Duke, who had to give up his roasted chicken diet in lieu of the raw food his mommy seems to prefer feeding him.
For the last few days, John’s been off on one of his whirlwind trips to Denmark. Mostly to pick up a long-sought-after lens. He had been on a waitlist for this particular lens model for two years before getting kicked off, citing unavailability and uncertainty. The lens was, however, in stock at a dealer in Copenhagen, and by saving the VAT, he even saved a few dollars.
It was also a welcome chance to see his mom and later catch up with an old friend. As it happened, Eli’s Danish citizenship papers came through and were waiting in Copenhagen, so those were also picked up. Great to have that behind us, and Eli is a Danish citizen for the rest of her life.
The return was through Paris, where John was lucky to see the final stage of the Tour de France. With a Dane winning for the second year in a row, it’s extra special, although it doesn’t quite hit last year’s highs with the tour starting in Denmark and an unexpected win over Pogacar. Overall, it brought back memories of a 1996 trip to Paris to celebrate another Dane winning “the tour” (Bjarne Riis). Back then, John was joined by two friends – Hans and Lars – and his dad. Fun memories all around, even though we never really got to see much of the fast-moving riders
It’s been a while since we last checked in. Since we last wrote, Olivia and her family sailed from Barcelona to Lisbon. Some arrived in Barcelona early, others departed Lisbon late. Most were back in California by July 5th.
At home, John and Duke enjoyed each other’s company. So much so that John was later accused of making Duke chunky, having put him back on his previous diet consisting mostly of rotisserie chicken. Anyway… lots of walking, lots of visits to the beach, and the bay, where Duke managed to find a leopard shark, correction, a dead leopard shark on one of their walks.
These little vacation pockets with very few people in the house are a good opportunity to catch up on the smaller-and-smaller list of things we need to take care of, and Manuel and his crew were here for a week treating all the outside woodwork. The outside looks so much better and should be OK for at least five years.
Eli went to Italy to visit a friend while the rest of the family was in Spain. She had a great time on the coast (La Spezia) and even made it out on the water in a family-owned boat. She was lucky to see one of her cousins in Copenhagen during a layover on the way back.
We continue to have construction in our backyard, and the dust from digging and the winds have been rather significant. The dust is everywhere – on the side of the house, on the cars, on the pool cover, and more. We have written the city, asking them to pay for at least one cleaning a quarter. Let’s see – we don’t have a great track record with them, although they have decided to take another look at our claim from the fallen tree. Their insurance company is still recommending that they deny our claim, so we don’t have high hopes for a positive outcome. For us, anyway.
On Friday, John and Olivia went to Hawaii for the weekend. While it was partly to relax and enjoy the island, two other action items were on the agenda. One was to inspect the condo for water damage from a recent storm. The other reason we will get to a little later.
It was great to be back on the island of Oahu and visit the local restaurants – some new, some old. The weather is typically very nice and comfortable in June, which was also the case this time. John still managed to catch a cold lingering by the time this is published.
Adriana wrapped the school year at the end of last week. She’s busy with Cheer, art projects, and working above the local hospital and Dizzy Lizzy’s Baked Goods. Up next is Pia…
Our garden is looking great. John and Olivia went to find some pincushions at a very nice nursery in Berkeley. They only bloom once a year, and we might have missed it this time, but hopefully, they will look great next spring.
As mentioned above, there was one more reason that John and Olivia went to Hawaii. The flight from San Francisco to Honolulu brought John past 3,000,000 flown miles with United Airlines. That’s a lot of flying, and it was a bit anti-climactic to receive a pen at the gate together with a thank you. Anyway, it’s done, and it remains to be seen if John will ever board a flight again 😉
On May 2nd, Olivia and John went through a Warriors game at the Chase Center in San Francisco. It was the first game in the playoff series and, sadly, a prediction of things to come. The Warriors lost. Not by much, but still. It was fun to be in a sporting event at the arena. Olivia and John had only been there for concerts before.
Later that week, John went to Denmark with Chris, a good friend, and former Akamai colleague. John arrived Thursday morning, immediately visited his mom, and later had dinner with Gurli in Central Copenhagen.
Chris arrived Friday morning, and after he had some breakfast and a shower, they went to central Copenhagen to walk around. Later that afternoon, they booked an architectural bike tour of the city and had four great hours with a local architect who showed both old and new architecture.
The main reason for visiting Denmark this time was the Mikkeler Copenhagen Beer Celebration event at Øksnehallen. It’s a two-day-long affair split up into four segments. For John and Chris, the fun started at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. After paying a hefty entrance fee, you could walk around for four hours and taste beer from all over the world. Unfortunately, there were many rumors that this year’s event would be the last. However, it’s part of a ten-day beer week in Copenhagen, and if it survives, it’s definitely worth a visit.
The Sunday was spent on a couple of rented bicycles, riding through much of Copenhagen and the surrounding areas. Weatherwise, the wind had finally died down, and it’s such a fun and safe way of getting around. The bike rental itself was a challenging experience, and threatened to put a kibosh on the whole thing, but it all worked out in the end.
The pool is still giving us trouble and driving us nuts. The latest is that the motherboard controlling the heater and pumps is faulty and needs to be replaced, luckily under warranty. Hopefully, that will cover the remaining issues and set us up for a fun summer. Sadly, we had another downed tree from what looks to be damage from the larger tree that fell in February. That case has still not been closed. The city is taking its sweet old time processing the claim. On a brighter note, we got the Pergola installed. We moved all our garden furniture under it, making it a nice place to sit when the sun is out.
This past Thursday brought a welcome reunion with many of John’s former Akamai colleagues. The San Francisco office on Market Street is shutting down, and everybody was invited for a last farewell. John has many fond memories from that office, and it was great to see people who he had interacted with daily. Earlier in the week, Fastly organized an evening at the AT&T ballpark. John took his cousin Nick to see the Giants beat the Phillies. Cold as always, but still a good time.
On March 25, John and Olivia were lucky to see Adele perform on the last evening of her “Weekend with Adele” show in Las Vegas. It was great, well-planned, and almost exclusively built around her well-known songs. She seemed to master the stage quite well, so it was hard to follow her when discussing her stage fright and anxiety. Nevertheless, it was great to experience Adele live, and it was great to get away for 36 hours.
Weather-wise, it seems that the storms are over. So we took full advantage and (finally) got the gazebo/pergola installed at the pool’s far end. John lost unreasonable hair trying to understand the assembly instruction that combined English and Italian fairly randomly. But eventually, it was all put together, and we are delighted with how it ties the far end together. We also fixed the remaining items from the fallen tree and even cleaned the area behind the fence. We submitted the paperwork today and hope the City of Hillsborough will cover our expenses.
The pool is in great shape. However, we are looking forward to adding salt, which can older happen when the water is a bit warmer. The water is clear, and the hot tub is heating relatively fast now that the start temperature is above 40.
John spent most of the week in Las Vegas at the National Association for Broadcasters trade show – a.k.a. “the NAB show”. There were 65,000 attendees – slightly more than half of what was there before COVID. It was great to see customers and existing and former colleagues.
Adriana turned 16 on Wednesday. She celebrated during the weekend, although one of her events got rained out for the third time in a row. They left Friday afternoon all packed and ready for a weekend in Carmel, but the power went out, and they decided to come back to celebrate at home instead. They made the best of it, and 12 of us celebrated her at Left Bank in Menlo Park on the day itself.
Although there were several great gifts, the best one was that she passed her driving test Thursday morning. Although it comes with initial nervousness – especially on Olivia’s part – it’ll help all around and bring an extra bit of freedom.
The weather at home continues to be challenging. We have had powerful winds, and cleaning leaves and removing branches seem almost pointless. The winds were very powerful throughout the Bay Area on Tuesday, and like many other people, we lost power early in the day. As the night came, more than 300,000 people were without power, primarily due to downed power lines. Finally, we got the power – and heat back – after 36 hours. Unfortunately, many had to wait longer.
Last weekend John and Olivia went to pick up a new car for Adriana. Olivia kept it hidden for a few days, but it was too much of a secret once Wednesday came around and sat in the garage when Adriana came home from school in the afternoon. Like with her sisters, this will undoubtedly free up Olivia’s time, and Adriana is already a self-proclaimed “great driver.”
John spent the weekend in Denmark while chasing that 3MM award with United. He spent time with his mom and saw great friends on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, Denmark had some of the worst winds in six years while he was there, and it was sometimes hard to walk outside when not protected by buildings. Still very cold there, but lovely to be out after 15+ hours on planes.
The winds have also been strong at home. We cleaned the yard more than once and are still looking for an excellent leaf vacuum for all the oak leaves that lands on the turf. Unfortunately, the pool sage continued, and we had to write a stern letter to get the acid wash of the plaster scheduled. We will have an update next time. The hot tub is also giving us trouble, and we can’t wait to get is all fixed. The pool cover is also acting up. “Aicham!” to quote Mr. Kim from Kim’s Convenience.
Summer vacation is slowly coming to an end, and Adriana has been busy wrapping up the last two summer camps: cake baking, and tennis. She enjoyed both – especially tennis, where the got to play with the daughter of our former neighbors. Now it’s time to start thinking about all the summer homework assignments incl. the dreaded book report.
Bella spent the week in Honolulu together with Andrew. She’s not back at Santa Clara college until mid-September. Pia, on the other hand, was first back. She moved up to Varsity cheerleading and lost her captain position – at least for this year. Not sure she’s missing it.
As a Christmas present, Ella got a ticket for an outdoor music festival called Outside Lands. This year was their 10th anniversary. Seems to be a bit of an older crowd, so among the list are many “mature” bands. Still, good times and transportation luckily never got to be an issue. The week before, she spent the week in New York and on Long Island seeing two of her friends from school.
Olivia, John, and Adriana hosted the McGregors at Casa Bellamia in Carmel Valley. They are a British couple with three children that used to live in Burlingame. They were fellow St. Catherine’s parents, and it was good to catch up after they moved back to the UK in 2014. As usual, the kids spent almost the entire day in the pool and had no trouble falling asleep.
Before leaving for Carmel, Adriana, Pia, Olivia and John celebrated Penny’s 75th birthday together with Adrian – and Penny, of course – at John Bentley in Menlo Park. It continues to be one of our favorite places to go to dinner.
