Home from Sacramento
Posted Sat Nov 14, 2009 in
Travel
It’s early Saturday morning. I slept well last night, but I was dead tired after a very long week that culminated in a trip to Sacramento to set on a peer-review panel for a U.S. Geological Survey project.
The week truly was a whirlwind. Most weeks I work pretty hard, trying to push project and development work forward. Some weeks,though, get crazy. I received an email Monday asking me to participate in the panel. The first meeting was Tuesday — couldn’t happen. The second was yesterday — possible, but dicey given everything else I’d promised folks. In addition, the weather was looking chancy — snow in the forecast for Wednesday/Thursday (of this week).
So, I pressed on through the week with one eye on the weather and the other on my work. Thursday morning came and it looked like the weather was going to be OK, so I emailed the contact and said I’d be there Friday morning. I got through things that needed to be done and drove home to eat a bite with Wife and grab the few things I needed.
There had been snow in the Tahoe basin and surrounding passes, but the roads were clear. Traffic wasn’t bad and I made good time. I arrived at the La Quinta on the north side of Sacramento about 1630, but because I started work so early, was pretty much done. I set up my mobile office and noticed that the charger for my iPhone battery pack and bluetooth headset did not work. So, I walked to the Office Depot next door to see if they had any micro-USB cables or chargers. No joy — or at least I didn’t find what I was looking for.
When I left the store, I noticed a Boston Market within walking distance. So, instead of getting the truck back out and hunting, I walked to the Market and ordered turkey and mashed potatoes, with a bit of corn. The food was decent — much better than fast food. I finished and walked back to the hotel. It was about 1730 and dark.
Back in my room, I puttered at the computer working on a few odds and ends. I had some work from an early conference call to review and wanted to get my thoughts straight on a proposal I’m working on. I still had some coffee in my old Stanley thermos, so I enjoyed a little coffee while puttering. Finally, exhaustion set in and I hit the rack — maybe about 2100.
Unfortunately, I woke at 0300. That was just too early to rise, but my mind was working and the thoughts were beginning to roll around. So, I did something I never do — turned on the television. There wasn’t much on, of course, but I came across the local PBS:http://www.pbs.org/ station. They featured a lecture by Wayne Dyer. I’ve seen his byline plenty of times but know nothing of him. His lecture was about “enough” or living in contentment without the pressure for “more.” He was talking about a couple of versus from the Tao and he made me think.
I’m not a Taoist, but Dyer’s talk about contentment sent me thinking about St. Paul’s writing on living in contentment and living in the moment. It’s a good thought and a good thing to practice.
I fell back asleep. This was a good thing. I woke again about 0530, got up, showered, made coffee, and sat down at the computer to work on a proposal. I talked to Wife briefly via voice and text, then packed up my gear, checked out, and had breakfast at a Denny’s that was just a couple blocks away and was located near the access to the highway.
I arrived on the Sacramento State University campus early (of course), parked the truck, paid for my parking, and walked into the meeting venue. The meeting lasted two hours, was intense, and mildly controversial. I’ll hold off comment until some time later, but I’m still not really sure why they wanted me there.
My friend David asked me to drop by to visit, so I stopped on my way to his office a Zacalo’s for a bite to eat. This is a mildly upscale CalMex restaurant. The enchiladas were good and the portion size was about right. I didn’t think I could wait until mid-afternoon to eat, so was glad to find a spot. I then drove to my friend’s office and went in. One of his engineers was also at the meeting and they were doing a post-mortem. It was fun to join in. By fun I mean the talk was intellectually stimulating.
Too soon I had to go. I always enjoy time with David — he’s a good engineer and a very clear thinker. I hope to be able to work with him again sometime.
I promised Wife to call before I lost signal in the mountains, so I stopped in Placerville to refuel and get a cup of coffee. I stopped at Mel’s Diner (the original), had a piece of apple pie (a la mode) and a cup. The coffee was good and so was the pie. I’d probably pick Mel’s for anything but breakfast (especially for the pie) and Carrow’s for breakfast (across the very-narrow street).
But, it was about 1630 and time to tuck my head and charge. One thing I’ve noticed about driving in the mountains. Drivers will run really slow through the curvy parts, but then speed up a bunch on the passing lanes — instead of letting faster traffic pass. I have to really lay on the throttle to get past the slow-movers if I want to drive my pace (which isn’t that fast; just a bit faster than the slow-movers).
There was snow on the shoulders but the road was clear. It was pretty cool on top of the hill and my sweatshirt felt really, really good. I coasted down the Nevada side and finally arrived home about 1830. I was tired. I relaxed around the house, puttering around the computer catching up on email and then went to bed.
I’m glad to be home. Mel’s was fun.
Dr. Thompson
— Bahareh 14 November 2009, 11:26 #How are you?
Sorry for absence for a long time. I came back my home town after 3 months!
Anyway, you had a busy week.
I hope you feel relaxed now.
Welcome home. I hope that you’re getting settled back in.
I’m not sure I“m ready for another week, but the week comes whether I’m ready or not, doesn’t it? ;)
— ruminator 15 November 2009, 20:22 #Thank you.
— Bahareh 15 November 2009, 23:24 #Yes week comes weather we’re ready or not…