The Western States 100

This weekend was the Western States 100 mile trail run - the premier ultra run in this part of the world. Unlike last year when it was very hot indeed, this year's conditions were close to perfect (20 degrees cooler I bet). A couple of friends were running this year - Leslie and her boyfriend Grant - so a few of us went up to the finish in Auburn to see them come in. It was Leslie's first time for the race and she seems to have run a smart race, coming in comfortably inside her 30 hour goal and looking strong at the finish.

As she crossed the finish line, they announced that Grant had proposed to her at the start and that from all accounts she had accepted his offer (we didn't know that this was going to happen). How romantic is that? Never mind the fact that Leslie was getting a bit emotional and crying during the night (running that distance can be emotional), that Grant was throwing up and unable to keep any food down in the latter stages, and that Leslie left Grant behind somewhere in the last 20 miles, they both survived and as far as we know the proposal and acceptance still stands.

Anyway, congratulations to all the finishers of this epic race, and a very special congratulations to Leslie and Grant.

Leslie - in the middle

Grant - on the left

I am writing this in Denver airport (I am stranded here on my way to Oklahoma City) having on my way here sat next to one of the cameramen who were filming the race for a documentary. Apparently he has a particular knack for running while holding a camera and filming the action going on behind him, while not bouncing around too much and at the same time looking where he is going himself. A rare skill I am sure.

The film crew were featuring various runners along the route and following them through the 100 miles of canyons capturing the agonies and ecstasies along the way. Apparently one of the featured runners was a stripper from Los Angeles. Not sure why, but that seems an unusual combination - you don't get many exotic dancers in the ultra running world.

Fleetwood Mac - it's come to this....

I was more than a little dismayed when I visited Costco this evening (for those in the UK Costco is one of those membership warehouse stores – perhaps you may even have Costcos in the UK by now). Anyway, I went in the store this evening to be greeted by a sign announcing Mick Fleetwood, of Fleetwood Mac fame, was going to be there on Friday afternoon. Not playing music (that would be a strange venue indeed) but signing wine bottles; a wine signing they called it. First I didn’t realize there was such a thing as a wine signing, but I was kind of disappointed that one of the icons of the 60’s music scene was doing this.

In checking his website this evening, I find that he is a big wine “connoisseur” (he had a reputation as a drinker in the early days too) and that he is doing a tour of Costcos signing wine bottles.

I know that after their early days with Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac were never quite the same and they got a bit too “poppy” for my liking but isn’t he getting enough royalties from the records? I hear them all the time on the radio.


I have fond memories of their 1968 Album – Mr Wonderful – the cover above, I believe was Mr. Fleetwood himself.

The Florida Keys

I stayed over in Florida this last weekend and took a drive down to the Florida Keys. I had always been intrigued by this thin strip of land extending from the bottom end of Florida and thought it would be a good idea to take a look. I think perhaps part of my interest was fueled by such films as Key Largo and by reading Hemingway when I was young, but alas I was a little disappointed. Of course, I knew I wasn’t going to find old run down hotels with Lauren Bacall running the front desk, but I did hope for something more inspiring than what I found which was nothing to inspire me.

I expected something more remote, less populated, less developed, but instead there was no such thing. There was development all the way down and it was mostly tacky development. As is the way these days, the area is catering to the tourists, and I think in Florida, the tourist appears to be the younger tourist (its party land for students – oh I must be getting so old now). Anyway, alas for me it was a series of tacky motels, bars and mediocre restaurants.

On the positive side there are some nice older parts of Key West – it must have been quite an interesting place in its day and the ocean always looked inviting and beautiful. Of course, the one thing that I didn’t take time to explore, which is a big part of the area, was the beaches and the diving and all that water related stuff (ok so that’s a huge part of what the Keys are about).

I did stay in Key Largo for the night in an overpriced run down old motel. But the place where they filmed bits of Key Largo is just a bar – a very tourist bar – and apparently most of the film was filmed over in Hollywood. Another strange link that Key Largo has with the movie industry and Humphrey Bogart is that it is the resting place of the African Queen. How it ended up there (in a marina across the street from the Key Largo bar) I don’t know but there it is in a marina – apparently it still works sometimes.

As far as you can go without a boat....


And the number one reason to avoid Florida.....

Space Shuttle Launch

This evening I drove from Orlando over to the coast to watch the space shuttle launch. The closest place outside of restricted NASA property is a town called Titusville. Just south of Titusville is the Astronaut Hall of Fame where there is a viewing area (actually just a lawn at the back of their space museum but they charge you $17 to sit on it and it was full).

I guess I got there about 6:00 pm which gave me a 90 minute wait for the launch. The wait wasn't too bad - lots of people, lots of kids, lots of talk about delays, and the usual heat and humidity, but things got off on time and it was well worth the wait - very spectacular indeed. We were quite some way away from the launch pad, so the initial views were silent and then this wave of sound rolled over us as the shuttle crept up into the sky leaving this great plume behind it.



I don't know how long it took to disappear from sight - maybe a minute, certainly not more than 2 minutes, and then we all applauded and went home. Definitely well worth it - a spectacular sight - truly awesome as we say these days.

Life at Tech Ed, Orlando

I am almost through with my week at Tech Ed in Florida. It has been a great conference, lots of good stuff coming down the pike from Microsoft – each with its own cute project name - Silverlight, Orcas, Cider, Acropolis, Katmai to name but a few. They probably have fun deciding on those project names.

As for Orlando, I still can’t say that I am a fan. I have hardly been outside for the entire week. It’s just not nice out there in that “not so-fresh’ air.

Last night (Thursday), Microsoft rented out one of the local theme parks for use the of conference attendees – Universal’s Islands of Adventure. The deal was that we all got the run of the place for the evening with all the food and drink that we could handle thrown in – that could be the makings of a good party. But actually not – it rained just as we got there and when it rains here it ‘really’ rains here. The park was well equipped though handing out ponchos to everyone. Still there were thousands of software developers wandering around like drowned rats eating and drinking way too much.

But even without the bad weather, I don’t think I would have been raving about it. I just don’t get this theme park thing – yes its great for kids, but why would an adult do it and why would an adult do it in a hot steamy place like Orlando.

However, the shuttle launch is still on. That is 80% for go at 7:40 this evening.

Florida, Tech Ed 2007 and maybe a Shuttle Launch

So here I am over in Florida for Microsoft’s Tech Ed Conference. The conference, Microsoft’s annual tech fest, is in Orlando, at the Orange County Convention Center – a monstrous place so big that with 12,000 computer geeks wandering around it barely seems crowded.

Florida is not one of my favorite places. Or should I say Orlando is not one of my favorite places as I have not yet visited any other parts of Florida, I hope to do that at the weekend. Orlando seems to have little going for it other than a lot if mega-amusement parks – something I can live without. And it’s oh so sticky and humid at this time of year.

So what to do in Florida is the question. Since I am over here, I decided to stay over the weekend and take a look around. I figure a drive down the Florida Keys to Key West will be the thing to do. It looks so impressive on the map – a long thin string of islands connected by bridges to the very tip of America. It’s something worth doing before global warming submerges it and takes it away from us. Of course the other thing I thought of was the Kennedy Space Center and to my surprise, there is a Shuttle launch scheduled for Friday evening. How convenient is that –the conference finishes Friday afternoon, and then at 7:30 there is a Shuttle Launch. The odds are not great as they frequently run into delays, but if all goes well I will be out there on Cocoa Beach watching the lift off.

The Whales are on their way - again...

For those of you over in the UK who have been asking, the two whales that visited Sacramento the other week are, as far as we know, out in the ocean and on their way north. They were in San Francisco Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday and then they were gone and the assumption is that they are out at sea. So a happy ending to this story, for now at least (who knows how weakened they were to spend that much time in fresh water).

It was interesting that all attempts to coax them along seemed to be to no avail. They moved when they wanted to and they didn't pay much notice to the banging of pipes, spraying of water, piped in sounds of killer whales or anything else we foisted on them.

Not quite qualified to live in England

My friend Janet recently wrote about the process she, as an American, has to go through to continue to live in the UK. Apparently having an English husband isn't quite enough these days and she has to take the "Life in the UK Test".

So I thought I would give it a try to see if I could pass the test - regretfully I failed. Well not quite failed, I just got the indication that I would probably fail if I took the test right now and I should study before the exam.


Oh dear, what a shwme and I aced the U.S. Citizenship test. However, the U.S. questions, as you would expect (wouldn't you?), were somewhat less challenging.

The questions I got for US Citizenship were:
1. Who lives in the White House? They were looking for the President, not necessarily the name of the President.
2. Who would become President if the President dies? Again they were looking for Vice President only. Of course now, if they asked the question and you had to answer Dick Cheney everyone would reconsider and leave the building.
3. What was the 49th State of the Union? - it could only be Alaska or Hawaii, and I guessed right - Alaska.

It was interesting the questions asked. In the US Citizenship test it is almost all historical stuff or government stucture whereas the questions on the sampling I did were mostly related to benefits for health and dental care. And for some reason there were a lot of options about Scotland - seems like that is another country now (and one with better benefits as well).