Cal I for NI A

Gnarly

Frederic Larson at Half Moon Bay, 45 minutes south of San Francisco on HW 1 (The Great HW). Photograph courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle.

I arrive SFO Thursday in time for dinner in Berkeley with my parents and Katie, who is speaking at a conference for women bloggers. She stays in the St Francis, Union Square, where her gathering takes place. 

Meanwhile, I am with Industry Ventures yesterday then join Christian for dinner at our usual favorite Delfino's where we have a five course meal and about everything on the menu. From there we watch episodes of The Office (American version) and Steve Carroll hilarious (jet lag, Dear Brother). Usually we make a late-night donut run at the 24 hour bakery then hit Barnes And Noble for CDs or DVDs but tonight it's a pass. 

Christian BTW is free from his high flying career which required him to rise at 3:45AM for the NY equity call shortly before the markets opened. He now has a couple years to catch up his sleep. California is in a major drought - the worst in 30 years - which brings back memories of '73 when Moe rationed water allowing two inches bath water then used for toilet flushes (remember that Moe?). We sure learned how to conserve, oh boy. 

Northern California forest fires have smoked out even the Bay Area but not since I've been here. Meanwhile back in London: Sonnet prepares for her long flight tomorrow spending today packing, having her hair done etc. 

Eitan attends a six-hour football party and so on cloud-nine while Aggie takes Madeleine for a girls afternoon including the Kung Fu Panda at the movies. Everybody excited including my mother who hits Mr Mopps to buy toys, books and DVDs. Mopps has been in Berkeley since '73 and so an institution - all the kids at King Jr High shop-lifted and the poor owner put a sign up "One Teenager At A Time." Mopps is on Martin Luther King Road, which for us is Grove Street renamed.