-
I’ll Difference Your Engine
Appropriately, the world’s largest computer history is here in Silicon Valley, in Mountain View to be exact, pretty much across the street from the Google campus. Nick and I paid it a visit and to be honest, while I was expecting to be kind of bored (I’m a geek, but I’m not THAT geeky) I very much enjoyed our visit, ESPECIALLY: The Babbage Difference Engine – Holy Cow. Let me tell you about the Babbage Difference Engine. The Babbage Difference Engine is first of all very fun to say. Second of all, it is a machine that was designed in 1822 – yes 1822 – and weighs 5 tons, and is…
-
Drought
While everyone back home is dealing with ice and snow, we’ve been lucky to have absolutely beautiful sunny and warm weather here in California (sorry for swears). However, it’s not all fun and games, since California is having this beautiful weather as the result of a terrible drought. We haven’t had rain since July, and before that we hadn’t had any since January of last year. Even our cacti are dying (really – here’s a picture of the one beside our house): The National Weather Service put together this graph showing typical rain levels in California, which illustrates how bad it actually is: The scientific reason behind the drought is…
-
Angel Island Hike
Angel Island is a small island in San Francisco Bay (Wikipedia article) with beautiful views and a ton of history. [googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?q=angel+island&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Angel+Island&t=m&ll=37.86076,-122.432327&spn=0.260213,0.439453&z=11&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=640&h=480] A couple of weeks ago, Nick and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather we’ve been having in the Bay Area and go for a long hike on Angel Island. You can get there on a ferry from Tiburon or San Francisco for about $13 a person. We opted for Tiburon as we thought the parking would be cheaper and more plentiful. Knowing that the weather around SF can be a little unpredictable, especially on an island, we brought toques (known as “beanies” here in the…
-
FOOD TRUCKS!! :-9
I know unique food trucks have become more common in Ottawa since we left, but in 2012 it seemed all you could find at a food truck in Ottawa was poutine, fries, hot dogs, etc – the usual fare (not that there’s anything wrong with that – I miss chip truck poutine more than I’d care to admit). So, when Nick and I discovered Moveable Feast here in San Jose we were over the moon. Moveable Feast is a gathering of local food trucks every Friday in a big parking lot about a ten minute drive away from us. There are usually at least 10-15 trucks, more in the summer,…
-
Home for the holidays
The Wrights returned to California yesterday after ten days in Ottawa, hanging with family for Christmas. We had a wonderful time. It felt so good to spend time with our families, reconnecting since the last time we’d seen them in July, enjoying lots of yummy food and many a tasty beverage, and it was even a pleasure to see all the snow. We had a few travel adventures this year. We opted not to rent a car, since last year we rented one, it cost us $600, and it mostly sat in the garage. Instead, we took the train (and one Greyhound bus) everywhere. The train tickets cost $440, but we…
-
Whale watching in Monterey (lots of pictures!)
A few weeks ago, I read this NY Times article on the amazing whale-watching in Monterey right now. A huge number of anchovies have been hanging around in Monterey Bay, providing a feast for all kinds of wildlife, including humpback whales. While Monterey Bay always has great whale-watching (something I didn’t know until reading the article), this year’s has been particularly spectacular, so Nick and I booked tickets to go yesterday. Monterey is only about a 75 minute drive from us so it was just a no brainer. Whales are wild animals and so of course there’s never a guarantee that you’ll see any, but we weren’t disappointed on our…
-
Some recent hikes
Since moving to California, Nick and I have instituted a policy of doing something active every weekend. The weather is so gorgeous and there are so many hikes and bike rides around here that there’s no reason for us to not get outside and enjoy it. I also really value the time spent with him when I am not worrying about what needs to get done around the house or what’s on my to-do list or what will be waiting for me at work on Monday. It’s just us, and nature, and usually no cell phone service, and great conversations to go along with the beautiful views. Nick also goes…
-
Of Sports, Halloween, Brunch Spots, and Self-Driving Cars
Brunch with family: Two of Nick’s family members were in town last weekend, so of course we met up with them. We went for brunch at the Naglee Park Garage, which is an amazing spot with a unique, cozy atmosphere about a mile away from our house. Nick and I had been there for dinner a few times, and the food was always fantastic, and sure enough brunch didn’t disappoint. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3bk2Mhc8cE&w=420&h=315] Football: Nick and I and two of our friends went to see a SJSU football game last weekend! It was pretty fun – SJSU came from behind to win against the Wyoming Cowboys, and since it was the homecoming game,…
-
Kaboom! Building a Playground in under 6 hours
Kaboom! is a national non-profit whose goal is to provide a safe place to play for every child in America. For the last few years, Adobe has been partnering with Kaboom! to help build playgrounds in the Bay Area. And on Thursday, I was privileged enough to be one of the volunteers helping to build a playground at Cesar Chavez school! Cesar Chavez school creed: I believe in myself and my ability. I will do my best today. For this day will not come again. I will listen. I will think. I will be me and act respectfully. I will read. I will write. I will take another step towards my…
-
Giving Thanks
Today is our second Thanksgiving away from Canada. Last year we had only been living here for six weeks and we just had a quiet roasted chicken dinner. This year, we offered to host a dinner for some of our Canadian friends living here in the Bay Area, and it was a blast!! We had 11 people share their evening with us (including four very well-behaved guests under the age of 11) and we ourselves had a great time hosting. I especially had fun cooking up a storm – my first time making a whole roasted turkey! Everything was delicious and I am posting the recipes I used so that…