Subject: Weekend Update: The whole of last week!
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 13:32:24 -0400

Having missed my open journal entry for last week, I'll try to provide
the Reader's Digest version of what's happening with the Metcalfe
family these days.  As some of you know, I was away much of last week
on a boondoggle to sunny and warm San Jose, California.  All of
Cadence's publication professionals gathered for a two-day conference
about what's new and exciting in the world of technical documentation.
Sounds like an oxymoron, but I don't care.

I flew out with my compatriots on Saturday morning because the airfare
was cheaper if we stayed over a weekend - enough cheaper for the
company to pay the expenses of the weekend!  After stowing our luggage
in the hotel, I took one of my writers for a tour of Fisherman's Wharf
and the Presidio.  We would have seen more but he didn't hear the
warning about buying eats down at the wharf and his clam chowder in a
sour dough bread bowl didn't seem to sit well with him; that, and jet
lag gave him the label of amateur by another fellow traveler.  While
on the wharf I saw a couple kissing (both women) and a shave-headed
guy with a gecko clinging to his scalp, and nothing about it was out
of the ordinary there.

It has been a while since this rural bumpkin has been to the city (any
city) to see so many people in one area, hawking wares or playing
music on the street corners, or shuttling their belongings about in a
shopping cart.  One person who asked me for loose change instead got
the rest of my curly fries. Later that evening, I dined with another
manager at a steak house - standard dinner fare for me on the road.

On Sunday, I met Nancy Morales at her church, the North Valley
[Southern?] Baptist Church in Santa Clara.  It is a large church with
customs that are different than mine.  Some of the four-year olds wore
suits and ties (like I did back in the early sixties when I was four)
and many of the full-length-skirted women looked Mary Kay-perfect.
Despite obvious differences of my open-necked colored shirt and
foot-long tresses down my back, I was warmly welcomed by many and I
enjoyed most everything I experienced, except mabe how the song leader
led a fast verse but would always slow down at the chorus to an
eventual crawl at the end - just a different style, that's all, but
music is such a personalized taste.  Nancy invited me back to the
house for dinner with her husband and two young men.  It was
delicious, because it was beef! :-)

After dinner, I headed back to San Francisco to rendezvous with my
cousin Kendra, who conincidentally was taking a course in San Fran.
Pretty cool to be able to link up dates like that from Massachusetts
and Oklahoma, eh?  She and her husband Dan accompanied me on a tour
that was at first similar to the one I gave Larry the day before, but
we did hit a few extra stops, like the Palace of Performing Arts -
what a structure! - The Golden Gate bridge, the Palace of Honor (I
think that's where Superman goes to work), and ended up overlooking
the Pacific Ocean at the Cliff House at sunset. (I had steak again.)
;-)

Because real men don't ask for directions and hate to backtrack, I
took them back to their hotel the long way: by getting lost.  I
figured that San Francisco was on a penninsula and I knew which way
was not to water.  It should be easy to find the water again and go
from there.  They got a real nice tour of the city, including Haight
St. and a hilltop view of the full moon rising over the city.  We
finally consulted a map and I got them back to their hotel with plenty
of time to get back to mine and start the business-end of my trip
west.

On Monday, after business, my group went out to a steak house where I
had something I'd hoped would be spaghetti but instead they brought me
angel hair pasta in garlic and something else with tomato slices in
it; and chicken.  (I ate most of it.  I'm more adventurous on the
company till, though you wouldn't guess it by the numbers of steaks I
have on the road.)

Tuesday night was a buffet (roast beef for me) and all the
publications professionals got together for a shin-dig.  I'll append a
photo that LOOKS like I am dancing with another woman, and it would be
hard to convince even me that I am not by the picture, if I didn't
know who I was.  (I'm actually delivering a box of chocolate to the
person in the photo and we are turning away from each other - but it
sure looks suspicious!)

Wednesday was the lightest of the days, needing only a few hours in
the office and the rest of the day spent in the hot tub and in the
pool at the hotel (just to say I had).  It took me a few days to get
the chlorine smell out of my skin!  I had steak that night, too. (But
I must tell you that I had all different kinds of beef in those last
four days; must have eaten a whole cow while I was in California!)

On Thursday, I was glad to be back on the Planet Pepperell where the
leaves have mostly covered our brick walkway.  I found that Emily had
joined the [powerpuff] girl's football team.  She said she was
frustrated by some of the other girls who didn't know too many of the
rules.  Emily has enjoyed football (with the family at Reed's cabin)
and with some of her teen friends.  This will be our first child in
school sports! (Hmmm...)

Joy's Tenderheart Treasure business is in its busy season - Christmas
isn't all that far away, and I know some of you just love having me
remind you.  She's been booking the parties and leaving *me* home
alone (for a change of pace).  Emily spent the weekend with a friend
in Rhode Island.  Andrew is raking in the cash and tips on his paper
route proving that people are willing to pay for good service.

I miss my college girls a bunch - I left them each voice mail on their
answering machines on Friday night.  (What did I expect?)

We topped off the weekend with dinner at Don and Rachel Silva's
home Sunday afternoon.  They said to say hi to everyone.

Today, (and this catches me up on my journal), we begin construction
of the three-season porch off the back of the kitchen and side of the
barn.  We're pretty excited to get going on this project and hope to
have most everything done by early November and all the details well
taken care of before Thanksgiving.  Then it is Christmas party
planning time!

Have a great week, folks!

Mark
--
+---_-----------+ Mark Metcalfe, metcalfe@cadence.com
| c a d e n c e | Cadence Design Systems, Inc.    Phone: (978) 446-6451
+---------------+ PCB Systems Division, Technical Communications Manager