latin american food in SD!

... socializing with my new found freedom (after finishing 'the' report) - on saturday i had din w/a friend, andy, who just started his consulting practice (energy/engineering) here in SD. i met his girlfriend, gina. great time, great people. (if i could only remember a great quote that gina said!!!) so i got lucky that they both like to try different types of foods.


latin american restaurant options in SD are not totally plentiful (at least compared to the bazillion italian restaurants in SD), but i'm fortunate to be near a couple places - and one in particular - Berta's in Old Town. Berta's is a bit off the beaten path, unless you frequent Rockin' Baja Lobster, which is right next to Berta's. check out Berta's menu!

there are other restaurants i've tried to coerce folks to chat&chow here in SD - Puerto La Boca in Little Italy and Pampas in the Kearny Mesa-ish area.

latin american food in BA?

a l'il politics in SD ... Duke

... the Duke! (that would be randy "duke" cunningham, now a former congressman down here) those of you not living in SD have asked about the political humor reference/comparison over there on the left. (where have you been!?)

(click on the image to the left)

worth the read. if you are in SD, you've likely heard & read about the Duke saga. wherever you are, if you haven't heard about Duke ... it's worth the read. it's an extraordinary situation. in short, he resigned and accepted bribes (not quite in that order). but the longer version is totally worth the read.

not about politics. i don't intend to start discussing politics here (better to discuss at coffee talk), however, i appreciate tidbit quotes and the like. so just a couple of my favs ...

in the prosecution's sentencing memo
(note: this is a .pdf download also on the read) ...
CONTEXT (page 16): Duke purchases 42-ft "Buoy Toy" yacht. Boat was owned by gay couple. After purchase, changed name to "Duke-Stir".
QUOTE (line 15): from the Duke - "I bought the boat, not the lifestyle."
(this is part of the section -"miscellaneous bribes" - that starts on page 12)

in a psychiatric evaluation
(note: this is a .pdf download also on the read) ...
CONTEXT (page 1): Duke's attorney asked to have a psych eval that lasted 5-1/2 hrs + review of his medical records.
QUOTE (page 7): psych doc's opinion that Duke suffers from an "outsized sense of ego and a mantel of invulnerability." and if you read on through page 8, the doc explains from where Duke's actions evolved.

o.k. - there are more i can pick out, but you can find your own fav Duke-related quote(s). enjoy.

golfing in SD? totally ...

visor and white polo - spotted at riverwalk golf course in mission valley (san diego) ... on yet another great SD weather day. and if you didn't know, SD has a bunch o' golf courses.

i don't play (yet), but i'll meet up w/colleagues (like these dudes - john & dennis) AFTER (vs. sneaking on to the green before) they finish a round. (good to see the r|wear in play.)

r|wear: in sacramento

... our beanie has made it up to cali's capitol and the thankful recipient said -

Thanks for the awesome shirt and wool cap -- very nice!!! They're so nice I'm gonna have to declare these on my economic interests form next year! The wool cap will come in handy too when I finally start my bank robbery scheme. The cops will think R|Cat is some kind of new local gang. I'm going to wear them next week.

well ... you are totally welcome, sacto floyd! (oops ... did i type that?)

R|ReLo #6: more on why i'm relocating ...

... just to get you up-to-date - my first R|ReLo post started this topic and i have posted a response to a self-imposed question ... as well to some other answers to some questions i've been asked ...

AND my answer to the most often posed question, which involves a small saga that has evolved over the past several days with the tenant.

(word for the week - summons)

anyway, enough about drama ...over there (to the left) are a few reasons for my move up north.

• if you have other questions, just let me know (post a comment!) ... and
• if you have reasons to add, let me know.

by the way, if you have reasons why i should stay, that's fine also ... but i'm moving up ... really ... i am.


(thanks again to tanya for pulling this awesome postcard we sent out over holiday!)

bistro in BA? ... SD din after report - yum!

i celebrated my now-what-do-i-do-with-myself (lost-feeling) by going to cafe chloe at 9th & g downtown. my first time - and not my last. this was a great recommendation during a side trip to influx this evening.

juan, taylor, moi

one of the highlights of the evening was meeting and talking with this gentleman, juan, who has been in san diego since 09/22/05 and is traveling back to madrid on monday. prior to this, he has lived in nyc, taught at a city college in new york, etc. ... i'll just stop here and say that taylor & i double-backed to cafe chloe to finish an earlier conversation with juan. well worth passing up extraordinary desserts this evening (which really means the conversation was fab!). great espresso! tasty bittersweet chocolate pot de creme ... and did i mention great conversation!?

bistro, anyone?

R|ReLo #5: tenant status

if you haven't kept up, here is the quick version - tenant did not vacate when required to do so (02/11), tenant did not vacate when he gave an alternate date (02/18), and tenant is STILL there.

"there" is "here"...

... and "here" is where the tenant
needs not to be,
so we (the royal we)
are working on that.

(meanwhile, i did finish the report today.)

today's advice from pjb...

... possibly inspired by yesterday's today's mood. the following are quotes from the movie Karate Kid (more specifically, quotes from 1st of the KKid trilogy):

Cobra Kai Sensei: Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?
Cobra Kai Student: No, Sensei. Cobra Kai Sensei: Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?
Karate Student: No, Sensei.
Cobra Kai Sensei: Defeat does not exist in this dojo, does it?
Karate student: No, Sensei

STRIKE FIRST, STRIKE HARD, NO MERCY

... so here's the deal - i'm still typing. (yeah, that's right. the report is tragically late, but i must continue - start to finish.)

anyway, if you have ever watched any of the Karate Kid movies and found yourself quoting from it, a must read is ESPN's The Sports Guy "Holy Trilogy of the Karate Kid".

(o.k. ... enjoy, while i type)

today's mood ...

... as expressed in quotes from the movie
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

• If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.
• I'm fine. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

(o.k. ... back to typing)

my dinner break from report

had to do it ... 18+ miles north to meet dave & dave ... ventured into solano beach area to have din at the fish market ... yum! had to eat, socialize with friends, and converse NOT about gas turbines but about our youthfulness. (HA!) ran into shannon. bonus.

(o.k. ... y'guessed it. back to writing.)

the report ... the tenant

o.k., i'm still working on "it" ... the report ... and in the spirit of sacto floyd who posted a recent comment back at ya!

stir crazy, i am
sleep-deprived, a bit anxious
influx beckons, type

R|ReLo update ...
the tenant, who was suppose to vacate last saturday,
is still in my future BA digs ... ugh!

happy 'bout Title V!?

L-R: audun, susan, stan, shirl, charles, amabelle, hashim (photographed by bob)

If you are in the "biz", then ask yourself ... are these people REALLY smiling after a 1-hour industry/air district (San Diego) meeting on Title V activities?

The definitive answer: Yes. (and we were not paid to smile)

what does this have to do with the ReLo? ... it's part of my angst ... i may still fly down from the BA for the SD Title V meetings (which are about 3 times per year). i'll will miss the face-to-face work/social times at this agency meeting.

(o.k. - still working on that report.)

R|ReLo #4: the SD team

this is the ReLo team in SD!

me, todd, susan

more about each of us - later ...

... and our soon-to-be adopted
super-hero monikers

our mission:
to establish a systematic 'management' of activities for streamlining and implementing my relo-ing from SD to BA. (we had our kick-off mtg this afternoon!)

in other words - we gotta get me up to the BA in an organized, simple, and swift manner ... and hopefully, we'll also have fun while doing so.

(o.k. --- back to the report.)

from the inside looking up ...

... from the bottom of a stack

decided to share a pic of one of my projects in SD

just taking a break

o.k. ... gotta get back to the report.

SD client mtg (visit?) at home office

"MEETING" AT THE HOME OFFICE ... is sometimes awkward. it's not often i'll have mtgs at the home office, but sometimes the convenience factor takes over. (most of the time, i go to clients' offices or meet up for lunch or coffee.) in SD, i'm pretty much 5-10 min from downtown and the airport.

SAY "HI" TO CLIENT FRIED ... here is fred (hi fred!) - the first client to come by my home office in 2006! this past thursday, we finished sitting in (not as petitioners) on a more than 2-hour variance hearing, which we quickly realized would result in work for us to do. the hearing was ~ 2 miles from my office. (convenient.)

thought i'd share the pic. fred offered to take the helm, so to speak, and sit at my desk. at least the office has its separate "place" in the home, and he doesn't have to crowd amabelle or todd. now if i could just coerce him into doing my work. (tho' i'm his consultant, so maybe i need to just let him sit at my desk, eh?)

"FREDS" IN THE BA ... so i am realizing, for the ReLo, the BA place i'll be living (and working) in (total 'burbs) doesn't quite have a clear separation from my "living" space, as does my SD place. i know i can rely on going to the coffee shop (paddy's, of course) for meetings, but i'll have to start thinking about the home office set-up. i suspect i'll spend more time driving to client sites.

(btw, i hope all our clients are this chipper!)

today's weather in SD? ... awesome!

and back east? ... there's a nor'easter & it's nutty.

why people love SD's weather! ... it's the middle of february, FCOL! this is what the SD bay looked like across the street from solar turbines.

my worries for today? sunscreen, hydration, air conditioning, and focus. yup! focus is hard on days like this in SD ... especially my ability to focus on doing "THE REPORT" i do every year. (i swear this will be the last year i do this report, i think.)

prioritizing my procrastination ... with this kind of weather, i had to take a break (relax?) ... walk around near the water (exercise?) ... and just enjoy (take pics). weather is pretty much like this in SD - quite often - way often.

other activities to punctuate a sunny and warm day? ...

turns out - getting a car washed on a day like this is pretty popular - well, at least down the street from where i live. i ran into my friend, rick, (that's him peeking out in the bottom right-hand corner) while he was waiting his turn, and i was getting gas. (i was able to go ~ 450 mi. on my tank o' gas from the last fill-up ... not the greatest, but good 'nuff!)

(o.k. ... gotta do the report.)

R|ReLo #3a: a l'il rumble

answer to one of the more popular questions

• when are you moving up? - not in this month & likely closer to april. here is the short answer - the place i'll be living (the BA place) was suppose to be vacated yesterday by a tenant who has been there for ~ 15 yrs. tenant is still there. (not good) i can't move in until tenant leaves (and recall work still has to be done on the place). [there is a whole back story, which is not as interesting as some of the LOST t.v. episodes, so i'll spare you and myself.]
  

question you have not yet asked - but might be asking as a result of this recent info above ...

• what are you going to do about the tenant? - hire someone who can help address the matter. another short answer - i'm not a lawyer.
  

o.k. - that's enough for now! more stuff later as ReLo evolves.

R|Relo #3: a l'il rumble

answers to SOME more of your questions ...

• up in the BA yet? - No. trust me, you'll know before i leave SD, because i'll make sure to tell you in advance.

• what kind of "WORK" will you have done on the place you'll be living? - at a minimum, the regular wear & tear will be addressed ... also the carpets to the place will be pulled-out in most of the rooms so that hardwood (or the like) floors will be placed. carpets may be replaced where hardwood floors are not used. painting walls. bathroom tub replacement. new appliances. shutters or blinds versus retaining the drapes. whatever else comes up after the home/termite inspection. and the one 'major' thing is that i'd like to punch out a non-loadbearing wall.
  
• relo plans finished? - No. we have a general framework and have identified several main milestones. this wednesday, i am meeting with todd & susan for lunch at extraordinary desserts to get plans more detailed and start moving forward.
• dog in BA? - Yes, that's the plan. i will get a dog when i am up in BA. this will happen after i get settled a bit.
  
• keeping a place in SD? - No, but maybe ... but ... i don't yet know, my current place is much more room than i need. however, i'm mulling over whether to get a smaller place here in SD for the BA-SD-BA-SD-BA-SWA trips. i'm very tempted. there is an apartment in the complex i live in, but it's occupied right now; no indication that the fellow will be moving on. it would be totally perfect! (my landlord is great!)
  

o.k. - that's enough for this week. drop by again - and ask me other questions!

r|wear: happy SD clients with shwag!

CLIENTS WITH SHWAG ... and happy about it! (and i mean shwag in the "promotional goods" sense, not the urbandictionary sense.)

in SD, several of my clients and/or their projects are not more than 40-miles away. i get to see them pretty regularly based on necessity, proximity, and availability. and sometimes, it's just to get out of the home office and socialize with them. this is one of our clients (pic up there) - jack (and he tells me this is quite a rare pic we got of him). they all are o.k. with me hanging out in their offices downtown.

and this is susan (over to the left) who works with jack (tho' i think jack & i work for susan - which is a total compliment - because she keeps both of us in check).

with our without shwag ... we have some pretty fun clients in SD. i'm glad that we'll continue to work with them after the ReLo.

r|wear ... we do have clients and vendors up in the BA ... whom i think we threw some R|CAT logo wear (aka r|wear) their way. hopefully they'll snap some pics to see the 'far reaches' of r|wear. (HA!)

the back & forth of it all ... meanwhile ... i have already been tossing around my options - get a smaller place here in SD for the BA-SD-BA-SD-BA-SWA trips ... crash at a friend's place ... do the regular hotel or one of those 'extended stay' type places ... still mulling over.

i suppose the first-step ... i should ReLo, eh?

friday 4 p.m. at influx - after white board moment

THIS IS WHAT MY SMALL CORNER OF THE WORLD ... looked like to me - today.

~ 4PM ... at my favorite SD coffee house, where i dropped by after (~ 12:30PM) working at a client site downtown (and after dealing with the redundancy of duplicating environmental compliance documents) with the intention of heading back to the office.

this guy, bill, who was at influx, also had a funky day (tho' his day started at 11:AM & mine started at 4:30AM). he had his digital camera and a couple of lenses. this was a pic from him - capturing my day!

my whiteboard moment ... about the "environmental compliance documents" reference above ... it's part of my job. after giving an overview about one of the environmental programs (RMP, for those "in the know") & actually believing i could literally draw the relationship among multiple environmental documents, i got dizzy, mumbled along, and felt like i had little "Xs" over my eyeballs! UGH!

(at least the little man in this pic looks happy, eh?)

Paddy's - my temp office when in BA

"WHO'S YOUR PADDY?"

Paddy owns & operates his namesake coffee shop in the Old Alvarado section of Union City. (This is my Influx away from home.)

Paddy has great rapport with his customers, is very flexible (I have a running tab - $), is funny (!), and definitely wants to contribute to the local community. (BTW, the rest of his paddy's posse also is quite customer service oriented.) One thing Paddy also does - he listens! and the result and benefit of that? He will kind of network his customers ... cross-talk ... mingle ... get a social experiment (for good) in play ... simply introduce folks to each other. So my temp office at Paddy's is also a place where I don't feel so isolated. And at the same time, I can enjoy my latte and jalapeno bagel (yum!).

When in Union City, I head straight for Paddy's - an all around good place (with wi-fi). Looks like I'll be up in the BA within the next 2 weeks. ReLo activities afoot! Stay tuned. (... and save that jalapeno bagel for me!)

Dessert in the BA?

It's like I can't stop talking about food on this ReLo blog ... and I have come to realize - I'm not quite sure how often I actually cook a meal at home. (So maybe I don't have to worry too much about whether I have an electric or gas stove in my BA kitchen digs.)

Regardless ... DESSERT!!! SD has an absolutely fabulous and amazing place called Extraordinary Desserts. OK, so I'll miss this place, also. (If you have checked out the web site, make sure to look at the dessert page over and over again - refresh/ reload/ re-click on desserts, because you'll get to see a couple different desserts.)

This is Rennie (Hi Rennie!) ... with a dessert (chocolate involved, of course!) ... that i am pretty sure he shared ... but i can't be 100% sure ... because i may have been scarfing and hogging my own dessert at the time.

So - dessert, anyone, in the BA? and what bridge(s) am I going to have to cross!?

cocktail, dinner & dessert, you ask?

ALWAYS!

and dinner with a friend? SURELY!

o.k. - i seem to keep talking about eating out. it's convenient. i'm a bit swamped at work. i don't want to cook (or reheat). as I mentioned, there are some great restaurants nearby.

and of course, when friends visit - it's a GREAT EXCUSE to eat out!

Alina (CHI MARKETING) came down yesterday to SD to meet up with a potential customer. and she brought the last of our R|CAT logo apparel (aka r|gear).

after yesterday's post, we had dinner at Parallel 33 & she had the lamb tajine (yum!); i had the seared ahi special (yum!); and we shared the ahi poke appetizer (way yum!).

and for dessert --- the bittersweet chocolate cake! (yum, yum, yum!)

after work meet-up for drinks in SD

So, it's not like I pub crawl (anymore - ha! jk) ... but I get together with friends and clients here/there in SD. And more often when it's just a quick meet-up after work, the destination is some place where we can hear each other talking and some place that has beer, wine, maybe cocktails, and maybe something to munch on. (easy parking is a plus!)

Because I'm in the Mission Hills area, places I meet-up with folks tend not to be more than 5-miles away. So here are some places I will miss ... Turf Club in the Golden Hill, The Field in the Gaslamp (tho' a bit of a hassle for parking), Shakespeare Pub & Grille just down the hill from me, Parallel 33/Blue Lotus in Mission Hills (for cocktails, appetizers and great food), Princess Pub in Little Italy, and Zocalo's in Old Town (for the hand-shaken margarita). There are more places, but this is a quick start.

So after the ReLo, I've determined I'll be straying more than 5-miles away from my new digs in the 'burbs of the East Bay. And I am determined to find meet-up places with the option(s) of grill-your-own-food -have-a-pint-or-margarita -eat-a-fab-appetizer -in-a-welcoming-place. And the goal is not to have to cross a bridge or if I do, I'll at least have my special transponder, eh!?

Tapas in BA, anyone?

Off the top of my head ... not sure what Spanish restaurants are in the Bay Area. Suggestions?

SD's Gaslamp Quarter ... has a couple of Spanish restaurants. Cafe Sevilla is my favorite rather than Ole Madrid. Then, on the outskirts of the Gaslamp, in the business district of Downtown, is another Spanish restaurant called La Gran Tapa, which is pretty good. All three are pretty accessible and within walking distance from each other.

Here's a pic from my friend's (Holly's) b-day party at Cafe Sevilla.

L to R: self, holly, jennifer, dave, ariel

On the table: TAPAS GALORE!

(oh ... and sangria)

And then instead of "Tuesday Sushi", we had a "Tuesday Tapas" ... at Sevilla.
L to R: shannon, holly, self

L to R: shannon, holly, self, jennifer, eric, rich

What say about Spanish restaurants in the BA? Any recommendations?

Cal Bear Buddy ... Book (part 2)

Just a little more to add to my previous post about Jengyee's upcoming book ... Hello Real World! In Cal's College of Engineering newsletter "Engineering News", there is a nice article on her and her book. Check out the links!

TBCS post-ReLo & VPN

Yes! Todd will still be contracting with us. Many have asked whether I'll just take-on the Office/Project Administration activities when I ReLo to the BA.

Simply put ... No.

REASON: I trust Todd. Trust myself? Not so much. HA! Actually, we've been really happy with (and spoiled by) TBCS (aka Todd Brozek Consulting Services), so we are sticking with that formula.

VPN, DSL, E-I-E-I-O ... We will be getting a VPN set up. The specifics (e.g., equipment, size, access, etc.) have not yet been made final, however, we are working on the details. We also have drafted procedures for data/document exchange (e.g., A/R, A/P, bookkeeping, project budgets, client & management, proposal development, etc.).

BTW, Todd is not moving up to the BA ... just in case you also were wondering about that.

R|ReLo #2: Bathroom remodel - NOT(!)

• BATHROOM ... No. When I move to the BA, I will not remodel my bathroom per the specs noted in this article.

A friend forwarded a WSJ article, "The Type-A Bathroom", to me this morning. (just in case ... you also cut & paste the link below. make sure to copy the entire link; i put in a line break.)

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113893265421064039-
uSSWWR_NckuXqKY2saMLDuF6Bbk_20070203.html?mod=blogs

There are some awesome quotable gems in this article! One of my favorites ...

Though she used to take the device [Blackberry] into the bathtub with her, now she's much more careful. "I'm just too nervous I'll drop it," ...

Enjoy your read ... share with friends ... and seek privacy in the loo!

SD view - from dowtown bldg

just a view
from one of my client's office
@ the 16th floor
of a building
on Broadway

70-ish degree (F)
on the 1st day of February

left:
lots o' cranes, Petco Park,
Coronado Bridge

right:
condos, hotels,
convention center
SD Bay, Coronado

R|ReLo #1: ReLo announcement

R|ReLo: For the BUSINESS-SIDE of things

This is the first of weekly posts regarding my relocation progress.
For inquiring minds, my intention is to post - "R|ReLo #2, R|ReLo #3, etc.
So, thanks (in advance) for checking in!

Yes, I am really (REALLY) moving ... to the Bay Area.

LOOK ... SEE ... ABOVE ... (Click on the image!) ... It was memorialized ("Thanks!" to Tanya of ARTEFACT DESIGN) in this announcement, which was sent out over the 2005 holidays ... a nice, card-stock, double-sided announcement. I must be serious this time!

Answers to SOME of your "yes" and "no" questions -

• DATE - No ... there is not a drop-dead date. Spring 2006 means before the 1st day of Summer 2006.
  
• LOCATION - Yes ... I will be on the East Bay side, like salmon swimming up-stream. I'll be in Union City (zip code 94587). It has a BART station and is adjacent to Hayward and Fremont. I spent my jr. high through college years in Union City (though I lived near campus during college).
• BUSINESS - Yes ... I will continue with my consulting practice. I also will continue to maintain several projects and clients in San Diego and am very glad to do so.
• COMPUTER NETWORK - No ... I will not limit myself to the 2 PC/1 MAC home-based network. We will have a standard VPN established. And maybe another Mac or two.
  
• INTERNS - Yes ... I will continue the internship program, as mentioned in a previous post. Also, the internship progam will follow the basic internship approach we have set up. (Do visit the R|Intern blog for current thoughts & mischief.)
• SD VENDORS & COLLEAGUES - Yes ... I will continue to work with those vendors and colleagues with whom we've established great working relationships.
• OFFICE IN SD - No ... I will not have a dedicated office in SD, however, I have established arrangements with colleagues to accommodate the "mobile office" I will have - wi-fi equipped settings (hotel, libraries, coffee/cafe shops), client & vendor guest offices with network connection, and moments where I am unplugged!
• SOUTHWEST AIRLINES - Yes ... I will occupy a seat on their airlines, likely once a month - at least flying between SD and BA and SD and BA ....
• OFFICE IN BA - Yes ... I will have an office in BA. I expect to continue in a home-based setting (and fly between BA and SD and BA ... you get the point).
  
• TBCS - Yes ... I will continue to use the office/project administration services of TBCS.

O.K. - that's enough for this week. Drop by next week - and ask me other questions!

Tuesday Sushi in BA?

Tuesday Sushi in SD ... It started as a "Tuesday after work" relaxation thing - sushi & friends.

It evolved into a great social activity - sushi, friends, big beers, catch-up, sashimi, sake, story-telling, martinis, new words for urbandictionary.com, picture-taking events ...

I will miss this ... but expect to hit "Tuesday Sushi" (which actually happens on other days depending on schedules) when I am in SD.

Where to go in the BA for sushi?

[Please don't make me google; I do it enough as it stands.]