Hiking Sierra Vista - Twofer!

Saturday morning we got up early to visit Sierra Vista Open Space in the mountains east of San Jose. Good news: We had a great hike overlooking the city. Bad news: It was kind of short. We were back at the car by 9:15. What to do? How about a two-fer! We refilled our water bottles at the car and went hiking on a trail on the other side of the road.



This is the Aquila Trail. At times in the past we've hiked it it's been a riot of a wildflowers. Today, not so much. In fact pretty much not at all. Wildflowers bloom when there's good rain followed by a few weeks of warm weather. This season we've had tons of rain— so the first key ingredient is there— but not yet the warm weather. Maybe in another few weeks these hillsides will look totally different.



The Aquila Trail is a short loop, about 1.2 miles around. Together with our hiking on the Kestrel Trail earlier we're hiking maybe 3 miles total. On the one hand that's not much. On the other hand it's pretty good for getting a hike in before errands and lunch.



Though there aren't wildflowers out today we enjoy the Aquila Trail for its remote feel. With vistas like this we can imagine we're well into the wilderness... even thought Silicon Valley with its millions of people is just over our shoulder.



On today's trek we noticed something we've overlooked before: fossils! Some of the rocks up here bear the imprint of what looks like organisms from an ancient sea floor.

Like I said, the hikes were both short. We were back at the car by 10am. The parking lot was already full, and rangers were aggressively turning people away. I'm glad we arrived at 8:15. We'll have to come early again when we return for wildflower season!

The Conservative Take on Bank Failures: Too "Woke"

After the rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank nine days ago everyone was looking for whom or what to pin the blame on. GOP culture warriors quickly aligned on a simple, stupid, common explanation: The bank was too "woke".

Politicians such as Florida Gov. and apparent presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley have gone on the talk show circuit blaming the bank's diversity efforts for its failure, as have countless right-wing pundits. And you thought I was joking when I quipped right after the failure that these sorts would snivel, "Isn't that just some community bank for liberal techies who care more about whether the lollipops in the lobby are cruelty free and LGBTQIA+ positive than what the interest rate is?"

One of the first examples of the too "woke" blame game came from WSJ columnist Andy Kessler a week ago. Link: Full column. He wrote:

“In its proxy statement, SVB notes that besides 91% of their board being independent and 45% women, they also have ‘1 Black,’ ‘1 LGBTQ+’ and ‘2 Veterans.’ I’m not saying 12 white men would have avoided this mess, but the company may have been distracted by diversity demands.”

Wow. There are so many things wrong in just two sentences. I'll limit my fault finding to Five Things for brevity:

1) If ever there were a time the disclaimer, "I'm not saying..." meant literally "I am saying..." this would be it. He is literally saying that diversity is the problem.

2) Unpacking his syllogism, is he saying that the BOD members who were ‘1 Black,’ ‘1 LGBTQ+’ and ‘2 Veterans’ were unable to spot a not-too-hard-to-understand risk that "12 white men" would have spotted? And really, dumping on veterans as less smart than "white men"?

3) ...Or, continuing to unpack the syllogism, is he saying that the bank expended so much effort on its diversity program that it neglected to manage its financial risk?

4) Pretty much all banks strive for diversity. They all tout diversity programs on their websites. Go check any of the big ones: Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Capital One, US Bancorp, etc. None of them are failing.

5) Meanwhile, study after study has shown that diversity promotes business success rather than hinders it. A 2020 report by consultancy McKinsey found that "[T]he relationship between diversity on executive teams and the likelihood of financial outperformance has strengthened over time."

Beer Tasting: Maui Coconut Hiwa Porter

A few weeks ago I did a gonzo beer shopping trip. My motivations were (1) I had two $50 gift cards for BevMo that weren't good for much else, (2) there was also a 15% off sale, and (3) I wanted to grab more beers for my Beer Tasting 2022 project... even though it's now 2023. 😅 I've trickled out tasting notes for a few other beers from this shopping trip already. Now it's time for Maui Brewing Co. Coconut Hiwa Porter.



For this beer tasting project I prefer to try a beer alongside 1-2 other, similar beers. Having a basis of comparison makes it easier to assess how well each beer fits my overall preferences.

For this round of the tasting I didn't have a second porter available, though. So I went with a beer from an adjacent category, Guinness Draught Stout. Guinness is a mild, creamy stout so I figured it wouldn't be that far off, stylistically, from a standard porter. Guinness is also one of my all-time favorite beers, so it's valuable to see how a beer I'm trying for the first time compares to it.

I spotted the first difference right away when I poured them. The Guinness pours with a very smooth head, thick, with very small bubbles. The Maui porter has a coarse, frothy head with large bubbles. I figure that's due to the Guinness having a trick nitrogen cartridge inside the can— hence the "Draught" designation— versus the Maui porter being traditionally carbonated.

Maui's Coconut Hiwa Porter definitely comes on strong in flavor. The brewer's marketing text talks about malt, chocolate, and coffee. I tasted mostly the coffee. And a bit of coconut. And the strength of the alcohol— getting kind of up there for a beer at 6% ABV.

BTW, if there's one word to describe the Guinness it's smooth. Smooth, smooth, smooth. People often look at its dark color and thick characteristic, both kind of like used motor oil, and assume it's a heavy beer. It's actually neither heavy in its flavors nor heavy on alcohol. It's only 4.2% ABV. That's the same ABV as... Bud Light!

At first I was thinking, "If I were going to pick one of these beers, it'd be the Guinness". The Guinness didn't have the stronger flavors of the Maui Coconut Porter, but it didn't have anything overpowering, either. The Maui tasted like it was overdone. As I let both beers aerate and warm up a bit, though, I found myself enjoying the porter more. Its flavors came into better balance, tasting less like a coffee-based beverage.