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canyonwalkerIt's curious that today, my last full day of work— or, more precisely, my last morning of work and first day of retirement— I did something that brought me back almost full circle to the start of my career.
In 1996 I moved out to Silicon Valley, California for my first full-time, permanent job after grad school. Oh, I'd worked for years before that; but only part-time, or in job for a defined term, like a college co-op internship or grad school research assistantship. I had a job at a brand-name tech company— it was Apple!— and it was a full-time professional job and I could have it as long as I wanted. (Or until they ultimately laid me off along with 30% of the company a few months later. 🤣)
Shortly after moving out here I saw online advertisements for a new games club forming in the area. It was named "Dukefish", as it met on Monday at the Duke of Edinborough Fish'n'Chips Pub in Cupertino. My girlfriend— who's now my wife— and I went and became regulars.
Dukefish, the games club, has moved venues several times since then. After service at The Duke deteriorated and management became hostile to us (even though their dining room, by that point, was seldom more than 25% full on Mondays) we moved to Harry's Hoffbrau in Mountain View. When Harry's in MV closed up a few years later we decamped to Jake's in Sunnyvale. We were regulars at Jake's for several years as regular membership shifted. My schedule got busy so I attended less and less often. Plus, I disliked some of the newer regular attendees. Others did, too, and the group kind of fell apart. Covid put the nail in the coffin.
But then a few years ago one of the long-time members— not as long-time as my wife or me, but still many years—brought it back to life. He merged his personal friends group with some of the gaming regulars from before Covid and got a critical mass going again. Now we meet at Holder's Country Inn in Cupertino. It's just 1/2 mile down the road from The Duke.
That's where we were tonight. In 2026, much like in 1996. At the start of my retirement, much like in the early days of my career.
In 1996 I moved out to Silicon Valley, California for my first full-time, permanent job after grad school. Oh, I'd worked for years before that; but only part-time, or in job for a defined term, like a college co-op internship or grad school research assistantship. I had a job at a brand-name tech company— it was Apple!— and it was a full-time professional job and I could have it as long as I wanted. (Or until they ultimately laid me off along with 30% of the company a few months later. 🤣)
Shortly after moving out here I saw online advertisements for a new games club forming in the area. It was named "Dukefish", as it met on Monday at the Duke of Edinborough Fish'n'Chips Pub in Cupertino. My girlfriend— who's now my wife— and I went and became regulars.
Dukefish, the games club, has moved venues several times since then. After service at The Duke deteriorated and management became hostile to us (even though their dining room, by that point, was seldom more than 25% full on Mondays) we moved to Harry's Hoffbrau in Mountain View. When Harry's in MV closed up a few years later we decamped to Jake's in Sunnyvale. We were regulars at Jake's for several years as regular membership shifted. My schedule got busy so I attended less and less often. Plus, I disliked some of the newer regular attendees. Others did, too, and the group kind of fell apart. Covid put the nail in the coffin.
But then a few years ago one of the long-time members— not as long-time as my wife or me, but still many years—brought it back to life. He merged his personal friends group with some of the gaming regulars from before Covid and got a critical mass going again. Now we meet at Holder's Country Inn in Cupertino. It's just 1/2 mile down the road from The Duke.
That's where we were tonight. In 2026, much like in 1996. At the start of my retirement, much like in the early days of my career.
