canyonwalker: wiseguy (Default)
Today I help present a technical seminar for my company. In the past we've generally rented meeting halls for our seminars, but this time we had a meeting room at a local WeWork branch. This was my first time in a WeWork office. ...Not my first time meeting colleagues in a setup like WeWork, where people rent small office space short-term and long, or just buy basic memberships to sit in shared workspace, but my first time specifically at a WeWork brand office. It was... underwhelming.

For one, I was unimpressed by the A/V setup in the larger, A/V focused meeting room we had. The projector had a small screen, was low resolution— like, ten years old low resolution—and wasn't very bright. Half the work desks in the room didn't have power outlets anywhere nearby. Y'know, it's 2024, everybody has computers now. In fact most people have multiple devices at work that require plugging in. A room with half the desks not anywhere near outlets is woefully last-century. Yet this was a WeWork in Palo Alto, the freaking cradle of Silicon Valley.

Two, as I observed the way other people work in the office, I've got to say I just don't get it. I mean, for some of them it makes sense. In some places a small team has an office they rent longer-term. They've nested all their stuff in there, so they've got the extras to make it productive office space, and it's a place for face-to-face teamwork. But most of the people at WeWork were solo workers, working quietly— or not so quietly—in open, undedicated spaces.

What's the point of working solo in a shared space? Does being seen by strangers make it feel less isolating? Is the free kombucha on tap in the kitchenette (yes, it's very hipster/millennial) worth paying the membership and not having the privacy of working from home? When I work at home I can take meetings all day without having to wear a headset to stop from bothering the strangers in the room... or worrying about them bothering me with their meetings. I can sing to myself if I want when I'm bored. I can press the mute button during a call and shout, "What a fucking idiot!" to blow off steam. For me, after years of working from home, you'd have to pay me to work in a dull, shared office all day.

All I can imagine is that most the solo workers at these places have chaotic home environments. Maybe they have kids running around and screaming. Maybe they have housemates laying around and belching. Because otherwise what's the point of paying rent to sit down with your laptop at an empty desk, minus all the comforts and privileges of the privacy of your own home.
canyonwalker: wiseguy (Default)
Once the very twee trade show I supported on Thursday got going it was fine. I think it was mostly the organizers who looked like they just stepped out of the picture on the cover of Hipster Monthly. The attendees and my fellow vendors were dressed more typically for tech— at least for middle managers and sales people in tech. There were no t-shirts or hiking boots to be seen. (It's well known in tech that engineers wear hiking boots because a mountain might spring up in the server room at any moment. That's how you get servers in the clouds! 😂)

My colleague, Al, and I noticed two unexpected things about our setup right about. First, in many of the timeslots we had two interviews. The organizers' idea in asking for two of us to staff the event was that they'd pair us off. Our expectation was that we'd work as a team, not "divide and conquer". Second, pretty much all the other vendors in the vendors room had pull-up banners and small give-away items. Our events person sent us no supporting materials.

One of the conference organizers stopped by and kindly asked how things were going. I mentioned the two issues above, framing them as issues of miscommunication and asking if they could be made clearer next time. The first, about the divide-and-conquer approach, the organizer agreed her team could communicate more clearly. The second, about banners and handouts, she countered, "I only told your company events person, like every single time we talked, to send such materials."

Our first interview timeslot, with a double booking, came and went... with nobody arriving to talk to us. We weren't entirely surprised. We know there's going to be some no-show rate with these things. We used the time productively. I caught up on additional work stuff that was piling onto my plate while Al attended one of the tech leadership seminars.

"They keep saying something that sounds like MLMs," Al texted me. "I'm not sure how that's relevant to software."

"That would be LLMs," I answered. "Large Language Models. A term describing modern AI technology. You can't go 5 minutes in a tech conversation today without AI and LLMs being mentioned."

"You're not kidding," Al chuckled. "I've been here 20 minutes and they've already mentioned it at least 10 times."

Al rejoined me for the second interview timeslot. That person blew us off, too. 🙄 But someone on our dance card for later in the day came over and asked if she could chat with us sooner. We were happy to agree as that removed another double booking and allowed us to work as a team in conversation.

The rest of the day continued similarly. We had another few no-shows but we also had two drop-ins by people who weren't on our dance card but expressed interest in learning about our company and products anyway. We welcomed all comers.

Al skipped out at 3:30. He had a flight home to catch. Things were slowing down in the late afternoon so I told him I'd be fine covering the rest of the day. Indeed it was slow, with one no-show and one more drop-in in the last 90 minutes.

At 5pm there was a small reception. The hors d'oeuvres looked good so I decided to stay long enough to make a dinner of it before heading home. 😅 I was ready to roll by about 5:45pm, called a ride with Lyft, and was home around 6:30.

canyonwalker: wiseguy (Default)
Thursday I went to represent my company at a small conference nearby, in Palo Alto. It was designed for an audience of CxOs. There were a series of seminars throughout the day. In a separate room, we vendors had little tables for sit-down conversations with the industry execs attending.

The way these trade shows work is that vendors like my company basically pay all the bills. The attendees get to come for little or no cash payment to enter but they instead pay with their time. They have to pick at least 3 vendors from the list to sit down with for a 30-40 minute conversation.

I arrived at the venue, a nice meeting center on Stanford University's campus, a bit early as I had to carve out 8-8:30 for a time-critical teleconference meeting with a prospective customer. The customer emailed us a few minutes before 8 apologizing that he wouldn't be able to join at 8. At least he offered two reasonable, close-in alternatives: Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. And my colleagues and I made good use of the time on our calendars by repurposing the meeting to be an internal alignment call. It even ran long, taking a full hour to get all of us on the same page.

While I was sitting taking the call in an easy chair with a small fold-out writing panel a la college lecture halls (hey, it is a university!) I amused myself people-watching the folks passing by the registration desk ten steps away. Let me just say, I have never seen such a concentration of otherwise dowdy middle-age men all dressed so twee. I saw a mixture of popped collars, crazy wide ties that were in style 50 or even 100 years ago, and formal jackets with loud patterns. Tight pants and exaggeratedly large shoes, the two combining amusingly to make people look a bit like clowns dressed for the boardroom, were plentiful. And among those who weren't wearing oversized pointy shoes, I saw enough pairs of the same Johnston & Murphy light-brown wing-tip Italian loafers to open a shoe store. (To be fair, I own the same shoes, which is why I recognize them. 🤣 I didn't wear them yesterday, though.)

I was also amused by the name badge the conference staff had prepared for me. It was nice, if oversized, with a sleek, gray-on-black motif. But the spot where they printed my name was black. Yes, black printing on black cardstock. That kind of set the tone for the day that this conference was run by people still learning how to run a conference. But, gosh, did they look quaintly stylish!
canyonwalker: My other car is a pair of hiking boots (in beauty I walk)
San Antonio Travelog #5
The Pearl - Sun, 28 May 2023, 6pm

After visiting the Alamo this morning we were ready for lunch. Again we ate Tex-Mex food, this time at a promising looking restaurant next to our hotel. Again like yesterday, it was good. And again like yesterday it left us feeling so full, overstuffed really, even though we thought we ate normal sized portions. We returned to our room next door at the Holiday Inn to rest a bit. But soon we were ready for another walk. This time we'd head north along the Riverwalk, the opposite of the direction we've gone on multiple forays so far, with a few detours up into the city.

Casual art installation on San Antonio's Riverwalk (May 2023)

Walking north from our hotel exposed us to a different side of the Riverwalk. Just steps to the south of our hotel is the loop, the main part of the Riverwalk in the tourist sense. It's line with hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops. It's like the New Orleans Bourbon Street of Texas, with raucous revelry in the evening.

To the north the Riverwalk is much quieter. There are only a few hotels along the river here, and also only a few noisy restaurants. The Riverwalk cuts through some underdeveloped sections of town. While there's occasional blight above at street level, down at water's edge it's just nature. And the occasional art installation, like that bower of concrete trees.

The Pearl in San Antonio, TX (May 2023)

We followed the Riverwalk almost 2 miles north to an area called the Pearl. It's an old-is-new development where a repurposed old industrial area, centered around the San Antonio Brewers Association (the large brick building in the photo above), is joined by retro apartment blocks built around a number of restaurants and a small astroturfed park. Although we felt demographically slightly out of place, being older than the 20- and 30-something age range that dominated this 21st Century yuppie-hipster development, we enjoyed the break from the "And here's where they serve a 13-shot margarita!" banal debauchery of the downtown Riverwalk area.

We would've enjoyed a casual dinner out on the green at the Pearl except we were still stuffed from lunch. I did have room to drink a beer while we walked, and then both Hawk and I bought ice cream before we turned to head home. With covering about 5 miles on this trip, plus the walking earlier today to, around, and from the Alamo, we'll have enough exercise to burn off at least some of the calories.

canyonwalker: My old '98 M3 convertible (road trip!)
Oakhurst, CA. Sat, 14 May 2022, 10:30am.

Over the past several years we've done a lot of "Friday Night Halfway" trips. ...Well, actually not so many in the past two years due to... *gestures broadly at everything*... In the past 12 months I've only used my moniker for it, Whoa, we're halfway there, twice. Once was for an actual trip, the other was to joke about Jon Bon Jovi turning 60. He's the writer and performer of the song that line comes from, "Livin' on a Prayer". Or as we'll have to sing it in a few years, "Livin' on Medicare".

Anyway, Friday Night Halfway. It's on my mind because this weekend we're taking a trip for which I considered doing a Friday Night Halfway— driving a few hours Friday night to split the driving so we could have more time for hiking Saturday and also not get home so late. But we decided instead we'd go all the way on Saturday.

Our plan for the day is to hike along Lewis Creek in the Sierra National Forest. It's south of Yosemite National Park and just north of the small town of Oakhurst, CA. There are a few waterfalls there.

As we plotted out the drive we realized we could do it all in one day. One long day. And we'd have to leave early.

We set our alarms for 6am Saturday. We were up by 6:20. We skipped showering, knowing we were going to get dirty anyway and would shower after coming home. We packed our hiking gear, grabbed breakfast that could be finished in the car, and rolled out of the garage at 6:50am. My aim was "Leave no later than 7am" so we were already on plan!

The morning air was cool, still in the 50s, as we started heading south on US-101. We had the top down in the convertible anyway to enjoy the fresh air. We cranked up the heat to compensate. It was a bit like our morning roadtrip to The Pinnacles 3 weeks ago except a) this trip we left earlier and b) we turned off US-101 at Gilroy to head east through the mountain pass on CA-152.

Soon enough we were blasting through the Central Valley, passing through the small town of Los Banos and then the even smaller town of Chowchilla. The map above shows a slightly different route than going through Chowchilla; I have a favorite drive through the Sierra Nevada foothills to/from Oakhurst that traverses country roads through more remote areas.

A hair over 3 hours after leaving home we arrived in Oakhurst. The only stops we'd made were for red lights and stop signs. It was nearly 10am. Time for brunch!

So that's where we are now. In Oakhust. Having brunch. At a Jack in the Box fast food restaurant, because that's how we roll. 😂 Seriously, fuck expensive fancy-ass hipster brunches. We'll take comfort food every time. Today's comfort food was chicken pitas, fries, and— ooh!— a bucket of 15 Tiny Tacos for $3! 😋

Update: Next up, Hiking the Lewis Creek Trail!


canyonwalker: A toast with 2 glasses of beer. Cheers! (beer tasting)
For Round 9 of my Beer Tasting 2022 project I went on the road and went live. Instead of buying beer in six-packs from retailers, who get it from distributors, who get it from brewers, I went straight to the source. I reached out Thursday to a friend, Jeremy, I haven't seen in over 2 years due to Covid, and he suggested we meet for Happy Hour at a new(ish) local brewery in Sunnyvale, ShaKa Brewing.

"Huh, why haven't I seen them?" I wondered. Then I mapped their location and understood. They're a very small brewery, located in the middle of a low-grade industrial park on the east side of town. They're only open to customers one day a week, Friday, 4-8pm. And "open" means they open the garage door and set out a few folding tables in the parking alley.

Friday Evening Happy Hour at ShaKa Brewing in Sunnyvale (May 2022)

What ShaKa Brewing lacks in ambience it makes up for in hospitality. As I walked up and started looking around, one of the proprietors greeted me and started explaining what beers they offer.

"Are you 'Sha' or 'Ka'?" I asked. I knew from reading their website that the business name comes from combining the two men's first names, Shawn and Karl.

"I'm Shawn," he said, expressing surprise that I knew their backstory already. It wasn't that hard; their website isn't that big... unless you read legal disclaimers page, which accounts for, like, 99% of the site's word count.

ShaKa Brewing Riley Red AleShawn showed me a menu of the 5 beers he and his partner brew. One was sold out. It was the stout, which would've been my second choice. They had my first choice, the Riley Red ale, so I was happy.

I started with a pint of red ale and waited around in the parking alley for Jeremy to arrive and a table to open up. This is where the hospitality vs. ambience factor became important because there is zero ambience here. You're sitting (unless you're standing) in an alley with a bunch of wrecked cars that the custom body shop around the corner hasn't gotten to working on yet. Fortunately a table did open, so I could at least sit while chuckling at the wrecked cars, though Jeremy arrived almost half an hour late.

As for the red ale... it's good stuff. It has all the good characteristics I expect in the category. And it's light on hops flavor. I dislike the sour taste and mouth-puckering nature of a heavy hops bill. Some red ales are made with heavy hops, as heavy hop flavor is, sadly, the "it" thing for craft beer drinkers right now. Well, I don't dress like a hipster with skinny pants and clown-sized brown leather shoes, and I don't care for hipster beer that tastes like cough medicine.

BTW, Jeremy likes those hipsters beers. He predictably started with the brewery's IPA. But even their IPA was relatively low on the bitterness scale, more an English IPA than an American brutalize-your-taste-buds IPA. I know because he offered me a taste of his. I wouldn't want to drink a whole pint of it, but at least it wasn't spit-it-out sour.

As the brewery is open just one evening a week the owners make it count by inviting a rotating cast of food trucks to set up in the parking alley. This past Friday's food was Venezuelan. We put in an order for a couple of arepas while starting our second pints.

ShaKa Brewing Sunnyvale Pale LagerFor my second round I sampled a pint of Sunnyvale Pale Lager. Like the red ale it was available on tap. That made it seem fresher than opening a can... though I think the cans are actually bottled on demand so they're virtually as fresh as having it poured straight into a glass.

The lager was surprisingly good. I say that because I'm generally "meh" on lagers but I enjoyed this one. It had subtle floral/fruit aromas noticeable as I lifted the glass to my mouth. Those come from the yeast and are a sign that a lager has been well crafted. It had a rich enough character to pair well with the food.

Speaking of food, the arepas were fantastic. They're corn meal patties, cut open in pouches like pita bread at a Greek restaurant, stuffed with combinations of meat, cheese, beans, and/or plantains. It was delicious. They were expensive, though. And because of my inner cheapskate (habits from childhood die hard) I only ordered one. It was less than half a meal. So while I enjoyed the food very much I don't think I'd want to seek out this food truck again to pay $35 for a full meal... served through a mesh window and eaten while sitting in a parking lot.

We wrapped up the evening around 8:30. The brewery was cool about letting folks stay a bit late. I think they kind of had to because the food truck in the parking lot was so slow. Each of us took home a mixed 4-pack of cans. I bought 2 cans of the red ale, because for me that was clearly the winner of the set, plus a can of the lager because I want to try it again, plus a can of the golden ale I'd like to try. Jeremy and I went our separate ways, agreeing to do this again at ShaKa Brewing, possibly as soon as next week.

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