Thursday, July 26, 2007

Paintballing and Barry Bonds

Last night was paintballing with the Rivals.com guys - honestly the most fun you can legally have with 30 people in a warehouse.

Tonight it's the Giants against the Braves at AT&T park where BB's going to be back in the lineup hoping for another couple of those home run things. We're also going to checkout the Yahoo! Brickhouse research facility in the city, and then I might get some sleep. It's been a week of 5:40am starts and late nights which isn't so good cumulatively.

I have my ergonomics evaluation in an hour where I'm expecting to be told that I should learn to type. In other news I took advantage of the onsite hair dressers and am now almost bald, after my rave reviews on breakfast, I've not had a plum all week, and it's a bit over cast - I'm wearing a jumper!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Face? Bovverd?

French President Nicolas Sarkozy joins Tony, with a little Catherine Tate:

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Weekend and Softball

Friday
Was meant to meet with Andy for a research meeting but postponed until Saturday afternoon. Home quite early - Madeline and Emilie just back from a run. First beer for a week (no alcohol for 4 days!) moving onto wine then out to North beach for pool and tequila.

Saturday
Woke up early feeling amazing considering Friday, and set about cleaning the apartment from top to bottom, taking particular pleasure scrubbing the bottom of the shower - a job which can only really be tackled when showering which adds an additional danger factor of steamy bleach inhalation.
PM, I met with Andy - good meeting, then to Kezar to meet up with Emilie and Madeline to watch the 90 minute special on Beckham sitting down, and then being average - nachos and buffalo wings.
I had wanted to watch a movie about Bob Dylan, but that was vetoed.

Sunday
Up nice and early again and off to Cole Valley for Madeline's half-marathon-reward pedicure. I sat in Cafe Reverie drinking nice green tea feeling pretentious, coding on my laptop. Off to the mall near campus for some much needed clothing for MJ, and a quick glance at a concert before thinking better of it.

Monday
First ever game of softball for work - I was predictably poor, although fancy my chances after a little more time in the batting cage. Game was cut short under the Mercy rule, but was a lot of fun. I'm hoping paint balling will be a greater success tomorrow. On a related subject, I was looking for a clip of PJ being shot in the face and blinded in Byker Grove, and stumbled across the terrible new opening credits.

Photos
Finally a shot from the half marathon:

"Full throttle to the wine bottle"
And Gay Pride:


All this talk of flooding in England, and the prospect of Christmas in a cabin in the woods is really making me miss England's charm. I look forward to having to wear waterproof clothing and thick socks:
The Lakes

Thursday, July 19, 2007

It's only been 2 months...

Facebookers, you know you want the full color version!

For no particular reason, the wireless on the shuttle is working beautifully this morning, and after checking the news from Canoustie, last nights MLB action and Flickr, I'm at a loose end. I think it's time for a whistle stop tour of the past 2 months:

Week with Greg and Kathleen. Madeline and I drove down for the three day weekend - I stayed until the following Friday helping Greg with a house he's working on in Carlsbad, and generally enjoying the sun.

  • Surfing - Finally caught a wave I could enjoy on the bodyboard
  • Craw fish pasta and Sushi - not together
  • Badminton with Hilary's new man, Peter
  • Denny’s shed - Eye opening
  • Building house - I installed window sills and a plywood floor with moderate success
  • 99c burgers
  • "Once" movie - highly recommended to one and all
  • Stumbling across a snake in their garden:

Dan, Pete and Frances visit. Dan and Pete had been traveling for a long time before arriving, a month in New Zealand just for starters, and Frances flew into SFO to meet up with them/visit us. They split their SF experience into a few days before I began working for Yahoo, and the following weekend which doubled as a bizarre Durham reunion with Simon, Katie and Dan also in the mix. Events included:

  • Wine tasting - Sonoma: Benzinger, Imagery and Arrow Head (the big 3 as they have become known)
  • Soccer - Dan and Pete played for Emilie's team
  • Cat club - It wasn't a "themed night" so much fun with playmates and 40 year olds
  • Zeitgeist - Beers, Burgers and Margaritas aplenty with Andy, Trish and Emilie
  • Yellowstone - Their in between trip (one for the to-do list)
  • Reunion - Big night out with 6 visiting Durham Alum
  • Orchid - A beautiful gift that is still alive!
  • Marina - On a windy evening for some football (Madeline run)

Pete and Emilie

Dan, Simon and Katie visit SF. The long awaited visit from key members of Team House was not a disappointment! Dan arrived around 5pm on Wednesday of my first week in work, with Katie and Simon not far behind.

  • Gay pride - Dan insisted he didn't plan the trip to coincide with the parade
  • Top of the mark - Fancy dancing and wine atop a hotel in the city
  • Wine tasting - Second time in a week for me (I was recognized at Imagery)
  • Dan buying way too many clothes - and golf equipment
  • SF Moma - A little culture thrown into the mix (I got in free as a Yahoo!)
  • “I hate it, I never want to hear that song again” - Katie being brutally honest
  • Yahoo! Half moon bay, SFSU, breakfast in cole valley - a killer day with a killer soundtrack
  • Best meal ever - Tuna and steak...with mushrooms...and the best dessert ever...
  • Osha - Our first time at the Osha on 2nd street. Massively impressive Thai

Madeline, Katie, Simon, Dan and I

Yahoo! I'm 6 weeks into my 10 week internship and all is well. Highlights include (in no particular order)

  • Ending my first day early to go and watch softball with some beers
  • Having breakfast everyday for a single dollar (2x toast - 1 cream cheese, 1 jam + 1x Plum + 1x Nectarine/Peach)
  • Having free drinks. All day. Everyday.
  • Meeting the founders and new CEO David Filo and Jerry Yang
  • Helping save the world, one pet store wall at a time
  • Going for sushi with the team and significant others
  • Learning a huge amount (PHP, SQL, Unix, Emacs...) and looking back on work I've done and feeling satisfied
  • The unexpected sense of pride I felt when I showed Madeline, Katie and Simon around campus
  • The wonderful feeling of saying that I work for Yahoo! Sports!
  • Learning a vast amount about ridiculous American sports
  • Working in a team where there is an opportunity to develop an idea into a feature which can really affect millions of people


Half marathon. Last weekend Madeline cracked out a 13.1 mile run from Napa to Sonoma in what was cleverly branded the Napa to Sonoma half marathon. She finished in just over 2 hours, and was 25th out of 80 in her age group. Nice weekend - we won our first game of cricket also.



What the Future Holds. So what's coming up in the next 2 months? I'm paint balling next Tuesday for the first time ever as we meet the guys from Rivals. Madeline finishes work soon so will go home for a couple of weeks. We have camp White to look forward to, Melanie will be coming in September, and we'll both be back in school towards the end of September - hopefully with a little Yahoo on the side :)