Archive for June, 2010
Adventures in job hunting while 8 months pregnant
Friday, June 25th, 2010
A few weeks back I was browsing Craigslist for a new puppy (don’t tell Brendan). All I could find were pitbull mixes so my eye wandered over to the jobs section. I clicked on the Film category and found an interesting job listing for a Film Fest coordinator for Palo Alto. This piqued my interest so I sent them my resume. About a week later they responded and asked me to come in for an interview.
To my great surprise the Palo Alto Institute was only 3 blocks from our house. I hopped on my bike and rode over. It was a really warm humid day and when I got off the bike and climbed the stairs to the office I was a bit disheveled and out of breath. As I looked for the bathroom to freshen up, someone opened the door to the office and I had no other option but to get the interview started. All eyes in the room immediately went straight to my huge belly. So in order to ease the awkwardness in the room, I said, “Hi, I am Alex and I am 8 months pregnant and out of breath.”
The interview went really well and they asked me back to meet the remaining board members a few days later. I walked this time, giving myself enough time to get there so I didn’t appear frazzled like before. I walked into the conference room and every chair was taken by a middle aged man in a suit – about 15 of them and one woman. Everyone had a chance to introduce themselves. Apparently they were all investors from Palo Alto Investors, the company that is solely funding the Palo Alto Institute. Each introduction was peppered with Standford, MIT, Harvard, PhD, MBA… Palo Alto Institute is the organization that will be starting the Palo Alto Film Festival. Palo Alto Investors was started by William Edwards whose father was one of the founding venture capitalists of Silicon Valley. They were the guys behind Apple, Intel, Cisco, Genetech, Atari, Tandem, and many others. Wow, ok, sign me up! The interview lasted almost 3 hours and was a brain storming session on just about everything. I left there thinking, “What just happened?”
Two days ago they asked me to come back and offered me a job. For the remainder of the year, we will be building the foundations of the organization. My responsibilities will include building the website, iPhone applications, video library and database applications. Starting in 2010, we will be starting the Film Festival. How exciting to be on the ground floor and with an organization backed by a powerhouse of a corporation.
I guess I was too afraid of looking for a new job and being so pregnant, who would hire someone that late in the pregnancy game? Yes, this is going to be a huge challenge when our little one is born. But it seems too good to let this one pass me by. We will figure it out!
Road Trip to Durango
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Last week, we went to Durango for Mel and Mutch’s wedding, and our own Baby Shower with Alex’s friends. Given that we had a week, it made sense to make a road trip adventure out of the drive.
Thursday afternoon: Palo Alto to Yosemite
A later start than expected as Alex was busy impressing the Palo Alto Institute board.
We wound our way east, avoiding traffic and nabbed our spot at the Hodgdon Meadows camping area with Yosemite. The campsite was the only one available in the whole of Yosemite for the month of June. We were lucky to get it.
Friday: Yosemite
Friday morning’s experience made both of us remember why we try to avoid camping in designated campgrounds. At 7:15am, our neighbour, in his big RV, decided to start running the engine. I was sleeping outside, in the fresh air, that quickly turned to Carbon Monoxide. I was able to get him to turn it off by banging on his window. Later, when he stepped out of his leviathan, he explained to me that the campground regulations specifically said that he was entitled to start his engine at 7:15am in order to recharge the batteries. I told him that was nice, but that my unborn daughter had different views. We quickly became firm friends.
Yosemite was recently voted the most scenic place for a traffic jam in the lower 48. Yosemite earned that award because there are many pleasant rocks to look at. See the pictures. Dad, Alex has set you a challenge.
Friday evening: Nevada
Out of Yosemite, we stopped at a Lee Vining servo for the best fish tacos in the world. Yes, really. Then across the rollercoaster ride of Hwy 6 through Tonopah and down the Extra-Terrestrial Hwy to camp in Caliente. We stayed in a campsite* that was empty except for our extremely friendly camp host, Lars.
* Handy fact: Some Nevada maps show Wilderness Areas as green circles. Campsites are shown as green triangles.
Saturday: Zion
Zion: full and raining, so we stayed in a hotel. When the weather cleared we took the bus trip up the canyon, saw some rocks, then adjourned for an excellent dinner at Parallel 88
Sunday: The Grand Staircase
From Zion, through Ruby Canyon, Escalante, Boulder is probably one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Especially if you like looking at rocks. For us, it was made even more beautiful by the people we met along the way, particularly one young girl who we were fortunate to meet in Escalante.
Alex and I stopped at the interesting and informative Escalante Visitor’s Center for a pregnant lady break. As we walked out of the center, a young lady approached Alex and said
“How exciting! You’re having a baby! All my friends are too!”.
Alex smiled and said that she was indeed having a baby, and that she was looking forward to meeting her. Our new friend replied
“Can I give you a hug?”
They hugged and the girl passed Alex a note with a pretty yellow flower. It was so touching that complete strangers (from Boulder) would reach out to Alex like that.
Monday: Durango
After staying in a tiny campsite that didn’t even fit our two-man tent at Natural Bridges National Park, we drove the park circuit, saw some rocks, and then crossed the border into Colorado, and our destination, Durango where we stayed in Kennan and Cheryl’s off-the-grid cabin.
Baby Shower
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
While we were in Durango, my dear friends put together a baby shower for us. It was really great to see everyone. The party was at Mark and Sarah’s beautiful house in the valley. We had a BBQ in the backyard. All men, kids, and dogs were welcome. That was our kind of party! We got tons of great gifts. Thank you!!!
Me and B - Happy!
HUGE!
CrisAnn and Steve - the best neighbors ever!
Anne-Britt and Emily - great old friends.
Mark manning the grill - such yummy food!
Kennan and Cheryl
B and his BFF Jaquito
Steve, Nora and Matt
Cheryl, Roan Berry and B
Pressies!
Thoughtful gift from Dylan
Hound dog - PacoMan
Ophir the pass to Bluegrass
Monday, June 21st, 2010
Alex and I are getting into the habit of exposing our little girl to an eclectic range of music. While staying in Silverton, and with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival just over the range, we couldn’t resist a little day trip.
I rode my bike, Alex drove. She beat me by about 10 minutes, but I think I had the best view:
One thing that we learnt from the festival was that we are definitely Indie Rock fans at heart. That said, I still enjoyed seeing Lyle Lovett do this thing with his “Large Band”. Also on the bill were Sam Bush, Peter Rowan, and some of the Dixie Chicks.
Telluride is a beautiful setting for a festival. The sun, however was harsh at that altitude turning all the crowd red by evening when the chill came. We decided to leave at the end of Lyle Lovett’s set, to beat the crowds out of the valley. That would have been a cunning plan except I was hungry, fancied a drink, and we hung out in our favourite Italian restaurant/bar for long enough to queue for the gondola with all the patrons who had stuck it out until the end.
I may have said that we learnt that we are Indie Rock fans at heart, but we both (all three?) enjoyed the day, the festival, the views, and the vibe of Telluride in the summertime.
Training in Silverton
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Alex and I are on the road for a week. We’ve driven over to Colorado from Palo Alto.
Right now we are staying in Silverton, in Mark and Sarah’s caboose.
We will have plenty more blog posts from this trip when we get home. For now I will write about my ride yesterday because I am sitting in the sun at the end of the caboose looking at it.
When we arrived in town late yesterday, Alex suggested that I ride up Kendall Mountain (see pic) I thought it was a stupid idea so I did it. It’s a tough climb up a rutted loose road from 9300 to 13066 feet (3982 metres). At the top there are still snowdrifts across the road so I had to get off and push my bike over them.
The very top has no road which required a hand and foot scramble in bike shoes. I made it, spurred on by not daring to disappoint My fiancée.
I reached the top just in time for sunset and the most amazing view which I won’t share with you because I didn’t pack a camera (nor enough water).
The ride down in the quickly fading light i.e. dark was not too much fun. I returned into Silverton at 9:30pm, a full half hour before Alex was going to send her own rescue party, and too late for dinner at the POW, though the drinks were still flowing.
31 week ultrasound
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
I went in for the 31 week ultrasound today. She weighs 4 pounds and is healthy. The doc said everything looks perfect. She has the chubbiest cheeks (like her Mom) and the fattest toes (like her Dad). They moved the due date up to Aug. 10 again, PHEW!
The Xx
Friday, June 4th, 2010
Alex has only one annoying trait.
She likes to play one song repeatedly if it pleases her. There are a few songs that I like on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th play, but start to get a little weary of it on the 6th. I know now that if we ever play any Bon Iver, Pete Murray or The Xx then the MP3 player will go retro and sound like a broken record.
It was with some anticipation of this behaviour that we lobbed into the Great American Music Hall in the city to see The Xx live. I hadn’t listened to The Xx play one song to the next, and it was a treat to hear the variation. They didn’t repeat a single track. Though with such a short set, they would have had time to. How do you make that happen in a concert?
We got the Pregger’s Pass seating on the balcony and in the back corner. I don’t think they would have heard us from there if we had shouted that Alex wanted them to repeat.
The Great American Music Hall has a name that belongs in Nashville, and a decor that would not be out of place in Victorian London. It holds close to a thousand punters which is about right for the balance between intimacy and atmosphere in my opinion.
The Xx put on a mellow, moody show with plenty of deep deep bass, and lighting to enhance the mood. The sound was great and I was so happy to hear that song, that I’ve heard over, and over, and over …