Tamarack Vacation

The annual tradition and trip with friends and loved ones to Tamarack, ID is here again!  Once again, Chuck and Emily came along and I was thrilled to have Jake, too, of course!  This year we were also joined by Andrej Roncevic, Tiffany Allred, Michael Adams, Eric Soto, Casey Moyer and Ezra Espinoza.  As usual, the weather was great, we cooked, drank, played games at the cabin and even took a day trip downtown McCall to checkout what was left of the winter festival ice sculptures.

Game night was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had at Tamarack.  Jake and I did pretty good with the game, as did Chuck and Emily but Michael and Tiffany rocked it!  We only got through one round before it was time to take the drinks to the hot tub and relax.

Such a nice time, as always with great friends and family!  Looking forward to what we plan for the next year.

St. Valentine's Day

The 13th?  Yup.  It's been a busy week - Shirley Temple passed on Monday, February 10th.  Then on Wednesday a sink hole collapsed part of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky in which eight Corvettes were damaged or destroyed.

Wednesday night I flew into Boise so Jake and I would have a day to prepare for our annual Tamarack trip (Friday through Sunday) which meant we had our Valentine's Day together today!  Because of delays, I didn't get to Boise until almost midnight, thanks Jake for still picking me up!

On Thursday we exchanged cards and had a nice meal together at Jake's place.  I surprised Jake with bringing up the European version of Ticket to Ride which we've been enjoying.  Jake surprised me with a personalized, homemade running medal plaque!  WOW!

With all the festivities and love in the air, Republicans were not to be outdone!  They introduced the affectionately named "You're not married anymore bill".  Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) co-sponsored the bill.  The bill would effectively prohibit the Federal government from recognizing same sex marriages if they live in a state that doesn't recognize them (like Idaho, right now).  Thank you to the citizens of Utah and Texas, we can always count on you for such stellar representation in Congress!

So much rain!

Today I went to go on a run around Spring lake and through Howarth park, but to no avail!  There was water pooled everywhere, blocking paths and running down trails.  I tried heading up some alternate trail paths but the water was actually coming down them like small creeks.  I even saw deer walking around, probably also wondering what the heck was up with all the water everywhere!  I had to cut my run short and head home, hopefully things will clear up soon.

Ian's Surprise Birthday Party

Tonight I drove down to San Jose to meet up with several other friends and surprise Ian Go for his birthday!  Ian and Shawn were visiting the bay area since they'd moved to Colorado.  Shawn thought he'd get their friends together for a night out.  It was at the BackAYard which had a great menu with extensive options including vegan!  I had braised tofu, plantains, rice and a salad.  It was all very well done and tasted delicious!

It was wonderful seeing Shawn, Ian and several of their friends I haven't seen in years!  Happy Birthday, Ian!

Politics As Usual

This morning I went for a 7 mile run with Amanda in Sonoma.  Then this afternoon I went over to Debbie and Mike's place in Sebastopol to watch Super Bowl XLVIII.  It was a fun watching the game, having drinks and snacks with friends.

Politics has been on my mind again, there's been a lot in the news lately that just doesn't make sense.  That's when I get most frustrated when politicians are not listening to the people or the people are so poorly educated on something that they choose poor political candidates.

One of the big misinformation mills the Republicans and the belt way media have been pressing is that our President is a dictator.  One of the things they point to is his use of the executive order.  Unfortunately, once again, for Republicans they are sadly mistaken in their facts.  Five years into his presidency Obama has signed 168 while his predecessor (George Bush) had signed 173 in his first four years.  As usual, if executive power was actually an issue for Republicans, then I expect them to bring it up when "one of theirs" is in office.  Sadly, that isn't the case.

Then in Idaho, the Republican's have put forth Senate Bill 1254 which would allow individuals to bring weapons onto college campuses in Idaho.  The presidents of the school board met and unanimously voted to oppose the legislation.  They also provided extensive rationale for why this is the best course of action.  Despite the efforts of our highest education administrators throughout the state and significant citizen push back, the Republicans in the statehouse passed the law anyways and it was singed into law.

Continuing on for some time now is the "Add The Words" campaign in Idaho.  After years of trying to get equal protections for the GLBT community, a strong group of politically active citizens have started to escalate the fight for our protections.  In Idaho, it's perfectly legal for an employer to fire an employee just because of their association or identity when it comes to sexual orientation.  This is banned in Boise, but it's not state-wide.  Of course the Republicans aren't going to address this.  But the group is working very hard with rally's and making it clear we want protection just like any other minority class.  Thanks to those brave souls who are working so hard.

So glad to be living in California.  Idaho seems to be in a constant state of one step forward and two steps back!

Upgrade Weekend

This weekend our HR/Student system "MySSU" Oracle/PeopleSoft 9.0 was taken offline Friday evening for a tools upgrade.  We are upgrading from PeopleTools 8.51 to 8.53.02.  One of the benefits of our extensive system support from the CSU Chancellor's office is that they will actually do a significant majority of the technical work.  The database came back for our acceptance on Saturday and all went well!  Now we can use the Oracle delivered Campus Mobile (PT 8.52 or higher was a requirement).  Excited for the new functionality.

After everything cleared technical review for the upgrade, I headed up to Healdsburg to pickup my wine shipment from Thumbprint.  It was a beautiful day for a motorcycle ride!

Omlette Express

This morning I went on a motorcycle ride for breakfast and I ended up where I usually do; the Omelette Express in the railroad district of Santa Rosa.  My favorite omelette is the herb, cheese and bacon one with a side of fruit.  It's always busy so getting here before 10:00am is usually imperative.  Just one of my happy weekend rituals!