last few days have been admittedly somewhat frantic preparing for the trip… trying to get final confirmations for hotels in Bali (Ubud), Krabi/Ao Nang Beach and Bangkok… we’re almost done now… is incredible how stressful it can be for type-A personalities… worrying that we may not be getting the absolute most incredible best rate a person on planet earth could get… funny when you think about how other people just bop thru these trips…

we decided to splurge on our last night… in Bangkok at the Shangri-La… I’m pretty sure this hotel has been referenced in books I’ve read before…

also just tying up lots of loose ends… finished reading the Da Vinci Code… was fun to read… another semi-factual fiction… in the tradition of grisham/clancy… was a quick one…

bought karen a new Canon Rebel slr digital camera… is sweet… combines the control of ‘real’ photography with the realities of 6.3MP digital photography…

first 3 days of sabbatical are over… quick recap… am i fit out for retirement?

yes… it suits me… day 1, thurs jan 8 ’04, had a # of chores… cleaning up office, having lunch with bruce moore downtown… chowed down on wings at tatonka with friends (holiday excursion to fox sports grill… plus, spent some time in the evil empire today, and tried out their $2.99 for 24 hours of internet access… seemed like a pretty good deal for me…

day 2, fri jan 9 ’04… already slipping from memory a bit… started reading the da vinci code… enjoying so far… wondering though how many of the truths mentioned in the book are really true… was da vinci gay? was mona lisa really a female version of himself and are the words mona lisa really referring to ‘man woman’ which is another play on the androgynousness of it all, and what she’s really knowlingly smirking about? fun stuff… also got in a workout… pretty sure my metabolism has officially slowed down… i’ve been pretty good with cutting back on eating and exercising a lot more… but, the weight has remained pretty steadfast… uh oh…

day 3, fri jan 10 ’04… up at 6:30 or so… took zach over to orvidas/demage house… then we hit the road to portland to Aunt Jeanine and Uncle Hal’s house… visiting were Aunt Connie and Uncle Jim with adorable cousin Katya from Chile… her father (Jason) wasn’t along for the trip, but she was perfectly at home with us all… then cousin Lynn and Ed Valenter stopped over with Connor, Nolan, Luke and Renee… we had a few raucous snowball fights, gorged ourselves on some all day grazing… then turned around again… listened to a book on cd called the last american man … very interesting to think about how far we all are from really being able to ‘live off the land’… this guy, Eustace Conway, is doing it, right now at turtle island…

Woke up to a Tyler Hamilton stage win in the Tour de France — only the 6th American ever to win a stage — very cool, especially since he crashed on day 1 and fractured his collarbone in two places — hard to comprehend the drive that these riders possess — hell, I have trouble finishing 3-4 mile runs from time to time… Lance is still leading by 67 seconds – will be a thrilling time trial on saturday

Am in CS training today in Tacoma — started the day with an interesting call with Yossi Vardi (founder of ICQ)

One more thing– I’m taking a beginning photography class at Seattle Central Community College — am absolutely loving it — engaging the other side of my brain — encouraging just wandering around, wasting time, daydreaming…

worked very late on tuesday — was a long, but inspiring day for me — it felt great to put in a long, focused day with my new team in Associates. was a great feeling to have a whole team of folks driving toward our goal of 12noon launch.

we launched the new q4 pricing announcement on wednesday… the message boards trashed us a bit in the beginning, but then we saw folks beginning to take to the change with the observation that we really are going to pay them significantly more. time will tell over the next 100 days, eh?

ah well… one more thing, i really enjoyed the book where wizards stay up late — like i said, it tells about the creation of the ARPANET (forerunner of the Internet) — interesting for everyone, I believe