Work:
I’ve been very busy the last few weeks. Most of it self-imposed work too but I like it that way. I really, seriously can’t stand complacency and I see way too much of it, frankly.
One of the projects I’m working on is a set of technical innovative solutions. Some of these solutions are simple just put the piece-parts together kind of stuff which is rather easy for me with my fortunate networking experience. Others are conceptual and require some level of custom software development work. The main points I would like to portray is that we are at an incredible time in technology innovation where people with basic knowledge can design incredibly efficient solutions without the enormous costs, time and complication needed historically. I’m passionate about sharing these new ideas and having constructive conversations because I realize that it takes vision to get organizational support for radical ideas even though the benefits can be tremendous.
Stanford Cardinal versus Arizona Wildcats college football game:
Our annual Stanford Cardinal football game and, most importantly, pre and post tailgate adventures took place this past Saturday. It was a wonderful pleasant day, weather-wise and the game did not disappoint. First, let me briefly describe our seating position because this was very unusual from our past games where I have participated for about the past 5 or so years. One of our mutual friends is a Stanford Alumni and always gets the tickets. Usually they are great seats and we are only a few rows from the field. Well, this year we weren’t so close to the field. In fact we were barely in the stadium! How can we go from one extreme to the other is beyond me. We were literally three rows from the very, very top of the stadium. Fortunately Stanford Stadium went through a major remodeling a few years ago and the stadium is a wonderful place to watch a game regardless of your seating position. I wish I didn’t have to witness these ‘bleacher seats’ for myself to get that perspective but none-the-less we did.
We were able to see all the plays and also could follow the action on the big screen displays on either end of the field so it wasn’t that bad at all. The game itself was exciting. No defense what-so-ever. Each team compiled 617 yards of offense for a grand total of 1234 which is amazing. Stanford was looking really bad because they were down by two touchdowns with only about 9 minutes left but they rallied to tie the game. Then they eventually won in overtime. Very exciting.
The pre and post game festivities are always the highlight of these events though. There is a group of about 6-8 of us that do it annually. I can’t wait for next year!
We also got to spend some quality time with my mother watching coverage of the Olympics which was a lot of fun. We got to share a truly memorable moment when Oscar Pistorius of South Africa ran the 400-meter track and field event. Oscar was born with a birth defect that caused him to have both his legs amputated below the knee when he was 11-months old. He was fitted with special prosthetics that allowed him to not only walk normally, but he’s one of the fastest runners in the world! Although he didn’t end up winning a medal his courage was absolutely inspirational. His smile was so genuine that it was infectious. In general in our society, we need more great stories like the one that Oscar provided this past Saturday at the London Olympics.
