Mountain View, California

Dear Friends:

This week, I'm hanging out in the San Francisco Bay Area...specifically in Mountain View, California. I'm here visiting the world headquarters of Google.  For those that are at all familiar with Google, they have a truly unique style in their massive campus in California (and actually, across the globe).  Many of you might own an Android phone or Android tablet (Amazon Kindle, Samsung Galaxy, etc).  The heart of that phone or tablet is made up of software that comes from Google.  Outside of the building that houses that team are giant statues that commemorate the code names of each software release (Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich, Honeycomb, etc):

I had a series of meetings with Google that day.  In another building, I was reminded of what it is like to work in large tech companies in Silicon Valley.  Most of the engineers wear t-shirts and shorts to meetings.  I saw several shades of hair color on single individuals.  For the first time in my life, I had a meeting with an engineer that had a small dog in his jacket during the entire meeting.  Seriously.  I also came upon this unique device:

Yes...it's a slide...inside the office...

I remember the days of working in Silicon Valley.  The demand for solid engineers at these tech companies have pushed the "perks" to some crazy levels.  I hope they realize just how good they have it ; )

That evening, I was lucky enough to catch-up with my oldest daughter.  She lives in the Bay Area.  For a treat, we decided to go to a fun gathering of food trailers in Belmont.  Called Off The Grid, they try to bring various trailers and people together for fun food experiences.  Since I'm such a fan of the trailers in Austin, I couldn't resist.  We had the most delicious empanadas from one truck.  A light pastry shell filled with delicious beef or mushrooms.  A great appetizer ; )

The main course came from a truck called The Chairman.  They were serving a tender Pork Belly with pickled Daikon, wrapped in a steamed bun...it looked like a small taco.  Here's a picture of the same food, put placed in a bun sandwich:

We loved it so much, that we went back for more (come on, they were small!).  This time, we tried the Coca-Cola Braised Pork with Savoy Cabbage.  In addition, we ventured into the unknown with a crispy Miso-cured tofu with garlic-tofu mayo and baby choy.  DELICIOUS:

I love any time that I get to spend with my children - especially the older kids that I don't see very often.  The food trailers were a perfect activity, as my daughter and I both love experimenting with this sort of thing.

That's it for now - I need to get back home to Austin.  Our home has been without water for an entire week and it's now fixed.  I'm glad that my wife and little ones don't have to endure that problem anymore!  See you in the next post ; )