Mountain View, California

Dear Friends:

This week, I spent the day in California.  Specifically, I was in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was there on business and it was a very short trip.  My primary purpose was to meet with several teams at Google.  Visits to the Google campus (also knows as the Googleplex), are always interesting. Google is always working on very interesting things.  The vibe is certainly very positive.

My meetings focused on the Android team - this is the group that makes the operating system for Android phones.  I stopped by a spot that has statues dedicated to each version of the Android system. They have named each release after a type of candy or dessert:

As I've noted before, there is an endless array of luxuries and "benefits" for the Google employees.  Life outside of these very successful tech companies pales in comparison.  Companies like Google tries to bring many conveniences directly to their employees - to keep them as close to work as possible.  On this particular visit, I noticed this:

I've met with a LOT of engineers...and in my opinion, the majority of them don't really care too much about hair styles ; )

After several meetings, I visited the Google Store - where they sell a collection of Google-logo'd items.  Shirts, mugs, backpacks, sweatshirts...everything you can imagine would be there:

I ended up buying a little Android figure...to go into the collection ; )

The second part of this trip was the best part.  I had the chance to meet-up with my oldest daughter and her family.  We took my youngest grandson to the park, and had a blast!

We went to their house and had a great dinner.  My grandson wanted to show me his favorite video - a compilation of steam trains.  He wants to watch this video over and over again.  It's adorable:

I love hanging out with this little guy.  I can usually get him to laugh all the time.  We decided to pose for a picture together:

After putting him to bed, we watched the first game of the NBA finals.  The Golden State Warriors were playing, so it was a big deal here in the Bay Area.  Everywhere you would go, there are signs and shirts and banners:

They love this team.  It's such a change from the decades that I lived there and the Warriors were one of the worst teams in the entire league.  I'm glad that they finally have enjoyed a bit of success.  It's been good for the entire area.

That's it for now - I told you it was a very quick trip!