The latest

    Just a two-week business trip to Chicaaaago, but not the light of the day to do any sight-seeing. I was basically stuck in a server room for two weeks, and could only gather from the weather channel what it was like outside. Nevertheless, I did escape for about two hours, and here are some pics from downtown Chicago.
    By the way, I stayed in Warrenville, Il. Ab-so-lute-ly lovely people out there!

    What a gorgeous day we had! Anna is in the process of collecting flight hours for her next job, so she invited us to come along and fly in a Cessna Skyhawk from Palo Alto to Pismo Beach and back. The pre-flight and in-flight procedures absolutely fascinated me, the flight was exciting and the stay in Pismo was a blast. Here's the whole story with pictures.

February 09, 2004 - Skiing - Woohoooo!

    Out of nowhere came the plan to go skiing at Lake Tahoe this weekend. Squaw Valley had reported 6 inches of fresh snow on Friday night, so off we went to enjoy a beautiful day on skies. Stopping only once for some delicious clam chowder we chased down the blue- and black-diamond trails until we got kicked out. The sky was blue, the snow was as powdery as never before, and deep down below Lake Tahoe lay still while stood on Granite Chief at 9,050 feet, marveling at it. What a day - too bad that we had to go back Saturday night. We'll go again within the next three weeks.

  On Sunday we went rollerblading for a couple of hours, up and down the Los Gatos Creek Trail. This trail is just a beauty by itself, following the Los Gatos Creek closely and displaying little waterfalls, lakes and a lot of wildlife on both sides of the creek. The trail is kind of narrow, so you sure get some practice in breaking and making quick turns. Talking about which - my break is completely down, will get a new one from the great guys at Black Diamond Sports in Palo Alto.

    Phew, that was quite a hike last Saturday. I had done some research on beautiful hikes in Marin County and found one that leads all the way from Mt. Tamalpais down to Stinson Beach - and back. Quite a strenuous one, but absolutely beautiful. It took us about 4 hours to complete the hike, including a break in Stinson Beach for a beer. No pictures from this hike (sorry!), but a link to the trail map.

July 27, 2003 - Running...

    Today we had a street race on our plate - Wharf to Wharf, which actually means running from Santa Cruz to Capitola, a mere 6 miles (10 kilometers). We arrived early, joined the middle field and ended up with a time of roughly 1 hour - not really great, but considering the facts that the track went up and down all the time, and that we had not been running in almost two years, it was not too bad. Not to mention that we had too much energy after this race and went rollerblading -after enjoying a fabulous breakfast at the Los Gatos Cafe :).

April 21, 2003 - Wine Country

    This was a perfect weekend for a visit to Californias Wine Country with a stay at Nance's Hot Springs in Calistoga. We took off Friday night to make full use of Saturday and Sunday as the wineries open between 9 and 10 am and close between 4 and 5 pm. We did not take into account that many wineries were closed on Easter Sunday - which by no means implied that we would run dry ;-). Here, of course, a selection of pictures.

December 7, 2002 - Cirque du Soleil

    Last night we visited another breathtaking performance by the Cirque du Soleil crew. Their latest show 'Varekai' was out of this world and again on top of any previous performance I had ever watched. Watching their show is like living a dream, and you never want to wake up from it.

November 26, 2002 - Dining out with Friends

    Just came back from a wonderful evening with a handful of friends. We met in Los Gatos and went to Cafe Marcella where Maria had made reservations. I had never been there before, and I loved the atmosphere and the food. The starters were really fresh and tasty, the main dishes were mouthwatering. Mind you, I am not intending to turn into a restaurant critic, but the food and the staff in this place are outstanding. Needless to say that we had a great evening chatting along.

    Today we teamed up for football - my first live football game ever. Of course I was curious if I would find football as exciting as soccer (as they call it here). We drove up to the Candlestick Park and got our seats in time before the game started. I must say that this game pretty much grabbed my attention, and, although the game is just not flowing at all, instead interrupted after every short move (between 5 and 20 seconds), it was fun to watch. I could get used to it, and will give it another try soon. The game, by the way, sucked - at least from an SF point of view. The San Francisco 49ers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles with 17:38, which is reportedly a terrible defeat. Nonetheless we had a great time. Couple of pictures right here.

    Undoubtedly this has been one of the nicest weekends in a long time. I do not want to imply that the previous weekends sucked, but being with my best friends on Saturday and Sunday really made this special. On Saturday night we went out for dinner and drinks in San Francisco. Dinner took place at 'Butterfly', an extremely hip and interesting restaurant to dine at. The wine was great, the service was very corteous and the food was really good while the music added to the great atmosphere. On the downside I must note that the food came really late. It took the kitchen 90 minutes to prepare our dinner. Wiith all due respect, that should never happen. Next were the bars, starting off with Cozmo's. The crowd in there is pretty much my preference in the city - fun, down to earth and always open for a chat. The drinks don't suck either. Next on the list was 'Matrix', a very crowded, loud and yet fun place to be at. Finally we went to the 'Redwood Room'... I have never before experienced so much self-indulgence in one place. If you want to see a room filled with people who consider themselves the navel of the world, go there. You might find some navel lint.

    On Sunday we went to the Halfmoon Bay Brewery - yep, the same place we'd been to several times before. Again, Rolando Morales and his band were playing cuban music, which we enjoyed while sitting outside by the gaslamps. The drinks and the food were good, the music was terrific. This has been one memorable day, and more will follow.

---

November 1, 2002 - Halloween!!!

    Sorry folks, I had to take the guestbook offline for now. Some moron had posted some really disgusting stuff in there, and I'd like to make sure that that does not happen again. Some people are really sick...

---

September 28, 2002 - Bine was here

    Had a terrific weekend in San Diego. As soon as I've unpacked I'll tell you about it.

   Just back from a wonderful weekend. On Friday night the four of us (Martina, Boris, Markus and me) drove from Pleasonton to Kings Canyon which is situated about six hours southeast from the greater Bay Area. The ride was kind of calm and soothing so everybody but the driver dozed off once in a while. We arrived around midnight and put up the tents - but then the next two days were spectacular! On Saturday we hiked from our 'base camp' to the Mist Falls and even above, on Sunday we took it easy and walked the treaded tourist paths in the Sequoia National Forest. What a delightful weekend! Here are some pics. (Honestly, they were hard to pick. I have about 160 pics from that weekend...)

   It's smoldering out here... for a couple of days already the sun has been stinging down on us and the air does not move. It's not smoggy, mind you, just incredibly hot. Even a dive in the pool does not bring any relieve anymore. And... though this might sound like a complaint, it's not! I enjoy it! This is what I came for to California.

   Saturday was a great day for some 'tourist-slalom' in San Francisco, rollerblading up and down Embarcadero. We made it for about two hours before we dived into Pier 23 for a refreshing beer.

   On Sunday Priscilla and I drove to Alameda to meet a guy who needed a crew for his sailboot for some sailing in the San Francisco Bay. We volunteered and got the job. Boy, it was good to be on the water again. The wind blew at around 15 knots so we had to reef the main sail once we were in the middle of the bay. The trip was quite pleasant, so we'll go again next Sunday. Here are the sailing pictures!
After sailing we went to the Halfmoon Bay Brewing Co. again - Rolando Morales and his fabulous band were playing latin rhythms. And here's to everybody who bailed: you missed a great party! And here are some pictures of that evening.

    I know that I have been missing out writing stuff for a month. But - it's hot out here! Still sitting in my appt., it is 85 F in here @ 10 p.m. - and my brain hurts. No way writing anything now...

    Stewie is going back to England for three months, so what to do better than throwing him a farewell party. Tindel offered his house for the party (thanks dude). Unfortunately he forgot to mention that he has a hot tub on his patio - which of course kept no-one from jumping in anyway. At temperatures around 25 degrees C (77 Fahrenheit for you Americans :) everybody dried off more or less quickly, the dancing definitely added some heat for faster drying. Here is my favourite selection of pictures. If that is not enough, check out this gallery with (almost g*) all images.

    Last Saturday began really nice with a hike in Big Basin with Maria. Driving there is already worth it, the meandering roads lead you high up onto the mountains through dense green woods, then down into the valley, into Big Basin itself. This beautiful park is located about an hour south of Saratoga. We parked the car and hiked a couple of hours. It was like taking a small vacation. Here are some pictures from that hike. Later that day Mark and I raided a couple of bars in San Francisco. I won't tell you what happened, but we sure had fun.

    On Sunday Madeleine, Ralf, Reena and I met in Tiburon at Sam's - again. The weather was spectacular, and the bartender sure makes a mean Bloody Mary. A walk on the waterfront with an unobstructed view on the city finalized a phantastic day.

    Oh boy, that was a party last night... Thank you, Per and Annie, that was a lot of fun! Did we really party until 7 a.m.?
   Actually this was a housewarming party at Annie's place which Per had remodeled very nicely, and he even prepared some of the food. Quite a talented guy. The mix of guests was also incredibly interesting - there were folks from Malaysia, Singapor, China, India, Iran, Australia, Sweden, Germany, England and France. And, yes, there was even somebody from the U.S. - Larry. If I am not mistaken, he was the only person who was born and raised in the U.S. Talk about the Bay Area being international...

    Tonight I made a short trip to San Francisco, hoping that I would catch the city during a nice sunset. Well, it wasn't particularly great, but at least I could take two very nice pictures. Here you go...

    Yesterday we went to Half Moon Bay - again. The nicest place out there ever is the Half Moon Bay Brewery. They serve great beer, good food, and there's always a good band playing live music on the weekends. Last night we listened and danced to Cuban Rythms. Needless to say that we had a great time ;). A few pictures here...

    Last Saturday was kind of fun. We worked a bit on the house I am currently living in and enjoyed a bottle of the fantastic 2000 Chardonnay from the Frank and Family winery. It was quite hot, we worked outside and the Chardonnay really did its job. It was more a mellow party atmosphere than hard work ;). Snoogans!
    On Sunday we drove to Tiburon to enjoy another sunny day on the patio of Sam's Cafe. That place is always packed, and there's a reason why: It is fun to sit there, have a few drinks and watch people! Besides that the view from the patio on San Francisco is plainly stunning. Plan at least half an hour of waiting time for a table. Pictures are here!

    Last night we returned from Calistoga. Ahem - can you tell by all these travel reports that I just love this area? We stayed at the wonderful Bed and Breakfast "Christopher's Inn", a really cute place. They even have fireplaces in almost every room...
    Calistoga is famous for its water, hot springs, mud baths and of course the numerous wineries that you can find all around Calistoga. Another famous attraction is the "Old Faithful" geyser that errupts precisely every 9.5 minutes and shoots hot water into the air. A must see. Among the wineries we hit were Beringer (fun, but too commercial), Markham (great folks behind the counter), Frank and Family (great folks, extraordinary Chardonnay) and a few other ones that I just can't remember right now ;). In addition we checked out the CIA. No, not what you are thinking... I am talking about the Culinary Institute of America where great chefs are made. If you are into cooking, you will love this institution.
    Mud baths are kind of fun, although, when you see the hot, steaming mud, you will most certainly exclaim "I'll never jump into THAT". After 20 minutes in the mud, though, you won't want to leave. Add a 30 minute head-to-toe-massage to that and you feel reborn. There are many mud bath institutions in Calistoga, the most traditional one is Dr. Wilkinsons. We even met Dr. Wilkinson in person, he is a really nice guy. Say hello for me when you are there.
    Now for the restaurants and bars... As we stayed for two nights only we could only try two restaurants Brannan's and Catahoula - and both were really good. The only bar we hit after dinner was the Hydro Bar and Grill, a great bar with live music, great personnel who even recognized us the second night (I wonder why...) and really good Cosmopolitans. It was tough going back to the Bay Area after being pampered for two days :-D.

    This travel crazy just doesn't stop! Yesterday late at night we returned from Tahoe City. Guess what - we were gone skiing again. This time we hit the Alpine Meadows ski resort, a widespread area with lots of double-black-diamond trails. Greg forced me down a few of those, and, I must say it wasn't that bad after all! Thanks to Nell for driving and to Anna for giving us shelter over the weekend :).

    I just returned from San Diego where I had another fantastic weekend rollerblading and playing beach volleyball. Driving to San Diego takes about 7.5 hours if you take the fast route: 101 south to Gilroy, 152 east to I-5, then straight south on I-5 until you hit San Diego. The drive is kind of dull, so I only stopped in Bakersfield to fuel up after about 4 hours. My favourite place in San Diego still is Pacific Beach. Only there it happened to me that I was invited to join a beach volleyball game while blading by those folks. In the evening we met at the belly-up tavern in Solana Beach, a must see place when you are in that area.

    This was an amazing weekend, packed with snow and fun. On short notice we decided to go skiing SugarBowl, north of Lake Tahoe, about four hours northeast of San Francisco. Four hours, that is, if you are going on a weekday - on a weekend it could easily take you seven hours to get there. The snow was fantastic! I just can't wait to go back.

    We stayed in a Motel in Truckee, the gateway to the Sierra. Truckee is the town where the 'Donner Party' tried to cross the Sierra Nevada along the 'Truckee Route' in 1846-47, trying to make it to the Pacific Coast. Almost half of the group died, there are gruesome stories about what happened during the journey. Truckee is still breathing the spirit of the time of the early emigrants. If you are there and catch a really cold winter, like the winter of 2001-2002, you might get an idea of what those people have gone through.
Truckee is absolutely marvelous. If you have a chance to go there, especially in winter, please visit.

    Today I moved out of my appartment. My landlord was not willing to lower the rent although rents had gone down everywhere else. I had a lot of wonderful help from John, Eric, John and Priscilla - thank you so much, without you I would still be there, packing and moving. For now I have found shelter at Elizabeth's house in San Carlos, living there with Priscilla and Elizabeth like in "Three's a company". I will start looking for a new place to stay in March / April. Until then I guess we will have a great time living together. Thank you so much, you two :).

 

    Guess who I bumped into at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco... my old buddy Dorian. He has recently restarted his company Network Frontiers and asked me if I would like to come on board. Well - hell, yes! So, now I am working with him and Lynn, offering consulting for businesses regarding network security and backup management. Besides that we will be writing a book about backup management.

    Happy New Year, everybody! I just came back from a 4-week-trip to Hamburg. Again, it was super-nice to see all of you and to spend time with you. Thanks to my parents that I could stay at their house (again), thanks to my siblings for inviting me over, thanks to Tapir for the wonderful Raclette dinner, thanks to Sabine for arranging a surprise dinner with the school-gang, thanks to everybody who took the time to meet and chat about the past, present and future. I miss you all and hope that you will find the time to come over and visit.

 

    We went to the Amphitheatre last night to watch The Barenaked Ladies! What a blast! What a show!

    These guys are incredible. They put on a fantastic show and entertained everybody with their great songs, great lyrics - and with their comedic talent. Unbelievable - we are still completely hyped.
For those of you who don't know them: Listen to "If I had a million dollars" or "Pinch me" - my two favourite songs. And - don't just listen to the music, pay close attention to the lyrics. Hilarious, I tell ya :-D.

    Just came back from a twelve-day-visit to Germany. That sure was a wonderful trip, and an exciting experience to meet all of you, my friends and my family!
My schedule was very tight, so thank you for your patience when I was late, sorry that I could not see everybody I wished to meet (we'll catch up next time :), and a big thank you to everybody I met. I had a terrific time with you guys.

    Last night Nick Hornby was here for a book reading. Yes, THE Nick Hornby, author of some of the greatest novels I have ever read:
About a Boy, Fever Pitch and my absolute favourite High Fidelity. I can't praise him enough for that book - it gave me lots of insights.
    So he was here, reading at a local book store, Keplers, in Menlo Park. He read from his new book, "How to be good", with his british accent and a very melodious voice. Keplers was packed, and the atmosphere was electrifying.

    Drove down from Sunnyvale to Santa Ana to visit a friend. Just a 400 miles ride (roughly 640 kilometers). It took me 6 1/2 hours to get there, just going straight on Interstate 5. Quite a boring drive...
The reason I went there, was, that an old friend had just moved from Germany to California! And what a fun weekend we had! Lots of sports, hanging out by the pool, walking along Newport Beach and Laguna Beach... and of course - a barbeque. I could do that again :-D
By the way - the pictures are up already: my photoalbum--California--Laguna Beach. Enjoy!

    Okay - the summer is here to stay! Temperatures around 86 Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) really make living here a blast! Last weekend we went to Mill Valley and hiked almost to the top of Mt. Tamalpais. What a gorgeous country this is!

    And - did you realize the new button for the guestbook? Please - feel free to leave me a note! Thank you.

    Of course this is not a diary if I don't update it regularly... But - do you really want to know what I did? Work, work, work... that's pretty boring to write (and read) about. Besides that, the weather has become really bad. Temperatures are down to the 50s and it's almost constantly raining.
Sometimes we get a break from the rain. And if those days fall on a weekend there's no reason to stay inside. One fine example is the excursion to Point Reyes 8 days ago. You can find the pictures in "photoalbum -> Point Reyes".
Enjoy!

    Today I bought my new car! It is "a ton of fun", a 2000 Jeep Wrangler. Didn't know I would get a car this fast - but I just saw it and it had my name written all over it!

    Passed the road test for my drivers license! Was not that tough, but on the other hand I already had some practice. Can't wait to buy a car now, because now I will get a reasonable quote for car insurance.

    Been to New York for a week. We exhibited at MacWorld Expo for three days - and what a great show this was! Not only that we are real Apple afficionados, we also received lots of positive feedback for our software!
After-show activities of course included a visit to "Don´t tell Mama". If you ever want to see great stage performances of upcoming stars and cabaret - go there!

    I just passed the written test for my drivers license! Actually you don´t need the drivers license for driving a car - you can use the international license for two years. Unfortunately this document is (mis)-used instead an id for almost everything: renting video tapes, age verification and proof of your resident status in the US. Furthermore car insurances charge you insane rates if you are not in posession of this license. But don´t forget: you need your SSN before you can apply for a drivers license.

    The appartment is ready! A complete walk through is available here! You can also go to the photo album and walk through the entrance door.

    Finally made a trip to the new appartment and took some pictures! They are in my photoalbum, Q - Z. Does anybody have a suggestion for better navigation?

    Went to a really nice pool-and barbeque party far out on the country side. I can not yet decide which pictures to publish - some of them should better stay in private...

    Received my social security number! With this number I am finally entitled to make a california drivers license - and that entitles me to apply for membership at Blockbuster Video! Without a SSN you are virtually nothing, and you only get one if you have a work permit or a california drivers license. But - you don´t get a drivers license without a SSN. Funny, isn´t it?

    Finally got my work permit! zap applied for it mid-november last year. But I´m still ahead of Don who moved to Germany in December!