Author Archives: mike
Shiprock, New Mexico
This has been sitting as a draft for a while. Now that I’m in the corporate metropolis of Atlanta, GA for a market research conference, listening to sales people disguised as thought leaders talk about understanding what motivates people to eat fried chicken for breakfast and how to rig hidden cameras embedded in retail shelves […]
Some nice things about the cross-country train trip
I have been meaning to write a counterbalance to my jaded end-of-train-ride post with something that captured the (more positive) sentiment I had earlier in the ride. Overall, it was a nice trip, and I’m glad I did it! I’d do it again even, but preferably with a sleeper car next time. The main train that got […]
Get me off of this train
Mentors
When I began planning this extended vacation in California, I saw that the Santa Clara Vanguard birthday dinner was last Sunday, so I anchored the end of my trip around that. I spent my last two nights in CA at my Vanguard buddy, Erik’s apartment in San Francisco. Someone said that our actions only make […]
Anticipating the Cross-country Train
Bagels
In general, I am a big fan of bagels. There’s something convenient about having such a densely packed and portable source of carbohydrate. And they’re versatile: there’s the classic “spread some stuff on it” approach, and there’s the bagel sandwich; one can go sweet or savory depending on what the situation calls for. The only […]
Sounds of New York
In the film, Manhattan, Woody Allen’s character first described the city as “still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin”. Then in the next revision, “He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else. He thrived on the hustle bustle of the […]
Friends’ Offices
There Are Too Many People in New York City. Also, I Went there for Vacation
I have two weeks off between leaving my old job and starting a new one. I could have spent this time doing many things, and the first that comes to mind is house projects. There are a few weatherization-related items that are time sensitive. I completed one of those projects, which involved some creative use […]




