The Colonel's Forum

It's been another busy week here in San Francisco, and I couldn't be happier. The project is moving along well, and we're really going to be delivering something valuable here. The weather here is still perfect, and the city continues to provide an endless supply of dining and entertainment options. It is the antithesis of Findlay, Ohio (thank God). As Ella and I like to say, it is also "not France." When I was entrusted with the safekeeping of some of P. Leroy's (my great grandfather) personal effects, one of the items among them was a St. Christopher's medal. As all good Catholics know, St. Christopher was the patron saint of travelers until 1969, when the Vatican decided there wasn't enough historical evidence to even support his existence. Then again, what does the Vatican know? Most of us (myself included) still consider St. Christopher to be the patron saint of travelers. For additional good measure, the reverse of this medal features St....

I am now in my 4th week of what is proving to be a great project out here at PG&E. As Mark Twain put it though "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." He may have over stated a bit, but we're topping out in the high 70s this week and that's about as hot as it gets out here. The bluegrass is experiencing a bit of a heat wave so I can't say I miss that. Things are busy at work, but wanted to update on a few developments of note: 1) Had lunch today at Yank Sing , the finest Dim Sum restaurant in San Francisco. They are only open for lunch, and I was lucky enough to snag a reservation. It was a real treat, and several of the team had never dined in this traditional Chinese style. 2) I'm attending a summer performance of the San Francisco symphony tonight and couldn't be more excited. Nothing against the Lexington Philharmonic, but I'm a sucker for the big city symphonies. Tonights program: "A program for the rom...

Well I had a delightful 4th of July at home with Ella and Tobi. Ella and I actually walked in Lexington's parade, carrying the banner for K.E.E.P. , an organization that promotes legislation to improve and solidify the horse industry as one of Kentucky's key industries. The 7th I spent the day out on lake Cumberland with friends Kris and Michelle. A good day on the lake just can't be beat. Monday however I was back on a plane to the city by the bay. This time I stayed in the Sir Francis Drake hotel. What a joy to be staying a short elevator ride away from the Starlight Room. Of course, I made the most of it. The place was closed down Monday night because several (un-named) major league ball players rented out the entire lounge for a private party. Nice. Work at PG&E is going very well. I still love walking to work and I really don't mind the travel. I'm really only away from home for 3 nights a week. Compare that with the 43 consecutive nights that At...

A chapter in my life came full circle today as I was able to have lunch with my good friend Bruce Bartolf. Bruce is a Senior VP and CTO at Gensler , an internationally reknowned architecture and design firm with a client list that is truly impressive. Bruce went to Miami a few years before I did, and we met back in 1998 when he was visiting campus. We had a few beers uptown, he offered me an internship for the summer, next thing you know I was living in San Francisco for 3 months. It was my first insight into the IT world and I will be forever grateful to him for the opportunity. I hope that someday I can pay it forward. 10 years later I am impressed to see that Gensler has retained some of the same staff. Out here in the Bay area job market, that says a lot about Bruce and Gensler. A wise man explained to me in high school about how people pass in and out of your life all the time, and the significance of the impressions that they leave with you, and that you leave with them. ...

I had an exciting weekend here in San Francisco. I went to the Federal Reserve Bank, the Museum of Modern Art, shopping at Union Square, the Fillmore jazz festival, and "Pinot Days." Along the way I met up with Puja who is out here doing a swanky internship at Yahoo. The FRB is an interesting place. It's a semi-government organization, it's non-profit, and it's a major force in the US economy. Aside from setting monetary policy, the Fed provides a number of services to banks, including check clearing and currency services. The FRB San Francisco has on display the most complete collection of US currency anywhere, including an original $100,000 treasury note, and bank notes signed by Ben Franklin and Paul Revere. They also have some US military (WWII) currency on display. I didn't know it, but we actually printed our own French, German, and Japanese currency for the allies to use. At the MOMA I saw a great exhibition of photographer Martin Munkacsi's...