Rory Garriock

Goodbye, Good Luck and Good Night

Well as the Sun goes down in the sky this evening, so comes to a close my 8 week internship with Sun. I really can’t believe that it’s all over. I’ve been so busy both with work and entertaining that I really hadn’t  had the chance to rationally assess how I would feel right now. I can tell you that whilst I’m really extremely excited about heading to NYC for a 12 day vacation on Sunday, I feel completely deflated; like one would after finding out that the person that you love has just left you for your best friend (this, of course, hasn’t actually ever happened to me though!).

For the first time in my life I had a proper daily routine that didn’t cause me to want to hide my head under the pillow when the alarm struck at 6.30am. Indeed, most mornings I was up before the alarm had the chance to go off – eager and keen to start the day with a positive mind-set and willingness to succeed. If there is something that I’ve learned here in the US, it’s that success is in the eye of the beholder. You can rely on others to pull you along and prop you up, but if you want to make it big and realize all those dreams you have – the only way to achieve that is by pulling your socks up, beating a retreat to the front of the line and rising to every challenge in a way that serves to exceed even the most magnificent expectations of those around you who wield power; their power and your efforts are the key to success. I realized this early on and spent every minute of my time with Sun leveraging my natural enthusiasm, talents and skills in a way that has both served to benefit the company (in the work that I produced) and my long-term future.

Before we all headed out to our respective placements(oh how those pre placement endeavours of form filling, interviews and flights seem a million miles away) I was quite worried about how I would be received here in the States and whether or not I would be a good fit in a technology company. Thankfully though, the fit was tight and the relationships I’ve built up with the Global Communities family even tighter. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I count many of these people as friends now and not just colleagues. To Linda Rogers, Stephanie Hess and Lowell Sachs, who I worked under whilst carrying out my two projects here, I owe a debt of gratitude. For trusting in me and allowing me a free reign over my work, for being fantastic and approachable mentors who were always willing to take the time to sit down and work with me, not above me, for asking for and valuing my opinion on a range of subjects out with my project’s remit, and most importantly - for just being for just being them. I’ll miss them all so much and the regular contact time we all had. I’ll also really miss our fraught political chats, especially the ones that Steph and I have been having recently as the Democrat and Republican conventions have progressed.

As well as my closest mentors, I also have to give a big shout out to some of the other key members with whom I had the pleasure of spending time with – Crawford Beveridge, VP and Chairman Europe ME and Africa, a truly exceptional man and more highly respected by people in the company than anyone else I met. A true inspiration and positive role model for all of us young Scottish interns. Lin Lee, Vice President Global Communities, for her welcoming sprit, positive feedback and most of all for making the time in her busy schedule to sit down with me and chat about work and life; Michelle Dennedy, Chief Privacy Officer, for her at times incomprehensible intellectual comment and stunning wit; Charlotte Thronby-Nielsen and Kirsty Macdonald, Senior Director and Manager Europe, Middle East and Africa, for their invaluable insights and comment and for helping me to realise a further stint with Sun this winter in Europe; Chris Hankin, Senior Director North America, for helping to fill up my otherwise lonesome schedule in DC by taking me to the baseball and introducing me to his sons; Luiz Maluf, Senior Director Americas, for his passion, enthusiasm and willingness to take my calls whenever I needed questions answered and to Mark Terranova and his fantastic team (Charmaine, Chris, Tom, Geordie, Marty and Ron) for making me feel an equal at the all hands meeting by constantly asking for and praising my opinion. Had I not been so fortunate enough to have been placed into, and accepted as a true member of the Global Communities family, I dare say that my experience here in the USA would have been a damn sight less enjoyable and beneficial to my long-term career prospects. Thank you all so much.

So back to my time at Sun and I don’t really feel the need to give you all a rundown of the projects that I’ve been involved with along the way, as I reckon I’ve been pretty comprehensive in my previous blog entries. What I will say is that it has been a real pleasure having been fortunate enough to have been placed with in such an open, progressive, modern and ethically minded organization. So many of the values that are intrinsic to my very being are reflected straight back at me from Sun and for that reason I felt very - maybe a little too – comfortable; hence my finding it so difficult to let go. That said, the cord is still well and truly intact and the relationship very much open, now, and will be into my future. Had external circumstances been different, I actually had the opportunity to stay on for a further month to work some more here in San Francisco, though as the dates with vacation and university worked out, logistically it just wasn’t going to happen. I have to admit that I’m not too downtrodden as I have a sneaking suspicion that me and Sun aren’t quite over yet. In fact I can guarantee it. Call me Glen Close, bunny boiler extraordinaire if you wish – though I’d prefer to think of it as a keenness to retain a connection that has the ability to allow me to flourish in the coming years. I’m actually most likely going to be back working for Sun over the Christmas and New Year holiday period in Brussels and possibly over the year on some side projects that they have me in mind for, so in reality, I’m only leaving San Francisco and not Sun per se.

A last wee mention to the good old Saltire Foundation. Without the staff there having managed to see my potential through the hyper mania that I suffered during the interview process, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have just told you about all of the above (and the exhaustive blogs below) and I really think that would have been a shame not only for me, but for you guys too!! So to Melissa, Irene, Innes, Jen, Julie and the rest of the team at Scottish Enterprise thank you for having provided me with this most fantastic of opportunities. I hope that your faith in me has, in your eyes, been worth the risk and proved to have been the right decision. For me, I think you can tell that I’m very happy with the way that things turned out and so I’m optimistic that you guys feel the same way too. See you all in Glasgow on September 22^nd for our reunion and networking event.

This is just the beginning of something great, something special and something so inspirational that it will serve to change a whole  swathe of young Scotsmen and women. We are the future, you are the future, let’s change Scotland for the better. Now.

“The future depends on what we do in the present” - Mahatma Gandhi

And now all that remains to be said from here in San Francisco is:

Goodbye, good luck and good night...

And the results are in - The five best things to do in San Francisco

I Know that I included number 5 in yesterday's blog but top 5 is just neater than top 4!

5. Golden Gate Park/Japanese Tea Garden

 

The Golden Gate Park is another legacy of a Scotsman’s endeavours in this fair city. Dr John Hayes McLaren from Bannockburn and formerly the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Gardens is credited with both lobbying for land to be set aside for this most impressive of urban parks and also for its care and design. McLaren apparently insisted the park be open to all and refused to erect any ‘keep off the grass signs’. His hard work was most definitely appreciated by three visitors from Scotland on the sunny and hot Labor Day holiday. The park is simply stunning. Stow lake (another Scottish name) with its island hill vista in the middle and row boats lazily floating around it, the impressive and modern De Young Art Gallery building, SF Botanical Gardens and the pièce de résistance – the Japanese Tea Garden to name but a few highlights (it’s 3 miles long). Now I know that some of the other interns are in Japan proper, but this has to the second best thing! Stunning pagodas, impossible bridges, Buddhas, bonsai, waterfalls, winding paths, bamboo and a way too cool tea bar. We grabbed a seat at the benches that run along the outside of the tea cafe place and sipped jasmine and oolong teas with Japanese rice crackers and fortune cookies. Died and gone to heaven doesn’t even come close. At $5 for entry to the garden, it was way cheaper than the $600 Expedia are quoting this evening for a one-way to Tokyo. An absolute must. Couple of tips – 1) If you want to save even this paltry entry fee – head there before noon Wednesdays when entry is gratis.  2) Grab the Muni N line tram from one of the Market underground stations to 9^th and Judah ($1.50 return) – and it’s a mere 5 minutes walk for you exercisally challenged.

4. Top of the Mark

 

I decided that since Mum and Pat had just a week here in San Fran, that they needed to have as glam an experience as possible, and where’s more glam that a penthouse cocktail bar I ask you? So off we went in a cab, up to the top of Nob Hill and the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel. The end location was a secret and when we pulled up outside this Parisian style hotel, they could have been forgiven for thinking that the taxi driver had gotten it wrong – but no, in through the chandelier-clad lobby and up in the elevator to the 21^st floor to the Top of the Mark. The view was simply stunning as we arrived just as dusk had set in, with 360 panoramic views of all of the city and beyond. Sadly, 30 minutes or so after we arrived, that ever present San Francisco mist rolled in and enveloped us in a mass of white/grey cotton wool. Not too down trodden by this, the evening progressed well, with many a $12 martini passing out lips. My fav was a Glamour Sean (Champagne and Vodka), Mum would recommend the Raspberry Pina Colada (Rasp Vodka, Chambord, Coconut Cream and Pineapple Juice) and Pat the Sundowner (Rasp Vodka, OJ, Cran and Grenadine). There are 100 to chose from so something for everyone really. From now on though, I’ll always expect to be offered an olive, raspberry, strawberry or cherry or two for my drink – the offer of a wedge of lemon or orange back home just will not do! To be honest the drinks were merely a by-product of the fantastic entertainment on offer – strictly come dancing eat your heart out!! Tango, Pasa Doble, Waltz? You name it and it was on show – the punters here are clearly no stranger to a lesson or two. There was the octogenarian billionaire looking for his next Anna-Nicole. The boss and his secretary, the old broad in the shiny glam head-dress who’s forgot that she’d gotten old (she was no doubt here on opening night in 1929), her gigolo, Michael and Genevieve, the honeymoon couple – nice moves, the man so large with the wife so small her waist was the size of his forearm and the bad transvestite wearing too much lippy and a badly advised dress. An interesting and heterogeneous crowd to say the least. All in all a worthy top 4 recommendation and a must if you are in town; if only to people watch. Top tip – get there around 7pm on a clear night and watch the sunset over the Golden Gate.

 

3. Ocean Beach

 

Aaah. Ocean Beach. We actually ended up here in error, as we jumped on the tram heading in the opposite direction of Downtown after our trip to Golden Gate Park to avoid waiting an age for it to get down to the terminus and back up again. When we reached the end of Judah (via Sunset Boulevard) we jumped off the tram and decided to grab a quick beer at the Java Beach bar. The view of the beach proper is actually occluded from view by some serious sand dunes and so after sipping my pint I decided to cross the Ocean Highway in search of the Pacific. Once I’d made it through the dunes I was taken aback by the sheer scale and beauty of the beach. The pure blue Pacific, the sun glimmering on its surface, surfers galore enjoying the massive rollers just off the coast, people playing frisbee, soccer and music, partying, drinking and enjoying food from the grill. For me, I’d finally arrived in California. Whether young or old, fat or fit, gay or straight, cat or dog, everyone and everything was represented here and that is typical of one of San Francisco’s greatest assets – its diversity. After spending a fair bit of time walking around the beach I decided to head back through the dunes to grab Mum and Pat to come experience this place first hand. They were glad  that I did. At number 3 on the list, this is a must on your SF itinerary. I have to say, it may have been a place higher were it not for the fact that 80% of the time it’s just too cold and misty to enjoy at its best. Moral of this story – get on a tram in the opposite direction of where you want to go and end up somewhere you should have been in the first place.

2. The Muir Woods/Sausalito

 

Now before I even begin – listen up. Do not spend the $70 or so that it costs to take an organized tour here. It is a total waste of money that otherwise could be spent sipping Martinis as my number 4 recommendation. We instead opted for the $13 ferry ride to Sausalito, then the route 66 Golden Gate bus from the ferry terminal to the woods for a mere $3 return. If you add in the $5 admission cost that’s a paltry $21, saving you 50 bucks. The other plus points – you’re not restricted by a rigid tour itinerary or indeed stuck on a bus with a load of British tourists!! We went on a Saturday and even though it was the Labor Day weekend, it wasn’t too busy at all. The woods themselves were awesome and home to some of the tallest trees on the planet. There are a whole host of trails to follow dependent on your physical ability, some even laid out on raised boardwalks so they are pushchair and wheelchair friendly. We opted for the standard walk from the visitor center and the hillside trail (be warned the paths up here are narrow and scarily close to the edge of a ravine) which took around 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. The height of many of the trees are sometimes incomprehensable, especially when you gaze from afar at the tiny people stood below them. In the gift shop you can buy yourself a seed which is guaranteed to germinate in any almost any climate (even Scotland). If you fancy leaving a rather impressive legacy after your gone – some of these trees have stood for thousands of years; through forest fires and all. After the woods we headed back to the seaside resort of Sausalito (a million miles away from Blackpool or Benidorm) and spent a couple of hours perusing up and down the high street with its cool boutiques and stores. For dinner we opted for the Horizons restaurant which has a massive outside decked area overlooking the bay to San Francisco. The view is awe inspiring and the food certainly came up to scratch too. All in all an excellent day out of the city. A couple of exclamation points for you: 1) The road to Muir from Sausalito is a little treacherous, being dug high up into the side of a very steep hill. The drivers have clearly driven the road a million times so are overly familiar and take dangerous corners at a ridiculously fast pace. On the way there we passed an overturned car and one of the passengers had to get off the bus to be sick. I loved it. Mum and Pat – hated it. You have been warned. 2) The ferry ride can also get a bit choppy when the wind picks up. If you suffer from sea sickness you may want to consider that tour bus or even a car hire and drive over the Golden Gate. Not for the faint hearted. 3) The route 66 only runs from May to September so check before you head off.

 

1. And standing firmly at numero uno – it’s that classic San Francisco landmark, no, not the Golden Gate – it’s........Alcatraz

 

You know, I definitely wasn’t going to miss out on a visit to this former US penitentiary, but I’ll not lie to you when I say that it wasn’t as high up my list of priorities of things to do as some of the other entries on this list...and others that didn’t even make it on here! Doubts aside, this was by far and away the top highlight for all three of us. The cellblock audio tour is an absolute must must must (I can’t stress this enough) and is included in the cost of your tour which is part of the SF Citypass (see SFMOMA above) or can be purchased at Pier 33 (Alcatraz Tours) for $26. I’m not going to ruin the experience for you by telling you all about the contents of the audio tour, but suffice to say it manages to set the scene in perfect splendour. The voices, characters, sound effects and stories all contribute towards providing an engaging and enthralling experience. I’ll say it again just to drum it home – the audio tour is must. The rest of the island is still interesting enough with the morgue, old water tower and model industries workshop still standing. Many of the other buildings that once stood on the site have deteriorated so badly that they have either fallen into disrepair or have been demolished. You can actually purchase a piece of some of these former buildings – much like you would the Berlin Wall – at the gift shop (along with many other ‘only available at Alcatraz’ trinkets), with the proceeds going towards the further preservation of the buildings on the island. At $7, money well spent I’d say. All in all a truly excellent day out. If you come to SF and don’t manage anything else whilst here, you absolutely have to do this. That’s why it’s firmly my number one thing to do in San Francisco. A few asterisk points – 1) Book in advance. If you’re visiting for just a few days and turn up looking for a ticket you’ll probably be disappointed. To avoid having to be put on a standby list, especially in the peak season, book online before you get here. 2) When collecting or purchasing tickets one person in your party will need some photo ID, preferably a passport or a driver’s license. 3) The ONLY tours that actually go to the island are the official Alcatraz tours found at Pier 33 on the Embarcadero. To get there take the historic F line street cars towards Fisherman’s Wharf. 4) The cellblock is located at the top of the island and the walk up is the equivalent to 13 stories. It’s a leisurely 15 minute stroll, with no steps, though if you’re unable to make it that far you’d be best to jump on the tram-car and it’ll motor you on up there.

How to do San Francisco in 9 Easy Steps - Part One

Well it’s Wednesday pm and I’ve just finished up my third from last day at work here in sunny California. Am currently lounging by the pool very much enjoying the week long heat wave that the city has been experiencing for the past 8 days (it’s currently 87F or 30C).

The week at work has been super busy due to Monday having been the Labor day holiday, with yesterday and today being spent working at super fast pace to make up for the lost day. Work wise -I ’ll update you all in full at the week’s end when the work-based segment of my internship is over proper. Instead I want to dedicate this blog to my recent visitors and the week we have just had in this great city.

 

So as soon as they arrived, it was time to bid farewell, though not before covering squeezing in a plethora of the many diverse activities that San Francisco and the surrounding area has to offer. Mum an Pat arrived just a shade over a week ago after an epic 17 hours of flying 1/3 of the way across the globe, they touched down at SFO,  Jet-lagged, and might I say – looking a tad dishevelled – my first glimpse of these two pale looking Scotswomen left a lot to be desired!! You have to remember – I’ve been in the sunshine, have a nice day, everyone looks healthy and tanned state now for three weeks. Even though at first you take the opinion that there is clearly way too much Prozac and Botox being consumed on the west coast, before long you get swept along with the cheery momentum and suddenly you’re greeting your bleary eyed reflection in the mirror each morning with a cheery disposition that would most likely turn Mary Poppin’s stomach. So I smiled on through my fright and welcomed these pale aliens wholeheartedly. We grabbed a cab for the ten minute ride to my downtown apartment and spent a good hour or so catching up, eating some mezze style munchies that I had procured from my fav shop/deli – Bristol Farms, and I, enjoying hearing their same glee and disbelief of their having arrived in the state they call Califiron-i-a. It was good to see some ‘kent’ faces and have one of those good old natters that you only really get with family. So after our gabbing it was off to bed and the start of an action packed week that was literally all go go go...

 

I was going to give you a complete run down of all that we managed to get up to, but quickly realized, upon writing down some quick daily recap notes that I’d probably be here for several days and exhaust both you and just getting started. Instead, I’ll give y’all my top 9 rundown of things we did/to do in and around the bay area.

 

 

9. Eat

 

San Francisco has a more varied spread of restaurants than anywhere I’ve ever been; and all at ridiculously cheap prices. If you want sushi at 3am or a kebab at 9am, Thai, Malay, Ethiopian, crab salad straight off the boat or dare I say it allegedly tasty seahorses (none of us tried these I promise) SF is your food stuff utopia. For the past week we all ate like royalty in quite a few of SFs best restaurants. One observation – they really do love their bread here. They literally serve bread with a side of bread. Oh and on the topic of sides – one of the places we ate on Sunday night offered a side of a half roasted chicken! A side? Maybe a leg, or a thigh, but no – a half. My Mum actually ordered this (as part of meal with another side of fries) and I can tell you, if you eat this on the side of your main, you will suffer from coronary heart disease and you will die in you 20s. End of. Our fav place though was probably Horizons seafood restaurant in Sausalito – great food, amazing views over to the city and decor straight out of a 1980s mahogany heavy  and brass clad San Tropez beach bar. Class personified. Fact – if you come to San Francisco you will gain weight so be prepared to get on the treadmill on your return home. Truly one of the best views of the city from across the bay.

 

 

8.  Hang off of a Cable Car

 

Health and safety laws? Not here. Jump on the side of one of the old cable-cars that drag themselves up some of the steepest gradients I’ve ever seen this side of Everest and experience the thrill ride of your life – no harness required. Mum and Pat had a bit of a hairy experience though. On one of the days that I was busy working away, I sent them off on a cable-car ride to the famous SF chocolatier Ghirardelli via the Powell line. Apparently the car stopped whilst on one of the steeper parts of the hill and rolled back to a sudden halt on one of the plateaus between each of the inclines. I believe that they were thrown about the place and were left in such a state that they just had to stuff their faces with some local chocolate in order to get over the trauma. FYI – the SF cable car system was designed by a Scotsman Andrew Smith Hallidie who hailed from Dunfermline. Two hot insider tips: 1) Always walk up to the stop at the corner of Powell and Geary unless you want to wait in an hour long queue full of rude European tourists 2) Be prepared for pushy queue jumpers – bite, kick, spit and rip articles of clothing to get back to the front of the line that you were respectfully waiting in.

 

7. SF Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)/San Francisco City Pass

 

Covered this in the ‘Birthday Treat’ blog below. I didn’t actually go again, but Mum and Pat loved it. They agreed with my sentiment that the life story of Frieda Kahlo was truly tragic and are now raring to get home to rent the movie about her life to further help contextualize their experience of the exhibition. They managed to see more of the other parts of the SFMOMA that I did – exclaiming when I met them later in the day in the sunny Yerba Buena gardens “wow - there were Matisse’s and ... etc”. It really is a great collection and well worth a look if you are ever in town. Top tip – If you are here on the first Tuesday of the month entry is free. Otherwise get yourself a San Francisco City Pass for $54 and the $16 admission price is included along with entry to the Asian Art and De Young museums, Aquarium at the Bay, a trip under the Golden Gate or to Alcatraz and free use of all of that the SF Muni network (trains, trams and cable-cars [normally $1.50, $1.50 and $5  repectively a ride) for 9 days. Money well spent I’d say.

 

6. Chinatown

 

Set over 15 blocks, the SF Chinatown has to be one of the most impressive Chinese enclaves outside of, well, China. If I’m honest, on my second visit to Chinatown with Iain and Lorraine, I really couldn’t have gotten out of the place quick enough (I do love it though) but I sent Mum and Pat on a journey there on their second day in the city to see if they were up for hanging around longer than I did. As it turned out – they loved it. So much so that they didn’t bother to come back to downtown to meet me and buy me lunch. Apparently there is no such thing as a free lunch? Their food experience was also significantly better than mine had been and I have been told to tell you all to find somewhere specializing in dim sum. Before I came to the city I really wasn’t sure what dim sum was, but basically it involves eating a whole load of light Chinese dishes served alongside Chinese tea. I am reliably informed that after doing dim sum in Chinatown, the old Cantonese favourite in Edinburgh just will not do. The shops are cheap and full of lots of tat but even more cool stuff. They came back with a load of Oriental gifts destined for many an abode across the east coast of Scotland, as well as a Mah-jong set for me! If you fancy a cheap ‘designer’ handbag – this is definitely the place to go.

 

5. Golden Gate Park/Japanese Tea Garden

 

The Golden Gate Park is another legacy of a Scotsman’s endeavours in this fair city. Dr John Hayes McLaren from Bannockburn and formerly the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Gardens is credited with both lobbying for land to be set aside for this most impressive of urban parks and also for its care and design. McLaren apparently insisted the park be open to all and refused to erect any ‘keep off the grass signs’. His hard work was most definitely appreciated by three visitors from Scotland on the sunny and hot Labor Day holiday. The park is simply stunning. Stow lake (another Scottish name) with its island hill vista in the middle and row boats lazily floating around it, the impressive and modern De Young Art Gallery building, SF Botanical Gardens and the pièce de résistance – the Japanese Tea Garden to name but a few highlights (it’s 3 miles long). Now I know that some of the other interns are in Japan proper, but this has to the second best thing! Stunning pagodas, impossible bridges, Buddhas, bonsai, waterfalls, winding paths, bamboo and a way too cool tea bar. We grabbed a seat at the benches that run along the outside of the tea cafe place and sipped jasmine and oolong teas with Japanese rice crackers and fortune cookies. Died and gone to heaven doesn’t even come close. At $5 for entry to the garden, it was way cheaper than the $600 Expedia are quoting this evening for a one-way to Tokyo. An absolute must. Couple of tips – 1) If you want to save even this paltry entry fee – head there before noon Wednesdays when entry is gratis.  2) Grab the Muni N line tram from one of the Market underground stations to 9^th and Judah ($1.50 return) – and it’s a mere 5 minutes walk for you exercisally challenged.

Tune in tomorrorw for the rundown 4 to 1...

Ro

Never Wear White Shoes after Labor Day

So it has come to my attention that American's have a little thing about not wearing white shoes between the Labor day and Memorail day holidays. After a little digging, here is the story:

Originally, the rule was more along the lines of only wear white shoes between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Furthermore, it mainly applied to white pumps or dress shoes. White tennis shoes and off-white boots seem exempt, as are any shoes worn by a winter bride. It has been mooted that the reason for this is due to white being a heat refelctor and thus acts to keep your feet cool over the summer, though would also keep them cold in winter, and so should not be worn between the two holidays.

Better get those white foot fashion items well and truly into  the back of your closet until Monday May 25th....

A Quick Debrief...

Hey, so sorry for having taken a full week to write again – been very busy this week with both work and my new arrivals – my ‘Mom’ and ‘Aunt’ Pat.

 

So work first and things have, as per, been all go go go. After having spent all of last week pulling together all of my ideas for the new project and reaching out to the Sun Global Communities staff across the world, this week has been a hectic schedule of interviews, research and design. I’ve spoken to Michelle Dennendy, Chief Privacy and Data Officer. Our interview was supposed to be under one hour but ended up taking up two full hours and many a subject beyond the semi-structured interview schedule that I had designed. Michelle had many interesting insights going forwards and had allowed me to put quite a bit of colour on some of the areas that I was maybe a little unsure of.  I’ve also spoken to Chris Hankin, Senior Director, North America and Lowell Sachs, my previous manager in DC. Whilst they both self-identified themselves as those probably least likely to hold the Rosetta Stone of frontier market information, they were both able to give me some really useful pointers and anecdotes that I’ll make use of in putting together the interactive matrix that will serve as the main outlet of the findings of my research. If I seem to be spewing out a diatribe of ambiguities, I do apologize, it’s just that I need to ensure that the main crux of my findings remain an internal concern due to their being an important aspect of Sun’s future policy and thus of interest to our nearest competitors. We’re attempting to find a parade and get in front of it; giving away the secrets of your regime would only serve to allow those closest to you to step up and push you aside. This is business after all and you and I both know that in the current climate, it really is a cut-throat arena.

 

I can, however, tell you a little more about the data capture architecture that I have been designing. A major part of everything that I am doing research wise, will be to synthesize it all in to an accessible, legible and user-friendly interface that will be rolled out across the Global Communities network in order to give each team member instant access to a rich data and information source on our so-called frontier markets. In its 1.0 format it started off as a run of the mill calc(excel)-style document, with some simple data detailing the prevailing social, economic and political trends of each of the 28 countries that I have been charged to look at. I’m now on version 3.0 and already it’s starting to resemble something that I can quite honestly say (being modest and all) is pretty darn good. Clicking on a countries name will take you directly to the respective government’s English website, in the column next to the a hyperlink will whizz you off to the Economist.com’s up-to-date country profile, the next one to Business Monitor International’s latest ‘doing business in that country page’ and the next to a special online document store that I have been compiling where information on the strengths and drawbacks of doing business in each of the 28 nations is indexed. That’s not to mention the rest of the document, which contains around 40 fields for each country, detailing information such as the number of university students to forecast GP growth 2008-2010. To say that 3.0 is comprehensive would be a major understatement. 4.0, which I will be putting together next week will be even more useful, with links to documents detailing interview findings, best-practice tips and field anecdotes to allow GCs staff across the globe to tap into the knowledge and experiences of each of their colleagues. Being as scattered as he GCs team is, to be able to have something so tangible, will, I believe, allow each of them to work more closely and concisely in their goal of pushing forwards the FY 09 and 10 goals. I’m really proud of the work I’ve done so far and hope that the team get out of this as much as I have put in.

 

Well folks, that’s all for the time being. Been entertaining Mom and Pat for the past few days and so am both tired and busy! Will write again Monday or Tuesday to tell y’all about our Labor Day weekend. Tune in then to find out about: Great Redwoods, Ferries, Food, Prison, Travel Sickness, Pubs, Upside-down cars, Views, Busses, Bikes, Treacherous Roads, Crazy Drivers, Cocktails, Dancers, Brunch and more....

 

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday.

 

Peace,

 

Rory

Bellingham/Seattle Photographs

So after flying back into SF this morning and heading straight to work after a fun filled weekend, I'm hoping you'll forgive my lack of chat at this moment and instead enjoy some pictures from our amazing weekend instead...

                          

Which Class? First Class of Course

Hey peeps. So I've just touched down in Washington state in the fab city that is Seattle. Have grabbed a local beer at the recommendation of some locals in the only bar that is still open in the airport and thought, what can I do for the next 30 minutes as I wait for my Airporter? ("for a car free care-free life")...Blog.

Well let me tell you about my flight here. Flew Virgin America of course - as if there is any other choice in the US domestic market. Though this time I plumped for the $50 upgrade and flew in the first class cabin. Now having flown them a few times now, I know that coach/economy is pretty darn special, so I'll not lie when I say that I had pretty high expectations. Did they disappoint? Did they heck. 1 hours 45 minutes of sheer pleasure, comfort and joy. Linda, our personal hostess, was there in a jiffy to attend to my every need. Primarily this was to top-up my glass of beer, though intermittently to check if I was "comfortable enough" or did I need a "coffee or tea" or "tortellini with shitake mushroom and spinach with a tomato, olive and feta salad with a balsamic vinaigrette on the side"? Did I ever!! First class is, well, class. And served in real glass, on porcelain and with stainless steel cutlery. Easily the best £28 I've ever spent. Add to this the great company I was afforded on the flight - Mary from Washington state, who also lives in San Francisco. We covered Obama, McCain, redwoods and sequoias, wine, beer, crab and lobster, San Fran, DC, NYC, the environment, war in Iraq, Scotland, England, Wales and France....Mary, you are a total trooper and I look forward to our trip to Napa where you claim you are going to educate me re wine and me you re 'Scotch'.

All in all a pretty good experience. How can I ever go back to the back of the plane again with the minions? Think I'll be on to Sun to upgrade me to business for my flight home!! Good luck me.

Time to go as my pumpkin style coach awaits to transport me to Iain and Lorraine's place in Bellingham,

Rory

PS He he....and here she is on the radio. AGAIN. Leona Lewis is EVERYWHERE in the states. Sock it ya Mariah and Shania!!!

PPS - I forgot to take my passport to the airport with me and had to make a mad dash via a yellow cab back to my apartment in Downtown SF to grab it. Made it back just in time for first class to be called for priority boarding. Phew...

Wicked Weekend EP (A to Zee)

So after allowing my wrists to recover after all of yesterday's blogging antics, I think it's about time to embellish upon the weekend that was.

Instead of writing a blog proper, I'm going to give you the weekend alphabet - think Sesame Street meets Skins meets River City! If you want to read a proper blog let me direct you to either Iain,  Lorraine or Kyle's blogs. A is for apple....

A is for A mazing company

B is for B irthday, Happy B irthday to me...

C is for C able C ars akin to C rushed C ans of C hopped C hicken

D is for D ecidely cheap D rink from a D ear old friend - Safeway

E is for E stelle American Boy dance rEmix - E ven though Iain E ulogizes her downfall

F is for always F ollow what your F ortune cookie says and F oto's of L in the F ountain

G is for G aylords, the best named Indian restaurant that side of the G olden G ate Bridge

H is for H ave a nice day

I is for I ain and his I ncerdible, I rreplacebale, I ndividual suitcase

J is for J umpers and J ackets 

K is for K yle and his K ool K ompany K ar

L is for L - isn't that a nice name?

          and also for the L aunch at L udicrously L oud L evels as we made our way down the....

M addest street in the world, M eandering about all over the place

N is for N ear misses and N RG 92.3

O is for O dd bloke dressed as baby on a pOdium - Oi Oi!!

P is for P athetic attempt at P ool P artying at 2am

Q is for, well Q uirky of course

R is for R idiculously bad service and R udeness personified

S if for Simon the S ick S howfoor and S ervice charges

T is for T hank you so much

U is for U p U p it comes - the evil vodka shots Simon bought us in the club withoUt a name

V is for V ista from oVer the water and V IP entry to one of San Frans V ery best nightspots

W is for the W ally who W isely W et himself at a bar and got turfed out W ithout having to pay

    incidentally W is also for the Waitress who W alloped a W oman W ith a glass of red W ine

    but also W ilcox the W eather W orrier 

X is for the X pletives that Iain and I were sharing about the X tremely rude continentals

Y is for Y ou're welcome so much

Z is for Zzzzz...

Wicked Weekend

After having spent the best part of 2 hours writing my work update, I'm not going to spend too long here today, but will expand on it tomorrow.

All I need to say right now is thank you to Iain, Lorraine and Kyle for a most fantastic birthday weekend. Was great to get together and have a good old Scottish knees up and oodles of banter that you just don't get with any other peoples. Thanks guys -  I genuinely believe that we'll stay friends after all this and that's a added bonus of the SF expericen that I hadb't baragained for.

Got flights booked for this weekend to go up to Iain and Lorraine's in Bellingham, so no doubt another fantastic weekend, albeit with better vistas and weather - right Iain??

Thanks guys,

Rory

You can't always get what you want

But if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need...

So I promised all last week that I would update you all re the workng week, and finally, better late than never, here it is...

After having arrived in San Fran a week past Friday, things have been ramped up a gear and moved, not into a new lane, but a whole new freeway altogether.

So you all know that I had been working on an eco project during my time in DC and that after four weeks, things were really starting to come together. Well as I learned since my move west, in business we cannot simply follow our passions and that sometimes, there are just some things that hold more intrinsic value for the company. See what's coming here? Yep, eco has been 'shelved' for the time being. I'm not going to lie and deny that I was rather disappointed to have had to give up on something that I genuinely enjoyed doing, and, might I add, believe to hold substantial value for the company in the long-term as we see a prodigious shift in global attitudes led by and influenced on by stricter government policy; particularly EU policy related to energy efficiency, security and prices. That said, in times of great uncertainty and economic upheaval, short-termism is naturally the most natural way to deal with current the issues faced by any company. Now don't get me wrong - I've been given a new project (see below), which, without doubt, will have more of a direct bearing on Sun's business long-term and today - it's sometimes just difficult to give up on something before you have the chance to see it out and finish it off. On the plus side, during the time that I'm going to be spending in Brussels towards the end of the year/next year, I am possibly going to be given the opportunity to reprise my role as Swampy and finish what I started. Rock on!

So on to the new project and genuinely, I'm massively excited about what I've been charged with for the remainder of my time here in the states. Working closely with the senior staff in Global Communities, I’ll be conducting research on government and education systems and structures across emerging and frontier (the next big China, India etc.) markets that could be potential new audiences and influencer contacts for Vice President of GCs Lin Lee and Exec VP and Chairman Crawford Beveridge. It’s envisaged that the research will be synthesized into recommendations as to what governments/education institutions are the most open to Sun’s global push of open software (open meaning freely available and without copyright – thus allowing developers and individuals to rewrite code and improve on the original), in doing so, I’ll be collecting anecdotes from and details on, current activities lead by GCs staff in an effort to best capture the prime examples of where and how GCs global push is working effectively i.e. my recommendations will be based on the best and most transferable practice. The research has 5 main facets to it. They are:

 

1. Interviews of regional and practice leaders to gain insight into markets that pose the greatest opportunity for Sun GCs based on geo-political status, economic stability, technology views, social values and education policies.

 

2. Development of architecture for capturing data, field anecdotes and top list of GCs influencers

 

3. Development of GCs world map populated with outcomes from staff interviews and research findings

 

4. Creation of collaboration and document sharing model from Strategy and Planning team projects.

 

5. Participation in relevant meetings with external and internal audiences.

 

As you can see – not really a lot of work to do and so really, I have no excuse for having been dead to the world every night last week and hence my not having the opportunity to blog! The challenge ahead will be tough, the project comprehensive and the expectation high – the pressure though in the trillions of millibars – thriving on it! Last week was really spent getting acclimatized in my new role and involved me taking part in quite a few meetings and conference calls. My schedule was as follows:

 

Monday:

Wrap up eco project

 

Tuesday:

10.30 am Meet with Stephanie Hess re GC strategy project

1pm Meet with Linda Rogers and Stephanie Hess on re-articulation /brainstorm for Sun's charitable fund model

3.15pm Attend Lin Lee’s Preso at Software Services group all hands meeting 

 

Wednesday:

11:30am Lunch meeting with Crawford Beveridge and Kyle

 

3pm On-on-one with Lin Lee

 

Thursday:

9am Call re recent charitable fund grantee

11am Meeting re Sun program, Engineers without Borders

2pm Meeting re Sun PR 'influencer" program

 

Friday: Question formulation and birthday day out

 

In comparision to the next few weeks, this is tame, so please forgive me if, when writing blogs, my grammar is poor and my spelling haywire. You may notice from the schedule that I had a couple of amazing meetings, both Wednesday. The first was a luncheon with Crawford and Kyle, which was immense. Crawford is a previous CEO of Scottish Enterprise and is very much involved with the Global Scot Network and International Advisory Board, who were all integral in the setting up and funding of the Saltire Foundation. It was great to have finally had the opportunity to sit down and get his take on Scotland, our successes and failures, good and bad points. He is a very informed and insightful person, with an intellect that would put the love child of Marie Curie and Milton Friedman to shame, yet ridiculously humble. He told us that he has gone ‘part-time’ and has been attempting to retire for around 3 decades now, but every time he gets close to it Sun manage to persuade him to stay on and fly somewhere in the world as their ambassador. To say that he is globally well connected would be an understatement and I genuinely believe that in him I have found that successful, positive role model to aspire to. If we (the interns) can even be as half as successful as he has been and do 20% of what he has managed to do for Scotland, I believe that the Saltire Foundation would be well on its way to achieving the challenging goals that it has set out for itself and us. In the afternoon I had a one-on-one with GCs new VP Lin Lee. Lin and I had met before during my now infamous attendance of the GCs all hands a few weeks back so it was great to touch base with her once again. We had an hour, which before I went in to her office I was worried about being able to fill, though once we sat down and started to chat, I couldn’t believe it when I looked up at the clock and a full 50 minutes had gone by in a second. We spoke about life, what my expectations are, the company, my future, job prospects and stuff on the more personal side. I told her to fly Virgin America, she said to avoid United. We laughed and were serious, and genuinely, I believe got on really well. The icing on the cake was to hear her say that they are very pleased with all the work that I have been doing, and that I’ve performed to a very high standard. To have recognition, from a VP, was to say the least, amazing. Knowing that your work is appreciated and that people as senior as Lin realize my abilities and potential will help to ensure that I carry forward the experience gained this summer in a confident and more capable manner.

 

That’s all I have to say for now. Off out to Macy’s to return something I mistakenly bought yesterday for what I actually intended to buy!!

Oh actually, I should mention - my new office at Menlo Park (Sun HQ), just so happens to be on the Executive floor and right next door to none othe than CEO Jonathan Schwartz....

 

Speak soon,

 

Rory

Birthday Treat...

So yesterday I officially turned old, though the depression of such an event was stemmed somewhat by the fantastic day that I had.

I headed off to work at 8am as per and set about compliling my interview design for my new project (promise I'll update on this in my work-based blog I've pencilled in for Sunday evening). I'm really excited about this new challenge and genuinely believe that it, upon completion, will offer the Vice Presidents and Excecutive VPs that I am now working for in Gloal Communities a real and valuable tool when assesing movements into new frontier markets. As I said - more on that tomorrow. Highlight of the working day was when Monette - who works on the reception at Sun SF - very kindly brought me a stunning and bright sunflower. The card - "To my fellow Leo - Hope you have a fabulous Birthday" (we had chatted at length on my day of arrival about everthing from astrology to local politics), was very much appreciated and started off the day in great style. Monette - thank you so much for making me feel so welcome in my new home.

So the offical day of birth then - well I finished up work for the day at around 11.30am and headed off to the swanky XYZ restaurant at the W Hotel. My new bosses - Linda Rogers and Stephanie Hess had taken the afternoon off of work and very kindly treated me to a most wonderul lunch. I opted for a salad as I invariably do at lunch - packed with sweet chery tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and fresh pesto - it was to die for. I also afforded myself to a pint of Anchor Steamer (a local IPA) and I can quite esily say that the stresses of growing that bit older started to slip away nicely. They also gave me a wicked card with two bad trannies doing some supemarket shopping in the front (so SF). Insdie it read - "Honey, the older we get, the better we look (sic.). This is what you will look like before you leave" - the cheek of it - I look amazing in lipstick and a sequines dress!

After the restaurant I was whisked off to the San Fran Museum of Modern Art. For those of you who either know me or have read my previous blogs, you will be clear in you understading of just how up my street this day was so far (food and culture - who needs love?). There is currently a Freida Kahlo exhibition on in one of the galeries and I know from having walked past the MoMA on several occasions since my arrival just how popular and busy it is, so thank you Linda and Steph for managing to procure tickets on my day of days. The FK exhibition was different to what I expected. I'm aware of a few of her signature pieces, though hadn;t really understood her story up until now. To be honest I used to chuckle at her monobrow (as we all have) thinking that a little wax wouldn't go astray. After the exhibition I felt quite differently, having heard of her quite harrowing life - she had suffeed from poilio as a young girl and was beset with spinal, leg and various other medical ailments throughout her short life (she died in her 40s) also her husband of several times and close confident, Diego Rivera, was a mass adulterer, even at one point cheating on Frieda with her own sister. Her pain is evident in her pictures and her narrative, though often bright and brash, has decided undertones of a frustraed, damaged and painful existence. Her exaggerated monobrow and stern features(she was actually quite pretty with average eyebrows), were, I felt, an expession of how she viewed herself through her disablities and stormy realtionship with Rivers rather than a true refelction of her actual being. I left the exhibition feeling quite sad, though on the plus side I'd now reassess my notions of feeling old and decied that, in the grand scheme of things, life could be significantly worse.

All in all a really fantastic day out and that really wouldn't have happended without Linda and Steph having taken time out of their very busy schedules, so for that I am eternally grateful. In the evening I jumped on the BART underground to Daly City from where I grabbed the local bus to my closest Target (think Argos with shelves) to pick up an airbed for visitors who have just stepped off the plane from Seattle - Iain and Lorraine. Can't tell y'all how excited I am at having some 'kent' faces to play with in the city for a day and a night, so it appears that yesterday's events were merely the begining of my birthday weekend shenanigans. Off to met them at the BART then to brekkie.

Will let you know of the week at work and the rest of the weekends events tomorrow...

Rory

Welcome to San Francisco Part Two...

So on Sunday after the lost day that was Saturday, I got up at a ridiculously early 6am and headed off in to town. Now I expected all the cafes to be closed and the public transit to be barely starting – but boy was I wrong...everywhere was open, on and moving. This is what you can really call a 24 hour city, not somewhere where the local newsagent stays open all night selling a bag of Golden Wonder and a sly bottle of vodka under the counter at 8.30am. I have come home! Just for the record – you can buy alcohol here from liquor stores 24/7! So I wandered down towards the Embarcadero for a walk along the seafront, but actually getting down to the water was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated – unlike in our post-industrial, service-based cities, where the waterfront areas have become home to faceless apartment blocks – SF's waterfront area is still a thriving, working port. This, I hadn't expected.

So after a while of walking past pier after pier, I finally arrived at 'Pier 39©', which is kinda like a pier you'd find in a declining English seaside resort. Full of tacky shops selling magnets, key-chains, t-shirts and the like (sadly no kiss me quick hats though!). The most exciting part of the pier though, is the colony of sea lions, who have set up home on some floating barges just off the end of the pier. They actually just look like big seals rather than lions (though can you imagine the state of that mane from swimming in salt water and then getting all-dried out in the sun – split-end madness), but were really cool. Playing and nudging each other off, barking and sunbathing. Truly it's a sea lion’s life! So pushing on along the coast, I came across Fisherman's Wharf, which in not merely in name but an actual pier where fishermen (fisherpeople is probably the pc term) drop their catch and sell their wares. The local delicacy in Dungeness crab (along with shrimp [prawn for you Scots] and calamari). For a pescatarian, as I am, I really had died and gone to heaven. One problem – there are around 30 or so stalls all selling what seemed to be exactly the same stuff and for the same price, though for some reason I spent a good 15 or 20 minutes pacing backand forth trying to source the one that seemed the best quality. In the end I plumped for one of each of the three that I mentioned before from three different vendors and I can honestly say that I wasn’t disappointed by any of it. Yummy.

After stuffing myself with lovely fresh seafood, I headed a bit further along the coast through Ghiradelli Square (yes home of the famous chocolate factory that bears the same name – Mum and Pat, I assume you will pay this a visit during you trip out here?!) and on to a lovely little crescent shaped beach that overlook one of the nicer parts of the, at times, ugly bay. Then, suddenly, there it was – the elusive Golden Gate Bridge (more like russet than gold, but that name just wouldn’t have resonated so well with the global tourism market).I have to say, that whilst it was still really exciting to finally see with my very own eyes one of the most iconic structures in the US, it really isn’t a patch on the Forth (rail) Bridge. See for yourself with my lovely pictorial examples left...They may be the same colour but the GG is just another suspension bridge painted a distinctive (russet) colour, whilst the FB is an amazing example of a Victorian-era cantilever bridge, with none other quite like it anywhere in the world. Unique to say the least. Kind of like Irn Bru I suppose, though with far more grace and class!!

After my pondering of bridge form and construction (it went much deeper than I’ve elicited towards here), I decided to head off to Japantown, which is something of a rarity in a western city, indeed in any city outside of, well, Japan really! I really wasn’t disappointed. Nothing quite like the real thing right enough, but done in a way that really harks back to some of the more traditional areas of Tokyo or Kyoto in fact. Just my luck too – the annual cultural festival was taking place so the main drag was closed off to traffic and a bunch of Japanese street sellers had colonized the area selling everything from Hello Kitty bags to incense via roasted corn? Clearly some parts of American culture are just too irresistible to even the most unique and guarded of cultures. So I sat back, corn in hand and listened to a bunch of people sing Leona Lewis and a host of other British artists (the radio stations are awash with Brit music at the mo) in the blissful summer sunshine. On the way home I popped in to the Japanese supermarket and picked up a dinner of seaweed, octopus, salmon, tuna and eel sashimi and a whole host of other thing that I didn’t really know what they were but just bought because I thought that they looked pretty. Turned out they were mostly yummy aside from this grey, marble sized ball of goodness knows what that tasted of fish bones and egg. Needless to say I wouldn’t recommend that one! So off I toddled back to my Downtown apartment, ironed my shirt and headed off to bed early to get a god sleep before my first full working week here in San Fran. A week that has thrown up quite a few surprises and exciting meetings and opportunities that will just have to wait until my next instalment to be embellished upon.....

Peace out,

Rory

Welcome to San Francisco

Hi, so much to say, so little time. Been working so hard this week I’ve hardly had time to breathe let alone eat and do my blogging duties. This entry will concentrate on my first weekend here in San Fran and at some point towards the end of the week; I’ll write to tell y’all about my new projects at work...

My first weekend here was great. Busy. Arrived Friday AM and headed straight to the office - 2 large suitcases, lap-top case and bag in tow - due to my apartment supposedly not being ready until 4pm? Such an inconvenience, and considering that by this point that I'd been up for a good 12 hours. Yawn. So arrived at the office, which is in Downtown SF, very modern and big enough to have its own stationary den. This, for some reason, excited me more than the office itself, though when you've been used to using a second-hand notepad and a Summer Academy at Strathclyde pen (they are the best though!) for four weeks, being told that you can help yourself to a myriad of office consumables is bound to cause your heart to flutter a little. Needless to say my all new multifarious lap-top bag (also known as my mobile office) is full of post-its (of varying sizes and even some with lines), pens, pencils, correction fluid, pads of paper, paper-clips and staples. I also noticed that there were quite a few printers and so I may, at some point, have one of those too. Don't be mistaken though and think that I have 'stolen' these items - just to be clear I am based in two offices, some 60 miles apart, and am also doing some work from home, so an endless supply of items of little utility or real intrinsic value to anyone is always necessary. Why is it that a nice yellow sticky post-it is so much more satisfying than a simple note to self in the margin? The colour? The noise and slight resistance as you rip the wee fella from his home like a snail from a wall? It truly is one of life's last remaining enigmas, well aside from how we all came to be on a blue and green ball spinning about in the middle of a perpetually dark universe, the size of which is impossible for even the average human to comprehend. Ah it’s true what they say – ignorance is bliss!

 

So I stayed in the office for a few hours just catching up on some work but decided to chance it and head to my apartment early to grab 40 winks before the nights events. As it turned out my apartment is just around the corner from my SF office and thankfully my walk there was not in vain. Apartment is great. Not amazing like the DC apartment in terms of size and view, but in term of location it beats it hands down. I’m in between 2^nd and 3^rd at Folsom and it is literally a hop, step and a jump to the SF MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), the Yerba Buena Center for Contemporary Arts, Union Square and all its designer stores, Market St and all its high street stores including Bloomingdales which is easily the stand-out star of any store I’ve been in to in the States so far, the MUNI underground, F car street car (old style tram), the up-hill cable cars and the embarcadero (think Blackpool promenade with class). Location, location, location indeed. After realising how close I was to everywhere I decided that rather than sleep (you can do that when you’re dead right?) I’d go out for a wander and lose myself in this new metropolis that I’m going to call home for, shall we say, the next wee while (this will be explained in my next blog about my week at work once details are finalized). First place that I stumbled across was Chinatown. Wow. Not like any other Chinatown that I’ve been to, it was messy, loud, authentic, bewildering, confusing, hilly, colourful, exciting, inspiring. If London’s Chinatown is a decidedly westernized, health and safety gone crazy inception of a Chinese marketplace, this is a real, honest and big-fingers up to the environmental health kinda place. And I loved it. Live chickens, turtles, seahorses, mini-alligators, reptiles, dead and dried seahorses, animals that I haven’t ever seen before, ginger, spices, cats and dogs, trinkets, old people playing chess and mah-jong in the square, blue buildings, green buildings, red and gold. A melee, a festival, a real treat for all the senses. Needless to say I’ll be spending some more time hanging out and eating here over the next few months.

 

After that I climbed/walked up Telegraph Hill towards Coit Tower to gain a better view of the city. It’s quite difficult to grasp the landscape of a place when the streets are quite narrow and the buildings so tall (well in relation to low-rise Scotland and DC), so off I went. The road layout here is pretty whacky and to get to some places you need to go up and over, up again, up some stairs, down stairs, down-hill, up up and to the top. Crazy, tiring, yet wholly rewarding. You know from the ground it seems so big, but the city itself, crammed onto a tiny peninsula is a mere 7x7 miles. Though that’s 7x7 miles of sheer joy. The views were spectacular, though due to the ever persistent mist, the Golden Gate was well out of sight. Boo. Rather than do a Hansel and Gretel and retrace my steps I opted to go right over the other side of the hill and head towards to Pacific coast of the city. I was going to head to Fisherman’s Wharf and try some of the fresh seafood, but when I finally got to the bottom of what felt like 1000 steps I stumbled across the F-line tram and decided to jump on that back to the apartment to try and sleep before Kyle arrived in the city from Santa Clara. Might I add at $1.50 for a pass that lasts 4 or so hours, the public transport in SF is ridiculously cheap.

 

So when I got back I realized that I had about an hour before Kyle came to the city, so rather than sleep I did what all good Scotsmen would do – I headed to the liquor store and grabbed a pack of beers. Showered, fed and watered – it was time to head to meet the man himself at the SF Giants AT&T ballpark. Jumper in tow (SF can get cold in the evenings) we sat down to enjoy a game of baseball accompanied by some beer. Thing is, we had so much to catch up on that we barely watched the match and nattered through the whole of the proceedings. All the while the mist was rolling in and yes, it rained? Well ok, only a tiny little bit, but rain in California? I mean, isn’t this supposed to be the sunshine state? Come on. After the match we popped back to mine where I opted for the added comfort of a jacket and Kyle dumped his and headed out in shirt (bloody islander!). Not really having a clue where to go we headed towards Union Square and after what felt like having walked for a good few miles we came across, yep you guessed it, an Irish bar! The night progressed as it began and after trawling around a few places we met some people from Montreal who were touring down the west coast and who were also suitably unimpressed with the $20 cover charge for a nightclub. Revelling in our miserly outlook, we all headed off to a bar and drank lots of beer, tequila and black Russians. Bad choice, I left, apparently, though have no recollection of this. That is, until I came to as I was chatting with a homeless guy under a freeway some distance from my apartment? How I got there I don’t know, when and why I left the bar – a total mystery...the homeless guy, did, however, I think? Say that I was an angel. Whether or not this was before or after I gave him $10 is really beside the point. I’m having that one. Some time later I made it to my apartment. Lesson learned by you after reading this – sleep more, eat more, drink less, avoid black Russians, take a cab.

 

Saturday was ruined by the previous days over consumption and so I have nothing to say re that.

 

Sunday I headed to Japantown, though as time has run away from me again and I’ve been at this for over an hour I must say sayonara for now and head off to bed, though will complete this final portion of my first weekend when I get a chance later today. Tune in to find out...

 

Peace,

 

Rory

Midweek Update...

Hey so it feels like an age since I last wrote something on here so though I'd just share with you all what I have been up to this week.

Well Sunday I was out in suburban Virginia at my manager Lowell's house. He and his wife Christine and new baby Autumn were stupendous guests and even provided a veggie dinner as per my dietary stipulations. Apparently they don't really get out all that much since the baby was born and so to have a guest over and some good chat from myself was a real treat for them. In all honestly though it was really a treat for me as I think it's the first time since I've been in DC that I've actually sat down and had dinner with other people. Breakfast - alone. Lunch - in the hot sun in the local square - just me again. Dinner - take out from one of my many local eateries - yep you guessed it good old me. Can't tell you all how good it was to have some great food, stimulating intellectual conversation and generally some social interaction that isn't with a random American drinking 'Scotch' at a bar somewhere in DC! Don't get me wrong, I've been having an absolute blast here, but being the social animal that I am, being on your lonesome for a prolonged period of time can start to get to you a wee bit. So I have to say a big  thanks to Lowell and his lovely family for having me over. It was genuinely one of my favorite things that I've done here in DC.

Having a 6 month old baby meant that having a beer was maybe a bit inappropriate so after having consumer a few pints of water during dinner I decided to head to a bar rather than straight home. This was no ordinary bar however - it was a revolving bar with a panoramic view of all of DC and everything in it, aptly named the Skyline. Situated in Crystal City, VA, twas conveniently located within 10 minutes walking distance to my apartment. When I arrived I almost fell over laughing - there was a karaoke on in the stationary middle section of the bar. I picked my seat at the window, ordered a beer and sat back listening to such delights as Led Zeppelin's  Whole Lotta Love, Aretha Franklin's Respect and a plethora or rap tunes with a myriad of expletives that I can't share with y'all on here. Needless to say the air was blue. After a few beers (Sierra Nevada - a local IPA) and some 12 year old Macallan I became confused as to why the window was no longer behind me. No need to explain this one, though my utter stupidity caused me to giggle. Those of you who know my singing abilities will be glad to know that I didn't get up and sing but towards the end of the night I did give it some consideration. Retrospectively I'm very thankful of my evidently wise decision to keep quiet. Not so on my decision to order a, as it turned out very potnent cocktail towards the end of the night, as it suddenly dawned on me that you really can't go to a 1980s inspired revolving bar and not. It's like fish without chips, black without white, Baddiel without Skinner (we all know how badly that turned out). Needless to say I had a bit of a sore head Monday morning.

So to the working week and things have really been ramped up a gear or two. The fruits of my labor in having sent out a bazillion emails have finally ripened. Mail after mail has come in this week requesting tele-chats, email chats, face-to-face chats etc etc. Needless to say I have spent a whole day arranging my diary (yes I have a meetings diary) to ensure that I can fit as many people in in the coming week as possible. The realization that I'm fully 4 weeks into this project has suddenly come upon me and in reality I only have two more weeks before I need to start the write up, so a week Friday is officially d-day. Add to this my new extra projects that I'll be taking on board when I get to San Fran and you guys may start to get an idea of the sheer weight of the work load that I am having to contend with. There are no complaints from me though - I'm very much the kind of person that needs to be kept busy and who thrives on stressful situations. Bring it on! So my diary - well I had a couple of calls today with people in SF about Sun's current position and where they see the company headed in the future. As per not really able to divulge any  information about what was said, though I can tell you that my opinions seem to well aligned with pretty much everyone I have come in to contact with. I do hope that they are not just being agreeable and humoring me. That said, I do doubt  this very much as if there is one thing that I can say about people I have been chatting with is that they are very forthright and strongly opinionated, which is an ethos that is very much encouraged here at Sun. Hence the reason that I fit in so nicely here. I'll give an update this weekend as to how the rest of the week has panned out.

One other major point to make - got to visit the Capitol on Tuesday. That was sweet. To finally have had the chance to get inside such an iconic building, one that I have seen for years behind many a presenter from the BBC Washington studio was immense. Not only did I get a visit but since it was arranged by my manager Lowell (thanks), I was taken to Senator Anne Eshoo's office in the House Cannon building, where I met her chief of staff Jason Mahler and got to talk about the political ins and outs of the American system. I also used the opportunity to give him and some of his staff a quick lesson in British and Scottish politics, which they were keenly interested in. Then it hit me - I'm in one of the House office buildings talking to a Senator's chief of staff, waiting to go on a tour of the Capitol, talking about the Scottish Parliament - surreal to say the least.

So after our chat in Eshoo's office one of her summer intern took me off on a tour of the center of American politics. We descended to the basement and walked to the Capitol via a nertwork of underground tunnels. You know I hadn't really thought about how the Representatives got from their offices to the chamber, though when you consider that they are often in their office when a call to vote goes out - and that they have just 15minutes to get there - running across a busy street just wont do. In fact, for some of the house buildings that are further away that the Cannon, there is an underground tram system that whisks them to the House. That, I thought, was pretty cool. So the building itself was pretty amazing. Lots of statues, columns, paintings, staff buzzing all over the place and to think that the members are currently in recess. I seen the star under the rotunda (the inside of the big, white dome) which used to mark the geographical center of DC under L'Enfant's original masterplan for the city. The rotunda itself was easily the best part. Inside the dome there's a painting of George Washington surrounded by a host of figures from Greek and Roman mythology and around the outside lower down is frieze depicting American history from the landing of the first Europeans to the Wright brother's first flight. I did enjoy this though I was more interested in what was missing rather than included and it got me thinking about the subjectivity and selectivity of historical discourse and accepted truths (historiography Linds?),  though I'll not bore y'all with my opinions on this.

One final thing to add - I mentioned that the House is in recess. Well some of the Republican's are staging a sit-in to attempt to force the Democrats back to the Hill in order to vote in emergency measures that would see the go-ahead given to further oil drilling off the coast of America. This, they claim, would lead to a reduction in gasoline prices for the American consumer. Now that may well be the case ten years down the line, but tomorrow or the next day - I think not. It's really a political stunt to make the Democrats look like a bunch of uncaring, unpatriotic, lazy fools. To say I was incensed by the nonsense that was being uttered by the people talking on the floor would be an understatement, though this blog is not a political mouthpiece, so I'll leave it there. Apparently this is the first time ever that such a sit-in has occurred so to have been present during a little piece of important American constitutional history was, needless to say, an amazing opportunity. My favorite fact - they had to sit in the dark all day Monday and part of Tuesday since none of the members knew how to turn on the lights. If they had been smart enough they'd have claimed that they were conserving energy reserves in a time of high prices!

Oh, one other final thing - Kyle has managed to get us a couple of tickets for the SF Giants v LA Dodgers baseball game this Friday (in his world like an Old Firm match back home). As it turns out the AT&T Stadium where the Giants play is just a couple of blocks from my new apartment. Looks like my first weekend in SF is already shaping up to be as exciting as my first here in DC.

Will write from the west coast soon,

Rory

Leaving on a jet plane, don't know if I'll be back again...

Well people, go pop on the kettle or grab a cold one and get yourself comfy. It's time to sit yourself down for a bit, relax, tune in and wile away a few hours of your otherwise boring instead weekend by reading my informative and lengthy ramblings. I have, as per, a few stories to tell and some really exciting news. In true form I'll save the best for the middle section, though I'll gve you a wee snippit to keep you enticed - I've officially been headhunted! Think of this like a cheap newspaper headline where you have to read a fair bit of the paper to get to the crux of the information. There's no page three, though if you fancy a Diana or Queen Mother memorial china plate, I'll happily provide the appropriate PO Box number!

So to this week - well it has been busy busy busy. Was back at work Monday after my business trip to San Fran last week and by 8.45 if felt as though I'd never been away. Was straight back in to the eco project, though now having met some influential people last week was straight on the emailer sending out thank-yous and 'do you think you could help me out with some info' mails. I have Vice Presidents, Senior Directors, Executive Assistants and Chief Engineers in my address book now and I intend to make use of their top-end knowledge. Within a few hours I'd had quite a number of responses either offering help via email or to arrange tele-conferences for this week and next. Exciting stuff. I had my first telephone chat with Jenny McLaughlin yesterday. Jenny is responsible for trying to make Sun's products compiant with Energy Star (E*), a US Environmentl Protection Agency benchmark that is awarded to low energy using household goods and electronic items. We had a 30 minute chat from her office in Sacramento about current products that shape up, others that dont, investments required to meet standards and also about her role in helping to form the forthcoming E* requirements for thin clients (tiny power yielding desk-tops whose main brain is located on a remote server - and might I add the future of office computing!) and workstations. Jenny also gave a me a whole list of engineers and marketing staff who are responsible for some of the other Sun products I have been looking at, so I am eternally grateful for all her help. Thanks Jenny - you are a star.

I probably should add - the reason that E* is vitally important to this project is due to the introduction of legislation such as the US President's Executive order 13423 and the EU Green Public Procurement (GPP) policy which stipulate that each fedral agency (in the case of the US) or member state (EU), must formulate a plan to ensure that ICT equipment purchased now and into the future is compliant with E* or other national/supranational eco-policies. Essentially if Sun are to find themselves to in a situation where we are effectively excluded from selling to the US and constituent governments of the EU, we would literally be barring ourselves from hundreds of billions of dollars worth of potential business. It's a major part of my report to attempt to quantify this and to encourage the company to invest in green prodcts now to ensure that sales opportunites are not closed off in the future. Pretty high level stuff I'm sure you'll agree. This week I also spoke with Luiz Maluf (Senior Director Latin America) and he kindly filled me in on the current LA situation re eco policy. In terms of Sun doing business, there's no real problem, so I'll not dwell on that. Though I will say a big thank-you to Luiz for taking time from his busy schedule to call me. Next week I'll be speaking with Dermot Duggan from marketing and Subodh Bapta Chief Engineer. For the following week I've set up some face to face meetings at Sun's SF Menlo Park HQ with some movers and shakers at the company to gage their opinon on my atempted eco-drive through the company. That very nicely brings me on to the main event...

So the title of this blog entry should be more than enough of a hint as to what I'm about to reveal, but I'll spell itout for you loud and clear just to make sure. This week coming will be my last week here in Washington DC. No, I'm not running home to Scotland silly - I've been properly headhunted by some senior Sun staff out in the San Fran Bay area - better known as Silicon Valley! Now you'll all remember that I was going to be heading back out to SF to meet with Crawford Beveridge and was supposed to spend a week at the most there. Not anymore. I've been asked to relocate to SF to work with some senior folks in order to formulate a plan to help Sun realise some of their key financial year (FY) 09 goals. Now at the moment I'm not really able to discuss what the projects may entail, but what I can say is that these projects, should I perform well, will form an integral part of Sun growth push amongst students in the coming year. Yikes. According to my manager Lowell, I really impressed alot of influential people at the Global Communities all hands with my honest and 'insightful' opinions and hence my being headhunted. I'm flattered to say the least. I was going to be in a hotel but the company have now arranged a stupidly fantastic apartment in the South of Market are in San Fran's Downtown area. It's within walking distance of Sun's Downtown office and 35 minutes on the BART train to the Menlo Park HQ further up the bay. I've also just found out that the Museum of Modern Art is right outside my door and there is a Frida Kahlo (think Mexican mono-brow) exhibition running at the mo, so I'll definitely be checking that out. I have to say that I'm massively appreciative of Sun for giving me this fantastic opportunity and putting so much faith in my abilities. You know I had imagined how this intership may have panned out over the eight weeks and I can tell you that the expeience so-far has gone way beyond even my most wildest expectations. I wouldn't be here without the Saltire Foundation, so a big thank-you goes out to Irene, Melissa and Jen (and Innis). Your confidence in me has allowed me to flourish in a decidedly challenging enviroment and compounded my self-belief in my abilities. Oh and I've also been offered a traineeship with Sun in Brussels but I'll tell y'all a bit more about that next week once I've got the lowdown!

Great news. It's my birthday a week Friday (15th) and Iain and Lorraine are flying down from Bellingham on the Saturday to help me celebrate and come experience all that San Fran has to offer. It'll be great to catch up with some other interns and to share our experinces at the mid-way point of this amazing adventure. If there's something I've learned from my life back in Scotland, it's that having the opportunity to discuss and debrief on a regular basis ensures that you can make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. I have of course been keeping up to date with everyone elses blogs via the Saltire Foundation website and it's great to hear of the differing experiences that each of the other interns are having across the globe. Well done guys - you really are doing Scotland proud.

As for the weekend so far - well today I went back to Bread and Chocolate in Capitol Hill to savour their fantastic brunch for one last time before I depart DC. Sob sob. Was as good if not better that I remember from my first morning here. I even managed to get an outside seat which are normally reserved for groups (thanks to my being Scottish). Washington Post in hand I devoured my omlette, pastries, fruit salad, grapefruit juice and tea under the blissful morning sun, enjoying people watching and conversation nebbing. Life is sweet. After I'd finished I headed over to the local flea market and picked up some gifts for family and friends that I'd been up for a few weeks. I even managed to buy myself another pair of ridiculously cheap sunglasses ($5) - DC total: 4! Well when it's sunny EVERY day you really do need a few options! This afternoon I headed to the Mall and checked out the National Art Gallery. Or should I say galleries. The campus is split over two buildings - the original neo-romanesque West Building housing a plethora of masterpieces from the early 20th century backwards such as Vincent Van Gogh's Self Portrait and Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci. I also seen works Monet, Manet, Rubens, Raphael, Titian, Cezanne and Vermeer.

I then hopped over to the newer East Building, which houses the gallery's modern collection. More up my street and with as many impresive names as it's older cousin - Picasso, Warhol, Pollock, Matisse, Dubuffey and Calder. My favourite pieces were by Piet Mondrian (Tableau No. IV) and Roy Lichenstein. East is also showing an exhibition on loan from the  National Museum, Kabul, Afghanistan. It was really interesting to see some tangible examples of the rich history of this ever-troubled nation. I think all too often we forget that Afghanistan was an integral part of the former Silk Road trading network - a global trading route stretching from China to Syria that predates christ and certainly the European global trading exploits. It really puts the notion of globalization as a new thing into stunning perspective.

Hope you've enjoyed my blogging thus far. Keep tuning. Will write soon.  Rory  ps Apologies re the randomness of where the photo's are placed - this is where the blogging software has decided that I put them even though I keep going back and fixing them - sorry.

Pitchers don't bat in the National League

Well this evening was my first experience of a Major League Baseball game and I sure enjoed it. I Learned many a fact, technical detail and insider tip that I now feel like a fully fledged Nationals fan (no matter how rubbish they are). Thanks to Chris Hankin (Senior Director of Sun North America) for taking me along. He also brought his eldest son Erik who is pretty much my age and as it turned out we got along pretty well. So much so that I went for a beer with him and a bunch of his friends to a bar in Capitol Hill after the 2 hour 35 minute match (which I'm reliably informed was short!!). One observation - they sell beer at their matches. Can you imagine that at an old-firm match? I think not. Very civilized indeed. I've popped in a few pics below and will expand on and edit this blog at some point Wednesday.

Good night,

Rory x

For those of you on the right-hand side of the plane...

You have a perfect view of the Grand Canyon.

Why I negated to mention this in my last blog I'm not sure, well, considering that it was some 1500 words in total you may understand why I gave up! So here are the pics...

 

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

  So here it is for those of you who have been pestering me to get blogging again after what has been an eternally long four days of radio silence. I'm glad to say that I'm now back on the right side of the moon and well, as I'm sure you won't be surprised, I've got quite a bit to say...

So I'll start with my whirlwind trip to San Fran last week and later I'll tell you about my action packed weekend. The trip out was cool. Flew through a thunder and lightning storm on the way to Chicago. That was an experience and a half for someone who isn't really too hot a flyer. Still, I saw forks and sparks fly across the sky (thankfully about 15,000 feet below me) and so I spent 20 minutes sat on the edge of my seat feeling mixed emotions of fear and delight. A strange yet oddly exciting experience. My visit to Chicago was short and uneventful as I barely saw the city from the plane and was equally uninspired in the shed that calls itself Chicago Midway airport. Think Prestwick crossed with Poundland and you're half way there. Classy indeed. I was also delayed for an hour - deep-set depression was quickly taking hold - before my onward flight to San Francisco.

After having arrived in SF I soon realised that this airport was a different kettle of fish altogether - a massive, behemoth-like incarnation of the world and everything in it - lights, concrete, highways, air trains, people (lots of people), escalators, elevators, roads, toads, cars, cabs, busses, police, glass, metal, mental, food, drink, pubs and clubs. Someone could easily set up home there in one of the many nooks and crannies and live quite a comfortable life. I however, was tired, emotional and confused. Imagine my shock when I went to get a cab and was told that it would cost me $110 minimum. I almost fell off the side of the pavement. Now I'd checked, via Google Earth, the Bay area in general before I left and it seemed to me that this seemed like a crazy amount of cash for a local trip. Fearful that the company would have kicked my ass for spending so much getting to my hotel (I later found out that this would have been totally fine) I joined a shared shuttle and got to see some rural California suburbs and towns en route to my hotel. This was cool. One observation about the bay area - not quite as glamorous as Hollywood would have us think. My hotel was some 45 miles from SF (I felt like I'd been told I was going to Edinburgh but was actually in Glasgow) and the wider surrounding area was a bit stinky and suffering from post-industrial decline. Another comparison - think Greenock meets rotten eggs. Pleasant to say the least. Hotel was amazing though - already written about that below, so I'll not blether on about that now. 

So on to the main event - Global Communities All Hands - which was the real motivation for my being in SF (well Newark, CA and Santa Clara really). The GC group at Sun has recently gone through a major realignment and so this meeting was the first opportunity for the whole   team - who are literally spread all across the globe - to get together and provide new focus and impetus for their future direction. I'm not really able to talk about new policies and discussions that took place over the two day event, but suffice to say that I was party to a great deal of information and policy outlook that your usual student just does not get the opportunity to be part of. Like ever. For this I feel massively privileged. I believe that my business acumen has been bolstered innumerably having been given unparalled access to the internal workings of one of the world's leading blue-chip organizations. Not only was I able to sit in on over 15 highly charged presentations and discussions over the two days - I was very much included. Myself and Aaron (a US intern based in SF) were mentioned in almost all of the discussions and were often asked to give opinions as how we viewed Sun's current and planned products (the apex of this having been given the chance to speak with Sun CEO Jonatahn Schwartz). Again, I can't get right down to the nitty-gritty, though in the main, Sun are basically trying to regain a 'cool factor' that admittedly has been lost as the company has grown from the local Stamford University Network (SUN) into a multi-national corporation. The thing that became clear to me though, is that the products that are out there at the moment are great. I think it's just a case of finding that unique marketing opportunity or headline product (like the i-pod or Wii), through which the other products can be vicariously sold/distributed. I say distributed because the majority of Sun's downloadable products i.e. Netbeans, MySQL and Open Office and totally free. Yes free. So go to Sun's website and check them out.

So the meeting/discussion sessions were great, though the evenings were equally, if not more rewarding for me. Being the 'cool student' as I was persistently referred to as, I held a certain amount of gravitas amongst the team and add in the Scotland factor and you understand why I was in high demand. Networking is my new favourite past-time and I'm pretty darn good at it. I'm also very modest. Seriously though, whilst the evening events were supposed to be an occasion for the team to bond/relax, I very much used it as an opportunity to sell myself, Scotland, Saltire Foundation, Scottish Enterprise, my university, my day job (Innovative Routes to Learning) etc etc to an endearing and entirely interested group of individuals. Understand though, these are not the people on the bottom rung of the ladder. These are Vice Presidents, Senior Directors, Senior Managers and Lawyers in control of areas such as Europe, the Middle East and Africa; North America and Canada; Latin America and Asia. Influential to say the least. I’m really happy to report that the feedback that I have received to date is all very positive. In fact I’ve just received a message from Kirsty MacDonald (Senior Manager Europe, ME and Africa [EMEA]) to say that she has spoken to Charlotte Thornby-Nielsson (Senior Director EMEA) and that they would love for me to go out to the Brussels office where they are based to work for a bit over the winter holiday period. Needless to say I plan on taking up this offer. Incidentally the Sun Brussels office is based in Scotland House (the unofficial Scottish Embassy for the EU).

All in all I had a really fantastic trip. I need to say a few thank-yous to the people who made it all possible and for being such accommodating hosts - Cynthia Ahrendsen, Linda Rogers, Stephanie Hess, Lin Lee, Sheila Remolar and my manager Lowell Sachs. And also to those who I had the chance to chat with/asked my opinions in the GC meetings – Mark Terranova and his fantastic team - Chris, Tom, Geordie, Charmaine, Marty and Ron; Charlotte Thronby, Kirsty and Delphine from Brussels; Michelle Dennedy; Denis, Theresa and Jason from Beijing and Luiz Maluf and the photo-tastic Bruno Souza from Latin America. You guys really made me feel welcome, valued and from my point of view, excited to be part of such a wonderful and inspirational group of people.

So the week came and went in flash and before I knew it I was on my way to SFO in an air-conditioned, leather clad town car (thanks Charmaine). Considering that I didn’t even get to see the city, my time in SF was amazing. Good news though, Linda Rogers is arranging for me to come back for a week or so mid-August when Crawford Beveridge will be back in town, so I am finally going to get the chance to meet this well-respected, highly successful Scotsman. I suppose Crawford is the epitome of what the Saltire Foundation expects to see long-term from the current batch of interns and so to get his insight, opinion and to hear of his personal battles and successes will the equivalent of a multi-decade’s worth of life coaching. I heard on the grapevine that he is partial to a wee dram or two of malt, so already we have something in common. Also, when I’m out this time I’m being put up in a hotel in Downtown SF and am going to be shown around some of the sights, so I’ll get to see the city, which will be nice. Incidentally it’ll also be my birthday when I’m out there and I’m going to make a Scottish banquet for some of the people I met. As it stands, this will be held at Michelle Dennedy’s (Chief Privacy and Data Officer) house so I’m really excited to have the chance to sell our great wee country some more to a bunch of influential people. Haggis, Saltire, Ceilidh music and a list of great Scottish inventions at the ready.....

I was going to tell you about my weekend and quick trip via Vegas but quite frankly that’s all superfluous nonsense after the week I’ve just had. In brief though – Vegas – quite underwhelming and fake to a degree that puts the wares available from the Barras to shame. Bet $5, won $5 back, so left Vegas richer than when I arrived. Score. Went up to Six Flags at the weekend. Coastermania, including one that you lie down on called the Batwing. That was easily my favourite. The rest of the rides – pretty good, though not as entertaining as my bus-ride  back to the Metro station that was full of people rapping, singing, dancing and swearing. Alot. One of those stories to tell the grandkids. One other thing I must add. Went for a beer Friday and came out of the tube at Dupont to a full brass band playing some funky jazz and a street full of people dancing. Was well cool. I joined in dancing – that was so not cool.

Will blog again soonish. Hope everyone is well.

Rory

PS I'm putting this in bigger text for my Mum who has to print this off to read cos she gets migraines when looking at a computer screen/small text!!

Global Communities Meeting - Day 1

It's 10.30pm and that's me just back in my very comfortable hotel room after what has been a long yet wholly rewarding day. I'm not going to download all of the day's activities right now, think I'll wait 'til tomorrow evening once the whole thing is over and I can assess the event over the tow days.

Suffice to say, today has been the experience of a lifetime. I've met, chatted with, mixed and mingled with some of the most senior people in one of the US's biggest corporations. Imagine my surprise when Jonathan Schwartz SUN CEO arrived in our meeting room - just as the group were discussing students - and the mic was suddenly thrust into my hand so that I could tell this highly intellectual and successful businessman just what his company needed to do to regain the cool factor and once again appeal to the early adopters and student body!!!! YIKES. I made a pretty good account of myself, with a lot of nods from senior people and the initial response - "yes you can stay". Amazing. I'll tell you all a bit more about that and the rest of the daytime events tomorrow or Thursday.

This evening we were at the Thomas Foggery Winery and that was yet again another mind blowing experience. Lots, LOTS of networking, which I'm now beginning to get rather good at. I have business cards from people who work in China, Brussels, Boston.... We also had to prepare and cook all of our own food which was a really good bonding exercise and yes, it tasted GREAT. I've popped in a couple of pics below. Again, will write more tomorrow to tell you in more detail about the people in the pics, their roles and the beginning of week two with a company that I am coming all the more part of as the days go by.

Rory x

PS I'm flying back to DC Thursday, but am coming back to SF August to work for a week and meet Crawford Beveridge. Life is good.

California Baby

Well after having travelled for some 15 hours yesterday, I finally arrived in SF. It's markedly colder here than in DC so am glad that I brought a light jacket. Hotel is immense - so plush (See below). Had dinner delivered to my and have been told that I may drink the in-room bar dry and eat my way through the munchie box should I wish. At $7 a beer and $12 for chocolate, I think that this is one extravagence that I'll save SUN.

It's time for bed but will write tomorrow to tell y'all how I got on at the Global Communities meeting/dinner.

Rory x