Snow in Seattle

Yesterday the snow was coming down. It started with big flakes that got smaller. It has been below freezing for a couple of days, so if we go out we need to watch for ice patches on the road. However it is beautiful on the lake.

Today I was going to go the church just wearing a merino wool shirt, but Kathy talked me out of it. She is a wise woman. I chose my Calvin Klein CMZ850 wool coat; it has a built in vest. I am not a big brand person, but this was at Costco at a nice price and from time to time it is nice to have a break from nylon and fleece.

There is no sign of rain today, but I found some waterproofing spray cans at Wal-Mart in the sports area; I bought two cans and sprayed the jacket with both of them several months ago. Have no idea how effective they are; have not been in a rain storm with the coat yet. That will be instructive.

The whole concept of "waterproof" is tough, years ago in Vancouver I got soaked in an LL Bean goretex trenchcoat raincoat trying to buy a gold nugget piece of jewerly for Kathy. No complaints against LL Bean, if you stay in the rain long enough, you get wet.

Today, we stopped to get gas after church and I am still shivering after filling the car, but I only had the vest section zipped up.

I am going to take a short nap and then we can go to the YMCA.

Broken Yolk Cafe and Joe's Crab Shack San Diego

Had a business lunch and needed to keep it near the conference hotels. I had been intrigued with the Broken Yolk Cafe and it was close so we gave it a try. Thomas had a Western omelet, Kathy had a Kale salad and I had a Reuben. It was all OK, but not great. I do not think I will be back, the Gaslamp district has so many excellent choices.

For supper we walked to the Crab Shack so we could see the amazing boats moored by the convention center. There was one called the Ramsey which was the biggest single mast I have ever seen. We got to the Crab Shack early and had the place to ourselves. It was fun listening to the day time employees leave and the night time employees arrive; there were a lot of "love yous" and hugs, I love to see a work environment like that. Kathy and I shared the Classic Steampot for two, it has been over three years since I have visited that place. The last time was when I was teaching for Fred Rainbow of AFCEA and my class decided to go to lunch together. That was a fun time.  Kathy and I both really enjoyed it. Then we took a leisurely walk back.

Meze Cafe and Grill - San Diego Gaslamp

STI  President Alan Paller was giving a talk tonight in San Diego at 7:15 PM, so we went out for an early dinner. We decided to visit Meze which bills itself as Greek Fusion. It  is located near our hotel at 551 J Street San Diego, (619) 546-5060.

We shared the Meze platter more food than we could possibly eat. Kathy also got the baked Feta which she loved. Everything was good but this was probably the best Falafel I have ever tasted.

Not sure I will be coming back to San Diego, but the restaurants in the Gaslamp district almost certainly please and Meze is a fond memory.

I doubt Microsoft will stay in business for five more years

My previous Mac died. I am trying to transfer all the files. Microsoft Office did not transfer, but no problem. I bought a license to the "cloud" version  of "Office 365".

I entered the product key, it was not accepted. Checked it once, twice, thrice, it was typed in correctly. I then went to the office.com web site and tried again. Folks, Microsoft is badly broken.

I am a Washington state resident. I will not diss a local company lightly, but REALLY, you guys are seriously not getting it. You have become Adobe and that is not a good thing. Especially since I know they came to you to learn how to roll out patches.

I have to travel on Sunday, there is no time to visit the Mac Genius bar. Microsoft, in the unlikely event you scan the net for issues, you REALLY, ought make sure sure the product activation keys you sell actually work.