Multiplatform Mania

With this Interim Director of Operations and Communications job I now have an iPhone....and my Blackberry. If I had a hard enough time holding on to my iPhone before, now I have to juggle two devices. Getting the new iPhone I instantly felt more civilized. Difficult to believe, but in just a month I've forgotten how to use iPhone. It is the same challenge as moving between Mac and PC, which I'm also doing with this job. Add to that moving between yahoo mail, google mail and microsoft exchange server email. My brain is melting.

Sailing at Sunset in Berkeley Marina

I was able to post this and the previous image directly from my crackberry while on the boat on the Bay. Needless to say it was a perfect recipe for seasickness. There were moments I felt like my dad as we were pulling out to the Bay and I was busy looking at the crackberry not at all being "in the moment". It was a fantastic evening. I actually took the helm for our exit out of and entrance into the Marina. This made up for the last time I went out on the Bay and I got so scared about "driving the boat." Now new good memories and even the confidence to be working the sails.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Giving Off a Friendly Vibe

This evening I think I was giving off a friendly vibe. After hanging at my new favorite cafe in the Mission, La Boheme (great decaf Chai lattes, casual atmosphere, filled with creative types and always a place to find my friend Andrew), I headed down to 24th Street BART station and started tapping away on my crackberry. An older, professional looking man approached and asked if he could sit next to me. I made space and continued my crack addiction while he pulled out his crackberry and started looking over my shoulder. I didn't know what to make of his actions so I kept an eye on him and noticed that he was comparing his crackberry to mine.

"You're Blackberry is so sleek" he said.
"It is the newest one - I got it on Monday." I responded.
"Oh it is so nice. Mine is not so nice. It is too big. But it is for work so I have to carry it around."
"This is an addiction - you can keep getting the latest and greatest ones - just look at people going crazy over the iphone." I commented.
"Yeah, I guess this one works for me. Oh, gotta go, that's my train. Nice chatting with you." He reaches over and gives me a nice pat on the shoulder.

This guy didn't try to pinch (British term for stealing something) my crackberry, he didn't try to pick me up, he just wanted to chat about our technology.

Then I got on the train, took a seat and pulled out my new book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Chabon. The woman in the seat next to me said.
"Ooh, do you like the book?"
"Just started it, on page 11 and good so far."
"I'm reading Salomon Rushdie. His latest book is fantastic."

On and on went our conversation and it extended into clothing, mortgages, Victorian lifestyles, and Alameda - where we both happen to live. The woman offered me a ride home and I said yes. Well, should could have tried to kill me or something crazy but I decided to take the chance. We chatted the entire way.

It is still a reverse culture shock to have people be so friendly to me after my time in the UK, especially on London's Tube where even if the person next to you is reading the same book as you no conversation is made. I love that folks from the San Francisco Bay Area are eager to make small talk and get to know people. In the past I would have shied away but now I'm "living out loud" and trying to connect to people. Seems worth the effort.

In Pursuit of Wireless

Staying with my sibs in DC I was totally spoiled with continuous internet access. Now that I'm "on my own" accessing the internet has become like a religion - equivalent to needing to pray to the great big electricity god in the sky for laptop power.

Stacey and Stefan's house, in which I'm renting the top floor, has wireless but for some reason their IT guy can't get me to connect. The next best option - cafes with free wifi. I've found two in Alameda that are working well for me Java Rama and Julie's. One is a boy hangout and the other very girlie. Java Rama is dark, cavernous and plays 80s music. Julie's is bright, cute, plays jazzy tunes and serves yummy food. You guess which one is for guys and which for girls.

The fantastic feature of Julie's is that they have scones with clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam. Plus, decaf Chai (although it needs some work on flavor).

I'm going to have to figure out a solution to my internet access challenge because this is costing me some major money and calories living off of free wifi. Maybe I could hide in the alley and access their wireless.

Another option is to get a crackberry or a wireless access doo-hickly thingy from AT&T. Costing it out the wireless doo-hicky thingy actually will be less expansive than buying tea and cookies twice a day. But I do like the social aspects of meandering between the two cafes.

Photos of Julie's and my yum-food-hit.