Wednesday, July 09, 2008

This is San Francisco and the Bay Area at its best

Many of you know that I am a huge devotee of Richard Florida (Juliet, if you're reading this get cracking on "Rise of the Creative Class" because this posting is exactly what he's talking about), so here is what's happening at Intel in Berkeley.

Check this link about street sweepers helping collect air quality data.

P.S. Make sure to watch the video link to see that there is a person out there who perhaps, is more expressive with their hands while talking, than I!!!

July 2008 = Texas and the Southeastern USA

Early in the morning of June 28th, 2008 (as in 12:30AM), having parked my car at friend Tony's (or marriage fame) house in Oakland, taking BART back across the Bay to SFO, rushing through the concourse and being the LAST person on the American Airlines #1441 to Dallas/Fort Worth, I handed my black roller-bag to the stewardess at the door of the plane to have it gate checked. She asks, "does anyone have a gate check tag?" No one does. She ASSURES me that the bag will make it into the baggage area below and show up in Dallas as the flight is scheduled to stop in Dallas and the plane cleared before the next flight boards.

Three and a half hours later, I stand at the baggage carousel, looking longingly at the circular metal device spinning around and around with no sign of my black bag in sight. Stupid is as stupid does.

The reason I was on this flight was that I was to attend my Uncle's funeral in Arlington, TX. Nothing out of the ordinary there. However, I was asked by my father and cousin Henry to extend my stay for another two weeks to help them unravel my Uncle's estate.

My father was named executor of the estate. His job in this case was to assemble a list of the assets and liabilities, proceed with whatever probate court issues needed to be handled, ensure the value of the estate is evenly divided between my two cousins, and be done.

EASIER SAID THAN DONE. I am not at liberty to reveal any of the details of the case but my Uncle had some unorthodox financial practices and so the three of us are basically trying to understand how to "follow the money." We really do need one of those big poster board charts you see on television shows where pictures of suspects are put on the board and lines are drawn between major characters to show relationships. In our case, substitute pictures with boxes that represent corporations, accounts and creditors.

It's been a slow slog, and I find it particularly challenging because I don't have a set path to go on. In my regular life, I set things up so I can make a list and be able to work through it systematically because I know exactly how to accomplish each and every task. In this case, I struggle to even come up with a strategy to accomplish my part of this case.

However, I have to report that these past couple days I've had some moments of success. I will report that yesterday, I managed to establish an online account with the Texas Secretary of State's Office and in a 45 minute flurry of brilliance determine, download and print out a bunch of information that will help us determine what parts of the estate will eventually need to be transferred into the trust, to eventually pay off debts and then be divided amongst my cousins. And David D., I did say "thank you."

I will report that I have told my father and cousins that I will work during the week, but that my weekends are mine. This part 4th of July weekend, I flew to Orlando to visit my friends David C. and Thom B. David and I took Saturday afternoon to get on an airboat and go look at alligators in their native swamp environment and then went to Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. The rest of the time, I took advantage of their couch to nap, watch television and commune with my inner potato. This upcoming weekend, I fly to Atlanta to visit a potentially someone special.

The weekends have been fun, but I've also decided to no throw myself a pity party and to enjoy the evenings as well. This past Monday, I attended Raising Sand, which is a concert with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Last night, my cousin Henry and I enjoyed the Texas Rangers/Los Angeles Angels game here in Arlington. A highlight was not only that Texas beat the Angels, but we also won free tacos in the fifth inning because a Rangers player hit a home run. Thanks, Chris Davis!

So, that's been my July so far. I was fearing what I was going to do this July since the India fellowship fell through. I had to believe that it was going to reveal itself to me, and it most certainly did. I am chalking this all up to the category of "service to the family."