A VISIT TO GOOGLE LAND

Last week, Diane and I flew to California to visit Patrick and GOOGLE Land. Katie flew in from Boston to join us. On Mother’s Day, Patrick and Katie prepared the Brunch in Patrick’s new San Jose apartment: delicious omelets and yummy French toast (check out the photo). The next day, we had a tour of GOOGLE Land, which is a lot like a college campus…only with free food! Katie rode one of the GOOGLE bikes (which are everywhere) and Diane and checked out the GOOGLE donut (check out the photos). When Patrick finished his work for the day, we drove to Livermore in heavy traffic to visit Art Scott and Bruce Taylor. A lot of fun ensued.

Katie wanted to see an “organized” book collection (in contrast to my chaotic methods). Art Scott showed Diane, Patrick, and Katie how books, CDs, and vinyl should be organized and displayed. Meanwhile, Bruce and I got caught up on what Steve Stilwell (and others) were up to. Then we drove to the Wente Vineyards for dinner and more great conversation (and great wine!). Sadly, no one thought to take any photos!

20 thoughts on “A VISIT TO GOOGLE LAND

    1. george Post author

      Bill, Diane, Patrick, and Katie would park me in a comfortable spot and then go off and do their thing. Worked for all of us!

      Reply
  1. mary mason

    Wonderful trip.

    A thought on organized collections. While you don’t have a lot of inadvertent duplicates, you also don’t have the joy of finding a treasure you’d forgotten about. (Mine was a first edition by raymond chandler, sadly without a dj)

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Maggie, I envy Art Scott’s order. My collection needs organization. I spend too much time looking for books (and CDs and Blu-rays) instead of enjoying them!

      Reply
      1. mary mason

        Wish I could help you, but can give you some advice: have lots of boxes for sorting, but not really big boxes, ones that would strain your back lifting them filled with books.

        I’d sort by genre, then by author, and have a discard bin for dups+ (I found lots of dups in my wodehouse collection, one title I had 3 hb firsts of:2 US I UK.)

        when you go to sort by author, just do 3-4 letters at a time; go thru all and pull the letters you’re working on. then Alphabetize those letters. Make a decision on which author to prioritze if there are more than one author.

        Wish I could help: It sounds like so much fun.

    1. george Post author

      Jeff, the GOOGLE campus holds many surprises. And, a lot of free food! Patrick says they have 20 restaurants of all types for the GOOGLE employees to enjoy. While we were visiting, there was an RV with the sign: FREE HAIRCUTS.

      Reply
  2. Beth Fedyn

    What a fun trip, George!

    Looks like you two were having a great time. That’s how retirement is supposed to be.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Beth, this trip was the longest we’ve ever taken: nine days! When Diane and I were working, such a trip wouldn’t have been possible.

      Reply
  3. wolf

    Lovely!

    And maybe Patrick one day will proudly show you around his own company, maybe not as big as Google – but who knows?

    The opportunities of Silicon Valley are almost endless it seems.
    You obviously had fun – and you can be proud of your son!

    PS: Should be “proud of your children” obviously …

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Wolf, we’re proud of Patrick and Katie’s accomplishments. It was great spending time with them. I couldn’t believe all the construction in Silicon Valley! New buildings were going up everywhere!

      Reply

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