I am truly amazed at how the Queen managed to keep it together doing this job. As you may know, I recently took on her duties so that she could move on to another opportunity. But now I'm really questioning why I accepted ALL these duties and ever morning I'm amazed to think about how she always stayed so organized and upbeat.
I know that some of my issues are just because I haven't gotten into the groove and set my own pace yet. And of course there is the learning curve, since the system we use to do most of our work was completely foreign to me. And hopefully this will all be smoothed out as I become more comfortable and confident in my actions.
What is really bothering me, though is the fact that everybody seems to think that when the Queen left she left her brain and all her history and knowledge behind as well. So much of this stuff is judgement call based on her history with a group, and I don't have that, yet. And the whole "I'm new to the job" doesn't really seem to fly either because I've been on the account for longer than the Queen, but just not involved in this particular area. Grrrr, people are annoying.
Okay, enough of my complaining. I have to take on the mantra that things will get better and that I will succeed at this job and that it is a great learning opportunity for me to understand even more of the overall running of an IT organization.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Attack of the Santa Cruz Mountains
This past weekend the BS Club tackled the Santa Cruz Mountains as we had heard rumors that there were some very interesting wineries in that area and the Queen wanted to have breakfast at this great hole-in-the-wall-biker bar place called Alice's. (I guess it can only be considered a biker bar place because it is a really cool drive up to it and rumor has it that it is a lot of fun to take the drive on a bike.)
For those of you who are fans of the Queen B's blog, you may recall stories of our previous trip over the mountains (http://queenbisme.blogspot.com/2008/01/playing-hooky.html). Well, this time we didn't fair much better. On Friday before we left the office, we told friends and co-workers what our plans were: Alice's for breakfast, Thomas Fogarty Winery, Bonny Doon Winery, Santa Cruz to see the ocean, David Bruce Winery, then to our friend Jill's house for a bar-b-que and goodbye party for the Queen. Everybody kept saying, "you know it is supposed to rain this weekend, right?" Well, we just laugh in the face of weather "HA! HA! HA!"And yet, we probably should have listened.....
We set out around 10ish in the morning and while it is cool the skies seem relatively clear for Northern California and the drive up through Woodside to Alice's was very pleasant. We had a yummy breakfast and Sam and the Queen had wine-based bloody marys. I, ABBA, being a designated driver expertise, had a glass of chardonnay. But we figured since we were having such a large breakfast that it would be okay.
We left Alice's and headed to our first winery, which is used quite often as a site for weddings and we could completely understand why. Even with the rain, as it had started to pick up, we could tell how beautiful the view would be. And, for those of you who are REALLY interested, this will be the place where ABBA is wed, if that day ever comes!! Thomas Fogarty Winery was established by Dr. Thomas Fogarty who was the creator of the Fogarty heart balloon catheter that is used during heart surgery. AND he makes a pretty decent glass of wine.
After Fogarty's we headed up and over and along the ridgeline of the Santa Cruz mountains to get to Bonny Doon Winery. Now supposedly we went the backwards way in, but crikey!! I thought there were times where we were going to have some hillbilly, hippy inbreed with one tooth jump out and attach the ABBA-mobile!! The road was little more than a single lane all along the ridge with a number of very tight switchbacks and steep hills. And of course it didn't help one bit that it had started to sleet some and it felt like we were driving through the clouds. Needless to say, I was VERY glad when we finally came to Bonny Doon. This is a winery that I would definitely recommend on ambiance and quirkiness alone. (But I would wait until you have good weather to get there, they say it is great in the summer when it is really warm down in the city.) All of their wine labels are very eccentric, and I think we can say that ABBA loves a good wine label. Again, like so many other wineries they seem to focus on reds, which ABBA is not a big fan of, but for some reason she managed to be coerced into joining the wine club at Bonny Doon so that Sam and the Queen could get the private vintage wines at a discounted rate. They also promised that they would buy the red wines from me, if they weren't my cup o' tea!!
While we were in Bonny Doon's, the sky literally opened up and dumped rain on the mountain top, se we decided that we just needed to stay indoors and drink a bit more. After the rain let up, the three of us piled back into the ABBA-mobile and headed down the mountain into Santa Cruz and Capitola so that the Queen could see the ocean one more time before she headed back to the dustbowl known as Texas. Naturally, as we are parking in Capitola near the area where Sam and the Queen learned to surf (http://queenbisme.blogspot.com/2007/09/surfing.html) the sky opens up once again. But that didn't stop the BS Club from climbing out of the ABBA-mobile and going to look at the pounding surf. The Queen jumped up on the wall and got a coupld of pictures with the ocean behind her and then we raced back to the vehicle in hopes of not being completely soaked. Luckily I thought ahead and packed a couple of towels for us for just such an occasion.
We dried off and headed BACK over the mountains to our third and final winery of the day (I know, compared the the precious weekend, this was pretty light-weight of us!). The turn-off to David Bruce's Winery was scarey, to say the very least. Again, we were back in the mountains on uphill, switch-back turns, with pouring rain and sleet. The windows of the ABBA-mobile were starting to fog up, so we had to use the towels for drying off after Santa Cruz to clear the windows. And yes, you are probably saying "ABBA, why did you not turn around? Why did you not take your precious cargo to some safe dry spot?" First, there was no friggin' way I could have turned around. And, second, we decided that neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night would stop us from our winery route!!!
We finally made it to the winery and Sam and the Queen both enjoyed the wines and even purchased some for those "special occasions" because I have to say, David Bruce is pretty darn proud of his wine!! We also explained to the barrista, who was no where near as fun as the Sonoma barristas, that I was the designated driver for two weeks in a row and as I was offering to go get the car and bring it up for Sam and the Queen, she asked if I would be her friend too. Its not every day that a stranger asks to become your friend!!
As the afternoon drew to a close, we headed off the Santa Cruz Mountains and over to Jill's warm and comfy home where a spread of great munchies were available along with great company and good laughs.
I don't know if I'll ever make it across the Santa Cruz Mountains without the storms, but I can only hope...someday.....
For those of you who are fans of the Queen B's blog, you may recall stories of our previous trip over the mountains (http://queenbisme.blogspot.com/2008/01/playing-hooky.html). Well, this time we didn't fair much better. On Friday before we left the office, we told friends and co-workers what our plans were: Alice's for breakfast, Thomas Fogarty Winery, Bonny Doon Winery, Santa Cruz to see the ocean, David Bruce Winery, then to our friend Jill's house for a bar-b-que and goodbye party for the Queen. Everybody kept saying, "you know it is supposed to rain this weekend, right?" Well, we just laugh in the face of weather "HA! HA! HA!"And yet, we probably should have listened.....
We set out around 10ish in the morning and while it is cool the skies seem relatively clear for Northern California and the drive up through Woodside to Alice's was very pleasant. We had a yummy breakfast and Sam and the Queen had wine-based bloody marys. I, ABBA, being a designated driver expertise, had a glass of chardonnay. But we figured since we were having such a large breakfast that it would be okay.
We left Alice's and headed to our first winery, which is used quite often as a site for weddings and we could completely understand why. Even with the rain, as it had started to pick up, we could tell how beautiful the view would be. And, for those of you who are REALLY interested, this will be the place where ABBA is wed, if that day ever comes!! Thomas Fogarty Winery was established by Dr. Thomas Fogarty who was the creator of the Fogarty heart balloon catheter that is used during heart surgery. AND he makes a pretty decent glass of wine.
After Fogarty's we headed up and over and along the ridgeline of the Santa Cruz mountains to get to Bonny Doon Winery. Now supposedly we went the backwards way in, but crikey!! I thought there were times where we were going to have some hillbilly, hippy inbreed with one tooth jump out and attach the ABBA-mobile!! The road was little more than a single lane all along the ridge with a number of very tight switchbacks and steep hills. And of course it didn't help one bit that it had started to sleet some and it felt like we were driving through the clouds. Needless to say, I was VERY glad when we finally came to Bonny Doon. This is a winery that I would definitely recommend on ambiance and quirkiness alone. (But I would wait until you have good weather to get there, they say it is great in the summer when it is really warm down in the city.) All of their wine labels are very eccentric, and I think we can say that ABBA loves a good wine label. Again, like so many other wineries they seem to focus on reds, which ABBA is not a big fan of, but for some reason she managed to be coerced into joining the wine club at Bonny Doon so that Sam and the Queen could get the private vintage wines at a discounted rate. They also promised that they would buy the red wines from me, if they weren't my cup o' tea!!
While we were in Bonny Doon's, the sky literally opened up and dumped rain on the mountain top, se we decided that we just needed to stay indoors and drink a bit more. After the rain let up, the three of us piled back into the ABBA-mobile and headed down the mountain into Santa Cruz and Capitola so that the Queen could see the ocean one more time before she headed back to the dustbowl known as Texas. Naturally, as we are parking in Capitola near the area where Sam and the Queen learned to surf (http://queenbisme.blogspot.com/2007/09/surfing.html) the sky opens up once again. But that didn't stop the BS Club from climbing out of the ABBA-mobile and going to look at the pounding surf. The Queen jumped up on the wall and got a coupld of pictures with the ocean behind her and then we raced back to the vehicle in hopes of not being completely soaked. Luckily I thought ahead and packed a couple of towels for us for just such an occasion.
We dried off and headed BACK over the mountains to our third and final winery of the day (I know, compared the the precious weekend, this was pretty light-weight of us!). The turn-off to David Bruce's Winery was scarey, to say the very least. Again, we were back in the mountains on uphill, switch-back turns, with pouring rain and sleet. The windows of the ABBA-mobile were starting to fog up, so we had to use the towels for drying off after Santa Cruz to clear the windows. And yes, you are probably saying "ABBA, why did you not turn around? Why did you not take your precious cargo to some safe dry spot?" First, there was no friggin' way I could have turned around. And, second, we decided that neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night would stop us from our winery route!!!
We finally made it to the winery and Sam and the Queen both enjoyed the wines and even purchased some for those "special occasions" because I have to say, David Bruce is pretty darn proud of his wine!! We also explained to the barrista, who was no where near as fun as the Sonoma barristas, that I was the designated driver for two weeks in a row and as I was offering to go get the car and bring it up for Sam and the Queen, she asked if I would be her friend too. Its not every day that a stranger asks to become your friend!!
As the afternoon drew to a close, we headed off the Santa Cruz Mountains and over to Jill's warm and comfy home where a spread of great munchies were available along with great company and good laughs.
I don't know if I'll ever make it across the Santa Cruz Mountains without the storms, but I can only hope...someday.....
Final Installment of the Banana Slug Chronicles
Dear Reader, I apologize for the delay in providing closure to our trio's adventures, but as you may or may not know I am taking over the duties of the Queen out here in California and my poor little brain is a little slow on the picking up and understanding so I've been a smidge too tired to complete our journey but I'm going to try today.
We left our lovely ladies off singing "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and heading off to Blackstone Winery. After a little "recalculating" by ABBA's personal Carmen (a.k.a. the Queen, Miz Treo, and MapQuest), the ladies managed to locate Blackstone, with only a few moments to spare before they closed their doors. The barristas at Blackstone were not as friendly as those found at the early stops, so the ladies opted to snub them and leave. Admittedly, the only reason that this winery made it onto the list was because ABBA liked their website and their wine label and since she was the one creating the travel plans, she snuck it in. Overall, this location did not make a very big impression since this writer is unable to remember ANY highlights at this time.
Therefore, the ladies piled back into the ABBA-mobile and headed off to Imagery. The adventurers were actually pushing the limit here due to the fact that many of the wineries will close their doors for tasting and selling around 4:30 - 5:00 and it was starting to get a little dark out. While driving and navigating pretty much on her own, since the Queen really couldn't play Carmen any more, ABBA managed to arrive at Imagery with 15 minutes to spare. For those of you wondering what the Queen and Sam were doing during this trip, they were taking pictures of one another in the car. ABBA almost heard "Dueling Banjos" in the background during the dueling cameras!!
Now, the ladies have made it to Imagery and the Queen and Sam belly up to the bar. They actually offered an extensive tasting at this locale and the two decided that they should "split" the tasting. Luckily, the barrista proved to be very adept at pouring a decent amount into the glasses so that both Sam and the Queen were able to fully appreciate each selection. While these two were enjoying the bountiful wines, ABBA decided to explore the tasting room.
Dear Readers, Imagery is one of those really spectacular wineries that I would recommend to anybody touring the Sonoma region. I couldn't tell you much about their wines, but their tasting room is beautiful. They have a series of artists who provide the artwork for their labels and a gallery which displays all of the paintings, drawings, and collages. Since ABBA was raised by an artist (or two), she has a great appreciation for galleries and enjoyed looking at all of the different paintings, which all had a wine theme. There was a separate gallery off to the side which held floor to ceiling works as well and ABBA saw many a quilt possibilities on these walls. At one point, ABBA went over to the club member counter and started speaking with the barrista there since she wasn't busy with any club members. Upon hearing that ABBA was the designated driver she stated "You are so nice to be the driver for your friends. You do realize that it is customary for the driver to be given a bottel of wine from each of the wineries that the group goes to as payment and thank you for being the driver." ABBA is still waiting for these presents.
Eventually, ABBA made it back to the Queen and Sam, who were finishing up with their tasting and it was decided that it was time to hit the road. The trio had plans to get to Sausolito for dinner at a quaint Italian restaurant and ABBA wanted to get out of the winding roads before it got too dark.
As the ladies headed to the car, ABBA finally spotted the elusive Banana Slug, and pointed it out to the Queen. She was so happy that a tear almost fell to the ground. The trio stopped and looked on in adoration at the elusive Banana Slug that was finally located in the Valley of Moon.
All in all, it was a wonderful day that was greatly enjoyed. The drive was beautiful and the company was fabulous, so what more could three divas ask for.
Long Live the BS Club and continue searching for the elusive Banana Slug!!!
We left our lovely ladies off singing "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and heading off to Blackstone Winery. After a little "recalculating" by ABBA's personal Carmen (a.k.a. the Queen, Miz Treo, and MapQuest), the ladies managed to locate Blackstone, with only a few moments to spare before they closed their doors. The barristas at Blackstone were not as friendly as those found at the early stops, so the ladies opted to snub them and leave. Admittedly, the only reason that this winery made it onto the list was because ABBA liked their website and their wine label and since she was the one creating the travel plans, she snuck it in. Overall, this location did not make a very big impression since this writer is unable to remember ANY highlights at this time.
Therefore, the ladies piled back into the ABBA-mobile and headed off to Imagery. The adventurers were actually pushing the limit here due to the fact that many of the wineries will close their doors for tasting and selling around 4:30 - 5:00 and it was starting to get a little dark out. While driving and navigating pretty much on her own, since the Queen really couldn't play Carmen any more, ABBA managed to arrive at Imagery with 15 minutes to spare. For those of you wondering what the Queen and Sam were doing during this trip, they were taking pictures of one another in the car. ABBA almost heard "Dueling Banjos" in the background during the dueling cameras!!
Now, the ladies have made it to Imagery and the Queen and Sam belly up to the bar. They actually offered an extensive tasting at this locale and the two decided that they should "split" the tasting. Luckily, the barrista proved to be very adept at pouring a decent amount into the glasses so that both Sam and the Queen were able to fully appreciate each selection. While these two were enjoying the bountiful wines, ABBA decided to explore the tasting room.
Dear Readers, Imagery is one of those really spectacular wineries that I would recommend to anybody touring the Sonoma region. I couldn't tell you much about their wines, but their tasting room is beautiful. They have a series of artists who provide the artwork for their labels and a gallery which displays all of the paintings, drawings, and collages. Since ABBA was raised by an artist (or two), she has a great appreciation for galleries and enjoyed looking at all of the different paintings, which all had a wine theme. There was a separate gallery off to the side which held floor to ceiling works as well and ABBA saw many a quilt possibilities on these walls. At one point, ABBA went over to the club member counter and started speaking with the barrista there since she wasn't busy with any club members. Upon hearing that ABBA was the designated driver she stated "You are so nice to be the driver for your friends. You do realize that it is customary for the driver to be given a bottel of wine from each of the wineries that the group goes to as payment and thank you for being the driver." ABBA is still waiting for these presents.
Eventually, ABBA made it back to the Queen and Sam, who were finishing up with their tasting and it was decided that it was time to hit the road. The trio had plans to get to Sausolito for dinner at a quaint Italian restaurant and ABBA wanted to get out of the winding roads before it got too dark.
As the ladies headed to the car, ABBA finally spotted the elusive Banana Slug, and pointed it out to the Queen. She was so happy that a tear almost fell to the ground. The trio stopped and looked on in adoration at the elusive Banana Slug that was finally located in the Valley of Moon.
All in all, it was a wonderful day that was greatly enjoyed. The drive was beautiful and the company was fabulous, so what more could three divas ask for.
Long Live the BS Club and continue searching for the elusive Banana Slug!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)