I’ll have to thank those of you reading this for your forbearance during the long dry spell that has preceded this entry. The lead-up to the move was beyond busy. Any trip overseas, any wrap-up of a job, any change of residence, any Christmas holiday entails a certain amount of rush and bother: settling details, arranging accommodation, packing bags, packing boxes, wrapping gifts, divesting of and acquiring assets. The confluence of so many of these activities introduced rather more energy into our quiet lives than we had anticipated. (more…)

My friend Walter just completed a trans-Atlantic sail from the Canaries to St. Lucia the old fashioned way. He and his crew fared better then many, and I was delighted to hear that they made St. Lucia safely. Read the complete tale here.

The Thanksgiving holiday, America’s national nosh-up, went off for us this year with the usual combination of over-inflated bellies and familial folderol. This year, though, the entertainments were extended outside those found in the playbook of traditional family must-dos (at least for our family).

Halfway through the appetizers, but before the slicing of the turkey, my sister and her partner had to excuse themselves for a few late arrivals. They’re dog breeders, you see, and had shown up trailing Zoe, an exceptionally pregnant Labradoodle. Zoe seemed to feel that it was high time she got a little more attention, so she let loose with a fury, delivering nine cute-as-a-button Labradoodle puppies in my mother’s bathroom. Fortunately, my mother is forgiving and my step-father keeps a lot of tarps and old towels lying around.

Patrick is a great friend and one of the best illustrators I know. Many of you who read this blog know him already. For those who don’t, check out his site: megaflowgraphics.com.

Patrick e-mailed me right before our trip to let me know that he’s close to signing a contract with the PR wing of Marvel Comics. Those in the know will appreciate that this is basically the biggest game in town for the comics business.

I wish Patrick every success. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!

Y’know, it’s not like Apple is the perfect company or anything, but every now and again I realize why I just love doing business with them.

There was that time that our cat tore three keys off my laptop keyboard. I took it to the Genius Bar, expecting to have to pay some other-worldly sum to replace the keyboard. The ‘genius’ took one look and said: ‘Let me guess. Cat, right?’ One minute later he pushed three snap-in keys onto my board and I was on my merry way, free of charge. Genius, indeed.

On another occasion, I had a broken power adapter. The salesman worked out that it was just a minor problem with the ‘duck’s head’ (the bit that actually plugs into the wall). Popped, replaced, on my way…once again, free of charge. Try getting that kind of service at CompUSA or Best Buy.

Well, they did it again today. I’ve been into the San Francisco store quite a bit lately, picking up a spare battery and investigating a sound system for the pending move. I was a bit dumb (and the packaging was a bit less than perfectly marked), and it ultimately took three tries to get the right battery. There was also one salesperson who got, shall we say, a bit over-excited about what constituted the ‘right’ sound system. Well, I responded to the store’s ‘how was your shopping experience?’ questionnaire; today, the Store Manager phoned me to talk about what happened and how the experience could be made better.

Now, I should point out that I didn’t give the store a failing grade or anything. Far from it. I don’t think I even mentioned the salesperson with the speakers. The manager was just calling because the response “could have been better.”

He talked about how Apple could label certain products better (and the part he could play in making that happen). He apologized for the speaker incident after I explained it, noting that some of his employees are quite enthusiastic about what they do. He even proactively suggested that his staff could be better trained to identify poorly labeled items and ask the customer if they were sure they’d selected the right product. The only thing he didn’t do was to offer me a free copy of Leopard for my troubles (ok, that might be pushing it, but it would have been appreciated nonetheless).

I’m on the ferry in San Francisco Bay right now, traveling to Larkspur for another Monday at work. Tomorrow I’ll do the same. On Wednesday (Halloween!) we’ll be boarding an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin with a connection to Edinburgh! We arrive (all going as planned) a bit disheveled but essentially intact Thursday morning.

Several interviews and a few less serious get-togethers have been lined up. We’ll be exploring neighborhoods and apartments, checking out bars, restaurants and grocery stores, climbing at a local rock gym and generally making the most of our scant week. Things we won’t be doing, for better or worse, include visiting Arthur’s Seat, checking out William Wallace’s favorite sword shop, tracking our ancestry (a futile effort in both our cases), or enjoying a good old-fashioned caber toss.

Check in often, as I hope to be posting updates with photos every day beginning Thursday!

I had a crisis of joy this weekend. Well, not a crisis to be honest, but a definite twinge. People who hear about our grand excursion almost universally assess our futures on the scales of opportunity vs. peril. Opportunity means adventure and broadening possibilities. Peril means leaving our jobs, facing a cold, damp climate, eating deep-fried food and shivering through endless winter nights. It’s odd that so few make the calculation instead of joy against joy, contentment against excitement. (more…)