Binkomonster!

An Open Letter to the CTO

Hi there.
Ms.Type-A-With-A-Whip-and-About-to-Crack-Leave-Me-Alone.
It's the other half of your personality here (you know, the rational, objective half of your Gemini?) Both Fate and Karma were having a discussion about you the other day and are a bit concerned. They thought it might be appropriate that I put bits and bytes to info-superhighway and remind you of a few things before you take the wrong turn at the fork. And you know what I mean. You need a good rearrangement of your perspective, and given your proclivity to lists, let me put one together to help you drive for the rest of the year mmmkay?  The depression is bad, yes, but it's not going to get better unless you take steps to remedy.  The life-problem-solving fairy is not scheduled to show up at your door with her magic wand and make it all nice and neat, so get in there, roll up your sleeves/grab that broom and get to work:

Solution A. Liver destroying meds. (Not really an option but I'll put this out there for shits&giggles)
You'll be 'happy', but potentially foggy, not quite yourself, and well, if you like to play the cancer or other terminal disease roulette, go right ahead. But the 'easy way' has never been your style...

Task B. Get to the gym more.
You know it works, you're just lazy. Cut it out. One hour a day. Every day. No excuses.
This plus your usual daily cocktail can help the worst of the demons away. Proof exists.

Task C. Change the daily environment.
You know that much of this stems from being shackled to by the chains of 'the man' (no, not the CEO, the *other* one...) Get rid of those shackles. You are halfway there. Crawl out of that pool of inertia!  Here's a hint: Stay for the transition. The experience gained while painful, will be interesting.  Map out your exit strategy, and start to work that plan NOW. Not after. That means no more putting off the meeting to revamp up the CV. Get on it, get it done.

Task D. Finish the current education project
Stanford. 4 letters to add to your CV and an expansion of opportunities to help you with C(above). It's a few weeks, a chance to stimulate the grey matter, and a few dollars. In short, a win-win.

Task E. Make some time for the fun stuff.
Stop sitting around and pondering wistfully as you hear another tale from one of your previously overstressed colleagues about how they've taken up basket weaving and how much fun it is. You managed glass-blowing last year, and the artistic muscles haven't been exercised since then, what are you waiting for? Oh and while you're at it, there are a NUMBER of places to take windsurfing lessons here in the lovely Bay Area.

Task F. No more gossip sites for you!
Waste of bits, waste of brainwaves, contributing to the whole media frenzy feeding upon itself thang, and in the end, who gives a flying fig?

Task G. Finish up the castle.
You've made grrrreat strides, but it's not all done yet. Still a bedroom, bathroom and entry way to finish. You've got it all mapped out. Just make the time, get the quotes, get it scheduled, and get on the path to getting it wrapped up. Just think! Shoes in their proper places. A silver staircase. A nice glass door for the bathroom.

Task H. Go do the checkup rounds.
This is where your laziness is most evident. You need your fangs and fur checked (as well as some key internals). Stop procrastinating.

Task I. Get that tattoo.  
You talked about chopping off your mane, and you finally did that. You've talked about dying it platinum (still waiting), and you've talked about getting that tattoo on your ankle. Any day now?

As you are so fond of saying, 'it's not rocket science'. Nope. It's not. But maybe putting this down where you can see it and be reminded day to day will force your OCD-self to get checkmarks to all of the tasks except for the first in the list. Go to it Ms.Type-A!

Sincerely, Your Alter-Ego (aka Professor McG)

Tequila Sunrise? How about Campari Sunset?

Tequila Sunrise. Overrated.
Try a Campari Sunset instead. Yes, but, how do I make one?
Simple.
2 parts gin (Hendricks, Tanqueray or Boodles will do)
2 part Caravello Orange (or Cointreau, or whatever other 'orange' liquer you have)
1 part Campari
A few dashes of Noilly (red)
A liberal squirt or two of lime juice.
Throw it all in a shaker. Add lots of ice. Agitate. Pour.
Sit in an open space and enjoy.

Toys, Music and Food.

So if we had to give a rating to the week based on it starting last Saturday, we'd have to say (for once) 'thumbs up!'  Saturday eve started off with a trip up to Napa to enjoy the delights of another Far Niente party.  To be technically correct, this was the Summer Soiree. And what a shindig it was. The caves were open with various tasting stations setup (5 in all if I remember correctly, plus the glass of Chardonnay you were handed upon walking in). The usual yummy nibbles (tuna tartare on cucumber, cheese/prosciutto/ham/cornichon tasting table), coupled with very chilly temperatures (we were in the caves after all) made for a perfect start to the night. Lest we forget, there was also the jazz duo playing in one corner. Dinner was to have started at 7pm, however, 45 minutes later, we were being ushered across the path to the tents, our table (number 11) and the sounds of yet another jazz band. 4 courses and 7 pairings of wine later (with the CTO doing most of the imbibing and the CEO on good behavior), let's just state that we were in a very fine mood.  We had the opportunity to gab with Far Niente production staff as well as some of their growers (Mr. Ostrich Boots, you were a hoot!), and the privilege of having some absolutely lovely food paired with excellent wine. We could bore you with all manner of granular detail, but we'll be kind. The starter? Steamed fish with clam sauce/beans (superb, probably the best dish). The main? Venison. The cheese/salad? Local farm goat cheese (one in particular which we don't remember but which was simply CATNIP to the CTO). And the dessert? Almond semifreddo ice cream with some sort of pastry cookie and Dolce (just shoot us now so we can die happy).

A new approach to numbers

A few weeks back marked the passing of a new milestone. And we aren't going to state what it is, but rather, silently mark the occasion so that when we are old and senile, we can look at this post and scratch our heads wondering, 'what in sam hill was that all about!?'
The champagne has been imbibed, and well, we keep raising glasses to this watershed now that we are almost into week two of its passing. But the happiness that it has engendered never gets old. We're being coy because we don't like raising the ire of Karma and the suspicion of Fate. But suffice it to say, we are now cracking open Excel spreadsheets and pursuing mathematical modeling of a different kind (and with a newfound enthusiasm as opposed to dread).
It is nice being at this juncture. Hopefully we can stay as long as possible.

Pass the bubbly please?

Summer has arrived ahead of schedule. The temperatures here in our lovely city by the Bay have been creeping upwards, and the great orb in the sky has decided to rain down a tremendous amount of vitamin D for us all. Please note that we are *not* complaining. We very much like it this way. Our apricot vodka continues to stew in all this wonderful sunshine. And if only someone would hurry up and finish all of the Chartreuse, we could decant it and start making all sort of interesting things.
As you can see by the visual, the bar remains well stocked, and well utilized. And yes, it is Campari time all the time here at Binko-centrale. We tend to look at the numerous positives for that scenario: better digestion, no mosquito problems (Campari has quinine if you didn't know).
We've been the diligent foodies. Eschewing those haunts of ours that are soooo easy to fall back upon. Instead, pushing ourselves to the very brink and continuing to sample new delights. Pizzeria Delfina, Boulevard, and Fritz all fell onto our punchlist this week. And they are all worth putting on the 'we'll visit again' rotation as well.   

It's After the Birthday.

It was a decent week last week. Even in spite of the various pressures in the land of 'the man'. The annual observance that marks the CTO's increment of +1 on the year front has come and gone. Quietly. And as the song says '.. that's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I liiiike it..'  The hair is also gone. Most of it. As you can see from the purposefully obscured mugshot, there are a few follicles left. Looking on the bright side, it only takes the CTO about oh 2 minutes and 4 seconds to do hair ministrations in the morning. More time for drinking great cappuccino and relaxing on the shaggity-shag patio. Some new adornments have arrived (tiki candles, tiki mat/rug). All we need is some bossa nova thrown in, a tray of pina coladas and voila, insta-party!
The tribe continue their reign of terror. Given that last week saw an increase in the amount of flora around the Binkomonster offices, there is now salad for daily torturing. We've found decapitated tulips. Severed orchids. And cat vomit. Yay.
On other fronts, our explorations of new culinary haunts continues. Foreign Cinema, Cafe de la Presse, and Medjool have been among the recent experiments. And they are all coming out very nicely. Our list of go-to places is widening, and we're beginning to feel as though it's a completely new city we're discovering! Props given in particular to Cafe de la Presse as the renovation is marvelous. Nothing comes close to the feeling you get whilst sipping your capuccino that you are really in Paris and not SF. Hee. On the drinks front, we gave in (well actually we were lazy and had no energy) and tried Tommy's Margarita mix. Yep it's cheating. But that + some top shelf tequila and lots of ice = a pretty enjoyable Margarita with little effort. And to be fair, the ingredients are all natural. No per-ser-vateeves. It's just made by someone else.

Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to crawl back to the chemistry lab.. new potions await.