In June 2017, I had the pleasure of attending the always informative EUC PTAB meetings at VMware HQ in Palo Alto, CA. Not only do you get to interact with partners across the world but you get “futures” from various VMware product groups. This PTAB focused on the EUC product line, focusing primarily on Workspace ONE and Horizon.
I enjoy traveling to the Bay area as there’s certainly no shortage of pictures to take. In a few weeks, I’ll be there for a training class at VMware HQ.
When traveling, I like to fly out as early as possible so as to have at least some time to take pictures and play tourist. On my previous visit to the Bay area, I went south down Hwy 1 away from San Francisco so when I returned in June 2017, I wanted to spend more time in and around the city. Once settled in my rental car, I headed north with the intention of walking through the Muir Woods but once I arrived, there was literally nowhere to park for miles and when I eventually found a spot, I was at Muir Beach, about 3 miles from the Muir Woods visitor center. It’s was pretty bright, cloudless day and even some equipment to help against that, I didn’t get a picture that I was very happy with but just to give you a look at the place, here’s one from the Muir Beach area.
After walking around Muir Beach a while, I headed back toward SF and stopped by the Golden Gate Bridge overlooks. The father in the picture below was using his cell phone to get the shot while his son was only interested in how to remove the rope from the fence….I laughed to myself as I would have undoubtedly been in the same scene had my younger kids been around.
Lots of factors were seemingly conspiring against me in regards to taking pictures. First, the PTAB meetings are….your head is stuffed with information so they can wear you out a bit. Second, my internal clock doesn’t instantly adjust from EST to PST so it always feels “later” than it really is. Third, staying in the Palo Alto area I had to drive to SF, find somewhere to park, and then walk around looking for pictures. I’ve found that I can easily convince myself to drive to SF but it’s thinking of the drive back that leads me to hesitate. Fourth, it was the week of the NBA Finals. Nonetheless, these are the times when I tell myself I don’t get out to SF often so I’ve got to “suck it up” and make the most of the opportunity.
One night, I found myself eating at Pier 39 because I wanted to experiment with Alcatraz and fog. Those pictures turned out horrible but while I was out there, whom I’ll call a “real photographer” came up and asked how I was doing, what I was doing, what I should be doing, etc. Before we parted company, he offered some pointers on taking panorama shots. This was around 11pm PST (2:00am EST) so I had really had enough for the night but as I driving down The Embarcadero, I felt compelled to stop and test the panorama pointers I was just given as I looked at the Bay Bridge. I found a spot along the road and started walking around a city I’m not too familiar with late at night, but by myself this time though I wasn’t the only one out taking pictures.
I took the following panorama shots at the end of Pier 14:
Now for the first….I had some time to kill before heading to the airport for my red-eye back home and decided to go to the Twin Peaks overlook to get another downtown panorama. It was a horrible day for picture taking from that spot as downtown was hidden in a shroud of fog, it was rainy and so there wasn’t much to look at from the overlook. I walk around the park a little, maybe 30 minutes, took a few pictures but was tired and ready to find some dinner.
When I was walking back to my car, I heard a passerby say “Oh no, somebody broke into that car!” Naturally, it was my rental car. When I parked the lot was full, I put my suitcase in the trunk at VMware’s parking deck so nobody saw me transfer anything from the car to the trunk, it was daylight and a relatively busy street (not necessarily high traffic but not a deserted country road either) but still, somebody busted the front window and opened the trunk with the latch near the drivers seat.
Fortunately for me, a police officer happened by no more than 30 seconds after I stood by surveying the damage. He helped me clean the interior and gave me directions to the nearest police station. While on the way there, I got a call from an unrecognized California number. When I answered the caller said, “I’ve got your suitcase.” Not in a whispery, secretive way but in a “I was walking home and saw this suitcase on the road and decided to call the number on the label” way. The caller, a man named James, gave me directions to his location so I was able to retrieve my suitcase. The robber(s) took my laptop, an Echo Dot I received for attending PTAB, and a $5 K-Mart Golden State Warriors frisbee I bought for my son. Really, the $5 K-Mart Warriors frisbee!!!!!!!!!! Everything else was there so the police believed they broke into the car in a matter of seconds, took the suitcase, checked its contents after leaving the scene, took what they wanted and then chucked the suitcase out the window. At this point, I was ready to get to the airport, get on the plane, and sleep.
All things considered, it was a good trip.
