2013 Wrap-up

As 2013 comes to an end, as any year does, I become reflective on the year’s events; the accomplishments, the regrets and the seeds for goals in the new year.

Professional

Note: Friends and family, you may wish to skip down to the Personal section below, as this section can get techy and geeky.
The year started with hope and excitement, as we were making plans for an enterprise-wide website redesign and content migration. There were planning sessions to discuss how we handle content, via multiple content management systems and static .NET pages. That information was taken away by consultants to formalize requirements for IT, within our group, we began formalizing patterns to eventually develop a code pattern library through developer “playtimes.”

To prepare for our work with SharePoint 2013, a couple of my co-workers obtained hosted SharePoint accounts and shared access with team members. During downtime, we’d create content pages, learning how SharePoint 2013 best handles markup, styles and scripting. We made some headway, overcoming the typical plethora of permission issues. We still have a ways to go, as we still need to better understand list manipulation via the new search query capabilities. Our present implementation of SharePoint 2010 is, well, a home grown mish-mosh of pages and features, that we are continually challenged to come up with workarounds to make work.

Another initiative was to make the new website more accessible. Within our group, I started a grassroots effort to create awareness and some standards for implementing accessible enhancements as part of our day-to-day work. I soon partnered with members of our UX group to broaden the awareness, as well as assist them with understanding the impact with Sharepoint 2013. As of literally hours ago, we implemented an entire section of the site with accessibility enhancements (really, just made it semantic, considered background color for background images and connected table cells with their headers). My goals here was to make a difference and accomplish great things. This is the highlight of my year.

I was surprised to learn I would be attending An Event Apart Chicago this year. I had attended in 2012 (on my dime) and hadn’t considered pursuing attending this year, willing to let a year go by. I was in the process of seeking out approval to attend the CSS Summit in Boulder, CO, when my manager sent an email around asking if anyone wanted to attend, to put their name in the hat. I, of course, quickly did. Then, I chatted with my manager, stating that as I had already attended the year before, that maybe someone else should have a chance. An Event Apart is the ultimate web event; one track, leaders in the field not so much teaching, than inspiring and motivating to do great things. Well, as luck would have it, myself and my co-worker Donna where drawn. We, along with my manager would attend the following week. Highlights where presentations by Ethan Marcotte (father of responsive web design), Karen McGrane (Content Strategy) and Kristina Halvorson (Content Strategy). It was fun having co-workers and colleagues in attendance, including those from local meetups I attended. The resounding thought in my mind was “upper management needed to be in attendance.”

Personal

Personally, the year for Carol & I has been good. Not great, not terrible (especially compared with the past few years). Just good. We worked a lot, had some fun, and did a little traveling.

We had another balcony garden this year, with the blueberry bush hanging on for another year (really need to repot it.). Carol did most of the work, trying tomatoes and peppers again (better success with peppers this year), and plenty of herbs. For next year, I’m thinking of planting some lettuce and radishes early before we get the seedlings in May.

Carol’s cooking continues to amaze me. Why she isn’t running her own catering or personal chef business, I’ll never know.

We were able to get away a little this year. Gave us a serious case of the travel bug. Our list is long; we have to start whittling away while we can.

San Francisco

We had been to San Francisco before, however over a decade ago. This jaunt would be an extended weekend getaway; arrive Saturday, return Monday (thinking the availability of flights would be better: wrong!). We arrived and made our way to the hotel, which was right across from the Ferry Building. On Saturday’s, the Ferry Building hosts the weekly Farmer’s Market and a food truck we were seeking out. We started by having breakfast at the cafe in front of the Ferry Building. Wonderful goodies abound and even a great Bloody Mary. The Ferry Building itself offered vendors selling local goodies.

After perusing the food stuffs indoors, I saw the Roti Roti food truck, with it’s port roasts on a spit, the drippings basting the roasted potatoes below. OMG! We then walked around the farmer’s market, as the produce is as varied and fresh as you’ll ever see, being in California. A calypso kettle band was playing 80’s pop hits (surreal) while people passed by and smiled.

We then returned to the hotel room to freshen up, then took one of the renovated streetcars (from cities around the world) up Market Street to Union Square. There, one of Carol’s “Bucket List” stores, the flagship Williams-Sonoma. This is the mecca of cookware; 4 floors of culinary wonderfulness. We spent over an hour oggling the products and chatting it up with staff.

Seriously fatigued, we took a cab back to the hotel, where we grabbed our rental car and headed across the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. Trekking on to Mill Valley, we visited Tyler Florence’s shop, then dined at a quaint local Italian restaurant.

On our return to the city, we stopped on top the Marin headlands, a scenic overlook that provides outstanding views of the Golden Gate Bridge with the city of San Francisco as a backdrop.

The next day, the running of the Bay to Breakers stopped all activity near the hotel. So our game plan was to have a nice breakfast, stop at the Ferry Building for delectable edibles for our day trip south along the coast. Around 11am, we got the car and headed to Seal Rock, where an artisan selling jewelry told of stories of being a roadie for bands at Woodstock.

After spending an hour attempting to get on the road headed south (don’t ask), we passed by towns by the shore, with surfers in the water. As we drove, mass carpets of flowers on cliff sides (later found out that the ice plants were the bane of many communities).

As it was getting late and we wanted to get back before dark, we decided to picnic at this little beach. I have to say, it was the most beautiful beach. No one else may think so, but you had to take this narrow trail, with both sides carpeted with these Ice Plant flowers. Another couple had a blanket spread out, with a board game and some books. Talk about rest & relaxation. As Gen. Douglas MacArthur once said, “We Shall Return.”

We got back to San Francisco at twilight, and managed to land at the exact spot I wanted to take a photo of two very different architectural styles; the Columbus Tower with the Transamerica Pyramid Building in the background. Sweet!

The next day was our return day. It was the epitome of flying stand-by, being called moments before the gate door closes and seated, only to be yanked because a customer finally showed up. Oh well. Ended up booking our flight home.

Aspen, CO

Aspen was to be our fall foliage excursion, and our last trip for the year, due to both our work schedules. Before the day of departure, we already encountered a set back. Due to the government shutdown, the Maroon Bells, our main photographic subject, would sadly be inaccessible.

We decided to fly into Denver, then drive to Aspen. There were two routes; one that took us up & over Independence Pass and the Continental Divide, the other taking the interstate west to Glenwood Springs, then State Rd. 82 into Aspen. We decided on the more scenic Independence Pass route going, and the more straightforward interstate/Glenwood Springs route leaving.

When we arrived at Denver International Airport, we decided to grab a quick ‘bite’ at the food court before getting the rental car and beginning our road trip. I took the first bite into a McDonald’s Egg White McMuffin, and woosh, my 10-year-old dental bridge lifted out of my mouth. The mixed look of shock, horror and anguish set over my face. Carol was panicked as it took me several moments to explain what had just happened (and to stop from chewing or swallowing my bridge). I freaked out, while the composed Carol began searching for one of those emergency dental clinics. She found one in Aurora CO. When the dentist inspected the bridge, he stated that the one canine tooth had rotted at the top, loosening the bridge. All he could do in this situation was temporarily cement it back on the best he could and send us back on our journey.

We continued on our way west on I-70 past masses of golden Aspen trees. As we drove through the Eisenhower Tunnel, Carol was having a difficult time staying awake. Poor child, she never could get sleep the night before a trip. And my ordeal likely knocked her out.

We stopped in Leadville, this quaint little town that I hope to revisit and explore someday. They had a bakery with nice chewy cookies (eaten very carefully by me). We then made the turn (after getting lost twice) onto State Rt. 82 towards Independence Pass and Aspen. We climbed forever, the pressure in my head growing, my headache peaking with the altitude. I got through it due to Carol’s care and the beauty in front of us. When we arrived at Independence Pass, it was in the 30’s, the air very thin (12,096 feet, hello?!). We managed to run out and get a photo of ourselves in front of the sign, then quickly run back. After another hour of narrow roads, switchbacks, beautiful scenery, we entered Aspen.

Too tired to explore town looking for something to eat, we decided on room service. Overpriced (as room service is), however, the setting … dining in front of a fireplace, just the two of us was well worth any price.

The next day, we got a later start, as Carol was under the weather with a migraine. So we both rested and regained our energy. Once we got up and out, needing something to eat, we headed to Bar Jerome inside of Hotel Jerome. One of the draws was the chili. When we arrived and ordered, we were told they were out of chili (argh!). However, the roasted garlic hummus and coconut creme pie were both outstanding and made us forget about the downsides.

Next up was the John Denver Sanctuary, a park-like area dedicated to one of Aspen’s lost sons. Large rocks hosted the lyrics to some of John Denver’s most popular and beloved songs. Carol thought his music, piped in, would have made it more special. 🙂

We made our way back towards town, stopping at Carl’s Pharmacy (this store has everything, including her migraine meds), and cans of oxygen to those in need (like me). Aspen has a ton of little quaint shops, that could take a day to explore. But as it was closing time for most, we made our way back to our hotel to freshen up and decide on dinner plans.

 

Almost every restaurant we were interested in was closed (breakfast and/or lunch only). However, one place we passed, a Mexican restaurant was open and featured a Mexican version of Cioppino, an Italian seafood stew. I enjoyed my meal; Carol’s was a bit lack luster.

We found Aspen to be quaint, beautiful, off-the-beaten track, friendly, upscale and quite expensive. While it hosts the annual Food and Wine Classic, we experienced great highs, serious lows, generally spotty quality.

The next morning, we packed up early and headed back to Denver via the road northwest to Glenwood Springs, then I-70 east to Denver. The Interstate provided scenic views for most of the trip. A hiking/bike trail that paralleled the Interstate also paralleled the Colorado River had my attention most of the way. We also passed through other famous ski areas,. such as Vail, Breckenridge and Silverthorne.

As we entered Denver and approached the airport, we passed by a field with many prairie dogs popping their heads up, checking us out. With our first return stand-by flight intact, we made it back on the same calendar day, with a day after to rest up for the work week ahead.

Within a week after returning, I started a process with three different dentists to restore my teeth to ship shape health. After one root canal, some dental surgery and a few procedures, I once again have a healthy smile … and a much lighter bank account.

Goals for 2014:

• Live more, work less
• Quality over quantity
• Experiences over things

Stay tuned.