new things

This weekend we drove down the coast, ate at In-N-Out Burger (California's equivalent of Milo's), and went to a business school dinner (his classes start tomorrow!). We went down to Santa Cruz and the boardwalk and had fried twinkies, root beer floats, and rode rides. Fun! During the drive down there, we saw some folks kite surfing and pulled over to watch and hang out for a bit. I hope they're still doing this when yall come to visit, because it's really fun to watch. I also tried to shoot a video, but it's not stellar (see below).



kite surfing from brookewilson on Vimeo.

This week at my new job was pretty good. I have mostly been going to training classes and meeting people. It will be great when I can actually get started and be productive. I'll take some photos of the center this week so you can see how it looks. It's really cool what they do at the Stanford Blood Center (SBC). I never really thought of blood as being bought and sold, but it is. And this center is considered a "boutique" blood center because they separate it into many different components, which makes them able to more accurately deliver the specific "product" hospitals need. Also, we're a part of the school of medicine, so there's lots of research that goes on in our building. I got a great tour by Vince, the SBC administrator, and he showed me labs where people are doing seriously significant research. I can't imagine having the goal of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS from mother to baby, or strengthening a person's immune system so that they can fight cancer without the nightmare of chemotherapy. I mean, I just try and get magazines out the door, ya know? Anyway, It's an amazing feeling to be around so many people -- at the SBC and on campus at Stanford -- whose work and research have serious potential to effect the world in a positive way.

Oh, and check out this major patch of gray hair I found. Yikes!! It might not look like much here, but trust me, in person it was quite shocking.


Moving on... The food out here... it's just not the same as back home. I mean, I wasn't expecting meat-and-threes on every corner, but I was looking forward to finding some new favorites at least. That hasn't been the case so far. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a fish sandwich from the Cantina!! ...

CANTINA, WE WILL MEET AGAIN.