Today’s travelogue

San Jose, CA

I’m in San Jose this week to help host a Core team retreat for the folks planning and executing the 2009 Food and Society Gathering, which will be here in April.   Here’s how I got here today.

• Left BOwen Island last night on the 6pm ferry in the teeth of a southeasterly gale that drove sleet into the skin on my face.   Rocky ride across the Queen Charlotte Channel, but uneventful otherwise.
• Grabbed a cab that arrived as I did and shared it part way with a lovely Finnish woman returning from a visit on Bowen.   It was snowing so hard in Vancouver that cars and buses were stuck on all the hills so we drove around looking for clear and free aterial roads to try to get me to my mother in law’s place in South Dunbar.   At one point it felt like we were just looking for the clean streets.   I remarked to my Persian accomplice that we were driving rather like Nasruddin, who seaches for his lost key under the lamp, because it’s light there.   The driver and I share a good laugh and some excellent conversation about Iran, Canada and Sufism.   The ride is an enjoyable 1.5 hour crawl.
• Retire for the night but up at 4:45 to find a cab.   Get to the airport and it’s a disaster.   Lots of lines for all kinds of things, but mine are pretty manageable.   Check in for 30 mins, US customs is 45 mins (with a secondary approval for my work visa) security is a mere 15 mins.   IN Vancouver if you are an Air Canada elite member they give you a fast lane for security…looks like the regular lane was close to 45 mins long.   Lots of folks rescheduled on flights that were cancelled last night.   They were all tired and cranky, and it was kind of funny to see a planeload of sourpusses heading to Maui.
• Flight gets delayed an hour once I’m through, so it’s into the lounge, where Air Canada has replaced the formerly excellent espresso machines with slow inefficient machines with too many choices that appear to download your coffee.   And then you get half a cup.   Went to Starbucks and bought something close to real espresso.
• Boarded at 8:20, took off at 11.   Combination of a flight attendant stuck in the snow, delays at the SFO end of things and other stuff which I missed because I fell asleep as soon as I hit my seat.
• Arrive in SFO at 1:00pm, figure I’ve burned enough carbon for one day so I opt for train to San Jose.   Two minute Air Train ride.   20 mins on the BART and an hour and 20 mins (including wait times) on the Caltrain.   Arrive in San Jose at 3:39, walk the mile to the hotel, in my room at 4:20.   Cost me $7.50 cents not including the Subway sandwich I wolfed down for sustenance.
• So I’m here at the Fairmont, a luxery hotel in the middle of a strange city.   My first time in Silicon Valley, so passing through Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale and Mountainview was cool.   Passing by Redwood City was cool too, as my dharma teachings come from there.   One tip for the Fairmont…Internet access is $13.95 a day but if you sign up for their loyalty program when you check in, it’s free, and they give Aeroplan points and other useful perks.
• Waiting for mates to arrive, then I’ll see about dinner.   Any recommendations, leave them in the comments.