Wow - such a lot has happened since last weekend, that I am not sure how to fit it all in one blog. I will do my best....
On Tuesday, I left the rainy weather in Cleveland behind as I flew out to one of my favorite places in the USA, San Francisco. Unfortunately it was not for pleasure, as I was attending the annual Google IO conference held in downtown San Francisco. But, since it was Google's conference, there was definitely some pleasure thrown into the daily programs!
The plane landed at SFO Airport at 11:30am, and I made my way to the train station at the airport. I caught the 11:55 train to downtown San Francisco. Once in the heart of the city, I managed to make my way to my hotel by 12:45pm. I checked in, freshened up and then headed straight to conference center down the street to register. The conference kicked off at 1:45pm. From that time on, I attended various sessions until 6:15 when a light supper was served. By this time I was ravenous, considering my last meal was the sugarless cornflakes that I was served on the plane that morning :(
On the second and third days of the conference, breakfast was served at 7:00am with the main keynotes starting between 8:30 and 9:00. The early breakfast fitted in perfectly with my schedule, considering that I was wide awake around 4:30am thanks to the under-rated phenomenon known as Jet-Lag. I was really impressed with the the way Google catered for the 5000+ attendees, and the food was fantastic. Each morning, breakfast consisted of your choice of bagels, doughnuts, croissants, muffins, fresh fruit, fruit juices, Starbucks coffee and teas! The lunch menu's were equally impressive! Did I mention that they also had candy stations available, where one could help his/herself to a variety of candy for that extra burst of energy, at any time of the day. Soft drinks, water and fruit juices were also freely available! And of course, Google kept our sugar levels soaring, with cookies, rice crispy treats and brownies for mid morning and afternoon snacks!
The highlights of the conference to me were the keynote speeches, where Google made numerous announcements and launched new products. I think I am most excited about Google TV coming in the September/October time-frame! Google (together with Sony and Logitech) will web enable your TV, making it so much more useful. This will allow you to look-up current programming, or any content that is on the web, such as youTube clips or archived episodes from hulu.com etc! Picture in Picture also enables you to surf the web, while keeping your eye on the TV! It will turn your television into an entertainment station, where you will be able to stream your holiday photos from your favorite online photo sites, or play music from sites such as Pandora during the day. The possibilities are infinite!! At least I have more than 3 months to come up with a decent justification as to why we need another TV in the house :P
The other highlight of the conference was when Google announced that they were giving every attendee the latest cellphone by HTC, which comes complete with an 8 megapixel camera, and HD video recorder built into it! This is over and above the free phone they sent us 4 weeks prior to the conference!!!
My last highlight (yes, I had many) was being taken out to dinner, by one of our business partners, to the Fisherman's Wharf. We had a delicious seafood meal, which was served to us within 5 minutes of us actually placing the order! I had the Chef's special, which consisted of shrimp on a skewer and some Ahi Tuna grilled on a Mesquite fire grill, which added a unique and delicious flavor to the entree! After the dinner, my colleague and I walked around the Wharf, taking in the sights and the San Francisco skyline before making our way back to the hotel.
On Friday evening, after surviving a very turbulent 4 hour flight, I landed at Cleveland's airport and was reunited with my beautiful family again!
Saturday saw Liesel and myself attending our first wedding here in the USA, which was everything we thought it would be. The bride was beautiful, the flower girls, adorable, and the ceremony touching. The reception was held at a Country Club, and our table overlooked the beautiful green golf course and huge trees lining the fairways. The food was simply incredible, and full of flavor. It was also nice to sit down and chat with some friends enjoy the afternoon together!
Sunday, was Nathan's favorite day of the week. He started out by going to Sunday School (like a regular Sunday for the McCarthy clan). But shortly after church, we went to the annual Sunday School Teacher's Appreciation Picnic, where our church thanks the teachers(of which Liesel is one) for their commitment and dedication throughout the year. It was held at a local playground, and Nathan had a blast playing with a number of his friends. Once the food was ready, Nathan and I polished our hamburgers, and he invited to a classmate's birthday party which started at 1pm. After dropping him off, Josh fell asleep in the car, and I headed back to the picnic to pick Liesel up. At 3pm, I fetched Nathan, and he was beaming from ear to ear, and when asked how the party was, he replied "Awesome!" The weather that day was hot and the skies were blue and only a gentle breeze tickled the foliage. It was the perfect evening to sit outside and enjoy the supper of chicken kebabs which I cooked on my grill. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and I had to embark on my 90 minute workout routine of cutting the grass :P
Now that my yard had been brought in line with the high standards set by my neighbors, I decided to reward myself with a home made coffee shake, and I put my feet up on my favorite couch, laid back and enjoyed the very last epic episode (150 minutes) of the Lost series! It was an excellent, and fitting close to the 6 season run of the series, and it will definitely be missed :( Now I have to find something else to fill up the void that now exists on a Tuesday night!
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