notes from Asilomar

The world is a beautiful place when you have a new laptop. The sea sparkles. The sun shines. And the Pacific washes up white on the beaches of northern California.

I've taken my new T42 ThinkPad down the coast to the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove for a night -- a kind of micro-vacation after a crazy three weeks of work. So far, so good.

I've got a room in a historic building designed in 1917 by Julia Morgan for the YWCA. It's got a view of the Pacific and the world's smallest bathroom. It's perfect. The grounds are gorgeous and everything smells good, like cypress and live oak. They've put boardwalks through the sand dunes, so you can walk around without squishing any native species, and trundle down to the beach to watch the sun set and dip your feet in the frigid water. There are a lot of seabirds, and people out walking with dogs of all sizes. The sand squeaks.

It's warm here, probably 70s. Kid were running around in swimsuits and shorts. Surfers were out; the swell was gianormous but breaking badly. At the end of the beach, there's a fabulous golf course -- could be Pebble Beach. With all the rain we've been getting, the hills are emerald green. That's winter in California, for you.

I'm pleased to report that the conference center has free wireless Web access, so I can surf by the fire in the lodge. Which is good because I apparently have to work tomorrow. ;-( A man has begun to play the piano. It's a very nice scene.

I'm calling this my first, and probably last, company off-site. The board is going to convene over dinner, I think, and discuss plans to get out of the freelance writing business. Sun Microsystems has a job for me, and I'm probably going to take it. I dig the company, I know I like the people, and the culture's right for me. Too bad $7 billion can't last forever. Still, it's stability, of a sort.

I haven't heard any news yet of my brother's return from Iraq, or how the elections went for him. He said in his blog that it's like preparing for a hurricane there; everything's closed down for voting day. Looks like it wasn't bloodless. Here's the CNN story -- 28 deaths, and a vote count underway.