Bill Watt’s Blog

My favorite thing to do is to spend time with people I love.

I was going through a bunch of pictures on my iPhone (one of the many ways I distract myself from my hour commute in the morning) and I was pretty pumped to come across this pic. It was taken during our wedding weekend up in Portsmouth, NH and while I was freaking out on the inside about the big life event about to happen I couldn’t help but enjoy this moment. It is funny to realize that Corinne was the only person who knew everyone else in the picture before this meal. (This was pre-Facebook where you social networks didn’t cross as readily.)

I only have a couple things I would have wished to be different (a few of my friends living in CA couldn’t make it, Jen and Jason would arrive a few minutes after this and just missed being in it, Paul, Jen, Amelia, Kitty and a few others hadn’t arrived yet) but that is like a 1st world billionaire wishing he had change kinda problem.

The next day we were able to have the picture that got a lot closer to my perfect picture requirements.

(I’ll try to remember to replace these images with the higher quality versions later… not the versions that were optimized for the iPhone.)

Anyway, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped give me these memories but especially Alice who pulled it all together.

Yes… yes… yesterday afternoon I went out after lunch and got a hair cut. I’m not back to the high and tight of pre-wedding Bill but I am sporting hair that just goes to the shoulders. I prob lost 5+ inches of hair and I think it came out pretty well. I prefer it pulled back today but it is nicer looking now that it has been cleaned up a bit.

2 people at the office commented on it- one who had previously complimented my longer look and one that liked the shorter look from the facebook profile. Funny the things people notice. I understand that I looked a bit bushy and out of control but being that I never look at myself (which my friend Yuval attributes to an odd form of self esteem) I can’t tell if it looks different to other folks.

So- Alice has to ask me to enable the Tivo preferences so she can record the Olympics. Huh? So I log in and apparently I have to change my privacy options to enable this. Apparently this is part of the “guru guide” tools.

On one hand I can see this from the business side… smart to use such a stunt event to encourage use of this feature. On the other I hate having to give up personal usage stats (even though I understand it allows for better targeting / recommendations). But ultimately I assume Tivo is logging everything and my privacy is a myth anyway.

In early July I was sitting there watching TV with Alice and I have to tell you… I don’t think I’m watching live TV again. Good lord… as if the commercials weren’t painful enough the whole Bachelorette show is now one commercial mixed with little pregnant pauses and uncomfortable situations.

What do I want in a TV show (a short list anyway):

• fun or at least something with a story
• watch it when I want
• sometimes I want to take it with me (for the train or when I know I need to fill some time)

What don’t I want:

• dramas or silly reality like the Bachelorette (older Real World seasons were better than this last round in Hollywood)
• shows where commercials are 75% of the show content (pick any number of examples from Idol to any special episode of a normal show)
• awkward and manufactured setups that show the worst parts of the people featured
• Pseudo-celebrities manufactured involving vapid nouveau riche socialites who want their faces on TV (just look at the new Bravo show Date my Ex or Real Housewives of NYC (my previous post on a new show idea)

Ok… just a quick note to let the world know how vindicated I feel! Alice is on her “sabbatical” and every day I come home or time I call she is in the middle of using the AppleTV, the Roku. the xBox 360 to watch HD DVD’s, or using her iPod touch at the gym. I’ll continue to be excited about this right up to the day when she’s playing Warcraft.

Yes, I’m about a week behind in writing. It has been a busy week.

As is my tradition, my gift to myself was a dinner with a bunch of friends. It is always comforting to know I have more friends than the room available and yet sad that I can’t invite everyone I wanted to invite. So, on Saturday we gathered at Twist and had a great time catching up with old friends, introducing some new friends to the group, and generally ate too much. It was fun mingling FairMarket, eBay,  and Current friends.

It was also nice to see the benefits of a Web 2.0 / global social networking world where the birthday wishes came in from all corners of the Earth.  One more way technology is making the world a bit smaller and way more fun.

Anyway- thanks to everyone who could make it, sorry to everyone who I couldn’t invite, thanks to everyone who wished we me a happy birthday, and thanks to the folks who shared their favorite things with me, and a special thanks to Amanda who baked my favorite cookies.

Mom and Dad visited CA from the 18th the the 25th and we had a great time hanging out. Here are a few of the places we ate (since I know several people only read / enjoy my blog when I focus on lighter topics like food):

• Olio - first night in CA and the 4 of us met to catch up. Here is Olio on OpenTable.
• Thursday night I had dinner with some folks from our UK office and didn’t get to see Mom and Dad.
• Crimson - Friday night we tried to go to Cafe Marcella but it has apparently been sold and closed. We ended up going to Crimson and having a really good meal an, surprisingly, good service. Here is Crimson on OpenTable.
• Korean BBQ - Saturday lunch was at one of my favorite places, Omogari Korean BBQ in San Jose’s Japan Town. Mom and Dad were kind enough to let me take them someplace new. Mom tried to get the hang of chopsticks but I’m not the best teacher she could have asked for
• Saturday night - trying to remember what we did for dinner. Hmmm….
• Sunday night we went to the Outback.
• A Bellagio - Always a favorite in our family… we ate here on Monday night after Alice got back from Chicago. A Bellagio on OpenTable.
• Twist Bistro - Tuesday night and our last dinner together. Twist on OpenTable.

It was a good week and awesome to see the folks. I need to get home more often and visit with the whole family.

OK… day 1 with the new toy is done and here is my review:

It rocks!

Setup was incredibly easy.  It really does take about 3 min to unpack and connect and another 3 min to enable including a firmware update. It is silent because it has no hard drive or fans or anything like that so I think Alice is going to love it too.

Now, when I first turned it on I was sitting at the end of the bed and was very close to the TV. It was a little rough given the 480 resolution and all the other things that are hooked up are at least 780 but generally 1080. I sat back, closed my eyes, reset my expectations, and when I opened my eyes it was all good. I am looking forward to the day they offer HD content but this will certainly do for now.

So- if you have a Netflix account with at least an $8 / month account then I will suggest that you consider spending the $99 and buying this toy. You won’t get all the movies ever but it is wonderful for those weekends when you want to watch something spur of the moment without all the crap from Comcast.

I can’t believe that May is done. It has been a bit of a whirlwind with birthdays (my brother and nephew to name two), people having kids or finding out they will have one (Mai & Peter, Amelia and Ben, Jen and Chad, and more that aren’t announced yet), goodbye dinners (J Scott and Carol, several for Lily, Jonny from Current, Eric Nordby from Current, and many others), work projects, and Alice wrapping up work.

There are a few things I wanted to blog but haven’t had the time for unique posts:

• Work has been good. I can’t believe I’ve been there 3 months already! I’m learning tons, like the folks on the team and the commute isn’t bad at all. I even get to commute with a few folks so it feels like the time is more useful than it would have been. The hardest part is the hours in the office vs hours online when I get home and trying to be a part of the social scene while living so far away. At least I have people willing to get lunch and coffee with me so it is starting well.
• My AppleTV is getting more use these days now that I can rent movies and watch other content on our new HDMI-enabled TV
• I’m really enjoying the Dr Who series on SciFi while Torchwood is still taking some time to grow on me.
• I have an incredible appreciation for my friends. I was stressing last week about a work project and several of my friends stepped up and helped me out. Thanks especially to Kathleen and if anyone is looking for SEM help I highly encourage you to check out iProspect.
• While I have made the most of my meals while Alice is gone (can you say Korean BBQ 3x times week) I’m more than a little jealous that she’s eating at the Border Cafe tonight with Heather and Karen and tomorrow with Eric. No fair! (For those of you that don’t know, the Border Cafe has the best chicken fajitas ever and a good selection of margaritas.)
• I wish I bought a hybrid last year. The difference was only like $3k and even if it doesn’t make a huge difference it would have been something. I know… I know. A hybrid SUV is still stupid for me considering I usually drive myself. I’m going to get the bike tires pumped up tomorrow and see about riding my bike to the train station instead of driving.
• I picked up the book “The Post American World” and am really liking it. I’m not a person that thinks it is a forgone conclusion that America will lose it’s place at the head of the table but I do think that the rest of the world increasing in standard of living is a good thing. Heck, we’re always talking about exporting democracy… now that the rest of the world is catching on (in various shapes and sizes) how does it feel?

OK- that’s enough. Time to watch BSG and then get some sleep. Coffee with Alex @ 9AM is going to come very soon!

Yeah, I’ve had a little bot to drink tonight so this may sound like an, “I love you man!” moment but bear with me. This has been an interesting week. I’ve been enjoying work even though I’m completely behind and crazed, Alice is going to Boston for the week (including our anniversary), Jason and Carol moved to ATL on me, my little brother turned 37, and we just had a dinner sort of celebration for Lily who is winding down her years at eBay.

I’m not a big fan of change and yet none of this has flustered me. I’m really enjoying my life these days. My family is all doing well, my friends are having fun, starting families (go Chad & Jen, Amelia & Ben, and others who are not yet named ), I’m making good friends at the new job, and Alice is starting a new adventure.

My favorite thing is catching up with people over a meal and wine. I don’t know… I’m just enjoying life and thought I would share.