Picture of Bill Bliss

Bill Bliss Remembered

The end of the ride

Susie met me in San Francisco at the end of my bicycle ride. She was visibly happy to see me and proud of my ride. I can't think of anything more wonderful to see than her smiling face.


Sadly we just learned yesterday of the death of Bill Bliss, another member of our bicycle club, while riding his bike. That is the second death of a member of our club while riding a bike in the last year. Bicycle riding in traffic is a clearly dangerous activity.

Back from the journey

I have returned from my bike tour!
Sierra to the Sea 2005 was a great bike tour. It was a bit cooler than past years and that was to the better. I had some great ride and saw many old friends and made new ones. I just returned yesterday so I have not yet processed a lot of the memories. On the last day many of the riders talked about their journeys. It impressed me that the experiences everybody shared were so different that at times they could have been talking about different trips. I guess life, and bicycle tours, is like that.

Kenneth has moved to his new home
Today I helped youngest son Ken move his bed and some of his belongings to his new place. Tonight is his first night in his own place. For me, for the first time since 1976, the nest is empty.

I am going off the grids

I am a one week drop out
For the next nine days I will be off the Internet grid and off the power grid. I will be on a bicycle touring the middle of California. If you want more information I will be on a bicycle tour called the Sierra to the Sea. I am really looking forward to the adventure and will blog about it after I return. There will be other big adventures starting next week too. My son Kenneth is getting his own place. He is moving into a rental trailer owned by one of my other son's, Jeff and his wife Nicole. Ken will be their tenant.

Blog full disclosure statement
Every now and then I like to post a link to each of my six blogs. This link gives a more honest view of my Internet identity than does reading one or two of the blogs alone.

Rare clouds and longest ride

Today I took a vacation day and was preparing for the Sierra to the Sea. When I was driving around I saw some rare, for our area, lenticular clouds. These clouds have long been associated with UFO's. If you remember the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," it was this type of cloud that the UFO's emerged from. Thankfully I had my camera phone with me.



Yesterday was the longest after work Whine and Dine ride for me this year. Next week I will be gone, then the days start getting shorter. It was a great ride!

We celebrated Di's big 40

Last Friday night we celebrated Diane Chauncy's birthday. It was a lot of fun and great to be able to share the evening with them. Owen is very mobile and he kept the cats on their toes. It was a good evening.

KRON4 Blogger Meet-Up Great Event

On Saturday I attended the first blogger meet-up [see their write-up] at KRON4 TV in San Francisco. SJSU was well represented. My co-worker Harish Chakravarthy also was there as was SJSU Alum Scott Mace. This was a great event and it was exciting to hear how KRON4 is contemplating embracing the blogosphere. It was also great running into some of the folks whom I have met in Emerging Technology there. This was a fun event.

Shadow Boxing

The boys love to play! The top of the stereo cabinent is one of their favorite places to romp. We have been learning to put things that do not break in places like this. They are training us well.

A fellow did a podcast about Susie's dress

Jim Wenzloff Podcasts about my wife's dress [MP3]
This is way cool. Jim Wenzloff gets it! I posted this post, on a couple of blogs, about my wife's dress. Really it is about the information exchange where I was able to stop in the middle of a bicycle ride and, using my mobile phone, take a picture of my wife's new dress and, using my blog, tell the world about it. It is about the power of using portable devices and weblogs as tools of global mass communications. It is about how easy this all is and about how it empowers people and changes education.
Thanks to PubSub, I was able to stay on top of these conversations. The world is an amazing place!

Thursday bits

Family members on whine and dine ride

Yesterday evening my son Jeff rode with his wife Nicole and her mother Kathy. I believe this was their first ACTC bicycle club ride. They did a flatter version of the whine and dine ride. Then, they went out to eat with the group after the ride. It was great having them on the ride and introducing them to friends.

Somebody stole my battery!
Day before last I went to my motor scooter after work to ride it home. It wouldn't start. I checked out the bike and found its cowlings loose. I opened them up and found the battery missing. Thank God for kick starting. I was able to start the bike and ride it home.

Clean teeth, new glasses
This week I went to the dentist and the eye doctor. I am smiling better and soon will be seeing better as well.

Sunday at Farmer's Market

Every Sunday morning, when I'm not off doing something else, I go to the farmer's market, located in Princeton Plaza at Meridian and Kooser in San Jose.



The produce is really good and I have my regular booths I stop at. I miss the corn guy who used to be there. He had corn like I used to get when I lived in the valley. From about May thru September, the farmer's market is where it is at.

Susie buys a new dress

When I am riding my bicycle I keep my cell phone in my back pocket. I was riding my bicycle through Los Gatos yesterday when my cell phone rang. It was my wife Sue who asked where I was. I told her I was in downtown Los Gatos. She said good, she was there too and was trying on a new dress and she wanted me to see it. I said, okay, I will be there in five minutes. I arrived, we looked at the dress and liked it. I said, wait a minute and I took her picture. Then I blogged her picture so the whole world can potentially see her new dress.

Remembering our great time with Jeff

Last weekend, at the bike rally, we made some great memories with Jeff. We did a lot of fun things together. Besides the bike riding, we went to some nice restaurants, we shared good times with friends in the bike club, we went wine tasting and we just hung out a lot and talked. It really was a great weekend. Jeff is a fine young man!

It's whine and dine time and the riding is easy!

We had fantastic riding weather today. It was about as good as it gets! It was a warm evening too. It was perfect for sitting outside and enjoying good friends, good food and good wine! This is indeed as good as it gets.

Looking back on a great GWBR

Last weekend was a ton of fun! It really felt good to get out and ride. We went to lots of wineries and you can read my reviews of them here. The weather was perfect, if a bit chilly at night and in the mornings. Jeff and I had a great time riding with Pam Downs on Saturday. When we lunched in Santa Margarita we saw this dog that really made the sidewalk look comfortable.

On Sunday Sue joined Jeff and I at Star Farms. Sue had real allergy problems over the weekend and was unable to ride.

Pam and Teri Duffy did a great job chairing the event and all the folks who pitched in really helped to make this a truly great club event.

We're home again

After last night's fantastic dinner we folded up camp this morning and went home. Last night was spent talking, telling stories and drinking good wine. It was a great trip making new wonderful memories. That's what our club is all about.

Sunday dinner soon at GWBR

We had a nice ride to Star Farms and back. The weather was moderate. Now it's time for a yummy dinner!

Perfect Paso Peddling

After a hardy bike club breakfast we had a fantastic day riding today with perfect weather in the upper 70's and low 80's. Pam Downs, Jeff and I had a great ride to Santa Margarita through the unique country around here. Rolling hills, giant oaks and fields of wine grapes were the order of the day. We really had a fun ride, as did so many other folks in our bike club today. Sue had a day to herself shopping and doing the things she likes to do. Tonight is the wine and cheese party. We are really looking forward to that.

As long as my laptop battery lasts, I will keep these reports coming!

Wonderful wine day

Today Sue, Jeff, Pam and Harold and I spent the day going to wineries. It was a great day and we had tons of fun. We tasted some yummy wine too!

Fine time in Paso

It started off cool and overcast. But, the sun is out and it looks like a great day. We had breakfast at Margies, and Harold and Diane came in and sat next to us. Today we are going wine tasting, we have a map and everything! This will likely be my last blog post as I forgot to bring a power cord. Our dinner last night at Bistro Laurent  was wonderful! This looks like a great weekend coming.

Here is a photo from yesterday:

Blogging from Paso Robles

Live from the Great Western Bike Rally
Sue and I are in Paso Robles. Jeff drove the the bike club's chuck wagon down. The club has a nice area and plans are being made for the weekend's activities. The weather is great, not too hot!



Sue, Jeff and I went out to a great dinner in downtown Paso. That was a lot of fun. It looks like a great weekend taking shape.

Whine and Dine Time

Yesterday evening we had great weather for the whine and dine bicycle ride and party. About 30 people rode the ride and a good number of those went out for the dinner after. What more could you ask for: good food, wine, beer and great friends on a warm late Spring evening! The riding was fantastic, the streams along the roads were running and the lake was full. The group I was riding with had a deer run along beside us off the side of the road as we descended down Shannon hill. That was too cool for words!

My son Jeff and his family

Sunday evening we went to visit Jeff, Nicole and Madison. They are a wonderful young family and we had a great visit. Tomorrow Jeff and us are going to head south to Paso Robles for three days of camping and bike riding. It is going to be great to get away.

Madison is such a great little girl. She is just too cute. She is standing and working on walking.

Susie and I rode to La Foret

More weekend update
Suddenly the weather has changed and it is great riding weather again. On Saturday I went for my 40 mile ride and on Sunday Sue and I rode to La Foret, the restaurant we were married in in 1994.



It was great riding together! We have not gone for a ride to La Foret in about two years.

Great Friday before a great weekend

This was a great weekend with many good times. I will be writing more, and showing more photos of the weekend later. First is this picture from Friday. On Friday I went to Sacramento for a union meeting. After the meeting I went to Marie and Kirk Roby's. They made a yummy pasta dinner and we sat for hours and talked. It was a great visit and I really enjoyed their company.



Marie Roby is my oldest, and one of my dearest, friends. I met her when she was named Marie DuBois and pregnant with Jessie, her oldest son. Soon, Jessie will be 30. At the time she was married to Dennis DuBois, Candy (my first wife's) brother. Dennis and Marie had another child, their daughter Heather, and subsequently divorced. Marie met and married Kirk Roby. Kirk is one of the nicest and gentlest men I have ever met. He has been a fantastic husband for Marie and is the love of her life. They used to be 49ers fans. We used to tell Kirk that he looked like Joe Montana.

Marie and Kirk remain good friends with Dennis and Dennis is also still a friend, and family, to me.

Great riding weather is here!

Bloody early this morning I took the Chauncys to the airport, then I stopped for breakfast with the before 7am crowd at Lou's. Then I went back to bed.

Then I went for a bike ride. It is great having a camera in my phone. I always have a camera now.

Ready for the end of rain!

Summer is a month away and it has still been raining. Hopefully the clouds will go away. I am ready to do some serious bike rides.

Steve Greene Retiring

SJSU Professor Steve Greene is retiring


I worked with professor Greene since I started at SJSU. That was 19 years ago. Steve and I were once dubbed the Mac Apostles when we advocated the adoption of Macintoshes into the school. It is weird to see so many of my old colleagues retire. He joins a long and honored list. I did a podcast with Steve where he discusses the years at SJSU.

To listen to audio, click here --> MP3 File Here

It is bike to work day

Dump the beast, ride your bike!

It is bike to work day today. There are so many better ways to get around than driving a gas hog. That is what today is all about. I love to ride my bike to work, especially when the weather cooperates. Sadly, it did not cooperate today. I had a nice bike ride yesterday, but I drove today.

The lecture hall is empty

When I walk past this room at SJSU, several times a day, it is full of students sitting and note taking while their professor, the sage on the stage, delivers a long verbal lecture. This photo was taken using my cell device. This device can take pictures, movies and even receive and play audio mp3 files. There is no reason this device, and/or smarter small devices like this, couldn't receive the lecture content as a part of a podcast and then the student, at the time of his/her choosing, could consume that content. The student could interact with the professor through a weblog or a learning management system, like Moodle.

This is the kind of thing I am working on.

This is what my new phone looks like!

I made the jump to a 21st century phone. It has a ton of new features including the ability to shoot stills and video, play MP3's and even blog! I will report more as I use the phone. It works with Mac OS X Tiger. David Sobotta shot this photo, I got it off Flickr. Bob, I am sorry, it is not a Scoble Phone.

My phone is a camera

Here is my first phone pic...
Sent with my first Bluetooth Association.

Ghost Rider's of Cat's Hill

In the June issue of our bike club's newsletter, the Black and Blue Bottom [1 MB PDF], are some of the bike racing photos I have taken over the last couple of months. Years ago I was a newspaper photographer and I shot a lot of sports. I still love to do it and have really enjoyed some of the artistic effects I have been able to get using my Digital Nikon camera. I hope you like the pictures!
~Steve

Some people got a lotta nerve!

I won't go into a lot of detail here. I will save that for my opinion blog. Here is a little story. Today we were on a club bike ride. We were stopped in the left turn. A car pulls up in the lane to our right. The driver stops at the light, opens the door and dumps a pile of garbage in the street. Then the light turns green and she drives away. She did not seem to care that we were standing right next to her or that we were yelling at her.

Another day in paradise

Welcome to Friday the 13th
For some reason I am thinking about journeys and changes in direction and times when it is that thing to let go of the direction you have been going, to let go of dreams, aspirations and even people. The song "Landslide" to me is about a journey and a letting go. I don't know what Stevie Nicks had in mind when she wrote this song. It was written the same year that Candy (my first wife) and I were married. It makes me think of what happens when two people who have tried to build a life together, who have tried to "climb a mountain" suddenly come to the realization that it is not going to work. They cannot climb the mountain. That is the emotional landslide where they slide off the mountain, that is the moment when they realize their differences are indeed not reconcilable.

Yet, the memories of the love they shared, that remains, even the love may remain. But, that is not always enough. Then they start again, this time on separate journeys and different directions perhaps never to see one another again.

Landslide
Stevie Nicks 1975

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
'Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you get bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down.

Cats getting along

Pixel and Tupper have grown into a condition of mutual tolerance. There was a recent incident where one of the boys got too close to a place she did not want them to go and she scratched him. I think maybe they are starting to realize she is bigger than them.

Geek dinner in San Francisco great fun

Last night I went to a Geek Dinner in San Francisco. I had a great time and met some interesting people. Being exposed to this group is one of the greatest ways I have of learning about what emerging technologies we should be planning for at the university. It really helps me in what I do to help our faculty. That, in turn, helps improve the quality of education at our school.

She's daddy's girl!

Last week when we went to Jeff and Nicole's house we saw that Madison is learning to clap. She loves to ride on her daddy's shoulder's, just like her daddy did. She is a sweetheart.



After spending most of the early part of Saturday at the bike races, and that evening and the next morning preparing for Tuesday's interview, we spent Sunday evening celebrating mother's day. I made Susie and Fran a really nice pot roast, with potatoes, baked onions and steamed fresh green beans I bought at the farmer's market. We had a bottle of 2000 Burrell School Merlot. It was a great evening. Today I brought Nicole a Mother's day card. She is a great mom for Madison. I also went and saw their new camping trailer. It is neat!

Rainy Day Sunday

I slept until about 10am today and that is not like me. I am making a big dinner tonight for Fran and Sue. Meanwhile, I am working on a presentation for the interview I have Tuesday for my dream job. I guess I did better than I feared on the first one, I am coming back! Here is another photo I like from yesterday's race:

Cat's Hill Crit Bike Race, 2005

Cat's Hill Crit 2005 tons of fun

Today's Cat's Hill Crit Bike Race was thrilling.  The weather stayed dry and the racing was intense. I think everybody had a good time watching the race. I know I did!

My sisiter-in-law Doris needs help!

My Sister-In-Law sent this email for a relative looking for a home for some kittens:

I need some help.

My cousin's cat had a liter of kittens and he was able to give away all but 3 of them. I told him I would help him find homes for the last 3. I can't take one because my son is allergic but if three of you could take just one it would be such a help and the kittens could have a nice home. Since he lives by the Taft Nuclear Power Plant, I'll go pick them up for you.

I've attached pictures of the last 3 kittens.

Will you help?

Who am I?

It is a question we ask from childhood until our last days on Earth. To me, the answer is always changing depending on where my life is at the time. Little Madison, beginning her journey as mine is entering its Indian Summer. Time passes by so fast it is hard to see things evolve at times. Who am I? Was it Popeye, or was it Jesus, who said, I am.

Cat Happenings

These cats are lunatics!
Pixel, shown above, is a real klutz. Tupper, our Calico, is graceful and can walk through a shelf of photographs without knocking any off. Shadow, Pixel's half brother, is a little less graceful and will rattle a few pictures if he were to walk on the same shelf. If Pixel were to walk across that shelf he would dump a few on the floor. Pixel has broken several things in our house that way.
Shadow is doing much better health wise.
We have gotten a diagnosis of his disease so now we know what type of IBD he has. We are treating it with drugs and diet. He is on the steroid Prednisone and is eating like a horse. He is full of energy, fast and is strong enough to be on the Olympic team. We have given him a new nickname, we call him Barry Bonds.

What do these people have in common?

Internet Connections!



Through my blogs, and related web sites, these people: Laurence Grotheer and Jeanette Glicksman Grotheer, Elaine Whitebook and Kimberly Fracchia Lalli (friends of mine) have made connections with old friends of theirs. Some of them have had multiple old friends who have found them just by doing an Internet search on their names.


That is one of the powers of the Internet, the ability to make unexpected connections with new people as well as people whom you thought were gone from your life.


On a personal level, it is neat to know that I have been able to make a difference, in a totally unexpected way, in my friend's lives. Because I have an interest in technology, and due to the conversational nature of the Internet (and the power of search engines) I have been able to do things that make my friends happy and make their lives better. I think that is kinda cool!

I think I may have blown the interview for my dream job

I got nervous and felt like my heart was going to jump out of my throat. I felt like I could not speak intelligently about a subject I know very well. My mouth got dry and I was trembling, I hate it when that happens. I really do!

Learning to walk

On Sunday when we visited Jeff, Nicole and Madison we got to see her as she prepares for her first steps. It was so wonderful to see Jeff and Nicole and what a wonderful job they are doing with her.
Madison is a real daddy's girl and just beams when she is around Jeff.

Yesterday Susie rode her bike

Yesterday we got out Susie's bike, dusted it off, put air in its tires, oiled the chain and we went for a ride! We rode over to Jeff and Nicole's and visited with them, Madison and Art Brian. It was a nice little ride and great to be riding together again. It was a nice day for a ride. Stay tuned for more on the visit and a Madison update!

I did another podcast today

(9.8 MB, 40.57 min.) This session an interview with SJSU MIS Professor Malu Roldan. Professor Roldan is with the faculty of the Management Information Systems Department at SJSU. She is also the Project Director for SJSU's Mobility project; a Hewlett Packard funded initiative that brings together interdisciplinary project teams to work on technology-enabled projects for community based organizations. She conducts research on engaged pedagogies and on the application of emerging technologies, such as Tablet PC and other mobile devices, in learning environments.