California family

Hello Everyone, 

There's a West coast contingent on both sides of my family, and yesterday I benefited from that geographical breadth.

I spent the better part of the day being shown around around Berkeley by my cousin Markita and her husband Dan. This included a personalized tour of the university campus and the lab she directs. 

Arthur had to sit out that last part and wasn't too happy about it, but he's basically a walking contamination unit so it was understandable. Had he gone in, every test for the next month would come back as 'dog hair', no matter what they were looking for. 

We had a nice dinner and I camped for the night in a spot with a view of the Golden Gate bridge. Side note, this one lives up to the hype. It's beautiful and huge, well worth checking out.  

Today, I again learned why when budgeting for a project toot should add some percentage to whatever total you come up with, as we all have a tendency to be overly optimistic. 

Seems that the same thing is true for timelines. Wherever you are going, there's a good chance it'll take longer to get there. Usually about 40-50% longer. I'm currently sitting by the beach in Mendocino, and it's beautiful, but I started my travels at 9 this morning and only now have the chance to stop for a minute. I had hoped to do some biking and go to the grocery store and library, most of which I'll have to put off until tomorrow. Beach time is more important. 

Wes