Where's Chuq?

This last week I've been at Cisco Live in San Diego doing whatever it is I do for a living in our DevNet Zone. By all accounts and feedback the week was a whopping success and thanks to all of you that tracked me down to say high at the show and thanks and apologies to those that tried but didn't find me.Unfortunately Thursday I got a call to tell me that mom had taken ill and was being taken to the emergency room, and I had to leave the show early and make a mad dash north. I've spent the last day and a half being with mom, talking with doctors and the like here in home base Orange County.I will be here for the next few days as well, but I hope to be able to start getting back into the swing of things at work and here on the blogs. things are still a bit fluid.My strong congratulations to the team (and to everyone involved in Cisco Live), and man, was it nice to finally pick up a camera again, even if it was doing event work and not landscapes.

I loved what I saw of San Diego, which admittedly was fairly limited by the walk through the Gaslamp District from the hotel (the Marriott Gaslamp which was quite nice) and the convention center. Back in the 80's, before Silicon Valley was really Silicon Valley and I was living in Orange County and looking to relocate adn talking to companies both in the north and in San Diego, where a group was also trying to build out a tech enclave. As it turns out I ended up in Cupertino with no regrets, but this trip has revitalized the memories of why I liked San Diego in very positive ways, and it's an area I'm definitely going to want to come back and explore (and bird) at leisure. What they've done in Gaslamp around the Convention Center and Petco Park is stunningly pretty and interesting, reminding me a lot of places like Yaletown in Vancouver, which from me is high praise.I'm hoping I'll have time to sneak out to do some birding while I'm here in the OC and maybe dust off the big glass camera again. We'll see how it goes over the next few days, but don't be too surprised if pictures from Bolsa chica show up down the road.