After a loooong 30 hours in San Francisco, I’m chilling at my old airport hangout in Oakland – Vino Volo. Waiting for a flight to San Diego. You can certainly buy better wine than they offer, but you can’t pay more. Airport economics.

Today will be a 13-14 hour day by the time I get home, after the same yesterday. Last night was a downtown SF feast worthy of Roman Senate excess – 60+ people eating and drinking some of the best food/drink one can imagine. I’d forgotten how truly excessive BigCo events can be. Sadly (actually, not that sad, but different) I didn’t eat or drink anywhere near what was offered, or what I might have a year or two ago. I passed on the entire second half of the dinner and just chatted with my table-mates. I passed on Waygu steak (!), a miso-drenched black cod, another exotic protein I can’t remember, and a ridiculous chocolate dessert. New territory for me. But I navigated it successfully – I was alert and ready to go at 730am.

And at 730, my project mates and I took our first ride in a robot taxi, courtesy of WayMo. Robot car virgins. They are…freaky. It went well, we felt safe even though we know how shitty software can be. The taxi was built on a Jaguar frame, with the addition of dozens of sensors and cameras. They are *everywhere* in downtown SF. Quite the experience.

Today was a different kind of orgy, a nerd-fest where we freelance designed the world’s largest and most advanced data center in a giant group huddle. I was working side-by-side with architects, civil engineers, electrical contractors, plumbing and mechanical…and my little team, the Tech guys. It was…weird. We got a lot done, but it’s still early days. You can do a lot with a few billion dollars, and our project sponsors are working hard to make use of all that cash.

Tomorrow we head east for Louisville, and I can’t wait. I miss the place and the people a lot when I’m away. Looking forward to a great spring visi and The Derby.