With no scheduled meetings or sites we have to see, we were free to explore Ponsonby Road and the California-like neighborhood where we are staying. There are many small bungalows and stately early 1900s era buildings, and cool cafes and shops along this main thoroughfare. Before we set out, Proprietor […]
We took the long flight last night from LAX to Auckland. Air New Zealand did not disappoint, business class was just as much fun and as comfy as we had hoped for. My friend Johnny Jet told me on the phone before we left that he had one of the […]
Our day in Marina del Rey began with a walk. A marathon walk all around the marina, we basked in the bright sunlight that has eluded us so long in our New England home. We walked and walked, and talked about our idea to come out here in February and […]
We landed last night at LAX about 47 minutes ahead of schedule. That gave us time to call the hotel shuttle and wait about 30 minutes for the decrepid van festooned with signs about the LA Adventurer ‘All Suite’ hotel. Ugh. You can just tell what happened next. The beat-up […]
Last night as I was playing with little Nathan, I flipped the TV to the Deerfield channel. This is where you see people having televised meetings to govern the town. Imagine my surprise that just as I tuned in, they were talking about the cafe. Board member Steve, a familiar […]
In last night’s Wall St. Journal a story was told about how a geophysicist in Indonesia is trying to stanch the flow of mud from an erupting volcano—by dropping concrete balls down into the crater. It’s a last ditch effort to keep the mud from destroying more houses, and factories […]
Richard Cohen writes a syndicated column for the Washington Post, and he wrote today about a true American hero: Al Gore. Like a billion others, I watched Al up there on the Oscar stage, and I agree with Cohen–Gore’s a winner, regardless of what happened back in 2000. “Now it […]
Plans are being laid for our upcoming trip: this includes recording podcasts and interviews, daily blogging on the Newzealand.com website, and picking and choosing which doodads and gizmos to bring on the trip. So far one little item, a flashlight called a Flaresafe, with a built-in smoke detector, has made […]
Today was a fantastic day in the cafe, waves of people came in to admire the new space. I am working this afternoon but I still had time to make plans for our New Zealand adventure that begins on Friday. Cindy and I fly to LA and will meet up […]
Today’s NY Times and Business Wire included an inspiring story about the largest leveraged buyout ever–and one that will benefit the environment, since it involves one of the biggest utility companies in the US. TXU corporation has agreed to be purchased by a team of private equity firms and abandon […]
Howard Schultz wrote a long memo last week that was described in a Wall Street Journal article about customer disenchantment with Starbucks. Schultz is the company’s chairman, and he warned fellow executives that all of the efficiencies brought on by their rapid growth has diluted the experience, and that they […]
The AP included a story today about a salesman has a pattern: he tells his bosses that his son has cancer or has died, and then goofs off for months. He’s done it three times, and this last episode landed him in court, he has to repay $50K. “Lancope Inc. […]