Home & relaxing at the beach with great weather and no trips planned in the near future. Got back from a cold week in Rochester, NY with 3 days of fun meetings at Kodak. Hooked up with two friends from my MBA days, one from Penn St and another from Italy. Had two great dinners and even some surprisingly good wines from the finger lakes region of NY. Toured the incredibily remodeled house of my friend, Mark Defilice, who bought a 3 bd/2 ba with basement, attic for $120k. The real estate market is almost completely opposite of SD, where I'm confronted with condos in LJ going for $1M. Did I forget to mention it was low 20's and snowing on my first day there? I left just in time to enjoy the 80+ degree weather in SD for the weekend. But now I'm doing my taxes and trying to figure out what type of real estate I can afford since everything has gone up 300% in the past 5 years. So you better start planning a LJ run soon, cuz even though I've said this for the past 3 years, THIS YEAR I'M BUYING SOMETHING and it won't be in LJ or near the beach.

Congratulations to my oldest brother, Chris up in Portland who just had twin girls yesterday. Ava Michelle weighed 5 lbs. and 19-1/2 inches long and Chloe Elle weighed 5 lbs. 8 oz. and 18-1/2 inches long. Both & mother are doing fine. This is in addition to 10 & 12 yr old boys and two bulldogs. Best of luck.

Enjoying the sun & high 70 degree weather this weekend before taking off for Rochester, NY to visit Kodak on Monday for the entire week. They just received a fresh foot of snow this past week. This is no New Zealand/Australia trip.

Back from New Zealand & Australia and finally getting caught up on my sleep. Trip was great as I was just hitting the end of their summer so great weather and long days. Spent two days/nights in Auckland, 2 days/nights in Christchurch and 4 days/nights in Sydney. Not much free time, but did get in golf at one of the top courses in NZ 1.5 hours out in the country of the South Island, very close to where Lord of the Rings was filmed. One of the most beautiful country side I've ever seen. Also spent one day wine tasting in the Hunter Valley region, 2 hours north of Sydney, tasting some incredible Shiraz. Had numerous great meals eating incredible fresh seafood and lots of local meats: lamb, beef, venison and even some kangaroo and emu in Australia. I definitely recommend a trip out to both countries to see the cities and the countryside, as the weather is great, people are extremely friendly, beaches are fantastic, lots of golf & wine, great local food, and good sights.

18 holes on sat in 80 degree weather. Wish my score was closer to the temps. I'm in town for at least a week before any more travel.