February is the month for the Tour of California. Every year most of the big names in cycling race down the state. I usually manage to watch a stage or two in person, but this year job demands limited my access. I was content to watch Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and George Hencapie on the Versus Channel. I don’t know why I’m drawn to the tour, but my legs start twitching when I watch them fight up the hills or sprint to the finish. I am inspired to get out on the road and feel the wind in my face.

The week started out cold and wet. The stages down from Sausalito to Santa Cruz and San Jose to Medesto were especially miserable which may have influenced my inability to find time in my schedule during the day. As the tour headed into the Sierra Nevada mountains, the weather broke and the sun came out. I took advantage to get out and spin my wheels, inspired by Lance and Levi. As the race headed to Paso Robles where my dad lives, I chose to cycle to work rather than drive to down south to watch Stage 5.

The Tour of California has become the preeminent bicycle road tour in the US and rivals le Tour de France in audience and spectacle. To watch the cyclists riding the same roads that I ride brings it all home to me. Although my interest in cycling dates back 4 decades, the Lance Armstrong era has certainly inspired me and brought cycling to the mainstream. I was thrilled when the Tour came to San Jose in 2006. To me the Tour and le Tour are two high points of my year. Yesterday when Levi won the time trials in Solvang I cheered for our home town hero.

Bon Voyage, Jay

I guess I’m just a tech head. I didn’t intend to include technology in this blog, but I can’t help it. The very nature of blogging dictates some level of technology savy, but I take it to the next level. I setup jaybruce.com a few years ago and then added GreenWanderer.com. I used Yahoo community webpage facilities and installed several open source packages including My SQL and WordPress to host this blog. I tour the world for IBM talking about DB2 for z/OS.

I have also been experimenting with social networking. I updated my linkedin account and added an account on ChannelDB2 for professional interactions. IBM has an internal social networking site called beehive where I received some honey and was highlighted for a week when I added a link to GreenWanderer.com. Funny how things come full circle. I also setup a GreenWanderer group on Flickr. So now all the pics that I’m taking with my new Blackberry Storm are at flickr.com/groups/greenwanderer

Technology seems to permeate my life. I recently acquired a Garmin GPS for my bicycle. I’m looking forward to buying my next boat so I can integrate a new computer system. I’m still working on getting my Blackberry connected to IBM’s email system, but once connected I assume it will be very difficult to disconnect.

Is there an inherent conflict between technology and a green life style?

Early environmentalists blamed technology for many environmental disasters. But now green technology is in vogue and green sports have GPS with computer interfaces. The carbon footprint of technology can be another matter. The large scale computer systems that run the internet can suck all the power available on the grid. Technology manufacturing processes produce highly toxic byproducts. I’m happy that IBM is a leader in green technology, but we still have far to go.

So I’ll continue to wander by foot, by bicycle, by sailboat and by public transit;
while I continue to steer by GPS, blog by Blackberry and chronicle by Internet;
then I’ll continue to take the stairs instead of the elevator and escalator;
course I continue to embrace my journey, just another day in paradise.

Bon Voyage, Jay

My journey took an interesting turn when an opportunity arose to meet with some customers in Brussels, Belgium. Due to the emergence of Brussels as the political capital of Europe with the European Parliament and the NATO Headquarters, there is a convergence of many technology company presences. My day was full with meetings, but I was fortunate to have selected a hotel close to the first customer location. After an afternoon visit to a second customer located off the highway towards Antwerp, I returned to the hotel and took a quick nap.

Brussles Town Hall

That evening I set out to walk the kilometer to the “Grand Place”, the center of Brussels history and culture. This magnificent square is surrounded by impressive gothic houses. The centerpiece is the magnificent town hall which features a 97 meter tower. Many of the buildings are topped by guilded statues. Since I arrived at dusk and stayed through the evening, the gold figures glistening in the setting sun were highlighted. As night fell the square took on a ghostly image.

I strolled the streets around the Grand Place looking for a nice place for dinner. I happened upon a small alley filled with seafood restaurants each with an ambitious hawker in front exposing the advantages of the cuisine within. I wondered up and down and choose a small restaurant that listed seafood and vegetarian offerings. I enjoyed a wonderful dinner and then headed back to the hotel.

One side benefit of the trip was my new Blackberry Storm. The motivation of the Blackberry was true international access, but the multimedia features received the most use during it’s maiden voyage. I enjoyed the MP3 player during many of my transits, but the camera proved the most fun. Since I always had my phone with me, I was always at the ready to snap a picture or two.

Bon Voyage, Jay

My journey through France and England has given me a genuine opportunity to practice my motto, “Embrace your Journey”. It started last week. My meeting in southern France ended earlier than I planned. I was hoping to leave a day early and spend the night in Paris. On the day of my departure there was a national strike that shutdown all transportation. Since I needed to take an early train, I decided to walk to the train station the night before to buy my ticket. Of course the ticket office was closed and none of the ticket machines would take any of my credit cards.

I went off in search of dinner. Soon I found myself at Pain & Cie where Pam and I had a wonderful Valentine`s dinner the year before. Feeling a bit lonely, I looked for Pam on instant messenger where she joined me virtually for another wonderful dinner.

The trip to London was uneventful. The night before my meetings, the worst snow storm in 20 years shutdown all transportation. Since my meetings were canceled, I took advantage to get some much needed rest. My attempts to go out to dinner were also unsuccessful. I ended up having a very nice dinner on the 23rd floor in the Hilton where I was staying.

The flight to Dublin and back the next day was marked by long delays. The wait in the Dublin airport became a comedy of errors as we were moved from one gate to another and then back to the first. The bright spot was an Irish pub where I enjoyed several pints of Guinness.

The next day was to start with a train ride to Nottingham. Unfortunately I did not allow enough time for London traffic and missed my train by less than a minute. It turned out that my original train somehow snagged an electrical line and shut down the entire system. We were transferred to a bus in Leicester which gave me a chance to see more of the English country side than the high speed train allowed. We transferred back to a train in Loughborough and were off to Nottingham.

Tomorrow I’m headed back up north and Friday I’m off to Brussels, I think I may have more adventures ahead of me.

Bon Voyage, Jay

I arrived in London a few days ago and am taking advantage of the weekend to do some sightseeing. This is my first trip to the UK and have always wanted to visit the land of my ancestors. There is so much to see in London, that I decided to use my hotel as the center and see what I could walk to.

I am staying at the Hilton Metropole which is conveniently located at the end of the line of the Heathrow Express train in Paddington. Pam recommended to take in some theater so I set off for Piccadilly Circus which is the center of the London theater district. After wandering around the discount ticket booths, I finally found a singleton ticket for the matinee of Les Miserables, an all time must see of mine.

If you’ve never heard of “Les Mis”, it’s an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel set in the French revolution and chronicles the worker’s struggle against the ruling class. Les Mis originated in London and is the longest running show in town. This powerful drama was even more poignant given that I was stranded in France for an extra day due to a national strike and gives real insights to the power of the unions in modern day France.

Buckingham Palace

On my second day in London, I decided to go to Buckingham Palace. I arrived just in time for the changing of the guard. As I jostled for position for picture taking, I found myself in a sudden snow flurry. Although not apparent in the pictures, it turned the entire scene into something from a fairytale.

I circled around the palace and came back to the “Queens Gallery” which was featuring the works of Rubens. What stuck me the most was a sample of the Crown Jewels. The similarities between the jewels in the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Sultan’s Palace in Istanbul were amazing. Something about “absolute power corrupting absolutely” came to mind. Or maybe given the modern day financial crisis, it’s just a matter of the power of “too much money”.

Bon Voyage, Jay

I just arrived in France and am taking the train from Paris to Montpellier. This is a four hour trip down the center of France and is a great opportunity to see the French country side. There is usually a six hour lay over in Paris, so the train gets me there faster then a jet.

Last year Pam and I took the train a couple of times and which got me over my phobia about taking trains in foreign countries. The real secret is to dress very warm as the train stations can be very cold in February. I am always amazed how many people speak English around the world.

As I left Paris behind me, the train passed through patch work farmlands with many meandering streams and old stone farm houses. The architecture slowly changed as we approached Nice to brick houses with those striking red tile roofs. In each small town, the magnificent steeples of century old churches would stand out among the red roofs. As we headed further south, the scenery shifted to rolling hills. As evening approached a mist settled into the valleys giving the landscape a magical feeling. I arrived in southern France as the sun was setting and was rewarded by a beautiful sunset.

This is my first blog on my new Blackberry Storm. I’m still getting used to typing on the screen, but I’m hoping I will get better with time. I should be able to blog a lot more now.

Bon Voyage, Jay

I sit here on Calypso, checking email and thinking about a busy week ahead. Pam has just returned home and I’m considering my day’s cycling adventure, when my mind turns to GreenWanderer. I see it’s been nearly a year since my last post.

This last year has been incredibly busy with trips to France, Holland, Germany, Poland, Turkey and China. My U.S. destinations included New York,  New Jersey, Boston, Maine, New Hampshire, Maimi, Las Vegas, Wisconsin and Chicago. Most of my trips were work related, but I managed many personal adventures along the way. March marked the second release of my project and September marked a transition to a new opportunity at IBM as a senior product architect.

The next few years signal many changes for me. Along with my career changes, my long wait for a 40′ slip in the Santa Cruz Harbor will come to completion soon. I am considering selling my house and buying a larger sailboat and live aboard. Pam has offered me an ideal arrangement where I can stay with her during the week and then off to Santa Cruz for long weekends. With continued travel for the foreseeable future, I will have a great work life balance.

My new years resolution was to start blogging again. I have struggled to find the balance of GreenWanderer versus my new career directions. I don’t know what the final answer will be but for the time being, I will focus on taking time to experience the world as I crisscross the globe for my employer. Over the last year, I climbed Yellow Mountain in central China and prayed in a Buddhist Temple in  Shanghai. I strolled along the Bosphorus Strait that separates Europe and Asia and walked on centuries old fortifications along the Mediterranean in Marseille.  I played poker in Warsaw and craps in Vegas. I saw Rent on Broadway and cycled along the canals in Holland. I was stranded in Chicago by a snowstorm and missed the train in southern France.

So the adventure continues with trips to London, France, Austin and Australia all fast approaching. I hope to find many opportunities to embrace the journey.

Bon Voyage, Jay

I had the great opportunity to attend the finish of Stage 3 of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California in downtown San Jose. I attended the inaugural event two years ago but couldn’t make it last year. This year I was determined to keep the time on my calendar and managed to sneak away on Wednesday afternoon. I rode my bike and wore my 2006 Tour jersey.

After leaving my bike in the valet parking, I found that arrived just in time to watch Levi Leipheimer top Sierra Road summit in second place on the big screen TV setup at the finish line. The crowd went wild as the home town hero took the virtual lead of the Tour. As the announcers followed their progress into town, I scouted a perfect location to watch the finish and the podium awards. In an amazing effort Levi was able to maintain his second place in the stage and take over the yellow jersey.

To top it off, George Hincape was named the most agressive rider. Both Levi and George came within arm’s reach on their way to and from the podium. I was able to take a couple of pictures. It was all very exciting!

Bon Voyage, Jay