Daily Archives: October 4, 2011

Family

Back to the 50’s

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Fall                                          Waxing Autumn Moon

Kate and I had dinner tonight at Jax.  Instant 1950’s.  Even the crowd seemed largely–though not exclusively–from that era.  Including us of course.

This is a place where they print your name on matchbook covers when you make a reservation and where the signature dishes are steaks, more steaks, and lobster.  It has a wood paneled dining room, a garden area with lit-up trees and a huge stone fireplace.  Linen napkins and too heavy cutlery.  Waitresses and busboys in black and white.

The service is cordial, the drinks look generous and the dining room has a quiet, clinking atmosphere conducive to intimate conversation.  Rowdiness, back slapping, football on TV, foosball and air hockey just don’t belong here.

We parked in Lobster Lane and walked across the street to this brick covered building.

Our meal celebrated our time with my brother Mark and what we hope is a successful conclusion in Saudi Arabia.

 

Travel

Trail’s End

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Fall                                                          Waxing Autumn Moon

Just put into place the last plans.  A visit to Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio and Corcovado.  Sugar Loaf is the mountain illuminated in this photograph.  It was familiar to me from other shots I’d seen of Rio.  To reach its top requires two different cable car rides.  That we’ll do the day we leave.

Corcovado, which we will do the day we arrive in Rio, has the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer.  It is, so far, the only well known tourist site we have on our entire cruise.  The rest are places more known for their geography and culture than for their tourist appeal.

On our second night in Rio we will attend the Plataforma, a show that features the costumes and dances of Carnival.  Since we will probably not get to Rio for Carnival (and wouldn’t want to even if we could), this should be an interesting evening. I should say night since in typical Latin style the show starts at 10pm.  These events are at the very end of our cruise and represent a farewell to the journey and South America.

Family, Woolly Mammoths

All Ha’il

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Fall                                              Waxing Harvest Moon

First communication back from Mark in Saudi Arabia.  He says he hasn’t set up his computer yet and that the school seems to have a good connection.  He mentions the school is in Ha’il*.  Guess that’s where he is now.  So far that’s all I know.

Met with the Woolly’s last night at our once and forever location:  the Black Forest.  Tom Crane, Mark Odegard, Frank Broderick, Scott Simpson and Warren Wolfe showed up.  We went around the table, catching each other up on this and that.  Mark’s leaving.  Our cruise.  Tom and Roxann’s trip to Florida.  Mark O’s knee.  Warren’s upcoming article on Medicare.

Scott and I talked about something called latency trading.  Here’s an article that explains some of it.  The part it doesn’t explain is the drive, now well established, to position large supercomputer networks as close as physically possible to stock exchanges around the world.  Why?  To capture the millisecond advantage in data transmission that results from close proximity to the data feed itself.  Each millisecond can mean tens of millions of dollars in trading advantage.  According to Scott, physical proximity can yield as much as a 3 millisecond advantage.  Do the math.

On the drive home, the half Autumn moon hung in the night sky.  The moon roof was open and stars shone down through it.  The air was mild, with just that hint of fall.  Perfect.

*Ha’il (Arabic: حائل‎ Ḥā’il), also spelled Hail, Ha’yel, or Hayil, is an oasis city in Nejd in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of the Ha’il Province. The city has a population of 356,876 according to Ha’il Province.

Ha’il is largely agricultural, with significant grain, date, and fruit production. A large percentage of the kingdom’s wheat production comes from Ha’il Province, where the area to the northeast, 60 km to 100 km away, consists of irrigated gardens. Traditionally Ha’il derived its wealth from being on the camel caravan route of the Hajj. Ha’il is well known by the generosity of its people in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world as it is the place where Hatim al-Tai lived.