Shoestrappers

Savitri and I arrived in LA on Saturday afternoon, January 17th. The flight was fast and painless, admittedly because we ate a lot at the airport and I was watching Shrinking the whole way! Many people have recommended it and it gets great reviews but it wasn’t until my sister told me that I personally would love it that I gave it a shot (thanks Liza!). I watched the whole first season on our flights from BOS to SFO then from SFO to LAX. It’s funny, it’s thought-provoking, it’s touching, it’s edgy.. it’s.. just watch it already.

Why LA? Well.. I gave notice at Apple Maps November 5th after 13+ years. My last day will be February 27th. It has been an incredible place to work. I’m surrounded by brilliant people passionately focused on the best possible end-user experience. I play with spatial data and brainstorm cool stuff with some of my closest friends. When I went in to resign in the Fall of 2019 to move back East my boss at the time encouraged me to go remote instead. I’ve been working from my basement office ever since. This trip was both a transition for projects and to socially say “see ya” (no “goodbyes”!) to the many friends I’ve had the pleasure of working with. But wait.. that’s all in Cupertino (next post)! Almost.

I met Steve ~25 years ago at work. He was presenting on some database work he was doing for Polk, our partner-come-parent company at Geographic Data Technology (GDT). I was impressed by his deep understanding and smooth presentation, and grew to admire him for his integrity and brilliance in many other contexts. Over the years we have brainstormed map features together, hacked code in languages known only to GIS geeks, savagely butchered some nested joins, talked about philosophy, politics, and everything else, and.. our son and his daughter were silly big-headed babies together. Being able to work closely with Steve at Apple Maps has been one of the biggest perks of the job and I will really miss it. Fortunately I know where Steve is so it’s only the context that will change!

Steve and Jen live in Marina del Rey, and we stayed with them for the weekend. We all traveled together in Portugal, Spain, and Morocco over the last couple years so home visits are particularly low-key. While it is LA, for us it was a brief break from stressful traveling, from work, from preparing for the upcoming week in Cupertino.. and to just take a breath and relax. Being with some friends forms a mini home away from home no matter where you are.

Marina del Rey is a stunning little pocket surrounded by what I think of when I think “LA”. It has expansive coastal views, lots of little boats, stunning sunsets uninterrupted by city life, and way less traffic! We walked out on the North Jetty of the Marina Channel at sunset. Ahhh…

Savitri is a potter, creating all sorts of beautiful functional and artistic pieces (expect future posts and probably dedicated space for that!), so we visited Bitter Root Pottery Aqueous at the east end of the marina. It is HUGE and has a great vibe.

We also went to UOVO, a popular Italian restaurant nearby that imports their own pasta fresh from Italy. We don’t understand why they go to such great lengths, but it certainly yields delicious pasta! We sat at the counter, which I generally prefer in general at restaurants since you get a real feel for the chef(s) and the dishes they are creating. The appetizers and pastas were YUMMY!

I’ve been aware that CA has a large number of Waymo autonomous vehicles for some time now. However, like so many things, it doesn’t hit you until you see it first hand how impactful it is. There were Waymos EVERYWHERE!

Steve and I visited the Apple Culver City office while Savitri and Jen did yoga. I had only seen it and its views via video conference call so it proved to be a real treat. Its vantage point really shows you how the LA area fits together, including downtown, the mountains. and the many rolling hills nearer by.

We all went to a great farmer’s market in the nearby neighborhood of Mar Vista. It reminded us a lot of our beloved Campbell farmer’s market in greater San Jose. Tons of vendors, people, fresh produce, and freshly prepared foods. We shared a bunch of dumplings and empanadas while feasting on far more with our eyes!

Bonus baklava as we walked to the car and engaged some friendly Greek folks at their restaurant. Nutty tasty and had some good syrup!

Steve gave us a quick tour of the Venice Canal Historical District, diligently giving us the history of this beautiful area tucked away within LA. Read up on it, cool stuff!

Steve and Jen graciously organized a little get-together with friends from work and his kids. It was so fun and relaxing to hang out with while eating fantastic charcuterie and homemade fajitas!

I continue to debate whether this should be a travel blog (the original idea), a travel journal (what it became), or both (what I have worked to make it technically capable of). At the end of the day though, there are sights, senses, and situations that drive me to share. This little weekend LA trip (we were literally in LA for ~36 hours) was both a meaningful trip for me personally and for our understanding of the LA area. We will be back soon, and with a lot more time allocated!