Halloween Potluck Galore

In past years, our little office group would put together a potluck lunch around Halloween. This year, with a full cast from the larger Compensation & Benefits group under our new boss, DC, we made it a little more official by holding the first annual Halloween potluck.

Compared to previous years, this was a bigger group, which included the larger Benefits group. A larger group meant more food. And there certainly was a lot of it. An online list was made available, where everyone would indicate what they would bring to the potluck. It pretty much covered all the essentials, from appetizers to paper plates.

Chicken Adobo

There was more than enough food to feed everyone on the floor. Dishes were varied -- some home-made, others store-bought. Regardless, everything was good. I brought my (in)famous chicken adobo. In past potlucks, I had always brought this dish and everyone seemed to enjoy it, especially with steamed white rice. At this potluch, there was no steamed white rice. Fortunately, there was Chinese fried rice, and that seemed good enough. Others just loved it even without the rice.

Appetizer and desserts were aplenty. If you started with the appetizers, you probably wouldn't be able to make it to the main courses because you'd be stuffed by then. And same goes for the desserts. By the time you got to it, you've already had enough.

As lunch progressed, someone from the Benefits team, who was celebrating her birthday, was acknowledged with a simple "Happy Birthday" song. And since it was Halloween, DC told everyone they could go home earlier than usual so they could go trick-or-treating with their kids. This was a welcome treat (no pun intended) for all.

Since I wasn't expecting trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood, I went home to watch the girls varsity volleyball game between Irvington and Moreau.

Bell's Open House From The Other Side

Bellarmine had their open house over the weekend. For the past few weeks, Jake had been looking forward to this day. Earlier in the school year, he signed up to be a shadow guide. As the name implies, these guides have potential Bell freshmen tag along with them on a typical school day in order to give them a first hand look at the life of a Bell student. During open house, these guides are tapped to assist in the various activities for the day.

With a few days before the open house, Jake has not heard back whether or not his services were needed for the open house. I guess, despite being a shadow guide, not everyone is called back to help during open house. He was beginning to get disappointed.

On the day before open house, he got an email informing  him (and others) about some guides backing out, which left open spots to fill. This was the cue for those not previously called to suit up for open house. A quick email reply confirmed his participation. Jake was a happy camper.

Just past 8:30am, I dropped him off at Bellarmine. He had lots of time to prepare and find out what he needed to do. Open house wasn't to start till 10am.

At around 1:30pm, the wife and I picked him up, and went to Left Bank for lunch. On the way, he was telling us how his day went. He didn't have to show the campus around or man a post on campus. Instead, he was roaming around, answering questions from potential students and families.

As the conversation went on, the wife got a ping on her phone. It was a posting on FB by Dr. Ben. It showed a picture of Jake standing at the quad, having a conversation with a family. When I saw the photograph, I smiled and felt proud at how responsible my boy had become. To think that we were on the other side of this conversation just a year ago. Can you imagine how quickly things have changed?

Since Jake had volleyball practice later in the afternoon and we were in the neighborhood, we decided to just hang around Santana Row. A quick stop at Pink Berry helped kill some more time. By 5pm, he was at practice, and we headed home. A couple hours later, I was back on the road, solo, to take my boy home.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Dr. Ben Chew for the use of the photograph in this post.

Don't Let The Band Play

Bellarmine's varsity football team played Valley Christian at SJCC. Crowd was a bit larger than the St. Ignatius game a week ago, but it wasn't really packed unlike the first home game of the season.

As in previous trips to SJCC, I picked up Nick and Justin at St Joe, and we headed to the game. Their dad, Paul, met us there since he worked somewhere close by. When we got to St. Joe, I was a little surprised to see the parking lot full. I didn't realize that they had their Halloween Carnival, which was a little earlier than usual. But I managed to find a spot while I waited for Justin to arrive.

We got to SJCC quite early, and parking was not a problem. With our normal pre-game ritual (a visit to the restroom and grabbing something to eat & drink) all completed, we headed to our usual spot at the bleacher and watched both teams warm up. To our left, the Bell band was tuning their instruments and preparing as well. This game looked like it had the makings of a big game when I saw THE BELL (not the mascot) being pulled across the field, as well as the 2 flag bearers running up and down the track.

Barely 5 minutes into the game, Valley Christian scored their first touchdown. From the succeeding plays of our Bell boys, I had a feeling it was going to be a long night. And it surely was. The game seemed like an eternity. There were a few exciting moments, but, for the most part, the boys were playing catch-up. The Bells lost 13-31.

I kidded Jake and told him that probably the band was the jinx. In the games we've watched, Bell lost whenever the band played. This happened at the homecoming game against Serra, their first loss, and tonight against Valley Christian, their second loss. In the prior home game against St. Ignatius and the away game against St. Francis, Bell won both and the band was not present in either one.

The true test of this theory would be the last few games, including the last home game against Archbishop Mitty. If they do lose that game and the band played, that'll be the third strike. And we're out !!! Theory proven.

With the loss, our consolation was a late dinner at Five Guys.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Logopedia for the use of the Five Guys logo in this post.

My Corner Space In The Gym

Now that the fall sports are winding down, the winter and spring sports are gearing up and preparing for their debut. Basketball has already had multiple conditioning sessions, and continue to do so as their tryouts near. Volleyball is not too far behind as well. As a matter of fact, they've already scheduled a few open gyms, with the first one tonight.

Being  a Wednesday, it was my pick-up day. Since Jake and Nick had planned on attending the open gym at 7pm, it didn't make sense for me to pick-up, drive back to Fremont, then go back to Bell for the open gym. So I informed Coby's mom if she could pick up his son instead.

Before the open gym, James, Nick, and I had dinner at a Mountain Mike's pizza place close to Bell. The place wasn't fancy nor was it scary, so we stayed. I thought the boys would be famished and ordered an extra large pizza. When it was brought to our table, we were all shocked. It was HUGE. It was just too much pizza for the 3 of us. We ate half and packed the rest. We finished up early so the boys had time to rest and the food to digest.

Back at Bell, as the boys changed for volleyball, I had a glimpse of the varsity water polo match against St. Ignatius. Before the start of the match, the team from St. Ignatius recited the Prayer for Generosity, as part of their cheer. I found this quite interesting. For those who do not know, the Prayer for Generosity is a prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.

I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to watch the open gym, so we went in early. I sat at the far end of the bleacher, close to the door, and away from everyone else. I was hoping to be incognito, but my red jacket pretty much gave me away. For the next 2 hours, I just sat there and did nothing. From time to time, I would check my emails or read the latest Twitter feeds on my cellphone. It was surely one of the longest 2 hours I have ever experienced.

There wasn't much to the open gym. It was just free play. It was some sort of gauge of who's interested to be part of the team. The group was divided between those who have not been on the team before -- the FRESHMEN, and those who've had. And these 2 groups pretty much played among themselves. Even the coaches running the open gym joined in and played as well.

It was a long night, and even longer day, especially if you were just killing time, like I was. But there's more to come. Hopefully, I don't have to sit and wait.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Mountain Mike's Pizza for the use of their logo in this post.

Day 3 But Business As Usual

It's Monday and Day 3 of the BART strike. The impact of the strike was felt today than over the weekend as commuters going to & from work had to deal with other means of getting to work. It looked like most people were prepared and have learned from their experience during the strike back in July. But it still was a major pain for most. And I'm not even going to talk about the strike itself or my personal bias might be too obvious.

With the strike on, I had to work from home. It was business as usual. First on the agenda was a call-in to the Compensation Leadership Team meeting. And that pretty much took the entire morning. One downside with these call-in sessions is that most speakers (in-person) are not too conscious that there are participants on the phone and that they need to speak up a little more than normal.

Being a Monday, it was my day to pick up the boys at Bell. My 5th grade girls had volleyball practice today as well, but since I was the designated Bell pick-up, I was not able to make it. I am thankful that I have very able assistants who ran the session in my absence.

As for tomorrow's fate, I'll have to wait tonight to find out if BART management and the union have reached an agreement. For now, we wait.

Power League #2 in SJCC

For the first time in our (very) young club volleyball career, we (finally) played on familiar ground. Welcome to San Jose, baby !!! Venue for Power League #2 was San Jose City College. This place has become home to me because this is where the Bellarmine varsity football team plays its home games.

A close playing venue gave us the luxury of an extra hour or so of sleep. And it was primo and precioso. Thinking it was (too) close by, we didn't factor in some time to get coffee. So we dropped off Jake, then proceeded to the closest Peet's to got that much needed caffeine. When we got back, we were lucky to find an open parking spot close to where everyone wanted to be.

For this tourney, our assignment was to bring bread (I got 3 long loaves) and condiments (mustard and mayo), including peanut butter and strawberry jam.

Our first match was against Clovis 15-1 (8th). I guess the boys were still half asleep with the extra hour they had because they lost in 3 sets. What happened??? Then came an even bigger shocker. We played Bay's own 16-2 (2nd), and lost in straight sets. But the boys managed to put up a good fight, I thought. End of pool play.

Energized with some food, but hardly a decent lunch, the boys were up and about for the bracket play, beginning with a 2-set win over Sunset 16-1 (7th). The energy carried over to the next match, but it wasn't enough, as the boys bowed to MVVC 15-1 (3rd). Then, some more eating, resting, and chatting for the boys. Parents included.

Next match was a sweet revenge as we defeated Clovis in the second encounter. Boys were much more poised and alert. I still couldn't figure out what happened to them in the earlier match. But it was all good. The final match in the bracket had no bearing, but a win would have been great. We lost to Aloha 16-1 (6th).

Running chatter among some parents was the venue for the next tournament. If we remained in Silver
division, we were headed for charming Clovis. To avoid the dreaded 2.5-3 hour drive, we either had to win over higher-ranked teams to move up to Gold and a trip to San Francisco, or to lose to lower-ranked teams or not win any match at all and move down to Bronze for a drive to Pleasant Hill.

Of course, it was all in jest. As a matter of fact, I do want to see what Clovis has to offer.

At the end of the day, we remained in 5th place in Silver. So off to Clovis we go.

Despite the food we had at the tailgate, we were starving. Nothing against the food we had, but our internal system was jsut used to something else. From SJCC, we grabbed a late lunch at Basil Leaf for a Vietnamese fixe. A quick pit stop at home to freshen up, then it was on to St. Joseph for the youth mass.

It was another long 14-hour day, but I surely didn't mind the drive -- all 15 miles of it. Now, I have to prepare for the next tournament, and that dreaded, much-hated trek to Clovis.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge the City of Clovis for the illustration used in this post.

Stop: Time For A Change

Stop!!!

With over 200 posts in 12 months, I think it's time to pause and think about how I want to proceed goingforward.

In looking back at what I have shared, I hope it has given you a glimpse of my everyday life, as well as that of my family and circle of friends. There were times I thought my stories had been too predictable and too routine. But that IS life. It can be predictable. Routine. Mundane.

On good days, I scribbled forever, to the point that some of my posts had become too lengthy and too verbose. And it had become too narrative as well, if you'd ask me. One thing I would hate was for you to lose interest and go elsewhere.

It is time for a change.

In keeping with the same theme, I'd like to focus on the truly plain, simple, and practical that life has to offer. And I'll make it short, too! I call it, "It's JJ's Peek".

I created this new blog to capture my slice of life from a different perspective. It'll be a candid look at the simplest of things, that is fun and, maybe, humorous, yet true and real. It is everyday life after all.

As for this blog (Let's Figure This One Out), it'll continue to be what it is -- a narration of life as it unfolds. There will be more story-telling, but concise. And that will be its new look.

Both blogs will be a work-in-progress, continuously striving to improve on the last posts, but still keeping true to form. I do hope that you continue to enjoy what I have to share, and I would appreciate it if you can leave me a comment or feedback.

Don't forget.... Let's Figure This One Out (letsfigurethisoneout.blogspot.com) and It's JJ's Peek (itsjjspeek.wordpress.com).

Girls' Preseason Tourney

My 5th grade girl's Blue volleyball team had their first preseason tournament this morning, sponsored by St. Leander. Call time was 8:30am, but I was late (my bad). Barely made it to the 9am start. When I arrived, a rep from the tournament sponsor was briefing the participating teams about the format of the tournament, which I found quite interesting.

All the participating schools were grouped by pool, with 3 teams each. Every team played each other once, for a guaranteed 2 matches each. Teams played 2 games (or sets) per match (versus another team), and it didn't matter if you split the games. Bracket play for the following day was determined by point differential. The top 2 teams, with the most points in each pool, moved on to what appeared to be the "winners' bracket, etc. In our pool, we had St. Joseph-Alameda and Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG).

Our first match was against St. Joseph-Alameda. We won the first game, 27-25, but lost the second, 25-18. Since we won the first game by 2, then lost by 7 in the next, our point differential was -5 points, while St. Joseph-Alameda had +5 points. The next scheduled match was between St. Joseph-Alameda and OLG, so we took a "bye". During the lull, the girls had some donuts and orange juice.

The next match was between our girls and OLG. We handily won the first game, 25-8, but took a little longer on the second, 25-17. This gave us +25 points for this match. With our -5 points in the earlier match, our pool total was +20 points. Since St. Joseph-Alameda won both their games against OLG, they racked up more points, and led our pool at the end of the first day.

Tomorrow was Day 2 of the preseason tournament, Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend because Jake has his Power League #2 tournament at San Jose City College. This left Lou and Jacob to run the shop. Before I left yesterday, I taught Lou my rotation strategy and gave her a copy of it, so she knows what to do tomorrow. Besides, Jacob would be there, too.

Jake's volleyball practice was moved up from 1:30-3:30pm today. He wanted to come and watch the girls play, but I wasn't sure if we would be done in time to grab lunch and take him to practice. St. Leander in San Leandro to San Jose is quite a distance, too. So, his mom took him. They had lunch at Santana Row before heading to Harker for practice. They asked me if I wanted to follow and have lunch with them, but it was just too far. By the time I got there, it might be time to leave. And I didn't want to rush my lunch either.

On the way home, I stopped by Panda Express for a take-out. Well, it was one of those days....

I had planned on picking up Jake after practice. I didn't think the wife would be hanging around and waiting for him for 2 hours. But she did. I guess she went to Valley Fair to shop and kill some time. She called me and asked if I wanted her to pick up Jake. Of course, I said yes. As soon as I hung up, I was snoring. As a matter of fact, I didn't even remember them arriving. But it was all good -- a little break from the mundane task.

By the way, it's Day 2 of the BART strike, and it doesn't look like there will be any resolution anytime soon.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge St. Leander School for the use of the illustration in this post.

An SI Game As BART Struck

After days, if not weeks, of waiting and speculating, BART union workers, finally, decided to strike today. They've threatened to do so since the 60-day cooling-off period ended midnight October 9. Since then, commuters, who relied on BART as their means of transportation to and from work, had been on edge, waiting late every night for news on whether or not an agreement had been reached or if there would be a strike the next day.

I am a bit fortunate since my boss has allowed me to work from home in case of a BART strike. During the strike in the summer, I brought my laptop and worked from home for the duration of the strike -- 3 days. This second go-around, I had to bring my laptop home everyday since there was no certainty when the workers would strike. I had to be prepared. And if there was one thing I hated was to drag my laptop with me every single day. This thing weighs a ton, you know?

This morning, Jake went back to St. Joe, his third day, to finish his community service hours for Bell. All he needed was an hour, but he stayed on the entire morning, for an additional 4 hours. Since he had enough, he decided not to do extra hours at Kid's Club. Yesterday, he was concerned about how he would get home if he finished early. His only option was to walk home. Since I worked from home today, I was able to pick him up as classes were dismissed. From there, we had lunch.

Later in the day, we had planned on watching the Bell-St. Ignatius football game at SJCC. I was able to take a quick nap when we got back from lunch. At around 5:30pm, we picked up Nick and Justin at St. Joe, then headed to San Jose. Although the game wasn't till 7pm, I wasn't sure how traffic was so we left early.

As in previous trips, traffic wasn't bad, and we got their quite early. A bit too early since there were hardly any cars in the open parking lots and in the adjacent parking structure. My problem was where to park because there were so many to choose from. I settled for the parking structure.

Once inside, we got something to eat, then settled at our "usual" spot at the bleachers. Usual because it was where we've sat for the last couple of games we've watched. And it wasn't a bad spot either. For the most part, we'd find the same group of folks around us each time -- something like season seats, if there is anything like it. But you get what I mean.

Bell & SI players "taking a knee" for an injured player.

During the second half of the game, one of the SI players got injured and had to be taken out of the stadium by paramedics. He was alright though, as he gave two-thumbs up as he was being wheeled out on a stretcher. But what caught my attention was how players from both teams "took a knee" while the injured player was being attended to. I have seen this gesture at CYO games in middle school whenever a player gets injured. Unfortunately, I have never witnessed the same whenever non-Catholic school teams play. I guess its another Catholic thing???

The game was a rout, and the opponent wasn't even a threat. The Bells won, 42-28.

And in keeping with our tradition, Jake and I grabbed a late night treat at In-N-Out before we headed home. Next week, Valley Christian.

Service Hours At St. Joe

At Bellarmine, part of the student experience is to perform service hours in the community. Each student is required to do at least 15 hours of community service -- half of which must be completed by December, and the balance before the end of the school year. Each grade has a specific service they need to provide. For freshmen, they need to work with younger children.

Wednesday was an off day in school, but students were expected to make use of the day for their community service. That's exactly what Jake did. A couple of weeks ago, he sent an email to the principal (Mrs. Mendoza) of his former middle school (St. Joseph) and requested her if he could perform his community service there. He was directed to coordinate this activity with the school's Special Needs Coordinator (Mrs. Vieira), who then accommodated his request.

So yesterday, with his ex-classmate and fellow Bell, Nick, Jake went to St. Joseph to perform his service. I dropped him off at Nick's house in the morning so he could get a ride to St. Joe. With various activities going on at SJS this week, Jake only had until 12:15pm because of early dismissal. He was assigned to help out in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade classes. After dismissal, he proceeded to Kid's Club and helped out Mrs. Blondin for the next 3 hours. At the end of the day, he logged in 7 hours. Same with Nick. Then, Nick gave him a ride back home.

Today and tomorrow, Bellarmine does not have classes. Jake planned on taking this opportunity to continue his service hours and complete the required 15 hours. Since no one else was going to St. Joe today, I dropped him off at Mission Coffee in the morning, where he hung around and had breakfast before he proceeded to SJS. This time he worked with the much younger kindergarten and 1st grade kids, before moving to Kid's Club after the 12:15 dismissal. In the afternoon, he was picked up by Coach Lou, where he assisted in the volleyball practice of the 5th grade girl's team at Irvington Community Center. With his stint at school today, he had already logged 14 hours.

Tomorrow would be his last day at St. Joe. All he needs is an hour. But if he stays for the rest of the morning, he would have more than enough for the entire year. This means he doesn't need to go to Kid's Club in the afternoon. But since he is going to be the only one there, I don't know how he will go home. He either walks home or hangs around at Kid's Club until I pick him up late in the afternoon. If there is a BART strike tomorrow, I will be working from home, and I will be able to pick him up at 12:15pm.

Next year would be a different challenge -- working with seniors (I think). Do I hear BINGO?!?!?! Well, we'll have to wait.....

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge St. Joseph School for the use of the illustration in this post.

Isla: This Place Sucks

Isla Restaurant in Newark is the pits. For a restaurant barely a month old, they might as well not have opened. Considering that this is the owner's second restaurant with the same name, he surely failed on this one. I have never been so disappointed at an eating establishment in my life as I have with this one. Let me tell you why. I just hope I can control myself and not cuss.

Isla is a Filipino restaurant specializing in regional cuisine from the Central Luzon province of Pampanga. Food from this region is known for its exceptional flavor. Although this restaurant offered a variety of local speciality dishes, it promoted food platters consisting of a variety of grilled and fried meats and seafood. Food is placed in a woven tray called "bilao".

Our first visit to this place was last Sunday. The wife and I arrived at around 2pm and the place was packed. Seemed like every Fil-Am in the Bay Area decided to try out what this place had to offer that day. There was a mix up in the sitting order that made me unnecessarily raise my voice and irritated as well. By the time we sat and ordered, it was 3pm. We ordered a "bilao" dish and a side of pork sisig, a classic regional favorite. I judge whether or not a restaurant is worth coming back to based on their sisig dish.

The sisig came out first after over 10 minutes, then the bilao, which took another 20 minutes or so. There was a lot of food for 2 people. The food was OK and nothing exceptional. How can you go wrong with fried and grilled food? Another gimmick this place offered was unlimited steamed white rice. In all fairness, I thought the sisig was probably one of the better ones I've had outside the Philippines. It's the closest I've tasted to the version of Aling Lucing -- the lady that made this regional dish popular. I am not going to talk about this dish. I've actual written a post on this a few years ago, called "What American Sisig?" . Check it out.

After Sunday's experience, we said that we would come back and give this place another try, this time, with our son, Jake.

A few days later, here we were. Back at Isla. There were lesser people than on Sunday, and we were seated right away. For a while, I thought it was a good sign. I was wrong. Terribly wrong.

It took another 10 minutes or so before any server approached our table to get our order. It was almost 8pm and we were all hungry. So we decided to order the same thing we had the last time we were there. Then, the nightmare began. The sisig dish came out probably after 20 minutes. Then, nothing. The wife and I alternated coming up to the front reception to follow up on our order.

Another 20 minutes had passed, and still nothing. I've had it. I blew my top and demanded to speak to the manager. I stood there for 5 minutes and no one came out. All I was told was to wait and someone would be coming out. When someone came out, it was a server. So I reiterated my demand to speak to a manager, but I was told she had already left for the night. What???? It wasn't even 9pm and there were still customers??? I then asked for the owner, and was told he had left as well. Then I asked who else in authority could I talk to. The server I was talking to said that HE was the only one I could talk to.

I looked at him straight in the eye and controlled myself from making a sarcastic remark. I complained about how long we've been waiting for our food to come out. He explained that  one of their grills (or stove) was broken, and before he could continue, I shot back and told him that I didn't care if his stove or oven or grill was not working. What made me even more furious was when this server offered a complimentary noodle dish (or pancit) as a way to compensate for the trouble that they had caused with the delay in the food. I told him that I didn't need his pancit dish because if I wanted it, I could have ordered it myself. At that point, I repeated my demand for the dish we ordered.

If what this server was saying was true, they should have informed their customers ahead of time about it, told them that orders were backed up, and let the customers decide if they wanted to stay and wait. But we weren't told anything. And they didn't tell the other customers either.

A "bilao" meal

For me, it was a cheap way of doing business. They're cheats. They lured in the customers, sat them, took their orders, then had them wait. They pretended all was well. But it wasn't !!! Now the customers had no choice but to wait, and wait, and wait. And since it was already late in the evening, these poor folks were not expected to just stand up and leave. They just sucked it up and dealt with the delay. That's what irked me -- a cheap, down right tasteless way of making a living.

There was a point when the wife wanted me to just pay for the food, have it packed, and leave. But it wasn't even ready. Besides, I've waited for almost an hour, and I didn't want to leave this darn place without eating.

I was certainly making a scene, and I didn't care. I wanted them to know that I will not tolerate such shabby service, even if we are of the same race. If my fellow countrymen are more patient and more tolerable, I am not. I treat everyone fairly and equally, regardless of who you are. And I expect the same from anyone. These people are in the (food) service industry, where customer service and satisfaction are key. If they cannot live up to it, they should get out of the food business.

We've been to other restaurants where we had to wait for 20-25 minutes (max) for our food, and when they arrived, the servers were super apologetic and would immediately comp the dish or take it out of the tab. They're fully aware of their mistake and had fixed the problem because they wanted to keep our business, despite the mishap. And we have come back to these places and have given them another chance.

As for Isla, if they wanted to keep our business, they could have easily comped the entire dish (which was only $40), or the entire meal ($55). What's $55??? They could have just charged it to experience, admitted their deficiencies, and invited the aggrieved parties back again, with a promise of better service and overall experience. Unfortunately, it didn't happen because there was no one in-charge. That's not the right way to run a business.

If the meal was comped, would I come back? I probably would just to give them another chance. But their failure to address the issue correctly and win us back was enough for us to say, NO MAS. NO MAS. They didn't only lose our business, but potential ones as well. We've been telling our friends to stay away from this place. Before coming here, I checked Yelp. The reviews were not favorable, and most of the complaints were similar -- poor service.

Now, you can choose to heed my warning or take the risk. But don't blame me. You have been forewarned. STAY AWAY FROM ISLA !!!!

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Yelp for the use of the photographs in this post.

Time To Bow Out

This morning, as I checked the inbox of my work email, I saw an invite to a 10:15am meeting. And the subject was "Compensation Update". With everything that's going on within our department, and within the company, in general, meetings, such as this, scare me. This one did.

I asked my peers if they had any idea what this meeting was all about. But no one knew. It was everyone's guess.

10:15 came, and we all quietly headed to our boss' office. The atmosphere was somber. Once settled, she dropped the bomb. She was "retiring". Well, she corrected herself and said that her position was being eliminated and that she decided to retire.

True? Well, she said so.

My Boss

At this point, I don't want to really talk about it. I took in the news as I heard it, and I won't put any other meaning to it. And that's for this post. I will keep it clean and free of any intrigue or speculation. For those in the know, you know. Period.

But I do want to tell you that my boss was (and will continue to be) a very principled woman, who called it as she saw it. And it probably caused her dearly. But deep in her heart and in her mind, she knew she did the right thing and can sleep comfortably at night. I admired her for this.

In the 7+ years that I have known this lady, there have been occasions where I saw her as a normal person, and not as my boss. I remembered the very first team activity we had at her house. We cooked, drank, ate, and interacted. It was my first glimpse of who this lady was outside the work environment. And we would have more of these kinds of interactions over the years.

We shared a lot of ups and downs as a team, and she was there to make sure we continued to function as one unit. It was tough, but I knew she tried. I guess we were just dysfunctional. The last few years had been challenging, but, to a certain extent, she had managed to maintain the peace and (in)sanity within the group.

For me, I had my share of frustrations and disagreements. But I would like to remember my relationship with her as being healthy -- an overall general satisfaction with a tinge of contentiousness. I guess it's having worked and lived in NYC that had allowed us to keep discussions on a professional level and not take things personally.

I am sad for my boss. We've talked about it and had seen the writings on the wall. But this was so sudden, even she was surprised. On the other hand, I am happy for her because she can move on to the next chapter of her life and begin doing counselling work. Having worked in the corporate world for more than 35 years, I think she needs an extended break.... and a couple of martinis perhaps.

God speed, Cathy. Wishing you all the best. You will be missed.....

A Sunday Retreat And More

Bellarmine Freshmen had their retreat today, and it was a long one. It started at 9am and ended at 9pm. Yes, 12 hours. Now, what can they possible talk about for 12 hours. But it looked like they had a great time. And I drove Jake, Coby, and Nick this morning.

When I got back, I tried to watch TV. I made sure I set the alarm in my phone to go off at 11:15 so I can prepare for mass, in case I dozed off. And yes, I did fall asleep. There must be something with the Lazy Boy chair I sat on. No matter what time of the day it was, if I sat on that chair and laid my back against it, within 30 seconds (maybe less), I was asleep.

I heard mass at 12:30pm, then had a late lunch with the wife. We were choosing between Pizza Antica in Santa Row, or the new Isla restaurant (serving regional Filipino food) in Newark. I figured that the drive to San Jose, plus the possible long wait for a table at Pizza Antica wasn't worth it, considering that it was already almost 2pm and that we were both hungry, too. Isla seemed the lesser evil, or so we thought.

Isla was packed. Looked like every Filipino in the Fremont-Union City-Newark area was there. Since they just opened a couple of weeks earlier, it was a bit chaotic. The people sitting the guests didn't know what they were doing. It appeared like we waited longer than we would have had had we gone to Pizza Antica. It was almost 3pm before we got seated. The wife and I thought that the wait was worth it because we loved the food. More about it in a separate post.

From there, I dropped off the wife at home since she had some errands to run. I did, too. I proceed to Sunnyvale, to Kings Academy, and picked up the Bay to Bay apparel I ordered a couple of weeks earlier. On the way back, I did a quick stop at Safeway. Then, it was back home.

A little past 7:30pm or so, I turned on my HF radio to check in to the Mabuhay DX Net on 40m (conducted Sundays 7:30 PDT on 7.181 MHz). The band conditions weren't good and the stations that would normally come in strong barely made it above the noise level. It's either the Net was cut short or they never had one because no one can be heard. With bad band conditions, there wasn't any point in staying on the air. So I turned the rig off.

The boys were picked up by Coby's parents after the retreat. The mom actually offered to bring the boys in the morning since I was up late the night before picking them up from the Haunt excursion. I said I didn't mind driving in the morning, but asked if she wanted to pick them up in the evening instead. The boys were hungry so they got something to eat. And I had my late dinner of LOs (leftovers) as well.

Jake got home past 10:30pm. After a while, it was time to call it a day.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Yelp for the photograph used in this post.

The Kids On A Haunting Experience

Earlier in the week, Jake told me that one of his former classmates had planned on going to Great America's Haunt over the weekend. Since he didn't have volleyball practice on Saturday, I was fine with it. But I wanted him to check with his mom. However, he does have a retreat at Bellarmine pretty much all day Sunday.

Most of Saturday was uneventful. Other than lunch, nothing else was lined up. We tried to get some beverages from Gong Cha but the long line was so discouraging. We just went home. I took a short nap, then it was time to take Jake to the drop off place for this Haunt excursion. It was at Senora's.

The boys and girls who showed up were all so excited to see each other. Two other boys, who happened to be hanging out across the street, stopped by as well because they wanted to catch up with their former classmates. Unfortunately, these two boys didn't come along. The host of the drop-off place was so gracious enough to prepare pizzas and brownies for the kids before they left.

The group drove off in 2 vehicles, carrying 5 boys and 6 girls. One other classmate was to meet them at Great America. The two mom-drivers had planned on hanging out at a nearby watering-hole after dropping off the kids, instead of heading back to Fremont. The place was Pedro's in Santa Clara. Since I didn't have plans that evening, I joined them for some drinks.

I remember Pedro's when I used to worked at Applied Materials, which was just close by. We went there
during Happy Hour, and enjoyed their margaritas and free appetizers. This evening, the place wasn't packed and was going through its set of late diners (it was past 8pm already). We settled by the bar area, and were the only ones there. The kids were hardly at the Haunt for half an hour, but they were already asking to be picked up much later than what was agreed upon. Final pick up time was 11pm.

The hours went by so fast. We were so engrossed in our conversation because the next thing we knew, the waiter was making a last call for drinks. They were closing at 10pm. But that didn't stop us from talking. When we finally got up, it was almost 11. Time to pick up.

We told the kids to meet us at the parking lot as you drove up Great America. Actually, we entered the parking lot the wrong way, and it took us awhile to get out, and back in the right way. When we did, the kids were already waiting. I wasn't really part of the drop-off/pick-up service, but since I was there, I volunteered to take 3 other kids and take them home, including Jake. The kids complained that the food inside the park was so expensive that they didn't buy anything. Obviously, there were all hungry.

I suggested that we grab a bite to eat at In-N-Out at Automall Parkway since it was probably the only place open after 11pm. One of the mom-drivers and the 3 kids she had with her came along as well. And yes, they were hungry alright. Soon after, we all headed home.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Wikipedia for the use of the logo in this post.

Everything I Missed

Today was probably the busiest day of the week, if not the past couple of weeks. Why? Well, there were a bunch of activities today that I wanted to attend. Unfortunately, all of them overlapped. So I had to choose one.

Whenever I am faced with such a predicament, I would do a little evaluation and rationalization before I make a decision. And that decision is typically based on a logic I have developed for myself. On this day, the questions I asked were how often does this even occur and when will the next one be? From here, I am able to deduce (and justify) by selection. However, a factor may be introduced and it skews my thought process and the results change. And this is what happened.

The biggest event scheduled for today was the Holy War -- a football game between arch rivals Bellarmine and St. Francis, in enemy territory. In the elimination round, both teams will play each other only once. For the last 8 years, the Bells have won. Everyone says if there was a football game to watch, this was it.

The second event on the calendar was a women's volleyball match between Stanford and Utah at Maple Pavilion. Jake and I had been wanting to watch a women's home game, and the Friday schedules seemed to work well. However, he was dead set on watching the Holy War, so the Stanford game was out of the question. Besides, there were other matches lined up for the remainder of the season that we could catch. And I don't want to watch it alone either.

Being the second Friday of the month, it was SBARA's monthly general membership meeting. The planned presentation was on fiber optics. Quite interesting, but not enough to ditch the Holy War or the volleyball game. Besides, this meeting happens every month (except in December), so missing one won't hurt.

Then, there was this invitation from a friend for a few drinks. Believe it or not, this kind of event does have its weight in gold. Anytime you ask me out for a few drinks, I'm always up for it. Coupled with good food and hearty conversation, nothing beats a night of drinks.

So, of the four events, which did I choose?

I think it was obvious. It was drinks at BJ's.

Let me walk you through my thought process on this one.

Like I said earlier, the introduction of one factor can skew my decision. This one was not any different. The factor that messed up my decision was laziness. Yes, sir! I knew the Holy War happened once a year, and this was something I shouldn't miss. But the thought of driving to Mountain View, in rush hour traffic, at the end of long work week, didn't seem to enticing for me. Not enough motivation for me to look beyond these obstacles to make the trip. It was just plain laziness. Bad mistake. Really, my bad!!! Well, there's always next year. And it's probably going to be a home game.

Watching a volleyball game solo was out of the question, so that was easy. And since SBARA's meetings were more regular and frequent, that trumped having drinks. Although the latter was more deliberate and can be had at any time, it sure was more exciting than listening to the latest and greatest technology on fiber optics.

Did I make the right decision? At the time I made it, yes. Do I regret making that decision? In hindsight, yes. Yes, because the Holy War doesn't happen everyday. But I do not regret the company because I enjoyed it.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Wikipedia & BJ's for the use of the logo in this post.

It Was Bell Peppers & Carrots This Time

Each year, one of the goals of our NF Compensation group was to do volunteer work. Over the last 7 years that I have been with this group, we've had numerous volunteer opportunities, such as adopting a family for Christmas, donating back-to-school back packs and supplies, and the helping out in the local food bank. This afternoon, we were back at the Alameda Food Bank.

This year, we went earlier in the year than we normally do, in anticipation of a heavier-than-normal work load towards the end of the year. Finding available volunteer slots wasn't difficult as well because there weren't as many groups volunteering during this time of the year. Today seemed to work out for most of us, too.

Our schedule was immediately after lunch, from 12:30 to 3:30pm. I suggested that we have lunch at In-N-Out burger close to the food bank, as we have done in previous years, before our volunteer work.

As we arrived, we found out that there was another KP group that was volunteering alongside us. They were from Procurement & Supply, and it was their first time. For our group, it was probably the sixth, so we are familiar with the routine. Despite this, we still had to listen to the usual introduction and safety briefing.

For this visit, we worked on bagging carrots and bell peppers. I chose the bell peppers because packing them would not be as complicated as packing carrots, especially in those red fishnets. Imagine how the pointed ends of the carrots were protruding the fishnets, making it quite difficult (and annoying) to pack. No such problems with the bell peppers.

After our shift, we proceeded to a room adjacent to the warehouse and watched a short video about the Alameda Food Bank. Although the video was a couple of years old, the statistics that were provided were staggering. It gave us a glimpse of the volume of food (in all varieties) that comes in and is redistributed to the community on a daily basis, and how many families are served. Truly amazing.

The time spent at the food bank may appear short (or long) depending on how one sees it. The manual labor makes the task appear laborious, but the companionship and camaraderie of a group collectively doing such work makes it seem easy and fun. And that's the way it should be.

At the end of our service, I felt great, as I always did each and every time. In my own little way, I have helped someone in need. That person (or persons) will remain nameless and faceless, but, in my heart, I know they are happy and grateful. And that's the way I want it .... anonymous.

Wednesday Update

I don't know what's wrong with the first few days of the work week, but, as far as I am concerned, there really wasn't much going on. I'd like to believe it's the lull that follows a typically busy weekend. A time to recoup or detox, if you'd like to call it that. Probably, the first Bell home game and loss to Serra, plus the first power league volleyball tourney in Martinez over the weekend were enough excitement to last a few days into the following week.

Like I always did, I took Monday off -- the day following a power league tourney. It was time for me to relax after all the driving and watching the volleyball games, and sitting under the sun for tailgating. In the morning, I brought Jake to his carpool ride to Bell at 7am, then came back home and went back to sleep. And I was pretty rested after that.

The evening prior, I requested the Tuesday carpool mom if we could swap pick-up days only for this week. I would do Tuesday, and she would do Monday. Fortunately, she could and everything worked out well. This meant I would do back-to-back days, Tuesday and Wednesday, while she does Monday and her usual Thursday and Friday. Later that afternoon, I attended the 5th grade Blue team's volleyball practice at St Joe.

Tuesday was the first pick up day of the week. Coby had a dental appointment and was picked up earlier, so I only had Jake and Nick. My son had wanted to watch the freshmen water polo match against St. Francis since Nick had basketball conditioning till 5pm. Traffic was light and I got to Bell quite early, and was able to watch most of the water polo match with Jake. I had on my calendar a girls volleyball match between Moreau and Irvington. But it was too late to even catch the 6:15 varsity game.

Today started with our usual staff meeting, which I presided over. It was another pick up day, too, and, like the day before, traffic was surprisingly light. There was a Freshmen Parents Night early this evening, and the wife and I were contemplating if we would attend or not. Earlier in the day, I was taking polls from other Bell parents on who would be attending. It was split, and we ended up not going. My argument was what else would they talk about that had not already been discussed in past meetings and/or in materials and documents sent by mail, not to mention the other information that's available on the website and the daily StayConnected emails.

Being a Wednesday, it was a day for some ragchew on 40m amongst SBARA folks. At 8pm, I tuned in and scanned around, but heard no one. I guess there wasn't any tonight. I had also noticed that the band conditions, even on 20m and the low bands, had been horrific. Maybe tonight was one of those nights. With no one heard, I turned off the radio as quickly as I turned it on.

I left the ham shack (aka computer room cum office), went to the family room, turned on the TV, and tuned in to my earlier recording of the Texas-Oklahoma women's volleyball match. A relaxing way to end the day.

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge Sportslogos.net for the use of the logos in this post.

Welcome To Martinez

We played the first Power League tournament of the season. And for as long as I can remember in our very young club volleyball experience, this is probably the first time we played a tournament that is relatively close to home. We were in Martinez, at NorCal Courts. Last year, aside from the San Mateo Convention Center, the only other "close" venue was Mare Island in Vallejo. Everything else was in lovely and charming Sacramento.

Our Bay to Bay 16-white team is in the Silver division, along with 8 other teams, based on League Qualifiers a couple of weeks earlier. We were in 7th spot. Call time for tourney #1 was 7:30am, as usual. We managed to get there in time, even after a brief stop at Peet's in Walnut Creek, for that early morning caffeine.

Our team parent, Chris, had so graciously arranged our food assignments for tailgating for all the other tournaments lined up for the season. For this tourney, our assignment was to bring 3-4 kinds for meats, totaling 3 pounds. Yesterday, after I dropped off Jake at practice, I went to Nob Hill in Campbell(??) and got 2 pounds of ham, a pound turkey, and a pound of salami.

Over at NorCal, there wasn't any room for tailgating. However, there was a park across the venue where teams could set up shop. One of our parents managed to arrive early and secured a picnic table. This information was then relayed to the rest of the parents via a group text messaging service, called GroupMe. Thanks again to our team parent for setting us all up for this. It really makes communicating within our team very convenient.

In the morning, we played 2 games in our pool, and officiated one. First match was against MVVC 16-2 (1st in Silver), whom we lost to in 2 sets. The second was another lost against AVBC Aloha 16-1 (6th in Silver), also in straight sets. I know we could beat these 2 teams. It's not that they were strong, but we just had one too many errors. After the second game, we officiated. While we did, half the boys grabbed something to eat. During the second set, the other half came for their fill.

In the afternoon, we went into bracket play. First match was against Slainte 16-1(3rd in Silver). It was a close match, and we ended up winning in 3 sets. Then, we officiated again, while some of the boys had lunch. The other half followed later. The next match was against the tough CRV 16-1 (5th in Silver). The last time we met at the Qualifiers, they beat us in straight sets. Same thing happened today.  The final match didn't have any bearing, as I found out later. I heard that we were playing for either 4th or 5th spot in the division. And this match was against NCVC 16-2 (8th in Silver) team. We lost this one, too. But it was one of those winnable matches though. It was fine, I guess. It was a no bearing game anyway.

At the end of the day, we remained in the Silver division, but moved up from 7th to 5th spot. I guess our win against 3rd-seed Slainte made the difference. Overall, I thought we played well. And there were 3 teams that I thought were definitely beatable. With us staying in Silver made me, and I guess everyone else, happy because the venue for the next tournament would be at nearby San Jose City College. Had we gone down to Bronze, we would be making that painful trek up north to charming Rocklin in Sacramento.

Great job, guys. See you in San Jose.

Missed CQP

One of the most popular ham radio contests in North America is the California QSO Party (CQP), which is sponsored by the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC). The contest started  today (Saturday), October 5th, at 9am, and will end on Sunday, October 6th, at 3pm. The objective of the contest is to contact as many California stations as possible during a specific period of time.

To be more specific, stations outside of CA, including worldwide stations, contact only CA stations, operating from 58 counties within the state. These 58 counties are called multipliers. Similarly, CA stations contact stations in and out of CA, with the 50 US states and the 8 Canadian provinces as multipliers. Now, I am not going to explain how the math goes. There is, however, a software that contesters use to log all these contacts, and calculates the scores they have received. This makes life much simpler.

In our little group of SBARA, there are a few dedicated contesters, who operate both phone (SSB) and morse code (CW). I am primarily a phone operator, and could operator for long periods of time. As for CW, there are at least 3-4 operators who love operating this mode at all times. Although I do read CW, I am not at the level (or speed) these guys are at, so I don't even bother to sit as a CW contester.

The CQP is an annual contest. A few months back, Al (WT6K) and I had discussed participating in this
contest this year. Al threw the idea at Wayne (WU6A) and suggested if we could use his station for this contest. In at least one past occasion, we've used Wayne's station for CQP, operating under N6EEB. His station is an ideal station because he has a 7-element triband yagi on a 60 foot crank up tower, and a 600W linear amplifier -- enough power to be heard all over the US, at least. He also has an array of long wires and dipoles in case we wanted to operate on the low bands.

Wayne was open to this idea. However, he did forewarn us that his health was deteriorating, and that our use of his station will depend on his state of health at contest time. A few weeks before contest day, he informed us on the impending visit (and stay) of some family members, and that his station may no longer be available.

Without any back up plan, Al and I decided to abandon the plan of operating in the contest. Coincidentally, other personal commitments have come up as well, which would have made operating in the contest a little difficult, if not impossible. On the same weekend of the contest, Jake had a volleyball tournament scheduled for Sunday in Martinez, which I could not miss. Meanwhile, Al's wife had also planned on a dinner this evening, which he could not get out off as well.

This morning, I turned on my radio and tried to listen for contest activity. It was either I had a bad antenna or the band conditions were so bad I couldn't hear anything. I did hear a few CA stations on 40m, but not as many as I thought there would be for a popular contest like the CQP. Probably it was poor propagation because even 20m was quiet.

This year's CQP didn't seem to work out as we had wanted. We had no station, and no operators. Was it divine intervention? Maybe next year???

Note:  Author wishes to acknowledge the Northern California Contest Club for the use of their logo in this post.

First Home Game Of The Season

Football is such a popular sport that sports buffs can't seem to have enough of it. The NFL games are on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays, while Saturdays are for college. Then, you have Fridays for high school. I guess they reserve Tuesdays and Wednesdays for all other sports....

Well, today, Friday, was a big day for Bellarmine football. It's the first home game against #2-ranked Serra Padres. As in all Bell football home games, this one was played at San Jose City College. Being the first home game of the season, there was also a tailgate BBQ for Bell fans, which was held at the patio just outside the stadium. In addition, it was also Alumni Weekend. It surely was a BIG day for Bellarmine sports....football, in particular.

As a freshman parent, this was all new to me, and Jake. We've never watched a Bell football game before, much less an opening home game. The most that we've watched over the years were volleyball matches, none of which were as grand as this.

Driving from Fremont, with me and Jake were Nick and younger brother, Justin. Their dad, Paul, met us at SJSC since he came directly from his office in San Jose. Before coming over, Jake and I had an early dinner since we weren't sure if they sold food at the stadium (they did, actually). We left early in anticipation of rush hour traffic on a Friday. Surprisingly, traffic wasn't that bad, and we arrived early.

The atmosphere was festive. The Bell band was regaling the tailgaters at the patio, while the folks at the Booster Club booth were busy handing out the souvenir caps and programs to pass holders. For us newbies, we were trying to figure out were the entrance to the stadium was.

We secured our seats at the bleachers, as we watched players from both teams warm up on the field. Our bleacher section was a sea of dark blue, with students, parents, alumni, and fans dressed in various Bell apparel and paraphernalia. It was reminiscent of my days at the Ateneo -- fun memories that bring a smile to my face.

After the National Anthem was sung, the starting line up for both teams were announced. Then, it was game time. Honestly, I have never watched a football game live. It's was just a little strange not hearing any commentator giving you the play by play action as you would normally hear on TV or radio. And I thought the time went by so fast. The next thing I knew it was already half time.

At the end of the first half, Serra led 14-7. It wasn't over yet. There was more football to play. From what I saw, it looked like the Bell players weren't as big and strong as their Serra counterparts. This was evident on a few plays when our players had some difficulty tackling the opposing players, and sometimes being dragged a few yards before being taken down.

And the cheering section of Serra? They're boisterous and loud. And I was expecting the same for Bell. But I was a bit disappointed that we weren't as loud, if not louder, since we were playing at home anyway.

Midway through the game, Jake and Nick left the company of their fathers (and sibling) and wondered around, looking for friends to hang around with. They probably think we were too boring. A little while later, Paul, Nick, and Justin left because they had an early engagement to get to the next day, as it was getting late.

In the second half, there were a few exciting plays by Bell, enough get the crowd excited. But it wasn't enough. Serra had a couple of interceptions, and managed to score a field goal. In the end, the final score was 17-7, Serra.

It was a great experience for Jake and I. It certainly won't be our last. I have all the home games on my calendar, and we intend to attend every single one, unless something comes up and are unable to. Now that we've been to one, we know what to expect the next time around.

Go Bells !!!

Volleyball With 5th Grade Girls

A few months ago, I was approached by good friend, Lou, and requested that I help her out with volleyball. Her daughter, Grace, developed an interest in volleyball, and now wanted to play CYO volleyball. Before I continue, let me give you a little background.

Coach Lou has basketball running through her veins. And so does Grace. They're hard core basketball aficionados, and have participated in various leagues and tournaments both in and out of CYO. Grace never played any other team sport, and Lou coached nothing but basketball. Last year, some sort of record was set in the Oakland diocese CYO program, wherein the championship match in the 4th grade girl's division was between two St. Joseph teams, from among 120 other teams in the diocese. This was a rare and extraordinary feat. Grace played in one of these teams, which Lou coached.

Also last year, during the boys CYO volleyball season, Grace had a chance to watch a few of the games, particularly those of the 7th/8th grade team which I coached. As a result, she became interested in the sport and wanted to play this incoming school year. This was when Lou approached me to help her out with a team that may be formed. This was one of those requests you couldn't say no to.

From what I understood, there was one 4th grade team last year and there was quite a big number of players. For this year, I suggested that 2 teams be formed, and that we keep the number of players low, preferably no more than 10 per team. This would allow for more playing time, and make everything more manageable.

After all the registration forms have been turned in, there were 18 girls that signed up, enough to form 2 teams. We had our first combined practice this afternoon at St. Joe. With Lou and I coaching one team, the other would be coached two other parents. I purposely made sure that I would be able to attend this first practice, so I could get a first impression of the resources that would be available to us. In other words, I want to see who the potential players would be.

Being a hard core volleyball enthusiast myself, I wanted everything to go the way I want it, including how the players would warm up at the start of every practice. It is important that these young girls know the relevance of everything we would do and how it affects how they would perform during practices and during actual games.

Since there were alot of girls, we had to randomly divide them among the 2 sets of coaches. Each coach did what they felt the girls needed at that time. From what I've seen, there were other more important things the players collectively would need to know, like the basics or fundamentals of the game, including posture and stance, before doing anything else. I don't care if they've played the game before. The way they passed (or hit or bumped) the ball tells me they didn't learn much or learned correctly. If you cannot get the most basic skill required in volleyball -- to pass the ball, then you cannot do anything else until you have mastered it.

Then, there is this other issue of varied coaching styles. From what I witnessed today, our coaching styles differ. If you ask me, I think my methodology and technique had proven itself for the past so many years. I had hoped that before the day ended, all coaches would sit down and divide the team as equitably as possible. Personally, it didn't make sense to prolong having a combined practice where the players hear different (and possibly, contradicting) ways of doing things. They'll just get confused.

As the practice progressed, I managed to pick out the girls I would like to have on my team. I compared notes with Lou, and we pretty much had the same choices. I pushed her to get the other coaches to agree on a selection at the end of practice, so we can all plan our practices accordingly. Fortunately, that was what happened. And we were able to get 7 of the 8 girls we wanted. The pool of players was reduced to 16, when 2 players quit even before practice started.

Now that we have our team, we can proceed with developing these girls to be the best they can be. Challenging would be a good description of what to expect. But it would be boring if otherwise. Wish us luck.