On an innocuous Wednesday morning in late January, I received a call from my boss’s boss. At that time, and for the prior year, I had been full-time telecommuting to Utah. Being a telecommuter, and one that worked almost exclusively over email, I was afforded great flexibility in scheduling my work. Thus, on most Wednesdays, I would be sleeping at 9am. But on this particular Wednesday, I was awake, on the phone, talking to the VP of engineering.

Now, the VP of engineering is a good guy. He’s done great things in his time with the company, and I have complete confidence that there will be many more great things to come. But he’s never called me on the phone before, so I became wary once my brain had thawed off enough to assess the situation.

My first thought was that he was going to ask me to fly out again: I had been summoned to Utah on emergency notice not two weeks before, and I knew all the California engineers were out visiting Utah at that very moment. ... [more]

One of the best places to see the sun set over the Pacific is from the Cliff House, set high atop the breaking waves. This picture was taken from near the Cliff House, but instead of looking out to the water it looks in to the coast.

With my NextPage blanket and sleeping bag, I curled up on the front seat of my car to sleep on Friday night. The place I picked was next to the Pidgeon Point lighthouse -- basically out in the middle of nowhere on a long stretch of protected coastline. I fell asleep listening to the runble of the crashing waves, periodically washed over with the distant spotlight.

In the morning I walked out to a beautiful day, brushed my teeth, and decided that this would be a fantastic location for a picnic. It's remote but accessible, has plenty of flat ground on which to spread a blanket, and the requisite gorgeous view. Furthermore, in the summer it would be the ideal place to find a private beach in the nooks of the coastline for swimming and sunbathing.

Standing guard over the rocky coast is Pidgeon Point lighthouse. Under it's tower is actually a hostel for travelers, though I decided to save money and sleep in my car.

In Davenport, CA on the Pacific coast is a small restuarant with a pretty view named Whale City. Though care must be taken to guard against marauding blackbirds (when I went to get honey for my toast, one of the waiters stood vigilently over my food), it was a nice place to grab a bite to eat. Incidentally, as I was informed by a man at a nearby table, it was the season for whales to return from their southern calving grounds to go to the fertile north for food. To top it all off, I *think* I saw a whale or two out in the waters. If you look close enough, they may even be in the picture.