Tag: #CSCUSA2

When people reach out and the outcome of an Atlas Corps Interview

Today is a new day, a day for blogging so it seems! I love it when random things happen:

  • one of my fellow CSC family reach out to check in and say Hi, and says “miss you and your blog” .. so to not disappoint my friend, here I am 🙂 .. since I have been back, and have got stuck into some projects at work, and family stuff, it seems that September / October was so long ago. But each day, I am reminded of my time, whether it is going over my photos, still getting emails on CSC related activities, or just a friendly Hi either through work or WhatsApp, I am still able to keep those memories very much alive.
  • a meeting invite for a virtual morning tea with my colleagues and friends in Sydney which I unfortunately found a little late, being so thrilled to see the invite, I asked to reschedule! So my yoghurt, fruit and granola were waiting for that 10.30 appointment! When was the last time you just reached out to say hi to your colleagues without an agenda. I can think of one person that used to just ping me on an internal chat tool once a month just to say hi, and you know what, I still remember that person, who no longer works at IBM, but I remember him with fond memories as one of the few that would just ping to say hi and check in!
  • I remembered last week that I had been interviewed for a blog in the last week I was on my CSC assignment and followed up as to what the outcome was. I laugh at the memory of the interview as I remembered when Maureen says, “it should only take 20-30 minutes of your busy time”, well just over an hour later we hung up. Maureen was so intrigued at the program, loved hearing all the stories, loved reading the blogs, how everyone had a different perception and experiences, a different journey, but all for the same purposes. Her enthusiasm was lovely to hear in her voice as we talked.
    Check out the Atlas Corps Blog that was published highlighting the stories, a profile of one of the Atlas Corps Fellows, and the journey and partnerships of IBM CSC USA2 and USA3 Teams in the United States with Atlas Corps where myself and others are featured and our blogs shared of our experiences! The IBM CSC program is such an amazing program that helps so many right around the world, literally.
  • IBM Corporate Services Corps is a journey, a gift that keeps on giving to so many and to oneself long after you complete your assignment, if you let it!

Pumpkins and the Final Hours before Heading Home

What a magic way to finish off an incredible experience, but to have another Californian culture day.

Up early, I ventured out to meet Meaghan, yesterday morning. After swapping out cars, we set off for Half Moon Bay and the Californian coast for the day.

California certainly put on a magic day, weather stunning, the ocean sparking, company fantastic.

We reached the Half Moon Bay Festival and WOW were we in for a treat. So many stalls of amazing talented people, so many interesting ideas in art and products to tantalize the people, great musicians and bands, and pumpkins! Pumpkin pie, pumpkin beer, pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin. The joy on people’s faces was beautiful as they celebrated this time of the year.

Leather Art, Metal Art, amazing jewellery, quirky kit ideas.

And this wasn’t the biggest pumpkin on display.

I didn’t really have anything to compare it to so I believed them, tasted good!

An appropriate sign for our selfie … “The Sun shines not on us, but in us.”

Ohhh and I have a new special something coming home … this was the 2nd stall I wandered into. I knew as soon as I stepped in I was not leaving empty handed. I fell in love with a Maya Native American Flute, BlackWalnut, Purple Heart with Citrine and Agate. Personally handcrafted by Guillermo Martinez (Link). It was a special moment when he played in front of me and encouraged me to play with him. So we played 3 different flutes together, which drew a crowd of people as they paused to listen. I was in this moment that was just magical. And to top that all off, he asked how long I had been playing, that my sound was good, so was a big compliment considering I am still learning. Guillermo has taught many students around the world so it was truly an honour to play with him, he was very patient!

Meaghan and I were not quite done. Driving south down the coast she suddenly drives off the road and there we were greeted with one of the few we had already passed, a pumpkin farm. These Americans do really take their pumpkins seriously. We were to find the ‘perfect’ pumpkin, not just one for carving, but one also to put on the desk at work. Everywhere you looked, pumpkins were placed at front doors, in fancy pumpkin displays, when on desks so it seems. The big pumpkin even got to sit with pride in the back seat and enjoy the rest of our Roadtrip.

Driving further south, we were treated to watching a couple of whales in the distance of the ocean, watch sea lions frollicking amongst the waves and rocks, and sea birds of all description diving in the waters as they hunted their dinner as we watched the Sun set over the Pacific Ocean at Pidgeon Point Lighthouse.

With the Sun disappearing we soon realised we were quite hungry, so it was off to have dinner at Sam’s Chowder House, known for their chowder which I thought I should try as being my last dinner out. Who needs entertainment when you can watch Meaghan have a Seafood Stew. The funniest thing ever, lucky she had the bib is all I can say!

Getting late, we headed north towards home with one quick stop to Target to buy a suitcase … 2 floors, and you can also buy groceries and alcohol. I was intrigued at the trolley escalator, very nifty, and the Halloween costumes, you could even dress as a pineapple or an avocado, who knew.

So 14 hours roughly later, and we walk in the door totally exhausted but so happy with the day that we just had. Donovan there to greet us with a smile, with patience of a saint as he listened to the highlights of our day.

Thank you so much Meaghan, for the perfect last full day in California. I had a wonderful magical day. Thank you to both you and Donovan for hosting me, and of course, Libby whom kept me company on the bed. Treasured memories! See you when you come to Aussie!

Libby sharing my bed

After cooking an Aussie Shaz lunch of poached eggs for one last final goodbye to Meaghan and Libby …

It is with mixed feelings that it is my last day, I am packed, albeit with a little more than I came with. I bid a ‘see you California and Nevada, to each and every soul that I crossed paths with’. You ALL made this whole experience just amazing and memorable.

To my CSC Family #CSCUSA2, miss you guys. Thank goodness for technology to keep in touch, even you Benedicte, a converted WhatsApp user. 😀

I know there are a number of you that have been following my blog, have been giving me great feedback which has been encouraging, and there has been requests that I keep going. I have had so much fun sharing this journey that I will keep going. I will share with you stories, experiences, thoughts, sights of Australia. It will not be every day, but certainly on a regular basis.

Thank you to IBM for an amazing opportunity, to have faith in me, to have been selected for such a wonderful program, and to be supported by my Manager and team to go. It changes lives, and I’m forever grateful to have been part of it all.

And to UWBA, continue to be awesome and amazing. It was truly an honour to be part of your world for the month, and to be able to support you in some way that helps to make a difference as you continue to grow and help the communities, families and youth of the Bay Area. I promise to reach out to the United Way Australia National Office in Sydney. I am interested to understand their work in Australia, and whether I can help in some way volunteering here. You never know, they could end up in one of my future blogs.

Chow for now … cheers

The song when I turned on the car .. wait for me to come home

Yosemite at it’s finest

Well it’s official, when I thought things could not possibly get better, Universe surprises me. When you trust, you end up in the most amazing of places, meeting the most amazing gorgeous souls. If you ever get an opportunity, highly recommend a visit to Mammoth Lakes.

From the wonderful newly renovated accommodation with everything that turns on such as the disco toilet, turning all colors of the rainbow, to the heater on the wall glowing like a lit fire making you feel cosy without having the heat, to “Alexa” playing whatever I wanted so some lovely meditation music as I had the best ever shower, yep I sooo wanted to stay another night.

To start the day, a hearty breakfast which was thanks to another recommendation by my Airbnb Hosts, Kristen and Cliff, I visited The Warming Hut. The staff super friendly, the vibe great and the food … wow!

So ready for my next adventure, Yosemite National Park. The first 11 miles up to the gate in … serene and beautiful. Who knew that 11 miles would take me an hour, maybe longer!

At this stop I was amazed at how the trees were growing through the rocks. Survivors that’s for sure.

This stop, a magical place full of butterflies and Ladybugs. I have never seen so many. They were absolutely everywhere in this one spot! It was like fairy land. I was so captivated by the beauty of Mother Nature.

The Autumn colors sparkling in the Sun!

Whilst the scenery was breathtaking, I was also wary how vulnerable the area was to rock slides. Seeing so much evidence of it by the road, all the warnings. I was astonished at how some trees or rocks were even up or where they were sitting, just in limbo. And the height of being up 10,000 feet above sea level … exhilarating to say the least.

I was trying to imagine the area all in snow in a few short weeks, how the area will once again, be transformed in to a beauty of white.

Although plenty of signs to watch out for bears, no such luck in seeing one in the wild. I guess that is a good thing!

So I’m back in the San Fran Bay Area at Oakland for the night. Two more days/nights before I begin the journey back to Sydney.

The beauty of Nevada

Another full day, today roughly 7 hours on the road with many stops along the way being in awe of my surroundings. Not to many others on the road, just me and the critters, no music, just alone with my thoughts.

The day started with a diner American breakfast which was rather tasty … Mel’s Diner, worth a stop for anyone passing through Beatty. I was joined by Simone and her adorable 5 month old daughter, Eveangeline.

With the goodbyes and hugs, with a promise to keep in touch, it was time to hit the road.

Words definitely cannot describe the beauty of my travels so here are just some pics of what I captured along the way.

Here, some ruins in the middle of nowhere. I stopped to understand what on earth was here at this place, a long way from anywhere. This is Palametto, it took a couple of go’s to get it up and running in early 1900s, but there is very little of anything to keep it going so the town died a natural death!

Crossing the border, and soon realised a few miles down the road, after a wee tiny town in the boonies, that I was back in Nevada. The next border I crossed, it was manned where I had to stop, first time and of course I stopped on the wrong lane. I was asked of I was allergic to bees which I thought a little odd, only to find out that there were bees everywhere. It was a truck transporting bees, and there were a ton of them that had hitched a ride. Bazaar to say the least.

The views stunning

A tank with the words “we miss you already” which at the time we I was talking with my CSC Family and thought it fitting.

On the way to Lee Vinings via Benton. A gasoline stop with the slowest filling pump ever. And the steak sandwich took forever, so this is slow town!

Lost in thought, I started to imagine how it would have been without cars, just cowboys and Indians, the Calvary, how long it would have taken them to get around with the landscape at times beautiful, but I can imagine harsh in Winter and Summer times. Kind of hard to imagine when I’m traveling around 130km an hour, on very good roads, well maintained considering there is not a lot around except space.

Dinner tonight with my hosts from the AirB&B place that I am staying at tonight, ready for my adventures of Yosemite National Park. I decided on Mammoth Tavern, and bumped into Kristen and Cliff. They very kindly shared a Salmon Potato Skin (bloody beautiful), I ordered the Shepherds Pie being something that wasn’t bread, finished off with a couple of mouthfuls of Pumpkin Cheesecake, deliciousness!

Highly recommend Kristen and Cliff’s B&B place if you are ever in the Mammoth Lakes area. A very cosy, clean, funky place, and Kristen and Cliff make sure that you are all comfortable!

Thanks Kristen and Cliff for making my stay a pleasant one in this part of the world! Keep in touch!

That’s all from Me today. Tomorrow Yosemite National Park and back into San Francisco.

Songs are so fitting

I had started this blog a few hours ago, I thought yes, a great day, but who knew a great day ended up being an extraordinary one! So read up …

This morning was the day to farewell Sedona. As I stop and pause where it all began before I knew what I was driving into, I say a few words ..

The sun shines a little smile as it lights up Bell Rock in the distance as if to say goodbye, and then the skies open up and rains as I leave.

As I drive up Hwy 179, a few minutes up the road, Universe has this song for me “Its magic .. you know … never believe its not so! Certainly is!

I drive North West, with no clue where I will end up tonight. I put in San Francisco with 2 stops … Death Valley Inn and Yosemite National Park, but then removed Death Valley (remember this for later) .. The highway is open to scenery of desert and plains. Music is sparingly playing with little to no service, left to my own thoughts. I observe the many RVs and Campers on many desolate properties, and wonder what the attraction is to live so far from anywhere, plant life spare, Joshua Trees surviving in the crazy desert.

I drive past the Hoover Dam and decide to take a break and needed to walk. First, the view of Lake Mead .. nothing like I have seen before, a beautiful sight to take in. Lake Mead irrigates more than 1 million hectares across US and Mexico. With the Hoover Dam built back in 1930, finished in 1935 and was declared the highest Dan in the world, it helped to navigate water that created Lake Mead.

Next was the drive over the Hoover Dam, finding the furthest parking to walk down and take in the sheer size of the Dam. It’s been 3 years since I was last here with my family. The dam used to be known as the Boulder Dam being not far from Boulder City, but renamed in 1947 to Hoover Dam.

With walking done, it was time to hit the road again. I hit the craziness of the Las Vegas traffic which I expertly got through, got out the other side to even more desert, this time miles and miles of nothing except the haze in front of me and my thoughts again. It was actually quite comforting being in open space, feeling quite relaxed, giving time to reflect, time to think nothing at all but to look at the landscape before me.

I stopped for gasoline, was looking across the street and there it was The Alien Center and the biggest firecracker in the world. I could not help myself. After chatting with the lady who served me, asking what it was all about, she advised that behind those mountains (she points) is Area 51 … who knows what goes on behind there in that area she says, but only President Trump is allowed there. The Center has a lot of Area 51 alien paraphernalia. So after finding out where she thinks is a good place to stay, telling me not to speed as it is a speedtrap, I went on my merry way.

You got it, I had to check out this Alien Center … well it definitely had a lot of tourist teeshirts and mugs, shot glasses. Even a cute soft toy where the eyes lit up.

Getting that out of my system, I got on the road, alone again with my thoughts, this time wondering what might be behind those spectacular mountainous views.

Tonight’s abode is Death Valley Inn. Now remember, at the beginning of my blog I spoke of removing Death Valley as a stop, but Universe had other ideas!

I arrived around 5.30pm, got my room key but decided to go have a bite to eat in downtown Beatty. It was here that my blog was done, or so I thought!

I get back to the Death Valley Inn, get to my room, and would you know my key doesn’t work. So back to Reception. All apologies, a re-set and I go back. Again doesn’t work, after the third time I soon switched on and realise there is a reason. Well the next couple of minutes soon turned into a couple of hours where I met the lovely Simone. We spoke about all sorts of topics ranging from the history of Mona Belle, the Inn when it was known as Burro Inn, Beatty and Rhyolite amongst a few things. She spoke of her beloved Grandfather and her family and offered to sing something that she sung with him. Simone has an amazing strong voice and I can see her going places. See below the video link I recorded of her singing

Simone singing Diamonds in the Sky … the acoustics in the old inn are amazing when she begins to bellow out the song!

Thank you Universe for connecting me to another beautiful soul. A wonderful end to the day! WOW …

Snoopy, Chicken Point and a Submarine

Another full day of adventure, hard to believe you can fit in so much in one day!

After getting the low down from the locals again, I was set for the day.

First up, Chapel in the Rocks. Apart from the beauty all around, walking into the chapel took my breath away. The energy amazing. I took some to meditate and send healing out. As I sat, a tear rolled down my cheek. I acknowledged the tear or 2, acknowledged the feeling of gratitude.

Next … a pink jeep tour up the Broken Arrow trail to see the sights of the Chicken Point, Submarine and Snoopy. Mind blowing scenery …

So having time to kill after all that spectacularness, what was a girl to do I wonder. A drive up to Jerome with “You ain’t seen nothing yet” bellowing out from the radio. Really I ask … I get up over 5,000 feet above sea level and the views magic. I also wondered why, a place so high up, not a lot around. It is a ghost town of sorts, discovered in late 1800s for its mining.

The day was finished off with my second Sweat Lodge Ceremony which I came away feeling bloody fantastic.

So yes, how much can a girl fit into one day .. a lot so it seems!

A piece of my heart will always remember this very special place, the people and the energy like no other. Sedona is Ulluru on steroids, today I was told by our Pink Jeep guide that Zion in Utah is Sedona on steroids. The mind boggles. You never know, maybe Universe will help me to get there one day!

First stop is Bakersfield

Started the day with breakfast with some of the CSC Family as we had our last meal together. Some had already left, but those of us still around had a 8am breakfast appointment, and guess who was on time on this one occasion with the rest of us running a little late, but Valentin whom sent us a foto of him sitting with all his friends as per below … Not … LOL. But soon he was joined by those of us left to say cherrio which was great. Others had already left very early.

So with some last minute hugs to everyone and a selfie with Benedicte and Stella, Lung’s wife, it was time to head out. No time for tears as the shuttle awaited, which was a good thing, but there was time for one more hug from Benedicte!

Ricardo and I were on the shuttle, took 3 go’s at the perfect selfie to send to the group to say goodbye. We had been in the shuttle picking up people for about half an hour, and soon realised that we passed our hotel for one last time, like the place wanted to say goodbye one last time.

Finally on the road … just me and the magic of Sedona as it awaits my arrival. It was a tough drive being tired so I decided to not push it but did get to the outskirts of Bakersfield which took me a few hours to get to with a few stops along the way! With a mix of Spanish and English music, singing and bopping along, I enjoyed the view of openness landscape.

My chariot for the next 10 days!

Getting out of San Francisco saw the longest bridge and road ever that I have traveled on with the sea on both sides as I headed out of San Francisco, called the The San Mateo–Hayward Bridge. It is the longest bridge in California and the 25th longest in the world by length.

From the Golden hills due to California also being in drought, to miles of orchard trees on one side, grapes the other, to hills on one side of the road, to the flat plains on the other side.

Bakersfield is a city and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. With a population of approximately 380,000, making it the ninth-most populous city in California and the 52nd-most populous city in the nation. The city is a significant hub for both agriculture and oil production. Kern County is the most productive oil-producing county, and the fourth most productive agricultural county (by value) in the United States. Industries include natural gas and other energy extraction, aerospace, mining, petroleum refining, manufacturing, distribution, food processing, and corporate regional offices. The city is also the birthplace of the country music genre known as the Bakersfield sound.

Where you see the car icon on the map, shows the distance traveled so far, and how far I have tomorrow. Hence the early night!

As I sit by the pool watching the sun go down I reflect about the morning, the drive, and the posts throughout the day of my CSC Family as they all disperse wondering how they all are, the bed awaiting for my head to rest for an early night to get an early start tomorrow to Sedona.

Career Prep Day

Well it was a day to end all days, being our last ever day with UWBA, last dinner with my fellow CSCers as we all depart tomorrow. So as you can imagine, a roller coaster of emotions, mainly good ones, with the odd private tear as I bid farewell to people that were up until either 4 months ago, or even 1 month ago, complete strangers. But for some reason, Universe brought us all together to have one hell of an experience together.

First up .. at brekkie this morning some of us got up to say thank you to the Breakfast Crew. Thanks to the Holiday Inn for looking after us for so long.  It was a pleasant experience, and everyone so kind and friendly!  I am going to miss my poached eggs!

Today was Career Prep Day, so our last gig to finish off the month. It was a little exciting to get back out into the community to do some volunteering. UWBA, IBM and Ernst and Young (EY) come together as one and provided an amazing day which was organised very well by UWBA and EY. This event was based at Skyline College, and oh what a campus. We saw up to 80 students, and UWBA promised that all the data collected would be in Salesforce or ECM.

We met some amazing people whom work at EY, and amazing students of all ages ranging from 17 and upwards. I had many conversations with these students. To my amazement, there were even 2 young students whom were interested in Customer Relationship Management. Yes CRM, but not the CRM I was expecting. They had a slightly different take on it, but either way, they received a blast of the Shaz wisdom.

One highlight from this event was when Nicole from UWBA was speaking about the Skyline Sparkpoint to the EY volunteers. She mentioned about IBM and the CSC program, and how we had helped them with the Employer Engagement data. She continued on to say that she used the tool that we had provided to announce that EY was in the Top 10 companies that provide volunteers for engagements of this nature, so that was very exciting to see first hand the deliverable being used, knowing that Nicole would have spent less than 1 minute doing a check! Powerful stuff!

A fond farewell and hugs all around to Nicole and Ansa and to the rest of the crew from UWBA. You guys are amazing stars, so continue to shine brightly and pave the way. See you Ansa (and anyone else from UWBA) in Pakistan when Ansa opens the first Pakistan SparkPoint Center, and we will be there for the opening! Learn lots, give heaps, and glow!

This afternoon, Meaghan and Kaila very kindly hosted Benedicte, Ricardo and myself up to Twin Peaks. This was an amazing way to finish out the month, sitting on top of San Fran, looking down on this interesting, special city that we all have grown to love in our month here. So many feelings, so in awe of what we have been through, and how San Fran embraced us all in it’s arms, where we created so many fond memories. On top of that, we were blessed with watching the Blue Angels dancing across the sky as they practiced for their event tomorrow.  We ended up at a bar at the Castrol area called Twin Peaks, thinking we would stay with the theme. A nice cool Sierra beer and a lot of laughs equals a great recipe for the afternoon.

Tonight was our last CSC dinner together, and the chosen cuisine was Indian food. A great atmosphere, and good food which was Indian / Pakistan cuisine. Brittany from Atlas Corps joined us, and soon the whole group was briefly together! We were a noisy bunch of people in this little restaurant, I think in the end they were glad to see us go.

WIth a walk back to the hotel, we continued laughing and just chatting about the memories. I am going to miss my CSC family, as yes, that is what we are. Other CSCers before us would get it, and those after us will get it! The CSC program does change your life in many ways, pushing you outside of your comfort levels, friendships are born, growth happens. I would not change one thing! I know that I have new life long friends in my CSC Family and my UWBA Family, with memories that will stay with me for a very long time!

Prepare Rehearse Deliver!

Today was the day, the day that we have all worked hard towards .. that final presentation to our client.

We followed the IBM principles of Prepare, Rehearse, Deliver. This morning, the four of us sat as we finalised the presentation, we each spent time alone with our thoughts and wrote notes of what it was we wanted to impart.

We convened, ran through what we were each presenting, refining the delivery.

Then 12pm came and we were ready! The UWBA Team settled, with the San Jose dialed in, we began.

With Benedicte opening and introducing the Engagement Model, Susannah talking about the Engagement Model Workbook and scoring, Ricardo highlighting Salesforce data quality report and dashboard prototypes, it was soon to be my turn in the spotlight.

With butterflies in the stomach, off I went … I spoke about the high level recommendations that we had come up with. It felt right, and as I drew on all my experiences of talking to our sales communities about our own internal CRM tools, I was soon in Shaz mode promoting the importance of data collection, and stressing the areas of our observations and recommendations which supported everything that had been shared with them throughout the presentation.

Finally, after great questions and discussion from the UWBA Team throughout the presentation, Benedicte wrapped it up very nicely.

The UWBA Team forever grateful, the smiles and claps afterwards, and all the comments received, we were on a high!

This afternoon we were focused on transferring of knowledge and finalising all the deliverables to present in a special morning tea with our UWBA family tomorrow.

We took a minute to pose for a team pic for Robert from the Marketing Team with our host Nicole.

Lunch we decided on a mini celebration at a local Australian cafe .. so I got to splurge and enjoy salmon, cream cheese and dill on sour dough bread, with a Tumeric Latte Almond Milk extra hot. Whilst a little pricy and not an Australian staff member in sight, I was still a happy camper!

What a day! Difficult to get across just how I am feeling, but all I can say to sum it up in one word … MAGIC! And to quote Susannah .. “Nailed it!”

All Smiles and Tears in the Eyes

Today was a pivotal moment for the IBM UWBA Sub Team. All the work over the past 3 and a bit weeks has been all worth it to see the response that we saw today. Today I was so proud of what we as a team have been able to achieve in such a short time, and seeing it all being pulled together! It was a small moment that just happened, completely unprepared, but so worth it!

But let me first digress and make mention of the events of today as I think through the day and share with you all a couple of highlights.

This afternoon I got to watch my colleague Susannah (IBM UK) take the team through a Design Thinking Workshop Journey. She presents this topic with such flair. The workshop was fun, it was quick to the point, and definitely got a vibe working in the room as Susannah introduced this topic to pass on some skills to help UWBA to work through some of their top issues after we have gone. Everybody was engaged, everybody got involved, with plenty of questions, laughter, seriousness over a lunch and learn.

Then later this afternoon, the UWBA group were pumped and wanted to know what was happening tomorrow as they had all been invited to come learn what we have been working on. As we were sitting there, suddenly all eyes were upon us, inquisitive as they had heard about this Engagement Model Workbook that we had put together. They wanted a sneak peak.

Due to the enthusiasm, there was a quick demonstration. What came next we were not expecting … I watched and captured the following pictures to keep that memory alive … my heart melted as I saw the reactions of these passionate women whom live and breathe wanting to make a difference. That was the moment, to beat all moments! To see their expressions and reactions was just gold, knowing that we had done something to make a difference! There were huge smiles, and tears in the eyes. Needless to say that they are all talking about it, and all are very excited for our presentation to them tomorrow.

Tonight was our last group yoga in person, at our favourite place, the Grace Cathedral. I am certainly going to miss this beautiful loving environment like no other. So joined by some of my IBM CSC colleagues – Susannah, Benedicte, Abhay, Valentin, Noemi, and Emma (Atlas Corps), we all were one, at peace, enjoying the special time together with a few hundred others, as we spent an hour breathing and doing our downward dog and cobra moves, knowing that it was our last time F2F. The music amazing, every week it is someone different who plays or sings the night away. Highly recommend if you are ever in San Fran.

I did suggest we might want to take up a virtual yoga session, not sure how successful we will be at it, but hey you never know.

After yoga, Benedicte, Susannah, Noemi and I joined our UWBA colleagues for a Mexican Taco Farewell for Meghan, whom is moving to the Contra Costsa Sparkpoint. It was lovely to see them all and enjoy a yummy meal, a beer and great conversation.

That’s all for today!

Before I sign off, I wanted to take a moment to thank the many of you whom have spoken to me about my blog, how you have followed my journey so far. It has been brilliant hearing your feedback, which has certainly been encouraging. Thank you for taking the time. In fact I am so enjoying blogging that I’m thinking of continuing on with it after CSC … watch this space!