Mixing Work with Play

Early this morning, at 4am I pulled out of the employer's parking lot with a SUV full of colleagues and golf clubs. Three and half hours later, I was approaching the number 9 tee box at the Tribute. It's a rare occasion that members of my staff can get away from the office to spend a day on the links, especially at a location that boast the best of holes on the British tour. What's more advantageous was that this little escape was hosted by one of the vendors we work with.

I'd love to say that my golf game was impressive or that I carried our team to the best score. However the reality is that my game had fleeting moments, surrounded by a multitude of lost balls in the high grass. I thought I played okay for someone with no formal training and who's last round was 18 months ago.

Despite a seven hour car trip and a 7:30am tee time, it was a pretty good day. Each of my colleagues won something from the raffle, and more importantly the office didn't stop functioning while we were away. Sounds like a well deserved quick get away.

"Don't cross the beams"

Do you remember the movie Ghostbusters from 1984? There's a conversation that occurs between Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd as they check out their proton-packs for their first gig at the Sedgewick Hotel. In that exchange the Ghostbusters are informed that crossing the beams of their proto-packs is bad.

In many sense, I find that crossing my vocation and family is bad. I'm not sure how lawyers, pastors, accountants, and nuclear physicists handle this, but for a technologist like myself I don't enjoy spending a day at the office solving computer network issues only to be greeted by my wife and kids upon returning home that the computer isn't working.

This past week, my lovely bride had a printing issue. So reluctantly I took a look. After losing an hour of my evening removing drivers and rebooting her laptop countless times, I finally hand her the laptop and the her desired print out. Needless to say my attitude after this heroic battle between myself, our HP deskjet 4200, and her Dell laptop with Vista (insert a "groan") is sour. I quickly retire to the front porch to bask in the freshly rained environment to collect myself and recenter my attitude.

On the porch, I ask myself whether other professionals find themselves in similar situations. Do accountants come home to balance their own check books? Do lawyers come home to review their personal contracts and ponder litigation aspects of their homeowner's associations? Do chefs come home to prepare an elaborate meal for the wife and kids?

I'm sure the answer to all these is yes, and I should be thankful that we aren't shoveling out $75/hour to the Geek Squad.

Working Together

Several years ago, a friend of my wife and I inquired if we would be interested in serving at a wine tasting event in Buffalo Gap. We shuffled the kidos off to the grandparents and spent an entertaining and informational day pouring wines for this tasting. For the last three years we've continued our participation with this annual event. Each year we meet new wine makers, get introduced to some fascinating wines, and learn a little more about the art of pairing wines with dishes.

What's more important is the enjoyment my wife and I find in sharing time together at these events. There's something to be said for finding a interest you and your spouse share, and investing in that interest. Despite the fact we are actually working the events, we typically come away enriched. Our knowledge about wines and food pairings is enriched, but what's more is that our relationship is enriched. We actually spend hours talking with each other for days following the event. We talk about the people we meet, the wines we encountered, and the food we tasted. We talk about how the event seemed to flow, the other volunteers we meet, and conversations we had with patrons that attended these events.

Now I would not recommend that all couples volunteer to serve at a wine tasting, but I would recommend that couples identify a shared interest and identify ways to invest in these interests. Our experience has informed us that it doesn't matter as much what the activity is, it's the shared interest and how it is able to grow that matters.

Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

Maybe you have driven by what some would label a "dive" and curiosity caught hold of you to the point that against your better judgment you stopped to check it out. If this is the case, I applaud you.

In a recent trip to the Hill Country of Texas my beautiful bride and I were on a search for an evening experience. Having completed an afternoon of wine tasting, I pulled out the crackberry and performed a google search for "steak fredericksburg texas". One resulting eatery was closed that Sunday evening, so we searched again and came up with a placed called "Hill Top Cafe". A quick call to verify they were open and we were on our way uncertain what to expect. A short drive up Hwy 87 we came to the crossroad of FM648 to an old fillin station. It's the only building for several miles and definitely the only neon lit. To be honest, the placed looked like the definition of a dive and we were a bit anxious as we entered the establishment. The greeting by the staff was friendly and the other patrons didn't look deathly ill. So we sat and were directed to a chalkboard above our table that listed the specials. What caught my wife's eye was crab meat covered flat steak.

The decor was eclectic to say the least, and I swear I saw the final destination of an early 1970's kitchen table my folks had when I was a kid. Even the chairs adjoining this particular table were metal and vinyl. The ceiling was covered with old concert posters from blues and swing acts that I've only seen on the Texas Country Reporter.

Surprising to us, the food was more than we could have dreamed of. The steaks were prepared to perfection and the portions were rightly sized. The fact their desert list was paired back to only pecan pie because they were out of bread pudding, should have told us that this was a popular place. It was only after we left did we realize that this eatery in the middle of nowhere was infamous, featured in Texas Monthly, Southern Living, and Country Home.

So let me add my own recommendation. The Hill Top Cafe is a must see, eat, and enjoy. Come in for the food and leave filled and enriched by the conversation, decor, and Texas hospitality at its best. Who ever said, don't judge a book by it's cover, could have been talking about this cafe on the hill.

Progress

I was visiting with a friend this weekend who chastised me for not keeping up with this blog. He's right that one a post a month is pretty bad, but as I've always said coming up with compelling content is a difficult process. Excuses aside, here's one dedicated to him.

This weekend the wife and I took a relaxing trip to the Hill Country of Texas. On our agenda was a visit to a winery that we'd visited some eight years ago. Our first visit to this winery was actually only the second time we'd ever visited a winery. The property had vineyards in front of a stone building that looked like a two story house. As we entered the facility we were warmly greeted by a middle age woman standing behind a bar. We were among a group of friends, and the group received a quick introduction to the winery and the process used to great the selection of wines that were created there. After we'd finished our first tasting, an older gentleman appeared from the back room and eagerly greeted our group. He was dressed in a khaki jump suit that you'd expect out of a grandfather figure. We learned he was the owner, winemaker, and patriarch of this estate. As my wife commented upon our departure, the older gentleman reminded her of what her grandfather would be like if he'd owned a winery.

We especially enjoyed the Fume Blanc wine from this establishment and about a year later I made a short detour upon a drive to San Antonio to pick up a bottle of Fume Blanc for my beautiful bride. Since then we'd not visited the winery until this past weekend.

So fast forward seven years. This weekend we eagerly waited to visit this vineyard that provided such fond memories. As we prepared we'd been online to see that the vineyard hosted a bed and breakfast, which we seriously considered staying at while in the area. On a brief visit to the Austin for a wine tasting event we picked of book by Wes Marshall on the Texas Wine Trail. The book offers a page on some 80 wineries in the state providing a brief history, wine picks, and general details of the experience the author had at each winery. We read the passage on the winery we had fond memories of and the encounter with the original owner as very similar to ours. Then we learned the gentleman passed away four years ago, and a San Antonio business man had purchased the winery.

As we turned into the winery we quickly learned many changes were in store for us. The original building that we'd visited was no longer the tasting room. A new large bell tower marked a new entrance with a windy road that cut through the vineyard. There was a whole complex that marked the tasting room with an adjoining event center. The tasting room hosted three bars and a large gift shop area. Our favorite selection was no longer offered, and the number of wine selections had increased by at least two fold.

Honestly the new face of the winery felt a bit commercial compared to our initial visit. My bride commented, if we hadn't know the original owner/winemarker had passed, we'd been impressed with how far he'd come. However, knowing that the winery had changed hands and such changes had taken affect made us feel that some of the charm of this little winery had been lost. I guess that's progress.