Friday 07/07/2023
In the morning I took care of a bunch of little things. Bills, processed a video for the AV group, other stuff. Then met with David T, to get an education on the Heritage Circle and its operations. Bottom line, I and they have no real leverage over what staff does with a project like our AV upgrade that has been stalled out for months. The HC grants money to do a thing, but then it becomes one more capital project on the staff’s list of capital improvements. The staff decides where to rank it in the priority list, and has full discretion over the execution. He did suggest that in one particular matter, I should talk directly to CEO Rhonda.
At 2 I headed down to the museum to listen to Scott as he tried out his new docent tour. It and he are going to be good with a little practice.
Back at the shop, it was time for pizza. This was the second day in the week that the dining room was to be closed for dinner. On Tuesday it was for the holiday. Today it was because of a long-delayed staff appreciation party. The sixth floor had voted not to have a second sack supper picnic, but to order in pizza instead. So we met for pizza on the 11th floor.
I left that party early-ish at 6:40 to go over to Stanford for a concert. This was one of two concerts I had bought a ticket for in the Stanford summer Jazz Festival. It was a concert of the songs of Bert Bacharach (who only just died this year, age 93). The singer was Jackie Ryan, very personable, big alto voice. She was backed by Akira Tana, a Palo Alto native and a well-known jazz drummer, and three musicians from Osaka: Atsuko Hashimoto on organ, her husband on guitar, Hideki Kawamura. This group was very solid, especially Atsuko Hashimoto who ripped off several really exciting and dramatic solos during the evening. In any case, how can you go wrong with Say a Little Prayer, What’s it all About Alfie, Close to You, and of course finishing with Do You Know the Way to San Jose.
Codgerville 