Caboose Restoration Update

We are still working with San Jose City Hall to get the
building permit for the steps and electrical hook up for
WP668, our backyard caboose. John has been to the Building
Department 3 times in the last week, before and after work.
John rebuilt the steel and wood of one caboose end landing to connect to
the to-be-built regular-steps-with-handrail-and-balusters; he is also
almost done rebuilding the second landing which will retain its original
steel steps. We have the plans, we have the builder, we have the caboose
painted, we have rebuilt the landing, we are now waiting for official
approval to start.

Yesterday, we spent the evening getting WP668 ready for the
possibility of rain. All of the paint and construction tools and
supplies are under cover now. I have collected most of the bolt ends
and rusted bits of original 1916 caboose replaced during restoration to give
away as souvenirs when we have our caboose warming party. Yesterday, we
also stopped by to talk with the welder who is going to rebuild WP668’s
bay window frame. He may be available next Saturday.

The happy news is that John talked with the
Portola Railroad Museum
(also known as the Western Pacific Railroad Museum) and they told
him where they buy WP decals: the
Borden Decal Co.
Borden still makes the decals for the railroads.
Here a small size reproduction of the WP logo we need:

reproduction WPFRR sign
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson

Image Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson

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Sun’s Heart Walk – Photos

Sun’s CTO

Greg Papadopoulos
sponsored our participation in the
American Heart Association

Silicon Valley Heart Walk 2007
event yesterday, 16 September, at
De Anza in Cupertino, CA. We gave away
140 Sun Heart Walk t-shirts to Sun staff, family, and friends and raised
about $9,000 in donations. (Pledges are still being met, so
we don’t have exact numbers yet.) Not bad for our first time!
Best of all, it was a fun morning.

The Sun Heart Walkers who got up early enough to be in the 8 am
group photo:

Sun Microsystems Heart Walkers 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Sheri Kaneshiro

Go to the
Sun’s Company Page
to make a donation.
Here are photos of the day:

Welcome to

Heart Walk 2007:

Welcome to Heart Walk 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Paula Patel
Ballon

clown:

Balloon clown, Heart Walk 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Paula Patel
Sun sign at

Heart Walk:

Sun sign at Heart Walk 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Yu-Yen Mo
Balloon hats at

Heart Walk 2007:

Balloon hats at Heart Walk 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Yu-Yen Mo
Sun’s sponsor

booth:

Sun's sponsor booth, Heart Walk 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Sheri Kaneshiro
Sun’s sponsor booth

with customers:

Sun's sponsor booth with customers, Heart Walk 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Sheri Kaneshiro

Sun

Heart Walkers:

Sun Heart Walkers 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Yu-Yen Mo
Sun

Heart Walkers:

Sun Heart Walkers 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Yu-Yen Mo
Sun

Heart Walkers:

Sun Heart Walkers 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Sheri Kaneshiro
Sun

Heart Walkers:

Sun Heart Walkers 2007
photo: copyright 2007 John Plocher
Sun t-shirt as

dress:

Sun t-shirt as dress, Heart Walkers 2007
photo: copyright 2007 Sheri Kaneshiro
Littlest Sun

Heart Walker:

Littlest Sun Heart Walker 2007
photo: copyright 2007 John Plocher

Images Copyright 2007 by Sheri Kaneshiro, Yu-Yen Mo, Paula Patel,
and John Plocher

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Madeleine L’Engle dies at 88

I was sad to read that writer Madeleine L’Engle died
this month. When I was a girl, I read L’Engle’s classic
A Wrinkle in Time at least a dozen times. The

EpiscopalLife Online
story from 7 September says she
wrote more than 60 books and includes the quote:

    “In times when we are not particularly suffering, we do not have enough time for God,” she said. “We are too busy with other things. And then the intense suffering comes, and we can not be busy with other things. And then God comes into the equation. Help. And we should never be afraid of crying out, ‘Help!’ I need all the help I can get.”

When Meg from A Wrinkle in Time sets out to travel through time
and space to save her little brother Charles, she became the first young
heroine I could believe in.

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In Memory of Phil Rosenzweig


Phil Rosenzweig
was a teammate who was among the victims killed
in the crash of American Airlines Flight 11 at the World Trade Center in
New York City on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. One of Phil’s several
memorials at Sun campuses is near the Menlo Park building where I work.
On September 11th each year, Phil’s black bench under a willow tree
bears flowers (and sometimes his favorite cookies). Here is the
flag at half mast for Phil in front of Sun’s Santa Clara clock tower
building today:


Sun flag at half mast, Santa Clara CA
photo: copyright 2007 John Plocher

We miss you, Phil.

Image Copyright 2007 by John Plocher

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Heart Health and Lincoln


Dr. Cesar Molina
, Medical Director of the
South Asian Heart Center
of El Camino Hospital,
came to Sun’s Menlo Park campus today to talk about
heart health. This is the second talk I set up as part of CTO

Greg Papadopoulos’
sponsorship of

Silicon Valley Heart Walk 2007
by the
American Heart Association.
The Heart Walk will be held this Sunday morning, 16 September at
De Anza in Cupertino. Go to the

Sun’s Company Page
to sign up as a Sun Heart Walker or to make a donation to support one of our teams.

Dr. Molina’s talk was fascinating and passionate and funny. He built his
case for life changes (no smoking, regular exercise, eat more fruits and
vegetables, achieve a healthy weight) from both detailed analysis of
medical studies and from less conventional sources of wisdom. My
favorite was this quote from President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865):

      Do not worry; eat three square meals a day; say your prayers; be courteous to your creditors; keep your digestion good; exercise; go slow and easy. Maybe there are other things your special case requires to make you happy; but, my friend, these I reckon will give you a good lift.

Dr. Molina talked about many aspects of health with examples drawn from
both the general American context but also from the culture and population
of South Asians. I had asked the Heart Association to invite someone
who could speak particularly to Sun’s Engineering population, which
includes many South Asians. Before today, I had not been aware that
Coronary Artery Disease strikes South Asians at a

four-fold rate
compared to the general population. This holds true
even for lifelong vegetarians who do not smoke and are not overweight.
Even though I hosted the talk, I was surprised at how much I learned.

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Rail Photography Day – Portola, CA

We have reached a place in the restoration of WP668, our backyard caboose,
where more detailed historic information would help us make decisions. Also,
we need patterns for the Western Pacific logo and other body markings.
Fortunately, we live a mere 262 miles from the

Western Pacific Railroad Museum
in

Portola
, California on the Feather River. Portola
is north and slightly west of Lake Tahoe. Now would be a good time for
a weekend trip: it is almost my birthday, too early for much snow on
Donner Pass, and even better, a
Rail Photography Day
is scheduled at the museum on 29 September, 2007.

    The museum will operate prototypical freight and passenger trains on our track for the benefit of photographers. This is a great opportunity to view and photograph many of the new items which the museum has acquired over the last few years. The museum roster currently includes over 40 locomotives and over 100 cabooses, freight and passenger cars.

John and I are trying to sort out our schedule to see if we can go!

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Lair of the Bear Camp Photos, EFF Tape

The
Lair of the Golden Bear
is the
U.C. Berkeley family camp in the Sierras near the little town of
Pinecrest
. Below are some photos of the week we spent there last month.
Our family has two tents at the Lair’s 10th week: one for John and the
kids and my mother (Eleanor) and me, and the other for my brother Peter and
his wife Liz and their kids.
The Lair has been thriving and growing since 1945 and many camp
traditions have developed: the Blue Review (camp talent show), creek walking,
Lair birthday cakes, making fun of Stanford,
Disco Bingo, pictures with Oski the Camp Blue (and Cal) mascot…

My son Paul has been going with us to the Lair since he was about one
year old. Since Paul’s birthday is almost the same week as when we
go camping, he always gets a chocolate Lair cake to celebrate. For
all celebrations, the camp staffers sing the following song while
smacking metal pans and bowls with big spoons:


      We bring you a cake!


      That our cooks have baked!


      We hope you enjoy it, ’cause…


      Lair cakes are great!

The day before going to the Lair, we had to ship off my daughter
Jessica’s 3 boxes to
Carnegie Mellon since she was
flying to college the day after we got back. Here Jessica is showing
off the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Fourth Amendment Shipping Tape in which she strapped her boxes.
(She was an EFF summer intern two years ago.) The
tape is printed with the following text from the

U.S. Constition
over and over:

    Amendment IV The right of the people to be
    secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
    unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no
    Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath
    or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
    searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

    http://www.eff.org: protecting
    rights in the digital age


    Jessica and her 4th amendment taped boxes
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson

Here are the Lair photos:

Jessica and Paul

at Grandma’s:

Jessica and Paul at Grandma's house
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Lair campers starting in

San Francisco:

Lair campers starting in San Francisco
photo: copyright 2007 John Plocher
Why we have an SUV –

6 packed for camping:

Why we have an SUV - 6 packed for camping
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Funny Bull and Pig BBQ

Cookers beside road:

Funny Bull and Pig BBQ Cookers beside road
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Camp Blue

entry sign:

Camp Blue entry sign
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Lair Welcome Home

sign:

Lair Welcome Home sign
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Eleanor arriving in

Camp Blue:

Eleanor arriving in Camp Blue
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Camp Blue tent porch sign

and our little Oski bear:

Camp Blue tent porch sign and our little Oski bear
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Board game in

Camp Blue Lodge:

Board game in Camp Blue Lodge
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
John reading in

Lodge:

John reading in Lodge
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Camp Blue

telephone booths:

Camp Blue telephone booths
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Outdoor movie

in Pinecrest:

Outdoor movie in Pinecrest
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Paul driving Eleanor’s

cart with hitchhikers:

Paul driving Eleanor's cart with hitchhikers
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Eleanor in her

bunk bed:

Eleanor in her bunk bed
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Jessica and Matt watching

movie on laptop in tent:

Jessica and Matt watching movie on laptop in tent
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Matt auditioning

for Blue Review:

Matt auditioning for Blue Review
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Matt, Jessica, Lynda, Daniel,

and Paul waiting to audition:

Matt, Jessica, Lynda, Daniel, Paul waiting to audition
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Jessica singing in

Blue Review:

Jessica singing in Blue Review
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Blue Review: Stanford student

bandana-banana skit:

Blue Review: Stanford student bandana-banana skit
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Peter, Lynda, Daniel, and Liz

at dining hall:

Peter, Lynda, Daniel, and Liz at dining hall
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Eleanor

at dining hall:

Eleanor at dining hall
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Paul’s Lair

birthday cake:

Paul's Lair birthday cake
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Jessica and

her fish:

Jessica and her fish
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Peter escorting

Eleanor:

Peter escorting Eleanor
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Camp Blue

creek:

Camp Blue creek
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
Packing the truck

to go home:

Packing the truck to go home
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson
John and Katy – last pictures with

Oski, in our Lair wear:

John and Katy - last pictures with Oski, in our Lair wear
photo: copyright 2007 Katy Dickinson

Back to San Francisco

(cable car):

Back to San Francisco (cable car)
photo: copyright 2007 Jessica Dickinson Goodman

Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, Jessica Dickinson Goodman

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