Today I travelled across the bay to Larkspur to meet with Michael Scherotter. I arrived at the ferry terminal to find the first one left about 90 minutes later than I thought so thanks to Michael for rearranging his schedule at short notice. It was a grey day so the ferry trip scenery wasn’t spectacular but I spent about half the trip getting a lesson in aerodynamics. A solitary gull worked out it could get a free ride across the bay by gliding in the “slipstream” just off the stern of the ferry. It was like one of those nature documentaries showing bird flight close-up as was within a metre or two of the stern, doing 10–15 knots, for 20–30 minutes without flapping it’s wings once. It reminded me of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the fable about a gull who was fascinated by flight, which I read years ago. It was a strange mystical book and I must admit I found Richard Bach’s books on his real aviation life as a barnstormer far better.
Last time I did this trip I visited Michael at the Mindjet Office (MindManager) near the ferry terminal. I got to know Michael via his blogging for Mindjet and was impressed by his enthusiasm for combining technologies to create new solutions. He developed a prototype combining MindManager and Autodesk DWF which was of interest to me. It was great to see him again and learn about his current role as a “Synergist” for Microsoft. It’s great to he’s still “Combining Software in Amazing Ways” and excited about using new combinations of technologies to help people solve problems. As you can imagine there are lots of technologies at Microsoft to keep him busy!
I wandered back to the hotel via downtown at dusk looking at some of the architecture, including The Transamerica Pyramid, and Christmas decorations. Tomorrow it’s off to Vegas, to get ready for Autodesk University.
