Sightseeing and study in Silicon Valley

Our posts have temporarily decreased in frequency while we stay at the Fairmont Hotel. It is safe to say that hotel management have embraced a user-pays philosophy very enthusiastically. In-room internet is expensive and use of the mini-bar requires a credit-rating!!! The bottled water may be the most expensive on the planet - certainly the most expensive I have ever encountered. Sunday & Monday have been Conference Days for me and tourist days for Christine. The quality of conference speakers has been very good - especially the key note speakers and the ICMA University Workshops. The tours have been a mixed bag and yesterday Christine went solo in the greater San Jose area, using the light rail system to get herself about. Today I attended four out of the five sessions I planned to attend - I had just overbooked myself. Last night we attended the Internationals reception - there are 200 people at the conference from 17 countries - where I caught up with most of the other kiwis and with former ICMA President Michael Willis. Michael has been a local government leader and CEO in NZ, US, UK and is heading for Australia I believe. In an earlier life he was County Clerk at the Waihemo County Council and he tells me he is descended from the great Liberal land reformer and Palmerston's most famous son, Sir John Mackenzie. Tonight we plan to attend an ANZAC reception (Kiwis and Aussies) and a KUCIMAT dinner with our Missouri and Kansas friends.