High Masses

You enter The Valley up Highway 101 at 100 miles per hour. For a lot of years, it is no brakes, just hard steering.  Some people make big bucks and take it somewhere else. Most leave without making much, and settle back where they started. Lots of stories to tell people about The Valley. Strange place to east coasters; here no one cares what Long Island neighborhood you grew up in and most here think Martha's Vineyard is an organic winery.

But, some settle here and work away for their whole career. The Valley is a nice place to live. Weather is perfect, lots of decent food, beaches close, wineries closer, San Francisco less than an hour away. Only thing missing is good BBQ and reasonably priced mansions. Minor stuff, unless you are from Austin.

Ol' Si is not a young guy. Was once, something happened.  Forgot what it was.  Entering a new stage of life, different than the last one, and the one before that. Still here in The Valley. Still doing fine. Play Squash less and less, but do a round of golf now and then. Skiing went when when my right knee did.

I do appreciate every day above ground, especially when old friends suddenly aren't. Not sure what to think when I get news. "Remember Bill? Yup, the guy who drew that inside straight at the last poker game. Sudden heart attack, didn't know what hit him" A conversation last week over Pho with a buddy.

In the dark of night, Ol' Si sometimes has thoughts about the end, which will come as it does to all. What have I accomplished? Was I a success, failure, or something in between? Why did I take some of the risks I did? In the past, I would wash those feelings away with a sniffer of Scotch. But, when you lose a few friends to the elements, those dark musing need to be controlled. Need to be put in perspective.

You take risks. Some work, some don't. You get up, dust yourself off, and move on. That is how The Valley was built. Failure is not a bad thing, it is just a waypoint on the path to success.

The rest of the world does not necessarily see things that way. Turning on the nightly news, which I rarely do, we are treated to an endless parade of failures.... political, social, and moral. The newscaster may throw in a feel-good about a found dog, but only to get the viewers to hang on for the coming commercials. Why does the media do that? Because we want that.

We have become a mass of humanity sitting on the couch watching the flat screen and judging. Others failing makes people feel good about themselves. American Idol, Reality TV, most sporting events are more about failure than not.  NASCAR is popular at least partially because of the spectacular crashes. Oh, before you plop your butt down, don't forget the beer, wine, or pot. Failure is more fun to watch when you are high.

Risk taking....it was the way of The Valley in the 70s through the 90s. Most people were neck deep in something risky. Could have been good, getting in early at Cisco, or bad, getting in late at Lucent.  Failure didn't seem to matter in the long run. It was an experience. That way is making a comeback now. Phone apps, novel little hardware products, social networks, all driven by people who are willing to fail and move on to bigger things.

Much of the rest of the country, indeed in the rest of the world it is quite different. Failure in a business will doom your career and finances in Germany. Taxes and employment laws will kill any success in France, so why try. Raising money will be impossible in most of the world. But, in The Valley, people will hold the dice for you. All you have to do is work insane hours, think impossible thoughts, and try. The only failure is being the one on the couch, watching.

Ol' Si didn't get the house in Atherton or the NextJet shares, but did OK. Dark thoughts be gone! I am still above ground. Moving and doing - not sitting on the couch. Scotch doesn't drown life, nowadays it just brings it into focus.