I have an observation today that is far from my normal thoughts—it’s even geographically distant.

I was able to take a long “schetchled” trip driving the west coast from San Francisco to Portland.  I’ll write more about that next time.  Today’s thought came about before I even arrived in San Francisco.

Being a tech guy—apparently, as I just heard 2 minutes ago on a podcast: a “tech bro.”  Yes, I literally just heard that and now feel degraded for my education and skills that I developed over decades.  But never the less, I love technology (apparently it has loved me, figuratively).   Because of this lifelong passion, I’ve wanted to visit Silicon Valley.  I didn’t have any plans or know what exactly I wanted to see, but I just wanted to get the feel of the area where so many bits and bytes changed the world.

I can report that in my observations so many of the areas of Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Palo Alto are VERY nice as one would expect.  I also was happy to discover that Burlingame is a great town as well!

It is clear that the Palo Alto area is quite advanced and is surely led by Stanford University’s high standards.  I can see how this area challenges its residents and why it leads the world in technology.  There was so much activity going on, yet it was nicely laid-back and the people were friendly. 

I spent a couple of hours walking around some of these downtown shopping/eating (I’m not a “dining,” guy) districts to see what was going on, get a feel for those also milling around, and well, eat.

I was able to use some of the maps, and QR codes listed in the area (technologies) to help with my visit.  I read menus, signed up for an online  20% discount on my first lunch order, found a bakery to get some amazing whole wheat bread for my journey ahead, etc.

Here’s the capstone to this post that told me I was in the center of the technology universe, as best I could tell.

The homeless guy in Palo Alto, at the intersection of University Ave and Emerson St, had the normal container set up for currency/coin donations.  But lest we not forget this is the tech Mecca.  In this case, the homeless guy also had a cardboard sign with his VENMO ACCOUNT INFO ready for donations…! Tech Bro?

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.