Monday, March 12, 2001

Today I saw a young woman in line in a cafe who was sick. She arrived in sweats from what must have been around the corner. Back to me I saw her dance a ever so slightly under her sweats to the cafe music.

After work I ate a lot of cheese and drank Champaign in a giant hole in the ground in downtown San Diego.

There was almost as much, and different kinds, of money as cheese. But money was as much a prerequisite as cheese is in California. This was a time capsule event for a yet to be built 27 story condo complex two blocks from the main drag down town. If you were in the hole, you were either in the hole for a condo, building the condo, designing the condo, or from the city. Either way you’d were going to spend, make, or do both, with a lot of money. Very fitting that we were all three stories below ground and hoping to make it out alive and well.

Midway through the event and speakers a man with a hat and two models came down into the hole. The models were wearing high heals, which presented a problem walking down the dirt road, and afforded the crowd with quiet a show. “Penthouse” everybody must have thought, as did I. The high level construction workers stopped swilling Champaign and held back whistles in favor of gawking. Others gawked too, but in transparent ways.

I came on my bike and yes, I have bought one of the condos. The smallest, cheapest one bedroom possible. Interesting racket buying yet to be built condos. You put down 5% and wait a year or so for it be built while you pay nothing. I figure I’ll follow the money while San Diego explodes into a real player of a top 10 US city. Hopefully the money will follow me. Turns out you get a good deal buying while it’s a hole in the ground because you play off human’s natural desire to buy things for large sums of money that already exist and don’t depend on faith in a company to become real.

I put my personal business card into the time capsule. It’s only got my name, domain and email. Might give a sense in 200 years to those who open it what what going on in this strange time. Then I got of out dodge and wondered if I’d ever even live in the thing?

---------------------posted by Caleb John Clark on 3/12/2001 02:15:00 PM




At work I also did lunch with a biz-dev guy from a stable company that does the mass transit systems for some huge cities. We had a great meeting and talking openly about everything. Talking to the cafe guy later, during my afternoon jolt to prevent a food coma, we agreed that big business is pretty simple.

1. Be honest and open. If you can’t do that, be honest and open about it.

2. Say what you’re going to do, and do what you say.

3. Believe in your job and company.

4. Answer your email even if it’s just a “got it”, “I can’t do that”, or “I’ll get back to you in two days.”

5. Ask stupid questions vs. faking it.
---------------------posted by Caleb John Clark on 3/12/2001 02:13:00 PM



Monday, March 05, 2001

The BAT_LAB is starting up nicely and it feels great to be part of the re-development of downtown San Diego. And I love riding downhill to work. It's really as good as you would expect to live close to where you work.



I'm excited to have been chosen to be part of this upcoming book about online community by Derek Powazek titled, "Design for Community." It's out in April.
---------------------posted by Caleb John Clark on 3/05/2001 12:48:00 PM