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Volume 6. Issue 1 • lan/Feb/Mar
1986
DIALOG Information Services, Inc.
Food Service Comes to DIALOG DIALOG has recently contracted with Epoch Food Service, Inc. of Sunnyvale to provide a range of culinary services t o DIALOG employees. The new services will include a cafeteria and lunchroom to be located in the central kitchen and lunch areas of building 920, a new lunchroom in building 580 to be outfitted with food, candy, and beverage vending machines, and the placement of coffee machines in strategic locations throughout both buildings. A variety of fresh snack items will be available in the food vending machines. The new DIALOG cafeteria will have someone on duty to serve employees during the morning and lunch. Fresh doughnuts will be available in the morning, while lunch offerings will include a by-the-ounce salad and deli bar, daily hot entrees, hot dogs, soups, chili, desserts, fresh fruit, fresh baked rolls, and just about any non-alcoholic beverage you could ask for. Epoch, Inc. is also providing DIALOG with their "Executive Lunch Service" which will provide quality lunches for DIALOG training classes and "work-in" sessions. All items will be delivered to DIALOG each day, fresh from Epoch's Sunnyvale commissary, where it is prepared, sampled, and rated in their o w n kitchens. Competitive, subsidized pricing, redecorated lunch areas, and a new outdoor lunch area in the patio between the t w o buildings should make our new food service an attractive alternative to driving d o w n to the flatlands for a bite. At press time, preliminary construction is underway, and food service is expected t o start sometime around m i d May.
Elsewhere... The Editor's Column...page 7 Cruising the Arastradero...page Oh My Aching Back...page 9
8
DIALOG President Roger Summit appears to have been a g o o d boy this year, and for Christmas Santa gave him his o w n company. This and other candid photos have been enlarged t o poster-sized prints which n o w d e corate the halls of Building 9Z0. Will DIALOG Photographer Susan Prather continue adding photos until, theoretically, everyone in the company has their picture o n the wall? W h o knows. Just keep an eye o n those walls, because your picture could be next.
Bob Feldman: DIALOGS a Marathon Man
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To most people, running is synonymous with sideaches, shin splints, wheezing, gasping, and a pounding heartbeat manifesting itself in the temples of one's forehead, but to Bob Feldman, DIALOG'S Vice-President of Systems and Operations, running is his way of laying back and relaxing. Occasionally you may see him zipping in and out of the hills around DIALOG during lunch on a workday, and he has even been sighted on weekends tooling around the South Bay on his feet. Bob began his running career after coming out to the West Coast where he saw the 1974 San Francisco Bay to Breakers race, and he thought to himself, "Hey, I can do that." Bob says that in his younger days he didn't resemble anything even remotely close to a jock, and so he began running without any real expectations for himself. He started out easy and found that he actually enjoyed it. For (continued nexl page.)
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Marathon Man' t w o years Bob continued to run, slowly building up his stamina and strength to the point where he could finish a 20-mile race. At that point he decided to set a goal: running a marathon. His first marathon was the '78 Paul Masson Saratoga Marathon where he finished with a time of 3 hours and 31 minutes, and without experiencing what marathon runners refer to as "hitting the wall," a point in the grueling 26-mile run where, for some reason, their bodies simply cannot g o on any longer. In 1979, Bob qualified for and ran in the Boston Marathon, an experience he calls "noteworthy." He was amazed at the number of rooters along the race route, and the general festivity surrounding the entire event. As Bob aptly puts it, "it was a happening." Bob currently has 26 marathons under his belt, including all nine of the San Francisco Marathons, the Avenue of the Giants Marathon, and the Napa Marathon, and has a personal best time of 3:12:20. Normally, Bob runs only for personal achievement and fun runs. In 1985 he had his first taste of competition
when he was invited to run on Lockheed's President's Relay team in the United States Corporate Track Association National Invitation Championships in Los Angeles. The team, consisting of Bob, Clay Chisum of CORLAC, and Larry Becker of LAS, reached the Division I finals, where they ran a relay consisting of three legs, a 1 mile, 1/4 mile, and 1/2 mile, respectively, in 9 minutes and 25 seconds. Bob runs about six or seven miles a day, and has come up with a rough calculation of his total mileage running in practice: 24,000 miles, or once around the world. He goes through a pair of running shoes every t w o years, and uses a glue-gun to keep the heels built up. He doesn't recommend running for everyone, since he feels a person's comparability with running is dependent on their make-up, and it seems that Bob's make-up is perfect for running. Occasionally, he even works himself into a "runner's high," a state reached by endurance runners when their bodies start to produce endorphins, natural opiates, which cause a pleasant, relaxed sense of well-being. Bob's tips for beginning runners include wearing the right shoes and learning to pace themselves. Too often bad shoes can cause runners to hurt themselves, and running at too fast a pace forces one to work too hard and deters stamina. Meanwhile, Bob continues to chug along with the intention of running as long as his body will let him.
Human Resources DIALOG Summer Youth Program Recognized by New York City
"A Passion for Excellence" to be Screened Again
DIALOG Human Resources recently received a "Summer ]obs ' 8 5 " certificate of appreciation from the City of New York. Our Summer Youth Program was extended in 1985 to New York and Washington, D.C. David Pinkins was a summer-hire in DIALOG'S New York Office this year, and he has since been approved for a temporary DIALOG New York part-time intern position while he attends college in the fall. DIALOG has been able to fill five summer positions in both 1984 and 1985, and Human Resources hopes to expand the number of positions available in 1986.
Employees w h o were unable to view the video cassette film "A Passion for Excellence" on January 10 will get a second chance. DIALOG Human Resources is borrowing the film again and will post the next showing in advance. The film is of a talk given by Tom Peters in which he recounts his observations, experiences, and conclusions while visiting hundreds of companies in his search for the essential underlying characteristics of an outstanding organization.
Private Medical-Care, Inc. Requires Proof-of-Marriage For Spouse Coverage Private Medical Care, Inc. (PMI Dental) has announced that they are now requiring a letter from DIALOG Human Resources and a copy of a marriage certificate for any employee desiring to add their spouse to their dental coverage. Spouses must be added within 31 days of their marriage date, or wait until the next open enrollment period, which will be the month of April, during which changes made will become effective on May 1 st. PMI has instituted this requirement because of past problems with employees adding their boy or girlfriends.
Human Resources Investigates Child Care Sources Human Resources has completed an exhaustive search for child care referral sources. DIALOG does not endorse any care centers or sources. An IDC listing potential sources and United Way child care listings brochure have been distributed to all employees. M o s t industry-sponsored referral sources are quite expensive, charging a $ 6 0 0 - $ 2 , 0 0 0 per child sign-up fee plus monthly child care charges. However, individual centers such as Heads Up offer extended hours and care on a regular or "as needed" basis. Lists of new sources will be routed to employees and posted on DIALOG bulletin boards.
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It's Your Business Professional Software Package Beta-Test Complete DIALOG'S Business Information Division completed a successful beta test of the first of DIALOG'S Professional Software Packages (PSPs) during November of 1985. The package, known internally as The Business Analyst, is a menu-driven system providing access to 25 of our key business databases, and requires no training or background in information retrieval. Forty-four endusers, including financial analysts, product managers, marketing executives, and corporate planners, as well as twelve database producers participated in the two-week test. Their response was very enthusiastic, with 89% participation and over 4 0 0 online sessions during the test period. The product is expected to become available by March.
Charlie Bourne Visits Middle East Charlie Bourne, Director of DIALOG'S General Information Division, was recently invited to lecture to a specialworkshop on training managers of online search centers, held in Rabat, Morocco, in early December. The workshop was co-sponsored by UNESCO and the Arab League. Attendees were invited representatives from ten Arab League countries. The workshop provided an excellent o p p o r t u nity to reach decision-makers for online services in the Arab world, and to familiarize these people with DIALOG services.
Terminal Theft Employees handling DIALOG-owned equipment out of the office are reminded to keep an eye out for thieves. A recent incident involving a DIALOG trainer resulted in the theft of t w o terminals. The trainer was having difficulty finding a parking space near rhe university building where she was to give a training session. She dropped off the terminals and left them by the door while she dashed to find a parking space. After finding a space, she returned to find the t w o terminals gone. It doesn't take long to make off with a computer terminal, and employees handling such equipment should exercise caution when leaving it unattended, even if just for a moment.
The MONOLOG intervals.
is published by and for DIALOG employees at irregular
Editor Associate Editor Staff Designer Staff Cartoonist Staff Photographer Editorial Assistants
Gil Morales Alice Lewis Mimi Nguyen Gil Morales
Alice Lewis Maynurd, Wicked Willy Weebie, Susan Prather, Cogswell the Cokeâ&#x201E;˘ Machine, and Miss Piggy. Contributions to the MONOLOG are welcome and should be forwarded to the editor via VM mail (USERJD: MORALES) or call 4 1 5/858-3766,
Customer Services' Virginia Tucker gives a few pointers to a pair of "Information Online ' 8 6 " attendees. The conference was held in conjunction w i t h the first-ever D I A L O G - D o w n - U n d e r UPDATE conference held in Sydney, Australia during January.
First Australian UPDATE Held DIALOG recently held its first Australian UPDATE conference in conjunction with the first conference for users of online services in Australia, "Information Online 86," in Sydney, January 19-21. "Information Online 8 6 " was organized by the Overseas Telecommunications Agency, which cosponsored with DIALOG a reception for attendees. DIALOG exhibited at the conference, and presentations were given by Roger Summit and Virginia Tucker. The first-ever "Down Under UPDATE" was also held in Sydney on January 18. Some 1 20 DIALOG customers and 8 database producers attended UPDATE.
DataPlan to use DIALNET An agreement was signed in January by Lockheed DataPlan and DIALOG to give DataPlan customers access to DataPlan via DIALOG'S DIALNET telecommunications network.
DIALOG Classmate Debuts The first formal DIALOG instructional materials specifically addressed to high school students were successfully tried out in a test at the Kinkaid School, a prestigious private high school in Houston, January 13-24. Seventeen students participated in the ten-hour unit over the two-week period. The response from the students and the teachers was very enthusiastic. Students who normally left school at 2:30 stayed until five. The teacher asked if DIALOG could repeat the program. While an increasing number of high schools have been teaching DIALOG through our Classroom Instruction Program, this is the first time that a workbook exclusively oriented to their needs has been available. The DIALOG CLASSMATE Workbook includes an instructor's manual, student workbook, tests, and overhead transparencies. Four additional test locations will be tried within the near future.
Anne Caputo Recounts Her DIALOG "Ten"ure Anne Caputo of DIALOG'S Arlington, Virginia office recently celebrated her official 5-year anniversary and her unofficial ten-year anniversary with DIALOG. She provided the MONOLOG with this entertaining recount of those years: "As it happens, this is not actually my 5-year anniversary with DIALOG, it's really my 10th! Yes, on January 16, 1976... 10 short years ago, 1 started my first relationship with DIALOG. Of course, things were a little different back then, in fact DIALOG had only 1 5 direct employees...! was the 16th! Roger Summit was the manager of the DIALOG project with trusy Bea Cosgrove at his side. Tom Crawford was the supervisor of Customer Services with Linda Erickson as his sidekick. I was hired to answer the 800 number, a brand new idea in the business. 1 had just graduated from library school at San Jose State and had neversearched DIALOG (oranything else) before. Interestingly, the first spate of calls on the toll-free number were wrong numbers... we had just been given a number that was formerly used by Smith-Kline Labs...some sort of validation of test results number. Later the same number got confused with the validation number for Bank Americards (now known as VISA cards). What a chance to give some lucky person unlimited credit. To complete the original crew of 1 5, of course we had Ken Lew as chief DIALOG guru, Kim Graham ran the computer room with the able help of Bob Mitchell. Mark Radwin was responsible for telecommunications, Geoff Sharp for the business files, Pete Rusch for chemistry, and Gordon Schick for everything else. Don Schaaf was the chief facilitator. Rudy Hunzicker was on loan from LMSC to deal with contracts, and Bob Donati was on loan from LMSC for marketing. Rick Caputo was the entire field staff and responsible for training everyone east of the Rocky Mountains, including Canada! Shelly Giles and Fred Zappert had already left their first tour of duty with DIALOG only to appear much later in other roles. Speaking of Rick Caputo, some of my earliest memories of answering the 800 number involve Rick and his various accents which could represent anything from jose Gomez, the only surviving admiral in the Mexican Navy, to Left Tennent Linoleum Bamulli, retired from the British Air Force. Of course Henry VonSpitzle was his German character and there were many others as well. One early morning call involved a person with a distinct British accent who continued to ask innane questions while the other lines rang off the hook. Finally in desperation, sure that this was Rick in one of his many disguises, I said, "I'm busy Caputo, you turkey, leave me alone!" Only after the phone slammed down did I realize that it was Oliver Ball, then the major representative of a brand new database called INSPEC. When he finally called back he said, "Wait, before you hang up, what is a turkey?" How embarrasing. Roger Summit finally made Rick swear on a stack of Bluesheets that he would play it straight from then on.
Rick eventually became part of my destiny however, when we met at a DIALOG Update in Chicago in July 1976. One year later, to the day, we were married and I left my Palo Alto career to do consulting for a number of information agencies, including DIALOG, and to be appointed Assistant Professor of Information Science at Catholic University in Washington, DC. I rejoined DIALOG as a parttime employee in 1980 and in May 1985 came back full-time. Rick and 1 were the first DIALOG couple and were nearly the first DIALOG parents, Christopher Spencer Caputo was born July 24, 1985, just over 8 years after we were married. Only the quick arrival of Ryan Schick made Christopher the second DIALOG offspring. The years with DIALOG have provided many memories and interesting experiences, most of them having to do with the wonderful missions we conduct to teach the great unwashed about the wonders of DIALOG. Probably my most memorable was a trip from Sarasota Florida across the state to Ft. Lauderdale. The route across the state is the monopoly of one famous (or infamous) airline called State Airlines. It possesses only one plane which hops back and forth between the two cities. My favorite pilot for State Airlines is Aldo, the 4 ft., 10-inch Puerto Rican who wears elevator shoes, opens his uniform shirt down to his navel and wears roughly 10 pounds of gold chains. He navigates between the two cities using a discarded AAA road map and sometimes swoops down to read the road signs to determine if we are on course! Aldo let me ride in the co-pilot's seat once, but warned me not to touch any of the controls. Never fear! Aldo made turn signals on the runway by rolling down the window of the Piper Cherokee and extending his arm. My favorite training session was the onsite for a group of bioscientists who brought their secretary to d o the typing while they dictated the search strategy to her. They did not want to perform clerical tasks in front of their colleagues, so even though they could type, they would use a secretary to type the strategy during the session. The award for the most grueling trip goes to another onsite in Atlanta. While I was away, the Washington area was hit by a sudden and devastating snowstorm. The trip back involved driving a rental car to Greenville, North Carolina, flying to Washington, taking a taxi to the end of the plowed roads and walking the last mile in my high heel pumps while carrying a terminal, suitcase, briefcase, and three sets of vu-foils! In all seriousness however, my best memories of DIALOG are the marvelous, talented, and dedicated people who work for the company. The online world holds our company in high regard and I take pride in playing a small part in making that happen."
Smiling New Faces, All in Their Places... Steve Addleman is the new Chemical Information Specialist in our Customer Service department. Steve comes to us directly from Riley Laboratories in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was an Analytical Chemist in their quality control lab. He was referred to DIALOG by an old professor at Indiana University, where he earned his B.A. in Chemistry, and now finds himself back in his hometown, having grown up in Los Altos. Steve enjoys hiking, sailing (he considers himself an expert), and being a student pilot. He's pleased to be here and is looking forward to making the transition from the laboratory to the office. Karen Bishop is a new Operations Assistant in Systems and Operations. She arrives at DIALOG after working as a temporary clerical assistant for Kelly Services, and has also worked at Le Boulangerie Bakery as a senior night crew member and the Cheese and Bottle Shop where she was a senior night crew member, weekend cook, and assistant caterer. She has taken general education classes at Foothill College for three years, and enjoys cooking, music, old movies, and writing. She says she spends most of her free time at the beach, weather permitting of course, and presently lives with her parents. Karen also comments that of all the places she's worked at she finds DIALOG the most enjoyable. She finds everyone here to be friendly and helpful and the atmosphere "businesslike but also very relaxed." She is quite happy to be a permanent entity here at DIALOG. Liz Burkhouse has returned to DIALOG as an Instructional Media Specialist in Customer Services after initially leaving her graphic artist position at DIALOG to join Inpsyche, Inc. She has an A.A. in art from West Valley Community College, a B.A. in behavioral science from San jose State, and is presently half-way through an M.A. in instructional technology from San )ose State. Liz has also had experience as an Instructional Aide for Atari's Mobile Computer Van, a Training Specialist for the San Jose Parks and Recreation Department, and as a Graphic Artist for Kelly Services. Liz is into frogs, volleyball, Softball, and has recently taken up sculpture.
Lyn Christy is a new Senior Tape Librarian in Systems and Operations. She brings a variety of experiences with her, including positions as a Senior Tape Librarian at National Semiconductor, Ampex, and Ford Aerospace, a Senior Technical Librarian at Itel, and a Tape Librarian at United States Steel. She has taken computer courses at San Mateo and Foothill Colleges, and in her spare time enjoys going to the Theater in San Francisco, cooking, and gardening. She has a son Rob, who is 28 and works as a machinist. Her impressions of DIALOG are that it is a fast-growing company {ok, for those of you who were unaware of this fact, this is your last chance to find out - ed.) and she looks forward to updating the DIALOG tape library. Art Maxwell is a new Associate Programmer in Financial Systems. He arrives at DIALOG after stints with Diversified Software Systems, Inc., and Control Data Corporation. He possesses a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and an M.B.A. from the University of Santa I Clara. Art got into programming when, as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, he helped design a computer simulated statistical model of the United States economy which later became the basis for the Wharton Econometric Model. In his spare time he enjoys flying, model railroading, and spending time with his wife and two sons, ages 24 and 1 7. Of DIALOG, he says it is ripe with "lots of opportunities and challenges." Fannie Metters is a new Senior Data Processor in Systems and Operations. Prior to arriving at DIALOG, she held positions as a Computer Operator at GTE Sprint for five months, a Senior Computer/Applications COBOL Programmer at LMSC for six months, and an Order Processor at Digital Equipment Corporation for eight months. Fannie says that education has always been a part of her lifestyle, and she has received an A.A. in Computer Science from Merritt College, and has attended San Jose State and Cal State Hayward. She plans to g o back and finish her degree at Cal State since she left during her junior year. She is married and has two children, fifteen-year-old Seaton Msemaji and eleven-year-old Marlin Adili. In her off time, Fannie enjoys . baseball, basketball, and volleyball, but most of all she likes to get into the kitchen and cook something she's never tried before to surprise her family "when they least expect it." She enjoys working with the DIALOG database files job control language and updating, and the various utility jobs she runs every night. She is also presently attending a file loading class to upgrade her skills here at DIALOG.
New Employees (cont'd) Rick Meyer has joined the Advanced - â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Technology Development Group and is responsible for advanced product planning, including applications of CD/ROM ~# to DIALOG searching. Rick has a B.A. in 1* Sociology from UC Berkeley, and has studied a variety of other subjects inI cluding law at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall I â&#x20AC;˘ . A Law School. Previously he was a Senior Product Manager for Micro Pro International in San Rafael. When Rick hired on at DIALOG, he attempted to sell his house in Berkeley without the aid of a real estate agent. His first open house garnered him a written offer by 2 a.m. the next morning, and another such offer from another interested buyer by around midnight the next day. He took the offers to an attorney recommended by Fred Zappert, made a counteroffer and sold the house. Therefore, it is obvious that Rick has "burned his bridges and cut his roots" to commit himself to DIALOG: he hopes to buy another house somewhere in this area. Rick also had a scare when he came to work on his first day looking for Human Resources in the old Deer Creek Building. It seems that when Rick first interviewed at DIALOG, he went to the Deer Creek building, and naturally assumed that he was to report there on his first day of work. But between his interview date and his starting date, Human Resources moved to the new Building 920 in "DIALOG Park." So Rick showed up at an empty Deer Creek building wondering how DIALOG could have gone under so fast, and in his wonderment almost ran into Steve jobs, who was coming into his new firm's new office. Rick is an avid windsurfer and an accomplished' winemaker. He presently has a great '83 Cabernet Sauvignon bottled and 60 gallons of '85 Chardonnay which will soon be ready for bottling. Rick also has a "significant other named Sue." Of DIALOG he says, "It's what I'd hoped...a lot of dedication and openness to cooperation." Daniel Pixa is a new Customer Representative in Customer Services. He will be answering phones on the midnight to eight graveyard shift, as well as performing other Customer Services duties. Daniel has had a long and colorful career thus far. He received his B.S. in Biology and Library Science from Case Western University and went off to work as a Merchant Seaman on a ship "to see the world" for six and one-half years during the Korean War. When he returned he became an assistant librarian for a community college in Yuba City, and then left to live in Barcelona, Spain for one year. Upon his return he became a librarian at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, and then, once again left to live in Spain for a year. When he returned he became librarian at the newly opened Crestmoore High School in San Bruno. As the first librarian, his first task was to get the library functioning, and he says he "felt like God putting up all those books." He stayed there for 18 years and watched attendance dwindle as the Baby Boom generation came and went. The school closed and Daniel went to work for Information Access Company as an indexer and abstracter. At IAC he became familiar with DIALOG
and decided to get a job here, which he did. Daniel lives in Half Moon Bay with his wife of 16 years, a French woman whom he met while touring in Europe, and their two children, a 15-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter. When he isn't working, Daniel raises bees for honey. He says that his bees use sap from the Eucalyptus trees in Half Moon Bay and that it imparts a mentholated flavor to the honey. Normally, he gets about 70 12-ounce jars of honey from one hive, or about 80 pounds. Karen Sauln is a new computer analyst in the Advanced Technology Development Group. She has a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Illinois and comes to us from Tandem Computers in Santa Clara where she labored in their Programming Department for four years. Prior to that she was a Program Manager at Mellonics in Sunnyvale. Karen is an avid boater and owns a power boat which she moors on Bethel Island in the Sacramento Delta. She is also dabbling in art and is presently in her "figure studies in pencil, pen, watercolor" phase. So far she enjoys DIALOG and questioningly observes, "Do I have to buy a Porsche?" Beverly Sassier has joined the Customer Administration group. She previously worked at VanGuard Security Systems and is a veteran college attendee, having spent time at Pleasant Hill College, San Francisco State College, Berkeley College, San Jose State, West Valley College, Long Beach City College, and the University of Southern California, to name a few. She has also attended the California College of Culinary Arts where she received her chef's certificate, and has owned four restaurants during a 35-year tenure in the restaurant business. Her last restaurant, Beverly's Restaurant in Martinez, California, closed in 1977. Beverlys' main hobby is needlework, which she taught at one time, and her interest in painting causes her to consider becoming a free-lance artist. She has one sixteen-year-old daughter.
Debbie Wong is a new employee in DIALOG'S General Information Division.
(continued next page...)
New Employees (cont'd) Jerry Yu is a new Systems Programmer in Systems and Operations backing up Steve Wilson. According to Jerry, he is "functionally equal to Steve's pinky finger.'' Before arriving at DIALOG, he ~\ was also a Systems Programmer at I Ocean Routes, Inc. of San Francisco for t w o years. Jerry has t w o master's degrees, one in Meteorology from the Chinese Cultural University in Taiwan and one in Computer Sciences Engineering from San Jose State. While not working, he enjoys bridge, classical music (he used to play the French horn and the trumpet), basketball, volleyball, soccer, and tabletennis. Jerry has only been in the U.S. for four years and so is quite new to the area and its customs. Because of this he has a lot of questions and hopes that we can all help him get properly adjusted to life in the States. Jerry is Christian and likes to help people out as much as he can. He describes his neighborhood as "friendly," his boss as "wonderful," and his supervisor as "very helpful," and says, "What else can I ask for?"
Five-Year Anniversaries
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The following employees recently celebrated five-years at DIALOG. / 986 is the five-year anniversary of DIALOG's spin-off from Lockheed Missiles &. Space, and the great numbers of employees which DIALOG began hiring at that time are beginning to celebrate their five-year anniversaries. The MONOLOG regrets that logistics no longer make it practical to include personal interviews with anniversary celebrants. Bob Lunrly Mike Barbarino Tine Brouwer Barbara Cersh
Dona Holloway Clenna Silva Fred Zappert Cathy Weeks
The Editor's Column
Some people just can't seem t o g e t g o i n g w i t h o u t their m o r n i n g coffee. This hapless e m p l o y e e seems unable t o g e t a handle o n her daily caffeine fix, consequently she may never be able to sit u p in her chair.
UUL!
O n Friday mornings at DIALOG timecards are ro be turned in for processing. Traditionally, this has meant that w e must all guess how many hours we're g o i n g t o devote to which task on Fridays before w e actually k n o w what it is we're d o i n g that day and for h o w long. Personally. I have enough trouble figuring out h o w many hours I've d e v o t e d to which task even when I know what I've done on any particular day. Instead of wasting time agonizing over my labor time guesstimates for any given task, I simply pick a charge number and roll the dice, making sure everything adds u p t o 8. This m e t h o d is equally accurate and has been proven to increase my Friday morning productivity. N o w . w e don't r e c o m m e n d that the folks at home try this on their o w n -
Don CDD IDE GDD
"He says he was born with a photographic memory...too bad they only supplied him w i t h a I 2-exposure roll of film."
The Arastradero Paves a Historical Road to DIALOG Arastradero Road, the humble stretch of pavement wending its way past the south end of DIALOG'S main offices in Palo Alto, is well-known to DIALOG employees as the quickest route to El Camino Real or Highway 280. What is probably less well-known among DIALOGers is that this road is one of the oldest roads on the peninsula, and was first used by Spanish timber haulers in the early 1 700's. When the Spaniards first settled the Santa Clara Valley and began construction of a mission in Santa Clara, they needed to log a few trees for lumber. At the time, dense, mammoth, first-growth redwoods shaded the western slopes of the Santa Cruz mountains and grew in the moist valleys at the foot of the mountains. They traveled into Portola Valley, then known as the Pulgas Forest, to log redwoods. Later, consumption-minded Europeans would further raze Portola Valley, reducing the forest to a great clearing which eventually was supplanted by fruit and wine orchards. The first Spaniards, however, took only a few of the "Palos Colorados" (redwoods) and used teams of oxen to drag the huge logs back to the Mission site. The logs, dragged by the oxen, carved out a distinct path which later became part of the earliest trail across the peninsula to the coast, and the trail was named Arrastradero (the correct Spanish spelling uses two "r"s). The term signifies a place where something is dragged along. The geography of the area was quite different back then. European grasses, mostly European Oats and Italian Rye
Looking west from the same point along Arastradero. glimpses of oak trees and green hills beyond the telephone wires.
During the time of the first Spanish settlers, elk, deer, antelope, coyote, fox, bear, and mountain lion roamed the hills, waterfowl by the thousands darkened the skies, salmon and trout swam in the creeks, and thick stands of oak stood over the land. The now omnipresent Eucalyptus, or Gum Tree, was still confined to its native land of Australia. To the Spaniards, it seemed as if the Indians were living in a bountiful paradise, and of course, they had different ideas about how the Indians should live. Their vision was of Christian Indians working small farms, and so they forced them to give up their comfortable, bountiful, and naturally harmonious way of life and moved them from their villages to missions and ranches. In fifty years, the stable Indian culture which had existed in the Bay Area for thousands of years was obliterated. Demoralized Indians were forced to engage in "Christian" toil by the Europeans, and they succumbed by the thousands to imported European diseases against which they had little or no resistance. (continued next page...)
News Exclusive . . . . Looking east along Arastadeto Road towards DIALOG, the bay, and the east bay hills.
which hitchhiked to America on the hooves of livestock, have out-competed and supplanted the native "bunchgrass," a coarser and darker green perennial. Patches of bunchgrass can still be found in serpentine soil areas. Serpentine rock, the Official State Rock of California, is high in magnesium, and too toxic for European grasses to live in. Bunchgrass, on the other hand, is well-adapted to serpentine soil, as are many species of native wildflowers such as the California Poppy, goldfields, cream cups, lupines, and owl's clover.
8
Be aware that on June 28, in Vasona Park, DIALOG will hold its Annual Family Picnic! Details to come in the next issue of the Monolog.
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which once visually dominated the valley floor. Further down the road are the Jelich Orchards, where fresh fruit is available in season, and the little red Portola Valley Schoolhouse. Built in 1912, the schoolhouse is typical of mission-revival architecture popular at the turn of the century. Continuing along Portola Road, one passes underneath a large oak overhanging the road. Immediately beyond the oak is the Village Square nestled among some of the few second-growth redwoods left in the valley, where the Portola Valley Kitchen is located. Here you can lunch on various seafood entrees, sandwiches, and soups. I've lunched there several times, but during my most recent visit, a tiny cockroach appeared on the wall next to our table. Not an appetizing sight, to say the least, but the food seems to remain palatable.
Arastradero Road where it continues off of Page Mill Road. From here it winds through the hills towards the Alpine Inn. The huge eucalyptus trees planted along the road during the 1800's indicate that it is indeed an old trail.
When Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, the Mexican governors of California parceled out huge land grants to certain individuals. One of those individuals was Maximo Martinez, who was granted the Rancho Corte de Madera (Land of the Woodcutters), encompassing a good deal of what is now Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View, and Portola Valley. The house he built near Alpine Road in Portola Valley was torn down in 1940, but the roadhouse he built in 1850 on the Arrastradero still remains at what is now the intersection of Alpine and Arastradero Roads. Its strategic location on the first route to the coast made it a popular resting place for travelers, and it remains a popular roadhouse and saloon to this day. Most people know it by various names: Rossoti's, The Alpine Inn, or Zot's. For those who are interested in exploring the Arrastradero, one can drive the entire route from DIALOG and grab lunch at the same time. Heading west, Arastradero Road winds around a hill, under Highway 280, and then up and to the right towards Page Mill Road. Upon reaching Page Mill it stops, but continues again at a point one block west on Page Mill. From there it winds through the low-lying foothills until it reaches The Alpine Inn. If you're in the mood for burger fare and an outdoor beer garden, this is the place for you. If not, g o left on Alpine Road and continue up the road for about 1.2 miles where you will see a Kirkwood Realty sign. Immediately after is a small shopping center with a sign in the driveway advertising "John's Valley Foods." Turn in the driveway and you will be face to face with Melina's Delicatessen where you can find anything from liver pate to three-bean salad to turkey sandwiches to knishes. If you feel like eating in a restaurant, continue up Alpine Road about 50 yards and g o right on Portola Road. About 8/1 Oths of a mile down the road, on your left, will appear the old stone gatehouse of the former Willowbrook Farm. A large house by most standards, it was built in 191 2 of wood faced with stones from nearby Corte Madera Creek. It is the only structure left of the huge estate and mansion
Next time you're looking for someplace "different" for lunch, drag yourself west on the Arrastradero and avoid the traffic, concrete, and stop lights. If you're worried about time, keep in mind that The Alpine Inn is 3.9 miles away from DIALOG, Melina's Deli 4.1 miles, and Portola Valley Kitchen 5.8 miles.
The Alpine Inn, California's first roadhouse inn.
Wellness Program
A Primer on Back Pain Back pain afflicts 50 to 80% of the adults in the U.S., making it one of our country's most common health problems. It is a leading cause of lost time from work and drains 14 billion dollars annually in treatment and disability payments. Back pain can range from an uncomfortable ache to a severe pain, and can last for a couple of days, weeks, months, or years. (continued next page...)
Back Pain (cont'd) Understanding this ailment requires an idea of how the back is structured. The backbone, or spine, is made up of 24 bones, known as vertebrae, stacked on top of one another from the tail bone up to the base of the head. These vertebrae are separated from each other by joints that allow the back to move in many different directions. In the center of each joint are discs acting as cushions, or shock absorbers. They are constructed of cartilage, a material more elastic than bone, and thus are able to expand and contract. Synovial fluid, a lubricating fluid, fills each joint and helps them to move smoothly. The spinal cord (the body's link to the brain) passes down the back through a small, narrow, tunnel-like opening through each vertebrae. Many bundles of nerves branch out from the spinal cord and make their way out to the rest of the body. The entire backbone structure is called the vertebral column and is supported by strong muscles and flexible cords called ligaments and tendons. The vertebral column supports and allows movement of the upper body and protects the spinal cord. Anything that creates pressure or tension on the back's nerves and surrounding muscles can cause pain. For example, being overweight adds to the load the back already carries and strains the muscles that hold it up. Poor posture creates extra stress on the back muscles and joints by forcing just a few of them to support the body. Also, people who don't get enough exercise get sore backs because their muscles simply aren't strong enough. Injuries are a well-known cause of back pain. Along with accidents and sports injuries, back problems can result from improperly performing routine activities such as lifting, turning, or bending. Performed incorrectly, these activities strain muscles and ligaments in the back and damage the discs. Back pain is also a symptom of some kinds of arthritis. Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of arthritis chracterized by a chronic inflammation and stiffness in the intervertebral joints. Back pain may occur in people with rheumatoid arthritis (another inflammatory joint disease), polymyalgia rheumatica (muscle pain and stiffness often in the shoulders and hips) and fibrositis (chronic pain of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons). People with osteoarthritis can have back pain, too, osteoarthritis results in a breakdown of the joint-cushioning cartilage. Major causes of back pain are tension and emotional upsets. Mental stress and fatigue can cause the back muscles to tighten and go into spasm. Tension can make an existing condition worsen. Treatment - Once the cause of back pain has been identified as closely as possible by a physician, a treatment program can be tailored to help the specific problem. The program may include a combination of rest, hot and cold treatments, posture training, special exercises, and medication.
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Rest - Often the first treatment the doctor prescribes is rest. The amount of rest needed will differ for each person. Bed rest at home with a board between the mattress and box spring may be adequate. Even if bed rest is not needed, a temporary back support can help take the stress off the painful area. Hot and Cold - Hot and cold treatments often help relieve pain. Heat relaxes muscles and can be especially helpful just before exercizing. It can be applied in a variety of ways - hot showers or baths, heat lamps, heating pads, and warm compresses. Cold treatments may be applied in the form of compresses or an icebag. The numbing effect of the cold helps relieve pain. Posture and Shoes - For some people, posture training and exercises help relieve back pain. It's best to lift things, or carry objects by keeping your back straight and using your legs as much as possible. You should also distribute the weight of any load you lift, or carry, across as many muscles and joints as you can. Footwear affects posture. High heels put more stress on the lower back than low or flat heels do. Medication - Most people with back pain do not need any medication. Some, however, are helped by medication that relieves pain, relaxes tight muscles, or reduces inflammation. Which medication is needed depends on the kind of back pain present. Medication should only be taken as prescribed by a physician. Physical Treatments - For many people, the key to a healthy back is a regular exercise program. Some exercises improve posture; others strengthen the muscles that support the back. The right exercise can keep a back problem under control and allow the person to carry on regular activities. An exercise that will help improve posture and often relieves low back pain is called the "pelvic tilt." Lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat. With your hands resting on your stomach, press your lower back against the floor by pulling in your stomach and tightening your buttocks. With practice, you will be able to hold this position when you walk or stand. Surgery - Very few people with back pain are helped by surgery; most are treated effectively in other ways. Some disc problems are improved by surgery, but many are treated successfully with exercises, rest, and medication. For most people, back pain eventually goes away. By following treatment programs closely, people shorten their periods of discomfort. They continue to lead norma! lives, making only minor adjustments in activities and work places, and learning better ways to use their backs. (This article was paraphrased from the Arthritis Foundation News, Winter 1986. As a final note, DIALOG Human Resources will be presenting a seminar on "Lifting" sometime in the near future. Stay tuned for further announcements.)