Diving & My Youngest Fan

Yesterday I made some new fans. I as you know love diving, Monterrey,(Iceland should be on this list), Florida and Denmark so I was really pleased that yesterday I got to go with my friends to the Diving with Sharks at Denver Aquarium.

I don't actually dive all the time, you see with no face I have issues with the breathing equipment, I have buddy dived with Mogens in the past but I am quite content just to watch most of the time.

So yesterday was even more exciting than usual because for the first time in ages, Dan, Mogens, Debra and I were to be together nothing could get in our way, but the life of an ACE vest is not meant to be easy and Mogens was poisoned by James Morle who wanted Mogens dive spot. I was gutted but perhaps that isn't the right word to use as I kept away from the Dane's guts that were working overtime.

At the aquarium whilst everyone went off to get ready Debra and I went to see the fish, and I made some more friends.

I also met a lovely little girl Zariah who was celebrating her 1st birthday. I hope she sees this posting but when I last saw her she was eating my business card! Zariah can almost walk and her mom and dad were enticing her into walking by using my card as a bribe. so those of you who think I am just a useless rag, I am not!

There are lots of photos and I will post more on my Facebook Fan Page later. The people diving are James Morle & Margherita, Graham Wood, Alex Gorbachev and of course Dan Norris.

Valentine's Day is For Lovers

I said I had a date yesterday for Valentine's Day and it was more than I could have hoped for.

I started the day by sending a message to all my fans on Facebook, if you want to talk to me or see what I am up to between postings then you need to join. What was lovely was the number of people who then said for the world to see that they love me.

Then I went shopping with Debra, her daughter Brooke and Peggy King. We were in a shoe shop (how many pairs of shoes can a 21 year old girl need?), when Brooke spotted the perfect women for me. Now you will remember Brooke does not love me (or that is what she says), but she said 'quick mum get the camera for Stanley'. You cannot simply take photos of random people in public but a few weeks back Mogens had taught Debra the trick was to take a photo of a friend and ensure the subject was in the background, so that is exactly what Debra did. So not only can you see the lady with a knitted ACE jumper, oh how georgeous she was, and so soft, made of wool, I wonder if it is the lady who thought I was made of wool in my last posting? but we also now have a photo of Brooke. I am aiming for one of us both by the end of the week.

Then I had my date........you know I am from Vietnam, well I had a date with a Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig called Aggie. Oh she is adorable and owned by Dan Fink.

Valentine's Day is for Lovers and I loved it.

Oops How Could I forget?

The problem with relying on humans to type your blog is that they are human. There is a very funny story from my recent trip to Redwood Shores I wanted to share with you but Debra my handler at the time drank too much red wine and was simply unable to help me. Apologies that these postings are out of sequence.

Anyway we were in the bar of my favourite hotel and all my friends were fighting over the last remaining I love Stanley stickers. One of them went up to another group of people who we do not know and slapped a guy on the back saying 'Oops Sorry', the guy was OK, wrote us off as having had a few too many and carried on talking to his friends. Then one of them realised that one of my stickers had been stuck on his back during the incident. He was not too impressed but one of his party came over and asked who Stanley was, they were introduced and I know she liked me, because she said 'Is he made of wool?' and then started to stroke the badge. Many of my friends are thought mad, but nothing compares to this lady!

Then the next day when a friend checked out, he saw an 'I love Stanley' sticker in the elevator and smiled to himself. Everyone loves Stanley.

My Annual Skiing Holiday

I wrote this on Saturday but didn't have a chance to post it till today.

Last year I had the best time in Denver for RMOUG and then the trip up to the mountains. Today I am on board the last leg of my journey back to Denver I am so excited for so many reasons:

Debra’s daughter is coming, she is so embarrassed by me that she flew via Toronto and we flew via Chicago, she won't admit it is the reason but she didn’t want to be on the same flight, but I promise by the end of the vacation she will love me.

We are staying two nights at Miss Molly’s house but she is away, that is sad I love Miss Molly.

Tomorrow is Debra’s birthday and also Valentines Day, which is a big co-incidence as it was last year too. I am hoping for a bit of romance, I am going to me a lady from my own country, Aggie is a Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig and I have been dreaming of her for sometime now. Last year she was away on her own holiday at the local pig ranch.

Then we are off to dinner with one of those wonderful Oracle Executives in my Gallery. He is so proud of being photographed with me, he has invited lots of friends around to meet me.

Monday we move downtown to the conference hotel, and my other friends start to arrive. As well as Mogens, James Morle is coming, he is the man who christened me, I have only seen him once since then so I am excited. Dan Morgan will be there, as will Cary Millsap and on Tuesday Dan Norris arrives.

Tuesday night Dan Norris has arranged a shark dive, apparently I am not clean enough to do in but at least I get to watch the others. Wednesday there is an ACE breakfast and panel session hosted by my good friend Duncan Mills and then Vikki is taking us to dinner that evening.

Thursday the conference comes to an end and we will go off to the Mountains but not before more friends arrive, the ODTUG board are coming into town and I will catch up with Mike Riley and his group.

What have they in store for me in the mountains, as well as those who did such awful things to me last year, there will be others like Alex Gorbahov who is about to become one of my handlers for the Miracle Open World in May.

So lots of anticipation, I hope it lives up to it I am so excited. Wish you were here with me.

My week at Redwood.

I had a great week and as I said previously I was very excited about the Sun event although it was not what I expected, it was all about IT, can’t Oracle ever talk about something else?

Despite the promise of end to end sunshine being false, and yes it did rain, I was with friends. I came out a few times and had my photo taken with people. Debra has to learn that a small box of my business cards and the coveted I love Stanley stickers is not enough, she ran out and a lot of people were disappointed.

I made a lot of new friends and one Jean-Denis who leads the Siebel User Group in France became very special when he pointed out that I had been left on my own one day, and even considered bringing social services in. Dan Morgan was to blame, he had taken me off to met important people and then just left me on Debra’s chair, she was mortified.

I was a bit nervous of Dan introducing me to executives, if they don’t know who I am they may think my friends are mad but then it was suggested that perhaps we should turn it around and have an Oracle Executives' Gallery for those brave and lucky enough to have the opportunity. So added to my previous important photo shoots I have added a few more including the Laurel & Hardy of JDE. If you are an Oracle Executive reading this and you want to be part of it, let me know, either via my page on face book or via my agents.

One of my favourite outings was with all my new friends in the User Experience Labs and they confirmed it, there is no better experience than meeting I, Stanley, The Original ACE Director.