Rodger Lea & Doris Ecker

Silicon Valley, USA

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From mid 1997 to the end of 2002 we lived the roller coaster life in Silicon valley. This was the .com bubble at its most manic. We watched the economy and the valley expand rapidly upto 2001 and then deflate even faster. Rodger was sent over from Sony Japan to set up a new Silicon valley lab in ’97. Doris also joined Sony in the speech lab but realized quickly that corporate live wasn’t for her. She returned to her love of books by taking a position at Stanford University’s prestigious book conservation department.

This is us with our good friends, Susie and Michael – both originally from Denmark – who had moved to the valley a few years earlier. I actually knew Mike from working together in HP labs Europe.

 

Deciding that the old motto, if you can’t beat them, join them, was apt, we set about surrounding ourselves with the trappings of Silicon valley digerarti – here’s our shiny new zippy BMW Z3. Rodger’s sister was over for a visit and took a liking to it – we didn’t see it for weeks:-)

And of course hanging out in Palo Alto diners with the VC crowd. Here our chum Bogs is about to launch into his elevator pitch …..

But we didn’t let the consumerism go to our heads and made sure we got out for plenty of outdoor adventures.

 

< Hiking in Yosemite

or on the Monterey Bay coast >

< Moonlight kayaking off Sausalito with another good friend, Bijan

or hiking in Hoover Wilderness in the eastern Sierra’s.>

Nappa valley, only a couple of hours north, was a fave spot. Here with Rodger’s parents testing the champagne. Not quite french but not bad for an upstart:-)

 

 

Since we still had some good friends up in Oregon, we tried to get up there at thanksgiving each year to ski up around crater lake.

 

 

California paled after a while, there’s only so many flash cars, power breakfasts and bright sunny days you can take. We knew the writing was on the wall when Rodger sold the BMW and bought a 27 year old TR6. His excuse, the Z3 was too boring and did the driving for you – not the case with the TR6.

Within a year we had sold up, quit the jobs and gone traveling – next stop Vancouver!

 

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