Phewee! Another non-stop week. This was the week where a month of preparation came to a head. I'm the "tech lead" on a new project my company is doing for a catastrophic health-care company.

We're aiming to build what's called a "data warehouse" for them. And this week we finally got started by going to their headquarters, and spending two full days in a conference room with most of their senior management, gathering all the information we'll need in order to assemble a detailed proposal (to be delivered at the end of the month).

This is tough work. It's the first time I've been tech lead on a large project like this, and I was admittedly a little nervous at having to lead these discussions for two days, particularly in light of how serious a committment it was for the assembled top brass of our customer. This kind of project will either be a spectacular success, making the working life of many of their staff dramatically easier. Or, it could easily get derailed, often because of internal strife between departments.

What makes it particularly difficult is that we have to come in and somehow understand the technical and business innards of a well-established company - and we have just two days to ask the right questions! Boy, is it difficult! For a start, every company is awash in a sea of acronyms; acronyms that trip easily off the tongues of the employees but which are double dutch to newcomers like ourselves. And then, most often, the internal systems of a company have developed organically over time, with bits and pieces added on here and there, until the final ensemble resembles Frankenstein's monster.

Getting this stuff right is critical for most companies: and the stakes are even higher for companies like our customer, where people's lives are at risk if they receive the wrong treatment patterns or services.

Yet that human risk, and the academic backgrounds of the senior people who work for our customer, resonated immediately with me when we started the ball rolling on Tuesday morning, because it brought back the same feelings I experienced in my first job out of grad school, where I was assisting in research of service patterns in Philadelphia's public mental-health system. The same things that appealed to me in that job - working with fiersomely bright academics to help address serious issues - were present here. It made me feel good that I was finally working on a project whose outcome I'll be able to be truly proud of - assuming this all works out. But projects like this typically last at least 12 months, so we've a long way to go! And it will be a couple of months, more than likely, before we even know if our proposal will be accepted.

In the midst of all this frantic activity, my sister Kirstie arrived with her boyfriend Paul. It was definitely the worst possible timing. Lord knows, I wish she'd come a few weeks ago when I had nothing to do at work! But it was good to see her. I've given her my apartment for the four days she's here, and I'm staying in the San Francisco Marriott. It's actually kind of nice to be staying in a hotel in San Francisco - like having a holiday in my own city. Tonight, I'm going to dinner to my favorite restaurant with Kirstie, Paul, Jed and my best friend Brett. It'll be my three favorite people (Kirstie, Jed and Brett) all at the same table - lucky me :)

Kirstie and Paul the afternoon they arrived

Early morning view from my hotel the next day. Looking west.

They've been so unlucky with the weather. This view looks south, where you can see I280 snaking into the city from the Peninsula.

Both today and yesterday, a day of impenetrable murk.