Pictured Above: Boathousing with new friends near Redding
Summer ends heading back to NL
The summer is coming to a close for me and all of us here in California’s Bay Area. The last two months have been a blur for me between some time off of work and enjoying the company of many friends from out of town. As I prepare to go again to the Netherlands next week, the management team at WUA had a big surprise for me last week: we will start a trail pre-sales program to help rev up sales opportunities on America’s West Coast. The timing is perfect as I fly back to HQ next week. When in Amsterdam, I will meet the team I’ll be partnering with for this endeavor. Of course I look forward to making it a smashing success!
The man is back in town
This week, father is in town from the Netherlands. This coincided well with UC Berkeley’s first football game of the season, which we promptly decided to attend upon his arrivar. Father and I looked on from the grand stands as the California Golden Bears beat the UNC Tarheels 24-17. Together with other alumni and family friends, we polished off the evening with some drinks and snacks at the close-by Free House. Tomorrow, with Kaj we’re off to watch the Oakland Athletics take on the New York Yankees. An A’s victory would put them another step closer to making a post-season run for the World Series! It’ll be a long run, but an electric feeling in the air would surely be created as we watch them to follow in the footsteps of the Golden State Warriors towards a championship earlier this year.
Summertime Blues
With the Mid-Term Elections for the US coming up this November, the summer has been host to a number of exciting primaries to determine our candidates this fall. Of particular fan-fare was the Democratic Primary Victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, of Andrew Gillum for Governor in Florida, and the Special Election in Ohio where the Democrat candidate Danny O’Connor barely lost in hard-Republican district. O’Connor will excitingly have another chance against his Republican opponent in the November election. I hope my friends in Ohio make sure they go out to vote for that one!
In California, the primary included a Senate race which the incumbent Senator Diane Feinstein won by a large margin over the 2nd place Democrat Kevin de Léon. This means we have two Democrats running against one another for the Senate seat in November. My vote will be for Mr. de Léon. I greatly appreciate what Senator Feinstein has done for California and the United States, but I’m ready for some new blood eminating from the progressive side of the party. In the latest polls, Ms. Feinstein leads by 11 points. The margin is good for now, but as the elections draw nearer she may have a challenger to truly worry about. In many ways, it would be a repeat of Gillum’s recent victory in Florida over the establishment candidate.
Overall, there is optimism by Democrats to take control of Congress in this upcoming election and I hope that is fulfilled. Obviously we cannot take this for granted, given that assuming our candidate would win certainly put downward pressure on voter turn out in 2016. What’s more exciting to me personally however, is a push by the progressive base of the Democratic party to pull the party to the left on some issues such as Healthcare. So far, progressive candidates haven’t won every primary and frankly they don’t have to. Their mere presence is a representation of a set of ideas whose time has come. Not only these candidates, but the Democratic party as a whole should focus on addressing divisiveness in our country while also standing up for issues that matter. The coming weeks leading up to November election will be telling on that success.
