Speaker
Saratoga resident Tom Roebuck never dreamed that his love of at-home winemaking would one day take his life in a whole new direction, as he found himself unemployed and unsure of the future. With more than 30 years' experience running high-tech companies, he never expected be up against a wall trying to find a new job, after being laid off from his position as CEO of a software startup company. Yet that's exactly where he found himself 2 1/2 years ago. Today, Roebuck, 63, still hasn't found a job. Instead, he decided to create his own by taking a longtime hobby and developing it into his own successful company.
Tom lives on a one-acre piece of land in Saratoga. In the back of his house, he grows grapes for winemaking on more than 350 vines. Adjacent to one of his patches of vines is a small micro-winery house that is partially underground, keeping it between 60 and 64 degrees, This is where he houses his barrels of wine as they age. Once a year his wife, Louise, helps him harvest the grapes. More about Tom in the February newsletter.
Guests
Doc favored us with his most welcome presence again this week.
Joker - Joker
Congratulations on his $4 Joker-Joker win to Chuck.
Have You Heard The One About.......???
A police officer pulls over this guy who's been weaving in and out of the lanes. He goes up to the guy's window and says, "Sir, I need you to blow into this breathalyzer tube."
The man says, "Sorry, officer, I can't do that. I'm an asthmatic.
If I do that, I'll have a really bad asthma attack."
"Okay, fine. I need you to come down to the station to give a blood sample."
"I can't do that either. I'm a hemophiliac. If I do that, I'll bleed
to death."
"Well, then, we need a urine sample."
"I'm sorry, officer, I can't do that. I'm also a diabetic. If I do that, I'll get really low blood sugar."
"All right, then I need you to come out here and walk this white line."
"I can't do that, officer."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm drunk."
Upcoming Events
February 10 - Board Meeting
Would You Rather See A Pink Elephant or....?
January 25 - Marty Kilian
February 1 - Debbie Mann, Visiting Video
February 8 - Jeff Marks, Green Pastures
February 15 - Naomi Sied-Conkrite, KARA
February 22 - Lt. Gov. Lanie Wheeler
Happy/Sad Dollars
Fenton and Art both put in happy dollars because Steve was back.
Dave G. added a dollar because he won AT&T golf tournament tickets from Allstate.
Clark paid a sad dollar because the Viking's lost.
Brian put in a sad dollar because he had to leave before the speaker went on.
Interclub
Dale is trying to put together an interclub with Palo Alto for February 27th. See him to sign up.
Wanna Go Whale Watching?
Richard announced that we have been invited to participate in a fundraising event sponsored by Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo. We are selling tickets that are valid on March 12th and 13th for a fraction of their face value. The regular ticket price is $47.99, but for those two days only we can get them for $19.99 AND the club keeps $5 from every ticket sold. Additionally, there are prizes for those groups who sell the most.
