Thomas: The reason the Republicans in the California legislature have been blocking tax increases is because California already has sky-high taxes. California's inability to control its wasteful spending habits is the problem, we do not need tax increases for basic services or for this silly train. Speaking of which, why do we need an incredibly expensive train running between San Francisco and San Diego? What problem is this solving? What California needs transportation-wise is solutions to get people to work and back more efficiently, not crazy-expensive long distance trains.

(Sprinkles some sugar on Donut for remembering, I didn't think anyone did.)

Yes, that is right, I remember that conversation, I even asked for the fifth floor corner office facing the 360 Bridge as a finder's fee, which I didn't get, drat!

Anyway, even though I "left" in 1997, I feel partly responsible for what happened to Origin. I contributed to the culture change, even encouraged it, yet I did nothing to help Origin become something new and better after the old culture was gone. I guess my excuse was that Origin already had an entrenched power base with Chris at the top, and Chris had no intention of letting me through the door that Dallas had opened for me, so what could I do? By the time Chris left, it was too late, at least in my mind, to do anything. If dealt those cards again, I would play them differently, c'est la vie.

If links are allowed here, this is a shot I took very recently of the mighty Origin building. Although this shot is from the back, I was amazed to see the We Create Worlds above the entrance and the Origin name engraved in stone out front just like I remembered. (Although they never did implement the roof sign in my original suggestion.)

January 2004 Origin Building photo

--BAT