Top Ten 2025

Welcome to 2026!  The big news of the year is the addition of a new member of the Talati family - Ananth!  In looking back on the year, the number of days spent outside my home zipcode stands out.  From a large number of days skiing, to a trip to the Gand Canyon and the Southwest, Yale reunion,  to the big summer trip to Greece and Italy, and a couple of trips to NY I maximized the use of frequent flier miles.  Kailee started Piedmont high school where she has the social part down, and Kaiden is in his final year  (5th grade)  of Beach elementary school.  Here is some of what made the year great.

10.  Skiing

 It does seem harder to get up every year, however the blue sky days with nice soft snow makes the effort worthwhile.  Having a place at Palisades helps as is being able to ski the AM and calling it a day with the hot tub beckoning.  One notable trip was with Ed with whom I stayed at Steve's place in South Lake.  It might be a coincidence  I'm writing this in the afternoon up in Tahoe with a window full of falling snow having skied the AM.  

9.  Grand Canyon and the Southwest with Ashok

Going down the Grand Canyon was always on my bucket list, perhaps ever since watching the Brady Bunch episode.  I had been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon via helicopeter - however this was going to be by foot.  My high school friend Ashok also wanted to do this trip.  So after some planning we decided to make a week long trip starting in Vegas, and extending to Horseshoe Bend, and Antelope Canyon.  

8.  Baseball and Fantasy Sports and Ferries

Once again the year was full of baseball.  Kailee and I got to go to the Giants with amazing seats - thanks Michael A!.  Later I went to a game with Fred and Lauren.  Taking the ferry to the game is the way to go.  In fact the Ferry from Jack London to SF Ferry Building is one of the top tourist hacks in SF, almost as good as the Staten Island ferry in NYC.  We also took ferries in Greece when we went to Ithaka, Kefalonia and also in Italy went we went to Amalfi. Spent way too much time on Fantasy baseball, almost made it into the playoffs.  Came in second in the Family Football league losing to Sameer in the Final - who pulled off an upset after a .500 regular season.  

7.  Yale 35th Reunion

For some reason I didn't take many photos so I'll rely on my memory of the 35th gathering of the class of Yale '90.  As in past reunions, it was good to see old friends - Rachel especially. The campus even though larger with the addition of two colleges seemed smaller and newer!   It was good to take in the seminars given by several Profesors and classmate Eric Liu who spoke about the importance of family and life over politics.  As always the highlight was meeting classmates I had never met while at college.   As you get older you tend to get boxed in geographically, career, economically, and also your own mental blocks, so the breakfasts with people I never met was so broadening.  Special thanks to Ed for hosting me one night and setting up a breakfast with John Seaman and his wife.  Great to spend time with Brian and in back to back years see Neil Homan at his place in NYC.

6.  Business

The highlight of the year was the taking of the oldest property in our portfolio - the first one we acquired in foreclosure in 2008 - and deciding to completely renovate it, changed floor plan, added bathroom, new kitchen, new copper, new wiring, and Level 4 drywall with new paint  We finished the existing house and have gotten approval from the City to add one more bedroom.  I ended up being the GC on therenovation project andassumed  the responsibilities of making sure workers and materials arrived as needed and everyone was paid.  It ended up being a very busy summer / fall after the Summer Trip.  In addition we upgraded Yufen's condo in Watergate with a mostly new kitchen.  Next year we will implement our plan to provide and exit for Clarameda Fund investors after 17 successful years.  We started work on that this year.    On the Short Term business, the highlights included finding a replacement property, adding VRBO as a platform and moving to dynamic pricing.  Thanks to Victor, Jamie, and Horatio on the construction and Michael on the Short Term business.  As always Hemant for setting me right on the big decisions.  

5.  The ODYSSEY:  Family Summer Trip to Greece and Italy

I could post a whole 100 plus  page book on this trip with the sights, memories and food our three week summer trip to Greece and Italy covered.  Okay I did make a 106 page book!   The trip was inspired by Kailee who was really into Percy Jackson Greek and Roman mythology and her reading of the Oddysey.  With that as our Calliope we prompted ChatGPT to fill in the many details.  By we I mean Yufen who did a great job buying tickets, setting up the daily itinary, making sure we had places to stay AND best of all coordinated so Jimmy, our cousin from Taiwan who is working for ASML in Amsterdam spent a weekend with us in Rome.  Here are just a few of the many photos from this Homeric epic journey.  

4.  Hosting family from Texas and India!

Last year we visited Pratik and Shital as their place in Texas.  This year they were able to visit us in CA with his parents who are my uncle and aunt.  We did a bit of local sightseeing however mostly just enjoyed the Christmas holiday enjoying each other company, video games, cooking and speaking Gujrati.  Beating my uncle in carom was definitely the highlight of the week!  Also, I got to try out FSD down Lombard Street!  Flawless.  

3.  Arts and Culture

I used to have one item I dedicated to art, cultural or innovative product that made life better,  This year, at Reunion, I mentioned to a classmate that I get all my news from X because it allows me to follow people across the spectrum directly.  She thought I was crazy.  The posts you read still follow your natural narrative instincts and then the algorithm will favor those.  Having said that it has been a switch from getting news filtered through someone else's lens, for better or worse?  I have also spent more time on podcasts with a sad mention of Coffee with Scott Adams who was diagnosed with cancer and has been a profile in courage, and dedication as he faces the end of his days.  Having seen third sister's battle with cancer it has been another reminder of how precious and short life is and the inspiration (not despair) we should take from that.    

One new additon that I have made is writing a review of the books we have read in Book Club.  I write the review at about the 80% mark as a check in point and to see if I can guess the ending.   Feel free to check them out in the Book Review Section.  

Finally I did have lots of fun with AI making videos.   Here is one of Yufen at Sue's Super Fun 60th Birthday Party!  We also celebrated my mom's 80th Birthday Party!  

2.  Kids - Kailee says Good-bye to Middle School and Kaiden's final year in Elementary School

Kailee started Piedmont Middle School two years ago and she made a ton of new friends and is well on her way to being a typical teenager.  Yufen and I happened to walk to her High School Friday football game and upon seeing us she said two things:  1.  What are you doing here?  2.  I think you should leave now.  Kaiden is in his last year of Beach Elementary School.  I'm still walking with him to school and definitelly enjoying the comraderie of the Beach Dad's club.  I also coached his Lego League team.  We didn't do as well as last year, however we learned more about coding and a ton about metal artifacts and thermography.  

1.  As always everyone who makes life worth living!  And with that I leave 2025 with the most excellent good news of Ananth Talati who was born on November 10, 2025.  I'm an UNCLE!  

In memorium: Gaju Uncle, Mahendra Uncle