MacManiacs Reunion

For many years I had my own little computer group. We all met at Diablo Valley MacIntosh User Group (DVMUG), a user group of which I am still a member. What happened was that some of us stopped being Apple computer users and were no longer members of the user group. Since we all liked one another enough to want to still get together once a month, I became "president for life" of what we called the MacManiacs.

So, we started meeting at a restaurant once a month. Each month, one of us would choose the restaurant and pay for lunch. Our lunchtime talk ranged from technology to health to family to any subject that caught our fancy. We always had a good time and it kept our friendship alive.

Over time one member died, one left the club, another moved a bit further away. And so, the MacManiacs stopped meeting.

This December, when I got Werner's humorous newsy Christmas letter, I shared it with the other former club members and Mary Ann suggested that we all meet near Werner's home.

The last of the MacManiacs met today for lunch at Terra Mia in Livermore.

Terra Mia is a Southern Italian family-run restaurant in a strip mall about half way between downtown Livermore and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. It's a bit more elegant than many of the restaurants in the area and was the perfect place for a leisurely lunch.

The pasta and desserts are made in house from scratch. Many of the ingredients are either home grown or from local suppliers. We caught up and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

Jim and Mary Ann both ordered one of the day's specials, spinach pasta pouches filled with ricotta and chicken and garnished with Mortadella and a creamy sauce.



Mary Ann started her meal with a cup of Broccoli Soup. Jim had a Green Salad to start.

Werner ordered his "usual," the Capellini alla Napoletana (angel hair pasta with fresh tomato sauce and basil).



My choice was the Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich (chicken breast with roasted eggplant, melted mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce)



For dessert we shared a made-to-order Chocolate Soufflé.



At lunchtime, Terra Mia is not too busy, most likely because, with each dish prepared to order, it can take a few hours to have lunch here...not the typical quick lunch hour of those who work in nearby businesses. Werner says they are very busy at dinner time; reservations are advised.

At any rate, it was fun to be back together, to gossip, catch up, and even talk about bit about iPads, the cloud, and other techie subjects.

Until the next MacManiacs meeting.