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trocheeI woke up on my own, with absolutely no idea where I was. Then I realized that (1) I wasn't at home and (2) I'd woken up rested. I jumped, because it could only mean one thing -- I slept through the alarm. Indeed, I had. It was 9:45a, and I started work today.
I threw on some clothes and hurried out the back to my car, grabbing my notebook on the way. I'm pretty good with directions, but I realized that the first direction that I had written down yesterday said "East", and the sun was behind me. Accordingly, I was fairly sure I was going the wrong way. But then I remembered the map in my head, and realized that I had probably written East when I meant West. Nevertheless, I started worrying. I pulled over in a gas station, and asked the guy "is this the right way to [street]?"
He gave me a blank look for a minute, and said "uh, is [street] in Palo Alto?"
"Yeah," I said, not 100% sure.
"Palo Alto is that way," he said, with a huge wild swing of arm in the direction I had indicated.
"Thanks," I said, and fled back to my car. It occurred to me that I don't have my phone -- I must have left it in the hotel -- and that makes me nervous too, because if I get lost, I can't call for help.
"I can ask at another gas station if I need to," I say to myself. Being tired and alone makes me talk to myself.
Despite my worry, I find the building with no additional trouble. I reach the front door in an anonymous, faceless hallway, with a phone sitting outside. A little card stands next to the phone with a directory of the people behind the door.
I dial one after another of the numbers, and get voicemail after voicemail. I am staring at a completely white door, in a completely white wall, with no frame around the door, so the wall -- except for the seam around the door -- is completely smooth in a Kubrickian-future sort of way. I feel a little like Alice, actually. I experience a moment of vertigo when I find my own name on the card. I contemplate dialing the number, for a minute, just for the existential thrill of it, and because it's something I would do in a Zork-like game when confronted with a situation like this, just to see what little fortune-cookie the game author has included. I decide to not be playful with people I don't know yet, and keep looking down the list.
I find the name of my boss while I'm here, and I call him. After several rings, he answers and comes to find me at the door. He shows me my desk, and gives me my login sheet and points me at the computer. But I can't log in. The password they've given me is wrong, or something. Already late, I don't want to make a stink. My boss says he's going to Stanford and he'll be back for lunch. I still can't log in. I work on my slides on my laptop, and start writing livejournal.
I get bored and start going to find the system admin people. I get a local login, but I am not authenticated properly. I don't have any DNS outside of the company's computers, and by the time I figure out that this is the problem, the acting sysadmin who's been helping me has slipped away for lunch.
I work on slides for my talk, and go to lunch with my new boss and two of the permanent staffers. I give my talk after we get back, and though it goes overlong, most of them seem interested.
I threw on some clothes and hurried out the back to my car, grabbing my notebook on the way. I'm pretty good with directions, but I realized that the first direction that I had written down yesterday said "East", and the sun was behind me. Accordingly, I was fairly sure I was going the wrong way. But then I remembered the map in my head, and realized that I had probably written East when I meant West. Nevertheless, I started worrying. I pulled over in a gas station, and asked the guy "is this the right way to [street]?"
He gave me a blank look for a minute, and said "uh, is [street] in Palo Alto?"
"Yeah," I said, not 100% sure.
"Palo Alto is that way," he said, with a huge wild swing of arm in the direction I had indicated.
"Thanks," I said, and fled back to my car. It occurred to me that I don't have my phone -- I must have left it in the hotel -- and that makes me nervous too, because if I get lost, I can't call for help.
"I can ask at another gas station if I need to," I say to myself. Being tired and alone makes me talk to myself.
Despite my worry, I find the building with no additional trouble. I reach the front door in an anonymous, faceless hallway, with a phone sitting outside. A little card stands next to the phone with a directory of the people behind the door.
I dial one after another of the numbers, and get voicemail after voicemail. I am staring at a completely white door, in a completely white wall, with no frame around the door, so the wall -- except for the seam around the door -- is completely smooth in a Kubrickian-future sort of way. I feel a little like Alice, actually. I experience a moment of vertigo when I find my own name on the card. I contemplate dialing the number, for a minute, just for the existential thrill of it, and because it's something I would do in a Zork-like game when confronted with a situation like this, just to see what little fortune-cookie the game author has included. I decide to not be playful with people I don't know yet, and keep looking down the list.
I find the name of my boss while I'm here, and I call him. After several rings, he answers and comes to find me at the door. He shows me my desk, and gives me my login sheet and points me at the computer. But I can't log in. The password they've given me is wrong, or something. Already late, I don't want to make a stink. My boss says he's going to Stanford and he'll be back for lunch. I still can't log in. I work on my slides on my laptop, and start writing livejournal.
I get bored and start going to find the system admin people. I get a local login, but I am not authenticated properly. I don't have any DNS outside of the company's computers, and by the time I figure out that this is the problem, the acting sysadmin who's been helping me has slipped away for lunch.
I work on slides for my talk, and go to lunch with my new boss and two of the permanent staffers. I give my talk after we get back, and though it goes overlong, most of them seem interested.
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no subject
Date: 2005-08-19 06:46 pm (UTC)Been reading scooter girl. That guy Asher who is hot. He is a total dweeb. I hope he redeems himself by the end of the comic. We'll see...
Ooh we get to read Corto Maltese together when we go to France...
no subject
Date: 2005-08-19 08:43 pm (UTC)I can't wait!
no subject
Date: 2005-08-19 08:45 pm (UTC)