Today was a really long day, almost like I was back at the day job, but the day job isn't paying me for the time I spent there. I woke up early (actually, really early - at 2:30am I woke up to a highly acidic stomach and a too-hot bedroom, which made the rest of my sleep restless) and made it to train with Alyssa by 8am, which was way too early for my non-dayjob life. But that got me to a 10:30am doctor's appointment, followed by a couple of hours spent working at Philz Coffee in Palo Alto. Sitting on the shade-dappled patio with an iced coffee may have added to my stomach acid, but it certainly helped my headache.
Finally, though, it was time to interact with other people and stop playing with my fictional world. The first stop was the Samsung campus in Mountain View, which I've never been to; I was there to see Amit, whom I haven't seen in eight years or so, and have lunch with him and Vidya (whom I haven't seen in eight hours or so) to talk about the charity they work with and some ideas Amit has for eventually writing a book. I learned that Samsung employees have to pay for food, which seems barbaric, but Amit bought our lunch and it was all v. nice.
So it was great to catch up with them and to see Amit again after all this time. But I was on a schedule, so I said goodbye to them and went to my old place of employment to have coffee (aka drink water, since I had already had so much caffeine that I was twitching) with Eugene. He commented that I'm like the old retired spy in the spy movies who has been out of the game for years, but who still has all the files and knows where all the bodies are buried...I think I'll take that as a compliment. We caught up privately in a building away from where we sat, but then I went back with him to say hi to whomever happened to be around. More people had showed up to work today than usual, so I got a v. sweaty hug from Tomas, a less-sweaty hug from Lillian, and some good conversation from Viviana (who perhaps still hasn't forgiven me for leaving), Yune, Manuela, and Shannon. Of course, I can't catch up on everything (nor, perhaps, should I want to), but it was good to see those people...
...but I eventually needed to get off campus before I forgot that I didn't work there, so I went to Starbucks in Mountain View and messed around on the internet for a couple of hours, since I was too done to do anything else. Then I met Joann (of spinster honeymoon fame) for dinner; we hadn't seen each other since our trip, and we had a lot to catch up on. This was duly accomplished at Pacific Catch, which was not at all as Pacific as our previous adventures, but I'll take it.
And now I must sleep, and hope my stomach behaves itself tonight so that I can have fun and get stuff done tomorrow (perhaps in that order, if my plans with Kathia hold). Goodnight!
Finally, though, it was time to interact with other people and stop playing with my fictional world. The first stop was the Samsung campus in Mountain View, which I've never been to; I was there to see Amit, whom I haven't seen in eight years or so, and have lunch with him and Vidya (whom I haven't seen in eight hours or so) to talk about the charity they work with and some ideas Amit has for eventually writing a book. I learned that Samsung employees have to pay for food, which seems barbaric, but Amit bought our lunch and it was all v. nice.
So it was great to catch up with them and to see Amit again after all this time. But I was on a schedule, so I said goodbye to them and went to my old place of employment to have coffee (aka drink water, since I had already had so much caffeine that I was twitching) with Eugene. He commented that I'm like the old retired spy in the spy movies who has been out of the game for years, but who still has all the files and knows where all the bodies are buried...I think I'll take that as a compliment. We caught up privately in a building away from where we sat, but then I went back with him to say hi to whomever happened to be around. More people had showed up to work today than usual, so I got a v. sweaty hug from Tomas, a less-sweaty hug from Lillian, and some good conversation from Viviana (who perhaps still hasn't forgiven me for leaving), Yune, Manuela, and Shannon. Of course, I can't catch up on everything (nor, perhaps, should I want to), but it was good to see those people...
...but I eventually needed to get off campus before I forgot that I didn't work there, so I went to Starbucks in Mountain View and messed around on the internet for a couple of hours, since I was too done to do anything else. Then I met Joann (of spinster honeymoon fame) for dinner; we hadn't seen each other since our trip, and we had a lot to catch up on. This was duly accomplished at Pacific Catch, which was not at all as Pacific as our previous adventures, but I'll take it.
And now I must sleep, and hope my stomach behaves itself tonight so that I can have fun and get stuff done tomorrow (perhaps in that order, if my plans with Kathia hold). Goodnight!
2 comments:
Yay for meeting up w/ Amit! :) I got a Samsung tour a few months ago, and this is a good reminder that to catch up with him as I haven't seen him in awhile. P.S. hope to see you soon again too?!
@JenLui - I forgot that you guys knew each other! I'm in NYC for most of the rest of the month, but we'll have dinner/drinks in SF as soon as I'm back!
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