Lost and found
Dec. 20th, 2005 12:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
days_unfoldingMy first week back at work started with a bang when I went down to Fresno twice in one week.
I drove down Sunday night so that I could start at the Fresno office on Monday. For me, driving is all about the music, so I cranked up the Bach B Minor Mass. It seemed that every farm house had a display of Christmas lights, some quite elaborate. The one that amazed me was a manger scene lit up at the side of the road, far from any houses (generator?) Someone went through a lot of trouble to set it up. So I glided in the late-night quiet, looking at the lights and listening to the music. Perfect. I hit a small patch of fog, but it was no big deal.
There were a lot of beautiful Christmas light displays in Fresno, and I found myself glad to be there. It was good to see the spots in which I hang out: the IHOP with a wonderful waitress who calls everyone "Hon" and the local McDonalds. I snuck out to McDonalds one day when I needed to get my equilibrium back, and listening to kids run around and squeal was just what I needed. One little kid was pointing at Ronald McDonald and going "AAAAAAAAAAH." In the bathroom, I accidentally backed into someone, and instead of getting mad, she smiled at me.
I had planned to go to a local gym, but never made it there this time. As long as I need to make regular trips to Fresno, it makes sense to virtually "move in" a little.
My first days back at work went well, although I was stressed out the whole time. However, I spent most of those days reacquainting myself with what I needed to do, and needed to start talking to developers. On Wednesday, though, I had a doctor's appointment, so I left for San Jose on Tuesday evening. A couple of the engineers warned me to get out of there fast because it gets foggy at night. There was some fog, but it didn't seem too bad.
One snag was that one of my tires had a slow leak. I filled it and went to dinner. Afterward, I checked it again, and it still seemed full, so I decided to risk driving on it. I made it back okay. I repacked, took care of the cats, and got a little sleep.
Wednesday was grueling. I had the doctor's appointment at 9, got the tire fixed, worked all afternoon, had dinner, got some prescriptions filled--and hit the road to go back to Fresno.
I picked Paul Simon's Graceland to listen to. It was an inspired choice. The album is full of joy and is infectious, so I was driving along, singing at the top of my lungs, weaving though Bay Area traffic. I started working on a essay that I've been working on in my mind for a while. I found, to my surprise, that I had driven the two-lane section of CA-152, which terrified me when I first drove it, without even remembering driving it.
Then I was in the mountains. When I went over the summit, there was fog. A lot of fog. I found myself driving a twisty mountain road that I couldn't see very well. After a moment of "I can't see; get me out of here!", I slowed down to a crawl, hoping that no one would rear-end me. I thought about pulling off, but decided that sitting at the side of the road with my lights off was more dangerous than driving with my lights on.
Eventually I made it out of the mountains. However, the fog was getting worse. I decided to stop and take a break in the next town (Los Banos), and if the fog was still bad, find a hotel room.
I almost missed the turnoff in Los Banos. The fog was so bad that from the end of the parking lot of the WalMart, you literally couldn't see that the WalMart was there. The woman at the Carl's Jr. that I stopped at said, "I hope that you're not going far!"
I found a motel. The desk clerk apologized because the only rooms that she had left were expensive rooms with a Jacuzzi (twist my arm, I'll suffer -;)), but she gave it to me at a discount. The room was quite lovely--blond wood and a white down comforter and white tile in the Jacuzzi. The bed was heavenly, and I fell into a deep sleep.
At 7:30 AM, the fog was still really bad, so I went back to sleep for "a few" minutes. The next time that I woke up, it was 10:00 and I went "AAAAAAAAAH" and ran for the shower.
I'd like to stay in that hotel room again. I might come down sometime with books and laptop to hole up and study and write. (Hmm, the thought just occurred to me that I should do something like that in Fresno sometime--come down some Saturday, maybe check out the Unitarian church there that I like on Sunday, do my own thing the rest of the day, and go into the Fresno office on Monday.) That hotel room would also be a great place to bring a significant other; I have a tough time thinking of Los Banos as a romantic destination, but if you weren't planning on leaving the hotel room, it would work -;)
So I hit the road to Fresno again to the tune of Paul Simon. It was still hazy, but clear enough to drive. I was mulling over the fact that while I was extremely grateful to get off the roads and into the hotel room the previous night, the gratitude lasted only a few minutes, and then I was wondering if I was too tired to use the Jacuzzi....I also thought that I'd like to find Christmas carols for a full SATB chorus, like the Mass in B Minor, only singing Christmas carols.
I finally made it to Fresno, and managed to get everything done that I needed to get done despite the late start. I was worrying about whether I'd hit fog if I left that night, and my boss said that I should stay over and leave on Friday instead. However, there was a morning meeting that I needed to attend, so we agreed that I'd work from the Fresno office on Friday, and leave mid-afternoon to go back to San Jose.
So I found yet another hotel room (at a hotel that I really like--I consider it my "home away from home" in Fresno). I missed a turnoff and found myself on a street with exceptionally beautiful Christmas lights. I was so enthralled by the lights that I missed a stop sign. (Oops--getting a ticket in Fresno is a bad plan.) After I checked into the hotel, I thought about going to Tower Records to look for Christmas carols, but it was late and sanity prevailed for once.
Work on Friday was uneventful, and I left for San Jose around 3. As I was leaving town, I realized that I was about to drive 140 miles on an almost empty tank of gas. Oops. I'm glad that I noticed that before I left Fresno, and not in the middle of nowhere on Hwy. 99.
As I was leaving Los Banos, I noticed that someone had spelled out "Jesus is Lord" in Christmas lights on a chain-link fence. Thus I left the Central Valley to go over the mountains to San Jose.
Traffic was stopped at the beginning of the two-lane portion of CA-152. As we inched along, I saw that there was an accident, and the road was closed, and we were routed onto a detour. The detour twisted and turned along country roads, and I quickly became completely lost. The only thing that was keeping me calm was Christopher Parkening's Bach album--I kept flipping back-and-forth between the two great cantatas, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and "Sleepers Awake", to keep my cool.
Eventually I saw some lights in the distance. It seemed like a good idea to drive towards the lights, but everyone was driving parallel to them. One rebel turned off towards the lights, and I decided to follow him. The road twisted and turned, and ran parallel to the lights for a while, so I wondered if I had made a mistake. However, the road turned into a frontage road to Hwy. 101 and brought me to a freeway entrance.
I stopped at a Carl's Jr. to take a break, and for the second time this week, I wanted to kiss the ground. (I started mulling over the metaphor of being "lost" twice in a couple of days.) It had taken a solid hour to get from Pacheco Pass to Gilroy proper.
A friend called and asked me if I wanted to go see the Harry Potter movie that night. I said sure, drove home, dropped my stuff, and went to the movie with my friend. When I got home, I realized that I hadn't seen my cell phone since I used it in Gilroy. I tore the car and my condo apart looking for it. It was too late to go back to the movie theater to see if it was there, so I planned to go there on Saturday.
I searched Amazon.com for Christmas choral CDs. I found a few by the same conductor as my favorite version of the Bach Mass in B Minor, Robert Shaw. I also found one by the chorus of King's College in Cambridge. I then looked for the CDs on Borders' site (a dirty trick to play on Amazon.com, but I do it all the time) and reserved them for pickup.
Saturday I got a late start, but I told myself that after a full week of work plus driving almost 600 miles, I deserved some R & R. I tried calling the movie theater about my cell phone, but the only number that I could find was the one with their movie listings. Borders had only a couple of the CDs that I tried to reserve. I decided to go pick up the CDs and then go to a movie. At first, I had planned to go see Narnia, but decided that I didn't feel like it, especially after seeing Harry Potter the night before. I decided to see Walk the Line, and it was a perfect choice.
Sunday, I decided to try calling my cell phone to see if it was hidden somewhere in my condo, and I heard it! I finally located it in my recycling bin (don't ask me how it got there). So Sunday found me well, at home, listening to Christmas carols, and very grateful for what I had.
I drove down Sunday night so that I could start at the Fresno office on Monday. For me, driving is all about the music, so I cranked up the Bach B Minor Mass. It seemed that every farm house had a display of Christmas lights, some quite elaborate. The one that amazed me was a manger scene lit up at the side of the road, far from any houses (generator?) Someone went through a lot of trouble to set it up. So I glided in the late-night quiet, looking at the lights and listening to the music. Perfect. I hit a small patch of fog, but it was no big deal.
There were a lot of beautiful Christmas light displays in Fresno, and I found myself glad to be there. It was good to see the spots in which I hang out: the IHOP with a wonderful waitress who calls everyone "Hon" and the local McDonalds. I snuck out to McDonalds one day when I needed to get my equilibrium back, and listening to kids run around and squeal was just what I needed. One little kid was pointing at Ronald McDonald and going "AAAAAAAAAAH." In the bathroom, I accidentally backed into someone, and instead of getting mad, she smiled at me.
I had planned to go to a local gym, but never made it there this time. As long as I need to make regular trips to Fresno, it makes sense to virtually "move in" a little.
My first days back at work went well, although I was stressed out the whole time. However, I spent most of those days reacquainting myself with what I needed to do, and needed to start talking to developers. On Wednesday, though, I had a doctor's appointment, so I left for San Jose on Tuesday evening. A couple of the engineers warned me to get out of there fast because it gets foggy at night. There was some fog, but it didn't seem too bad.
One snag was that one of my tires had a slow leak. I filled it and went to dinner. Afterward, I checked it again, and it still seemed full, so I decided to risk driving on it. I made it back okay. I repacked, took care of the cats, and got a little sleep.
Wednesday was grueling. I had the doctor's appointment at 9, got the tire fixed, worked all afternoon, had dinner, got some prescriptions filled--and hit the road to go back to Fresno.
I picked Paul Simon's Graceland to listen to. It was an inspired choice. The album is full of joy and is infectious, so I was driving along, singing at the top of my lungs, weaving though Bay Area traffic. I started working on a essay that I've been working on in my mind for a while. I found, to my surprise, that I had driven the two-lane section of CA-152, which terrified me when I first drove it, without even remembering driving it.
Then I was in the mountains. When I went over the summit, there was fog. A lot of fog. I found myself driving a twisty mountain road that I couldn't see very well. After a moment of "I can't see; get me out of here!", I slowed down to a crawl, hoping that no one would rear-end me. I thought about pulling off, but decided that sitting at the side of the road with my lights off was more dangerous than driving with my lights on.
Eventually I made it out of the mountains. However, the fog was getting worse. I decided to stop and take a break in the next town (Los Banos), and if the fog was still bad, find a hotel room.
I almost missed the turnoff in Los Banos. The fog was so bad that from the end of the parking lot of the WalMart, you literally couldn't see that the WalMart was there. The woman at the Carl's Jr. that I stopped at said, "I hope that you're not going far!"
I found a motel. The desk clerk apologized because the only rooms that she had left were expensive rooms with a Jacuzzi (twist my arm, I'll suffer -;)), but she gave it to me at a discount. The room was quite lovely--blond wood and a white down comforter and white tile in the Jacuzzi. The bed was heavenly, and I fell into a deep sleep.
At 7:30 AM, the fog was still really bad, so I went back to sleep for "a few" minutes. The next time that I woke up, it was 10:00 and I went "AAAAAAAAAH" and ran for the shower.
I'd like to stay in that hotel room again. I might come down sometime with books and laptop to hole up and study and write. (Hmm, the thought just occurred to me that I should do something like that in Fresno sometime--come down some Saturday, maybe check out the Unitarian church there that I like on Sunday, do my own thing the rest of the day, and go into the Fresno office on Monday.) That hotel room would also be a great place to bring a significant other; I have a tough time thinking of Los Banos as a romantic destination, but if you weren't planning on leaving the hotel room, it would work -;)
So I hit the road to Fresno again to the tune of Paul Simon. It was still hazy, but clear enough to drive. I was mulling over the fact that while I was extremely grateful to get off the roads and into the hotel room the previous night, the gratitude lasted only a few minutes, and then I was wondering if I was too tired to use the Jacuzzi....I also thought that I'd like to find Christmas carols for a full SATB chorus, like the Mass in B Minor, only singing Christmas carols.
I finally made it to Fresno, and managed to get everything done that I needed to get done despite the late start. I was worrying about whether I'd hit fog if I left that night, and my boss said that I should stay over and leave on Friday instead. However, there was a morning meeting that I needed to attend, so we agreed that I'd work from the Fresno office on Friday, and leave mid-afternoon to go back to San Jose.
So I found yet another hotel room (at a hotel that I really like--I consider it my "home away from home" in Fresno). I missed a turnoff and found myself on a street with exceptionally beautiful Christmas lights. I was so enthralled by the lights that I missed a stop sign. (Oops--getting a ticket in Fresno is a bad plan.) After I checked into the hotel, I thought about going to Tower Records to look for Christmas carols, but it was late and sanity prevailed for once.
Work on Friday was uneventful, and I left for San Jose around 3. As I was leaving town, I realized that I was about to drive 140 miles on an almost empty tank of gas. Oops. I'm glad that I noticed that before I left Fresno, and not in the middle of nowhere on Hwy. 99.
As I was leaving Los Banos, I noticed that someone had spelled out "Jesus is Lord" in Christmas lights on a chain-link fence. Thus I left the Central Valley to go over the mountains to San Jose.
Traffic was stopped at the beginning of the two-lane portion of CA-152. As we inched along, I saw that there was an accident, and the road was closed, and we were routed onto a detour. The detour twisted and turned along country roads, and I quickly became completely lost. The only thing that was keeping me calm was Christopher Parkening's Bach album--I kept flipping back-and-forth between the two great cantatas, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and "Sleepers Awake", to keep my cool.
Eventually I saw some lights in the distance. It seemed like a good idea to drive towards the lights, but everyone was driving parallel to them. One rebel turned off towards the lights, and I decided to follow him. The road twisted and turned, and ran parallel to the lights for a while, so I wondered if I had made a mistake. However, the road turned into a frontage road to Hwy. 101 and brought me to a freeway entrance.
I stopped at a Carl's Jr. to take a break, and for the second time this week, I wanted to kiss the ground. (I started mulling over the metaphor of being "lost" twice in a couple of days.) It had taken a solid hour to get from Pacheco Pass to Gilroy proper.
A friend called and asked me if I wanted to go see the Harry Potter movie that night. I said sure, drove home, dropped my stuff, and went to the movie with my friend. When I got home, I realized that I hadn't seen my cell phone since I used it in Gilroy. I tore the car and my condo apart looking for it. It was too late to go back to the movie theater to see if it was there, so I planned to go there on Saturday.
I searched Amazon.com for Christmas choral CDs. I found a few by the same conductor as my favorite version of the Bach Mass in B Minor, Robert Shaw. I also found one by the chorus of King's College in Cambridge. I then looked for the CDs on Borders' site (a dirty trick to play on Amazon.com, but I do it all the time) and reserved them for pickup.
Saturday I got a late start, but I told myself that after a full week of work plus driving almost 600 miles, I deserved some R & R. I tried calling the movie theater about my cell phone, but the only number that I could find was the one with their movie listings. Borders had only a couple of the CDs that I tried to reserve. I decided to go pick up the CDs and then go to a movie. At first, I had planned to go see Narnia, but decided that I didn't feel like it, especially after seeing Harry Potter the night before. I decided to see Walk the Line, and it was a perfect choice.
Sunday, I decided to try calling my cell phone to see if it was hidden somewhere in my condo, and I heard it! I finally located it in my recycling bin (don't ask me how it got there). So Sunday found me well, at home, listening to Christmas carols, and very grateful for what I had.
