Currently I am somewhere over Nebraska on a Northwest flight from Detroit to Los Angeles to visit my good friend Maria. It has been some time since last I saw her - back towards the last week in September in a company of old friends, and some more recent ones.
There's a genuinely warm connection I feel towards Maria. We had dated in the past - my rollercoaster of a sophomore year in college - sharing some intimate moments, and the long standing sense I have of her is that she is likely the most unconditionally caring person on this planet. And the care that she offers to others is so beautiful and inviting - an almost unmatchable model to follow.
From the time that this flight lands, to the time that I must board a flight back to Detroit, is a total of approximately 40 hours. Why I would spend 12 hours travelling to see her for 40 hours should provide a sense of how compellingly wonderful a woman she is. I think even she was surprised that I would make such a trip.
This trip as well marks the first time I will step foot in the great state of California. Los Angeles to be specific. The farthest west I have been until today was a brief trip with the company to Las Vegas a little over two years ago. I am excited about seeing a new place as it presents new types of people, new thoughts, and growth opportunity.
A side bonus of this trip is that on account of all my flying this year and the status I have attained with the airlines, I find myself in first class. The meal was wonderful - a nice selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, some puffed rice and a dish that resembles couscous, and for dessert - a 'make-it-yourself' ice cream sunday. I was thinking about holding off, as I am working on my weight, but this is the first first-class flight I have been on that has served them. So I figured I'd indulge myself and take it off Sunday back at the hotel gym.
A feeling of eurphoria has befallen me - definitely something to do with the newness of making my first trip to the west coast, the anticipation of seeing Maria, and how good I have been to my body and my mind this week. I am thankful that though it has been a difficult year for me to find my groove mentally, I am at a point where my potential has been exercised into a more kinetic form.
What an interesting and overall excellent week this has been!
Prior to flight up to Detroit from Austin on Tuesday, I communicated to myself that while in Detroit I would do two things - be good to my work, and be good to my body. And I had this strong feeling that if I did these two things, my mindset and outlook - somewhat drearier in these months of shortened sunlight - would improve.
My work went well - a number of tasks were completed, I continued training of a co-worker, and I put myself in the position to hear how things were going on my project from a very high level. On a sad note, the team discovered at the end of the week that one of our valued members would not have his contract reviewed. It is sometimes harsh dealing with these realities of the business world, but after a few rounds of layoffs and cut projects, I/we have come to expect it. My future after January is unclear right now, but a former project manager once told me that they do not cut folks who know the systems or operations; and I know them for this project better than anyone else, often thinking of myself as Scotty of Star Trek.
My health continued to improve as I was able to find some divine motivation to continue my workouts. Up until this week, my consistency had been poor - some weeks working out 1 or 2 days, others working out none, having been too tired to do so. The key is metabolism - and it provides a catch-22 to the obese in our world. Folks with low metabolism do not work out because they are too tired and unable to motivate, thereby keeping them at a low metabolism. What is needed is a shock to kickstart that initial session that can work to raise a person's metabolic rate. And then its all a positive, upward cycle. My shock most likely came from the combination of the thought of seeing Maria this weekend, and the thought of taking the course at the University of Texas. Regardless, I was able to put my health at the highest of priorities, successfully incorporating a workout into each day this week, and as a result, my metabolism has improved. It's all upward from here.
One result of the higher metabolism and the lack of tiredness, was that I was able to go out for some very social lunches and evenings. Even my icq conversations were imbued with the old positive shine that had been come to define my personality. What a wonderful place this is for me to be at mentally.
Tonight, I discovered that Dan, an old college bud who graduated a year after me, would now be in Austin on a weekly basis, as he landed some work through IBM doing, of all things, Cobol programming. It wasn't exactly what he was expecting, and in a language he was never trained in, but in this economy its a good thing to be needed. And its also good mentally to be able to work towards goals that can be accomplished.
We went to dinner at Katz's deli, enjoying a restaurant in the New York style, and I tasted a very pleasant grilled-cheese and pineapple sandwich. The conversation flowed well, though I felt at times, somewhat awkward with myself. I think this might have had something to do with the confidence and disciplined self-determination that Dan seemed to be exuding. Or I could just be reading more into it, and this pseudo-awkwardness I intuited was easily explained by the fact that Dan and I hadn't seen eachother or really talked since March.
After dinner, I headed back to the office this evening, and after a few hours I completed all the tasks I needed to do. Before heading out, I dropped down to the first floor (my office is on the third), and had a brief conversation with my friend Kevin, with whom I am attempting to figure out plans for a ski trip prior to the new year. We figured some things out, and while I was talking with him, one of the Firm's new hires 'announced' he was having a problem with a technology that I am very familiar. After a quick spin through all my common debugging methods, the analysis showed that the problem was with his code, and at 1:30AM I departed, leaving him to correct and improve upon his work. I recall a time when I was the new hire and others had the task of helping me over obstacles - things may have come full circle.
Much earlier this morning the most senior technical individual on my project accidentally deleted enough data from one of our test databases that I had to spend about 30 minutes reconfiguring the test environment. We also had to apologize to the customer team that was working this week against the test database, as their data for the entire week had been lost. Since it was a testing environment and my instructions about activity for the environment had been clear, there was no expectation that the data would be deleted; but it was. And so I made sure this time that hourly backups were scheduled. No more lost data. The customer team was not observedly upset, as most of their tests were self-contained, and they were able to continue working shortly. Plus, they knew the technical member of the team responsible, and I guess they figured that if he could make a mistake then he was at least human - reaffirming their own humanness, and their own ability to err.
In a final note for the night, I wish my old friend Maria a happy birthday. I have made an initial plan to visit her in a coming weekend, and I look forward to this greatly. The last time she and I saw each other was late September, but it was with a few of my college friends, and so we really did not get a chance to spend some one on one time together. If I do indeed visit her out in LA, it will be my first time in California, my first time on the West coast, and my first flight greater than 1800 miles.
This weekend was spent travelling to an unfamiliar region of the northeastern US, visiting my very familiar friend Alice. She's a bit older, wiser, and all around a good model for me from which I can judge my social and interpersonal growth. Having been introduced to one of her housemates upon arriving, I was struck by the charm and ease with storytelling that he exhibited. Weaving storytelling as conversation is an art, and one against which I look forward to developing my skill. There were dual reasons for this visit. First and foremost was spending time with Alice - with whom conversation is always free-flowing and interesting. Second was my desire in visiting the other border the US shares with Canada, and doing those touristy activities common to Niagara Falls.
My earliest memories of Niagara Falls include the "step by step" skit performed by the Three Stooges, and uncountable displays of cartoon characters going over the falls in makeshift barrels. Neither of these would be anything close to what I expected to see on my visit, but there is some childish delight in the thought of going to such a place.
The first night was spent in Rochester, NY. Alice and I dined at a quaint restaurant where the food was tasty and light; afterward we spent some time walking, and found ourselves at a cozy coffeeshop catering to the local student and recently-graduated population.
It was afternoon before we headed up to Niagara. On the way we enjoyed a polite lunch at Cracker Barrel, where Alice expressed her love for biscuits, something we share. The offerings were very reasonable, even for a pair of vegetarians. We departed, resisting the temptation to indulge in sweets - partially due to the longer holiday lines at the register, continuing along to the North.
We crossed the bridge over to Canada, parked, and walked through the blustery cold, taking in the sights. Though the boat ride was closed for the season, we were able to acquire some tickets to an area promoted as being beneath the falls. Basically a quick elevator ride drops visitors down to a more reasonable viewing level where for a small fee they get a closer look at water falling. In a profound way, the same could be much more cheaply accomplished in the shower. But I guess there are less people around. It was genuinely enjoyable to observe this natural beauty, but it did not evoke any more feeling than that from me.
We departed soon after, with Alice picking up a few items from the duty free store, and heading to our hotel on the New York side of the border. After a brief nap, we headed back by foot to Canada to eat and take in some nightlife. Dinner was at a nondistinguished looking Italian restaurant, and our time was pleasant before heading back. Another conversation at a local Denny's, and a last one for the evening upon returning to the hotel, before passing into our separate slumbers.
In the morning we readied ourselves, checked out, and made our way over a - some would say lost - roundabout path to the outlet malls. I discovered a CD by RemyZero that at the time sounded good enough to purchase, though on subsequent hearings has lost its luster, but Alice went emptyhanded, not finding anything she fancied. A quick stop for gas before returning to her house, and a quick nap before heading to the airport, and our visit came to an end.
Some of the things I enjoy most about my relationship with Alice and about our time together is the balance we have found, the freedom in the flow of our conversations, and our mutual interests - primarily in the realm of social behavior and interpersonal relationships. She is so strong, has suffered through so many things, and like me, has survived. Having long since established the realm of our relationship, we have for eachother become very trusted confidants.
After such a positive and enjoyable weekend, it was an unpleasant call in the late afternoon that announced the class I had registered for at the University of Texas was cancelled. In the call it was stated that the professor was cancelling it on account of the need to publish two books by April. I am not sure exactly how I feel about this, but I am not pleased. Many of my hopes and my vision for the next six months now need revision, and there is only a moderate chance that another suitable course will appropriately match my schedule.