Losing my marbles.

Today was my official first day working in San Leandro.  While I am about to bitch and moan about the East Bay life, I must first admit for some reason the place feels very home-y.  For no reason at all, it was just comfortable to be there.

My schedule hasn't been set in stone per se but I have a general idea of when I need to get things done.  The commute wasn't as bad as I thought but still took about an hour and fifteen minutes from door to door.  Hopefully it won't ever take longer than that.  I was surprised at how little people were on the 31AX at 7:20.  The last time I took the 31AX it was shoulder to shoulder, wall to wall full of passengers.  Today there were only six people standing in the entire bus. 

When I got to work, I did the usual routine of booting up my PC and checking my email in Outlook.  Then I tried to log into meebo and yahoo mail.  Denied.  The new website security the building has is ridiculously strict.  Most of the yahoo main articles are blocked due to content deemed inappropriate for the workplace.  That includes external email, instant messaging, forums, social networking, and many other filters.  This means no yahoo mail, no meebo, no slickdeals, no blogpsot, no Facebook (which I've never used at work), no nothing!  I began to complain to my coworkers that all the good stuff on the internet is being blocked and everyone had their own complaints.  My cubicle is about half the size of my old one but it's still big enough that I don't feel claustrophobic.

It took me less than an hour and a half to unpack while most people still haven't unpacked half of their belongings.  Breakfast was provided by vendors and there were donuts, muffins, and coffee.  I almost drank the bottle of half and half since they put it in a carafe without a label.  I wanted milk.  I had no assignments and nothing to do so I began to read the binder of information provided by the building.  I went through all the security protocols and such (which I will be talking more about tomorrow).  I eventually got to the most useful page in the binder.  Local restaurants!  The page listed close to 30 places to get food within five miles.  About half was fast food like KFC, Wendy's, Mcdonald's, etc. but the other half was local places.  I had nothing to do so I yelped all of the restaurants (not the fast food ones).  There actually is a lot of places I would like to try on that list.  I have until December. 

Then I found out lunch was provided as well.  Unfortunately the food was bland and was not worth getting seconds.  It was catered Chinese food from some restaurant.  Nothing tasted good and it would have been a better idea to order Panda Express over that place next time.  I couldn't even TASTE the pandas in this food.  Not finger-ling-ling good at all. 

Eventually I volunteered to do some work so I spent two and a half hours creating a spreadsheet of all available ATMs.  I figured since I was the only one doing actual work today, my manager might not be too upset if I take off early.  I finished my spreadsheet at 4:30 and asked for the rest of the day off since I couldn't complete any assignment before leaving at five.  I also told her that I took a shorter lunch so I should be able to leave anyways since I already put in my eight hours.  She was fine with it and I began packing my things.

The only reason I wanted to leave early was to catch the tail end of the Sharks game.  The game started at four which means it would end around 6:30.  If I catch the Bart and bus fast enough I could easily catch the end of it.  When I get to the platform of the Bart station, the train was just arriving.  "Great timing!  I'm off to a good start," I thought.

When I get off the Bart it takes me a few seconds to realize where the bus stop was and in a very uncharacteristic move, the bus skips my stop.  It was not even close to being a full bus.  So I decide to try a new route.  I knew the 21 ran somewhere along Fulton at some point and I didn't see a bus for the next three blocks or so.  I decided to give it a shot.  Never again!  The 21 moves so effin' slow it was ridiculous.  I could've just taken the 38L which was right behind it. 

When I get to 8th Ave or so, I realize I had left my house keys at work.  There's no way I'm going all the way back to get them.  I have no way of getting into my house now and in a panic I start calling people before thinking it through.  I called Andy and Anjuli hoping someone would pick up so I'd have somewhere to go.  After I called, I remembered my aunt has a set of my house keys.  I tend to panic and act irrationally when things go awry.  When I called her she was still on the Bart at Embarcadero.  So I decide to kill time by going to the ATM and Gordo's.  Time well spent I must say.

By the time I got into my house, the game was over and I was only able to catch the post-game live report.  Looks like I missed out on a bunch of stuff because I left work in a rush.  Fail. 

I need a longboard.  Fast.  I don't like to walk. 

-Alex Thunderlips