all for a ticket to ride
i do believe every day brings forth an adventure (refer to earlier post), but today was something else. i needed to visit the ai office in sf this morning, to get my paper ticket issued (for my flight next week). my only class today was at 12.35, and i figured i could start out at 6, get everything done, and be back by 10 (at the latest). then realized that the office opened at 9, and it's the ai office after all, so decided to leave at 8 instead. i thought i'd take the caltrain (one of those super-fast no-stop trains), and walk to market st. where the office was. (had considered the caltrain/bart option, but that just seemed like a lot of unnecessary scheduling, and overly expensive). last evening, however, a called to suggest dinner this evening, since he was in the palo alto office for the day. he told me he was driving down from sf at 11, and i decided to hitch a ride with him on my way back. he had a dentist's appointment at 10.30. when you add that to my class at 12.35, the inflexibility of train schedules, the processes involved in getting to a train station and parking etc., that's a lot of constraints.
this is what happened: i decided to go to bed at 10 and get up at 6, so that i could work for an hour or so, then take the train. at 10 something, k called me after months. when i hung up to go to sleep, d called me after days. when i hung up again it was past 11. pretty much 12. i woke up at 7.20, and it was raining. rain always delays the getting-out-of-bed process. got out of bed at 8.10, was showered and ready by 8.35. it was the 9.11 train i was to catch. this was at university ave, palo alto. i've only ever picked up people from there, never gone anyplace. but i couldn't possibly leave without tea, so i made some, packed my bag, debated on whether i should take the umbrella or not, and made the smarter decision (this was the smartest decision i've made in life i think, given how much of a burden it posed to me then). i carried the tea in my car (because 15 minutes to drink i did not have), and hoped for red lights so i'd be able to finish it before getting to the station. but i also hoped for green lights so i could make my train. after much confusion, i decided i'd just stop hoping, and that made things simpler. got to the train station at 9.08, yay! there was just enough time to get a ticket and make the train. but what about my car? :O :( with a sinking feeling (yes, i really felt the sink), i realized that this was the one link i had failed to consider last night, and felt like a miserable failure. i did see some parking spots, but it said "no public parking". i even debated in my head as to whether i counted as "public" or not. i mean, wouldn't one think of public being government-related? like public transportation, public schools, etc.? anyway, that was confusing. i saw buses inside and figured that meant they wanted me out :(. i went ahead, only to magically land on 82S. in another minute i could take a u-turn, but i would also miss my train. with a sigh, i kept going down 82S, and made some panic calls. it was d's turn to save the day, as he read out the caltrain schedule to me from the internet. made best sense to go to the cal ave station, where i could park in peace, and take the 9.37 train. this would only get me to the city at 10.41, but of course i had no choice. of course, if i had been smart enough to realize that the 9.11 train at university ave was also the 9.07 train at cal ave (which i could have made), life would indeed have been a whole lot rosier.
i proceeded to 220 college ave, parked my car, and headed for the train station. ran into s on the way, who showed little sympathy for the ordeal i had just been through. at least i knew how to get to the station this time. a and i have walked from the station to college many, many times now. so i got to the station. only, i needed to get to the other side. for the northbound train, that is. i couldn't see a bridge or anything, but i did see an underpass where bikers were emerging from. i felt good about figuring out that bit, and went down the underpass. came up the underpass, and felt like i was in another world altogether! it was almost like going down a tunnel, and coming up in the meadows, not kidding. i knew i was in the wrong place, and went down the underpass again. figured people would help me figure it out.
walked to the 'wrong side' of the train station, and asked a kindly looking lady how i could get to the other side. she didn't understand. i said i wanted to go to san francisco, not san jose, so i needed to get to the other side. she still didn't understand. finally when i asked if both trains came on the same track (that is technically possible, isn't it?) she understood, and told me we could just walk on the tracks and get to the other side. ha. just so simple. ha.
but i was fortunate to run into her. not just because she showed me how to buy a ticket from the machine - even if i was stumbling, i knew i'd eventually get it right :). but because she was marvelous company on the train ride up to millbrae (where she got off). her name's marlene, and she's of brazilian descent. she's been living in this area for ten years now, and has several indian friends. (she also thought i looked too young to be a graduate student. that's a lie, but it made me happy :).) she was warm and effusive, like all the brazilians i've ever met. she told me about her kids, and her husband, about her parents in brazil and how much she longs for brazil, and ways in which she doesn't. she told me how she'd love to visit home but for her fear of flying. she asked me what i was doing at stanford, and understood what i told her (which is so rare, that it warmed me to her even more). her husband just bought an olpc laptop to give for christmas, but she didn't know which country he had picked...
i'd have loved to get some reading done on the train. in fact, i had really looked forward to looking out of the train window, day-dreaming - it's been so long. but i'm happier to have met her, and to have her goodwill. and i know it will make me believe, for years from now, that brazilian people are warm and kind. who cares about half an hour of reading or day-dreaming instead.
after she left at millbrae, i was alone for about half an hour. not technically alone, because the train was filled with people, but by myself. i listened to neil halstead on my nano, and did some reading. ran into something that will form at least a page of my 8-page paper. perhaps i can then say my ride was productive as well.
it was a great feeling to reach the city - 4th & king. every time i'm in the city in the morning, i remember the days when n lived in the peninsula and i'd do monday morning commutes with her to the city, and then proceed to berkeley on the bart. every morning in the city reminds me of those monday mornings on market st. but there's enough in this post already, so i'll do the nostalgia some other time.
i felt i'd accomplished something when i spotted signs that said 4th and king. only, there was a long walk ahead - far longer than i'd imagined. i felt i'd walked for hours before i saw signs of market. thankfully a hadn't called yet, which was great, because i wasn't at the ai office yet. (i realized, as i walked, that i hadn't noted down the phone numbers for the ai office. nor had i written down the address. what if i didn't have my number memory? what then? no one could have gotten me the info from my laptop which i'd left home had i lost my way. i'd just have had to come back and then make another trip tomorrow. oh, the horror!) anyway, i reached the hearst building (#5, 3rd st.) at 11 something, huffing and puffing. the attendant didn't even wait for me to say anything, he just asked "air india office?". how's that for racial stereotyping (it's a large building with several offices, that's why)?
the air india office felt like india, and i tried hard to figure out why that was. the magazines were all over, for one. chairs sat randomly along the waiting area. there were binders sitting in the waiting area that really shouldn't have been there. there was no receptionist. there was no reception. just two large desks covered with papers haphazardly arranged. the walls just had air india posters, and an air india calendar. yeah, no wonder it felt like india. (oh, and how's that for stereotyping? :).
it took 20 minutes for zarine (i used to wish my name was zarine, when i was small) to issue me the ticket (15 minutes on 3 different calls, and 5 minutes on the ticket). a called to say he was still waiting on the dentist and maybe i should head back so i could make it to class on time. i was thinking "what? walk all that distance again to the station? are you out of your mind?". i told him that it was ok, i'd wait :).
i got out of the office and into the elevator, to find an elderly gentleman who made me look terribly unkempt :x. unfortunately, the elevator had a steel interior, and it was so clean that i could look at my reflection and feel that terrible! but i bet he would look the same if he walked from 4th & king to 3rd & market. so there :P.
since i had time to kill, and since i'd earlier spotted the sf moma shop everyone's always raving about, i rushed there. forget cafe, forget reading, forget all those things that could be done anytime, anywhere :). i liked the shop a lot, but felt that while it was a beautiful place to kill time at, it had little i could/would buy. as i looked at games and puzzles, i spotted a game called snatch. that, my friends, was the find of the day. the rules of snatch are identical to those of grab, for those of you who know what i'm talking about. and yes, it's now a registered game - produced by u.s. games (i didn't even know there was such a company). although i totally didn't need another set of tiles, i bought it to add to my game collection.
a called me to tell me he was done. two more blocks of walking, and i was at 2nd and howard, where i met him. we got indian food to-go from mehfil (trust a to know every desi restaurant in town... any town!). his car was parked at his apartment, which was another light year away. i did get to see his apartment though, and thought it was perfect. it's just the kind of apartment i'd like to live in - almost exactly, with a view of the bay in addition :).
i did think of taking my camera with me. as i'd planned things, i'd expected to have limitless time to take pictures of people walking up and down market, and the coffee shops, etc. thank god i did no such thing, or i'd have stressed myself sick about the water entering the camera, or about the pictures i wasn't going to be able to take because of the rain.
oh did i mention that it was raining *all* the time? all along the walk from 4th & king to 3rd & market. then on the walk to sfmoma, to 2nd & howard, and 1st & bryant. boy what a relief to get into a's car and forget about the umbrella for once.
the ride back was great. i ate my sumptuous meal from mehfil, talked to a when he could spare time from his conference call. (he was half listening, half talking to me, all along. there were 5 other people on the call, and a was a muted listener.) he dropped me off at my car and i rushed to my last class of the quarter, 45 minutes late.
phew. i'm done. that was the adventure for the day. though it's only 4.30 now. who knows what the evening might bring?
this is what happened: i decided to go to bed at 10 and get up at 6, so that i could work for an hour or so, then take the train. at 10 something, k called me after months. when i hung up to go to sleep, d called me after days. when i hung up again it was past 11. pretty much 12. i woke up at 7.20, and it was raining. rain always delays the getting-out-of-bed process. got out of bed at 8.10, was showered and ready by 8.35. it was the 9.11 train i was to catch. this was at university ave, palo alto. i've only ever picked up people from there, never gone anyplace. but i couldn't possibly leave without tea, so i made some, packed my bag, debated on whether i should take the umbrella or not, and made the smarter decision (this was the smartest decision i've made in life i think, given how much of a burden it posed to me then). i carried the tea in my car (because 15 minutes to drink i did not have), and hoped for red lights so i'd be able to finish it before getting to the station. but i also hoped for green lights so i could make my train. after much confusion, i decided i'd just stop hoping, and that made things simpler. got to the train station at 9.08, yay! there was just enough time to get a ticket and make the train. but what about my car? :O :( with a sinking feeling (yes, i really felt the sink), i realized that this was the one link i had failed to consider last night, and felt like a miserable failure. i did see some parking spots, but it said "no public parking". i even debated in my head as to whether i counted as "public" or not. i mean, wouldn't one think of public being government-related? like public transportation, public schools, etc.? anyway, that was confusing. i saw buses inside and figured that meant they wanted me out :(. i went ahead, only to magically land on 82S. in another minute i could take a u-turn, but i would also miss my train. with a sigh, i kept going down 82S, and made some panic calls. it was d's turn to save the day, as he read out the caltrain schedule to me from the internet. made best sense to go to the cal ave station, where i could park in peace, and take the 9.37 train. this would only get me to the city at 10.41, but of course i had no choice. of course, if i had been smart enough to realize that the 9.11 train at university ave was also the 9.07 train at cal ave (which i could have made), life would indeed have been a whole lot rosier.
i proceeded to 220 college ave, parked my car, and headed for the train station. ran into s on the way, who showed little sympathy for the ordeal i had just been through. at least i knew how to get to the station this time. a and i have walked from the station to college many, many times now. so i got to the station. only, i needed to get to the other side. for the northbound train, that is. i couldn't see a bridge or anything, but i did see an underpass where bikers were emerging from. i felt good about figuring out that bit, and went down the underpass. came up the underpass, and felt like i was in another world altogether! it was almost like going down a tunnel, and coming up in the meadows, not kidding. i knew i was in the wrong place, and went down the underpass again. figured people would help me figure it out.
walked to the 'wrong side' of the train station, and asked a kindly looking lady how i could get to the other side. she didn't understand. i said i wanted to go to san francisco, not san jose, so i needed to get to the other side. she still didn't understand. finally when i asked if both trains came on the same track (that is technically possible, isn't it?) she understood, and told me we could just walk on the tracks and get to the other side. ha. just so simple. ha.
but i was fortunate to run into her. not just because she showed me how to buy a ticket from the machine - even if i was stumbling, i knew i'd eventually get it right :). but because she was marvelous company on the train ride up to millbrae (where she got off). her name's marlene, and she's of brazilian descent. she's been living in this area for ten years now, and has several indian friends. (she also thought i looked too young to be a graduate student. that's a lie, but it made me happy :).) she was warm and effusive, like all the brazilians i've ever met. she told me about her kids, and her husband, about her parents in brazil and how much she longs for brazil, and ways in which she doesn't. she told me how she'd love to visit home but for her fear of flying. she asked me what i was doing at stanford, and understood what i told her (which is so rare, that it warmed me to her even more). her husband just bought an olpc laptop to give for christmas, but she didn't know which country he had picked...
i'd have loved to get some reading done on the train. in fact, i had really looked forward to looking out of the train window, day-dreaming - it's been so long. but i'm happier to have met her, and to have her goodwill. and i know it will make me believe, for years from now, that brazilian people are warm and kind. who cares about half an hour of reading or day-dreaming instead.
after she left at millbrae, i was alone for about half an hour. not technically alone, because the train was filled with people, but by myself. i listened to neil halstead on my nano, and did some reading. ran into something that will form at least a page of my 8-page paper. perhaps i can then say my ride was productive as well.
it was a great feeling to reach the city - 4th & king. every time i'm in the city in the morning, i remember the days when n lived in the peninsula and i'd do monday morning commutes with her to the city, and then proceed to berkeley on the bart. every morning in the city reminds me of those monday mornings on market st. but there's enough in this post already, so i'll do the nostalgia some other time.
i felt i'd accomplished something when i spotted signs that said 4th and king. only, there was a long walk ahead - far longer than i'd imagined. i felt i'd walked for hours before i saw signs of market. thankfully a hadn't called yet, which was great, because i wasn't at the ai office yet. (i realized, as i walked, that i hadn't noted down the phone numbers for the ai office. nor had i written down the address. what if i didn't have my number memory? what then? no one could have gotten me the info from my laptop which i'd left home had i lost my way. i'd just have had to come back and then make another trip tomorrow. oh, the horror!) anyway, i reached the hearst building (#5, 3rd st.) at 11 something, huffing and puffing. the attendant didn't even wait for me to say anything, he just asked "air india office?". how's that for racial stereotyping (it's a large building with several offices, that's why)?
the air india office felt like india, and i tried hard to figure out why that was. the magazines were all over, for one. chairs sat randomly along the waiting area. there were binders sitting in the waiting area that really shouldn't have been there. there was no receptionist. there was no reception. just two large desks covered with papers haphazardly arranged. the walls just had air india posters, and an air india calendar. yeah, no wonder it felt like india. (oh, and how's that for stereotyping? :).
it took 20 minutes for zarine (i used to wish my name was zarine, when i was small) to issue me the ticket (15 minutes on 3 different calls, and 5 minutes on the ticket). a called to say he was still waiting on the dentist and maybe i should head back so i could make it to class on time. i was thinking "what? walk all that distance again to the station? are you out of your mind?". i told him that it was ok, i'd wait :).
i got out of the office and into the elevator, to find an elderly gentleman who made me look terribly unkempt :x. unfortunately, the elevator had a steel interior, and it was so clean that i could look at my reflection and feel that terrible! but i bet he would look the same if he walked from 4th & king to 3rd & market. so there :P.
since i had time to kill, and since i'd earlier spotted the sf moma shop everyone's always raving about, i rushed there. forget cafe, forget reading, forget all those things that could be done anytime, anywhere :). i liked the shop a lot, but felt that while it was a beautiful place to kill time at, it had little i could/would buy. as i looked at games and puzzles, i spotted a game called snatch. that, my friends, was the find of the day. the rules of snatch are identical to those of grab, for those of you who know what i'm talking about. and yes, it's now a registered game - produced by u.s. games (i didn't even know there was such a company). although i totally didn't need another set of tiles, i bought it to add to my game collection.
a called me to tell me he was done. two more blocks of walking, and i was at 2nd and howard, where i met him. we got indian food to-go from mehfil (trust a to know every desi restaurant in town... any town!). his car was parked at his apartment, which was another light year away. i did get to see his apartment though, and thought it was perfect. it's just the kind of apartment i'd like to live in - almost exactly, with a view of the bay in addition :).
i did think of taking my camera with me. as i'd planned things, i'd expected to have limitless time to take pictures of people walking up and down market, and the coffee shops, etc. thank god i did no such thing, or i'd have stressed myself sick about the water entering the camera, or about the pictures i wasn't going to be able to take because of the rain.
oh did i mention that it was raining *all* the time? all along the walk from 4th & king to 3rd & market. then on the walk to sfmoma, to 2nd & howard, and 1st & bryant. boy what a relief to get into a's car and forget about the umbrella for once.
the ride back was great. i ate my sumptuous meal from mehfil, talked to a when he could spare time from his conference call. (he was half listening, half talking to me, all along. there were 5 other people on the call, and a was a muted listener.) he dropped me off at my car and i rushed to my last class of the quarter, 45 minutes late.
phew. i'm done. that was the adventure for the day. though it's only 4.30 now. who knows what the evening might bring?
No comments:
Post a Comment