Here is the long-awaited update on my official, boring IT job and the Blackberry (BB) that came along with it. Basically, I was just instructed to stay “in the vicinity” of where the teleconference classes were being held (i.e. within a short walking distance), and carry about my normal business until I got a call on the BB asking for technology help (which hardly ever came). In the meantime, I would (in decreasing order of truthiness):
Surf the net on the BB while sitting in lab…
Take pictures with the BB at the campus art museum…
Read emails while playing on the pianos in KU’s practice rooms…
Keep tabs on the BB while playing volleyball at the Rec Center…
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Text friends while driving through countryside farmland…
And check emails while riding up the ski lift…
Needless to say, it was a worthwhile job.
Unfortunately, after a year of service, I was essentially "laid off". Not, mind you, because of improper use of the BB in Colorado, nor was it due to actual performance issues, nor even was it due to the recession (although that would have made a better story). In fact, I think the university finally figured out that my position was really just a superfluous, overpaid, underworked, marginally useful load of bureaucratic excess.
So my good friend Emery decided to get married in California, which was an excellent excuse to take another trip back home. This time my buddy Thomas Kuhn and I decided to make a road trip of it. For those who don’t know who Thomas Kuhn is, here we are together standing in a tree (he’s the one on the left).
We had a lot of fun adventures on the way. For the first thirty or so hours we took turns driving and sleeping. This got us through quickly enough to arrive at the Grand Canyon for sunrise, which was very nice. Also on the horizon at that point were the moon and Venus sitting right next to each other, which was pretty cool (although difficult to see in the picture).
Not far from the Grand Canyon we (by we I mean Thomas) were pulled over by an Arizona cop. Here are a few of the exciting things which ensued:
-A warning for “following too closely”
-A warning for incorrectly mounting the GPS device
-A litany of questions regarding our trip (directed at Thomas)
-A litany of questions regarding past drug use (directed at Thomas)
-A litany of questions regarding our trip (directed at me)
-A litany of questions regarding past drug use (directed at me)
-Frisking of Thomas and me on the side of the road
-Searching of the car for drugs by his dog
-Manual search of the car by the cop
-Near-identical repetition of the same exact questions (see items 3-6)
-Release upon satisfactory inspection
-Realization that the cop left with Thomas’ vehicle registration
-20 minutes spent trying to get a hold of the sheriff’s office (after repeated dropped calls)
-Return of the registration by the same cop, with scarcely an apology
We finally set up camp and rested at SequoiaNational Park. We spent about two days there, and it was a very nice time. The weather was beautiful, the trees were huge, and the crowds were light. In addition, Thomas is somewhat of a hydro-phile, which meant that we would stop at essentially every possible water feature, whether it was a river, lake, waterfall, stream, different fork of the same river, or a little ditch with stagnant water and maggots in it.
Eventually we made it to Bakersfield, where we were able to take a shower. Oh, and there was also a wedding. It was beautiful, and I had a great time there.
Also, before I left I had a chance to say a belated happy birthday to my dad, and a premature happy (50th!) birthday to my mom. She explicitly mentioned including the following picture on my website. Or did she mention not including it? It’s hard to remember such detail.
