I think that I'm going to pursue a new strategy of thought page updates: smaller and faster. No more monolithic, gargantuan pages that take months to get released. Rather, I'm going for small thoughts that get updated frequently, a la Eric Mao. Danny, take note! =)
Today, I was up in SF for an final-round interview with a well-known consulting firm. I won't say _which_ firm, on the off chance some rival company is reading this web page, but let's just say that a FiCS alum or alumna with a German last name is working there currently. =)
Now, a bit of background information. A fact little known, but probably known to most readers of Deep Thoughts is that I have no driver's license. There's no reason why I can't have one -- no physical disability or anything, it's that I'm just too lazy. I guess I never really had a need to drive for most of high school, with my parents able to drive me the few times that I need to.
Of course now, with my need for mobility more, I feel a greater need to join my freewheelin' friends. Well, expect great things soon. =) Like before the end of the millenium. But, right now, I'm sort of living a symbiotic relationship with Keith -- I help him with CS, he drives me around. I think that it's a win/win deal, since I like CS, and Keith I'm pretty sure derives a lot of pleasure by driving his BMW around. I don't know about CH, though, since his Saturn is a bit more mundane, but judgding by the number of speeding tickets he's gotten, I think he gets his fun too.
Anyways, today, since I didn't want them to drive me all the way up to SF, I tried the poor man's solution -- Margurite+CalTrain. So, bright and early around 10 AM, I took the Margurite B line from the stop at Escondido/Campus Drive to the CalTrain station, and CalTrained up to SF for $3. Then, it was a leisurely half hour walk to the firm. I think that it actually works out better than driving, in terms of gas costs!
So basically, I was in SF all day on the company's pocketbook, and I'll write my thoughts on that later here. We basically had lunch, did the real meaty stuff, and afterwards, had a big dinner bash at the Waterfront restaurant, next to Pier 7. Wine was flowing liberally, and we were just generatlly being pampered, schmoozing with everyone. Of course, we were pretty much brain-dead from the day. I did get to see the aforementioned ex-FiCSter working there, and we chatted for a bit which was a little highlight. =)
After we got done, I walked back to the CalTrain. Walking in downtown SF, I've rediscovered is so fun and potentially distracting as well. I hung out at the Metreon for a while, checked out the latest PlayStation games, browsed a bunch of stores, and just wasted my time after that huge dinner. I eventually arrive at the Caltrain station. The time: 10:08 PM. I had neglected to check the schedule -- for had I done so, I would have noticed that after the 10:00 train leaves, the next one isn't until 11:59 PM! =P My fun along the way proved to be a bane.
I wasn't going ot hang out for two hours, so I opened the phone book, called up some taxi services, asking them if they could drive me down all the way to Stanford. They said yes, and gave me a price: $95?!?!? Screw this, I thought mentally, and almost verbally over the phone as well.
Instead, I took the taxi to SFO for about $25, and then from there, an airport shuttle directly to my door at Stanford for about $19! Ha! I think I could have saved even *more* money by calling up a shuttle to pick me up from the Caltrain station to SFO as well! =)
Not as cost-efficient of course as Caltrain/Marguerite, but I'm still psyched about this secret cost-saving measure I found. So, should you ever find yourself carless in SF, without the salvation of CalTrain, never underestimate the hidden uses of the lowly airport shuttle service! That's my word of wisdom for the day!
It's all on the firm's bill anyways. That's one thing that you can't do with a startup. =)