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Okay, I suppose it's about time I actually wrote up this summary of what all happened last Wednesday. I had something written up last Friday, but then the program I was using crashed before I'd gotten a chance to save anything. Here's hoping I can get the gist of what happened written down as nicely as I can.
My plan was to use various text messages I'd sent to my dad during the day as something like section headers; this is mostly so I can extend my experience as a writer, but also because they actually divided the day quite well. I hope it doesn't make things too terribly confusing.
Ocean in view! O! The joy!
The morning of Wednesday, January 19, I woke up pretty much as I'd expected to; the night before, still charged by the amazing interview and fun I'd had wandering Mountain View, I'd stayed up rather late, so I didn't wake up until around noon PST. This didn't conflict too much with my plans, as I really didn't have much formulated at the time, so I actually spent much of the following hour relaxing. As 1pm rolled around however, I recognized that I needed to get out if I wanted to actually do any exploring before the sun set.
I set off Northward from the hostel, pretty much planning at the time to follow Mason St up to Green, swing by the Club Fugazi - the venue of the musical revue show I'd been invited to audition for should I have been able to stay through to the weekend - just to see what it looked like, then make my way up to perhaps Lombard Street before returning.
Very shortly, I realized this was a horrible mistake. While the scenery and architecture I encountered were both phenomenal, being handicapped as I was, the incredible inclines of this road in particular were almost more than I could handle. Several times, I had to stop against a tree or pole just to rest before continuing. At the time, I contemplated taking a picture such that the road would appear level while all the houses were at the insane incline; however, I eventually decided not to do that.
Finally at the top of what I now know was Nob Hill, I stood, agape, at the corner of the original Fairmont Hotel. It was quite a sight to behold, to be sure, and was most obviously the sort of establishment I would never have the good graces to be capable of staying in for longer than an hour. Still, it was a lovely building amongst lovely buildings, and the sight alone was worth it.
As I began descending, I realized that this action was a very bad idea; almost as steep as it had been going up, the descent was every bit as strenuous on my legs. Still, I managed, and while it was about as steep, it wasn't nearly as long an incline, or at least so steep for so long. I managed to make it to Green St with little incident, quickly making my way over to the Club Fugazi to snap a photo.
From there, I decided to follow Powell St down to Columbus St, which I'd planned to just follow to Lombard. While this is pretty much what happened, I stopped short of the infamous curvy part of the road, pondering at the intersection of Lombard and Taylor. Now, admittedly a large part of my halting here had to do with the climb; I was not looking forward to hiking up another massive hill like that just to get a closer look at a bunch of switchbacks. Additionally, I reasoned, I was this close to the ocean; what kind of a waste would it be if I didn't at least go out to see it? This argument won out, and instead of climbing Lombard, I turned right onto Taylor and walked leisurely out to Fisherman's Wharf. As I finally made it past the incredible array of tourist traps and arrived at the mouth of the bay, I sent the message to my dad, what I thought might be an obvious homage to the Lewis and Clark expidition. He didn't get it.
Coin-operated arcade museum, at it right now
Having basically hiked across the city of San Francisco and not really eaten much of anything, I decided this might be as good a place as any to grab some lunch. I stopped in a little 7-Eleven, grabbed some food, and wandered out onto the pier, taking a seat on a bench. I enjoyed my meager meal looking out over the Bay, watching a number of birds fighting over a large sampling of bread someone else had thrown out onto the ground. Having never really been to the area before - I'd traveled to San Jose in the past, but that was a very different location comparatively; additionally, I may have been there when I was traveling with my grandparents and aunt when I was ten, but I do not recall that specificity - I wasn't sure what all there was in the way of wildlife, nor did I know such fauna's patterns with regards to the seasons; as such, I tried to keep my eyes open for pretty much anything I could find.
After finishing my food, I wandered out onto Pier 45; it was relatively close, open to the public, and had a pair of interesting vessels docked to it. The first was the U.S.S. Palanito, a submarine that had been in US military service during WW2; at the time I was there, there was a crew clearing off some surface rust that had accumulated in one of the seams towards the front of the sub. Behind it was another whose name I have forgotten; it was a full-fledged battleship. In the distance was Alcatraz Island, a rather stunning sight practically by itself in the middle of so much water.
To the other side of the path I happened to be on were a number of buildings, obviously having at least at one time been fish packing facilities. The one closest to both me and the shore happened to have been re-appropriated as a museum, the Musee Mechanique. I decided to check the place out; at the very least, admission was free and it was something to do.
This was obviously the correct choice. The place turned out to be a museum for coin-operated arcade machines, some of their displayed units dating as far back as the turn of the century all the way up through modern video game systems. At the time, I felt this might be the high-point of my day. I wandered around, looking at the various apparatuses and watching as folks put coins in some, curious as to what they did. I was actually lucky enough to catch the curator of the museum fixing up one of their older machines, a music box that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire. All in all, it was a very fun experience and I'd love to go again when I have some actual money.
At this point, I'm going to stop; I'm incredibly tired and would like to get some sleep. I'll likely finish when I wake up.
I still haven't heard from that company, so I'm crossing my fingers they'll contact me later today at some point. I sent them a follow-up email yesterday, mostly to make sure they actually got the form they needed (Gmail has been dropping an astonishing number of emails from me lately) but also to thank them for actually taking the time to interview me in the first place. Hopefully, they just haven't gotten the results of the background check back yet. Honestly, at this point I'm pretty confident that they're going to offer me the job; however, the wait is beginning to wear at me, and I'm admittedly getting pretty nervous and anxious. ^^;
My plan was to use various text messages I'd sent to my dad during the day as something like section headers; this is mostly so I can extend my experience as a writer, but also because they actually divided the day quite well. I hope it doesn't make things too terribly confusing.
Ocean in view! O! The joy!
The morning of Wednesday, January 19, I woke up pretty much as I'd expected to; the night before, still charged by the amazing interview and fun I'd had wandering Mountain View, I'd stayed up rather late, so I didn't wake up until around noon PST. This didn't conflict too much with my plans, as I really didn't have much formulated at the time, so I actually spent much of the following hour relaxing. As 1pm rolled around however, I recognized that I needed to get out if I wanted to actually do any exploring before the sun set.
I set off Northward from the hostel, pretty much planning at the time to follow Mason St up to Green, swing by the Club Fugazi - the venue of the musical revue show I'd been invited to audition for should I have been able to stay through to the weekend - just to see what it looked like, then make my way up to perhaps Lombard Street before returning.
Very shortly, I realized this was a horrible mistake. While the scenery and architecture I encountered were both phenomenal, being handicapped as I was, the incredible inclines of this road in particular were almost more than I could handle. Several times, I had to stop against a tree or pole just to rest before continuing. At the time, I contemplated taking a picture such that the road would appear level while all the houses were at the insane incline; however, I eventually decided not to do that.
Finally at the top of what I now know was Nob Hill, I stood, agape, at the corner of the original Fairmont Hotel. It was quite a sight to behold, to be sure, and was most obviously the sort of establishment I would never have the good graces to be capable of staying in for longer than an hour. Still, it was a lovely building amongst lovely buildings, and the sight alone was worth it.
As I began descending, I realized that this action was a very bad idea; almost as steep as it had been going up, the descent was every bit as strenuous on my legs. Still, I managed, and while it was about as steep, it wasn't nearly as long an incline, or at least so steep for so long. I managed to make it to Green St with little incident, quickly making my way over to the Club Fugazi to snap a photo.
From there, I decided to follow Powell St down to Columbus St, which I'd planned to just follow to Lombard. While this is pretty much what happened, I stopped short of the infamous curvy part of the road, pondering at the intersection of Lombard and Taylor. Now, admittedly a large part of my halting here had to do with the climb; I was not looking forward to hiking up another massive hill like that just to get a closer look at a bunch of switchbacks. Additionally, I reasoned, I was this close to the ocean; what kind of a waste would it be if I didn't at least go out to see it? This argument won out, and instead of climbing Lombard, I turned right onto Taylor and walked leisurely out to Fisherman's Wharf. As I finally made it past the incredible array of tourist traps and arrived at the mouth of the bay, I sent the message to my dad, what I thought might be an obvious homage to the Lewis and Clark expidition. He didn't get it.
Coin-operated arcade museum, at it right now
Having basically hiked across the city of San Francisco and not really eaten much of anything, I decided this might be as good a place as any to grab some lunch. I stopped in a little 7-Eleven, grabbed some food, and wandered out onto the pier, taking a seat on a bench. I enjoyed my meager meal looking out over the Bay, watching a number of birds fighting over a large sampling of bread someone else had thrown out onto the ground. Having never really been to the area before - I'd traveled to San Jose in the past, but that was a very different location comparatively; additionally, I may have been there when I was traveling with my grandparents and aunt when I was ten, but I do not recall that specificity - I wasn't sure what all there was in the way of wildlife, nor did I know such fauna's patterns with regards to the seasons; as such, I tried to keep my eyes open for pretty much anything I could find.
After finishing my food, I wandered out onto Pier 45; it was relatively close, open to the public, and had a pair of interesting vessels docked to it. The first was the U.S.S. Palanito, a submarine that had been in US military service during WW2; at the time I was there, there was a crew clearing off some surface rust that had accumulated in one of the seams towards the front of the sub. Behind it was another whose name I have forgotten; it was a full-fledged battleship. In the distance was Alcatraz Island, a rather stunning sight practically by itself in the middle of so much water.
To the other side of the path I happened to be on were a number of buildings, obviously having at least at one time been fish packing facilities. The one closest to both me and the shore happened to have been re-appropriated as a museum, the Musee Mechanique. I decided to check the place out; at the very least, admission was free and it was something to do.
This was obviously the correct choice. The place turned out to be a museum for coin-operated arcade machines, some of their displayed units dating as far back as the turn of the century all the way up through modern video game systems. At the time, I felt this might be the high-point of my day. I wandered around, looking at the various apparatuses and watching as folks put coins in some, curious as to what they did. I was actually lucky enough to catch the curator of the museum fixing up one of their older machines, a music box that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire. All in all, it was a very fun experience and I'd love to go again when I have some actual money.
At this point, I'm going to stop; I'm incredibly tired and would like to get some sleep. I'll likely finish when I wake up.
I still haven't heard from that company, so I'm crossing my fingers they'll contact me later today at some point. I sent them a follow-up email yesterday, mostly to make sure they actually got the form they needed (Gmail has been dropping an astonishing number of emails from me lately) but also to thank them for actually taking the time to interview me in the first place. Hopefully, they just haven't gotten the results of the background check back yet. Honestly, at this point I'm pretty confident that they're going to offer me the job; however, the wait is beginning to wear at me, and I'm admittedly getting pretty nervous and anxious. ^^;
