Welcome Back to the Rat Race

We are back in the states for a while. It is funny how you come back to Silicon Valley, and BAM – instantly you are in the old routines (see photo). Our morning coffee discussions of travel and restaurants to visit that week in London became noses down in our computers checking emails, barely speaking. The surrounding conversations went from sight-seeing itineraries in eight languages to CPMs and business financing. Weird.

No talking, just working. That guy is checking Dave out, see that.

In any case, it has been fun being here. I miss coworkers so much working in my basement apartment alone and all……it was great to see them. We also went hiking in Big Basin, in the rain but it was worth it. We never really went there all that often before because dogs weren’t allowed (poor Witty Sam) and hiking without the dog was unfathomable. Despite the rain and no dog, a lovely time was had by all.

 

Raining.

 

Tree, big tree.

 

Raining some more.

Douche.

 

Not a CTS, it's a rough-skinned newt (thanks L.B.).

Sunday of course was the game, the infamous game, which I watched with peeps in Los Gatos. Every second of the evening reminded me how lucky I am to have known these friends for the better part of 10 years, holy crap - feeling old.

At the end of the night, I was the only sober figure it seemed so I volunteered to drive some friends and their cars home. It’s a long, complicated story involving the fact that I left my cute but heavy purse in London and was using a green plastic grocery bag as a purse. Worried about what the LG crowd at the bars would think of a woman walking around with a grocery-bag-as-purse ensemble, I locked the purse (including my wallet and hotel room key) in the glove compartment of our glorious Chevy Aveo rental car – where they would be safe.

Right, it’s the end of the night, and everyone is driven home safely. Brilliant. I was ready to drive back to PA and go to bed. Except shit, double shit my rental car keys were not in my jacket pocket where they had been all night. OK they must have fallen out of my pocket at the bar. E.S. (the angelic wife of one of the drunken friends I drove home) drove me back to the bar. Shit again, the bar was closed. I have no car key, no phone, no wallet, it just started raining, I am jetlagged, and about to cry. Luckily E.S. is a stalwart of rationality and calmness. We called her husband to see if maybe the keys fell out of my pocket in the car that I had previously driven to their house, and guess what HE FOUND THEM IN THE CAR SITTING RIGHT THERE ON THE SEAT. So after a bit of a rigmarole, and E.S. driving me around, I finally made it back to PA safely. Good lord.

Oh man it is going to be a long game.

 

And it is going to get ugly.