After formulating omeletation for Tony and myself and partaking in the ingestion of such, I was spirited to the Cleveland airport by “Evil” Nathan (Kossover, to be contrasted with “Good” Nathan Arthur), where I managed to catch my 9:51 AM flight to Pittsburgh. Good thing, too, or the weekend would have been a lot less interesting.
The layover in Pittsburgh was a tad too long to sit and wait it out. At least, I was pretty sure it was — I couldn't find any clocks in the terminal! Searching for a way to pass the time, I played an arcade game called HydroThunder (also available at BS&G, to the right of Crazy Taxi). I accidentally selected “Extra Hard” mode and found myself in deep trouble, attempting to navigate the canals of Venice. For the most part, I sucked. So I sat back down at the gate and, as I am wont to do, let my mind wander.
Three years ago, as a high school senior, I'd flown to Pittsburgh for an interview at Carnegie Mellon University. I'd visited the campus that past summer with my family and was smitten. Plus, their computer science department is pretty decent. So when I returned in January 1998 for the interview, I was already convinced; all the interview had to do was not suck. Naturally, it was fantastic. David Unruh of the admissions department was more personable than interviewers from other colleges, and asked sharper questions. Walking out of his office, I felt that he was a neat guy who'd done his job tremendously well — and that I was going to Carnegie Mellon. The CMU football coach even expressed interest in having me play for the team. No college vying for my attendance could have seemed more perfect.
Yet I ended up at Case Western. What happened?
- money — CWRU cost less to begin with, and offered a larger scholarship. (CMU offered the largest scholarship they had, but it was significantly smaller than CWRU's.) The difference would have totaled $40,000 out of my pocket over four years.
- music — CWRU offered me admission as a music major, plus lessons and the use of facilities at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
It became decreasingly obvious once I got started there. I couldn't register for the first-semester introductory computer programming class: it was full. The courses I did manage to take generally covered material with which I was already familiar, or were dull on their own merits. I stopped taking piano lessons at CIM because the teacher was extremely not good. I lost my merit scholarship due to poor academic performance. (I might have retained the smaller scholarship at CMU, where the requirements were not as stringent.)
It hurt. I spent a lazy summer doing nothing but playing Ultimate and learning Unix. Then I moved in at Phi Kappa Theta. Then I started working at OhioOnline. Eventually, I re-enrolled at CWRU and took two more courses. Sometimes I wonder how things might have turned out if I'd followed my gut to CMU. Maybe I'd have learned more as a student in their School of Computer Science. More likely, I'd have done poorly there too. And I'm glad to have ended up here, doing what I am doing, learning what I am learning, growing as I have grown.
OhioOnline has been the catalyst for much of this. Some tools and technologies I've learned about: IRIX, AOLserver, Windows, PC hardware, Lotus Notes, Perl. Some toys I've played with: SGI O2 workstation, Toshiba laptop, pager. I went on a business trip at age 19, flying in first class, enjoying an excellent beer (Henry Weinhard's Porter) while the middle-aged man seated next to me imparted career advice. I brought OpenBSD into the consciousness of what had been a Linux- and IRIX-centric company. I even inspired a minor comic strip. And, thanks to OhioOnline's generosity, I found my way back to school. I can think of no better way to have spent the year. I've grown immensely. But I am ready to move on. I have not been intellectually challenged here in some time. I need a new challenge.
It ought to go without saying that Cleveland was never part of my life's plans. I came here to study, not to work — and definitely not to live. Since I've forfeited the possibility of studying inexpensively at a top-notch university, my work must come first. The best job for me is the one in which I can learn the most and solve the most interesting problems. Wherever such a job may be found, then, I will go: Boston, San Francisco, anywhere. Annie once suggested Europe; I was incredulous then, but I understand now. Apple Computer has an office in France…
The flight to Boston commenced boarding not a moment too soon. The airport conversations humming around me (”Is that your pet hamster? Oh, it's not a hamster? What is it then?”) had just begun to make my daydreaming difficult.
From Logan, I hopped on a shuttle bus to the Blue Line of the “T” (Boston's subway). Got off downtown at Government Center to switch to the Green Line, of which there are five (5) varieties; Green Line B was the right one. Finally, exited at “Boston University Central”. At this point, Amit of the Daily Jolt had suggested that I take a cab to the hotel, because the walk would be a bit long and I might have trouble finding it. But I wasn't so sure I wanted to spend my hard-earned money that way, especially not when two pretty girls offered to walk with me in the direction of the Hyatt Regency Cambridge. The conversation was entertaining during what proved to be a short walk (topics: rat malnutrition, monkey cholesterol, high blood pressure, how not to get carded when ordering alcohol, what to see in Boston), and I had no problems finding the hotel.
I checked in just after 3:00, Standard Hotel Check-In Time. My room was on the 15th floor of a 15-floor hotel. The room had a balcony overlooking the Charles River and downtown Boston. Even if I were not predisposed to see the best of any situation, it would have been hard for me not to feel extraordinary satisfaction at this moment. I know what success I can and will have in my life; the occasional tangible reminder simply lends immediacy to a feeling that usually remains abstract.
I checked in with Amit; Mike's flight from New York was running late. With at least two hours to myself, I called my parents to say “Hello, I am in a nice hotel in Boston and extremely happy”. My aunt Aya and uncle Rami live in the Boston area, so I called Rami, but Aya had stepped out. Two relaxed hours later, when Mike and Amit arrived at my door, I'd taken a nice Hyatt shower and a Regency nap. Naps are good. More people should take more naps.
We went to Harvard Square in search of dinner and found Yenching, one of at least two area restaurants strangely adorned with a backlit sign stating “Chinese Cuisine”. Over dinner, we talked business. Since I've already done free work for them and they know what I can do, I mainly interviewed them: What's the business plan? When and where will there be an office? When could I start getting paid? Would you run OpenBSD on your servers? And so forth. I felt quite comfortable with them and satisfied with their responses. As a knowledgable techie at a small company, I would exert some influence over important technical decisions. This is exciting.
After dinner, we went to see Man on the Moon. On the way there, confused about where the heck we were supposed to be going (none of us knew the area at all well), Amit changed lanes into another vehicle. Amazingly, the other guy decided it was just a scratch and let it go. The movie was fascinating. I want to learn more about Andy Kaufman.
Not yet quite completely exhausted, Amit and Mike gave me a basic tour of the PHP code for the Jolt, and I showed them the PHP and Perl that drives home.ooi.net and schmonz.com. Then we were completely exhausted.
I fell asleep rather easily, my brain full of every possible happy thought in the entire universe.