First of all, apologies for the lack of updates over the past few weeks, I've been busy with a product launch and doing a bit of work-related travel, so I haven't had a chance to sit down and polish off any of posts. However, things are starting to settle down, and I have a bunch of new posts in the pipeline at various levels of readiness, so watch for those over the coming week.
Human beings didn’t become the dominant lifeforms on the planet by being rigid and inflexible in the face of change. We’re able to adapt, when we receive similar stimuli over and over again, we react to it more and more efficiently and effectively each time. Naturally, these stimuli come in an endless procession, in innumerable forms. On a physical, nearly tangible level, repeated stresses on our bodies build muscle mass so that we’re better equipped to handle these stresses in the future. Biologically, our bodies learn to handle repeated threats by developing antigens after the first encounter. Socially, we modify our habits to fit in with our habitats. When we uproot our lives and move to other locations we learn local customs over time, and our interactions with our environment become more fluid over time. My situation is no different, and I’m definitely noticing the ways I’ve adjusted, both consciously and unconsciously, to my environment.
I knew the day would come eventually. In one of my first posts, I mentioned a guy who was doing something similar to what I’m doing now. His observation was that security personnel at these large companies doesn’t care how insane you are if you work at the company and aren’t hurting anyone. Last night, I had my first run in with company security. What follows is my experience.
It’s almost 1 am, I just got out of a movie with a few friends. The movie was mediocre at best, certainly nothing special. I drive my house back to my usual parking place at the edge of a company lot, as I normally do. I grab my bag of toiletries and head into a nearby building to brush my teeth and wash my face. As I walk out, I pass a security car. They linger for a minute, and then drive off. I don’t think much of it. After a short traipse across the lot, I hop into my car, put on my pajamas, and go to sleep.
…or at least drive Class B vehicles. Also, as it turns out, licenses have a lot of personal information on them, and I’ve done my darnedest to remove any fun details, like where I “live”.
Anyways, I’ve finally done it. For those who don’t understand why this is exciting for me, let me give you a bit of background.
I drove buses in college. It was the highest-paying job on campus, which is what initially drew me towards it. But it was the flexibility, fun coworkers, and quick promotion to programmer that kept me there. The deal was that they’d pay you while training you to get your CDL license, and in return you’d drive for them for a few semesters at the very least, which as I mentioned in this post, is a pretty sweet deal. So I did my shtick driving buses and writing code for them for four years while I pursued higher education. Overall it was a good time, I definitely recommend it.
One problem that you wouldn’t expect to have in a truck is losing things. It’s a single, small, essentially square room. There are no doors, closets, nooks, crannies, trap doors, false floors, drop ceilings, or hiding places to speak of. Everything should be well accounted for. In spite of this, I’ve managed to lose the following items, most of which I acquired on my first trip to Home Depot.
I’ve spent an obscene amount of time racking my brain over where these things could have possibly gone, checking every crevice and corner and drawer (all four of them). Nothing within the realm of logic and reason can produce an explanation as to what has happened to my various belongs. It’s not like they all vanished at once either. They’re being picked off one by one, like they’re all characters in a horror movie, being tormented by a killer of inanimate objects. Naturally I don’t notice their absence until I need them, the perfectly inopportune time.
