Alexander Mendez

My Tuesday afternoon began like most Tuesday afternoons these days.  Journal club for lunch, some finishing up of plots, or questions, or other researchy things leading to the weekly research meeting.   This week, I have started to push into reading more papers, and working at the science for all of this data that I have, which is quite different than the semi mindless task of making plots.  I have started to enjoy research more, even though it is now getting scary and hard.   The meeting went quite long, I had many questions about the papers, along with James as well getting to a point with questions as well for the primus data pipeline and the sort.   John has been pushing data around, and doing calibrations, all of which at times go way above my head.  Quite interesting stuff none the less.   With all of my questions about the paper answered, I returned to the third floor to find that I had missed the paper discussion nearly concluded, and Marc just discussing spiral galaxies.   He also then answered one of my questions about bootstrapping / jackknifing.

After this all of this new information I returned to my office to begin reading some more papers, or some more plot making.  Alas I was burnt out, so I decided to go for a little walk.  I talked on the phone for a bit with the sister, and mike passed me by on the way home.  I returned a bit refreshed, but A bit peckish, so I had my apple, and watched some daily show before starting.   I remembered after the apple, and still realizing that this evening was not the night for work, that I needed to get some new fans for kobalt, before they failed, and I also spent some time time researching new parts for my bike.

I noticed on the VCR, that the tires are getting a bit worn, so it was time to upgrade.  So I started looking around, and gave mike a call.  Learned some interesting things, and also noticed that there was a power edge on sale.  I ultimately decided to call about some tires, waiting on a call tomorrow about them.  I also decided against the poweredge as a replacement for kobalt, since the power for the videocard would be dodgy.    Time somehow progressed to the fine hour of 9pm, with little work post meetings that was done.  I decided to cut my losses and head home.  As I reached the thick air outside, I became aware of the heavy fog that had settled over the campus.  I had not noticed this since my window, is currently over the pier, and it has been getting dark around 5pm.

As I entered the thick of it, I decided that I was not going to be taking the bus home, but instead to walk the long way home.   I did an about face and headed towards librarywalk.  I had assumed that the library would be a nice view, and then ultimately to head to the Salk institute.  I am not sure what lead me to think about heading that way, but I just thought it would be nice to get up in that direction.   I walked along the library passing more students than I have seen in a long time.  I headed up to the third floor of the library, and continued along the walkway past the statue towards the parking-lot. Interesting students talked about strange subjects as I pass, their words absorbed into the fog.

As I reached the intersection between the library area, forest area, rimac area, and housing area, I decided to head north, and make the loop around that area, since the fog seemed strongest there.  Soon I was blanketed by the heavy air obscuring the headlights of cars passing by.  Within seconds, the rear lights faded into the night sky.   After a few minutes I decided to turn into the soccer field,  I kinda just wanted to be alone with my thoughts.   These thoughts were random meanderings of my mind, suppressing my actual depressing thoughts.   Standing in the middle of the field, there was nothing for me to focus on, but the 10 feet of grass around me, and moon in the sky.  The moon itself was quite illuminating, and my mind  waltzed to thoughts about my life and the sort.   The fog blanketing the street lights around me, left my without focus and I drifted north for a bit, finding a sign about the field, and some benches.  They would kinda of just pop out of the fog into existence and slowly disappear back into the fog as I past them.

After some more contemplation in the darkness of  the field, i headed back to the only bright light I saw earlier, which I thought would be near another exit out of the field.  Soon I was climbing stairs to the Rimac Annex and again pushed north.  I sidetracked into the management school, sat on a balcony,  noted that there was again more students around, and pressed onward.  Students clumped together four or five to a group,  yammering into the night about little things.   I pressed northward.

Soon I passed miraculous sight, a bright light high above, seemed to cast the shadow of a cross down at me.  Was it a sign…  no, nothing but an illusion of illumination.  The construction here nearing the northern part of campus had installed a light atop of a crane lighting a ghostly flag in the distance.  As I past it the bars and cables, caused this interesting shadow to be cast down piercing through the fog.  Students passed from time to time, talking mainly in their little groups.  Soon I was at the top of campus,  I walked along a covered sidewalk but stopped here and there to get a picture or two with my camera.  The lighting here was bright enough to freeze in place and attempt a fuzzy picture with my camera phone.  I think more than anything tonight has made me thing about buying a DSLR to catch the dancing shadows as headlights skitter though the night.  I strode towards north torrey pines road.

After two intersections I had made it to the Salk institute.   It was quiet.  The parking lot littered with a few cars between the rhythmic light posts.    I noticed that there was a gate.  I decided that I was instead going to the glider point.  I pressed along the sidewalk past the whitish tree lights.  Soon these lights gave way to yellow street lights and a hum of a generator.  I pressed on, passing fewer and fewer cars scattered along the roadside.  Soon the sidewalk ended,  I continued into the street.  With this, the parking lots disappeared, along with the cars and hum. Replaced with the sounds of crickets, and bushes off as far as i could see. I found myself at the end of a culdesac and waited for a bit watching the moon rotate slightly, listening to a train though the fog, and wondering when I should get home.

I decided that although the road ended that I was going to be in the words of Lev Yilmaz, Adventurous.  I climbed over a guard railing and continued into along a small trail towards the cliffs.  The yellow glow of the street lights had dimmed to a small bubble swallowed up by the whitish blue glow of the moon, and wash of the sea.  I waited here, and decided to make a phone call for a while.   After some talking I continued my adventure and headed back to the road.  To the gliderport I pressed.   I continued on the path to blacks beach.  It was a nice memory of friends and family visiting when i was here last.   I peered over the cliffs seeing nothing but fog.   I stood there for a few minutes listening to the phone, and sea.   I decided that 11pm sounded like a ripe time to head home.  I started walking at 10:53pm.   The empty parking lot was filled with a single large truck-cab,  with a slight hum of its engine  as it sat in the darkness.

Plodding onward I continued my random thoughts.  Although illuminated by the moon my entire trip, I still had gotten no further than the random questions of my life.   Soon I had entered an undergrad housing area.  Although my plan was to skirt the populated areas, a building caught my eye and I investigated.  The acute corner opened up into a large wooden space built to feed the masses.  it was well lit, but had closed for the night.  I turned left and headed south.  Buildings gave way to familiar places and soon I was again outside of the Rimac area.  Pods of students tumbled by.  A girl was twirling brightly colored objects that I suspect should have been on fire.    I headed back down near the parking lot, towards the library, warren, and home.   I peeped at students working on their CSE homework, bikers heading home, and cars roaring along.  The walking became tiresome, and the fog thickened.

Tonight I had missed the southern soccer field being flooded with lights from the towers of bright white lights surrounding the field.  Bikers passed,  Cars passed,  I was alone with my thoughts.  Soon I passed a parking lot filled with a ghostly white street light, much different than even the street lights across the street.  Passing the ghosts, I reached the 5,  I saw two cars, but they seemed silently hovering in the distance.   They quietly whoosed by.  Their places slowly replaced by other cars every few minutes.  The quietest that I have seen the interstate in a long time.   I began to press home ward my legs bobbed though the night air as I began to tire of the walk.

Passing all of my normal bike path places, I found some joy in waving at a cutout of a boy in a window.  I could see him now that thee bright temporary light was removed and replaced by the yellow glow of the street lights of this parking lot.   Hundred of steps, if not thousands remained, but the excitement of adventure had worn off as I had seem this most every day of the last few months.  Arriving home, the yellow reminded me of puke.  A bike outside the stairs had the same tires that i am considering buying, so I pushed on them to find them soft.

Arriving home, I promptly removed my bag, and had a drink.   I questioned out loud to myself, why did my flat-mate take out the trash, from under the sink, to leave it in the kitchen waiting to be taken out to the disposal.  Although it might be for me to do, I have done the last 3-4 trash removals.   I wonder why.

I muttered to myself, ‘At times third person leads to a nice transition of the story.’ The narrator added that although Alex was correct that displacement of the reader to a new writing technique, was a proper technique, he had not done it correctly.  Alex then retorted, “fuck off.”   Alex then proceeded to make a bbq-ranch chicken and cheese quesadilla, had the soda that he proceeded to drink his soda and eat while read some reddit, and facebook, before jotting down his notes of the night.  He promptly fell asleep after a shower.  This was his path: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3300199