Memoirs of a CPUNERD

So many things were the same this Summer, but so many things were different. For example of things that were the same, our apartment still wasn’t finished, just like last summer. This time, there was still the smell of paint in the air, and portions of the place weren’t finished being painted. I again had to go to Home Depot to get two to three-prong converters. Most of the cafes at Google were still there. The food was still great. The gyms were still the same, though the locker rooms were different.

If you didn’t know already, I was working on the Earth Client team. I say client because, if again you didn’t know, the team that works on the user interface is completely different from the team that works on the data side. What I did exactly I can’t say yet, but when it’s released, you’ll know I had a part.

The group of people I worked with this Summer was amazing. We meshed really well, and shared a common view on the way my project should unfold. My boss was actually one of the founders of Keyhole (the original Earth project). It was really cool to hear him talk about all the tricks the team uses to get Earth to be performant and do the things it does.

I got to meet up with a lot of friends from last Summer. Besides my roommates, I got to see Katie, as she was starting full time. Roma, a friend from my time at NVIDIA, was working at a place right next to the Google campus. Speaking of NVIDIA, Mafu was back at NVIDIA, this time as a full timer. And of course, Ciderman, Sean, and Lee were all still at NVIDIA. There were few other people from Google last Summer, but actually not as many as I would have though. Most of the friends I had either didn’t get rehired or chose to stay and do research with their adviser.

As opposed to last Summer, I actually took the time and played squash. I originially was going to play with a new friend from Google, and another Google intern that I didn’t really get to know. Turns out that I was a bit better than both of them, so we only ever played once. However, as Mafu was back in town, we played a few times. Not as often as I would’ve liked, but more than last summer. I also took the opportunity and got worked by a sixteen-year old. I’m not exaggerating about either part. I really did get worked (0-9, 3-9, 2-9), and the kid really was sixteen.

I also managed to get in a ton of tennis. At least two times a week, I was either taking a lesson or playing with a friend. My primary opponent was Roma, though I also played in a doubles tournament with a friend from Google named Jenya. The lessons I took were from a recent Stanford graduate. He was actually on both the squash and tennis team, and he offered lessons for both. I was aiming to take a squash lesson, but it never panned out. The tennis lessons worked really well though. My backhand improved tremendously, and I changed my forehand quite a bit. Of course, that still left my serve.

Speaking of serving, that was the one way that Roma kept beating me. It was odd because I was doing so well against her at first, and then I had a slump. Luckily I broke through though, and didn’t get completely worked over by Roma for the remainder of the summer. My serve also improved enough to help me in the doubles tournament. Jenya managed to always get points off her serve, even though it was pretty slow. Me, I was dragging our team down. As the tournament progressed though, the lessons helped and I finally showed her I didn’t completely suck. We ended up winning our last game, though that only took Jenya half way through the tournament. I’m not sure how she finished out.

Something else the Summer brought was a ton of football action. Euro2008 ate away at least thirty hours of my time, and it caused me to spend $180 on Russia jerseys. I also started taking football lessons from this Ex-Chilean goalie. He played for the national team, and he was also a pro on one of the countries teams. My technique improved slightly, and my defense and fitness went up significantly. Also, thanks to him, I finally felt what it was like to have ridiculously sore abs and hamstrings.

It seems that my number of concerts per Summer is slowly dropping. Though perhaps the quality is increasing. I went to see Type O Negative and Mindless Self Indulgence. Both of which were absolutely awesome. I also saw Projekt Revolution. Linkin Park put on another great show, and some of the other bands were also really good. ASHES dIVIDE was incredible, they sounded amazing. Atreyu I thought was good, but Shakeh didn’t really like them live (she loves their albums). It was cool to see Chris Cornell perform some of the Soundgarden songs and do a few songs with Linkin Park, but he wasn’t my favorite.

Obviously it’s hard to summarize an entire Summer into a few-thousand words. I left out so many experiences like the Boat Cruise and picnic. I didn’t get a chance to talk about so many new people and friends, David, Naren, Garrett, Giselle, Valkyrie Savage (yes, her real name), and tons more. But honestly, who wants to read through a daily list of all the boring crap I did?

I got a cast on my left arm this week. I’m officially branded as crippled for the next few weeks. It’s somewhat unusual being back in this situation. The last time this happened, I was seventeen and I just dislocated my left arm for the fifth time. That time I was in a sling for more than a month. Admittedly, a cast is better than a sling in some ways, the most obvious being the added flexibility and range of motion. However, in a sling, at least one can wash themself… It’s going to be a long, somewhat smelly few weeks.

I registered for classes on Monday. Justin showed up way late, I’m assuming since he was also registering for classes. It was a good day in racquetball, I climbed my way into the quarterfinals for the advanced class. I went to lunch at Ali Baba with Shakeh, then went home and worked for an hour. I went to a doctor, and it turns out I have a fracture after all… Some new X-rays confirmed it. The previous x-rays didn’t show it very well, so I don’t necessarily blame the general practitioner for not seeing it. After I got the cast, Franci and Shakeh signed it right away. Afterwards I went home and did some laundry, then went to Habit Burger with Shakeh, followed by Safeway.

On Tuesday I played Indoor. I couldn’t do much in tumbling, so I just worked on front flips. I had leftovers for lunch with Shakeh, then went to a visa presentation by SISS. The research meeting was uneventful. After that, I went home and met up with Shakeh, then went to Fuji’s with Shakeh and Javi. I went to Woodstock’s for slices afterwards, and it turns out they don’t have any except during lunch time and late night. I went to The Village Bakery, then the three of us went to see No Country for Old Men. Javi and Shakeh had a hard time understanding a lot of the dialogue. Overall, I thought the movie was very good, but I don’t think it deserved an Academy Award.

Racquetball was just no good on Wednesday. I would like to say my cast threw me off balance, but I think that is just a cop out. I went to Chipotle with Shakeh for lunch, then had another Google phone interview. My Rambus phone interview got postponed. My bike was stolen in BROAD DAYLIGHT! What the f*&$?!?! I somehow won my racquetball match. I just lost to the guy in class by almost 2-to-1, but found a way to beat him and pulled out a 3-setter. Afterwards, I went home, showered, and got food from Burgers and Brew. I said happy birthday to Dani, then went home and ate and worked for a bit more.

Indoor was fun again come Thursday. I tried doing some backflips in tumbling. After the gym, I walked to the MU with Mauricio, then ate with everyone. I walked back home and worked, then had yet another phone interview with Rambus. I caught the Notre Dame-Louisville game. I am of the belief that Luke Harangody is considerably less annoying than Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough is still very good, but I just can’t stand him.

I headed down to the Bay Area early in the morning and checked out some apartments. I was going to join Paul for lunch, but he was working in the SF office. I finished “I Am America, and So Can You!” I was at NVIDIA until almost 1830. Cider-man picked me up later, then we went and joined Lee, Sean, Verena, and some other guys from NVIDIA for dinner in Sunnyvale. I headed back and got in to Davis around 2300.

Recruitment was all day Saturday, woohoo! I picked up a soccer-mom minivan at 0930 and headed over to the hotel. I took some graphics people around Davis to let them check out the housing areas. I dropped everyone off at campus, then stuck around to help. I had lunch with at noon, then went around and help show people the labs from 1330 to 1530. I went back to the lab for forty-five minutes. I took people back to the hotel, then headed back to campus to get my car. I went to Jamba Juice with two guys from SFSU, then went home to say hi and get a sweater. I went to Caffe Italia for dinner until 1930. Shakeh and I started watching babel then realized I grabbed the wrong subtitles, doh! Ended up watching Transporter 2 instead.

sunday: worked in the morning. went to dos coyotes for lunch, then ran to safeway. robert and i cleaned up the place from top to bottom, and i also did my laundry. worked through dusk, then went to racquetball at 1800. lost my match in three games. my arm slipped out again, so i couldn’t get much pop on my shots. went home, showered, then ran to round table for dinner. came back, watched noises off and some comedy central stand-up, then went to sleep.

Just For Fun, the auto-biography of Linus Torvalds, ghost-written by David Diamond, was all in all a good read. There is not much technical background required, and even parts that require such knowledge can be skipped without missing the point of the book. In the very beginning of the book, an interview is printed that shows how Linus would only do the book because he thinks it will be “just for fun.” The book lives up to that, being light-hearted and primarily anecdotal. There is a lot in the book about his technical achievements, but so much more of it is about his struggles as a nerd in general.

I found something in the book that didn’t sit well with me. There is one quoted line from Linus that is so unlike anything else said. Due to it’s difference, it stuck with me, and now I have a hard time discerning which voice is actually his; that single quotation I found, or the rest of the book. Yes, the book has a ghost-writer, and I’m sure much of the voice is dictated by the ghost-writer, but still. A ghost-writer, should by nature, strive to make the work appear to be in the voice of the subject. Now, we’ll never know. Then again, not knowing wouldn’t be such a huge loss, as this whole experience was “just for fun.”

As of Monday, I was still sick. Luckily my fever was drastically reduced, but it was still there, as well as the general soreness and cough. Shakeh and I went to Chipotle for lunch, since I actually had my appetite back. We watched The Nanny Diaries that night, and it was surprisingly decent. The production company did something that is often done with movies of this kind. They tried to advertise as something it was not. It was not a chick-flick, yet the main point I got from the commercials was that it would be a romantic comedy. Again, it was not. After the movie, Shakeh and I watched Serena Williams lose to Jelena Jankovic. Come on now, was anyone else aware that Serena has never defended a grand-slam title? When she repeats, it’s never the next year. And besides that, Jankovic is just bloody (I’m using that in place of a more American word) annoying. Boy do I hope she loses. After tennis, I finished reading Just For Fun.

Holy crap was it raining bad on Tuesday. I don’t know if I was still weak from the cold or what, but I was not doing good during the morning. I went to the MU for lunch, then joined Justin and visited the health center. The nurse said a  virus was going around and I probably had that. Then again, she also told Justin the exact same thing, so I am doubtful they do anything but say “There’s a virus going around, you probably got it from someone.” For dinner, I grabbed some El Mariachi to go and ate with Shakeh at her place. I went to Salsa solo since the lady was not feeling well, though Justin also showed up. Speaking of others who showed up, Marilena was there. I hadn’t seen her in such a long time (my birthday or Halloween I think). I also ran into Anna, Nina, and Andrea, all of whom were in the intermediate class being held afterwards. I didn’t get to chat much though, as I was trying to leave.

Racquetball on Wednesday was fun. I played three matches. The first match, I owned someone. Then, as karma would have it, I got owned by Andy with the exact same score. I played Chris in my third match and it was really close. I managed to pull it out though and won 16-14. I met up with Shakeh for lunch at Raja’s and then walked her to work afterwards. I thought I saw Cathy there, and it turns out I actually did, though I didn’t know until later. I picked Shakeh up from her appointment at the health center around 1630, then dropped her off at her place. I then picked up Bill around 1800 and went to Ita’s to wait for everyone. For Dave’s birthday, he chose to go to Wendy’s. His name is Dave after all. We left there around 1930, and I ran to Pluto’s to get some actual dinner. I headed to Shakeh’s, and we watched the Hantuchova-Ivanovic match. We saw the first set and a half, then I headed home and watched the rest of the match. Even though Hantuchova won the first set 6-0, she lost the match. Come on woman, what the heck?!

There were a ton of people on the cardio machines on Thursday morning. All of the exercise bikes were taken. As such, Justin and I played squash for a bit instead of biking. In gymnastics, we had a substitute. He let us do significantly more than we usually do, which was great. After I got home and showered, I went to Woodstock’s with Javi, Martyn, and Alex for lunch. Around 1600, I headed to the ARC for IMs via a ride with Javi (thanks again). The coed indoor-football game didn’t go very well. In fact, it went quite badly. We got shut out 0-7. Martyn and I decided to go upstairs and blow off some steam by playing squash. After our match, I went and signed in for racquetball, then headed down to the lobby to wait for my opponent to show up. My match started promptly at 2000. Before the match, I asked my opponent how long he’d been playing. His response was something along the lines of “I’m rusty, but I played for eight years.” Needless to say I was a bit worried. I was suddenly very glad that all my supporters had said they would turn up to watch. And luckily, chance would have it that I didn’t have a need to be worried. I ended up winning 15-3, 15-5. The points I dropped were all off of serves I chose to use to go a little easy on the poor guy. On top of the good score, I also made good time. The match finished in about ten minutes or so. Thus, I was able to go downstairs and join in on the men’s indoor action only five minutes late. Regardless of my presence, we still lost that match 2-6. After I showered, Justin gave Bill and me a ride back to my place, and then I dropped Bill off and headed to pick up Shakeh from school. We dropped her bike off, then went to Crepeville for dinner. I was fairly exhausted so we didnt stay long. After I dropped Shakeh off, I headed home and longed for some blissful rest. I fell asleep to the fourth game of the Federer-Djokovic match. Turns out I should’ve stayed up, as Djokovic won in straight sets.

Let me repeat, early Friday morning on the west-coast, Federer lost in straight sets! Damn, what is happening to the world? Luckily it was to Djokovic, who I can be quoted as saying he would be great after since the first time I saw him in July of 2007. I drove Shakeh to the health center since she was late for her appointment. Later that day, Javi, Tony, Shakeh, and I met up for lunch at Ali Baba. Even later that day I picked Shakeh up from school as it was absolutely pouring outside. We went to Sophia’s for dinner, then to the Yogurt Shack for dessert. We then went back to my place and watched the Women’s final, which Sharapova won in straight sets. After the match, we turned on the movie Mr. Woodcock, which was pretty bad. I wasn’t expecting much, and boy did it fulfill that promise of non-deliverance.

For some weird reason, when I woke up at 0700 on Saturday I was really tired. Nonetheless, I jumped in the shower, got dressed, and then headed out. I made a quick stopoff at Posh Bagel for breakfast, then drove to NASA Ames to pick up Paul. We drove to Google to print out directions, but Paul forgot his laptop so we went back to Ames one more time. Then we drove back to Google, printed directions, and proceeded in to the city. The first place we visited was in Nob Hill. Paul had to run all over the block since he didn’t have an address and the contact’s cell phone number wasn’t working. Go figure. After that, we went to a shady area in the mission to check out a flat. Luckily the owner didn’t answer the door, so Paul was able to just check that one off and say “No way in Hell.” We drove back to the south bay and checked out North Park again. Turns out that the plans to bulldoze the place and make condos went under, so Lyon sold the property to Prometheus. That means that Lyon couldn’t do leases anymore since Prometheus would take over right away, and might require a twelve-month lease. After North Park, we headed to Castro Street and stopped at the Roadhouse Bar and Grill. The food was alright. The BBQ sauce used by the restaurant wasn’t that great though, and being as the meat was covered in it, the meal was somewhat ruined. After lunch, Paul and I went to Google and watched football (the original kind) and basketball for awhile. This involved poking fun at Len Elmore and the Oklahoma State coach for a bit. At the halftime of the WVU game, I dropped Paul off and headed back to Davis. Shakeh and I got ready for Javi’s dinner and then we went off to Crepeville. An absolute TON of people showed up. Our party took up the majority of the tables at the restaurant. After dinner, Shakeh wasn’t feeling well so we went home. We tried to just go to sleep but she was having such bad fits that she was in physical pain and I was forced to stay awake. Eventually we were able to get her cough to subside so we could both sleep.

Sunday morning brought the results of the Australian Open, Djokovic beat Tsonga. He did drop a set in this game, something Federer couldn’t make happen, but his win was rather convincing. The match was really good though. We saw some highlights and a few games from it. A lot of people are saying now that Federer finally met his match and won’t win much more, but I doubt that. I think Djokovic and Tsonga will now do really well, but I bet Federer still wins three more majors and breaks the mark set by Sampras. Shakeh and I dared to try Quizno’s for lunch. The flatbread sandwiches have gotten small and not that good. After lunch, we saw 27 dresses. The movie was somewhat blah. The Devil Wears Prada was funny, entertaining, and thus obviously had an appeal to both men and women. 27 Dresses was pretty much a chick-flick with another usual story. After the movie, we went home and got some work done, then went to Giovanni’s goodbye dinner for about half an hour. We picked up some food and went home to eat, then tried to get some sleep. Shakeh was still having coughing fits though, so it took a long while for either of us to be comfortable enough to sleep.

So does that mean that all great things have to come to a crashing halt and just die? With how wonderful my summer was, it seems to have ended on a (understandably) low note. Virtually everyone from my group of summer friends already left. The only person still around was Falcon, and he being the constant workaholic was subpar in the “Entertain Jeff” department. This did very little for my final impression of Google, as I spent most of it by myself not doing anything truly fun.

Luckily Andrew and Tracy are full-timers. I had lunch at Charlie’s with them and two of Tracy’s friends on Monday. For dinner, Salim, Javi, and Lindsay stopped by the Googleplex on their way back from Santa Cruz. We ate at Charlie’s and No Name, and then I gave them an hour tour or so. Lindsay had no real idea what Google was like, so it was a big eye-opener for her. Javi and Salim both loved it as well. We ended the tour at The Hub.

On Tuesday, I was actually concerned that I might have my first solo lunch. I was at my desk until 1245, when I noticed that Jeff LeFevre was still at his desk as well. We ended up going to 5ive together. In the early afternoon, I had my first Google massage. It was great! I think I almost fell asleep twice because it was so nice. After work, I went to salsa lessons. As is the usual for Tuesdays, not many girls showed up. Due to that, I didn’t get to practice anything, and thus I already forgot what we learned by the time I got home.

The GAPA group took a trip to downtown San Jose on Wednesday. We started at the IMAX Tech Museum, though unfortunately we were a day too early for the Body World’s exhibit. After the museum, we went to the Gordon Biersch brewery. I had a maerzen burger, and felt like crap afterwards, so I didn’t really eat much for dinner.

Mark, Jeff, Erik, and I decided to brave the business world on Thursday. We had lunch at fourteen. There was a live band performing outside, so after we were done eating we sat and watched for fifteen minutes or so. After work, I had my last rueda lesson. It was a lot of fun. We learned the Vasela, Sombrero, and Siete.

Friday was my last day at Google. Not much of a work day really. I just finished my documentation, gave a quick presentation, made sure all my code was checked in, and then went for one last massage = ) After the exit paperwork, I went to TGIF. I ran into a fellow former NVIDIA intern who was also on his last day. After TGIF, I didn’t bother waiting for dinner, I just drove back. I got back around 2000, unloaded my car, and then met up with Abhi, Javi, Miles, and Charlotte. We went to Jay’s for a few hours, then I just headed home and went to sleep.

Love Fest! Can you guess what I did on my Saturday morning? I met Shakeh and her aunt at the Farmer’s Market early in the morning (dropping off some Starbucks for them), then filling up on gas and waiting for Aude, Laurence, Charlotte, and Lindsay to get ready. We took off from Davis around 10:00 and got into Daly City a little before noon. We got off the BART at the Civic Center, and walked down to third street, where we met up with Lee, Ciderman, and Chief Justice.

We walked further towards Embarcadero, enjoying the parade and looking for a restaurant at which to eat. After watching several floats go by, we proceeded to a small deli on the other side of the street and we all got a little something to appease our hungers. After we were done eating, we went back to the other side of the street and starting walking back to the Civic Center. We saw more fun people along the way. We stopped right outside the Civic Center for a bit to get some pictures.

Once we got into the main event, we just wandered around, checked out the floats, and danced for awhile. We saw some cool floats, and met some interesting people. In particular, two random guys who were from UCLA came up and started hitting on Aude and Laurence. We let them talk for awhile, then rescued them when Aude starting getting the “Oh God, someone get these guys away” look.

Around 1500, we decided to take off and go check out the Golden Gate Bridge and get some dinner. Aude, Laurence, Lindsay, Charlotte, and I headed back to my car at Daly City, then drove to the recreation area. We arrived there around 1600, then proceeded to walk around and take some pictures. After a few more pictures, we headed to where Lee and the gang were waiting, then walked across the bridge. After people got some more pictures, we headed back to our cars and then proceeded to Sausolito.

We walked around downtown Sausolito for an hour or so while waiting for our table to open up. We finally sat down to dinner around 1830. We ordered our food, talked for awhile, and got out of the place around 2100. I went back to my car, then drove to the restaurant to pick up the girls. We left immediately, and headed north to 580 (don’t ask, I don’t know), eventually getting back into Davis around 2230. After I dropped everyone off, I headed to Jay’s for an hour or so, and then I went home and slept.

I went over to Shakeh’s and Verena’s place Sunday afternoon. I finished setting up their TV, and I got their router working (which took some time, might I add). Afterwards, Shakeh and I went to lunch at Pluto’s and then to IKEA. I got my car washed as well. After IKEA, we wanted to go to Old Town Sacramento, but we didn’t know the way. We tried to remember, but just ended up taking a drive along the river. Once we got back to Davis, Shakeh took me out to dinner at Kathmandu Kitchen, which was awesome.

Moving just sucks, period. It doesn’t really matter how small the move is, it’s still just a pain in the butt. And it doesn’t even have to just be moving! Even if all one is doing is rearranging a room, the process can still take a long time.

On Monday, five of us went to Euro for lunch. We found out that their micro-kitchen has a few cool things. I worked on MGI some. F***ing Cortex is giving me problems with my account whenever someone is running NCS. It’s essentially blocking me from making any progress.

I think I overdid it on the exercise bike on Tuesday. I went for fifty minutes pretty hard. For lunch, I went to 1400 with Tracy, Laurynas, and Tibbits. Daniel was going to come but he didn’t want to bike and thus went to Plymouth with Falcon and Ghassan. The lessons were great today! I still suck, but I’m having fun none the less. I went to No Name with Daniel afterwards, then went home and worked on MGI some more.

I ended up going to a late lunch at MOMA with Andrew. We discussed some of C++’s shortcomings. After work, I went home and worked on MGI some more. I found out that GNUmake likes to use absolute paths instead of symlinks. If it’s not one thing, it’s another >\

All of us took scooters to Seven for lunch. I hit a MAJOR milestone for my intern project! yay! I went to lesson’s and dragged Inga with me. We both really enjoyed it, though Inga had to go early. The instructor was different this time, but still very good with his explanations. After saying goodbye to Inga, I ran and grabbed a burrito for me and Falcon. I dropped Inga off at her car, then went to get Falcon and we headed to D&B. We got lost for half an hour because I thought The Great Mall was west of 880 (wrong!). I got a small bite to eat there (you could get a full entree and a twenty-dollar game card for twenty-five dollars). Juan, BJ, Falcon, Justin, Carol and I were the ones who showed up. We played some games for a while. Justin and I broke even at air hockey. We played some racing games and basketball games, then watched Falcon play House of the Dead before finally taking off. We got home around midnight or so. Needless to say, getting back was much easier =T

I went to lunch with Juan and Justin at PIC on Friday. We had a really entertaining TGIF. I got dinner with Inga and Laurynas, then went back to my place and started packing. Tony showed up around 2100. Daniel and I finished loading up with Tony’s help and took off around 2200. I got in to Davis around 2330, finished moving stuff in, and went to bed at 0100.

Shakeh and I planned on rearranging my room early in the morning, then we were going to go the Farmer’s Market, and then maybe see a movie and relax before going to the BBQ. Of course… that didn’t happen. We started rearranging my room around 09:00. By 11:00, we had just finished moving all the loose stuff out, so we realized the process would take much longer than we expected. We didn’t finish until almost 17:00. Afterwards, we cleaned up, showered off, and then rested for an hour before heading to Elena’s and Marilena’s place. If anyone wants a recommendation for a roommate, go with internationals who know how to cook! Everything there was great. Besides the good food and old friends, I also met a few new people. We stayed at the BBQ until 22:30, enjoyed the best Baklava I’ve ever had, then went home and slept.

Sunday morning, I had grand plans. Part of those plans including avenging my previous loss in tennis to Mr. Kulkarni. I met up with him at 09:00. We warmed up for a bit, then proceeded to play. I started out really well, grabbing the first 6-2. The second set I let up a little though and lost 4-6. I thought I was going to lose the tie breaker again, but I pulled through and clinched it, 10-8. After the match, I went to the ARC to go work out. Turns out the damn thing was closed… For the best I guess. I went home and showered, then Shakeh and I watched The Number 23. It was pretty good, and I really like seeing Jim Carrey in a non-comedic role. After we were done with the movie, we met up with Abhi and more new internationals at Borders. We stayed there and chatted for a few hours, then Shakeh and I went to Pastaq for dinner. When we got home, I messed around for an hour or so and found out that my stupid laptop can’t handle Blu-Ray quality DVD rips, so I had to use my work laptop to watch an HD version of Reign On Me.