Have We Not?
Friday. A good mood this morning for whatever reason, lunch later with Ms. A and some of the old office crew, all of them wondering when they'll be laid off early next year as the company has promised them a termination date later this month. I'm glad I'm not there to savour the experience. Done my time in that dungeon. Miss the people though.
A good evening with Mr. E, M and S last night at Barclay's in Rockridge, dinner consisting of Calamari and deep fried pickles. OK, the Calamari was deep fried too, but now and again you have to consume these things to maintain contact with the way real people live. Oh, and three glasses of Guinness over the course of the evening. A nice buzz without any (or many) of the consequences or the benefits of consuming more. More, more, more. I know about more. Home by nine in time to watch the tail end of one of the ongoing Korean soaps. What more could one ask out of life? Here in Oakland.
Something other than Korean soaps?
Maddening god damned things. Way over the top acting to the point of buffoonery coupled with some arresting comments on art and life. I'm now guessing that most everything that's being made right now in our culture will look the same to people who may watch them in one hundred years no matter how hip or cool or subtle or right on the mark they feel today. I'm wondering if I'm learning something unique from these or if I'm just goofing off? Not that it matters, you understand.
Later. Back from lunch with the old crew in downtown Oakland and then afterward entering the building and walking around one of the floors to say hello to old friends that ended with a long conversation with Mr. O, catching up on current events now that it's been announced everyone with some exceptions will be laid off next year and the office moved out of state to the boondocks. Evidently a large number of people at the office have stopped coming to work on Fridays since the announcement and whole sections of the office seemed empty - they're expecting an announcement of exactly who will go and when next week - so the old environment has significantly changed. But then it would, I'm thinking, no longer having to worry about such things: on the street, no job, no rent, no joke.
The attitude was, well, depressing?
A bit of upbeat gallows humor, really, a basic “fuck it, let's see where this goes”. I'd be curious to know how many who are asked to relocate will actually relocate. The story is they're moving the Americas office “out of state”. Who in their right mind would move away from the coast, let alone out of California itself?
Now, now.
Indeed. We have become an insular little person here in Oakland, have we not?
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