The Mark Hopkins is such an authentic San Francisco experience that I slept all night to the sound of the street cars clanging. They really clang. It's possible that they lack the ability to stop in intersections and that the clanging doubles as a horn. The intersection right outside of my hotel room is the intersection of California and Mason, which is at the tippy top of Nob Hill and is perhaps the highest spot in the city. The top of Nob Hill is not very big -- maybe one block big -- so the sides of the hill drop immediately off on all directions. There's room only for California Street and the park in front of Grace Cathedral, and then everything else built around the street is built on a cliff. For example, the driveway of the Mark Hopkins is flat enough for only one car to park on the level. The rest of the driveway is at practically a 45 degree angle. The part of the driveway that meets California Street is the ONLY part of California Street where you can enter the Mark Hopkins property on the level as well -- every other entrance requires climbing steep steps or driving up or down a ramp. Maximum amount of flatness is probably no more than 50 feet at a stretch. Not very flat. In fact, not flat at all, really. More like hilly. This lack of
flatness must be exceedingly dangerous for street cars, hence excessive clanging. Although my book tells me that street cars were invented because someone got sad at the sight of a horse drawn carriage tumbling down California Street, dragging its horses behind it. So maybe steepness is the reason streetcars exist. Very confusing.
My deposition today was bizarre and I have not quite figured out whether the testimony I got from it was good or bad.
After the deposition Mary and I compared notes about whether it was more jet-lag-inducing to have to fly between San Francisco and Hawaii all the time for depositions (her case) or to have to fly between San Francisco and DC all the time for depositions (my case). The flights are of equal lengths. We decided our travel schedules made us equally miserable, that no-one understood why traveling to glamorous destinations just for work was really not as fun as it sounds, and that the problem was the cumulative effect of flying back and forth essentially resulted in permanent jet lag. We ate some miniature chocolate chip cookies and decided that we were both terribly under-appreciated. We bemoaned idiotic opposing counsels who kept producing pertinent documents AFTER the deposition occurred, requiring us to reopen and revisit tired old topics, etc. We discussed how mini-chocolate chip cookies really have no calories in them because: a) not enough phosphorous, which we understood from our two biotechnology cases to be a strong
binding agent (inspection of ingredient list revealed no phosphorous whatsoever); b) they are too small and therefore not big enough to attach to the humongous fat cells marauding in one's
body; and c) one usually eats them whilst sitting absolutely still, which causes the cookies to pass through one's body like a cookie-ghost. Also, Mary claimed you got "negative calorie
credit" if you ate someone else's mini chocolate chip cookie, which struck me as a little to "results-oriented" and fanciful, considering that she was eating all of my free mini-chocolate chip cookies, after all.
Then Jones came in and busted up the party and wanted to talk about work. Dullard. Whilst Jones stood and stared at the remains of our chocolate chip cookie fest, we reminded him that we are allowed to eat cookies and complain to each other about our schedules because my working relationship with Mary extends back exactly 9.5 years. Pretty neat trick, considering I'm only a 5th year associate.... Jones stood there, gob-smacked.
The only other thing of note to report is that I am starting to collect all sorts of euphemisms for "cloudy weather." Today the weather was cloudy. No getting away from it. No sun. Just
clouds. High was 63 degrees. When I woke up it was 52 degrees. The news said to expect "Marine Condensation." I.e., clouds in any state that has a marine coast, such as, say, California.
Another newscaster said "pockets of sun." I.e., sun in pockets that hide above the clouds, invisible to human inhabitants on the ground below. Another said, "potential for overcast skies." I.e., skies potentially overcast EVERYWHERE for the ENTIRE day.
The best euphemism for "cloudy weather" is "fog." There is a difference between fog and clouds -- this weather is cloudy. Fog comes in and then goes away and is restricted to low lying coastal areas and is not a permanent attribute of the day's weather. Today was not foggy - it was CLOUDY. Fog moves along at a steady clip -- today's clouds plopped on top of the city and stayed there all day. They did not move. Fog often goes away at night, because the temperature in the desert cools down and the incredible suction force created by the Golden Gate lessens.
Today's clouds are still here and it is 9 p.m. Also, fog does not result in RAIN; clouds do. Today it rained on me on my way to work. Fog is romantic; clouds are depressing.
Tomorrow I get a second crack at our opponent's CEO. Maybe I'll ask him whether he met his deadline to certify his financial results to the SEC....
posted by Anonymous @ 10:44 AM
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