urban slang to the rescue

"I don't know many office managers who would take a punch for somebody"

"I don't think he meant to"

"He clocked him"

"He punched him out?"

"No, clocked"

"Whats a clock"

"Maybe lets do a demonstration"

Apparently "clock" is not the same as "punch." Urban Dictionary says "to hit someone."

Unfortunately the demonstration came to nothing. For the record, I was not a participant in this conversation. Of course I have never used clocked in a sentence though. Yet.

taking a moment to ponder...

I'm in elevators a lot. In the building I work, my company rents the 3rd, 7th, 8th and 9th floors. I sit on the 3rd floor and often need to go to 8th.  The 3rd floor isn't accessible by stairs at the moment..which is annoying to say the least (that is to say, you can exit the floor via stair, but cannot reenter). 

There is an inpection notice on the wall (which is always at least 6 months expired). It says that the elevator can hold 3000 lbs or 20 people. I know from personal experience that it can only hold 12 MAX when we are crammed in after a fire drill and are all trying to get back to work. I don't know how they expect 20 people to fit. That would so not be safe.  I think some re-evaluation is in order. 

Fire drills in college were the best. You might think the fun stops after high school, but not at University of Utah. Nope. However, there weren't any at Stanford. Lame.  But I did have to attend earthquake safety training my first quarter.   

santa sighting

Santa just rode down 14th street on a motorcycle. With a police escort.

tree on the train

There was a tree on the train today. Seven feet tall, the roots and dirt wrapped in a big black garbage bag, and sitting in the middle of the BART car. The woman with the tree kept pulling it into her face when people would try to get by. It was a packed train too! It was pretty amusing.

brush with the police

A couple days ago when I was waiting for the train to go home, I saw a man walking at the bottom of the escalator (the wrong way). For the 5 minutes I was standing there, he was walking slowly nearly leaving the escalator as it spooled around and carried him back up continuously.

Perhaps coincidentally, the next day, that escalator was blocked off. Hmmmmmmm.

That reminds me of the time I got in trouble at ZCMI mall(back when it was still ZCMI). I was on a field trip with the orchestra (led by Mrs. Tuke. Or Tooke. I really have no idea how it is spelled) and I ran up the escalator the wrong way along with an accomplice. There were a couple mall policeman at the top, and they told us not to do that again. It was a mild brush with the police, and I didn't mean to frighten you with the title of this post, but one has to get attention somehow.

glimpse

I work in Oakland, California. For the last leg of my commute to work, I take the train (BART) to downtown Oakland where there were 127 murders committed in 2007. This earned Oakland 5th place for the most dangerous cities in the nation ranking (which was apparently an improvement from 2006, where they were in 4th place). Also, one of the favorite places for mugging in the city is at the entrance to the BART station that I go in every day. Such pleasant thoughts!

I have recently relocated to the 3rd floor of my building (from the 9th floor). Also on this floor is a new regional manager who still lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. He flies home every thursday afternoon and flies to Oakland every monday morning. He said today that it was 29 degrees when he left Salt Lake City and that it had recently snowed. How delightful! I don't get glimpses into the weather of my lovely Rocky Mountains very often.

My relocation to the 3rd floor is a result of joining the Seismic Hazards group at work. That, combined with the legal change of my name should result in some new business cards (not that I ever gave any away, except the one time for reasons unrelated to work--family not counting). I'm now an "earthquake engineer" and no longer the dull civil engineer of yesteryear:)

bally total fitness

The only place you can really see men and women with deteriorating health run like the wind (even if it be a gentle breeze), is at the train station. They run in suits. They run in high heels. They run carrying an unmanageable number of bags, which they may or may not drop. I see it nearly every day. It is sort of funny, after all. (definitely funny.) People who would never quicken their step under any other circumstance (excepting tragic events, of course) find themselves propelled forward. Today there was a pink lady with bags. A pink lady with a pink shirt and pink pants. By the way, nobody ever posted about the pink joke.

on the train.

I ride the train now. I have learned to run in high heels. Sitting at my desk, at 4:55 pm, I suddenly realize nothing matters more in the world than getting on the 4:59 train. On those days, the elevator invariably stops repeatedly, with most people taking it to move only one floor. I think that is a silly thing. I have come to know the low feeling one gets when one arrives at the platform just in time to see the train leave. I have been filmed by video crews while driving into the BART parking lot (really, how interesting could it be to film cars parking?), and have been filmed as I put my train card into the reader. My fame has reached another dimension, it seems...

My life is governed by the train. Going to and fro. Pulling my BART card out of my wallet over and over. 7:21 am, 4:59 pm, etc etc.

Once, a man offered me his seat. I did not take it. He looked so tired. Should I have taken it? I know not.

People snore on the train too. Probably the same people.

Upon returning at night, there is one rider (youngish man) who waits by the door and sprints out before the doors completely open in an effort to be the first one to the escalator. He doesn't always make it. He could plan ahead and place himself in the train car that would be the shortest distance from the escalator--but he doesn't. He's always slightly off.

I read on the train. It is the one truly fabulous thing about riding train, the one consolation for time lost in transit.

Another thing--every time I get off the train in the morning, coworkers pop out of nowhere. We are all on the same train but don't know it. To own the truth, I prefer it that way. I'd rather sit alone and read, which is semi-embarassing to admit. If I knew the person sitting next to me, I'd feel obliged to talk to them. Sigh.