– Thursday –
The plane arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule but couldn’t taxi into the designated gate because it was occupied by another plane. We got held up on the ground a whole half hour, leaving me 10 minutes to go from the G gates to K before the boarding time. But that was not the problem. The problem was that for some reason I thought the boarding time was the departure time! I practically pounced on my carry-on bag (which was taken out of the bowel of the small plane since it was so small the bag couldn’t fit into the overhead bin), grabbed it like a robber, and darted towards the concourse of my connection flight. I don’t think I have ever run so fast in my life with two bags! Arriving there 2 minutes shy of the boarding time, I asked the staff breathlessly whether the gate had been closed and if I could still make it. He looked at me strangely and said, “But we still have two minutes!” I countered: “Yeah, so?!” He smiled tolerantly and said: “We will board in another two minutes.” “Oh?! Oh ~~~” I took a look at the ticket, worried, confused, embarrassed, and realized I got the times mixed up!
NYC is probably the only city in US (correct me if I am wrong) you can hail a taxi anytime anywhere. Anyway, P is not as convenient. They compensate that with a pretty good public transport system. I took the light-rail downtown but couldn’t find a single taxi anywhere (there are also a horrific number of one-way streets). Eventually I had to drag my luggage across two blocks to the front door of Hilton, and asked the doorman to get a cab for me. Remembering what I read from the Travel Detective book, I tipped him $2 for the effort (and kindness since I was not a Hilton guest). He was about to walk away as the taxi pulled up and was so surprised that I actually tipped him that he turned back and offered to put my not-so-heavy bag into the trunk. Hehe… the power of money 
Arriving at the hotel, I was exhausted and exhilarated. Since I had so little time to prepare for the interview (my own fault) that I didn’t even get the time to read the necessary publications, I spent $4.95 for a 15 minute use (what a rip-off!) of the Internet at the hotel business center (actually, just a tiny room with two computers and two printers). Before leaving home I uploaded everything to my Gmail account so I just needed to log in and print them out. Again I regretted my stupid decision to buy the HP Presario laptop two years before. It is such a dead weight (not to mention noisy and crash-prone) that I never wanted to bring it anywhere, which exactly defeats the purpose of owning a laptop! If I had a “portable” laptop, I could have read everything from it in my hotel room instead of using the “business center”. So anyway, I am really thinking about getting one of those ultra portable 12-inch laptops that I actually want to walk around with.
Anyway, a whole afternoon and half an evening of reading later my eyes became blurry. Eventually couldn’t resist the temptation of the Presidential debate so turned on the TV and caught the last half hour.
– Friday –
The morning turned out to be crisp and sunny. It was somewhat chilly, but also cheery. S picked me up from the hotel and we drove into campus. I had a whole half hour before the presentation, so I tried to settle in, acclimate myself to the environment, and chat with the staff that helped me set up the equipment.
Ten minutes before 9, people began trooping in. I greeted most of the early arrivals personally, partly to show I am a good communicator, and partly because I was interested in knowing my audience. But as more entered and took seats in the far corners of the room, I just smiled and made eye contact. Later I found out that half of them came from the TS department. They were probably the last bunch of people who would care who I am, since our departments don’t really have to work together that often. However, it seems that in this relatively small organization they were actually interested, or curious, or both, enough to attend my presentation.
The presentation went smoothly for the most part. I made a joke at the beginning that significantly livened up the atmosphere, which in turn relaxed me as well. The Q&A afterwards was pretty lively too. For some perverse reason, I actually enjoyed the questions. Guess I do enjoy the spotlight
When the presentation was finally over, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulder! With this crossed off the to-do list, everything else was a breeze. I had several different tours, followed by an informal session with my future colleagues (those in my department), then another Q&A with the search committee. I think I was so relaxed that I actually didn’t do as well as I wish I had with some questions. I should have been more alert! The last two meetings were with my future supervisor and the head of the department, then a dinner with three other people.
The dinner was interesting. All three hosts were guys (in their 30s, 40s, and 50s), so I felt kind of weird. However, I was again very relaxed. When they talked about pets, I was babbling about my dear old parrots (my family’s pets when I was in college). I usually sucked at making small talks when I was high strung during an interview, because even a dinner is PART OF the interview! They made me feel so comfortable and uncharacteristically unself-conscious that I think I might have been too casual for my own good. On the way back we drove past a nightclub with thundering music blasting out of heavilly graffiti-ed doors and windows. Committee member A asked: “Is the music from an apartment or a club?”, and committee member B remarked facetiously: “It’s a nightclub where people go to get shot!” Haha, this guy looks shy but does have a sense of humor.
– Saturday –
Waited a whole half hour for the bus that would take me DT to catch the LIGHT-RAIL to the hotel I would stay the night. The only reason I chose it was because they offered complimentary shuttle service to both the airport and downtown, and it is located only “two blocks away” from a LIGHT-RAIL station, or so the hotel website said.
I felt deeply cheated when I found out:
- Yes, it is “near” a station, IF YOU HAVE A CAR!!! As a matter of fact, the “two blocks” are a 10 minute walk down from the station platform (deserted on a weekend), under an overpass (claustrophobic), along a highway (with cars zooming pass you at 80mile/hour)! The website “conveniently” omitted this fact! If this is not deception, I don’t know what it is.
- I called the hotel, twice, before booking and specifically asked if they provided shuttle pickup to DT, and got affirmative answers, twice! When I arrived and asked the reception, it was a resounding NO! “Too many bridges” is their answer.
- Terrible front desk staff. They were frequently missing from the front desk and didn’t bother to put a bell on the counter in case someone needed help. They snuck to the back room and chatted in two or three, and wouldn’t even acknowledge you even when they saw you waiting there. It was like, “Keep waiting, I don’t care.” Even the worst motel I have ever stayed in, a Best Value in Seattle, had the saving grace of front desk staff who were prompt in addressing me and asking if they could help me.
- The room didn’t even have a full length mirror.
- The air conditioning was noisy, and the fridge was noisier. I went to sleep near midnight and woke up at 4 in the morning and couldn’t go back to sleep.
In conclusion, this hotel ruined the Best Western brand for me.
I refused to let this unpleasantness ruin the only day I had in P. Thankfully they at least agreed to drive me to the station and pick me up after my return.
I was planning to visit the Rose Test Garden, the Powell bookstore, the Pearl District, and Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden, in addition to scouring the trendy downtown stores that I will have to drive at least 3 hours to visit from my town. Unfortunately, after spending 3 hours in Ann Taylor and shelling out $350 for a suit (shouldn’t I buy them BEFORE the interview?!) and a matching shell, I was too exhausted to go anywhere else. My shopping appetite was whetted, but my brain told me to curb my enthusiasm (which was a mistake, since P doesn’t have sales tax – a plus, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the items I didn’t buy and was planning to visit the AT store 3 hours away!)
Was planning to go to a concert that night but had to cancel due to extreme fatigue. Watched American Wedding on HBO (can people be any grosser than the bunch in this American “sextrilogy”?!). One interesting observation is that I had not watched so many pro-Bush “public messages” on one night! Since this is a “swing state”, the Republicans just bombarded viewers with political ads during every commercial break! Sometimes I wonder whether people will be so sick of them these ad actually backfire!
– Sunday –
After a tiring long flight finally made it back home in one piece. Still had to do the laundry. Ugh! The room stunk because in a hurry on Thursday morning I forgot to take out the trash. Found out to my astonishment that the beautiful maple tree in front of my balcony was reduced to a pitiful stump. That tree was one of the reasons I picked this apartment!!! Now the view is gone and the balcony looks naked. What’s going on with this place? First my favorite management staff left, then my favorite tree was fell, then this loathsome woman who doesn’t give a damn about the residents takes charge… (P.S., I called her Monday and she said that my balcony needs to be rebuilt – great, even the building is in danger – and wouldn’t give me any information on why, how, how long, and when. I was so furious at her attitude that I called the corporate office, told them what she told me, and asked for more details, which they readily gave. It’s unfortunate that they should hire someone like her to be an apartment manager. This woman is extremely unfriendly, compassionless, obnoxious, and brusque to the degree of rudeness. In a word, she is all business and no heart.)
– Monday—
Sent out thank-you notes to everyone I could remember.
– Tuesday –
Watching Roswell.
Anyway, I am just not very good at negotiating for money and stuff so it may turn out that it is not negotiable after all (or they don’t think I am worth that much), and I just have to bear with it. Humph!
