In the city, in training

- 2 minutes read - 294 words

Today is the 3rd day that I am in training for VMWare’s ESX product.

The class is being held up in the Financial District. It’s odd, I’ve walked among the famed and picturesque skyline buildings of SF many, many times, but I’ve never actually been in one. So, here I am on the third floor off of New Montgomery. I guess you see these buildings and think" “Oh I bet things are different way up on those high floors.” No, it’s just mail runners and cubicle walls just like everywhere else.

I’ve taken the CalTrain “Baby Bullet” express from MV up to downtown, then hopped the #45 Union/Stockton and disembarked on Grant and then moseyed up to Sear’s Fine Food for their amazing (pancakes|french toast|bacon|eggs) these last few days. They’ve remodeled Sear’s. When last I was there, it was older, funkier, and a bit dingy. The carpet was a mottled green and swirl with grime ground in. The seats were pink vinyl and lumpy. It felt like a last holdout from San Francisco’s 1950’s art-deco history. It’s very nice now, the marble countertop where a guy with a shoulderbag, an iPod, and a copy of wired can sit, grab a breakfast and then descend the hill back to training.

In any case, it’s nice to be in the heart of the Financial District. All the office folk in suits and iPods head hither and thither, the art-school-girls with big canvas bags protecting sketches sport their inventive fashions and haircuts, the shorts and sneakers couriers and coffee haulers intermingle, dance, dally with the reception staff, and depart. It’s a small speck of city that’s incredibly alive.

The class I’m taking is lab-intensive. At the moment I’m chewing CPU cycles waiting for my machines to build.