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on the twenty fifth i was in san jose for an interview. i was describing to my bro the journey, here's the edited transcript,
left home at around 845pm, monday night, 24th, got the bus from near home. i had to change buses and the intermediate bus stop is in downtown los angeles as was the greyhound terminal at the intermediate stop, there were all these mean looking derelicts and that area is very very seedy i was a little afraid, not afraid afraid but still very cautious reached the bus stop waited for an hour or so for the bus, got into the bus and found a seat near the front then this big guy comes and sits next to me, not some nice chick as i'd been hoping for ;) newayz, the bus seats were not incredibly comfy, just regular seats and the ride was around six hours we had one stop on the way, i was wearing jeans and carrying trousers and a shirt for the interview itself in a coat cover reached san jose at 530 in the morning, mercifully the restrooms at the greyhound terminals and the burger king on the way were very clean i couldn't sleep much during the ride so i try to catch some shuteye at the terminal in san jose i know this is boring but u gotta bear with me haan to, i just wile away my time, till around 630-645 and wait for morning as dawn brightens up the outlook for the day, i decide to head out and go check out the place where the interview be held, the interview was scheduled for 10 am so i had a lot of timeon my hands, the plan was to find a starbucks or a mcdonalds or something and change there the office was a walkable distance from the greyhound station, mercifully, so seek it out, and then walk back, now looking for a starbucks i find one, and go there, order coffee, the time was 730am, coffee and a piece of cake "breakfast" now i had to stay at this place for the next two and a half hours so i sip the coffee very very very slowly and munch on the not too fresh cake ;) and read my notes to prepare and keep checking the cell phone for the time i sipped and munched and munched and sipped and tried to gather courage to carry my clothes into the bathroom so that i could change well, i managed to let an hour and a half pass by at around 9 i head towards the bathroom turns out i had to get a key from the server and go in ;) i'd also tucked my toothbrush, toothpaste and a bar of soap in so first i relieve myself, then hurriedly change into the trousers and shirt, then brush my teeth, then wash my face, it was kinda messy but i got through it all in about twenty minutes, i had this nagging feeling that everyone was banging on the door outside asking me to get out and what the hell was i doing in so long achcha then i get out and go back to my table with one more thing still left to be done i had to change my shoes and put the shoes in my bag, get the "formal" ones out and wear them my coffee is over, rather was over and i'd brushed so i throw away the crumbs, the empty glass and then finally head out at around 920 or so i reach the office i'm supposed to be and ask for the hiring manager i tell him i'm early but we start anyways that's my first interview of the day, goes off awright then this chinese girl comes in for the second interview, she's a usc graduate and i get the feeling that i'll be able to breeze through it but it is not that good but not bad either, i'm better prepared for the next interview, it is a developer and i leave him really impressed he was probably japanese and very friendly finally it is a desi, he used to be my grader here at usc and i know him this one goes off well enough and i'm done by one pm i'm ready to head out but there is this whole bunch of my stuff i'll have to lug around the receptionist there very sweetly says i could leave it in the office and go that was cool, so i happily agree the bus is at 1115 pm i'm supposed to come back by 630 for the bag i decide to explore the san jose downtown i wander into the info center and ask what could i check out the guy there is helpful and suggests going to the tech museum which would cost 9 bucks or to take a train that essentially goes through silicon valley so i take the latter option there is this automated ticket machine near the rail stop this train is more of a tram, it is called light rail at the ticket machine i meet this girl, she turns out to be frm bangalore, here for six months with her husband who works at cisco :) so we get talking and get into the train together i check out the cisco campus, it is humungous i finally get back to san jose downtown by 6pm, head over to the office and pick up my stuff the guy at the info center had told me that the lobby of a five star hotel there, the fairmont, was open to the public so i head there, but in the lobby everyone seems to be drinking (and i don't) newayz i was too tired and sleepy to care i sit on the very comfy sofas and promptly go to sleep this waiteress had been giving me a some warning glances and no sooner had i gone to sleep she comes and wakes me up, the bitch and tells me in a very irritating voice that i was not allowed to sleep there well, im too resigned to argue and just pick up my stuff and head out there are some chairs and tables right outside, so i sit on one of them and try to sleep but it was tooooo cold, and the chairs were very uncomfy so i stand up after a few minutes and look for another place right across the road there is this park like thing with benches well, milgayi sone ki jaga! i go there, stretch on the bench like a regular bum and go to sleep ;) how weird is that? ;) well, i sleep for like an hour and then wake up because of the freezing wind i'm toooooo cold when i wake up and i finally decide to head to the terminal i'm really hungry now, i've just had a veg burger which was hardly filling so i see this indian restaurant called shalimar and head it in the decor inside is really horrible, the walls are a weird blue! who paints blue anymore? achcha to the first sign of trouble is that on the menu there is this heading =; VISMAILLAH (Appetizers) it is weird, neways i ask the waiter if they server halal and he says the lamb is halal, i ask him if he's sure and he says yes i'm like okay, let's see, second warning sign, there is a freakin WINE list in the menu warning bells!!! i'm a muslim, i don't drink and when i eat meat i try to ensure it is halal, which is something like kosher, newayz, i would be very very uncomfy at a place that claimed to have halal meat and then served wine, it is just weird for me i look at the biryani section the biryanis were like 9 to 12 each quite expensive so there is chicken biryani then lamb biryani and then ..... well, PORK biryani i almost puked the very thought was really gross fer me i know, it is like sacrilege, pork in biryani.. uck i quickly got up, picked up my bag ughh and hurriedly leave i reach the terminal and go to the food stall they don't have chocolate milk and the prospects of overpowering hunger loom large well, i'd seen a subway on the way so i head back but unfortunately that's closed too so i just pick up a bag of chips and thankfully some starbucks cold coffee sustenance achcha so i wait and wait and wait and then go to sleep at the terminal sleep for an hour or so and finally it is time to leave i'm at the end of the line since i'd been sleeping and well the ride back is pretty much like the first one and i reach la at 630 am home by 7, and well that's it, still don't know if i cleared though. |