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A photo essay
I dare say that at the time of writing (July 2001) I do have one of the more interesting jobs in the Bay Area. However lucky I am, I currently do not have a car, and my daily trek to the Space Sciences Laboratory at the top of the Berkeley hills is a bit of an adventure. Sit back, loosen your tie, and enjoy a few moments "walking in my shoes," so to speak.
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It's another beautiful summer day in California, especially for Oakland where the weather is invariably better than San Francisco. Actually, it's a little bit overcast today, but that'll burn off by noon. I've already showered, shaved, got dressed, and checked my work e-mail to see if there are any disasters I need to deal with before heading out. I step onto my front porch and unlock the door.. |
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I have to walk about eight North Oakland residential blocks on my way to the MacArthur BART station. BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit - our version of a subway system around these parts. I head south to get to the closest station, though the train I want will eventually take me northward. So yes, this part of the journey is entirely in the wrong direction but it's a pleasant 10 minute jaunt, and I usually have plenty else on my mind to get bogged down in the futility of it all.. |
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Now I'm under highway 24/580. I hear hundreds of rush hour automobiles (one person per car, no doubt) whizzing by overhead. The BART trains also pass above me and when they do I can't help but feel a bit of panic that I'm just about to miss my train. I also silently pray for the earth to resist quaking at this precise moment lest I'll be crushed under tons of concrete, burning vehicles, and human flesh. In the evening this tunnel is rife with waiting taxicabs and thick, hot clouds of carbon monoxide. |
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I make it beyond the tunnel and turn the corner. Here's the unsightly entrance to the MacArthur BART stations. As far as bleak vistas, unsavory smells, and evil portents are concerned, this particular area is only slightly better than the tunnel from which I just escaped. Nothing doing this morning, but in the evening the entire complex is clogged with people buying/selling incense and vending/consuming hot dogs. I slip my BART ticket into the electric turnstile and sprint upstairs to the platform.. |
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And now I wait on the BART platform with all my fellow passengers to be. A soothing computer generated voice interrupts with following announcement: "San Francisco/Colma train in 5 minutes. Fremont train in 3 minutes." No mention of the Richmond train, which is the one I care about. For some reason, the ETAs of all other trains are continually updated every 60 seconds, but the underrated Richmond train is lucky to get a passing mention every 10 minutes or so. Anyway, I have from one to fifteen minutes of waiting ahead of me. When the train finally does arrive, there's a good chance I'll get a seat (thanks to the reverse commute).. |
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The train carries me into and beyond the Ashby station and I get off at the Downtown Berkeley station a mere 3 minutes later. I take the long escalator up to street level. The unwritten escalator protocol is to stand on the right and let others pass on the left. I'd say about 50% of the time there's a clueless fool standing on the left side preventing me from saving those precious few seconds. This photo shows the rotunda from which I enter sunny Berkeley and begin making my way across Shattuck Avenue and up toward campus. Maybe I'll stop in one of the nearby shops for a donut, or a banana nut muffin, or some lunch for later. Bongo Burger is right there and always quite tempting.. |
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I cross Oxford Avenue and now am officially on University soil. I could have taken the shuttle bus that runs around the perimeter of campus but it's too crowded and I find it faster to just stay on foot. Plus I continue to get some much needed exercise this way. The first part of this walk is through a brief wooded area. I finish eating the donut or pastry beneath the calming canopy of trees. |
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Ah, the long straightaway up to the clock tower. It doesn't look like much here, but there is a nice, long, steady incline up to the tower, making for some extra calorie burning. Right now, I'm heading to a part of campus known as the "Mining Circle." This is where all campus buses meet. The shuttle I want comes, at best, every 20 minutes. So it's about this time I look up at the giant clock and decide whether or not I want to sprint and just barely catch the next bus, or take it easy and deal with another 20 minute delay in my commute.. |
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Man, it's hot today. I make it to the base of the tower and trudge up the steps to the left. Pretty soon the Mining Circle will be in view and I'll discover whether or not I just missed the bus or what. If I do happen to miss it, I'll just pop into Evans Hall and deliberately get a long, cool drink of water. There's a fountain in the basement nobody ever uses.. |
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Today I happened to time it such that I only had a five minute wait until the next hill shuttle. I park my butt on one of the two cement benches at the stop, and wait. And wait. And it arrives! Five or six of us board the big blue conveyance and it immediately tackles the steep slope around the stadium and up Centennial Boulevard to the Space Sciences Laboratory. The bus travels slowly and loudly up this hill, but it sure beats walking (an exhausting 45 minute journey). |
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Finally, I make it the final destination. I hop inside the lab, consider stealing a donut off the unguarded table outside the conference room, and climb up two flights of stairs - 52 steps in all. I never bother with the elevator, though I go up and down these stairs as many as 20 times a day. About once a month I loose track and get off on the second floor by accident.. |
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Now I'm on the third and topmost floor walking down the hall to my office. The closet with all the large and busy SETI server machines is on the left. I pass by and see all the lights flickering, not unlike the display panels of the Star Trek Enterprise except that I understand what all these lights mean. Everything appears to be working, so I continue onward to my office.. |
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Here I am, entering the lab room where most of the team works, and there's my desk, complete with unorganized piles of paperwork, random pieces of ancient computer hardware, and my prized Sun Ultra 10 desktop with a 21" monitor. When people use the microwave oven in the next room, the screen vibrates.. |