Back at UCSD doing a career fair. Am reminded that I’m old, cause a student who was a cog sci/computer sci double major, when she found out that I had the same degrees, couldn’t resist saying “They had a cognitive science department back then?” Back then? How old am I?
But in the last 15 years, the place has changed a lot (the cog sci building is “old” and there is a whole new computer science building..). When I got to the Price Center I felt like I was in the wrong place. The Price Center was new when I was a student. I was dropped off by the shuttle at another new building. But some greeters assured me this was the Price Center, it just had a new wing. During a break, I wandered around and found the ATM bank where Catherine and I had an interaction that stuck with me.
Naturally, we had an interesting start to our relationship, Catherine and I. She tutored me in Ethics and Society her 1st year (my 4th year). Then she went away for the summer and I worked at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP for short, but best said with a slight pause – IGee, PeePee). I sat on my butt from 9-5 mapping earthquake data and playing some unix spaceship game on the net.
I turned 21 that summer. I discovered that I wasn’t drinking much before that time due to convenience and my law abiding nature rather than the fear of following in my alcoholic ancestry. I started sitting on my butt from 5-9 at happy hour at El Torito. i probably gained 20 pounds that summer.
So when school starts back up that fall, Walt and I are at the ATM bank getting some money so we can play video games and win/lose dinner, when Catherine comes walking up that path and see us.
“Hey Catherine!”
“Hey! You got fat!” Those were her first words to me after a summer apart. And she might not even have said “Hey!”