Getting to Work
My new job is located just under twenty miles from home, up freeway 805 north. Just a few miles beyond where I turn off, at Mira Mesa, the 805 merges with the I-5, a section of freeway designed for less than a quarter of the traffic that regularly uses it. Over the next few years they are going to be adding lanes to all of the freeway leading into and out of the merge, in places as many as five new lanes. Meanwhile, an already congested stretch of road is going to become worse for a few years before it gains the capacity it needs. The blockage now regularly extends back to the portion of the 805 that I use. So far, though, it has caused only slowdowns, not stoppages like when the power lined went down over the freeway and had to be re-strung by helicopter during daylight hours.
Anyway, driving at peak traffic times, I regularly make the trip in 35 to 45 minutes. I expected worse. From now on, I should rarely make the trip during peak traffic times.
When you leave the 805 at Mira Mesa, there are three lanes turning right. You want to get into the leftmost of those three lanes so that you can make a left turn at the next light. There are two lanes to turn left but it doesn't matter which one you choose since they will merge before you need to turn.
As you go up the hill and through the traffic light, you will see a large red sculpture on your right side as the road winds around. It looks as if somebody shaved a number of curls off of several giant candles, leaving candles and curls piled up together.
Behind the sculpture is a tall building. Everybody calls it "the tall building". It is home to a number of offices, some of them in the IT business although the sign in front mostly mentions the Karl Strauss brewery. Just beyond the tall building is a wide driveway. That's where you go in.
Off to the left as you enter is a parking area. Ignore it. Drive straight back to the road behind the so-called industrial park, which looks more like a garden, and drive farther down to the left to park in front of one of the few buildings to actually display a number instead of a name. That's the place.
The building is a fortress. It doesn't even really have windows -- the dark glass-like material just covers solid wall. You have to go through one security checkpoint to get to the reception area (where the only bathrooms are), a second to get to the work area, a third to get into the colocation area where every space is individually locked, and then you get to my night-time sanctum, also sealed from everything else, where I will have my computers, my phone station, my television monitors and a lot of other stuff. So far, I have been working in the work area rather than in the sanctum.
Okay, they worry about security. It isn't just for their stuff. Customers keep lots of valuable equipment running in the colocation room and other secure cages inside it.
Behind the building is an athletic complex and the Karl Strauss brewery restaurant, with gravel and flagstone pathways leading through a collection of plants, trees and fountains, making it a pleasant place just to walk around in. There is one picnic table; there may be more but I haven't found them. There are several tennis courts, at least one basketball court, and one court covered with sand for beach volleyball. There is a very small swimming pool and a therapy / massage room. All of these are reserved for use by employees of businesses in the industrial park, hopefully including ours. I'll have to ask.
So far, I've enjoyed just watching the volleyball players while I eat my small lunch, then wandering the pathways. If anybody else in the group does anything at lunch, I am unaware of it. Schedules are too irregular to make it convenient.
Still, the place has a lot going for it.
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