Flagstaff Zombies

They come out of the ground below my building. I didn't realize that it would be so inconvenient to work on top of a large train station. But every morning wave upon wave of glassy-eyed office workers spew out of the station and trudge to work. They move as one down the footpath, like a downcast version of a cycling peloton.

It is almost impossible to walk against this flow (which I have to do every day to get to work). These people don't see. They are zombies. You think I'm kidding but they will walk straight into you like you're not there. I'll even walk on the busy street to avoid them. It's easier to dodge cars and trams.

I have resolved never to become a Flagstaff Zombie (or it's equivalent). Though I worry that it is the fate of all office workers after a few years.

The Keys to Timezone

Back when I was at UWA in Perth, some of my friends and I had an in-joke about finding the “keys to timezone”. It was a joke about the kind of thing an 11 year old suburban Perth kid (like we had been) might fantasize about. During our youth (the 80s) Timezone was a chain of lame arcades. It had all the quaint computer games of the era. So, we imagined the following exchange:

Kid 1: Imagine if you found the keys to timezone!

Kid 2: Wow! That would be so cool. You could play computer games for as long as you wanted.

So ‘the keys to timezone’ became code for anything unattainably cool. When things went badly, you had lost the keys to timezone. If something awesome happened, you might just have found them.

I have found the keys to timezone.

This morning the ACLU called to offer me a job (and agree to sponsor me for a visa). Not only that, but it was the ACLU Drug Law Reform Unit in Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz! Details of the job are available here. I accepted it, of course.

Leaving aside the fanciful (like professional surfer), I do not think there is a job that I would rather have right now. It’s a dream job in a dream location. I can imagine the following exchange:

Lefty Law Grad 1 (i.e. me): Imagine if the ACLU had an office in Santa Cruz!

Lefty Law Grad 2 (e.g., my surf bud Oskar): Wow, that would be so cool. You could surf every morning and still have an awesome job.

The only downside is that it’s a one year position. But hey, you can’t hold on to the keys to timezone forever.