Ahh... tennis class was good tonight. It was the kind of tennis I live for. When class started the coach told me to hit with this guy named Manaj (sp?... I think he was Indian). This guy was good. I'd say a little better than me--not dominating, but he had some strong shots and angles. So we had some good rallies and I got to run around a lot and work up a good sweat. The coach watched us for some of the time and told me things to work on (i.e. prepare earlier, bend knees and get down to the ball)... tonight alone provided more real coaching than all four years on the Leigh team.

Speaking of good tennis... In NEROP we had a presentation by The NErF (New Engineer Focus) Group. It's a group of fairly recent hires that volunteer to help us get acquainted to the work life--like Link Crew in high school. I met some guys who seemed pretty cool who are working on a tennis ladder. Any employees can join, and challenge the person above them on the ladder. There are no tennis courts on the campus (although they have paddle ball--da hell??), but they're looking into nearby courts we can use. There's gotta be some good players in the company, so I look forward to some good competition there too. Heh maybe I'll play Steve's dad, that'd be fun. As long as he doesn't throw a fireball at me.

Work today was nice and easy. One of those "I can't believe they're paying me for this" days. The whole day was pretty much just HR-related presentations on stuff I already knew (benefits, compensation, etc.). We finished early, around 4:15. About the benefits, it's interesting how well they sell things like life and disability insurance. We're all pretty young, and most likely don't expect to be maimed or killed in an accident any time soon. But still... for just a few dollars a week, you can make sure that if that disaster does strike... you (or your surviving family) will hit the jackpot. I just imagine myself sitting in a wheelchair, unable to feel my legs, begging for change on Telegraph Avenue and lamenting the fact that I was too shortsighted to make a small gamble in favor of my own ill fate. Or me dead, and my family saying "that selfish mofucka didn't leave us a goddamn shiet." They really need to clean up their language.