MENLO PARK » SUSAN • May • They are going to send me to Trinity — “Please train the new guy…” and then we will send you to Trinity. Dr. A didn’t say ‘Trinity’ when she spoke to me, but they send me wherever they need more dialysis. And I bet it is up in Trinity or somewhere in ‘True Northern’ California. I don’t want to go to Trinity. This gig is good: Menlo Park is pretty easy to get to, and I can live in Oakland and commute over the bridge. I like Oakland. My family likes Oakland. Actually, I love Oakland. Maybe they will send me to Oakland? No, they will send me back to Bishop. Or to Oroville so I can play with the dam. Or to Palm Desert so I can play with the tortoises. Or to Trinity so I can play with the trees. That will be the pitch “Trinity is so beautiful with all the trees”. A thousand trees are beautiful… nothing but trees is Hansel-and-Gretel not beautiful. “But the committee would really appreciate it”. I am nothing but an enslaved employee… I am not even an employee given I can’t change employers. So just a slave? I definitely did not think of this when they explained the transition to me. • ‘Mark’ should show up any minute now — It is almost 2:00, so he needs to learn to get here earlier. But we have plenty of time: four hours a day, three days a week, until he can do it alone. And let me go to Trinity. Maybe I should make this training take a really long time?
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