I used to love the TV series, Time Tunnel. By today’s standards, with all the whiz bang magic CGI programmers can do, it looks a bit primitive. But as a kid, it was so exciting the relive history as Tony and Doug made their way through time, trying to find their way back to the modern day.
All this happened, of course, because the spigot was about to be turned off their funding. Like most federal government projects, a lot of dough went into building the time tunnel, but no one ever tried it out to see how it worked. So Tony decides to give it a whirl, ending up on the deck of the Titanic. Yay, it worked! Unfortunately, no one had ever figured out how to get anyone back, which is a good thing, since that would have been the end of the series. As far as I know, Tony and Doug are still out there traveling. The government didn’t cancel the program, ABC did.
I can still identify with Tony and Doug. I sometimes feel I stepped into the Time Tunnel back in 1993 and only recently emerged. Not in a bad way mind you. There are things to be said for going your own way in this world and shelving the day-to-day rigors of a regular paying job and doing your own thing.
The upside is the belief that you can make as much money as you want. The downside is you rarely do.
I didn’t really know I would be time traveling back then. I just walked through one door in August 1993 and exited through another one. The time shift seemed barely perceptible back then, but it ended up causing a huge ripple in the time-space continuum.
I can only imagine what life would have been like if I never went through that door, but instead, continued on the path I was on. Who knows what my career would be like today.
But, we can’t live in the past, even if we still feel as if we are traveling in it. It’s 2012 now and things have changed some in the intervening 18 years.
It seems like only yesterday that I rode the bus into town every day to work at Pacific First Bank. The bank is now long gone, as is the bank that bought it, Washington Mutual. In fact, all my previous employers are gone. All that’s left of them are rare mentions in the history books about Seattle businesses that used to be huge, then crashed to the ground with a resounding thud. Pacific First, Associated Grocers, Egghead Software, just mere shadows.
While I haven’t been tempted to go to the 13th floor in what is now the U.S. Bank Center (I should though), I now work on the 26th floor. I know, kind of weird. 13 + 13.
Downtown itself looks both the same and different at the same time. There was no Macy’s back then. It was the Bon Marche. No Pacific Place. No SLUT. But there was and still is the Hurricane Cafe, the old Doghouse. And the Monorail. There are still $3 Hum Bows at the Market. Homeless people still try to shill you for some coinage, complete with the requisite homeless dog. And there are still street performers who will never make a living in their craft, because, well, they don’t have any talent whatsoever.
People don’t look around anymore as they get from one place to another. They just stare at their iPhones as they walk down the street. Technology has made us all a bit anti-social I think. Which is funny for me to say, since technology kept me connected all these years and I have played with a lot of cutting edge tech over the years, often way ahead of the curve compared to everyone else.
I don’t play with technology much anymore. I have a job to do. Thankfully, it’s not much different than what I have been doing my entire life and I get to work with an amazing team. I think I did pretty good in that regard.
Traffic has gotten a bit worse, but not really that bad. By car I could make it to my office in 30 minutes from Shoreline. By bus, about the same, mostly because I can catch an Express which takes the freeway. I have a greater appreciation for that commuter lane these days, I can tell you that.
So, in many ways, time has stood still while I was gone. Most of downtown is still under construction. I see cranes everywhere, just as I did when Seattle was climbing out of its 1980s recession. The dress code is a lot more relaxed than when I last worked downtown. Business casual is pretty nice, I must say. I’m glad I only have to wear a tie if the governor is in the house.
When I was in corporate last, email was just beginning to be used. Now, everything is by email it seems. Reply All is the office mantra. Meetings are scheduled, meetings are accepted, video conferencing routine… my computer sounds like a slot machine, so many meeting notifications are going off on it. Ping, ping, ping!
I have a pretty cool office. It overlooks South Lake Union. I can see the lake, Mount Baker on a nice day and even the Space Needle from my floor, though that won’t be much longer because they are building two new condo high rises right next to us.
That’s been the biggest change of all. People live downtown now. Condos are everywhere. Downtown Seattle has become a hip place to be again. Man, I must have been in the tunnel for a very, very long time.
In the Emerald City, heading into Hipville soon on the 301,
– Robb