Software on the 51st floor

Last night was a pretty interesting night. I went to Cirque du Soleil at the Air Canada Centre home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, The Toronto Raptors, and any other event too small to fill the Rogers Centre, or as previously known the Skydome.

The show was stupendous. I can honestly say it was the most professional and electrifying circus act I have seen in my life. The juggler juggled from 7-9 balls and bounced them around his feet at speeds almost too high to see clearly. But the best performance in my opinion goes to a guy who played a joyful boy. The act was a crowd interactive piece with a mixture of sound effects he made with his mouth and mime gestures which brought the better half of the spectators to tears with laughter. He even made a guy get up from the crowd and jump around, and pretend to be in a western duel from the times of the wild west. I would recommend it to anyone with a chance to go see Cirque du Soleil, extremely entertaining.

The show began at 7:30 pm and ended at around 9:00pm. It was a beautiful night for walking in downtown Toronto. It wasn't too cold and the sky was clear and if you squinted long enough you could even see a star. We walked south on Bay street for about two minutes to the parking lot behind the Gardiner Expressway on Bay and Harbour. The mass exodus from the ACC seemed to carry us with them towards the overcrowded parking lot. From behind the elevated highway running over the parking lot the CN Tower rose in its exuberant red and white glow, to its right the TD Waterhouse tower seemed dwarfed and merged into the skyline.

It was early so it meant we had time to meet my fiancee's friend and her boyfriend which had been meaning to get together with us for a while. We drove north on Bay street to Bloor street where we found parking in an underground garage for 12 dollars, plus the 20 we had previously paid meant we had already spent 32 dollars on parking space. If that doesn't make you want to ride the subway, I don't know what will! We parked in the Yorkville area which is filled with extravagant bars and expensive clothing stores. In every corner it seemed there was a patio filled with people dressed in suites and women in night dresses all drinking wine and eating oysters. We walked to the Menu Life Building which houses one of the bars with the best views in the area. Panorama and it's situated in the 51st floor right at the heart of downtown Toronto.

It was my first time going to Panorama, but right from the elevator I knew it was a peculiar type of bar. There were only two buttons, second floor, and 51st floor- pretty specific I would say. I guess since it's a bar you want to give drunk people less options and ways to get confused and wandering lost inside a 51 story building. We pressed the obvious choice and twenty seconds later we were 51 stories high and our ears were popping. The bar looked nice, with dimmed romantic and accented lights at the corners of the walls, mahogany tables and leather couches. My fiancee spotted her friend sitting in the patio, yes that's right a patio in the 51st floor. The patio had couches and reclining chairs, and you could see the whole of Toronto. The CNTower, the TD tower, the CIBC building, Lake Ontario, and the breeze was fresh as could be.

After the courteous introductions I ordered a mojito-which just so you know was amazing and about the best mojito I have had- and almost treacherously and unexpectedly the very dreaded question popped up.

"So what do you do?"

I realized I had been asked a question but gently dodged it and continued to drink my mojito and enjoy the view which by now included a school of seagulls and loonies flying inland.

"Ken, he is asking you what do you do" - That was my fiancee nudging me with her elbow.

Ahh, love, a beautiful thing.

Gina's boyfriend Mark, an entrepreneur, business major, and very proud of his accomplishments asked me what do I do.

About what, was my natural answer after Red Foreman from That 70's Show.

Perhaps to many people including other computer scientists this question is not such a big deal. To me however, it is not a question I want to answer while nursing a very expensive mojito at the edge of the universe. What I do is write and test graphics drivers for embedded systems, this includes safety critical system like aerospace projects (Airbus A380), or other non safety critical systems like GPS gadgets for cars and such. But if I begin to explain that I am in the graphics world of computing I can almost guarantee that I will be asked to photoshop a wedding picture for them.

Then what can I say, I wondered. If I say I am a programmer (though I don't like that because it's over simplifying what computer science is, and what I do) then I'll be asked what areas of programming I like most, just like I am always asked. And then, when I say that I prefer the low level side of programming they look at me with soggy eyes and pouting lips, as though saying awww I'm sure if you try hard enough one day you could do higher level stuff.
One thing I find funny is that people cannot get over the fact that low level and high level have a completely different meaning in the world of computing.

I looked at him straight in the eyes and said.

"I work at PizzaHut"

My fiancee pinched me hard in the ribs and still hurts, and I continued to drink my mojito.