Man this takes me back. I was just sitting here in my new office after hours, and I realized I was starving. I could have driven out for some takeaway Chinese to bring back to the office, but instead I prowled around the kitchen looking for a quick fix.
I found some styrofoam cups of Maruchan instant noodle, grabbed one of those, poured in hot water, and the smell instantly zapped me back to 2000, California, just before the Bubble popped.
Jeremy and I were working for EMusic in the Redwood City office, taking CalTrain down and back from San Francisco, and EMusic had a closet stuffed with tons of these Maruchan instant noodle cups. I probably ate 2 a day for almost a year. We used to call them "the salt lick."
Man, New Years Eve 2000, all the Y2K fever, drinking champagne straight from the bottle in a North Beach club, in the moment, surrounded by light and music and sensation. EMusic stock was above 40 and we all had like ten thousand options. Then NASDAQ crashed in February and the stock came flaming down like the fucking Hindenburg. We knew it was all over in March or April when management stopped stocking the Maruchan as a cost saving measure. By June most of us were looking for new jobs and by September I was in exile in Europe.
(Jeremy, you out there? This ringing any bells?)
And now... here I sit once again in an office on the West Coast... with a nice steaming Maruchan... mmmmm.... synthetic beef flavor...
Smells like the Bubble.
Posted by case at September 22, 2007 02:21 AM