Getting lost

I think the gene for orienting oneself according to the cardinal directions reside on the Y chromosome. I certainly can't (read can't) figure it out unless it's glaringly obvious like the sun rising or setting on east-west axis. Then, I can find East or West. Tell me North or South, I'll have to think about it.

All that to excuse myself for being 20 minutes late for getting to the Chula Vista branch for my 1st day there. I even gave myself 15 extra minutes leaving home. I got off the freeway and turned left instead of right. For some reason, I left that important detail off the directions I wrote down. It wasn't until things started looking pretty rural that I called Luis and asked him to look at the map for me.

I still would've been on time, if I found parking and the branch with no problem. Parking, had to drive beyond all the spaces marked with a three hour limit. Fine. It wasn't that hard. Then when I came out of the structure, I had no idea where things were. I walked out to the streets and couldn't find any recognizable landmarks (which is how I figure out where I am.) So I started walking. As I continued, it dawned upon me that this whole block is a shopping plaza. In the end, when I finally found the entrance to the CU, I realized that I started at the opposite end of the block! Think of the block as a rectangle with sides 1 and 2, 1 being the length and 2, the width. I started at the middle of 2, walked along 1, and ended at the other 2. I'm not even going to go into details about how I had to walk up and down stairs trying to find the actual entrance to the CU from where I entered from a side door on 1.

The whole time, I knew I was pretty late. I didn't even both looking at my cell phone for time. Such bad luck. I was late to the interview and late to my supposedly "home" branch. However, the manager was super nice. She figured that I couldn't find the place and had me clock in at 10:30 anyway despite my arrival at 10:51.

Lesson of it all? I need to get a Thomas Guide.

And no, I will not get a GPS.