While Ed hangs out with the Japanese salarymen and U.S. expatriates in Tokyo, Melissa is subletting his room and looking for a job. Fresh out of Olympia, Wash., she's an overeducated publicist with lots of experience in the record business. Before she arrived on the streets of San Francisco, she had already lined up two interviews at dotcoms. The first thing she did, after putting some pictures up on Ed's old bookcase, was buy a cellphone. Yeah, she's ready for the VC-instigated job frenzy.
Cash is everywhere.
As I write this, I'm checking my email in random bursts of multi-tasking. So I could be doing a million fun things right now, but I have to choose. And I did choose. I took a new job too, but one that is shockingly, non-conformingly noncom. I don't have a million dollars in my department budget, and I don't get free snacks and drinks.