Working that particular weekend was not a problem for Edgar, since he had recently resigned from Nortel Networks and moved to California from North Carolina and had no friends or family in the area.
Thanksgiving weekend was one of the few times that hardly anyone could be found in the office.
Suddenly, he heard a noise. Someone was moving through the office that Edgar believed shouldn’t have been there. He went to investigate and saw the door of the men’s bathroom swing shut. Cautiously, Edgar opened the door and observed the intruder. “Scared to death” and caught placing a cardboard cutout in the bathroom area was none other than Cerent’s CEO, Carl Russo.
Edgar cast his gaze on a life-size replica of science officer Spock of the Starship Enterprise staring back at him and then he returned his gaze to a startled Carl. They both had a good laugh. Apparently, Carl was spending the weekend in Petaluma too and decided to install a number of cardboard cutouts around headquarters. He asked Edgar not to reveal the true identity of the culprit.
PS: An anonymous someone made a life-size version of Carl a few weeks later. According to Edgar, that cutout (and Spock) survived at least 5 years at Cerent’s offices.