Month: March 2016

Away with March

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Today is the last day of March.  There’s something about March 31st that tickles my memory, but I can’t quite get to what it is.  Maybe it’s nothing, a phantom itch.  I googled it, which didn’t help, but did provide a bunch of random facts.

  • Ewan McGregor, Al Gore, Christopher Walken, Angus Young, and Johann Sebastian Bach were all born on this day.
  • The Eiffel Tower opened on March 31st.
  • It’s Dance Marathon Day AND National Farm Workers Day.
  • The US took possession of the Virgin Islands.
  • Ford debuted the V-8 engine.
  • LaGuardia Airport opened.
  • Okay, that’s enough.

I’m done with facts and clearly too lazy to provide links and NONE of that helped me figure out what I’m trying to remember.  Let’s just assume it’s nothing until I hear otherwise.  March 31st is like any other day.  Go about your business.

We could have gone farther

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We drove about 530 miles today.  We detoured briefly in Ohio to go see Lake Erie, and we stopped in time to have dinner that wasn’t fast food (Applebee’s is ALMOST fast food – there aren’t a lot of options right off the highway in Coldwater, MI), and now we’re about to collapse.  We’ll need to do better tomorrow, but we can do that.  Especially if we’re asleep soon.

The biggest decision we have to make tomorrow is whether we’re going to drive across North Dakota or South Dakota.  Time and distance are the same.  We’ll have to decide around midday.

Look!  A great lake!  It was windy.

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And a bit gray.  But great!

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Day .5

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Tuesday evening shouldn’t count as Day 1.  We got ALL the way to Frederick (an hour and twenty minutes, and that includes a detour for fast food) and spent the night with Emily and Sean.  That was wonderful, of course, but we had SUCH a late start.  The movers, originally scheduled to arrive between 8 and 10, were switched to the 11am to 1pm window, so instead of starting first thing in the morning, nothing even got going until practically midday.  THEN we had parking problems.  Turns out our neighbors, just three houses down, were also moving out, but they had two moving trucks and they took up all available space.  I had a mild freak-out, but it all worked out okay because the drivers of their trucks were super-cool and accommodating.

Our movers arrived around 11, but there were only two of them.  Granted, we don’t have that much stuff, but what was planned for no more than six hours took eight, even with John helping with the heavy stuff.  They finished about 7:15, and we left town at 8.  We expected to spend our first night in Frederick, almost no matter what (and we had Camaro-related stuff we had to hand off to them, so we were stopping there definitely no matter what), but it would have been nice to have dinner with them and not just use them as a free bed.

It wasn’t the greatest start.  But it’ll get better!  Tomorrow, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana!

Moving Day!

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It’s Moving Day, and I have to box up the modem and cable box to return to Verizon, so this will be quick.  We spent all of yesterday doing the last-minute stuff – get rid of things not coming with us, stage the stuff that is going in the car, put “DO NOT TOUCH” signs on everything that is NOT supposed to go on the moving truck, do the last of the laundry – and now, we’re ready.  The movers will be here soon.

Goodbye, Annapolis!  You’ve been sunny and wonderful!

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Of course

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I was just looking at the weather forecast, and Eugene is about to get a whole week of really nice sunny weather.  A week of sunny weather that ends in rain the day we’re supposed to arrive.  Of course.  And it’s raining right now in Annapolis, so…whatever.  But that’s okay!  Winter is over!

Eh, technically winter is over, but we’re going to be driving right through winter to get back to spring (more snow is coming to the Rockies).  But that’s okay!  Winter coats and winter shoes will be in the car.  And the car has new tires.

We can handle it.   We just need to get moving.

Panic panic panic panic panic panic

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Panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic stress panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic No, everything is under control.  All I have to do is laundry and pack a suitcase and put signs on everything that stays in the apartment and make sure our stuff is in the car before the movers arrive and panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic What have I forgotten? Panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic panic

At least it’s not work panic.  And it’ll be over soon. Oh, and I’m okay now.  Got it out of my system.

I would work for a company like this

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I got two emails back to back from ThinkGeek today.  The first one had this subject:

Crypton

The second email arrived 43 minutes later with this subject:

Krypton

That’s right you will.  Same email otherwise.  And that’s why I love ThinkGeek.  Someone realized that they screwed up big time (big time for marketing to geeks, and nowadays, that’s BIG time (yay!)), and they admitted their mistake in a way those of us who get these emails appreciate.

Their office is in Fairfax, but that is no longer local to me, and they don’t seem to do remote work.  I’ve checked.

Companies suck

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I am SO irritated right now.  We chose Mayflower as our moving company for three reasons, in order:

  1. They were the cheapest.
  2. Their delivery window was 7 to 14 days after they pick up our stuff, not 5 to 25 days like the other two companies we spoke to.
  3. They told us we could get the no-earlier-than delivery date moved out to give us more time to get there.

We were counting on that third point to give us at least an extra day.  The sales guy told us we could do that, and when I talked to our move coordinator on Monday (Tuesday?), she told us we could do that.  I thought it was all settled.  I sent her an email last night to confirm that our delivery window would be 8-14 days instead of 7-14 days.

She called me this morning, confused and not sure what I was talking about.  I reminded her of our conversation earlier in the week, when we discussed our preferred delivery date.  Today, she told me that she can make those notes, but she has no control over that.  She can tell me that, based on the weather, she’s pretty sure the driver won’t arrive on the 7th day, so we should be fine.

THAT IS NOT THE SAME THING.

Basically, the preferred arrival date thing is bullshit.  It was bullshit when the sales guy told us, and it was bullshit when I discussed it with our coordinator on Monday or Tuesday, and it’s bullshit now.

Yes, we probably would have chosen Mayflower for reasons 1 and 2 (and possibly just for reason 1), but COME ON!  We had multiple conversations with our sales dude about it.  What if we were counting on having 10 days to get there?

I voiced my anger and then got over it.  Well, I stopped taking it out on her.  I’m not over it.  Partly over it.  I will also be calling my sales guy.

This is bullshit.

Somewhat eventful

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My outside time in Annapolis was interesting today.  Mildly interesting.  Could be considered interesting if you cock your head to the side and squint.

When I’m running and I come up even with someone who’s coming from the other direction, I acknowledge them.  Sometimes I smile, sometimes I wave, sometimes I nod or say good morning, but I always acknowledge them.  Seems rude not to.  And when I do something, I expect some kind of acknowledgement back.  It seems rude to ignore me.  It doesn’t have to be the same.  You don’t have to wave back if I wave. Just nod.  It’s fine.  It’s similar to getting the little wave from the drive of the car you just let turn in front of you or merge into your lane.

In Ashburn, maybe half the people I passed waved (or whatevered) back.  In Annapolis, it’s been better – maybe 75% acknowledge me back.  Most days.  There was one day, maybe last week, that I must have passed 20 runners and only THREE of them smiled back at me.  Bad day.

Today, I have no idea how many people I passed, but one of the very first was this woman running towards me, and she had the friendliest face.  Her smile was genuine and really nice, and I got the impression that she just really likes people.  It was nice and it helped.  I wish I could have told her that, but it would have been weird to turn around and chase after her.

Then I tripped over a traffic cone and almost fell into traffic.  Annapolis sidewalks are pretty narrow, and when the city puts up signs about parking or road closures, they block the whole width the sidewalk and go out into the street a little.  I was trying to go around it and stay near the traffic cones so I wouldn’t end up in traffic, but I guess I got too close.  And of course there were cars coming.  I didn’t fall (it was close), and my desperate arm-swinging shifted me back towards the sidewalk, so it all worked out.  The driver of the car I almost fell in front of probably thought I was having a seizure, but there’s nothing I can do about that.

Then later, I was driving down a narrow street with cars parked along one side and barely enough room for my car to fit, and a family was walking down the sidewalk toward me, and this woman was walking in the road.  Not partly on the curb and partly on the street, not near the curb, just IN the street.  She didn’t seem worried that I was driving her way and might hit her.  I mean, I didn’t, and I wouldn’t, but still.  Don’t walk in the street when there are cars driving AT you!

More apartment issues

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When we got back from PA Sunday night, we walked into a very cold apartment.  We checked the thermostat and found the screen blank.  Thinking it might be a dead battery, we took it off the wall, but it doesn’t take batteries, apparently.  The heat was off (it had been warm up until we left Friday evening), so we tried turning it on.  Nothing – no screen, no heat.  I texted our landlady (and let her know we could get through the night), and she said the HVAC guys would come over in the morning.  We threw an extra comforter on the bed and made it through the night alive.  Getting out of bed the next morning was next to impossible, though.

The guy arrived around 11am Monday and camped out in front of our bathroom door (the closet with the furnace is right outside the bathroom) for several hours.  Thankfully, he went in and out of the apartment a few times so we could use the bathroom.  It’s awkward to use the bathroom when someone is sitting right outside the door, you know?

He managed to get the emergency heat turned on later in the afternoon, and the place slowly warmed up, but we stayed bundled through to bedtime.  The guy had to come back yesterday (Tuesday) because he wasn’t prepared to run a new wire on Monday.  Apparently, some animal chewed through the wire.  Our landlady thinks it was the squirrel they caught.  That was the first I’d heard of a squirrel.

Let me back up.

I spent three days in VA for work the first week in March.  When I got back Thursday night (almost three weeks ago), John was standing in the kitchen, peering intently at the ceiling over the sink, and he beckoned me in and shushed me.  We could hear scratching in the ceiling.  From something big.  I pictured raccoons.  John said he heard it both nights I was gone.

We let it go a couple of days, but whatever it was didn’t go away.  We mostly heard it at night, sometimes all night long, and then one day our landlady appeared at our door.  Our upstairs neighbor called her because he saw mice in his apartment, and she wanted to know if we had mice.  I told her I hadn’t seen ANY animals, certainly not mice, but I’d heard scratching.  I told her it sounded bigger than a mouse, but I don’t think she believed me.  She set out some traps upstairs, apparently caught a mouse or two (and our upstairs neighbor came down one day to get John’s help with one), and the scratching did go away for a few days.  Then it came back.

I guess our landlady called the right people this time, and I guess they caught a squirrel (who apparently chewed through the wires to our thermostat).  I know we haven’t heard the scratching for at least a week, so maybe that’s all over.  And in less than a week, living in this apartment, with its leaks and scratching rodents and no heat and terrible, uncontrollable water pressure, will be over, too.

It hasn’t been ALL bad, but we are over this apartment.

But really – what am I going to wear?

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I met Jess for dinner tonight at Red Red Wine Bar.  It’s really good, and I’m glad we went, even if it is kind of hard to say.  Try it.  You might get it right the first time, but I bet you say “Red Wed Wine Bar” the second time.  Sober, even.  I had a good zinfandel (well, it was a little too sweet, but I liked the fruit in it, and I have NO idea where it came from), and Jess tried a sparkling wine flight.

I’m a little preoccupied right now, so this will probably be short.  I’m going to the office tomorrow (getting up early), and my brain is busy calculating how much (how little) sleep I’m going to get.  I’m also trying to decide what to wear.

It’s tough being me.

Also, Jess wants to buy someone their first Heinlein book and asked me to recommend one.  I think, for someone who doesn’t read science fiction, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress is the place to start.  I think Erik would agree with me.

Truckin’ along

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Hee.  See what I did there?  “Truckin'”?  ‘Cause we’re moving?  Get it?  GET IT?

Sorry.

I have been super-productive today, as far as the move goes.  Maybe not so much in other areas.

  • I have a call in with the movers to discuss the delivery date.
  • We got two new tires put on the car.
  • The electricity/water/sewer is all set up.
  • The garbage/recycling is all set up.
  • The gas is all set up.
  • Internet in Annapolis is cancelled (well, it’s set up to be cancelled – we still need internet for a week).
  • Change of address and mail forwarding is all set up with the post office.

I need to figure out internet in Eugene (it’ll be Comcast, and I’m putting off that call), but I think that’s it for utilities.  I did the electricity/water thing and the address change online, but I spoke to live people at the garbage company, the gas company, and Verizon (internet in Annapolis), and they were all SO NICE.  So pleasant, so friendly, so unlike customer service at many utilities.  (I’m looking at you, Verizon-from-when-we-set-up-our-account-a-year-ago.)  Even cancelling the account at Verizon just now was quick and easy.  They usually give the hard sell to stay, but aside from waiting on hold for 15 minutes, the call itself was really smooth.  What a nice change.

I didn’t run today, but I think I got the same endorphin rush from my unexpectedly agreeable chores.

Grand Central Station

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There are too many ways for people to get in touch with me, and too often, all are in use at the same time.  Work people can (and do) reach me via my work email address, my office phone, my work cell, my personal cell, Skype for business, Google Chat/Hangouts, and text (on both cell phones).  It’s part of my job to be available (during the work day – I do set boundaries, usually), so I don’t really mind, but sometimes it’s a bit much.

And it can be a bit much on its own, but then I add in non-work stuff that happens during the day (texts, chats, emails, calls), and it gets crazy.

Thursday, for instance, I went for a run at lunch (to clear my head because some customers at work that morning….well, I needed to clear my head), and while I was stretching, after having been back in the apartment for all of three minutes, my work cell rang.  Sure, I could have ignored it, but I saw who it was and picked up because her stuff is usually important.  It was, I answered her question, and went back to stretching.  Thirty seconds later (still stretching), my personal cell rang with a call from our landlady.  She’s got utility people in the basement and backyard, and am I home?  Oh, good, can I unlock the back door so they can get to the electrical panel?  Sure I can.

Shortly after that, I sat back down at my desk to find two chat windows flashing at me and lots of emails waiting.  I did just clear my head, right?

St. Patrick’s Day festivities

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Our St. Patrick’s Day festivities are days late and did not include drinking.  We’re not very good partial (or fake) Irish people.  I am wearing green, though.

Corned beef and cabbage for lunch, plus a good luck cake for our trip out west.

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We’re completely stuffed from that, but I really want the tres leches cake I know is waiting in the fridge.  We’ll just skip dinner and eat cake.  Later.  Much later.

I ran out to the hardware store to make a copy of our storage unit key for Emily and Sean, and when I came back, I found two thirds of the family asleep in the living room.

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We might not make it to the next round of cake.  That would probably be okay.  Except not.  It’s really good cake.

Pleasant mornings are pleasant

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First-graders are like wind-up toys.  Really.  I ran by the local Catholic school this morning as parents were dropping their kids off, and I saw half a dozen little kids in their cute little uniforms pop out of several cars already at full-speed (the kids, not the cars).  It looked like someone wound them up inside the car, opened the door, and let go.  They all went dashing off down the sidewalk with their giant backpacks on.  I was amused.

I saw daffodils this morning!  They’re so friendly.

Spring is nice.

Small things

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Small thing #1: It’s St. Patrick’s Day and EVERYONE is wearing green and when I went for a run at lunch (wearing green, of course), the weather was lovely and warm and EVERYONE was outside and EVERYONE was smiling at EVERYONE else.  It was pleasant.

Small thing #2: John’s flight test guy called this morning to reschedule John’s exam and check ride (which were supposed to be tomorrow) because he’s sick and can’t fly.  John is relieved (more time to prepare), annoyed (he was READY for tomorrow), and anxious because our deadline is approaching and he NEEDS to get this out of the way before we leave town.  The flight test guy is aware of the deadline, and he has penciled John in for three different days next week.  He’ll be well enough (and the weather will cooperate) for at least ONE of those days.

Rubber ducky

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This morning, I noticed a friendly little duck hanging out on the edge of our shower.

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John spent some time working on his car last weekend and got grease and grime under his fingernails for the first time in months, so he dug out the cute little nail brushes with ducks on top that we got as stocking stuffers last Christmas.  I had completely forgotten about them, but how cute is that little guy?  The other one is pink.

Makes me think I should get a rubber ducky or two for my bathtub in Oregon.

Sandwiches are the universal cure

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This morning:

Jess mentioned the other day that it’s amazing how quickly she can go from “Today’s a pretty good day” to “I hate everyone and everything” some days, and some days, I’m right there with her.  Today, at least, I have identified a trigger: it’s laundry.  Not just laundry, though – I’ve been doing laundry for years, and it doesn’t automatically put me in a bad mood.  No, it’s laundry HERE, in THIS apartment, with THIS gross basement and machines that don’t drain correctly (the utility sink that the machines drain into has dirt in it – DRY dirt – even after two loads of MY laundry have drained), and with our messy upstairs neighbor who is doing his best to live on his own, but needs additional help.  I’ll cut him all the slack he needs, but that doesn’t mean that what he does (or doesn’t do) doesn’t affect MY mood.

Messy neighbor definition: we have mice (or something) in the attic because he leaves open soda cans and pizza all over his apartment (according to our landlady).  In the laundry room today, there are two full loads of his clothes on the (gross) folding table, most likely put there by the downstairs neighbor who needed the dryers.  Don’t know how long they’ve been there or how long they’ll be there.

I’m going for a run.  Maybe I won’t hate everyone when I get back.

This afternoon:

Better.  Not great, but better.  Running is good, running is helpful, AND I ate a sandwich, which probably has a LOT to do with it.  (I typed “AND I hate a sandwich” and fixed it SO fast.  That is not true.  That will never be true.  I love sandwiches.  Rumors about sandwich-hating are hurtful and must be dealt with immediately.  Without delay.  Posthaste.  Now.)

Yes, I’m feeling better.

Oh, Ray’s, how I’ll miss you

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Ray’s the Steaks is the best.  And even though I made the rookie mistake of ordering my own little cup of crab bisque (rather than stealing bites from John’s) so that I was already full of overly rich food by the time my steak arrived, I was still able to enjoy the few bites I had before I couldn’t look at food anymore.  AND I got to take it home, and boy was it good cold at lunch today.  Also, they sent home mashed potatoes and creamed spinach (the sides that come family-style with every entree), so yay very much for me.

I’m going to miss that place.  Not tonight, though.  It’s Pi Day, and we’re having pie for dinner.  Of course.

I should know better

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Tip for Future Me: Don’t go out carousing the night Daylight Saving Time starts.  You lose an hour of sleep and it hurts WAY more than it would any other weekend.

Jess and I went out last night.  The plan was to have dinner out, call it an earlyish night, and get up early this morning to meet at her favorite bakery for a light breakfast.  Some of that happened.

We were walking back from dinner (at Level, which was SO good) and it was only 10 something, so we decided to see if anyone was playing the piano at the upstairs piano bar at Middleton’s Tavern.  We didn’t make it upstairs right away, though, because there was a band playing downstairs, and they were really good.  People were dancing, and that’s all the invitation I need, so we joined the crowd and sang and danced.  When the band took a break, the party moved upstairs.  There was a guy on the piano, sort of half-pianist/singer, half-DJ (it was kind of strange), and he was really good and everyone was really happy, so the singing and dancing continued upstairs until he played two songs in a row we didn’t know/didn’t like.  Back downstairs we went, back to the band (who played REALLY good stuff), with more dancing and singing (with the strangers who were following the same upstairs/downstairs patterns as us) right up until the band’s last set ended.  I don’t know if the bar was closing, but it was certainly time for us to close, so we left then and headed home.  It was maybe 1:45 when I walked in the door, and just a few minutes later, it was after 3am because I FORGOT ABOUT THE TIME CHANGE.  Damn it.

Morning came early, but not as early as we’d planned.  I still woke up just before 8am (EDT), feeling better than I had any right to feel, and I decided to suck it up and run over to meet Jess.  She’s right about this bakery – I had a latte (forgot to order decaf) and a sugary delicious bun of some kind.  Yummy.  And then we took a 4-mile walk.

I may not have made great decisions last night, but this morning’s decisions have been okay (and I feel better for them).  And to reward myself (and also get in one last visit before we move), we’re going to Ray’s for dinner.  I am going to have the best steak in the world.  And all the mashed potatoes.  I could demolish some mashed potatoes right now.