Orange Hoodie

This morning I left our hotel room to head to the main hall for the real start of the convention. The shortest way to get the convention area is to go outside and cross the entrance area of the hotel. As I was walking across, I looked up at some people getting out of a car… and it was Richard Dean Anderson! I walked on so I wouldn’t be right in their path gawking, and then stopped so I could gawk from a respectful distance :-).

Previously Gatecon has had open seating, which has meant getting in line at 5 AM just so you can have moderately decent seats. Thank goodness Gatecon has finally abandoned that miserable practice. Seating is strictly by ticket number this year. I bought my ticket within the first hour after they went on sale, before RDA was even announced as a guest, so my ticket number is fabulously low: 28. It’s on the first row! I have absolutely no one between me and the stage! It is awesome!

The only panel today (sadly, there is less programming this year than in 2003 and 2004, the other times I went to Gatecon) was Richard Dean Anderson and Captain Paul Watson, who is the head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. We get to see RDA all three days of the con, so the topics are split up: today was SSCS, tomorrow is Stargate, and Sunday is MacGyver and any other projects. Thus, today all discussion and question were about conservation and the SSCS. It was pretty interesting.

Afterward, it was time for the photo session with RDA for the block of numbers I’m in. I was second in line, but the person in front of me was all aflutter and didn’t want to go first, so we swapped. A couple volunteers ended up going first, though, because they needed to get back to their work areas, so I was the third person to have a photo with RDA. I’m not a huge RDA fan [I lust after Michael Shanks instead :-)], though I do quite like his work and he seems like a cool guy, but I couldn’t stop grinning. I wish I had something witty or wise to say when meeting these actors I’ve traveled across a continent to meet, but I never do. When it was my turn, he said, “Thank you for coming,” and I replied dumbly, “Thank you.” He put his arm around me, and I put my arm around him, and we smiled and the photo was taken. I walked out of the room grinning like a fool. It was a fabulous 5 or so seconds.

I returned to the main hall a bit after that because I suspected they were going to show one of the Sea Shepherd DVDs. (I really wish they’d announced the things that were actually planned. The schedule was unclear and had changed, so no one really knew.) As it turned out they were showing Sharkwater, which is a documentary about the slaughter of sharks for their fins, and how it is leading to sharks being endangered. It was very interesting.

After that, I returned upstairs for the autograph session with Richard Dean Anderson. All people who had VIP passes got to have a photo with him, but the autographs were given out by lottery, and both types of passes (VIP and Gatepasses) were eligible to enter. I got really lucky and got one of the autograph spots. So I stood in a line and waited and waited for my turn. Though I was one of the first for the photo, I was near the end of my group for the autographs. I got the photo I’d just had with RDA that day signed.

Once again, I had nothing to say. I think being a fawning fangrrrl would be less lame than me just smiling and shyly saying hello. He asked how I was holding up. “Oh, I’m holding up fine. How are you holding up?” I replied.

“I’m pretty wiped out,” he said.

“I can imagine.” Wow, I have a couple minutes with RDA, and that’s it for the conversation. Sad, I know. Still, I was quite happy.

After he signed my photo, I thanked him for coming to Gatecon (he doesn’t do conventions as a rule – they just aren’t his thing). “Hey, all they had to do was ask,” he said with a smile, and then added, “you know, six or seven times.” Heh

Tonight ended with the banquet, which was… meh. I didn’t see anyone I knew so just picked a random table. The food was okay, and it was a decent atmosphere. I would have enjoyed it more if I’d been with people I knew, I think. I think all of the guests (plus a few actors who weren’t on the schedule) were there except RDA. However, instead of being interspersed amongst the tables, they were all at two tables together, which kind of defeats the purpose of the banquet with the actors. Oh well. Most of them went out and mingled with us. I got photos with Colin Cunningham and Corin Nemic. I left the banquet soon after desert was over. I was bored. And thus my day came to a close.

Not much happening today. There’s the bus tour, but I’ve done that three times so decided to skip it this year. Sadly, no Sekh’s Party this year. So I registered, wandered down to a grocery store about a block away to get some food for the next weeks or so, and then just sort of hung out until my volunteer shift at 2 PM. I worked registration, which is easy and painless – at least, it is in the afternoon because the mad rush of the morning is long over.

There are a couple dealer’s rooms: the Gatecon dealer’s room (which is seriously lacking in stuff to sell) and the Legend’s Memorabilia dealer’s room, which includes all the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society stuff. The Legends room actually is selling some stuff, though even the two dealer’s rooms combined really don’t have all that much. Very disappointing. The Sea Shepherd stuff is why we even get to have Richard Dean Anderson here. All the money from the auction and photos and autos with RDA all go to Sea Shepherd, which RDA supports.

So I went to the dealer’s rooms and wandered around and bought a few small things. After my shift, we had a mandatory meeting for all volunteers (I work another shift manning the doors on Sunday). It went on too long.

The Meet and Greet was in the evening. Cherie and I connected (she’s on the stage crew and also works the sound board, so she works the whole con, which means I don’t see her much) and went to the Meet and Greet. She had to pick up something in the main hall, which was set up for Friday’s panels, and she snuck me in so I could see the stage. Very nice stage. Lovely stargate. Sadly, the Meet and Greet really wasn’t that interesting. We saw Corin Nemic and Alex Zahara. I’m not really into random small talk with strangers and I don’t drink (the only food or drink was a cash bar), so… there really wasn’t a point being there. So Cherie and I bailed and went to Denny’s for dinner.

That’s all that happened on Thursday. I could have arrived on Thursday and I really wouldn’t have missed anything.

The day began at the miserable hour of 3 AM, which was surprisingly not all that horrible. I actually awoke 2 minutes before my alarm was to go off. I was out of the apartment a little after 4 AM, putting my on schedule to arrive at the long-term parking area around 4:45.

Unfortunately, I was thwarted by Google Maps not matching the actual path. Panic ensued, as I had timed the trip and arrival at the airport closer than I generally prefer. I lost about 10 minutes searching for where I thought I needed to go, but heaven forbid that DC actually label their highways. It wasn’t until I hit Maryland that I even knew I was on the right road. Thank you, Maryland, for actually labeling your highways.

But I found the long-term parking area I wanted without much difficulty and made it through the airport hurdles with ease (aside from my intense bitterness and hatred toward Homeland Security), arriving at my gate at a perfect time.

My, what a long flight. (I had to change planes in Cincinnati.) It’s a pain to fly from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

I arrived in Seattle at 10:30-ish local time. I’d arranged to get a ride from Seattle to Vancouver with a couple fellow convention-goers who were renting a car (I chipped in gas money). Since we’d never met, I thought it might be tricky to find each other, but our paths crossed immediately at the baggage claim area when each of us saw the other on the cell phones as we described ourselves. Very simple.

We then met up with a couple other con-goers in another car and took a scenic detour through an incredibly beautiful national forest (I don’t know its name). Oh how I love the Pacific Northwest. LOVE. When I’m finished with DC and ready to move, I really must find a way to convince someone out here to hire me.

But after the scenic drive, we continued on across the border and into Vancouver – a painless drive.

I connected with Cheri and found our room. We chatted. We went to acquire sustenance at a nearby restaurant (I had a chicken and something pizza that was quite tasty; I have leftovers for breakfast tomorrow). And now it is after midnight my time (only 9:20 local time) and I am exhausted. And so… goodnight.

Nastia and Shawn for the gold and the silver! That was a competition that totally lived up to the hype. I’m so glad both girls hit four for four, and it wasn’t a matter of one of them giving it away. Shawn looked a bit disappointed, and who can blame her after all the that’s been said about her being the “it girl”. Even though it was after 1 AM, I stayed up to watch the medal ceremony and everything. (I then slept in to 7 AM and didn’t get to work until 9 AM. Flex time is a wonderful thing.) Fabulous competition.

On a totally unrelated note: I HATE BIG BUGS! Okay, I don’t like little bugs either, but big bugs are so much worse. There were two in my house last night, and it was a very traumatic experience. Little bugs I’m happy to ignore and just pretend they aren’t there, but I can’t manage that with the big bugs. *shudder* I managed to catch them both (one was slow and easy to catch, but one required skill and luck to capture) and flushed them down the toilet. Ugh!

My car is registered and I have a parking permit! Let the rejoicing commence!

The DMV was mostly harmless. The gatekeeper was kind of a moron, though. At the DMV, you go through the metal detector and then wait in line to see what I call the gatekeepers. You tell them what you’re there for, they ensure you have all the paperwork you need (e.g., proof of residency, proof of insurance), and then they give you a number. You then wait until your number is called and then you go to the right window and then actually conduct your business.

I reached the gatekeeper and said I’d moved from out of state and needed to register my car and get a parking permit. She asked if I had the car title with me. “No,” I said. “I still owe money on the loan, and the loan company mailed it here. It was delivered on July 30th.”

“Well, we ain’t got it,” she said. Right… she just knows by looking at me that they don’t have the title.

“Um… I filled out that form requesting that the loan company send in the title, and according to UPS, it was delivered on the 30th at about 11:56 AM, and was signed for by someone with the name of Jones.”

“We don’t have a Jones here,” she said. Oh good grief. “How do you know it was delivered here?”

“…Because I contacted the loan company and they gave me the delivery information,” I told her.

“You’re supposed to call us to get that information.”

“Um, I did contact you. I was told you couldn’t give me that information, that I’d have to contact my loan company to find out when they sent it, and then I should estimate when it arrived.” Which is a stupid policy, I thought but didn’t say. “So I contacted the loan company, and they gave me the info.”

“Well we ain’t got it,” she repeated. Without actually even, you know, checking.

“Okay, well it was delivered on the 30th,” I said, unwilling to just accept defeat. “My last name is S—-,” I added, hoping she would actually, you know, check. Luckily she did.

A minute later, after typing away at the computer: “Oh okay. We got it here.” I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t looking at me. She handed me the number so I could wait to be called. After that it was smooth and painless. I was able to register my car for two years instead of just one, which is cool. I really don’t understand why she insisted it wasn’t there without even checking. What an idiot.

Oh, Alicia… my heart breaks for you.

I expected China to take gold and the U.S. to take silver, and that’s what happened. I also expected Russia to take bronze, but Romania managed to score above the Russians. That’s a surprise. Both teams are really struggling, though. I’m sure it was an exciting battle to the bronze, but I wouldn’t know because NBC showed absolutely none of it. Very annoying.

China performed beautifully. Cheng Fei did fall off the beam (which was very sad, as she’s my favorite), but that wasn’t enough to affect the rest of their fabulous night (or morning… whatever). The U.S. did… okay. Even if Alicia’s two falls were magically erased, but all the rest of the meet stayed the same, it still wouldn’t have been enough to push the U.S. past China. I know she blames herself for losing the gold, and she did totally biff it, but she didn’t lose the gold. The U.S. just didn’t have as high start values and combined they just weren’t as clean. Also, aesthetically, the Chinese team looked so much more polished. For a team as broken and injured as the U.S. team to still get silver is fabulous, and they should be proud.

But next is individual all-around, and Shawn and Nastia continue to do fabulously. They could definitely take gold and silver, but the question is who will get which. I predict that Nastia will get the gold and Shawn will get the silver. Since there are only the two Americans, hopefully NBC will actually show competitors from other countries. It would be nice, you know.

I’m not that into the Winter Olympics, but I love the Summer Olympics. I enjoy watching the swimming and diving and men’s gymnastics (that 400-m swimming relay where the U.S. barely beat France was incredible! and the U.S. men’s gymnastics taking the bronze when they weren’t expected to medal at all is fabulous!), and love - LOVE - women’s gymnastics. Tonight is the women’s team competition. I really think China will take the gold. The U.S. - even with all the injuries and overtraining - can totally take the silver, but I don’t see them beating the Chinese team. Romania is just looking pathetic this year, so I see the bronze going to Russia.

Some thoughts on prelims 2 days ago:

1. Chellsie (USA) fell! On her only event! I could have cried. After she did so well as an AA contender earlier in the year, I so badly wanted her to have a fabulous Olympics. When she killed her ankle and was limited to just bars, I was sad but hoped she would at least still make event finals. So much for that. So sad….

2. I’m happy Alicia (USA) at least gets to the vault finals, but I’m sad she didn’t make it on floor. It’s not surprising – she’s been out of bounds over and over and over again all year – but still sad. However, I’m left wondering why – since it’s happened over and over and over again – it remains uncorrected. I really, really like her personality and so really, really want her to do well.

3. Nastia and Shawn (both USA) still doing well. I was surprised at Nastia’s fall on her bars dismount – not that she fell necessarily (she really doesn’t do that dismount well), but how she fell. Usually she’s under-rotated or too low. This time she over-rotated. Still, she made event finals on bars, so hopefully she’ll correct it and be okay.

4. He Kexin (China) fell on bars! No way! I was not expecting that in any form. I love her bar routine – it’s just so cool – and I was looking forward to seeing it on the larger TV screen rather than just YouTube. Still, she too made event finals.

5. Which leads to: It just seems wrong that gymnasts who fall still make event finals. I really like Nastia’s and He Kexin’s bar routines, so I’m glad they made it, but it just seems wrong.

6. Cheng Fei (China) is just made of awesome! I love her routines. I wish she did bars, because even with a mediocre bar routine she would totally challenge for the all around. Alas, she only does the three events. Still, I look forward to seeing more over her over the course of the competition. I will readily admit that she is my favorite gymnast at this Olympics.

7. Dasha Joura (Australia) didn’t make AA! No! I really like her too. She apparently killed her ankle on floor, their first rotation. She did all events (with a decent score on vault, which I would think would be the hardest with a bad ankle), but she got a 12.475 on beam. I don’t know what happened there. She had to have fallen multiple times. Still, at least Australia made it to the team finals. However, I’m unclear as to whether she will be competing with them because of her ankle. Bummer.

8. Sam Peszek (USA) being injured kind of sucks. She was on the team because of her floor routine and vault… and now she can’t do them. At least the U.S. still made team finals with their four up, four count thing they ended up doing in preliminaries (instead of the five up, four count that is allowed) because everyone is so injured, but it does kind of suck.

9. Is the U.S. team overtrained? Duh. I totally agree with this editorial by Paul Ziert from International Gymnast.

10. Anna Pavlova (Russia) apparently did awesomely. I love her gymnastics. I only know her scores and know she qualified to AA, VT, BB, and FX finals. Wish NBC had shown some of them. Actually, I wish NBC had shown as much of the Russian team as they did of the Chinese team.

So… the girl from Craigslist who wanted the sofa totally flaked on me and never showed on Thursday. Not cool. Luckily I quickly found a taker via Freecycle, and it was gone on Friday. Three cheers for Freecycle! I also got rid of a couple other things through Freecycle. (There is a total lack of storage space in my little apartment, so I’ve changed my mind about keeping a few things.) Meanwhile, the unpacking slowly progresses. I’d like to be mostly done by the time I leave for Vancouver next week.

I continue to get lost when driving. On Saturday I went to Target. I’ve been there before and know how to get there from I-395, but with the new place to live, I wanted to use a closer entrance to I-395 than I’d used before. I wrote down the directions to get to it and it seemed simple enough. “HA HA HA,” said the universe. “HA freakin’ HA!” Stupid universe. After an unplanned driving tour around some museums and monuments I found a road I knew would take me back to a familiar area, and from there I got on I-396 the way I already knew. Oh well. I’ll try again next time.

Got a ton of cleaning supplies (and upon returning home immediately spritzed bleach around the moldy shower; oh how I love bleach), a vacuum cleaner (it was expensive, so it better suck well), and a garbage can. Real exciting things. Then I went to a grocery store near the Target that a couple people recommended as being cheaper and having better produce than the closer grocery stores. Yep, ’tis a much better grocery store. Actually, it’s a really good grocery store. I shall shop there from now on.

Work has been slow the last few days. I really need more documents to work on. Hopefully it will pick up. I hate things being slow.

Meanwhile, I’m loving the Olympics. I’ll make that a separate post.

The movers came and delivered everything on Monday. My apartment is a basement apartment with sort of a twisted, low stairway leading to the door that is kind of annoying even when not carrying anything, so I wasn’t sure how they would manage, but they got everything in but the sofa. Even if it were a straight approach, though, that sofa would not have fit through the door. I expected this as soon as I saw how narrow the door were to the apartment, so it wasn’t a surprise. Sad, yes, for I really liked that sofa (soft and comfy), but not a surprise. It’s currently sitting in my landlord’s very small garage while I wait for someone to come claim it (I posted it on Craigslist). I have one taker, but I’m waiting till she can get a small U-Haul on Thursday to cart it off. I really hope she doesn’t back out; I need that sofa gone.

But other than the sofa, my house is full of my stuff, all in boxes. I’ve started unpacking, but ugh… this is going to take some time. Still, it’s nice to be in the place now.

There is minimal air conditioning in the apartment, though - just one of those portable air conditioner, but it honestly does not put out much cool air and it’s pretty sticky in the apartment. It also smells weird, and I’m fairly certain it’s primarily from the air conditioner. I’m thinking some bleach may help. And a highly scented candle or other yummy smelling device. My landlord, however, is going to get a new portable AC thing, though, so hopefully that will improve things. After the first night I’d emailed him asking if he minded if I replaced it. He offered to buy it instead and just keep it with the apartment when I go. I’m all for that. I’d already researched ones likely to not suck, so I sent him a link to the one I was planning to get. So, hopefully that will happen soon. Cooler, drier air will be a very welcome thing.

The first week of the new job is over. Some boredom, but I did get to work on a couple documents. They’ve never used a tech writer before, so it will probably be a few months before we get a good pattern going, where I know the program well and they know how to use me. But this week was a good start. I am really enjoying the virgin writing territory.

I already miss the 3-day weekends I had before, but the short 8-hour days (as opposed to the 10-hour days) go by so quickly. I actually have time to do things in the evenings!

In other news, I’ve joined a book club. Yay! My roommate invited me to join one she goes to with a group of women from church. I’m always up for a good book club, and based on Wednesday night’s meeting, this is a very good group. Also, it’s a very steady group, as it’s apparently been around since the early 90s. I attended a book club for a couple years in my previous town, but when the organizer moved, we only lasted a few more months before it fizzled out. A couple other groups were on post, but they really weren’t that great (either the discussions just weren’t my cup of tea or - in the case of one that was with a group from church - they only read religious books, which wouldn’t have been too bad, except they seemed to always pick fluffy, devotional type books, which are fine, but not every single month). Though this group is women from church, they pick books from all genres. So yay!

You know, I was kind of frustrated about the gap between getting here and being able to move into my apartment (which I expect to be next week), and having to live someplace else short-term, but it has worked out quite well. My roommate has been here a long time, and she’s well ingrained in the city and in the ward. In addition she’s one of those very social, very outgoing people. Though her I’ve been introduced to people and places and activities that would have taken me much longer to get to on my own, and it’s really been nice.

And for a final note, Five Guys Burgers and Fries has delicious burgers. Their fries don’t thrill me, and that’s good because then I don’t have to resist any temptation, but the burgers… so yummy! Unfortunately, there is a Five Guys in the building I work in, which means there is much temptation to resist. Alas. But so yummy!

On Friday I went to the Washington National Cathedral (and didn’t get lost at all either going there or coming back, thanks to the fabulous directions from my roommate). I found the mixing of religion and civics a bit odd - the state flags in the cathedral, the statue of George Washington. I understand the reasoning behind why it is the way it is, but it still seemed slightly odd. Nevertheless, I adored the place. I love cathedrals - the Gothic architecture, the beauty, the art, the holy space - and this one did not disappoint. Gorgeous place. I’ll definitely go back multiple times. I’d like to attend a worship service there sometime.

Yesterday was my first day in my new ward. First impression: awesome ward. Lots of interesting and intelligent people. There are apparently a million visitors in the summer. In Sunday school all visitors and new people introduced themselves. There were more visitors than regular members. This is because we’re the nearest ward to the touristy part of DC, so Mormons who are doing the traveling thing who want to go to church tend to come to our ward. But the regular members I met all seem very nice and friendly and welcoming. When I met the bishop he asked how long I was going to be here. I shrugged and said long term. He was delighted. Apparently quite a few families have moved out of the ward this summer, and they’ve been praying for new people, either move-ins or converts, so he said I was an answer to their prayers :-). So I like the ward a lot. I’m relieved because I really loved the ward I left and hoped this ward would be also be good.

But today was the big day: my first day at the new job. My new job is awesome :-). I work in an actual building. I share an office with a guy whose name I’ve already forgotten (but let’s not kid ourselves - I’ve forgotten everyone’s name but my supervisor and the HR person), but he seems nice. But it’s a real office! And it’s on the 4th floor and has a window that looks out over the Metro stop, a Baptist church, and the new baseball stadium.

(This leads to a quick diversion: The baseball team is called the Nationals. Seriously? They couldn’t come up with a better name? The Nationals? But I find baseball hopelessly dull and would rather dig out my left eye out with a spork than attend a game, no matter the team, so I guess it really doesn’t matter that I think it’s a lame name.)

Everyone here seems nice, though more professional than at at my former place of employment. I’m guessing this is because the former place is a lab environment, and lab environments tend to be very laid back. I like the laid back thing, but hey, whatever. There is a large “Welcome Tanya” sign on my door, which was nice :-). People seem nice and friendly.

I’m swimming in a sea of new acronyms, and I’m supposed to come up to speed on them very quickly. Kind of stressful, but I’ll give it my best shot. I’m the only tech writer. I don’t have to run my work by any other editors or anything, so I don’t have to deal with any of the drama like at the previous job with the government editor. Of course, if I screw up, it’s all on me :-). There’s no style guide or anything, so I get to decide how I want to do it. There’s supposedly a Navy style guide, but that apparently has nothing to do with the type of documents I’ll be working on. Still, I’ll try to track it down to see if there’s anything potentially useful. (Probably not, but worth a check.)

Speaking of the Navy, I came close to embarassment today, but luckily I didn’t say anything out loud. We have a twice-weekly staff meeting with the various powers that be on the program at the nearby Navy Yard, and so I went to my first meeting today (and swam in a sea of unknown acronyms, thereby making the meeting kind of confusing). The program manager over the whole thing is a captain. My initial thought when hearing that was that it seemed like a lot of responsibility for someone who is only a captain. And then I met a couple of the sub-PM people who are military who are lieutenant commanders. Odd, I thought, that higher ranked people would be under a captain. Thank goodness I didn’t say anything out loud. Twenty minutes later it dawned on me… oh, yeah! This is the Navy! A captain is actually a quite high rank. I had to switch my military rank perspective from M*A*S*H to Star Trek. Yeah, I’m an idiot. My supervisor is a retired Navy captain, so I would have really looked foolish in front of him.

But anyway… loving the job so far.

I am now in DC. My new home.

I have very limited internet access where I’m living right now, so I’m not sure how much updating will occur over the next 2-3 weeks. I’ve found a nearby Starbucks (for their wireless), but the internet withdrawals could be painful. There’s a grocery store a mere block away, though, so food is easy to acquire.

But I’m here. The house where I’m staying until my apartment is ready is really cute (and includes a soft, fat cat), but the steep stairs may be my undoing. The exercise is good, but I’m afraid I’ll plunge to my death. Still, I’m enjoying being in a city. I love the feel of cities. I’d love the feel of this city more if it wasn’t summer. I hate heat. I hate humidity. I can in no way whine too much about the heat and humidity (though you may disagree).

My roommate is really nice, though. She’s tried to orient me to the area, and will do so more today, which is very kind of her. She took me to the local police station to get a temporary parking permit for street parking, so I won’t get ticketed for a couple weeks. Hopefully I can get my car registered by then and get a permanent (well year-long) parking permit then.

I want to wander around this neighborhood and explore (and take photos), but upon venturing out to the grocery store, I started turning into a puddle and retreated back to the house as soon as food supplies were acquired.

I tried to get a driver’s license and register my car this morning, but failed. Turns out I need my passport in order to get a driver’s license. Weird. I don’t carry my passport with me, so I’ll have to go back. I’ll do that later, though, because registering my car will have to be done later as well. Turns out I have to have the holder of my car loan (Toyota) forward the actual car title to the DC DMV. This bothers me (distrusting of the government, as I am), but what can you do? I’ve faxed the request to Toyota, so now I wait (though I’m not sure how long). I’ll have to take some time off work to deal with it, rather than deal with it this week before I start my new job. The amount of time I’ll have to take off work is growing, which bothers me (I’m estimating that I’ll miss half a day when the movers come). I don’t know my new employer does the flex time, but I’m hoping they do and I can then just work on Saturday or something to make up the time. The fact that I need to deal with all this before heading off to Vancouver is another bit of stress added to the mix.

Upon returning from the DMV I got lost. I spent about 15 minutes driving in circles and somehow always ended up going the wrong direction. But I eventually found my way. I fully expect to get lost again upon leaving this Starbucks.

But I’m here now, and safe and well and excited for this new adventure.

Ohio, I think.

So close! But a few hours left to go tomorrow. I’m somewhere near Pittsburgh. Sick of driving. Sick of my car.

Made it through Illinois, cursed the poor signs of Indiana (ended up having to backtrack a couple exits twice because Indiana apparently thinks they are too good to properly label the interstate when staying on I-80 means taking an exit), went through Ohio (the only state on this trip I’d never seen; now I’ve seen it), and finally reached Pennsylvania. Upon reaching Pennsylvania, I sought out a hotel because I’d had enough for the day. I can tell I’ve had enough because I reach a stage where if anything - even something minor - goes wrong I’m certain to burst into tears.

However, nothing has gone wrong, for which I am very grateful.

And there are trees! Lots of trees! I like the trees.

The view from my hotel window tonight.
That’s a cornfield.

I’ve made it to the middle of Illinois. At this rate (and I believe I can maintain the same rate), I’ll get into DC noon-ish on Tuesday. That’ll work. I can only handle about 10 hours of driving before I start getting tired and wiggly and desperate to call it a day.

Today’s theme was corn fields. Hour after hour of corn fields. 700 miles of corn fields.

And it’s humid. Very humid.

I am currently in the middle of Nebraska, where I’ve stopped for the night.

Earlier this week I was looking at the website for the DC public libraries today. I am so excited to use them! I know, I’m a dork. But I really love libraries. There’s a neighborhood library a mere 3 blocks from where I’ll be living (walking distance to a library! Heaven!), and I’ll definitely check it out, but I’m excited to check out the big, main branch. The first things I’m planning on doing when I get there next week is register my car and get a driver’s license and parking permit. The next thing… I’m gettin’ a library card, baby!

Thursday was filled with driving and walking all over post collecting signatures on the out-processing form. It was annoying. I started at 8 AM and finished at 4:30 PM (I did admittedly have a 2-hour break in the middle). What a hassle. Out-processing consists of getting signatures from a million places. That’s it. And it takes hours. Actually, I was supposed to have an exit interview from the Z.1 Company HR person (covering important things like insurance and 401k), but she dropped off the face of the planet that afternoon, and I had to leave to clear Housing, so I left her a note with my home and cell numbers and told her to call. She didn’t. Oh well. I don’t need COBRA and I already know what will happen involving the 401k because I already went through that with Company X, but still…. I also know I’m supposed to have signed a form saying I will never reveal the secrets I know (proprietary or related to national security). No signing occurred. What a slacker HR person.

Thursday night I had a final dinner with friends: sushi and curry. An odd combination, but they’re my favorite foods (though I’ve never had them at the same time before), and so my friends prepared them for me. It was quite tasty. I’ll miss my friends. I enjoyed just relaxing with them for a couple hours. We watched a DVD, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, which I’d never heard of before. It was pretty good, but I didn’t quite buy the extraordinary properties of the meteorite. Other than that little detail, I quite enjoyed it.

On Friday the movers arrived a bit before 9 AM, and were finished loading around 11:30. It took them most of the first hour just to pack up my TV (I have an HD plasma TV). It was apparently kind of tricky, but by the time they were done it seemed cozy and safe.

A friend came over for a little bit while I was waiting for them to load. I didn’t really have anything to do other than try to stay out of the way, so I welcomed her visit. As the movers finished, she and I said our final farewells, and then… I was gone. I had to turn in my IDs when I out-processed on Thursday, so I had a temporary vehicle pass and on-post ID, so I dropped those off as I passed the main gate. All physical connection to the middle of nowhere was gone. I spent the rest of the day hanging out with my parents.

Last night I slept well, and hit the road around 8:30, after stopping for gas and road trip food (bottled water, Wheat Thins, and Triscuit crackers). Wyoming lasted forever and seemed like it would never end. Then it did end. Sadly, Wyoming is followed by Nebraska, which also seems to never end. Oh well. I’m in the Central Time Zone now, though. I may be a couple days away from DC, but I’m only one time zone away

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Somewhere in Wyoming