Tuesday, June 27, 2006
All wet
Note to self: Next time you decide to spend your weekend going to an outdoor concert and an outdoor beer festival, try to find a weekend where it doesn't pour rain for TWO SOLID DAYS.
That was pretty much the story of my weekend. But it turned out to be a lot more fun than you would guess from that! Ed and I went to a Dave Matthews concert on Saturday night. Because of the rain (or because we're still underestimating how much NoVA traffic can suck) it took us an hour longer to get there than we expected, and we missed the opening band and lost our reserved spots on the lawn. We got there just in time to see Dave come on. It was still pouring rain, of course, so we were soaked in no time. But by this point things were going so badly that it had started to be kind of funny. It was certainly an experience! And the rest of the crowd thought so too (most of them were drunk and/or high, which probably helped) so they were really into it, which always makes for a fun concert. The music itself was fun, of course, though he played a lot of songs I didn't know. Afterwards, we discovered how bad the traffic flow is getting out of Nissan Pavilion. We sat in our parking spot for two and a half hours before our section even started to move! Not fun. But there was some entertainment there too: eavesdropping on the bunch of Dook frat boys in the car next to us, who were telling funny drunk stories.
The next afternoon, along with some other W&M friends, we went to the Dominion Beer Festival. A bunch of local microbreweries were there, so I got to try a lot of new stuff. The rain had let up a bit by this point, and after a few beers, we didn't care anyway. :) We stayed a few hours, but there wasn't much going on, so everyone came back to our place and ate pizza and played board games for a while. Fun stuff.
And now the work week has started again, and my life is suddenly much less interesting. Except that I've suddenly decided it might be time to start thinking about wedding plans. Yikes! Scary thought!
Today what makes me happy is having my group leader tell me he owes me a drink - even though I haven't met him in person yet. :)
That was pretty much the story of my weekend. But it turned out to be a lot more fun than you would guess from that! Ed and I went to a Dave Matthews concert on Saturday night. Because of the rain (or because we're still underestimating how much NoVA traffic can suck) it took us an hour longer to get there than we expected, and we missed the opening band and lost our reserved spots on the lawn. We got there just in time to see Dave come on. It was still pouring rain, of course, so we were soaked in no time. But by this point things were going so badly that it had started to be kind of funny. It was certainly an experience! And the rest of the crowd thought so too (most of them were drunk and/or high, which probably helped) so they were really into it, which always makes for a fun concert. The music itself was fun, of course, though he played a lot of songs I didn't know. Afterwards, we discovered how bad the traffic flow is getting out of Nissan Pavilion. We sat in our parking spot for two and a half hours before our section even started to move! Not fun. But there was some entertainment there too: eavesdropping on the bunch of Dook frat boys in the car next to us, who were telling funny drunk stories.
The next afternoon, along with some other W&M friends, we went to the Dominion Beer Festival. A bunch of local microbreweries were there, so I got to try a lot of new stuff. The rain had let up a bit by this point, and after a few beers, we didn't care anyway. :) We stayed a few hours, but there wasn't much going on, so everyone came back to our place and ate pizza and played board games for a while. Fun stuff.
And now the work week has started again, and my life is suddenly much less interesting. Except that I've suddenly decided it might be time to start thinking about wedding plans. Yikes! Scary thought!
Today what makes me happy is having my group leader tell me he owes me a drink - even though I haven't met him in person yet. :)
Monday, June 19, 2006
Still pretending I'm not a tourist
Just a quick update, because I know I haven't posted in a while. The real world continues to go well. Things are good at work - I'm getting used to putting in 8-hour days, and starting to get to know people there as well. Ed and I had our first houseguests (condoguests?) this weekend - his sister Erin and her friend Kristen. On Saturday afternoon we went to the Potomac Celtic Festival, where there were many cool things for sale and many weird people. Also many weird things for sale, notably the Utilikilt. Wonderfully quotable conversation with the owner of the booth:
Utilikilt Guy, to Ed: "You, sir, are surrounded by three women - why do you still have your pants on?"
Ed, glaring at Utilikilt Guy: "Because one of them is my sister."
Utilikilt Guy, completely unrepentant and looking at me now: "I assume you two are together? Let me bring two things to your attention. First, easy access! Also, you can fit twenty-three bottles of beer in one of these things."
Utilikilt Guy then proceeds to show off all the pockets that could be used to stash beer, while singing "Twenty-three bottles of beer in my kilt..."
Sadly, I did not buy a Utilikilt. But I did get introduced to a very good and completely nutty Irish band, Scythian, who play in the DC area. It was a fun concert and the audience got very into it (I think a lot of them had been drinking Guinness all day!) So much good music around here - I could really get used to living in (or near) a big city!
The next day we all went into DC. On a whim, we decided to try and go to the Nationals/Yankees game, but it was sold out. So we reverted to our original plan and went to the Holocaust Museum. It was really interesting to see - not something I could describe as "fun," obviously, but very powerful. The architecture of the building was amazing - I've never seen anything quite like that before. Afterwards we took the Metro back out to Clarendon, where Ed and I actually knew some good restaurants (thanks to an impromptu tour from Pat a few days before!) So we got to play hosts and pretend we knew what we were doing, even though it was the first time we'd been into the city since we moved here. I think that's one of the lasting legacies of a W&M education - a permanent conviction that, no matter where we are and whether we've ever been there before, we're way better than those annoying tourists. :)
Anyway, it's about bedtime for me. Today what makes me happy is my car passing VA inspection. One more moving-related chore to cross off the list!
Utilikilt Guy, to Ed: "You, sir, are surrounded by three women - why do you still have your pants on?"
Ed, glaring at Utilikilt Guy: "Because one of them is my sister."
Utilikilt Guy, completely unrepentant and looking at me now: "I assume you two are together? Let me bring two things to your attention. First, easy access! Also, you can fit twenty-three bottles of beer in one of these things."
Utilikilt Guy then proceeds to show off all the pockets that could be used to stash beer, while singing "Twenty-three bottles of beer in my kilt..."
Sadly, I did not buy a Utilikilt. But I did get introduced to a very good and completely nutty Irish band, Scythian, who play in the DC area. It was a fun concert and the audience got very into it (I think a lot of them had been drinking Guinness all day!) So much good music around here - I could really get used to living in (or near) a big city!
The next day we all went into DC. On a whim, we decided to try and go to the Nationals/Yankees game, but it was sold out. So we reverted to our original plan and went to the Holocaust Museum. It was really interesting to see - not something I could describe as "fun," obviously, but very powerful. The architecture of the building was amazing - I've never seen anything quite like that before. Afterwards we took the Metro back out to Clarendon, where Ed and I actually knew some good restaurants (thanks to an impromptu tour from Pat a few days before!) So we got to play hosts and pretend we knew what we were doing, even though it was the first time we'd been into the city since we moved here. I think that's one of the lasting legacies of a W&M education - a permanent conviction that, no matter where we are and whether we've ever been there before, we're way better than those annoying tourists. :)
Anyway, it's about bedtime for me. Today what makes me happy is my car passing VA inspection. One more moving-related chore to cross off the list!
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Nerdiness on a stick
What happens when two W&M graduates move in together...
Ed: "Well, that's annoying on a stick."
Claire: "No, that doesn't work. You have to say 'annoyance on a stick.'"
Ed: "What's wrong with my way?"
Claire: "Well, you can't put an adjective on a stick!"
Ed: "Why not?"
Claire: "Because it would slide off!"
(This actually happened a few weeks ago, but I just remembered it this morning and thought I would share.)
Ed: "Well, that's annoying on a stick."
Claire: "No, that doesn't work. You have to say 'annoyance on a stick.'"
Ed: "What's wrong with my way?"
Claire: "Well, you can't put an adjective on a stick!"
Ed: "Why not?"
Claire: "Because it would slide off!"
(This actually happened a few weeks ago, but I just remembered it this morning and thought I would share.)
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Summertime!
First of all, I want to say that I'm not going to talk about work in this blog anymore. I've been trying to be sufficiently vague not to compromise anybody, but apparently there was a recent incident with another employee's blog and the company is now rather paranoid, so I'm going to play it safe. Even if I can't seriously believe that this blog has an audience of more than about ten people :)
Luckily, I'm actually managing to have a life outside of work, so I still have something to talk about! The weather has been great the last few days, and Ed and I have been taking advantage of our awesome porch by having dinner out there. We've been so domestic - cooking good dinners, installing lights on our ceiling fans, reading the newspaper together in the morning. Ack, we're turning into our parents! :) But it's a good life. Tonight we went out after work and saw the new X-Men movie. I know it's gotten mixed reviews, but I liked it. I never knew the original storyline, so I wasn't expecting Phoenix, and she was a pretty awesome character. The theater in town isn't that great though; I've gotten spoiled by all the big new stadium-seating ones. Can any of you NoVA people recommend a better one?
Today what makes me happy is new clothes. This job does give me a good excuse to go shopping!
Luckily, I'm actually managing to have a life outside of work, so I still have something to talk about! The weather has been great the last few days, and Ed and I have been taking advantage of our awesome porch by having dinner out there. We've been so domestic - cooking good dinners, installing lights on our ceiling fans, reading the newspaper together in the morning. Ack, we're turning into our parents! :) But it's a good life. Tonight we went out after work and saw the new X-Men movie. I know it's gotten mixed reviews, but I liked it. I never knew the original storyline, so I wasn't expecting Phoenix, and she was a pretty awesome character. The theater in town isn't that great though; I've gotten spoiled by all the big new stadium-seating ones. Can any of you NoVA people recommend a better one?
Today what makes me happy is new clothes. This job does give me a good excuse to go shopping!
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
What a glamorous life I lead...
Well, it's certainly been an interesting day so far. Ed got up at 6 this morning; I hit my snooze button and got out of bed at 6:15, just in time to find our toilet overflowing and our bathroom floor flooded. Eek! Frantic attempts to shut the water off ensued, and once we managed that, frantic attempts to mop up the water with bath towels before it got to the carpet and/or the computers. Luckily, disaster was averted. But not really my preferred way to wake up in the morning!
[Edit to not talk about work anymore - see above.]
After work I ran over to the DMV, which of course was crowded and annoying but no worse than I expected. And I won the hearts of the women at the counter by having my papers in order and actually not yelling at them. I think one of them actually skipped me to the front of the line to have my picture taken. So now I have my Virginia license! It feels very strange, after all these years of sort of living in VA, to be an actual resident. Now I just have to get the million or so inspections, tags and stickers I need for my car...
Looking back on this entry, I have to laugh at myself. I sat down totally expecting this to be a rant, because I thought it would be fun to write and hopefully fun for you to read (in the proud tradition of B's awesome rants) but it still somehow came out sounding cheerful. I guess I'm just pathologically optimistic. (Wow, say that five times fast.)
[Edit to not talk about work anymore - see above.]
After work I ran over to the DMV, which of course was crowded and annoying but no worse than I expected. And I won the hearts of the women at the counter by having my papers in order and actually not yelling at them. I think one of them actually skipped me to the front of the line to have my picture taken. So now I have my Virginia license! It feels very strange, after all these years of sort of living in VA, to be an actual resident. Now I just have to get the million or so inspections, tags and stickers I need for my car...
Looking back on this entry, I have to laugh at myself. I sat down totally expecting this to be a rant, because I thought it would be fun to write and hopefully fun for you to read (in the proud tradition of B's awesome rants) but it still somehow came out sounding cheerful. I guess I'm just pathologically optimistic. (Wow, say that five times fast.)
Sunday, June 04, 2006
First week of work
Well, I've officially started my new job. And I think I'm going to like it! Of course, there's a lot I have to learn. First impression was "Oh crap, these people are all way more experienced and confident and better dressed than me, I am never going to be able to pull off this consultant thing." That made for a pretty stressful first week, but I'm now at the point where I can see light ahead. I've learned a lot of the stuff I need to know for this project, and I should be able to start doing useful work pretty soon. I still feel like I have a big "Fresh Out Of College" sign on my forehead, but there will be more grads coming in over the next few weeks, so I won't be alone for long. And the people are awesome. Everybody's young (I'm actually not the youngest!) and friendly and helpful, and after just a few days I already feel like I can banter with them. Once I get something to do that isn't reading a large stack of O'Reilly books, I think I'll really have fun at this place.
And I have to say, weekends are much better without homework hanging over your head. Ed and I had enough else to keep us busy! On Friday night we threw a housewarming party and had over some of the W&Mers in the area. Our new grill (electric, because we're not allowed a real one on our deck, but still pretty spiffy) showed up just in time, and we cooked out and had lots of yummy food. And lots and lots of beer. Apparently the drinking party thing doesn't end when you graduate from college! It was a good time. And our apartment has now had beer spilled on it, which seems like a pretty good housewarming ritual. At least for this crowd. :)
Today what makes me happy is the Sunday comics section in the Washington Post. I know I've been laughing at you Post fanatics for years, but...nine pages of comics. I understand now!
And I have to say, weekends are much better without homework hanging over your head. Ed and I had enough else to keep us busy! On Friday night we threw a housewarming party and had over some of the W&Mers in the area. Our new grill (electric, because we're not allowed a real one on our deck, but still pretty spiffy) showed up just in time, and we cooked out and had lots of yummy food. And lots and lots of beer. Apparently the drinking party thing doesn't end when you graduate from college! It was a good time. And our apartment has now had beer spilled on it, which seems like a pretty good housewarming ritual. At least for this crowd. :)
Today what makes me happy is the Sunday comics section in the Washington Post. I know I've been laughing at you Post fanatics for years, but...nine pages of comics. I understand now!
