posted
I have blisters on my feet. That’s the big difference between living in Timonium and living in DC: I’m walking a lot more, and my body is noticing. If I keep this shit up, I might start losing weight, too.
So Monday was my last day to clean out my old apartment: and I did. I also stocked up on alcohol: a full case of Boh, half a case of Bass. Today, I braved July 4th traffic to sell my Matrix to my dad. Pending the arrival of the lien release, and the official turning in of the license plates, I no longer own a car.
I do own a bike: after a few attempts to locate one on Craigslist failed (”Oh, sorry, just sold it…”) I went up to Target and bought one. Ran me about $150, a bit more with accessories: a bike pump, a lock, a helmet. Took it out very early this morning on the dead and desolate streets of Woodley Park where my legs burned after about half an hour of mad vicious cycling. It’s going to take some getting used to. At the moment, it’s parked in my (gigantic closet): soon, it’ll be in the bike storage room in the basement (once I get a key to it).
I have irregular wi-fi access in my apartment. My attempts to get Comcast up here have met with disaster: I canceled one because I thought I had a work-related event, then realized it was actually for the day I’d rescheduled. When I rescheduled that, I asked for a Thursday install date, and assumed that the date I was given was correct — it was actually for following Friday. I figure I’m going to wait a few weeks before trying to reschedule — I do, on occasion, have wi-fi I can steal (this being one of those occasions), and it isn’t like there isn’t a lot else to do in this city without internet: Adam’s Morgan is waiting to be explored, I haven’t been to the Zoo since I moved here, and Cleveland and Woodley Parks offer a whole host of entertainment opportunities (there’s another work related event a block north of the Zoo this coming Thursday, and if you’re reading “work related event” as “happy hour”, you’re right on the money).
My living room windows are open: it’s raining, but not quite the thunderstorm they’d been calling for on WTOP, DC’s local FM talk station — I can’t quite figure out if they’re right-leaning or left-leaning, but I do know they broadcast from “the glass enclosed nerve center.” If you’re driving in this area, 103.5 for all the traffic info you could want (it’s like almost all they do). There are odd hoots and exotic animal noises drifting this way from the Zoo, but my cats are curled up under the bed hiding from the cleaning I’ve been doing: I spent an hour today putting my giant walk-in-closet together. If anyone has a Billy bookcase from IKEA and would like a pair of glass doors for it, please e-mail me: they’re beech, they’re missing some of the hardware (which you can get from the Swedish superstore free of cost), but I’m reasonable on pricing.
My apartment looks nice: I’m totally unpacked (I even brought some stuff out of storage because I have more room than I’d expected), my fridge is stocked, my pantry is stocked, my carpets could use a cleaning, and I’ve got a few lamps I need to get plugged in, a few books to put back on the shelves, and a run to the trash-chute to make this place done.
I’ve got pretty basic plans tonight: I’m not fighting crowds on the Metro (after handing over the car to my dad, he dropped me off at Silver Spring and the crowds that popped up at Gallery Place were about as touristy-hellacious as I can stand), especially when I’ve got a roof-deck available to me with a fantastic view of the District. So my plan is to relax, drink, read, drink, have dinner, drink, then head up to the roof-deck around 9pm, drink, maybe meet some neighbors, watch the fireworks, then come back to my little 400-square foot part of DC and … drink some more.
Exciting, I know.
The full-time job is going well: I just had my three month review yesterday. Hard to believe I’ve been there that long, sometimes. It can be a hard job, and there tends to be a lot of turnover. Within my department, probably half the staff has started after I have. Some of this is attributable to the expansion they’ve been working on — there’s talk of a wall coming down and a physical enlargement to take place soon — some of it is just people moving on to other jobs. Still, my review, went well. My team lead was very complimentary, and in addition, a fellow blogger, who swore he’d have nothing to do with my company if we got in touch with him, was gracious enough to spend time on the phone with a new colleague who I’d shown the ropes. (But at this point we’re getting too much into specifics, and I do want to keep that job out of this blog, although I have trusted a few of my coworkers with the address for this blog — god help them if they actually read it!) Back to the review: this was primarily a “where you’re heading” review, so that I could make course-corrections if necessary before the big six month review comes around in three months. There are a couple of things I need to work on, but all-in-all, a pleasant way to end the work week.
So is the part-time job, actually. I hate working the register, but I’m getting the hang of the rest of it. It’s a bit of a weird store, mostly in terms of hours: weekends are dead, weekdays post 6pm are fairly slow. Within the company, it’s the number one store in the nation for the politics section, and that, economy, and history sections are some of the largest I’ve seen in any big box book store. Most of my coworkers are very cool — sadly, a lot of the hot bohemian cute college girls from the nearby colleges have left for the summer — but some are not: thankfully, none have yet to chide me for engaging in lightsaber duels in the multimedia section (rather, they drastically discounted them and now they’re almost all gone: bastards!)
I turn thirty in a little over a month. I’d been dreading that birthday for the last couple of years, but not so much lately, and I think it has to come with something a friend of mine said about two years ago or so, when she was coming up on her thirtieth. “My twenties weren’t that great,” she said. “I’m hoping my thirties will be better.” I think, so far, the last few months of my twenty-ninth year have been pretty damn good: I’m not delivering pizzas; I’m living in a city, which is something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time; I’m living in a city with a pretty good public transportation system, and with a lot to do that doesn’t cost anything: the Smithsonian — all those museums, the Zoo, are free; on weekends and holidays, the roads in Rock Creek Park are open to hikers and bikers and closed to traffic. Okay, sure, the Uptown Theater is fucking expensive, but, hey, it’s the fucking Uptown, y’know? And if you don’t, you should!
So that’s what’s new. Hopefully, tourists will stand on the right and walk on the left of the Metro escalators, and soon wi-fi will become more regular, and I can post more frequently, but only time will tell and I’m not counting on that first thing to happen … ever.
quote:I turn thirty in a little over a month. I’d been dreading that birthday for the last couple of years, but not so much lately, and I think it has to come with something a friend of mine said about two years ago or so, when she was coming up on her thirtieth. “My twenties weren’t that great,” she said. “I’m hoping my thirties will be better.”
I tuned 35 yesterday (the 4th). All my friends my age have children, mortgages, large vehicles, spouses, etc.
I dont know if I should be envious or thankful.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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Thanks- I've been thinking of packing up and moving away from Strangeland and stating the second half of my life anew. Want a roomie, Snay?
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
If I were to move a long distance, I wouldn't do it within the country. For a true 'anew' feeling, you really have to move to another country, really, don't you? I would, anyway...
Registered: Jul 2005
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-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
Registered: Jul 2007
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Daniel Butler
I'm a Singapore where is my boat
Member # 1689
posted
I love the cold. Cold good. Warm bad. I love snow, I hate all those summer gnats and flies and moths, and I hate bright sunlight...
Registered: Jul 2005
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Yes, cold good. Hate snow though. Just like cold. The sun isn't normally that high in our sky, something like 70 degrees on june 21st, if I remember my Earth Science correctly. I can take sunlight, as long as there's shade.
-------------------- "Kosh, I'd like to introduce you to our Resident schmuck and his side kick Kick Me."-Ritten
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity". -George Carlin
Registered: Jul 2007
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quote:I also stocked up on alcohol: a full case of Boh, half a case of Bass.
Just to make it clear to any Flare members not of the state of Maryland, or a resident of the United States: Natty Boh is the absolute worst beer on the face of the Earth. Never drink it unless someone is pointing a gun to your head.
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
When I was living/working in America a few years ago me and my mates were always drinking natural ice, which we called natty ice. Any relation to natty boh?
Natty ice was vile tasting piss, but with what I was getting paid, it was the only option really. The disturbing part is the fact that after a while it doesn't taste too bad. It grows on you. Like fungus.
Registered: Oct 2007
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I don't have any room for a roommate, Jason, I don't even have room for my Legos! DC feels like another world, though: actually, so far the only neighbors I've met are French and German, so as far as I know, I'm the only American in my building.
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