Adventures in the Colonial 'burg: February 2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

An incomplete tale from the airport

I shared the hotel shuttle to the airport here in Columbus with a prospective grad student (he's currently an undergrad in Olympia, Washington). Both he and the driver were intent on having a long and detailed conversation, and well, I'm not always a fan of people. Although I know it's the polite thing to do, I really do hate meaningless small talk.* Luckily the ride was only twenty minutes, so this didn't last long.

At the airport, I got a lunch at Wendy's, which was outside security (it was either that or Starbuck's inside security), and saw this undergrad right outside the security line, with all of his luggage open and he was frantically digging through it all. Eventually, he packed it all up, talked to the guard for a few seconds, and ran back to the ticketing counters. I'm not sure what the problem was, but about ten minutes later he was back, going through, and hopefully not missing his flight. Poor kid was so terribly panicked though.
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* Of course, that doesn't mean I'm willing to babble along endlessly about meaningless things.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Workin' for the Weekend

I'm supposed to be working on my talk right now, and I don't want to. This is a healthy distraction.

Last night we went to Ichiban with Andre and Erin, then came back here for our weekly viewing of Psych. It was a lot of fun, but after they left we were up way too late, and I got up early to both call my dad and try to get something done on this talk. I have plenty of time, really, as I have all day tomorrow and much of Monday. Ideally though, it'll be mostly done by tonight.

But what I'm really looking forward to is the "Chocolate Affair" tonight. This is an annual event that I've not gone to yet, but it involves many different establishments sharing chocolate creations all for over two hours. Conveniently this is around dinner (7-9:30pm), so we're having a healthy day.

Alright, so now I'll get this talk done. For real.

Friday, February 19, 2010

It's almost official

I accepted the job out west as of this morning. I think it'll be a good thing, assuming I don't get a more permanent position. In that news, I did have a phone interview on Wednesday that went fine (although it was for a really tiny school), and I have to wait another week to see if they'll invite me for an in-person interview.

Also, I just found out I have another interview, much closer to here. This is probably just a diversion though, as most likely the position I'm interviewing for is going to be given to someone who is already there. (In other words, there is a huge likelihood that this job was opened for all but really just created to give someone there a permanent position.) So I'm not counting too much on that one.

I can't believe I've accepted a job in the Mountain Time Zone. I mean, seriously.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

4:59 counts

Yeah, I'm finally getting my windshield replaced. The (now) 3.5 foot crack is getting a bit on my nerves, so I called yesterday about having them come to replace it. Now, they said they would be more than willing to come to my place of business, and that they'd be here between 12 and 5. You heard that right. It's now 4:30, and they're not here yet. I know I can't be upset as that was the window they gave, but really? The worst part is that if they get here at 4:59, that's completely legitimate, but then I'll be stuck here for however long it takes for them to fix the damned thing.

Sigh.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Not to be unemployed

So life is a little better on the job front (not much, but a little). I received a post-doc offer last Friday from a school that is very much west of here. (Not as far as the coast, but pretty far.) It's a good thing, as it means I have a job to go to in the fall, and I don't have to look for an "actual job."

However, in the long run it would be better for my career if I could actually get a non temporary position, and that isn't yet in the cards. But for now, this is better than nothing, and well, we're at the point where we aren't looking for "good," just "not bad." This is in the latter category.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Romance

So we are not very "Valentine's Day" people. In fact, the question of getting each other anything wasn't even brought up this year (this is something I realized this morning while reading a friend's blog about getting stuff for V-day). I myself am not much of a "holiday" person in general, due to my dislike of forced celebrations. I'm more of an "every day is possibly worth celebrating kind of person"*.

Nevertheless, I enjoy getting candy from my mother. Corbett and I didn't do anything in particular for a celebration, as it was like any other day. We did have a nice steak dinner and a very romantic setting. The latter was forced by a temporary power outage that had Corbett light about fifty tealights throughout the house. By the time he finished, the power came back, so we had to shut the lights off and pretend like the power was still out.

What's amazing really is how much heat fifty tealights can add to the room.

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* One comment I should make here: My birthday is automatically exempt from this, as there is nothing forced about celebrating me. Additionally, I enjoy others' birthdays as well, and of course I love Jesus's birthday, even though I really don't care about the "Jesus" side of it.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

The great W/D panic of 2010

We recieved a notice from the apartment on Saturday stating that we owed something like $200 in rent, plus attorney fees and late fees. This happened before when the new resident manager (we go through these like tissues, there have been five since I've lived here) didn't realize that we had a discounted rent. So I went to discuss this with them and found out that they finally learned that we had a washer/dryer in our apartment and started billing us (without telling us) in November.

Note, to rent these things, it's $50 a month, and the W/D was in the apartment when we moved in, and we just didn't tell anyone. I told them that we talked to the previous manager and she said that it was going to be an upcoming offer to not charge for them so we should just not worry about it.* Given that they never told us we were getting charged and we signed nothing that said we would agree to pay it, I felt of course the charge was unacceptable.

But the panic set in, so two days ago we did basically every bit of laundry we had (which is no small feat, as the dryer takes an absurd amount of time drying things), in case they were to come and take it away.

Luckily, when I spoke with them yesterday, they said they would remove the charges and we can kept the W/D until after April, when we'd have to start paying for it (and come on, it is so not worth fifty bucks a month). So the panic has died down and now we can just relax.

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* Note, part of this is true, as two months after we moved into this apartment, this special did exist.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Dear fellow 'burgers...

I know living here in the 'burg, you are not used to snow. I get that. I respect that.

I understand that it takes getting used to driving in it, because as I have done it very rarely in the last 14 years, it takes me some time getting used to it again.

I realize that you may not even own an ice scraper or snow brush, in fact, I don't. Of course I am frustrated when it snows and I have to go somewhere, so I have to clean off my car with my hands and arms. It's cold, and kind of miserable.

But you know what, if you only use your windshield wipers to clear off your car, you can't see. In fact, you won't know what's behind you nor to your side, and therefore, do not swerve over into the right lane when you don't know if someone is passing you or not.

This is especially important in a city where people never use their horns. Luckily I am not so shy, and will easily lay on it to alert you to your folly.

best,
your fellow citizen.

Friday, February 5, 2010

More snow

So it's snowing. We won't get the Snowpocalypse expected in DC, but yes, we're getting more snow. Luckily, the snow is not sticking, and I imagine it'll just start raining as predicted and hopefully wash all this crap away. I've had my fill.

On a lighter note, our street is open again!! I haven't seen it but this means we are no longer cut off from the 7-11 or the creepy motel that is always open but always empty. Life is good.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Mind your own...

Hello stranger,

I see you think that I've parked somewhere that I shouldn't have. I apparently look like a student but have clearly parked in a Faculty/Staff spot. You obviously think that this is an affront to all the hard work you've put in becoming a Faculty/Staff yourself, and therefore think that it is your place, nay, your duty, to make sure I know what horrible crime I commited.

So you shout out (in a very confrontational, holier-than-thou way), "Do you have a Faculty/Staff sticker on your car?"

Being polite, I just answer, "Yes," when really I should have said:

"Yes, I am a faculty member* here, so mind your own damn business!"

In the end, what does it get you? If you're right and I was not allowed to park there, just enjoy the fact that I will get a ticket (that's what I would do), and if you're worried that I wouldn't, call the parking office. They would be glad to give me a ticket. Oh wait, I was legally parked.

In any case, just mind your own business, and stop pretending like you're more important than you are.

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* Sure, I'm just a post-doc, but that's part of the faculty, and it says as much on my ID card, so it's true enough. Really I would have only said this to be bitchy, which I should be more often, as it is so cathartic.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Main points

Bullet points for the day:

We got rain last night. Not much, just enough to get rid of some snow and make the rest more slippery. It's fun!

The crack in my windshield expanded. What was once "fixed" to remain at one inch is now well over a foot. Since this "repair" was covered by my insurance, I basically don't get the discount afforded me due to the "lifetime guarantee" that the crack would never expand. The expansion was fun though, we can watch it happen in real time.

I wish one officemate would not face me since his desk was set up to face a different direction. I don't like the idea that he is constantly staring at me. Okay, he's not staring at me but whenever I look at my second monitor he looks up at me. I don't like the constant feeling of surveillance.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Kindness

We got just over 8 inches of snow here, which for these parts is a veritable blizzard. It's pretty awesome, since it's the largest snow we've gotten since I moved here. Of course, I used to despise snow, growing up in Maine, but I've gotten past that. Primarily because it's not inevitable and well, it is pretty. Usually here it lasts a couple of days, but it'll last more than that this time. And it's a pain.

But this was interesting. A downstairs neighbor we have dubbed "drunk fireman,"* shoveled the walk outside our building. Of course he has just as much interest in getting out as we do, but that was very nice of him (of course, it's still slippery and covered with ice, but whatever, it's better than it could have been). He is a nice guy even though we have reason to believe he just spent the last two weeks in jail for beating up his girlfriend.**

Also, while we did clean off my car Saturday night to go to dinner (to the only open restaurant in the 'burg), it snowed a bit more that night, and there was quite a bit of drift, so my car had a new coat of snow. Sunday, another downstairs neighbor after clearing off his car cleared that off of my car! This is especially nice because we've flooded his apartment probably four times.***

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* I don't think you need me to explain why.

** That's Corbett's theory, and we really have no "proof" it is true except for a bunch of circumstantial evidence.

*** Not really our fault though, and I will stand by that argument until the day I die. Or move out of here.