Cool OP, Herbs! Washington, D.C. always struck me as weird, geographically. It isn’t a state; it just looks like an ordinary city-sized chunk of Maryland jutting out of the Potomac, yet it is recognized federally as a distinct region, and if it were considered a state it would enjoy having both the smallest land mass and the greatest population density of any state in the country. That, and it’s the country’s seat of power and home to the leading institute of historic preservation, to say nothing of its iconic monuments. That’s pretty cool in its own right.
I’ve never really been to many places in the US though. Buffalo and Syracuse, NY, and South Carolina just about covers it, and both of those was when I was very young.
Gorgeous day out today. There’s the threat of rain, but the temperature is coming close to bumping double-digits in the Celsius range – an early taste of spring to kick off the first work week in March. I love it, especially for a Monday.
Hank - That’s just good old-fashioned parental guilt at work, magnified through the lenses of geographical and cultural separation. Ostensibly they want you to come back and chill for a year and stop stressing, gather your wits and attack the problem later when you’ve had a great deal of time to clear your head – but you just know that’s just a cover for getting their little girl back and returning the household to a comfortable semblance of the way it used to be, even if just for a while.
Ugh. Board is down as I type this. Oh well. More time to catch up.
Rebo - Y’know, I should do that. For as long as I’ve worked here, we’ve never had a toaster, and I have frequently lamented that fact. Maybe when I’ve got some spare cash that isn’t doing anything important I’ll drop in somewhere and pick up a cheapie. Mind you, a small toaster-oven would be awesome, too…
Great OP, Terra. I’ve always wanted to go to Washington, but the closest I’ve ever been was a weekend in Gaithersburg, MD for a wedding. I love the history and educational stuff. The Smithsonian sounds amazing. I’ve also wanted to visit the Civil War battlefields around there. It’s all so fascinating to me.
I feel like I had a productive weekend… Did a lot of cleaning and organizing.
I need to buy a new vacuum. Ugh. Does anyone have any tips on what makes a decent vacuum? Upright? Canister? Bag? Bagless? I really can’t afford to spend all that much.
Laundry…:eek:…Laundry. So much laundry. that’s what I get for not doing it last week. My frickin’ bathroom rug. ugh. I don’t know what to do with it. It started out a nice cream color. When I washed it last month with some towels, it turned blue! I soaked it; I scrubbed it; I stainsticked it; I did everything I could think of, but nothing, nothing, would get rid of the blue. I washed it again over the weekend (this time with some throw pillows) and it *turned brown *!! What the heck! Now the logic minded among you are probably thinking, “Why the heck doesn’t she just wash the rug by itself or with other little rugs?” While those are good thoughts, they don’t work. The rug is too small to wash by itself–it “unbalances the washer” and the machine stops, and I only have one small rug. So, I’m kind of stuck washing the rug with other “oddball” things. I just wish it would go back to its original color! I’m not buying new rugs each time it needs to be cleaned, so I guess I’ll just have to live with whatever color it decides to be! But, I don’t have to be happy about it!!
I’ve never been there. I’ll be there (late) Monday night through Wednesday late afternoon/early evening, with not a lot of time to sightsee. (Note to self: check out the list of hookers that make hotel calls…)
I’ll be receiving some training from one of the companies we rep for (they’re a big level and indication company based in Germany). I’m meeting one of the guys from our California office and a few people from another firm we also rep for. This other company is joining forces with the Germanic company on a couple of pieces of military-approved (MilSpec’d), and it looks like I’m going to be the guy from Technical Thingies who will be the world-wide point of contact for anyone wanting to buy this equipment.
Of course, this will probably be the only time this portion of my job gets me away from my desk, dammit.
What an interesting MMP. I think it would be interesting to get to Washington, if just for the Smithsonian. But I like touring buildings too. I might get to Ottawa before I get to Washington though. I have gone through the legislature though. Cool thing about the Alberta legislature, there is one spot where you stand and it sounds like you’re in the middle of a rainshower. Something with the acoustics in the dome brings the sound of the fountain to this one spot. A few steps away, you can’t hear a thing of it.
Yes, yes it is. I took Velociraptor to mass when he was a toddler and that was crazy. He was all over the place, even with the stuff I brought to distract him (there is a reason why I call him Velociraptor…). I haven’t been back since (but not just because of him, I don’t think that parish was a good fit for me).
I’ve been to Washington! Mostly we drove around, but I got to explore the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the WWII Memorial (which is beautiful!)
Saturday was boring except watching Stardust. Sunday was busy with chores.
Yeah … the scary part is, I’m starting to think I wouldn’t mind living with them for a year. In reality it’ll probably drive me nuts. But I got an email from my mom this morning and she really really wants me to come back for a year. Argh.
I almost hope the school doesn’t offer me a visa. That way everything becomes inevitable. :smack:
They’re selling Girl Scout cookies on the first floor here! Yay!
Quazi-Daughter is going to have even more fits. She’s visiting them tonight. OQD is retesting tomorrow. I’m going to get a screaming phone call about how can we do this to her? She can’t handle all these marriages and babies and things!
Hee.
QD and Driving Husband are actually doing sort-of premarital counselling at her church, except for the premarital part. It’s figure out if they should get married counselling. It’s pretty ridiculous, but it might be movement in a direction.
I lived and worked in Rockville MD for two years in the mid-80ies. Some of my favorite places in Washington DC were the National Arboretum and Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
I’ve been to DC twice, but way back in '88 and '90 with my family. We did the Capitol tour and met our Senator. National Zoo. National Cathedral. Mount Vernon. And a bunch of monuments. Some of it was fun, but as a 9- and then 11-year-old (on the two trips respectively), I just wasn’t all that into monuments and museums. OTOH, the second time we visited, we stayed with friends of my parents who had a *very *cute 12-year-old son… that made it a little more fun. )
You might want to check your local fire codes. We’re not allowed to have toasters or coffee pots or anything other than the one “approved” coffee machine in the kitchen area. Anything else could be a fire hazard and when the city’s fire marshal comes around to do an annual inspection, we get in trouble.
We spent much of Sat afternoon looking at washers and dryers. We’re going to get a front-load washer and a gas dryer, and we’ve got it narrowed down to a pair of GEs or LGs, but haven’t decided yet. Unfortunately, Consumer Reports didn’t review any of the pairs… if they reviewed the washer in one model, they didn’t review the dryer or vice versa. GRRRRRRR. So we have to take one or the other without a review and just keep our fingers crossed. Or not have a matched pair, but the thought of unmatched appliances is horrifying! :rolleyes: My husband’s been calling me Monk.
Then yesterday we went to a performance of Peer Gynt, which was really good. One of my coworkers told me that a neighbor of hers wass in the play and to quote the coworker “he is so freaking HOT! Hot, Hot, Hot!” and yowza! He is! That made the play even MORE enjoyable.
I’ve yet to visit DC, though it’s on my list of places to go at some point. Sadly, that list seems to be doing a whole lot of growing lately and not much shrinking… my friends keep scattering to ever more interesting locales, and most of them are pestering me to visit as soon as I can. Maybe I’ll book a month off work and do Philly/Miami/Vancouver/Honolulu/DC at some point. Urk.
Today was a hellish commute into work. Light drizzle + overnight freeze + 0C = VERY slippery sidewalks. Despite a few close calls, I didn’t end up falling on my bum at any point… bonus points for me! I hope it’ll have melted by the time I’m on my way home, because I might be pushing my luck to head out there again and hope to remain upright the whole way.
Maybe if I close my eyes real tight and click my heels twice, I’ll wake up in Philly/Miami/Vancouver/Honolulu/DC… any of the above would be better that this wet nastiness.
I’m really near DC as well, NoVa side instead of Maryland. I’ve taken visitors into DC so often that I’ve been through most of the museums around the Mall. But my favorite of all is going to the botanical gardens near to the native american museum. Very pretty flowers, and they rotate them.
Um… the premarital counseling sounds a lot like some diets–you know, the diet before you change your eating habits or cleaning before the maid comes kind of thing. Smack QD upside the head for me–I’m amazed that the guy still wants to marry her! If she’s like this NOW–can you imagine home buying or children? <shudders>
My grandparents lived in DC (Granddaddy worked for the US Forestry Service), and he actually got to stand up on TOP of the Washington monument while it was being built. He said it was windy up there. (!). Anyhoo, my parents inherited their house and that’s where they will be retiring too soon. I like the Smithsonian and the Mall–they seem to be a few things that we got right (for tourists).
Hazel–IMO, not that you asked, is that going back home is the easier option and would take away the anxiety re the visa etc. What about Lil Bro? What about drunken posts and sex with familiar strangers (aka friends)? Something tells me that won’t be happening at home. I am of the camp that says you can’t go home again. To visit, absolutely. To live? No.
I need to do some homework (bleh) and then I’m taking the kids out to dinner because I’m nice dammit.
Okay, I don’t think I’ll ever understand airlines and their scheduling. My flight out is okay - Norfolk International to Charlotte then on to Indy. Makes sense. And when I flew to California last fall, we changed planes in Cincinnati. That made sense too.
But flying back, I’m going to stop in Detroit Rock City between Indy and home. I know all about hubs, and I’m kind of limited in what I can get out of Indy on Wednesday night after the work day, but still, Detroit? Seems a little out of the way.
Ah, you must be flying with the much-loved Northwest. Those of us who are stuck with NW being the ONLY option most of the time, LOVE the flights that get routed through Motor City. And we’re even more excited about the possibility of a merger with Delta and lots of connections through Atlanta. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Great OP spicey! The first time I was in DC was in '69 but I was too busy marching and dodging tear gas to sightsee. I’ve been back since and was particularly moved by the Viet Nam Memorial which I know isn’t particularly popular but I like it.
Funny thing happened on Sunday. Mr. Anachi was reading the paper and he handed me a pool and and said “Looks like our pool company liked our design cause there’s one like it in this ad.” Looking a little closer at the details I was able to assure him that it not only “looked like our pool. It WAS our pool.”
Found a web site with pictures of my high school graduating class 40th reunion. I looked very hard for a familiar face but all I could see was a bunch of really OLD people.
We’ve been very happy with our LG “TROMM” washer and dryer. I don’t have a model number handy, but it’s the one with a steam cycle and it can swallow a queen-size comforter with ease. The thing is hyper efficient with water and power - we got something like $200 in rebates from the local utilities on the pair.
Whatever you get, be sure to clean out the dryer vent. The auto-dry function wasn’t working too well for us until I replaced the squashed outside cap on the vent and scrubbed out 20 years of built-up lint on the inside of the pipe. I found a clever kit at the hardware store with long extension rods and a dingus that let me hook up the shop vac while scrubbing out the lint, so it contained the mess, rather than dumping lint all over the ground.
A distinct benefit is that everything dries faster now, so we’ll be saving even more gas.
Well, that’s the kind of stuff that makes me want to stay here at all costs. Realistically speaking, going back to Korea for a year makes sense. I could make a lot more money there, and save a lot more money as well, without having to worry about jumping through visa hoops. (And it’s not only the paperwork - it’s the psychological stress of having to constantly justify my presence in this country. I thought I wouldn’t care, but it’s more wearing than one would think, especially since I consider myself a non-American only in the most technical sense. It’s hard not to take it personally - sometimes I wonder why the hell I’m trying so hard to stay in a country that seems like it doesn’t want me here.) And it’s the least I can do for my parents, who have supported me in my persisently untraditional choices (for a Korean woman) both spiritually and financially. It’s probably a cultural difference, but I do feel a very strong sense of obligation to my parents (filial piety, or whatever the term is) and I can’t help feeling guilty that I don’t fit the mold of the Traditional Korean Daughter. It must be difficult for them, living in a society where such things are expected - I sometimes wonder if they regret bringing me up in the US.
Once I enter a PhD program, I won’t be able to see them for a very long time. Both my father’s parents passed away when we were in the US - he hadn’t seen them in years, and he couldn’t even afford to go back for their funerals. It’s more than likely that that’s what’s going to happen in my case as well, which is a very sobering thought.
Of course, the prospect of living with my parents isn’t all rainbows and ice cream. But compared to the sacrifices they’ve made for me, living with them for a year seems like nothing. And when I feel like screaming I’ll just come here and vent.
Not that I’ve made any decision either way - not yet. But I’m more strongly considering going back than I had been before.
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