Hello! It's been over a year since I last wrote. Does anyone even read this thing anymore?
Since our last episode, I've completed work on OSL. We have the occasional bit of paperwork here or there, but are for the most part done. I will miss seeing mr. Baryshnikov in passing, but alas, on to bigger and better things.
After spending some months in limbo, the company finally put me onto a pretty cool project for a retail store. It's on hold for the fourth time, so I'm working on a synagogue in the time being. If the retail thing happens, I go back onto that in January. If not, I get to stay on the synagogue at least through design development, but very likely through construction documents. I have to read up on things like mikvahs and torahs and bimahs, and figure out the difference between all the different sects of Judaism. It's kind of interesting, but my heart lies with the retail store. It's mostly because I have gotten to know the team very well everyone has a wonderful attitude and I have a lot of respect for all of them. It'll also be a fascinatingly complex project - it's not just any old store, it's a ginormous flagship store! How cool, no?
In my personal life... My roomies are still Chelsea and Emily - the girls I met while living in Bushwick. We celebrated year number 2 awhile back and just signed the lease for another year. The apartment is huge, sunny, and is in a great part of Astoria. It's the first place in NY where I've lived that my parents actually liked. I'm not sure how much longer this is going to last for me though, because Axel and I have been discussing the big move-in more and more. It will be a while still, but I doubt I'll be renewing the lease with the girls after the year is up.
Axel and I are going to Argentina this year. We'll be leaving right after Christmas, spending new years in Montevideo, Uruguay with his friend James, and spending at least 3 days as gauchos. I've never ridden a horse before. I wonder how similar it is to riding a motorcycle. I also am insisting on at least one evening of tango dancing. Axel refuses, not because he doesn't dance, but because he hated argentine tango. Too brainy, supposedly. Well, maybe James will dance with me. Eh, Axel?
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Friday, October 01, 2010
Overwhelmed
Work has been picking up - I mean really picking up. About a month and a half ago, they moved me off of Jackson and on to TFANA. Sitting in a new spot and working on these pretty much independently. I already thought that was pretty stressful - now I go to coordination meetings, client meetings (which I sleep through...).
Now, on top of that, I also get to run OSL. The girl that runs the project went on vacation for essentially a month and left it in my hands for these reasons: 1) I'm the only other person who has done any construction phase work for the project so I'm most familiar with it and 2) there's simply no one else to do it. On the one hand, it's awesome that I get to do this. Last year when James was gone, I ran Jackson alongside two of the partners, but they had a heavier hand in the correspondences. This time around, the partner is just as swamped with projects as I am, so I'm pretty much left to my own devices. Lee left me a lot of notes, but most of them are pretty abbreviated so it isn't very helpful. I'm fairly sure there's a ton of stuff that is due, but I've just decided to take them as they come, do what I can in a reasonable amount of time, and what happens happens. But boy, talk about trial by fire. I'm getting 10 times the amount of emails I used to get, and am on the phone all day. On top of that, I have a cold. Today, by the way, I discovered that Dayquil and Claritin-D have this amazing affect in combination. I feel like I just took pound of ritalin. EEEeee!!!
And somehow I'm still also supposed to get stuff done on TFANA... I can't wait for her to come back. And why won't they hire anyone else?
Now, on top of that, I also get to run OSL. The girl that runs the project went on vacation for essentially a month and left it in my hands for these reasons: 1) I'm the only other person who has done any construction phase work for the project so I'm most familiar with it and 2) there's simply no one else to do it. On the one hand, it's awesome that I get to do this. Last year when James was gone, I ran Jackson alongside two of the partners, but they had a heavier hand in the correspondences. This time around, the partner is just as swamped with projects as I am, so I'm pretty much left to my own devices. Lee left me a lot of notes, but most of them are pretty abbreviated so it isn't very helpful. I'm fairly sure there's a ton of stuff that is due, but I've just decided to take them as they come, do what I can in a reasonable amount of time, and what happens happens. But boy, talk about trial by fire. I'm getting 10 times the amount of emails I used to get, and am on the phone all day. On top of that, I have a cold. Today, by the way, I discovered that Dayquil and Claritin-D have this amazing affect in combination. I feel like I just took pound of ritalin. EEEeee!!!
And somehow I'm still also supposed to get stuff done on TFANA... I can't wait for her to come back. And why won't they hire anyone else?
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Update
It's been a really long time since I've posted, isn't it? Lots have changed.. let's see...
After having a horrible "fight" over the electric bill with Erica, I have moved back to Astoria with the other two girls that were living at the loft with us - Chelsea and Emily. The new place is awesome - the space is really big, well laid-out and the neighborhood is really vibrant. May visited for the first time today and she really liked it. It's definitely the nicest space I've lived in thus far in NY, and the girls are awesome. We're just much more comfortable together - we can all hang out or be apart, we talk to each other about our jobs, boys, etc. I feel like this is an apartment that the three of us share, we're all invested equally. I can have guests over, I don't fear that my food will mysteriously disappear, there's no poor un-cared for cat to make a mess. It's CLEAN! Happiness is a new, nice apartment. As for Erica - I was mad at her, still am I guess. Unfriended her on Facebook and while I was tempted to find ways to make her miserable after the whole blowout, I decided not to bother. She's just too pathetic with her going-nowhere life, living off of her parents at the age of 30 and never having a job in her life. And we're in a less expensive, higher quality space while she gets stuck with her $527 electric bills. Who's the winner in that situation? *sigh
Axel and I are still going well. Nothing new there! Well, he seems to be just as enthusiastic about my new place as I am. Said something about how it's very nice and that if he had to choose between his place and mine, he'd pick mine. But not that he'd ever live here, because it's too nice and girly. Of course, of course... He left a toothbrush here - first time that's happened in the 1 year and 7 months we've been together. I think that's a testament to how much he likes the new place. O, and last night we were taking a walk in my neighborhood and we came upon a kitty who was so excited to see us and come play that he mewed and pranced his way over to us and insisted we pet him. I wants a loveable little kitty just like him!
Work is...well, I'm a tad dissatisfied. They finally moved me off of the courthouse project, and onto TFANA and OSL. In a way, it's nice to know that I've been upgraded to a true Designer level. No more being someone's personal assistant. On the other hand, I feel like I'm doing the same things over and over, while the other kids that have a year less experience than me are doing the things that I want to be doing - aka designing. Mini-boss went to bat for me when the CFO moved me, asking why I haven't gotten any design phase projects. For some reason, the secret project didn't seem appropriate. I guess next project our office gets, I'm on it. But WHEN?!! I'll never finish my training hours at this pace. Seriously, if they don't put me onto the next new project, I'm out, seriously! We'll see... I guess I'm still learning a lot and it's just a bit of a plateau. One of my best friends at the office just moved on to greener pastures, and I guess I'm just jittery and want to follow...
After having a horrible "fight" over the electric bill with Erica, I have moved back to Astoria with the other two girls that were living at the loft with us - Chelsea and Emily. The new place is awesome - the space is really big, well laid-out and the neighborhood is really vibrant. May visited for the first time today and she really liked it. It's definitely the nicest space I've lived in thus far in NY, and the girls are awesome. We're just much more comfortable together - we can all hang out or be apart, we talk to each other about our jobs, boys, etc. I feel like this is an apartment that the three of us share, we're all invested equally. I can have guests over, I don't fear that my food will mysteriously disappear, there's no poor un-cared for cat to make a mess. It's CLEAN! Happiness is a new, nice apartment. As for Erica - I was mad at her, still am I guess. Unfriended her on Facebook and while I was tempted to find ways to make her miserable after the whole blowout, I decided not to bother. She's just too pathetic with her going-nowhere life, living off of her parents at the age of 30 and never having a job in her life. And we're in a less expensive, higher quality space while she gets stuck with her $527 electric bills. Who's the winner in that situation? *sigh
Axel and I are still going well. Nothing new there! Well, he seems to be just as enthusiastic about my new place as I am. Said something about how it's very nice and that if he had to choose between his place and mine, he'd pick mine. But not that he'd ever live here, because it's too nice and girly. Of course, of course... He left a toothbrush here - first time that's happened in the 1 year and 7 months we've been together. I think that's a testament to how much he likes the new place. O, and last night we were taking a walk in my neighborhood and we came upon a kitty who was so excited to see us and come play that he mewed and pranced his way over to us and insisted we pet him. I wants a loveable little kitty just like him!
Work is...well, I'm a tad dissatisfied. They finally moved me off of the courthouse project, and onto TFANA and OSL. In a way, it's nice to know that I've been upgraded to a true Designer level. No more being someone's personal assistant. On the other hand, I feel like I'm doing the same things over and over, while the other kids that have a year less experience than me are doing the things that I want to be doing - aka designing. Mini-boss went to bat for me when the CFO moved me, asking why I haven't gotten any design phase projects. For some reason, the secret project didn't seem appropriate. I guess next project our office gets, I'm on it. But WHEN?!! I'll never finish my training hours at this pace. Seriously, if they don't put me onto the next new project, I'm out, seriously! We'll see... I guess I'm still learning a lot and it's just a bit of a plateau. One of my best friends at the office just moved on to greener pastures, and I guess I'm just jittery and want to follow...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Work Rant and then Dance Rant
Part of the joy of being the lunch and learn person is that I get to move all the food to the back room. Yesterday, as I'm placing the first tray on the kitchen table, Jason is already there picking at it, and goes, "Aren't there any desserts?" and I go, "yes" and he goes, "O, well, I'll just wait right here for it." Seriously? SERIOUSLY? So I'm walking back and forth, bringing the desserts, then the salad, then the silverware and finally the drinks, and he's just sitting there stuffing his face going, "God, you volunteered to do this?" No, Jason. I volunteered to set up the presentations. This is just part of the responsibility. I did NOT volunteer to be your waitress, so next time you decide to skip out on the lunch and learn and partake of the food you do nothing to deserve, try offering to help me carry some things over.
Commence Dance Rant:
I had a doozy of a dance class last night. I think I get on the teacher's nerves. It was that really hard advanced level dance class again. There was a really cluless girl who i thought was Chinese taking the class. I didn't think she was that bad, but at one point the teacher was telling her to do a croise (means "cross the legs" in ballet ), and she had no idea what he meant and it was mostly a language barrier thing I think. After class, I was heading out the classroom and i heard him talking to her. He started by just straight out saying, "this class is too hard for you. you need to take an easier class." and when she looked really confused, he started trying Japanese. She kind of nodded and smiled, as in "I have no clue what you're saying," and he got very frustrated and said to her that she also needed to learn English.
By that time I had already waved and said thank you and scootched out the door to what i thought was safety, except that he followed me out and then had a little chat with me about how when he gives me comments, he needs me to give him some sort of acknowledgement that tells him that I understand, like a "thank you." I've been nodding and saying okay, so I guess it really annoyed him that it never occurred to me to say thank you. I guess I just fell out of that habit, because my dance teachers are usually less scary and I can smile and they get my thank you without me really saying it... And then I explained to him that a lot of times, I'm not sure that he's talking to me because I can't see his eyes without my glasses on and then he kind of had a eureka moment and figured I dance in a very small space and don't project because I can't see anything to project to and to focus on. And he mentioned that I should get contacts or some straps for my glasses. Maybe if I was going to be pro, I'd invest in some handy little contacts, but those things sting my eyes and I'd rather not spend the money on them. Didn't tell him that. And then things were really awkward and I didn't know what to say to him so I made some comment about the weather and how I had to beat the rain home and practically ran out the door.
Some people just make me sooo uncomfortable. He's a good teacher though. Boy that was a long story... Going to my usual contemporary teacher's class tomorrow. That will be fun. I'm going to chat with her about this teacher. He's her mentor which is why I started to take his class. She adores him and I've seen them chatting very comfortably together. I guess what I want to figure out is if he's so annoyed by me that I should just give up and take someone else's class. Though, I suppose if I was too horrible, he'd have told me straight out as well that this class is too hard for me. Now he just thinks I need glasses. I'm mildly horrified by the thought that he'll be criticizing me for the rest of the summer about not wearing glasses or contacts. God...
Commence Dance Rant:
I had a doozy of a dance class last night. I think I get on the teacher's nerves. It was that really hard advanced level dance class again. There was a really cluless girl who i thought was Chinese taking the class. I didn't think she was that bad, but at one point the teacher was telling her to do a croise (means "cross the legs" in ballet ), and she had no idea what he meant and it was mostly a language barrier thing I think. After class, I was heading out the classroom and i heard him talking to her. He started by just straight out saying, "this class is too hard for you. you need to take an easier class." and when she looked really confused, he started trying Japanese. She kind of nodded and smiled, as in "I have no clue what you're saying," and he got very frustrated and said to her that she also needed to learn English.
By that time I had already waved and said thank you and scootched out the door to what i thought was safety, except that he followed me out and then had a little chat with me about how when he gives me comments, he needs me to give him some sort of acknowledgement that tells him that I understand, like a "thank you." I've been nodding and saying okay, so I guess it really annoyed him that it never occurred to me to say thank you. I guess I just fell out of that habit, because my dance teachers are usually less scary and I can smile and they get my thank you without me really saying it... And then I explained to him that a lot of times, I'm not sure that he's talking to me because I can't see his eyes without my glasses on and then he kind of had a eureka moment and figured I dance in a very small space and don't project because I can't see anything to project to and to focus on. And he mentioned that I should get contacts or some straps for my glasses. Maybe if I was going to be pro, I'd invest in some handy little contacts, but those things sting my eyes and I'd rather not spend the money on them. Didn't tell him that. And then things were really awkward and I didn't know what to say to him so I made some comment about the weather and how I had to beat the rain home and practically ran out the door.
Some people just make me sooo uncomfortable. He's a good teacher though. Boy that was a long story... Going to my usual contemporary teacher's class tomorrow. That will be fun. I'm going to chat with her about this teacher. He's her mentor which is why I started to take his class. She adores him and I've seen them chatting very comfortably together. I guess what I want to figure out is if he's so annoyed by me that I should just give up and take someone else's class. Though, I suppose if I was too horrible, he'd have told me straight out as well that this class is too hard for me. Now he just thinks I need glasses. I'm mildly horrified by the thought that he'll be criticizing me for the rest of the summer about not wearing glasses or contacts. God...
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Update!
Wow, where has the time gone? Let's play catch-up:
Work: Jackson is winding down. Recently underwent a ridiculously complex security procedure that required providing alibis and character references for the past 7 years of my life, and fingerprinting. Worked on BAM and heard a lot of discontent from my coworkers which somewhat reflected mine. I think my issues are much more deep-seated. They're just upset at the superficial things. Now I'm spending my time working on Orchestra of St. Lukes. I like the project, but what annoys me is that our office finally got a new project and put the other two interns on it despite the fact that they've already worked on that phase a lot, and I SPECIFICALLY requested that I need to work on that phase. Okay, anger showing, time to move on. On the upside, I got to sneak all around the 37 Arts building today, and the super let me peek into Baryshnikov's personal office. Soooo cool! I think it's even better than seeing him, to tell the truth. What if he's a jerk? What if he just completely ignores me? But this way I learn something about him without having to meet him.
Dance: Summer time sucks for dancing. I've been taking Kristin's class all year round, but as she's on tour in the summer and my summer hours don't permit me to make it to Crunch's classes, I've looked into Peridance more. Got my 10-class card. Went to three last week and was completely dead by Saturday. I've taken Sunday, Monday, and I guess Tuesday (because Axel's friend is on tv, and the show is premiering tonight) off to recuperate. Still, going well. Looking forward to kicking things up a notch for the summer.
Roommates: Loud, crazy-sex, sloppy roomie moved out into a place that has bed-bugs. Now she is homeless and surly to the new roommate, Emily. Emily, on the other hand, is lovely. I don't really know what she's like as a roommate, but I like hanging around her, and she does dishes. Chelsea's still awesome, Erica's still great. Maybe is...still Maybe....
Friends: Waz is getting married!! I got my bridesmaid dress, put in my vacation time, bought my flight (well, actually, Axel bought my flight...) and I'm rooming with Hannah, though we don't know what the deal is yet since she's staying an extra night. Waz will be coming to visit at the end of the month. We're going to dinner with probably all the other CMU people in NY. Hopefully we'll get more time to just hang out. Marlen and I have been on the verge of hanging out forever. I think the not-living together has eased my frustrations, but now I never get to see her. I think we'll both be tango dancing on Saturday night, so I'll get to see her then. She sounds like she's doing well with Mark.
Boyfriend: Things are going quite well in this department. His little sister (who's 2 years older than me) came to visit. She came by my place for tacos, and then I brought dinner over there another night (steak, caprese salad, ciao bella sorbet), and then one night when Axel was too busy to entertain, I took her out with me and my coworkers for drinks after work. I had a little too much, or maybe it was mixing beer and liquor, but I felt downright sick at one point, and let out a weird burp thing that made me feel so much better. Fortunately, little sister was unphased. As for boyfriend and I, we have fallen into a routine I think, but in a nice way. Mom finally wants to meet him, don't know when I'll work up the courage to drag him with me to Flushing though. I think she's pretty much decided that he and I will be getting married and having kids together. O dear....
Family: May's currently living in NY. Her office moved temporarily down to the meat packing district so she's no longer able to just walk to work from Grand Central. Meat packing district also sucks because there's nothing there to eat! May and I randomly had lunch one day - we decided to go to "the Bistro Truck" for sandwiches and fries and ate in the park. She mentioned me going over for lunch on my days off, but what to eat there? I've been on everyone's cases about exercising more and eating better. May's been strongly considering getting a Wii and I said if she did, I'd get her the Wii fit package. I'm also going to get Dad the Gazelle elliptical for Father's day. Even if it's only May using it, at least SOMEONE is....
Work: Jackson is winding down. Recently underwent a ridiculously complex security procedure that required providing alibis and character references for the past 7 years of my life, and fingerprinting. Worked on BAM and heard a lot of discontent from my coworkers which somewhat reflected mine. I think my issues are much more deep-seated. They're just upset at the superficial things. Now I'm spending my time working on Orchestra of St. Lukes. I like the project, but what annoys me is that our office finally got a new project and put the other two interns on it despite the fact that they've already worked on that phase a lot, and I SPECIFICALLY requested that I need to work on that phase. Okay, anger showing, time to move on. On the upside, I got to sneak all around the 37 Arts building today, and the super let me peek into Baryshnikov's personal office. Soooo cool! I think it's even better than seeing him, to tell the truth. What if he's a jerk? What if he just completely ignores me? But this way I learn something about him without having to meet him.
Dance: Summer time sucks for dancing. I've been taking Kristin's class all year round, but as she's on tour in the summer and my summer hours don't permit me to make it to Crunch's classes, I've looked into Peridance more. Got my 10-class card. Went to three last week and was completely dead by Saturday. I've taken Sunday, Monday, and I guess Tuesday (because Axel's friend is on tv, and the show is premiering tonight) off to recuperate. Still, going well. Looking forward to kicking things up a notch for the summer.
Roommates: Loud, crazy-sex, sloppy roomie moved out into a place that has bed-bugs. Now she is homeless and surly to the new roommate, Emily. Emily, on the other hand, is lovely. I don't really know what she's like as a roommate, but I like hanging around her, and she does dishes. Chelsea's still awesome, Erica's still great. Maybe is...still Maybe....
Friends: Waz is getting married!! I got my bridesmaid dress, put in my vacation time, bought my flight (well, actually, Axel bought my flight...) and I'm rooming with Hannah, though we don't know what the deal is yet since she's staying an extra night. Waz will be coming to visit at the end of the month. We're going to dinner with probably all the other CMU people in NY. Hopefully we'll get more time to just hang out. Marlen and I have been on the verge of hanging out forever. I think the not-living together has eased my frustrations, but now I never get to see her. I think we'll both be tango dancing on Saturday night, so I'll get to see her then. She sounds like she's doing well with Mark.
Boyfriend: Things are going quite well in this department. His little sister (who's 2 years older than me) came to visit. She came by my place for tacos, and then I brought dinner over there another night (steak, caprese salad, ciao bella sorbet), and then one night when Axel was too busy to entertain, I took her out with me and my coworkers for drinks after work. I had a little too much, or maybe it was mixing beer and liquor, but I felt downright sick at one point, and let out a weird burp thing that made me feel so much better. Fortunately, little sister was unphased. As for boyfriend and I, we have fallen into a routine I think, but in a nice way. Mom finally wants to meet him, don't know when I'll work up the courage to drag him with me to Flushing though. I think she's pretty much decided that he and I will be getting married and having kids together. O dear....
Family: May's currently living in NY. Her office moved temporarily down to the meat packing district so she's no longer able to just walk to work from Grand Central. Meat packing district also sucks because there's nothing there to eat! May and I randomly had lunch one day - we decided to go to "the Bistro Truck" for sandwiches and fries and ate in the park. She mentioned me going over for lunch on my days off, but what to eat there? I've been on everyone's cases about exercising more and eating better. May's been strongly considering getting a Wii and I said if she did, I'd get her the Wii fit package. I'm also going to get Dad the Gazelle elliptical for Father's day. Even if it's only May using it, at least SOMEONE is....
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Revolution!
I've been watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution lately. He's a cry-baby compared to Gordon Ramsay, but I think he's really onto something. Getting processed food out of the school system is incredibly important. Parents always tell their children that school is important, school is right. So, following that line of thought, then isn't the food that they serve in teh school cafeterias also alright? We're telling children that french fries are considered a vegetable, and that chocolate milk all the time is okay as long as you're drinking the milk. I was fortunate that at home, my mom cooked dinner every night so I knew that one could cook and the food can be good if not better. But what about the kids that don't have parents at home who cook? If they eat chicken nuggets at home and then have chicken nuggets at home, then they probably think that chicken nuggets is what they should be eating. Shouldn't school be where kids learn things that their parents can't teach them? Shouldn't schools not only teach us what a food pyramid is, but also put their teachings into practice? I love this show. Jamie's using reality television and turning it into a tool to fix what's wrong with our society.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Why I Love My Boyfriend
Last night's text conversation:
Me: Finally leaving the office (10pm). Yuck. The OT is looking really crappy for the next week.
Axel: Yikes, evilness.
Axel: The good news is that I am going to cook tomorrow night and we can watch "Precious" afterwards. :-)
Me: Yay! Best boyfriend ever! :)
Axel: Right on cue :-)
Me: Finally leaving the office (10pm). Yuck. The OT is looking really crappy for the next week.
Axel: Yikes, evilness.
Axel: The good news is that I am going to cook tomorrow night and we can watch "Precious" afterwards. :-)
Me: Yay! Best boyfriend ever! :)
Axel: Right on cue :-)
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Peru!
This year, I went to Peru for my birthday. For me, it was the most play-it-by-ear vacation I've done. Apparently for Axel, this is the most planned. I think all in all, we spent it the way we usually spend our time together - eating and going for really long walks. 8 full days, 3 cities. Lima, Cuzco and Puno.
Lima: We stayed at the Gran Hotel Bolivar in the historical center of the city. The hotel is like a reminder of what the city used to be. We saw a lot of beautiful buildings all around the cities that were empty, or occupied by people who string their laundry on lines to dry in the windows. The Hotel is similarly large, grand, beautiful, but covered in a slight layer of dust. The lights are dim, the bellboys and waiters are old, 2/3 of the rooms are unused and closed off. Reason is, all the middle and upper class people had moved out to the suburbs outside the central city - they live in nifty mid-rises by the ocean. Fun areas, but not as much personality. Highlights were the cliffside shopping center in Miraflores and the stairs going from the beach up into Barranco.
Axel and I decided to walk from Miralores to Barranco. According to the map, they were easily right next to each other, just a quick walk. What we didn't realize was that there was a giant gorge between the two. We found a set of stairs that went down the Miraflores side to the ocean, and seeing no other option, we took it. We walked along the beach for a while, just keeping an eye out for a way back up. We finally found the stairs and they went through a crevice that was lined with interesting little restaurants and craftspeople selling their wares. That's where we had dinner on my birthday - I had a seafood paella and Axel had a nice steak, so it was very surf and turf.
Cuzco: Cuzco is a very interesting city. The landing of the airplane absolutely terrified me. The city is located in a valley in the mountains and the landing strip is very short and can only be approached from one side. The plane started to descend between two smaller peaks, and banked very sharply to the left. VERY sharply - I looked out the window and it was like looking straight down. And when we landed on the strip, the brakes were put on immediately. Thankfully, this experience was not new for Axel as this is how they do it in the Alps, so he explained it before I fully committed to the idea that we were going to die!
The city itself is very high up in the mountains. I'd read a little about altitude sickness, but didn't really know what to expect. It's not something that just hits you and it's not very strong. Or at least, it wasn't too bad for us, but I'm guessing it's because we're both very physically active people. It was just a general achiness, a headache, shortness of breath, slight nausea, tiredness. I ended up taking a couple of naps everyday.
Highlight of Cuzco was when Axel rented a motorcycle. Machu Picchu was closed, but we still wanted to see the other Inca sites in the sacred valley. The one in Pisac was 40km outside the city according to the map. We figured it would be more fulfilling and less stressful to just rent a motorcycle and go it ourselves rather than get on a bus with 30 people and have to share the site with them. It was a great idea. The mountains are amazing, and you see a lot more when you're out in the open with only a helmet on your head. And the roads were actually still in bad condition because of the landslides at the end of January. We saw a couple places where the earth beneath the asphalt had washed out and the road was caved in, and we saw a couple places with giant piles of rubble and boulders. Those would have been tough to squeeze by on a bus, but easy for a motorcycle. We got to Pisac and found out the main bridge into the town was completely washed out. The buses took to stopping on the Cuzco side, and having people walk across a smaller pedestrian bridge and getting on another bus on the Pisac side. We got to just ride across the bridge since the motorcycle was small enough. Axel laughed his head off maniacally as we did. O triumph! So, after getting lost twice, and realizing that Pisac is only 40km in a straight line, we finally made it to the ruins. And they were totally worth it. We were extremely high up at the peaks, and there were no railings. Just you, the cliffs, the ruins and the wind. There was a fun path that you could take to a watchtower that goes through a hole in the cliffs - we fit just fine, but if an overweight tourist were to try...well, they'd find that that would be the end of their path. We'd been to Saqsaywaman, another Inca ruin, earlier in the day, but it was nothing compared to Pisac. Saqsaywaman was gradiose because of it's largeness, but Pisac was built into the cliffs. The ruins were much more intact and had a completely different, rambling quality to it. We agreed that this trip was the highlight of the entire vacation.
The worst part of the trip came that night. I had something bad to eat or drink and spent the entire night throwing up. Awful. We took it super easy the next day. Axel was actually expecting me to be so down and out that I would just lie in bed. He actually seemed content to stay in the hotel and play doctor, but I was determined to get out and see more of the city, albeit slowly. We ended up going to see this church that was built on Inca ruins. Nice, but not as fascinating as Pisac.
Puno: We got onto a bus for Puno a full day after my throwing up. The bus went extremely high up into the mountains where there was snow, and clouds were much closer to us. I enjoyed most of the ride until the last couple hours when the stupid busdriver decided to turn on the heat and not turn on any ventilation. Between the food poisoning, the sun, the altitude nausea and the fact that the bus had zero suspension...well, I stopped talking those last hours because I was afraid something would come up. As we rumbled into Puno the heat just got worse and I started to dry-heave. Axel held my hat (which he bought me) under my chin and saying, "Throw up in here!" Fortunately, we got to the bus station and as soon as the bus stopped, I got up and started pushing past people to get out. This big thug looking guy got annoyed, but when he turned around and saw my face (it was greenish, apparently), he yelled for everyone to get out of my way. Thank god. I went outside and immediately sat down in the cold air. Axel came out and dragged me over to a shaded corner and then went to get our stuff. Somehow we got to the hotel and I just curled up on the floor because I didn't want to throw up anymore. Poor Axel took care of everything and had the ladies that ran the hotel bring up some tea. He tucked me into bed and hung around for a while before going out to find some food. I woke up sometime after dark and felt well enough to read a book, and he came back within 15 minutes and had a big bowl of chicken soup and some good bread for me. Best boyfriend ever. :)
I felt much better the next day. We walked a little around Puno but realized there really wasn't that much in the city to see, and the exhaust from the cars was just terrible. We went to the harbor and hopped on a boat to go see the floating islands. The boat was all Spanish speaking people, and it drove extremely slowly, and when we got there, we found that the islanders had a presentation on how their society works and it was only given in Spanish. I was delighted to find that I actually understood a lot of what was being said. After the presentation, we went on one of their reed boats and they rowed us to a special island that had a collection of restaurants. There, Axel had the very best ceviche he's ever had, and I enjoyed a little bit of fried trout. We decided that Puno was definitely best enjoyed on Lake Titicaca, so the next day we got up at 6:30 so as to be at the harbor at 7:15 to take the boat out to Taquile, an island 3 hours out of the city. On the boat was a girl we saw from our tourbus, as well as a Benedictine monk who was out to spread the good word. Axel absolutely detests monks, so as soon as we could, we went to the roof of the boat and lay in the sun. The girl from our bus turned out to be named Sophia, an anthropology student from Utrecht in the Netherlands. We talked to her on the island and found out she'd gotten into a big argument with the monk when she, in his non-stop sermon, asked her where she was from and then said, "Ugh, the Netherlands! Land filled with perverts, whores and homosexuals!" So much for god loves all, no?
The island was...well, it wasn't so amazing. Very picturesque, the food was quite good, but not much to be seen. We went to the main plaza and as Axel was photographing me, a little girl hurled herself into my side and insisted on being in the picture. And then she immediately asked us to pay her for having her be in the photo. I figured 30 cents, why not? Axel was unhappy because 1) we did not ask for her to be in the photo and 2) if we give money to children, they'll never learn what it really takes to earn money after the cuteness wears off. We ended up giving her a half sole, which is around 15 cents. Apparently it's like handing her $5... The boat ride back took forever - 3 hours! But then, we were on the boat because we didn't want to be in the city, so it generally made sense. We had our last meal in the city at a random 24 hour cafe which apparently made the best Alpaca meat Axel had while we were in Peru. The place is extremely unpretentious, and has a very ambitious and proud chef and all the staff were very knowledgeable and proud of their food.
Generally, a really great vacation. I topped it off reading Julia Child's biography on the airplane. That book is like food pornography. O fooood....
Lima: We stayed at the Gran Hotel Bolivar in the historical center of the city. The hotel is like a reminder of what the city used to be. We saw a lot of beautiful buildings all around the cities that were empty, or occupied by people who string their laundry on lines to dry in the windows. The Hotel is similarly large, grand, beautiful, but covered in a slight layer of dust. The lights are dim, the bellboys and waiters are old, 2/3 of the rooms are unused and closed off. Reason is, all the middle and upper class people had moved out to the suburbs outside the central city - they live in nifty mid-rises by the ocean. Fun areas, but not as much personality. Highlights were the cliffside shopping center in Miraflores and the stairs going from the beach up into Barranco.
Axel and I decided to walk from Miralores to Barranco. According to the map, they were easily right next to each other, just a quick walk. What we didn't realize was that there was a giant gorge between the two. We found a set of stairs that went down the Miraflores side to the ocean, and seeing no other option, we took it. We walked along the beach for a while, just keeping an eye out for a way back up. We finally found the stairs and they went through a crevice that was lined with interesting little restaurants and craftspeople selling their wares. That's where we had dinner on my birthday - I had a seafood paella and Axel had a nice steak, so it was very surf and turf.
Cuzco: Cuzco is a very interesting city. The landing of the airplane absolutely terrified me. The city is located in a valley in the mountains and the landing strip is very short and can only be approached from one side. The plane started to descend between two smaller peaks, and banked very sharply to the left. VERY sharply - I looked out the window and it was like looking straight down. And when we landed on the strip, the brakes were put on immediately. Thankfully, this experience was not new for Axel as this is how they do it in the Alps, so he explained it before I fully committed to the idea that we were going to die!
The city itself is very high up in the mountains. I'd read a little about altitude sickness, but didn't really know what to expect. It's not something that just hits you and it's not very strong. Or at least, it wasn't too bad for us, but I'm guessing it's because we're both very physically active people. It was just a general achiness, a headache, shortness of breath, slight nausea, tiredness. I ended up taking a couple of naps everyday.
Highlight of Cuzco was when Axel rented a motorcycle. Machu Picchu was closed, but we still wanted to see the other Inca sites in the sacred valley. The one in Pisac was 40km outside the city according to the map. We figured it would be more fulfilling and less stressful to just rent a motorcycle and go it ourselves rather than get on a bus with 30 people and have to share the site with them. It was a great idea. The mountains are amazing, and you see a lot more when you're out in the open with only a helmet on your head. And the roads were actually still in bad condition because of the landslides at the end of January. We saw a couple places where the earth beneath the asphalt had washed out and the road was caved in, and we saw a couple places with giant piles of rubble and boulders. Those would have been tough to squeeze by on a bus, but easy for a motorcycle. We got to Pisac and found out the main bridge into the town was completely washed out. The buses took to stopping on the Cuzco side, and having people walk across a smaller pedestrian bridge and getting on another bus on the Pisac side. We got to just ride across the bridge since the motorcycle was small enough. Axel laughed his head off maniacally as we did. O triumph! So, after getting lost twice, and realizing that Pisac is only 40km in a straight line, we finally made it to the ruins. And they were totally worth it. We were extremely high up at the peaks, and there were no railings. Just you, the cliffs, the ruins and the wind. There was a fun path that you could take to a watchtower that goes through a hole in the cliffs - we fit just fine, but if an overweight tourist were to try...well, they'd find that that would be the end of their path. We'd been to Saqsaywaman, another Inca ruin, earlier in the day, but it was nothing compared to Pisac. Saqsaywaman was gradiose because of it's largeness, but Pisac was built into the cliffs. The ruins were much more intact and had a completely different, rambling quality to it. We agreed that this trip was the highlight of the entire vacation.
The worst part of the trip came that night. I had something bad to eat or drink and spent the entire night throwing up. Awful. We took it super easy the next day. Axel was actually expecting me to be so down and out that I would just lie in bed. He actually seemed content to stay in the hotel and play doctor, but I was determined to get out and see more of the city, albeit slowly. We ended up going to see this church that was built on Inca ruins. Nice, but not as fascinating as Pisac.
Puno: We got onto a bus for Puno a full day after my throwing up. The bus went extremely high up into the mountains where there was snow, and clouds were much closer to us. I enjoyed most of the ride until the last couple hours when the stupid busdriver decided to turn on the heat and not turn on any ventilation. Between the food poisoning, the sun, the altitude nausea and the fact that the bus had zero suspension...well, I stopped talking those last hours because I was afraid something would come up. As we rumbled into Puno the heat just got worse and I started to dry-heave. Axel held my hat (which he bought me) under my chin and saying, "Throw up in here!" Fortunately, we got to the bus station and as soon as the bus stopped, I got up and started pushing past people to get out. This big thug looking guy got annoyed, but when he turned around and saw my face (it was greenish, apparently), he yelled for everyone to get out of my way. Thank god. I went outside and immediately sat down in the cold air. Axel came out and dragged me over to a shaded corner and then went to get our stuff. Somehow we got to the hotel and I just curled up on the floor because I didn't want to throw up anymore. Poor Axel took care of everything and had the ladies that ran the hotel bring up some tea. He tucked me into bed and hung around for a while before going out to find some food. I woke up sometime after dark and felt well enough to read a book, and he came back within 15 minutes and had a big bowl of chicken soup and some good bread for me. Best boyfriend ever. :)
I felt much better the next day. We walked a little around Puno but realized there really wasn't that much in the city to see, and the exhaust from the cars was just terrible. We went to the harbor and hopped on a boat to go see the floating islands. The boat was all Spanish speaking people, and it drove extremely slowly, and when we got there, we found that the islanders had a presentation on how their society works and it was only given in Spanish. I was delighted to find that I actually understood a lot of what was being said. After the presentation, we went on one of their reed boats and they rowed us to a special island that had a collection of restaurants. There, Axel had the very best ceviche he's ever had, and I enjoyed a little bit of fried trout. We decided that Puno was definitely best enjoyed on Lake Titicaca, so the next day we got up at 6:30 so as to be at the harbor at 7:15 to take the boat out to Taquile, an island 3 hours out of the city. On the boat was a girl we saw from our tourbus, as well as a Benedictine monk who was out to spread the good word. Axel absolutely detests monks, so as soon as we could, we went to the roof of the boat and lay in the sun. The girl from our bus turned out to be named Sophia, an anthropology student from Utrecht in the Netherlands. We talked to her on the island and found out she'd gotten into a big argument with the monk when she, in his non-stop sermon, asked her where she was from and then said, "Ugh, the Netherlands! Land filled with perverts, whores and homosexuals!" So much for god loves all, no?
The island was...well, it wasn't so amazing. Very picturesque, the food was quite good, but not much to be seen. We went to the main plaza and as Axel was photographing me, a little girl hurled herself into my side and insisted on being in the picture. And then she immediately asked us to pay her for having her be in the photo. I figured 30 cents, why not? Axel was unhappy because 1) we did not ask for her to be in the photo and 2) if we give money to children, they'll never learn what it really takes to earn money after the cuteness wears off. We ended up giving her a half sole, which is around 15 cents. Apparently it's like handing her $5... The boat ride back took forever - 3 hours! But then, we were on the boat because we didn't want to be in the city, so it generally made sense. We had our last meal in the city at a random 24 hour cafe which apparently made the best Alpaca meat Axel had while we were in Peru. The place is extremely unpretentious, and has a very ambitious and proud chef and all the staff were very knowledgeable and proud of their food.
Generally, a really great vacation. I topped it off reading Julia Child's biography on the airplane. That book is like food pornography. O fooood....
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Happy
When I first moved back into Erica's place, I almost wondered if I'd made some sort of mistake. The place was a dark, stuffy hole in the wall filled with junk. No one hung out and it was incredibly dirty, and what's worse, my bedroom smelled of cigarettes all the time. Turns out it was all Rachel and her boyfriend Devin. They had a ton of junk they couldn't fit into their rooms so they let it all flow out into the common area, they left dirty dishes and their junk all over the kitchen, had a ton of rotting food in the fridge, ate other peoples' food and lied about it, smoked cigarettes and pot in the apartment and lied about it. What pisses me off the most was that I got migraines because of their smoking and they blatantly lied about the smoking. If I see either of them again, I will not be nice at all. Thank god they moved out.
And sure enough, I'm back in the world of "I love my roommates." There is Erica, of course, and just like last year she's barely around, but when she is, she cleans up the apartment, gets new things for it, rearranges things. Well, after all, the apartment is her baby. And then there's Chelsea, who just seems to be really cool thus far. Very laid back, fun to talk to, likes to cook and bake, works at Crumbs and gets to bring home free stuff. I met her after her work on Sunday, got free cupcakes, and then we went to the Chelsea Market and looked at kitchenwares together. She ended up going elsewhere and getting an awesome Henckel's chef's knife. We chat in the kitchen a lot, and both like to cook and bake. We're doing dumpling night tonight. Yum!
I think what I was really missing when living in Astoria is having roommates that genuinely care about the well-being of the apartment. I feel like my main requirements are 1) don't be a pig, 2) don't treat the apartment like your closet and 3) don't treat me like your maid. It's weird how difficult it is to find that...
And sure enough, I'm back in the world of "I love my roommates." There is Erica, of course, and just like last year she's barely around, but when she is, she cleans up the apartment, gets new things for it, rearranges things. Well, after all, the apartment is her baby. And then there's Chelsea, who just seems to be really cool thus far. Very laid back, fun to talk to, likes to cook and bake, works at Crumbs and gets to bring home free stuff. I met her after her work on Sunday, got free cupcakes, and then we went to the Chelsea Market and looked at kitchenwares together. She ended up going elsewhere and getting an awesome Henckel's chef's knife. We chat in the kitchen a lot, and both like to cook and bake. We're doing dumpling night tonight. Yum!
I think what I was really missing when living in Astoria is having roommates that genuinely care about the well-being of the apartment. I feel like my main requirements are 1) don't be a pig, 2) don't treat the apartment like your closet and 3) don't treat me like your maid. It's weird how difficult it is to find that...
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Happy Sunday
I just had a lovely Sunday. I was supposed to do lunch with my sister and Julia, but Julia felt cruddy, so she asked to do dinner instead. So, I went to the gym, ran for 40 minutes and then took my 90 minute aerialist yoga class. Fortune would have that my very favorite yoga teacher was subbing for my second favorite yoga teacher. This lady is a kooky Israeli yogi hippie, but she teaches a darn good class. One of the hammocks was torn and we ended up being one short for a full class. The girl that ended up getting screwed over raised such a hissy-fit that the yoga teacher just gave the girl her hammock. So, you would think that a girl with such entitlement would be amazing. Nope, of course not. She was horrible, had bad alignment, kept turning to me to say things like, "Well, THAT was a useless pose. It didn't stretch anything." Nod and smile... The teacher initially tried to teach the class by having the girl move over so she could get in the hammock and demonstrate, but I think entitlement girl got this annoyed look, so the teacher started using me as her demonstrator. Mostly, I think, because I was located just off center of her. It was pretty fun, in any case. And once she realized how flexible I was, she started to power stretch me. Who knew anyone could go beyond a split? And she kept going on about how I had a lovely body, amazing flexibility, lovely dancer strength and sense. Phew! Be still my heart, I'm blushing! Guess Weight Watchers with all those dance classes really pays off!
After that I met up with my roomie at her job at Crumbs where I was greeted with FREE CUPCAKES!! Best roommate perk EVER! Last year's free Moma perk is nothing compared to this. I got to pick any two I wanted. Sooo goooood. Then Chelsea and I went to this restaurant supply store which had a lot of awesome things for half the price of Bed Bath and Beyond and William Sonoma. It's located inside Chelsea Market which is an event in and of itself. I'm going to have to bring Axel there. I love those sort of places. Ended up picking up a mini offset spatula and some tips for my future cupcake adventures.
After all this, I went out to Flushing for dinner with May and Julia. We went to a Korean place right around the corner from Gramma's. I ordered a bibimbap and what I got...was not like any other bibimbap I've ever had. Usually it's rice mixed with kimchi and other stuff. This place served what basically amounts to a salad with rice and literally strips of raw beef and a raw egg. I was a tad dubious at first, but then the waitress mixed it up for me and it turned out to be delicious. I'm going to fry the leftovers before I eat them. Hope I don't get tapeworms. On the other hand, if I have a tapeworm, I can eat more free cupcakes! Julia left a little after 9, and I went with May to Gramma's (Gramma wasn't home, playing Mahjongg till sunrise) and we cut up the raspberry cupcake. Delicious! It was actually kind of nice to just sit there with May. It felt almost like it was May's apartment, didn't have the parents or gramma to deal with.
And now I'm home. Nice nice day. Though I've feeling some back twinges and my hands hurt like hell from yoga class. Hope I'll be able to move tomorrow...
After that I met up with my roomie at her job at Crumbs where I was greeted with FREE CUPCAKES!! Best roommate perk EVER! Last year's free Moma perk is nothing compared to this. I got to pick any two I wanted. Sooo goooood. Then Chelsea and I went to this restaurant supply store which had a lot of awesome things for half the price of Bed Bath and Beyond and William Sonoma. It's located inside Chelsea Market which is an event in and of itself. I'm going to have to bring Axel there. I love those sort of places. Ended up picking up a mini offset spatula and some tips for my future cupcake adventures.
After all this, I went out to Flushing for dinner with May and Julia. We went to a Korean place right around the corner from Gramma's. I ordered a bibimbap and what I got...was not like any other bibimbap I've ever had. Usually it's rice mixed with kimchi and other stuff. This place served what basically amounts to a salad with rice and literally strips of raw beef and a raw egg. I was a tad dubious at first, but then the waitress mixed it up for me and it turned out to be delicious. I'm going to fry the leftovers before I eat them. Hope I don't get tapeworms. On the other hand, if I have a tapeworm, I can eat more free cupcakes! Julia left a little after 9, and I went with May to Gramma's (Gramma wasn't home, playing Mahjongg till sunrise) and we cut up the raspberry cupcake. Delicious! It was actually kind of nice to just sit there with May. It felt almost like it was May's apartment, didn't have the parents or gramma to deal with.
And now I'm home. Nice nice day. Though I've feeling some back twinges and my hands hurt like hell from yoga class. Hope I'll be able to move tomorrow...
Friday, February 05, 2010
So. Mom has multiple sclerosis. Doctor thinks that she might have had it since she was 30. I don't really know what multiple sclerosis is. All the medical dramas on t.v. basically show it as a slow disease where people temporarily lose function of a certain part or parts of their body, and it gets worse and worse and the loss of function becomes permanent as time progresses. So basically, Mom probably won't be traveling the world in her retirement as she hoped she would. She'll be sitting in a wheelchair in a home somewhere because she trained us so well as a family to be unsupportive of each other. Congratulations, Mom.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Bushwick, Baby!
I moved back into Erica's apartment last weekend. So far, I've just been slowly setting up. Her apartment is rather grody, and I cleaned it up a bit during my last stay, but it had since gone back to its own ways. I got Erica to clean with me tonight. We'd talked about it with the other girls, having it be a cleaning party. Somehow it didn't feel that way. Erica didn't seem to be in a good mood at all. Rachel did her thing, and I scrubbed down the appliances and threw out a yucky old bag of flour filled with mealworms. Did get distracted at one point by the boyfriend calling me from Haiti. It's been 3 weeks now and he says he's hoping to be back by Sunday.
I was talking to Rachel's boyfriend who is a handy guy. He's been trying really hard to find a job here in the city and then I found out he's a high school dropout. No wonder. Even the verizon service people all have GEDs and they're all as dumb as rocks. He is certainly much smarter than a rock, but just by not having a GED, he is automatically not a candidate. Michael's having a hard enough time finding work without a college degree. To not even have a high school one...wow, that's rough.
I was talking to Rachel's boyfriend who is a handy guy. He's been trying really hard to find a job here in the city and then I found out he's a high school dropout. No wonder. Even the verizon service people all have GEDs and they're all as dumb as rocks. He is certainly much smarter than a rock, but just by not having a GED, he is automatically not a candidate. Michael's having a hard enough time finding work without a college degree. To not even have a high school one...wow, that's rough.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Dear Mom
...you really suck. Let me count the ways.
At a family dinner, you yell at me in front of everyone for being a pig and eating too much bread. In reality, I've only had 1 slice.
And then you go on to tell a made-up story about how I'm such a pig, that I start eating anything you put on the dinner table before the table's even set. Never have I EVER done that. May and dad will pick at it, and I generally sit down to eat after they do.
You tell me just after I've eaten that I'm really fat.
You sit down in a row with Gramma and your best friend and proceed to go on with them for half an hour about how fat I've gotten and that it's really bad, and that one day I'm going to be obese because I make bad decisions and don't know how to eat well.
This is all on top of the fact that you have never had a single nice thing to say to me in the entirety of my life. Dad will say, "Very good," if I get a 100 on a test. You will go, "Where's the extra credit points?" May gets similar treatment from you.
Many a time when I come home, the first thing you say to me is, "Go bake a cake for me." What happened to hello?
You never have anything nice to say about any of my boyfriends. Nothing. You never want to meet them, and all you do is spend time talking trash about a man you know nothing about to me and to all of your friends.
The reason I never come home and visit is because of you. I don't want to be around you because all you can do is tell your daughters that they don't know anything, and that they're ill-qualified to do anything right in the world. You're irrational, loud, rude, narrow-minded and completely backwards.
At a family dinner, you yell at me in front of everyone for being a pig and eating too much bread. In reality, I've only had 1 slice.
And then you go on to tell a made-up story about how I'm such a pig, that I start eating anything you put on the dinner table before the table's even set. Never have I EVER done that. May and dad will pick at it, and I generally sit down to eat after they do.
You tell me just after I've eaten that I'm really fat.
You sit down in a row with Gramma and your best friend and proceed to go on with them for half an hour about how fat I've gotten and that it's really bad, and that one day I'm going to be obese because I make bad decisions and don't know how to eat well.
This is all on top of the fact that you have never had a single nice thing to say to me in the entirety of my life. Dad will say, "Very good," if I get a 100 on a test. You will go, "Where's the extra credit points?" May gets similar treatment from you.
Many a time when I come home, the first thing you say to me is, "Go bake a cake for me." What happened to hello?
You never have anything nice to say about any of my boyfriends. Nothing. You never want to meet them, and all you do is spend time talking trash about a man you know nothing about to me and to all of your friends.
The reason I never come home and visit is because of you. I don't want to be around you because all you can do is tell your daughters that they don't know anything, and that they're ill-qualified to do anything right in the world. You're irrational, loud, rude, narrow-minded and completely backwards.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
So Much for Togetherness
Axel left last Friday for Haiti. He's there documenting the good work being done by Doctors Without Borders. So far, it sounds like it isn't too bad, if you disregard all the dead, dying and injured. The weather is balmy, the people are nice. I've been very nervous about him being there. This morning there was a 6.1 earthquake, and I texted him as soon as I heard to make sure he's alright. Slept through it, so that's not too bad. I just got this funny little email from him about what it's like in Haiti for the DWB organization:
well - the entire thing is pretty much a black comedy out of the chronicles of disorganization...
we were embedded with the Swiss Doctors without Borders - the deal was that we get food, shelter and logistics
and they get the footage for their own use.
Except the Swizzies dumped us with the Dutchies - which we did not even know until we realized that
there are actually an abundance of borders within the doctors without borders: the dutch somewhat get along with the belgians - but they do not
like the swiss and everybody hates the french.
except: all the individual people from those charters are pretty much from all over the world - so Carlos, a Colombian surgeon who lives in the Bronx
is refused a ride with the Belgians because he is considered Swiss. And we are like the unwanted relatives ;-)
So we crashed on the lawn with the Dutchies until they kicked us out - not because we were an inconvenience (we are not there all day
and at night we sleep on the lawn) but because we are swiss :-)
now we are with the swiss, but they did not mention that they do not have a real house so we are in tents with them - and make us rather unwelcome.
As we are IDP's now (internally displaced people) we also plunder as much as we can. We stole a bunch of cookies from the Dutch and Bananas and water
from the swiss :-)
the swiss just realized that Haiti is not on 240 Volts, so all of their equipment is not working (I just looked it up un the internet before I left). The Japanese came with a super
fancy inflatable hospital but distrust everybody and do not speak a word of french or english.
all in all it is rather interesting and i just had some delicious chicken with shallots :-)
well - the entire thing is pretty much a black comedy out of the chronicles of disorganization...
we were embedded with the Swiss Doctors without Borders - the deal was that we get food, shelter and logistics
and they get the footage for their own use.
Except the Swizzies dumped us with the Dutchies - which we did not even know until we realized that
there are actually an abundance of borders within the doctors without borders: the dutch somewhat get along with the belgians - but they do not
like the swiss and everybody hates the french.
except: all the individual people from those charters are pretty much from all over the world - so Carlos, a Colombian surgeon who lives in the Bronx
is refused a ride with the Belgians because he is considered Swiss. And we are like the unwanted relatives ;-)
So we crashed on the lawn with the Dutchies until they kicked us out - not because we were an inconvenience (we are not there all day
and at night we sleep on the lawn) but because we are swiss :-)
now we are with the swiss, but they did not mention that they do not have a real house so we are in tents with them - and make us rather unwelcome.
As we are IDP's now (internally displaced people) we also plunder as much as we can. We stole a bunch of cookies from the Dutch and Bananas and water
from the swiss :-)
the swiss just realized that Haiti is not on 240 Volts, so all of their equipment is not working (I just looked it up un the internet before I left). The Japanese came with a super
fancy inflatable hospital but distrust everybody and do not speak a word of french or english.
all in all it is rather interesting and i just had some delicious chicken with shallots :-)
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Bitchy Broker!
Aida is the most depressing woman you will ever meet. Marlen and I found a posting from her company on Craigslist last year, saw the apartment and decided the apartment would be fine despite the fact that it was lit with fluorescents and the living room light fixture had a hub cap glued to it and a shattered shower door was lying in the kitchen. At the lease signing, she suddenly dropped a "brokers fee" bomb on us. It was listed online as no-fee, which she claimed was incorrect and "worked out a deal" where we had to pay her 1 month's equivalent instead of 1.5 months equivalent, and it had to be in cash.
Now, we're moving out of our apartment, and unfortunately, she's one of the brokers showing the place. The three of us all work jobs with very long hours, so I told her she could pick up keys after 8:30, when at least one of us would be home, or in the morning before we go to work, or some time during the weekend. She said, "No, I can't go out that late or be there that early," "No, I don't work on weekends," "No, I won't go into Manhattan to pick up the keys," and then tried to make me feel bad by saying, "You know, I work very hard. I work everyday from 9-6." Well, guess what lady, 9-6 is a good day for me. The reality is 9-8 on a normal day plus weekends, so quit your bitching! O, you have to commute to work everyday? No shit, so do I. 40 minutes one-way on public transportation pressed against dirty old men, not all alone in a cushy Lexus like you. Then she started threatening me that it's in our contract that we must make the apartment available for showing or we forfeit our security deposit. Really? You're too lazy to meet me at my work to get the keys, or meet me at any of the times that I'm available, and now you're threatening me?
I called Sam, my landlord, who was very aware of how rude a person Aida was. He even said to me, "That's how she is, she always wants to make everyone else do all the work for her. That's why I hired this other guy, he's much nicer." I'm glad he understands. He told me that he would be dealing with her in his own "special" way. I have no idea what he means by special, but I hope he stops using her as a broker, because she is a very bad representative for such a great landlord.
Now, we're moving out of our apartment, and unfortunately, she's one of the brokers showing the place. The three of us all work jobs with very long hours, so I told her she could pick up keys after 8:30, when at least one of us would be home, or in the morning before we go to work, or some time during the weekend. She said, "No, I can't go out that late or be there that early," "No, I don't work on weekends," "No, I won't go into Manhattan to pick up the keys," and then tried to make me feel bad by saying, "You know, I work very hard. I work everyday from 9-6." Well, guess what lady, 9-6 is a good day for me. The reality is 9-8 on a normal day plus weekends, so quit your bitching! O, you have to commute to work everyday? No shit, so do I. 40 minutes one-way on public transportation pressed against dirty old men, not all alone in a cushy Lexus like you. Then she started threatening me that it's in our contract that we must make the apartment available for showing or we forfeit our security deposit. Really? You're too lazy to meet me at my work to get the keys, or meet me at any of the times that I'm available, and now you're threatening me?
I called Sam, my landlord, who was very aware of how rude a person Aida was. He even said to me, "That's how she is, she always wants to make everyone else do all the work for her. That's why I hired this other guy, he's much nicer." I'm glad he understands. He told me that he would be dealing with her in his own "special" way. I have no idea what he means by special, but I hope he stops using her as a broker, because she is a very bad representative for such a great landlord.
Monday, January 04, 2010
To the New Decade!
Happy New Year!! I just had a wonderful, relaxing, fun-filled weekend and for some reason feel far more well-rested than I did from Christmas weekend. Must have been all the mom drama that I didn't have to put up with. In any case:
Christmas was great, though for whatever reason I don't remember too many details. We went to Eric and Sylvia's house as usual, though Sylvia didn't get to the house till around 9 or 10pm. I brought a delightful little pear-pistachio tart which I thought turned out really tasty. I should have made it bigger though. Maybe next time. We all hung out, watched 2012, chatted. I borrowed my uncle's really awesome new Nikon and went around taking pictures. Gramma got excited that the entire family was together and made us all take family photos. Guess it has to be done at some point...
The day after Christmas, May and I went to a local diner to see some childhood friends. Everyone seemed to be doing pretty well. May's friend who always hated me when we were little is oddly much nicer now that we're all grown up. I think it's because we work in related industries and are the only ones living in NY, so he feels like we have the most in common now. In any case, brunch was very nice.
The Saturday after Christmas, May and I were sitting in May's room playing video games when mom walked in. Mom went into this really long spiel about weddings and relationships and how there was a place for the woman in the home and how important it was to find a man that can take care of you, blah blah blah, sexist stuff. I was all for operation get-May-a-boyfriend, but then mom kept talking and the longer she talked, the less interested I was in helping and the more offended I got at her backwards way of thinking. In any case, the true goal of her lecture was that a northern Chinese neighbor had some boys from Beijing coming over for the weekend, and she and mom decided to introduce my sister in the vain hope that she and one of the boys might hook up. Unfortunately, most of the boys were asian guidos. The one that wasn't, and happened to be the boy of most interest, was actually kind of cute. The downside was that he and May wouldn't talk to each other, and really, they couldn't anyway because May's Chinese is filled with stuttering (no offense, May) and the boy could barely speak English. As for me, I felt like the painted whore in the room because I date white men and wear makeup. There you go, Mom, that's why I'll never marry a nice Chinese boy, because I'm tainted.
Then there was work. I felt incredibly tired. I blame my mother. She causes me a lot of stress which is very draining. Ironically, I was far busier this past weekend, and I feel far more relaxed.
So, Thursday was New Years Eve and I went with Marlen and her friends and met up with Brian, my old roommate. We went to Alice's Tea Cup. I tried to call in a reservation, but you have to actually physically walk in and put your name down so I was the vanguard since everyone else was very slowly puttering. Brian seemed to have a good time and seemed to like everyone. Then I went home and cleaned, and then went to Axel's. His buddy, Yuri, invited us to go to a party, and I invited Brian. Brian almost invited Ken, but then Axel said that we were already riding on the coattails of someone already riding on coattails, and it wouldn't be good to bring too many people. All's better anyhow, I didn't feel like being around people I dislike. They thought Brian was very awkward, but nice. From the two minutes they saw of Ken...well, they didn't seem to care for him so much. In any case, the party was great. I spent a long time just catching up with Brian, and then I spent the later portions of the evening with Axel. Yuri was extremely drunk and kept making me do little twirls. Guess he thought I looked like a pretty-pretty little princess. At one point, I was sitting with Axel on the couch, and then Yuri sat down practically on top of me and started philosophizing about love and family and told me that I shouldn't let my idiot mother dictate my love life because she's trying to grab onto the past which is no longer there. He also mentioned that my being upset is greatly upsetting to Axel. Pooh. He also said something of which I can't remember, but I interpreted it to mean that Axel loves me very much, and that's just fine by me!
Next day, I took Brian and Stacy (from Dancer's Symposium!) to dinner in Astoria and then to my apartment for some dessert. Greek yogurt with honey, walnuts and pomegranate. Brian joked that after 2 years, I'm still feeding him all the time. It was nice to catch up with the two of them. Next day was a huge day of spring cleaning. All the floors are squeaky clean. The next day was a day of sleeping in, and then going to the movies with Axel. All in all a great way to start the new year.
I just calculated that Axel and I will be celebrating 1 year in 2 days. Who knew?! Good thing I thought to figure it out. For some reason, I thought it was a week or so later.
Christmas was great, though for whatever reason I don't remember too many details. We went to Eric and Sylvia's house as usual, though Sylvia didn't get to the house till around 9 or 10pm. I brought a delightful little pear-pistachio tart which I thought turned out really tasty. I should have made it bigger though. Maybe next time. We all hung out, watched 2012, chatted. I borrowed my uncle's really awesome new Nikon and went around taking pictures. Gramma got excited that the entire family was together and made us all take family photos. Guess it has to be done at some point...
The day after Christmas, May and I went to a local diner to see some childhood friends. Everyone seemed to be doing pretty well. May's friend who always hated me when we were little is oddly much nicer now that we're all grown up. I think it's because we work in related industries and are the only ones living in NY, so he feels like we have the most in common now. In any case, brunch was very nice.
The Saturday after Christmas, May and I were sitting in May's room playing video games when mom walked in. Mom went into this really long spiel about weddings and relationships and how there was a place for the woman in the home and how important it was to find a man that can take care of you, blah blah blah, sexist stuff. I was all for operation get-May-a-boyfriend, but then mom kept talking and the longer she talked, the less interested I was in helping and the more offended I got at her backwards way of thinking. In any case, the true goal of her lecture was that a northern Chinese neighbor had some boys from Beijing coming over for the weekend, and she and mom decided to introduce my sister in the vain hope that she and one of the boys might hook up. Unfortunately, most of the boys were asian guidos. The one that wasn't, and happened to be the boy of most interest, was actually kind of cute. The downside was that he and May wouldn't talk to each other, and really, they couldn't anyway because May's Chinese is filled with stuttering (no offense, May) and the boy could barely speak English. As for me, I felt like the painted whore in the room because I date white men and wear makeup. There you go, Mom, that's why I'll never marry a nice Chinese boy, because I'm tainted.
Then there was work. I felt incredibly tired. I blame my mother. She causes me a lot of stress which is very draining. Ironically, I was far busier this past weekend, and I feel far more relaxed.
So, Thursday was New Years Eve and I went with Marlen and her friends and met up with Brian, my old roommate. We went to Alice's Tea Cup. I tried to call in a reservation, but you have to actually physically walk in and put your name down so I was the vanguard since everyone else was very slowly puttering. Brian seemed to have a good time and seemed to like everyone. Then I went home and cleaned, and then went to Axel's. His buddy, Yuri, invited us to go to a party, and I invited Brian. Brian almost invited Ken, but then Axel said that we were already riding on the coattails of someone already riding on coattails, and it wouldn't be good to bring too many people. All's better anyhow, I didn't feel like being around people I dislike. They thought Brian was very awkward, but nice. From the two minutes they saw of Ken...well, they didn't seem to care for him so much. In any case, the party was great. I spent a long time just catching up with Brian, and then I spent the later portions of the evening with Axel. Yuri was extremely drunk and kept making me do little twirls. Guess he thought I looked like a pretty-pretty little princess. At one point, I was sitting with Axel on the couch, and then Yuri sat down practically on top of me and started philosophizing about love and family and told me that I shouldn't let my idiot mother dictate my love life because she's trying to grab onto the past which is no longer there. He also mentioned that my being upset is greatly upsetting to Axel. Pooh. He also said something of which I can't remember, but I interpreted it to mean that Axel loves me very much, and that's just fine by me!
Next day, I took Brian and Stacy (from Dancer's Symposium!) to dinner in Astoria and then to my apartment for some dessert. Greek yogurt with honey, walnuts and pomegranate. Brian joked that after 2 years, I'm still feeding him all the time. It was nice to catch up with the two of them. Next day was a huge day of spring cleaning. All the floors are squeaky clean. The next day was a day of sleeping in, and then going to the movies with Axel. All in all a great way to start the new year.
I just calculated that Axel and I will be celebrating 1 year in 2 days. Who knew?! Good thing I thought to figure it out. For some reason, I thought it was a week or so later.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Weekend
I went home this weekend to get my laptop. It arrived last week. It's running Windows 7 which I can only describe as swooshy. Not too sure how I like the interface. If anything, I find it a little difficult to find things. Supposedly you can just type whatever program you're looking for into this search thing on the start button, but...well, I'd rather just do it through the big pop-up menus. Old habits die hard, I guess. The new laptop is a definite upgrade, but the video card really sucks. I tried out Assissin's Creed and it ran very slowly. Knights of the Old Republic runs pretty well, though, and the sound and movie watching quality is awesome. Considering I play video games once a week at most, I'm not too broken up about the lack of video card power. I only paid $800 for this thing and if I wanted a real gaming laptop, that would be at least $1500.
In other news, we had a wierd family lunch today. We were eating rice porridge and mom had cut up one of those thousand-year old egg things. At one point, Dad suggested I have some and I said no thanks. Yuck. May went, "Angela hates runny eggs, right Ange?" And I nodded. Then Dad went, "Well, just wait till she's pregnant. THEN she'll like them." What? WHAT? Where did that come from? I don't plan on getting knocked up anytime soon, thanks very much. And if I did want to get knocked up, well 1) I'd want to have my architect's license first and 2) I would want to have a potential dad who didn't just recently refer to babies as worm-like ugly things. No babies for me, thanks very much. I guess Mom and Dad are kind of freaked out that I'm dating Axel and seem to be in it for the long run. No babies. Ew.
In other news, we had a wierd family lunch today. We were eating rice porridge and mom had cut up one of those thousand-year old egg things. At one point, Dad suggested I have some and I said no thanks. Yuck. May went, "Angela hates runny eggs, right Ange?" And I nodded. Then Dad went, "Well, just wait till she's pregnant. THEN she'll like them." What? WHAT? Where did that come from? I don't plan on getting knocked up anytime soon, thanks very much. And if I did want to get knocked up, well 1) I'd want to have my architect's license first and 2) I would want to have a potential dad who didn't just recently refer to babies as worm-like ugly things. No babies for me, thanks very much. I guess Mom and Dad are kind of freaked out that I'm dating Axel and seem to be in it for the long run. No babies. Ew.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Fancy Partay!
Last night, Karen and I went to a party an alum friend of mine invited me to. Karen and I must be the oldest young people in the world, or maybe she's just shy and I was tired from work, but we left at 10. In any case, the invite said the dress code was festive and after dithering for a while on what that meant, I decided last minute to wear a pretty dress I bought last year from Espirit, and I borrowed a festive red belt from my coworker Mallary. Add to that a nice black faux-fur bolero and bright red sling-backs. I was worried I was going to be overdressed, and I showed up and found out I was perfectly dressed. I also found out that Phillippe, who I was aware was wealthy, is VERY wealthy in that he owns a hedge fund. My guess is the nice older gentleman I met last year at the Presidential Debate Party (who sadly did not show up tonite) is similarly wealthy and probably owns his own hedge fund. In any case, all the people I met were in their late 30s to 50s and they either were hedge fund/wall street people, or worked for the UN or something similarly impressive. They weren't snobby at all though. In fact, if I were to ask Phillippe what he did, he'd be very reluctant to tell. Apparently they're all like that.
It's funny though, the general personality of the people there was kinda boring. A lot of awkward conversation that died quickly. Wow, you're an architect and you make buildings! Yeah. So... Soo........Hmmmm....
There were actually two young ladies that Karen and I spent a long time talking to. I think they're both around my age. On of the girls' mom is a lesbian who came out and dumped her hubby when she was 8, and her mom's girlfriend is her age. Funny, no? And she's comfortable enough with her mom that mom came along to the party. I would NEVER take my mom to a party with me.
In any case, Karen and I got bored and ditched the party at 10, went to Grey's Papaya and got hot dogs and pina coladas and then trekked home. Fun fun fun. :)
It's funny though, the general personality of the people there was kinda boring. A lot of awkward conversation that died quickly. Wow, you're an architect and you make buildings! Yeah. So... Soo........Hmmmm....
There were actually two young ladies that Karen and I spent a long time talking to. I think they're both around my age. On of the girls' mom is a lesbian who came out and dumped her hubby when she was 8, and her mom's girlfriend is her age. Funny, no? And she's comfortable enough with her mom that mom came along to the party. I would NEVER take my mom to a party with me.
In any case, Karen and I got bored and ditched the party at 10, went to Grey's Papaya and got hot dogs and pina coladas and then trekked home. Fun fun fun. :)
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Mosying On Up
God. I just got handed the responsibility card.
The office has lunch seminars once almost every week where people come in, present their product or teach a class. They bring food as an incentive to make people show up, though I find that a lot of people are just really rude jerks that just run in, grab food and run out, but I digress. The responsibility person who arranges all of this has a one year tenure and one of the bosses just came over and asked me to take over for the next year, and it'd be kind of awkward to say no and I think he knew that. Evil. That's a lot of work....and talking on phones....
Well, at least I know they aren't planning on firing me....
The office has lunch seminars once almost every week where people come in, present their product or teach a class. They bring food as an incentive to make people show up, though I find that a lot of people are just really rude jerks that just run in, grab food and run out, but I digress. The responsibility person who arranges all of this has a one year tenure and one of the bosses just came over and asked me to take over for the next year, and it'd be kind of awkward to say no and I think he knew that. Evil. That's a lot of work....and talking on phones....
Well, at least I know they aren't planning on firing me....
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Down in the Deep South, Y'all
I went on my very first business trip last week. It wasn't actually that they needed me, but it was more because I had been working on the project for a really long time and they thought I should see what I've been working on. Soooo, it was mostly like vacation!
I flew into Jackson with James' wife and baby. The baby is quite the screamer. She screamed during the entire flight and then she screamed the entire ride into town. I thought her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Fortunately, it was only 20 minutes to my hotel. I'm sure to the casual passerby, it looked like James was picking up his wife and child and that adopted daughter from a previous marriage.
The hotel room I stayed in was bigger than my apartment. I had my own personal foyer, balcony, gigantic bathroom, two televisions and turn-down service. Actually, I didn't like the turndown service because for some reason they always turned on the television and all the lights...2 hours before I got back to the room to turn it all back off... In any case, having all that room and not having to share was quite unsettling. I kept expecting a couple of people to show up at any moment to say that I don't get all that space to myself. The hotel was really nice. It's located in downtown Jackson where, surprisingly, nothing happens at all. Everything closes around 7 or 8 so when my flight arrived super late, I had to beg the innkeeper for a little food. She was kind enough to take me to the kitchen where I grabbed a bowl of cereal. Breakfast was great though. Grits are amazing, and so are freshly sliced and herbed tomatoes.
Day 1 was pretty much me following Hugh everywhere. I had breakfast with Hugh and his wife. Then we went to a meeting where they selected the artist that would have her work displayed throughout the courthouse. The first one had a really lovely presentation. Her work is very spatial, very architecturally imbedded into spaces. That's why we were all surprised when she showed us her proposal for the court house and it was just a rectangular chainmail curtain hanging over a stair case. The second prospective artist was a nice old man who made what amounts to steel mobiles. I think the court's qualm with that is that it looked like mobiles of little shiny knives. The last one was the unanimous pick. It was a colorful, frothy, happy looking cloud made up of strips of glass. After that, I had to sit in on a punchlist meeting - basically where the client and tenant griped about what they didn't like and what they wanted us to fix. By then it was the end of the day, and I went out to dinner at a fancy place called Julep with my former coworker, Mary, who just happened to be going to school in Jackson.
Day 2 was tiring. James and I spent the entire morning running around the building making a field observation report. Then we had lunch with his family (they were in Jackson for the 2 week stay as well). Back to the site, back into the building. At this point, my steel toe boots had become like shackles. They're tight around my ankles, so it keeps rubbing when I walk. Fortunately, we just had a quick jaunt through the mud (at one point, I got stuck because of the suction and had to pull myself out by holding onto the fence) and then we went to the roof and back to the trailer where I was released for the day. After going to my room to change into my comfy shoes, I walked to the local architecture school where Mary's class was giving final presentations. I liked seeing what their school looked like and what they were working on. Very different focus from CMU. I can honestly say I never poured a block of concrete in my life, nor would I really know how to begin. The presentations themselves were a little disappointing. All the drawings were really small and no one showed any process work. Ah well. I gave Mary a few suggestions. Don't know if she took them or not. In any case, after presentations were over, she took me to a Vietnamese place for dinner. Giant bowls of Pho for only $5.50!
The last day was the construction meeting. I sat between James and the guy running the show. It was pretty boring, just going through the schedule and making sure things are in compliance. At one point, the tenant freaked out at James for not updating our drawings to reflect what they changed and the client freaked out that we weren't giving the tenant what they wanted. James just blinked. I got a little riled up. The client forgot that THEY were the ones that told us not to make the changes. Ugh. The tenant also later criticized James for not thinking outside the box, and all I could do is write in my sketchbook, "So says the 'architect' with the baby soft hands and cushy government job." That guy hasn't even tried to think outside of the box in years. He can't even read shop drawings right.
Whatever...After the meeting, I hopped into a car with the security consultant and he drove me to the airport. The last stretch of flying from Atlanta to New York terrified me. Everytime we got turbulence, I'd break out into cold fear-sweat. Urgh, I hate flying.
It was a fun trip, but I sure am glad to be back in New York!
I flew into Jackson with James' wife and baby. The baby is quite the screamer. She screamed during the entire flight and then she screamed the entire ride into town. I thought her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Fortunately, it was only 20 minutes to my hotel. I'm sure to the casual passerby, it looked like James was picking up his wife and child and that adopted daughter from a previous marriage.
The hotel room I stayed in was bigger than my apartment. I had my own personal foyer, balcony, gigantic bathroom, two televisions and turn-down service. Actually, I didn't like the turndown service because for some reason they always turned on the television and all the lights...2 hours before I got back to the room to turn it all back off... In any case, having all that room and not having to share was quite unsettling. I kept expecting a couple of people to show up at any moment to say that I don't get all that space to myself. The hotel was really nice. It's located in downtown Jackson where, surprisingly, nothing happens at all. Everything closes around 7 or 8 so when my flight arrived super late, I had to beg the innkeeper for a little food. She was kind enough to take me to the kitchen where I grabbed a bowl of cereal. Breakfast was great though. Grits are amazing, and so are freshly sliced and herbed tomatoes.
Day 1 was pretty much me following Hugh everywhere. I had breakfast with Hugh and his wife. Then we went to a meeting where they selected the artist that would have her work displayed throughout the courthouse. The first one had a really lovely presentation. Her work is very spatial, very architecturally imbedded into spaces. That's why we were all surprised when she showed us her proposal for the court house and it was just a rectangular chainmail curtain hanging over a stair case. The second prospective artist was a nice old man who made what amounts to steel mobiles. I think the court's qualm with that is that it looked like mobiles of little shiny knives. The last one was the unanimous pick. It was a colorful, frothy, happy looking cloud made up of strips of glass. After that, I had to sit in on a punchlist meeting - basically where the client and tenant griped about what they didn't like and what they wanted us to fix. By then it was the end of the day, and I went out to dinner at a fancy place called Julep with my former coworker, Mary, who just happened to be going to school in Jackson.
Day 2 was tiring. James and I spent the entire morning running around the building making a field observation report. Then we had lunch with his family (they were in Jackson for the 2 week stay as well). Back to the site, back into the building. At this point, my steel toe boots had become like shackles. They're tight around my ankles, so it keeps rubbing when I walk. Fortunately, we just had a quick jaunt through the mud (at one point, I got stuck because of the suction and had to pull myself out by holding onto the fence) and then we went to the roof and back to the trailer where I was released for the day. After going to my room to change into my comfy shoes, I walked to the local architecture school where Mary's class was giving final presentations. I liked seeing what their school looked like and what they were working on. Very different focus from CMU. I can honestly say I never poured a block of concrete in my life, nor would I really know how to begin. The presentations themselves were a little disappointing. All the drawings were really small and no one showed any process work. Ah well. I gave Mary a few suggestions. Don't know if she took them or not. In any case, after presentations were over, she took me to a Vietnamese place for dinner. Giant bowls of Pho for only $5.50!
The last day was the construction meeting. I sat between James and the guy running the show. It was pretty boring, just going through the schedule and making sure things are in compliance. At one point, the tenant freaked out at James for not updating our drawings to reflect what they changed and the client freaked out that we weren't giving the tenant what they wanted. James just blinked. I got a little riled up. The client forgot that THEY were the ones that told us not to make the changes. Ugh. The tenant also later criticized James for not thinking outside the box, and all I could do is write in my sketchbook, "So says the 'architect' with the baby soft hands and cushy government job." That guy hasn't even tried to think outside of the box in years. He can't even read shop drawings right.
Whatever...After the meeting, I hopped into a car with the security consultant and he drove me to the airport. The last stretch of flying from Atlanta to New York terrified me. Everytime we got turbulence, I'd break out into cold fear-sweat. Urgh, I hate flying.
It was a fun trip, but I sure am glad to be back in New York!
