I may have the coolest family ever.

Well, in six or eight weeks Granny will be living in the Napa Valley Mobile Home Park as the proud owner of a double wide mobile home. I have been unhappy living here at the Springs for some time due to the really bad management for the last year or so and no prospect of it improving so I decided to try living in a senior park. I made an offer this morning that was accepted this afternoon (by the owner who lives somewhere in Kentucky) so it will go into escrow tomorrow and hopefully close in less than 30 days. I have to give 30-day notice here to get my deposit back and can do that after all the inspections, etc. It was built in 2001 and has lots of nice improvements--newly painted, new carpets, plantation blinds, washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove and it has three bedrooms plus a great soaking tub (no Jacuzzi). It has a view of a very close vineyard so I know Ed had something to do with me finding it. I'm REALLY looking forward to this new phase of my life and just remember you will never be too old to try new things. Love, Granny

I... am so glad to be back in my apartment.

Cool.

This family was on my flight from Midway to Louisville: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTiYA1WiY8

Geek geek geek

Eeep. Catching up on Ye Olde XKCD and I had to post immediately:
First thought was "Wow, Randall Munroe likes the discovery channel too! Well duh." And then it was that Randall needs to get out of my head, because I've had that song stuck in my head for the last week, and I thought about posting about my undying love for the discovery channel and that commercial. And then I read the comic title, which is "XKCD loves the discovery channel." I'll post a link to the commercial as soon as I get to a computer that will load it. But watch it, it is awesome. Brilliant, Discovery Channel, Brilliant!

Post 200

Victory!!! After 5 hours of messing with the same 6 vars, I FINALLY got one simple animation to work. Mostly. Grrr arrgh.

I wrote something on a piece of paper somewhere today that was blog worthy... and then I left it at work. Work had a happy hour, which was fun. Its interesting how the $$ on a happy hour can actually be seen as an investment. For the people who enjoy it, it makes them happier. And it makes the people you work with more real. Which for some people is important. For others, they may not care, but I don't think it really offends anyone.

Um... so... staying in hotels makes my reality TV addiction significantly worse. Kerrington on So you think you can dance looks like Keira Nightly. Keira Nightly was basically a senior in high school when she stared in Bend it Like Beckham, (which doesn't actually star David Beckham, sadly to say), which is a great movie, where she played... *gasp* a Senior In High School. WHEN DOES THAT HAPPEN?

And now, since most of my life from here on out will be spent in Hotels (aka this is boredom in photo form):
Adventures in Hoteling!



View from the 5th floor. There are at least 21 floors. It is insane. And looks like a spaceship or a cruiseship. Take your pic.
Geometry!!! And... I can hear a car horn going off and not stopping for the last 20 min. Sweet.
My... room.. is behind the left wall? And there's an ice machine and a soda machine to the right? My thoughts are : WTF???



Damnation :

Orange Juice Tastes Like Morning

Is that not fricking sweet? I think so. More on that here : http://www.eigenfactor.org/map/maps.htm

Life is funny. It's weird to me that... not that funerals bring people together the way that they do, but that often a life occasion like that (or "life event" as my benefits package would say), whether happy or sad, is what brings people together that haven't seen each other for years. That people only see each other for those major life events. And its funny what we remember from those events, or at least what I remember from major moments and their happenings.

"Have been unavoidably detained by the world. Expect us when you see us". Just finished reading Stardust, by Neil Gaiman :)

In other news...

In other news... I completely forgot the whole point of posting a blog post.

And that was to reiterate a lesson I learned a long time ago, through the magical festivities known as PEC. And that lesson? The power of compliments from random strangers. I got a compliment on my necklace from a woman in the airport. And a compliment on my hair from the woman working at Walgreen's. It pretty much made me smile all the way home.... all 4 blocks of it. Which is not far, but still... I was aware of the fact that I was smiling to myself, which is a pretty awesome feeling. If you haven't felt that way in a while, you should strive for it.

Oh hey, my apostrophe is working again.

Feel free to add pinpoints to my Google maps to suggest places to go, if you have some favorites.
I now have a Chicago one and an Atlanta one.

I think the way to sum up my project is "non-traditional". All around.

One of my co-workers has 10-month old triplets. Which explains why I was standing in the middle of Walgreens, cracking up at a tiny t-shirt with an image of a stroller that says "This is how I roll."

Now opening the floor to suggestions of "what to do with my time in a hotel room, in a city I am unfamiliar with, without people to explore with me". Keep in mind I am a chicken, dont really know the area, and dont really have people to explore with me. And tend not to explore if I dont have someone else with me or at least some knowledge of the area. Assuming I dont want to do only work when I get back to the room. Current thoughts so far : write a novel, becoming famous while working full time.

Apparently, my apostrophe is not working, though the quotation mark will work.

I fricking love the Discovery Channel.

Travels and Work

Traveling alone is... lonely. Apparently its unusual for a new Labber to be put on a project as the only Lab person... and here I am. I'm excited to get "messy" with code.

I crack myself up. If I actually end up doing what I am thinking about doing... well, a lot of you will get a good laugh out of it. And maybe say "Again?". Sorry for the vague-ity, but we'll see.

Sometimes, things throw you for an emotional roller coaster. It seems like there are just certain years that are heavy hitters for bad "life events". But sometimes the message you have to take from that is just live life for every minute of it, and never hold back love.

Geek geek geek nerd nerd nerd

"If we get vaporized in 8 minutes I'm going to be SO mad." Or something along those lines.

Geek geek geek geek museum geek geek atlanta geek geek nerd nerd Interactive wall. Yes, something like that. Orientation was boring. I'm geeking out about my project and coding again, and hoping my skills really aren't as rusty as I think they might be.

Our floor is under construction, which makes things interesting - people are sort of sitting everywhere. It is fun times. I made the mistake of going up to the 40th floor to go to the bathroom (since the women's is closed during construction) - it was take your kids to work day and 40 was sort of home base for the kids. I think I'll get to sit in the wall room after a while, which will be nice to have a set place to sit when I'm not in Atlanta. I can't wait till "Remember when there was all that construction and people were sitting everywhere?" I really enjoy my co-workers. And my project should be interesting.

I almost passed out on the el Tuesday night - not a great way to start the week. But I'm drinking more water and taking the bus now, since its pretty much a guaranteed seat.

I really want a cat. Or maybe for my roommate to move in.

Touch Enable the Bean!

I got to see a plan for Chicago for the 2016 Olympics yesterday. I think it'd be really good for the city to have the olympics here... aside from all of the people it'd put out. We joked about touch enabling the bean. And played telephone during the all-chicago meeting. My coworkers are definitely the odd group out in Accenture Chicago. But I really enjoy it. I got made fun of for being excited to start working. I dont think its such a bad thing.

Spent some time talking to one of my co-workers about how he enjoys coming to work every morning - as soon as it stops being fun, he'd quit. And it made me remember how much our sysadmin last summer loved the group, because people really appreciated him compared to other groups. He found a "home" with Labs, and that really secured my belief that this is a great place to be.

It's weird when you find out your street will be getting recycling soon and that makes your friends jealous :)

Somehow my suit bag (complete with suits and dresses) ended up in Decatur. With a guy who works for FedEx. Or rather, the movers unloaded it off the truck with him when he moved. But working for FedEx is convenient.

Everytime I start to unpack or go buy groceries, I get distracted by things. Like email. Or phone calls about my suit bag. Or mapping things on google maps that I've been to. I think I'm going to keep track of the restaurants I've been to this way. So you can check out my map here, if you're interested. Yay Chicago!

Grocery Run Attempt 1: Bust. Dominicks is non existent where google maps says it is.
Google maps, you are a cruel, cruel mistress. So great so much of the time, and so wrong in the worst times.
Acquiring Bamboo Attempt 1: Bust. Again because Google maps is a liar, even the street view. I think Anne Sather's ate it - I'd be mad if the cinnamon rolls weren't so delicious.

That's another thing I want to start up while I'm here: weekly Sunday brunches. Ann Sathers. Dim sum. So many places around here do brunch and I freaking love brunch!

Also, this information visualization is really cool : voting Clinton/Obama

I can't stop giggling at this shirt from Threadless:

Fritters

The word fritters is really fun. Kind of like fixings, but not useful for as many parts of speech though.

"You've won a special prize!" (Top Chef)
"A prostitute?!" ~ Freeberg

You probably could not be a Top Chef if you were vegetarian. But that would make for an interesting show - prepare a meal that can be enjoyed by vegetarians and meat eaters alike.

Apparently, there is a height maximum for being a Blue Man. Who knew. Maybe seeing the Blue Man Group should be like learning to code - its a whole different experience in a different language :)

The CTA website is pretty much fully integrated with google maps. Which is pretty awesome that rather than driving directions I can get public transit directions! Much yes!!!!

I don't understand why I can get a CTA pass in less than 48 hours from ordering to arriving at my door, but a credit card I'm preapproved for by the bank but applied for online could take up to 30 days.

TV is going to ruin me.
I hate having something you intended to blog about... and then forgetting what it was.

Goals for life (in a more day to day sense, not at all a "things to do before I die) in no particular order:
Climb!
Volunteer!
Cook!
Read!

However, Kevin asked me my priorities the other day, and the "first thought" response was:
1) Happiness 2)Making a difference to someone 3) Being a life learner 4)Friends