Entry tags:
One more day!
(I know. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've had time and internet-access issues.)
I'm in Boston! We've been camping up here since Tuesday.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
melannen and I are currrently sitting in the library at UMass using the free internets. It's been raining a lot, though right now the sun in shining, and we managed to find two geocaches.
I've done a little bit of apartment hunting. The chocolate factory would be perfect, but they didn't have anything available to show me, and it's just a little bit more expensive than I was hoping to go. I found one that I can afford that I sort of liked, but the more I think about it the less I like it - I can see myself holing up in there and never coming out, which is not what I want to do for next two years. No one on craigslist wants to rent to someone two months ahead of their move-in date. I'll do a little bit more looking after I post this, but I'm pretty much resigned to not getting a place until I come home at the end of the summer.
Yesterday we went down to Newport, RI and visited the UMass field school there, behind a couple of 18th-century commercial/residences. The stratigraphy was very clear and the GPR plots were much less ambiguous than I've usually seen. Dr. Landon was very nice showing me all around, and so were the students; hopefully they didn't think I was as much of an idiot as I felt!
The UMass campus is small and pretty, the buildings are expansive, the T seems like it will be very workable (I just need to find myself a place near a stop!). We've stopped by the department twice now and no profs or grad students have been around. I chatted with the office admin, though, and she seems very nice! I'll check in again in a few minutes in case anyone has stopped by; otherwise I guess I'll be meeting everyone for the first time at the airport tomorrow evening. I did check on blogging, and I'm allowed to post about everything we do, without restrictions like waiting for publication or worrying about proprietary data, so I'm really excited about that - that was one of the more annoying things about working for $Giant_Aerospace_Corporation. Now I just have to make sure I make time to post ... ! (They might also want me to keep an official department blog starting in the fall, which should also be exciting - I'll let you know about that when it happens.)
Oh, speaking of school -- I bailed out on finishing my internship before leaving. I needed to pack more than I needed to write it, and I do technically have until the end of the semester to turn it in. I'm hoping to find some time in Iceland -- I have all the data with me, and I *am* taking my laptop after all. I should be able to turn it in over email.
Here is Bingley, claiming the best spot in the apartment.
This was the view outside my bedroom window the day before I moved - someone in the building next door had moved out. My cabinets probably look similar right about now ...
I was supposed to pay for July's rent and settle my account when I left, but they told me to call the next day and figure it out. I called .. but they never called back. So .... I guess mom will find out how much they really want my money!
Loudoun County being pretty, along Old Waterford Road. Is my new desktop!
Thursday night, my last day of work, Mom drove over and helped me take the cats back to her house. But first she walked around Leesburg with class, and then Dr. Clark and several LAF people wanted to take me out to dinner. They gave me a big stipend check from the Foundation!
I finally got the picture I always wanted from the overpass at Leesburg. My old apartment is one of the roofs visible in the middle ground. I took this on the way home on my last day of work ever!
Last day of work. Well, next to last. Look at the AWESOME cakes they bought and/or made for me! And the camelback water bottle is definitely coming to Iceland with me.
And they ALSO got me an Indy hat (a real wool felt Stetson!) and a foam gun!
The gun occupied one small child at the hospital later that afternoon, and another couple of small children at my apartment last Saturday. (I can't say this job was completely unexciting: on my first day, I helped my boss break into someone's car; on my last day, I visited him and his wife in the hospital after she had a baby ...)
The hat is already acquiring character - it got slightly too close to a burning stick out in the woods camping last night. It is an awesome hat. I wore painfully 80s stonewashed jeans borrowed from Mom out shopping on Monday (and OMG I am in love with Whole Foods) -- but when wearing clompy boots and awesome hat, I can wear anything at all between them and still look awesome.
(On the other hand, I feel like real archaeologists think I'm playing at archaeology when I wear it. But oh well.)
I think it's coming to Iceland with me, but probably won't go out in the field much - my camo boonie has a neck strap, and I won't feel bad getting it soaked or covering it in bug spray.
I've told Mom she can let my cats out on her porch this summer (very carefully), now that it's screened in. They aren't sure what they think of that idea.
Bingley still has the best spot in the house, though.
Then Friday we came back over and moved me out (with a LOT of help from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ibowieh3), and I took a long time and I have way too much stuff. Saturday I did have my empty apartment party; not too many poeple came, but it was great to see those that did. (It was also kind of awful because my air conditioning was busted.) Sunday morning, after a surprisingly comfy night on the floor in a sleeping bag, we finished up the clean-up and moved me out for good.
I twisted my knee carrying my TV. It seems okay though, just bruised - but it hurts when I kneel, which I expect to be doing a lot of this summer. :/ I'll take an ace bandage along and hope for the best.
We took White's Ferry (the Gen. Jubal A. Early) across the Potomac, and got fried lunch with a giant mass of "ferry fries" at the camp store.
This is what most of my stuff looks like now (except a couch and ALL my books and DVDs and a couple of other things).
I need to get rid of a lot more of it before I move up here.
Me and my Awesome Hat of Awesome on the Newport cliff walk.
Also along the cliff walk; I like this one because it is a surprise!action shot of a bee.
Our campsite at Wompatuck is right next to a WWII munitions bunker. This picture was taken from on top of the bunker; you can see the site through the trees in the distance. There are lots of these bunkers strewn through the park, even one in the middle of a lake. And we found a geocache on top of this one.
Also our campsite. (The Smart car isibowieh3's.)
View from the UMass library! It is even prettier now that the sun is shining. :D
Tomorrow: beach, reorganize luggage (again. I am obsessive), and then ICELAND!
I'm in Boston! We've been camping up here since Tuesday.
melannen and I are currrently sitting in the library at UMass using the free internets. It's been raining a lot, though right now the sun in shining, and we managed to find two geocaches.I've done a little bit of apartment hunting. The chocolate factory would be perfect, but they didn't have anything available to show me, and it's just a little bit more expensive than I was hoping to go. I found one that I can afford that I sort of liked, but the more I think about it the less I like it - I can see myself holing up in there and never coming out, which is not what I want to do for next two years. No one on craigslist wants to rent to someone two months ahead of their move-in date. I'll do a little bit more looking after I post this, but I'm pretty much resigned to not getting a place until I come home at the end of the summer.
Yesterday we went down to Newport, RI and visited the UMass field school there, behind a couple of 18th-century commercial/residences. The stratigraphy was very clear and the GPR plots were much less ambiguous than I've usually seen. Dr. Landon was very nice showing me all around, and so were the students; hopefully they didn't think I was as much of an idiot as I felt!
The UMass campus is small and pretty, the buildings are expansive, the T seems like it will be very workable (I just need to find myself a place near a stop!). We've stopped by the department twice now and no profs or grad students have been around. I chatted with the office admin, though, and she seems very nice! I'll check in again in a few minutes in case anyone has stopped by; otherwise I guess I'll be meeting everyone for the first time at the airport tomorrow evening. I did check on blogging, and I'm allowed to post about everything we do, without restrictions like waiting for publication or worrying about proprietary data, so I'm really excited about that - that was one of the more annoying things about working for $Giant_Aerospace_Corporation. Now I just have to make sure I make time to post ... ! (They might also want me to keep an official department blog starting in the fall, which should also be exciting - I'll let you know about that when it happens.)
Oh, speaking of school -- I bailed out on finishing my internship before leaving. I needed to pack more than I needed to write it, and I do technically have until the end of the semester to turn it in. I'm hoping to find some time in Iceland -- I have all the data with me, and I *am* taking my laptop after all. I should be able to turn it in over email.
Here is Bingley, claiming the best spot in the apartment.
This was the view outside my bedroom window the day before I moved - someone in the building next door had moved out. My cabinets probably look similar right about now ...
I was supposed to pay for July's rent and settle my account when I left, but they told me to call the next day and figure it out. I called .. but they never called back. So .... I guess mom will find out how much they really want my money!
Loudoun County being pretty, along Old Waterford Road. Is my new desktop!
Thursday night, my last day of work, Mom drove over and helped me take the cats back to her house. But first she walked around Leesburg with class, and then Dr. Clark and several LAF people wanted to take me out to dinner. They gave me a big stipend check from the Foundation!
I finally got the picture I always wanted from the overpass at Leesburg. My old apartment is one of the roofs visible in the middle ground. I took this on the way home on my last day of work ever!
Last day of work. Well, next to last. Look at the AWESOME cakes they bought and/or made for me! And the camelback water bottle is definitely coming to Iceland with me.
And they ALSO got me an Indy hat (a real wool felt Stetson!) and a foam gun!
The gun occupied one small child at the hospital later that afternoon, and another couple of small children at my apartment last Saturday. (I can't say this job was completely unexciting: on my first day, I helped my boss break into someone's car; on my last day, I visited him and his wife in the hospital after she had a baby ...)
The hat is already acquiring character - it got slightly too close to a burning stick out in the woods camping last night. It is an awesome hat. I wore painfully 80s stonewashed jeans borrowed from Mom out shopping on Monday (and OMG I am in love with Whole Foods) -- but when wearing clompy boots and awesome hat, I can wear anything at all between them and still look awesome.
(On the other hand, I feel like real archaeologists think I'm playing at archaeology when I wear it. But oh well.)
I think it's coming to Iceland with me, but probably won't go out in the field much - my camo boonie has a neck strap, and I won't feel bad getting it soaked or covering it in bug spray.
I've told Mom she can let my cats out on her porch this summer (very carefully), now that it's screened in. They aren't sure what they think of that idea.
Bingley still has the best spot in the house, though.
Then Friday we came back over and moved me out (with a LOT of help from
ibowieh3), and I took a long time and I have way too much stuff. Saturday I did have my empty apartment party; not too many poeple came, but it was great to see those that did. (It was also kind of awful because my air conditioning was busted.) Sunday morning, after a surprisingly comfy night on the floor in a sleeping bag, we finished up the clean-up and moved me out for good.I twisted my knee carrying my TV. It seems okay though, just bruised - but it hurts when I kneel, which I expect to be doing a lot of this summer. :/ I'll take an ace bandage along and hope for the best.
We took White's Ferry (the Gen. Jubal A. Early) across the Potomac, and got fried lunch with a giant mass of "ferry fries" at the camp store.
This is what most of my stuff looks like now (except a couch and ALL my books and DVDs and a couple of other things).
I need to get rid of a lot more of it before I move up here.
Me and my Awesome Hat of Awesome on the Newport cliff walk.
Also along the cliff walk; I like this one because it is a surprise!action shot of a bee.
Our campsite at Wompatuck is right next to a WWII munitions bunker. This picture was taken from on top of the bunker; you can see the site through the trees in the distance. There are lots of these bunkers strewn through the park, even one in the middle of a lake. And we found a geocache on top of this one.
Also our campsite. (The Smart car is
ibowieh3's.)View from the UMass library! It is even prettier now that the sun is shining. :D
Tomorrow: beach, reorganize luggage (again. I am obsessive), and then ICELAND!