hey, anybody going to ground zero these days?

we were thinking of going on Nov 1st.  just in case others are interested… 🙂

ciao!

so.  for those of you who want to know, here’s an update on our flights/agenda:

19 Oct: depart Amsterdam 9:50 a.m.
              arrive Minneapolis 12:00 noon.

      Bob’s award ceremony 5:30pm-8pm latest likely

20 Oct: Bob’s talk (no idea what this is) 8:30-10:30 a.m.

21 Oct: Feigal family brunch 10am-2pm
             depart Mpls 1:55 pm
             arrive El Paso (really going to Las Cruces) 8pm

24 Oct: depart El Paso 8:30 am
             arrive Seattle 2:48pm

30 Oct: depart Seattle 12:15
             arrive Mpls 5:39pm

3 Nov: 4pm Zhac & Kel’s thing – until 8pm

4 Nov: depart Mpls 7:15 p.m.

5 Nov: arrive Amsterdam 11am-ish

SO, HERE’S SOMETHING I’M LOOKING FOR:
any already planned interesting parties/outings/etc that we might be interested in.  we’ll have car access of our own in both of the longer stays (seattle and minneapolis), although none is planned for either of the short stays (las cruces and minneapolis 1st time), so if you’ve got something for that first minneapolis stay, we’ll need transportation too.  oh, and i don’t think we’re planning anything in new mexico.  just hanging with my mom & stepdad.  i NEVER do that, and i promised. 

as for planning things, we’d like to take it a little easy, but let’s just see.

nathan, i’ll contact you separately…. (cue scary music, nah….)

hello there.
matt and i are discussing my upcoming birthday, and we’re having a party on the 14th of september.  those of you in the area should consider yourselves invited.  and if you don’t get an email in the next day or two, should let me know, because perhaps i don’t have your email address.  those of you not in the area but who’d like to come should also consider yourselves invited, but you’re on your own for accommodations.  our guest bedroom is spoken for (you know who you are), and we don’t want sofa/floor crashers this time.

actually, i would consider this a lot simpler if you could send me an email if you want to be included in our email list of invitees (whether i might already have you or not).  spidertangle@gmail.com  yep.  it’s the end of the work day and i’m feeling lazy.  pity, that!  🙂

wow.  it was a great weekend.  i joined matt in london for fun with new friends felicia and alessio.  serious sleep deprivation, though.

got back to work this week and … now that wendy’s back from vacation, i’m busy busy busy.  it’s hard to get 2 seconds free.  but it’s nice, too.  the day passes so fast.  and we’ve been enjoying really awesome lunches.  🙂 

today i looked at another apartment for sale.  i liked a lot about this one, but i don’t think i want to make a bid.  i wasn’t happy with the bedroom or inability to close a “creative space” off from the rest of the house.  we’ll see.

well, matt and i have decided to start the apartment hunt again this month. the decision was made due to 2 gorgeous apartments coming up into my radar. i had to see them. i have just returned from the first.

1e Tuindwarsstraat 8-II was gorgeous.  2 floors, with one nice-sized terrace off the back bedroom, and a roof terrace planned with an entrance from the same bedroom (agreement with neighbors already taken care of, new roof laid, stairs/door made, permit applied for).  the view out the windows was not bad, for the jordaan.  mostly open view, only one window into someone else’s apartment.  the kitchen/dining/livingroom space was wonderful.  really excellent.  very nice kitchen.  problems:  parking (both for motorcycles and bicycles), storage.  there is enough daily storage in the apartment, but no bigger and less-accessible storage, for such things as old books and … luggage.  will decide later tonight if we will bid on it.

next week i will see the other, and comment.

i know, i never commented on summer darkness.  🙂  i had a great, if sober and uncaffeinated, time.  it was fantastic to see so many people, and finally find quieter spaces to chat with them.  i have happily discovered that i love going to tivoli

oops.  leaving early.  gotta run!   joining a colleague out shopping.  🙂

i went to the dark city website.  hi!
but i couldn’t find next year’s dates.  wgt is may 9-12, and i’m also hoping to ride my motorcycle to st. petersburg in may.  planning is thus required, and well in advance.  the good news:  apparently work is crazy in april, and again in june, but usually quiet in may.  should be able to take some time off!  yay!

ps. it was great to see and meet you guys!

more thoughts later.

yep.  barely over a week at the new job and i’m grumpy at a colleague.  it’s the girl i’ll be replacing, actually, who is basically just taking up space and browsing the internet.  for all i care, she can browse all she likes, but she keeps handing ME things to do, then sitting in the only spot i’ve got to do them while i crouch on a hard little extra chair, using my lap and the corner of the desk for workspace.  argh.

she’s been “chatting” all day, and reading about pop stars on the stupid gossip sites.

grump grump grump.

upon finishing the last task, i asked to use the computer for a minute, showed her where i put the stuff for “us” to do, and she said “sure,” then promptly left to go shopping.  well, at least she’s out of my way.  argh.

well, going to get over it right now.  so there.

hello everyone,

glad to hear about everyone who WASN’T harmed in the bridge collapse yesterday in minneapolis.  very glad.  but does anyone have news on anyone who WAS hurt?  those people aren’t likely to send out their own posts, and besides, not everyone is on lj.  please?  thanks!

howdy. 
last thursday, i was supposed to start my new job.  but i waited for almost an hour at the office, and no one showed up, so i left.  turns out they forgot i was coming in.  heh heh.  no big deal.
friday, flew to london, where i spent the weekend sick and imbibing mass quantities of medicine.  yuck.  what a waste.  still managed to shop, but absolutely didn’t manage to party.
sunday, after delays, finally got home around midnight.  next day, tried to sms both jobs (new and old) to get out of coming in.  old job:  no one else available to work, so i had to.  new job:  no one got my message, so i showed up with medicine and kleenex, and was promptly sent back home.  still had to work evening at restaurant, which only made me worse.
tuesday: called in again to new job.  stayed home all day, in an attempt not to talk (because even whispering hurt).  rested.  watched movies from the library.
wednesday: went to new job.  heh heh.  here’s how the day went:
10:00 – i arrived, as did thera.  kirsty and ian arrived between then and 11.  was given basic tour of duties by the girl who i’ll be replacing (thera).  this went on until 1, when we all 4 went to a fancy restaurant nearby for a “business lunch.”  2 hours at lunch, including wine, appetizers, main courses, desserts and coffee.  returned to office, where we stayed another hour or so, then everyone left.
luckily, since i still barely talked (and, by the way, didn’t have much at lunch:  juice, salad, coffee), kendall was able to work for me at the restaurant.
thursday: today.  thera and i got in at 11, ian a little later. kirsty’s working from home.  so far, i’ve gone through the mail, read the “readings” file, and looked up some conferences they’ll be attending, so i have a sense of what is done here.  then i checked email.  now i’m doing this.  kirsty’s coming in soon, and i may do some filing.  woo-hoo.

i think things will get occasionally very hectic here, but with wendy (the boss) and amy (the other colleague) on vacation, there’s very little to do for me and for thera, as PA’s. 

i’m definitely going to need to plan on a better exercise program, since it sounds like rather filling meals are frequently done here for lunch.  and the office gets deliveries from the supermarket, including everyone’s favorite snacks, every two weeks.  yikes.  and i guess i’ll probably also get readdicted to various online comics.  damn.  i thought i’d kicked the habit good.  🙂

wow.  got unintentionally embroiled in other people’s drama this weekend.  a very messy breakup between 2 people i barely know.  i’ve had good somewhat drunken conversations with each of them exactly once, so feel absolutely no loyalty to either of them.  but one spent the night over here, in the guest bedroom,  this past saturday night, resulting apparently in being locked out of the house upon returning home.  and how did i get involved, exactly?  by telling the other one off when i was rudely called (without my knowing said person had my phone number) and yelled at to account for all activities of the previous evening.  said activities, by the way, were:  attending the opening of the new library, having dinner at home with matt and ivo, trying on various clothes in preparation for an upcoming costume event, then going out to a couple of bars, NOT flirting with anyone, chatting and enjoying some expensive cocktails, and rudely rebuffing a drunken swede.  sounds really sinister, doesn’t it?  of course, not knowing any of the back story (which amazingly, we did NOT talk about), who am i to say?

anyway, i am bowing out.  i’m just upset because these are good friends of dick’s, which meant good potential friends for me, and now it’s unlikely i’ll be friends with either of them.  just too damn messy.

on the upside:  have a new job.  start tomorrow.  so, more tomorrow, or soon thereafter.  🙂