29 January 2008

Afternoon Sugar Break

I'm on my Afternoon Sugar Break right now. Some time between 2:00 and 3:00 every afternoon my sweet tooth says, "I won't be ignored!" I've been sitting and working for a couple hours. I'm getting stir-crazy in the room. It's partly too easy but partly great rationale that I can wander around the hotel and end up in the dining room. There, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate is available 24 hours a day, for free! I'm such a caffeine and sugar junkie, how can I resist? The hot chocolate is terrible, but I make it palatable with Coffee-mate French Vanilla creamers. (I hate that stuff in my coffee, but love it in hot chocolate.)

I wanted to kill some more time on my little walk, so I stopped by the brochure stand to get some ideas of what to do this weekend. There's so much that we didn't see the last time we lived here and there's so much that we want to see and do again. And I love brochures. I have folders stuffed full of them from places I've never even visited, but always thought that I might want to someday (like the next time I'm in Salzburg, I should definitely check out the Mozart dinner theater--the brochure says it's amazing!).

Anyhoo, this is what you do to amuse yourself when you work from home and your home is a hotel. I should try to get some work done now that I'm buzzing from the sugar.

28 January 2008

Yay Capitalism!

"Yay capitalism!" --Austin Powers, after he's unfrozen, goes on a pro-communism rant, then learns that we won the cold war

The thing to do on a Sunday afternoon in Northern Virginia (or NoVa, as the kids apparently call it) is go to the mall. We suddenly found ourselves with not one, but two cars, on Sunday and decided it was the perfect opportunity to get out of the hotel and drive somewhere. Mike needed some clothes for work. He said "How bad could two hours at the mall be?" So there you go.

As we were driving down I-95 I started thinking about how no amount of carpooling or shopping with canvas bags will save our Earth. There is so much cheap housing being built on every inch of land (and then of course being sold for the ridiculously high prices people are willing to pay) that there's no way we can live sustainable lifestyles to make up for all the roads, gas stations, fast food restaurants, and other buildings and infrastructure necessary to take care of all the people living in all those new condos. The entire architecture of society needs to be re-examined and modified.

Those were the doom-and-gloom thoughts on my mind when we reached the oasis of the Potomac Mills mall. I was braced for crowds, but it actually wasn't too bad, at least at first. Getting there around noon, we must have been among the first ones there. Mike needed to go to Nordstrom Rack, I wanted to check out G Street Fabrics. Then we met up at the Banana Republic outlet where I wasn't planning to buy a suit, but I did. When you see one on sale for $110 and it fits perfectly, and it's a light brown tropical weight wool that would be perfect for wearing at an office in East Africa, you buy it. The planets were aligned for that particular spontaneous purchase.

We shopped and shopped. Mike's the shopper in this relationship. I'm the tag-along. I like to browse and think "I could make this myself." Around the two-hour mark I started to shut down. Even after some lunch (where I sat looking at one of the food court vendors touting themselves as "America's Healthy Choice" wondering where the crispy chicken strips and hot dogs fell on their healthy spectrum), I was still approaching crash mode. We made a plan for just a couple more stores and stuck to it. I perked up a bit after some hot chocolate and a pair of red patent leather Mary Janes from Nordstrom Rack (they go with the suit, of course). Yes, we started and ended the adventure with Nordstrom Rack.

Finally we came home! The two-hour trip I was promised had turned into nearly five hours, and then we missed our exit getting back to the hotel. I crashed and slept for almost an hour once we got home. I was exhausted.

27 January 2008

Remembering Why We're Here

In our day-to-day routines of hotel living, it's easy to forget why we're doing this. Yesterday while voting for the Bloggies I discovered a charming site, Dotty Rhino. It's a site for children that teaches about Mkomazi, Tanzania, where endangered black rhinos and spotted wild dogs live. It's adjacent to the Tsavo National Park in Kenya and Mount Kilamanjaro is nearby. Seeing the adorable rhino on the front page reminded me that East Africa is our reward. Seeing these animals in person in their natural habitat, even possibly living side-by-side with some of them, is our reward. Escaping some of the self-imposed "problems" of modern American living is our reward.

When placed in the big picture, so many of the things I think about daily really are minor quibbles that don't matter.

Now: I'm out of half and half and it's too cold to walk a block to the store to buy more! In Africa: I'm out of half and half... do they even sell that here?

Now: In the produce aisle, organic or conventional? California grown or imported from Mexico? Hothouse grown? Hydroponic? In Africa: This is what grew. Buy it or don't.

Right now I'm trying to let go of some of those things that don't really matter. I actually have a lot of spare time here, and it's nice to get out of the hotel room, so I may as well walk to the store for half and half.

23 January 2008

We Killed the Stainless Steel

Our hotel suite really isn't that bad as long as we make an effort to keep it neat and organized (and for us that takes a lot of effort). Housekeeping comes in every once in a while to take out the garbage and vacuum around the cats. There's a nice little bar along the side of the kitchen that I've taken over as my office.

There's a great international grocery store around the corner and I walked over yesterday to buy a few things. The produce there is phenomenal. I made guacamole, and every time I sliced into a new vegetable, the fresh, delicious scent was overpowering. We decided to make quesadillas last night, something that would be a tasty vehicle for the guacamole. (I'm trying not to complain there there's no oven here, thus making at least a third of my cooking repertoire obsolete.)

We heated up the cheap stainless steel frying pan on the stovetop. I place my tortilla in the middle and piled it up with cheese, beans, and yellow pepper. As the cheese got melty, I folded the tortilla in half, grabbed the spatula, and attempted to flip over the quesadilla. But the cheap plastic spatula also got melty. Yes, they provide a frying pan and a spatula but obviously don't expect you to use them, because they provide you with a spatula that melts as soon as it hits a warm pan. I was able to salvage the quesadilla by pushing it off to the side with my finger, away from the melted plastic. But the pan is ruined now. And boy did the kitchen (and thus the whole suite) smell terrible.

By this time Mike is practically hallucinating from hunger, especially after the guacamole scent finally overpowered the melting plastic smell. However can we finish making dinner? Easy! We invite over a friend who's staying in the same hotel and ask him to bring his frying pan. And we weren't quite as careful as we should have been, because by the end of the evening his frying pan had melted plastic on it too. But by then we had tummies full of quesadillas, guacamole, and sangria so it didn't matter.

21 January 2008

I Forgot About the Static Electricity

I'm back on the East Coast! I've been reunited with Mike and the cats! It's freezing outside!

There's so much static electricity. I kinda forgot what winters are like here. Static and dryness. The cats are puffballs and so is my hair. At night when the cats crawl around you can see the sparks jumping between their tummies and the carpet. I'm especially electric and I'm getting physically painful shocks when I touch certain things (including the cats).

The air is so dry. I need gallons of lotion to prevent feeling like sandpaper.

Winter... why does anyone voluntarily go through this?

19 January 2008

Luxurious but Not Practical

I'm staying at a hotel that's a branch of the Hilton family tree. The staff is friendly and helpful. The bed is comfy. The lobby is an atrium with a tropical garden in it. The room is nicely decorated. The towels are soft. There are lots of little touches that point toward luxury.

But there are also a few things that point toward extremely annoying. First, I was exhausted when I walked up with all my luggage and no one was there to open the door for me. And it was a heavy, awkward door. After some mix-ups at the front desk, I get to my room, and the coffee table and dining table are so close together it's impossible to roll a large suitcase through to the bedroom. And the coffee table is too heavy to move out of the way. All the coffee they left me for the coffee maker was decaff. I called Guest Services for regular and they happily brought it up. But now all my regular's gone and housekeeping left me two packs of decaff again. The computer desk doesn't have an outlet nearby for plugging in your laptop battery.

Last but not least, the shower. You have to reach around half a glass wall to turn on the faucet. I have very long arms, and I'm still halfway into the shower trying to reach the faucet, getting a face full of cold water when I finally turn it on. After my first shower I stepped out onto a soaking wet bathmat. (And I was so tired and stressed out, because that was the morning that was the second day of the terrible packout, that I burst into tears.) There's a half-inch open seam down the middle of the glass, separating the glass door from the glass wall. Also, the seam along the bottom of the door is weak. Water leaked out all over the floor. On the plus side, they provide lots of fluffy bath towels, so I used most of them to cover the floor. On my second shower I realized I should open the door into the shower for stepping out in order to prevent even more water dripping onto the floor. On my third shower I figured out how to adjust the stream so water wasn't shooting directly toward that open spot. Yay dry floor! But there's still no way to turn on the faucet without getting a face full of cold water. I just don't get it. Sure it looks great. But I'd rather have plain-looking and practical, especially when I'm this tired.

I know I'm tired and probably over sensitive this week. But is it really too much to ask that I'm able to roll my suitcase across my room? Or plug in my laptop battery while using it at the desk? Or turn on the shower without a blast of cold water in my face? It seems like a beautiful room was designed and built into several thousand units nationwide without anyone giving them a test run for usefulness.

17 January 2008

I Am a Zombie

After two nightmarish days, the apartment is finally packed up and moved out. I honestly have no idea where our stuff is going to end up because what the movers were telling me and what Mike's employer was telling me were two completely different things. Everyone kept telling me to relax and that it would all work out, but the second I did that and let my guard down, it all went kerflooey. Thinking about the details gives me a headache, so I'm not sharing them.

I'm living in a pretty nice hotel. Right now I'm sitting in a lovely garden atrium, pretending to be an Important Business Person typing away on my laptop while I wait for housekeeping to finish up my room. I keep coming back in the early afternoon to nap and yesterday I got back before they went in and I asked them to please stay out. But today I need some clean towels and for my garbage to be taken out, after 2 afternoons and nights of being a hermit crab in there. Hence, amusing myself in an Important Business Person sort of way in the hotel garden. There are a few terribly annoying things about this hotel, but I'll save those for a later post. I've had too much negativity the last few days; I need to keep it light today.

Oh, I'm still in Walnut Creek and my flight to the East Coast is currently in flux. The people shipping the car won't show up now until Saturday, maybe Sunday, so instead of leaving on a jet plane first thing Sunday morning, I may be on the redeye Sunday night or leaving early Monday morning.

Despite the big comfy hotel bed, I'm still an exhausted zombie. I don't think I'll be well-rested until the car ships. That's the last thing on my plate of worry.

15 January 2008

Who Needs a Stairmaster When You've Got Actual Stairs

I've never actually used a Stairmaster. Maybe because I've never lived on the first floor so I don't really see the point. But man are my quads burning. I can't count the number of times in the last 24 hours I've gone up and down the 3 flights of stairs from my apartment to the ground. So instead of paying money for the gym, if you've got stairs nearby, why not walk up and down them? You get an extra workout when you're carrying stuff. You can't lift weights on a Stairmaster, but you can haul cases of wine up and bags of trash down actual stairs.

Movers are coming tomorrow. I'm at the point where I'm packing my suitcases for my flight and then letting everything else sort itself out. My brain is too fried for active organizing now and I'm physically exhausted, too. Whether stuff meets us in D.C. or Africa, we'll get it back somehow, some day. It's a lot of work to inventory your life and decide where it all goes.

I'm staring at a large pile of alcohol that will be going into storage and meeting us in Africa. I think I'm going to pilfer a gluten-free beer or two from the stash for later tonight. I've earned it.

14 January 2008

Cats Arrived Safely

They are settling in to their new home... the studio hotel room that will be our lovely domicile for the next three months.

When a Grendel meets a Grendel comin' through the rye


Ellie's back to work planning world domination

13 January 2008

Air Skog Preparing for Departure

The cats are in the air. They had to be at the airport at 4:30 this morning for their 6:30 flight. It was kind a nightmare getting them checked. I suspect the agents just didn't want to go through the trouble of checking animals because without even batting an eye they said, "It's too cold, we're not sending animals right now." But I was armed with my information. After much haggling and showing of documentation, they relented to accepting the cats. I also think that by the time we sorted everything out, the temperature rose enough to accept them.

They said it was too cold in D.C. and they have to go by the current temperature. I said, "That's ridiculous." No where on their website does it say they use the current temperature and no agents told me that over the phone. We used a service that specifically coordinates flights for the right time of day for animals. We had a letter from the vet saying they could fly at cold temperatures. And, the temperature they told me was the cutoff at the counter was 20 degrees warmer than what their website quotes. What it comes down to is that in the name of pet safety, they actually don't want to be held liable for the safety of your pet.

After they finally agreed to take the cats and started shuffling through my paperwork (they never checked my ID, by the way), I'm told the cats will have to be removed from their carriers for weighing and TSA screening of the carriers. What? In the name of homeland security I have to remove two scared, skittery cats in a noisy, crowded airport? That does not sound safe for homeland security or the cats! But they insisted. So we insisted (I was with one of Mike's cousins), that if they have to do this, we take one cat out at a time and each cat only comes out once. Everything they need to do has to be done while the cat is out.

We had a heck of a time getting Grendel out of his carrier. Mike's cousin was pulling on Grendel, I was pulling on the carrier. He held fast. And he's weighty. When he plants it's nearly impossible to move him. Luckily he sat quietly in Mike's cousin's arms while they inspected his carrier. Ellie was surprisingly easy. I was able to open her door and grab her before she even knew what was happening.

I can't believe they couldn't do this in a quiet, secure room somewhere. It just does not seem right that cats must be removed in such a noisy, crowded area. Seriously, how safe is that? This isn't a Ziploc bag full of liquids. These are live animals!

Finally, finally, finally, the cats were locked up and labeled and I was assured they'd be getting on their plane. It took off two hours ago and I haven't received any phone calls to come back and get them so I assume they're flying. They don't like the carriers much, but they'll be okay. They were whiney on the car ride to the airport but had settled down once we were there.

They'll be thrilled to see Mike when they land.

Now the home seems so quiet. I was trying to nap and I kept expecting a cat to curl up with me, but they're not here.

11 January 2008

You Can Mail Anything With a Stamp on It

One of the funny little touristy things to do in Hawaii is mail a coconut to your friend back home, testing the Post Office's rule that anything with a stamp and an address label can mailed. (So I've heard; I've never actually been to Hawaii, but I know people who've received mailed coconuts.)

With that in mind, my cat's quiet and doesn't move much. Can I put some stamps on his head, tie an address label to his tail, and drop him in a mailbox? I really don't think he'd mind dozing in a small, dark space.

Seriously, though, shipping cats can be a real headache. Late this afternoon their reservations were finally confirmed for this weekend so I think I may finally get a good night's sleep. The cat confirmation is the last thing I've been waiting for. Movers? Check. Car shipper? Check. Cleaning ladies? Check. My hotel and flight? Check. But if the cats couldn't fly, the whole plan would fall apart.

Because of weather restrictions there's still a slight chance they could be denied at the gate. But I'm not too worried about that. They're flying during the day where temps will be in the 50s. The vet has certified them to fly as cold as 32 degrees. Anyone who looks at them is going to see they'll be fine in cold weather. (They're Norwegian!) And Mike will be picking them up on the other end, saying "Get my cats off the freakin' tarmac."

Next up: Who wants to help me drive 2 cats to the airport at 5:00 am on Sunday?

09 January 2008

The Cupboard Under the Sink

How often do you go through that black hole under the bathroom sink? You know, that one you toss half-empty lotion bottles and other random health-and-beauty products into? That crap piles up. "Experts" say you should clean out your medicine cabinet and other bathroom stuff once a year. I'm pretty sure we've been carting around some of this bathroom stuff since we left San Diego. (That was in 2005, right?)

I was squinting at expiration dates... does that say 2006? I found myself with handfuls of travel toothpastes--we had at least 13 of them. From all Mike's international travel, we have a half dozen of those little travel kits from the plane. I scrounged through them for toothpastes, lotions, and ear plugs (some of that stuff has to come in handy some day).

Did you ever look for an expiration date on a toothpaste? I didn't even know there was one. But there is. Most people probably don't have 3 years' worth of travel toothpastes sitting around though, so expiration dates on them are a moot point.

And speaking of toothpaste, if you ever find yourself face to face with vanilla flavor, drop it and run. You're better off not brushing at all. It's like brushing with frosting.

I'm of the frame of mind that anything we haven't unpacked or used since the last time we moved probably doesn't need to be moved again. I wish I'd come to this great epiphany before Mike left, because now I'm the one juggling a handful of travel toothpastes.

I also wish that for just one week I had 7-year-old children instead of 7-year-old cats. That way I could put them to work with some of this rummaging. (And it would be a hell of a lot easier to get them onto an airplane.)

He runs on Dunkin


And since everyone makes their voting decisions based on 30-second photo ops and soundbites, I'm surprised this wasn't enough to bump him those extra 3 or 4 points. Hillary's small trip to Emotionsville won out.

Actually what I think really happened is that New Hampshirites can't be stupid enough to be fooled by a few seconds of almost crying, or change their votes just to spite the polls and the media. I think New Hampshire happened exactly as it was supposed to, unfazed by Iowa.

And the media is still crazy. A three-point lead isn't exactly a stunning victory.

08 January 2008

Just Checking In

You really don't want to know the boring details of my move. I'm still doing a lot of hurry up and waiting for people to return phone calls. And I don't want to jinx things by discussing them before they happen.

I can talk about how excited I am that Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses and how I can't wait to tune in to New Hampshire primary coverage tonight. Oh, and if you hear on the news about how independent voters are leaning in California, I'm one of those independent voters! I was called last night by a pollster and asked about my political views concerning the presidential primary and some state ballot initiatives. It was actually kind of fun.

02 January 2008

I Have a Cold

Happy New Year!

I have a cold. That's really not helping with all the projects I have in line for this week and the next couple weeks. When nature tells me to take a nap, I tend to listen. Nature knows what it's talking about. Somehow the stuff will get done.

This year is going to be full of excitement and adventure; transitions and new beginnings. I've been anxiously awaiting its arrival and now that it's here, I wonder if I'm ready for it.

No resolutions for me. I don't believe in them. But I do have one hope--that I can keep my wits and my sense of humor while we're on this adventure.