Open Road Song

Palmer and I are on an epic mission, one which will test our reserves of strength and likely cause much heartbreak. We are trying to make ourselves like IPAs. Neither of us have ever been IPA drinkers, and have avoided beers whose descriptions include "hop finish" and the like. But after a tour of the Heavy Seas brewery in Baltimore, we realized that this was severely limiting our beer choices. Hops apparently make the beer (along with malt, obvs) and by removing them from consideration we were missing out on some interesting beers. So. Hops! We started easy, with the Heavy Seas Loose Cannon. We'd liked it on the tour, and so bought some a few days later. We liked it then, too. We've since tried some other beers, including Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, and as of right now, the 90 Minute IPA. I won't say they are my favorite beers ever- but they're alright. It probably helps that we're drinking them out of glasses instead of the bottle (so adult of us!) as that apparently allows the beer to breathe and our sense of smell to prepare us for the taste. We'll see how this goes. At the very least, we'll get to try some interesting beers along the way.

Along with much of the US, Maryland has been in the midst of an extreme cold snap. Despite these frigid climes, I've still been biking to work. I finally have the opportunity to wear my windproof pants! They've helped immensely, though it is obviously still quite chilly on the bike. The past few days I've also added long underwear into the mix- the first day because it was super cold, and then the past two days because I got a massive rip in my jeans and don't want to flash my bits around before I can buy a new pair.

Speaking of, I have new jeans! Two pairs, hopefully they'll last a bit longer if I alternate them. I also got a new pair of sneakers, as my old ones had developed a crack in the sole, and were starting to hurt my feet.

We went out to Glen Echo today to walk around and evaluate it as a possible location for The Wedding. It is pretty, and art deco, and I think it could be awesome. As with any outdoor location, we are gambling on the weather. But, at the very least, the pavilion has plastic sides that can be pulled down, and we can rent heaters in case of cold. We'll need to talk to caterers and get some estimates to make sure that we can stay within budget, but we're very hopeful. Plus, Glen Echo has a carousel that you can rent! So cross your fingers. If we get this venue, then the rest of the planning can actually begin!

I think thats about it. Currently reading Catch-22, and liking it, though it is slow going. My new job officially begins next week, lets hope I don't crash and burn. Ciao!

Didn't realize that it has been almost the full length of September since I've updated. Whoops? Basically, the lack of updating boils down to this: I open the coffee shop five days a week and intern 3 of those days. I'm also attempting to train for a 5k while keeping the apartment somewhat clean and mainlining seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey. So uh, yeah, not really posting a lot.

Ok lets see. Work is work. One of my coworkers is an 18 year old kid who regularly makes me want to shake him. He gets sullen, doesn't like being corrected even when he's doing shit wrong, and bitches about working "so hard" after a shift full of standing around doing nothing. So yeah. Sometimes I want to smack him. I'm not working with him as much this coming week, I think, so maybe I won't have a rage-induced embolism after all. That'd be nice.

Bethesda Green internship is going well. I'm there three days a week doing whatever needs doing. This week we had the StartUp Maryland bus stop at the office, and there was an event with our incubator companies and some other green entrepreneurs. Good times! Our annual Gala is in two weeks, so I'll be busy helping with that until then. Then it'll be back to focusing on the green restaurant project, and then probably helping out with the Green Fields job fair. Then we'll see, I guess.

My friend Bert wants to recruit me for his bike shop. He knows that I'm getting pretty tired of the coffee shop, and offered to pay me the same rate and teach me some basic bike mechanics before starting. I've already learned how to replace brake pads and a brake cable, so that's a start. I also now have new brake pads and a new brake cable and housing! Fancy! In a few weeks I'm going to see about getting my handle bar grips redone. The grips are the original ones that came with the bike, and they're starting to get nasty and sticky from age. I'm not sure whether I'll just go for tape, or get new grips, but Bert said he'd show me some options. Pretty soon the only original part of the bike is going to be the frame, I swear.

Football season has started up, and we've attended our first Redskins home game. Obvs the DC team is likely to suck again, but Robert Griffin III is very exciting to watch. If only our other players would stop getting injured, our offensive line prevent RGIII from getting hit so often, and our defensive line actually working as a defense, we might sometime win a game!

( Tattoo, session 2 was today. )

Am obsessed with this craft cocktail bar in Silver Spring. The bartender made me an Old Fashioned, it was so freaking good. And then the other bartender made me a bourbon drink with grapefruit bitters and sour cherries, AND comped me for it, it was awesome. The drinks are expensive, but I still love it. Palmer likes it as well, but we both agree that its an "every few weeks" kind of place, not our regular watering hole. That's still reserved for Quarry House.

Long post is long. I'm going to cut this off now, and try to be more responsible about posting. And commenting. I read faithfully, but I'll try to be better about interacting. After all, I like you guys, and I want to talk to you more!

One of my general goals is to be more organized. I'm great at work, or (formerly) about school, but I feel like in my every day life I can be a bit scattered. Writing lists tends to work, but I tend to lose them if they're not bound into something. I do have a paper planner, but it is a bit bulky to shove into the bag I bike in. Various apps that I've tried haven't worked well, including one (LedgerList) that was just confusing and unhelpful. But today a customer recommended Cozi, an app he and his wife use to keep track of their calendars and shopping lists. I looked it up, read the description, and decided to give it a shot.

And, so far so good! It is incredibly user-friendly, easy to navigate, and sends reminders to your phone for events in your calendar. You even get to X things off your To-Do list, which is quite satisfying. So, all gung-ho about it, I wrote a To-Do list for my afternoon. It was all planned out, I was going to be so productive it would blow your mind. And then my bike tire exploded.

Let me back up a moment. My beloved bike is an 8 year old K2 Bayside, that (other than some add-ons and a new rear gear sprocket) has never had any major work done on it. Not even tire replacements. Let me also add that for about 5 years, this bike saw barely any action. So we have old tires, sudden prolonged stress upon them after several years passivity, and the owner's tendency to forget to pump tires regularly. Add those together and apparently you get a tire that goes "BANG!" right when I'm heading toward my parents' driveway.

So I yelled fuck a lot, and then took the rear tire off to assess the damage. It was clearly ripped open, no way to fix it, so I realize I'm going to have to go the bike shop. Which just completely blows through my afternoon plans. I was going to be so productive! But now I have grease all over me, and a bike that is in for repairs. (Full disclosure- the tire is already fixed, but I wanted them to check out my pedals and front derailleur because something funky was going on there. They figured it out, and they'll fix it, but the part takes a day or two to get here.) So I am bikeless.

But! Afternoon somewhat salvaged- I still managed to go grocery shopping, do the dishes, and mop the kitchen floor. Doubt I'll get to laundry tonight, and I certainly won't be going to buy a box and bubble wrap to ship my books off for re-sale, but hey- some progress is better than no progress! And that leaves me with more fun things to tick off my list tomorrow!

I work, as you may know, at an independent coffee shop. There have been... issues... in the past about getting things fixed, or replaced, or what have you. To name a few: backsplash, bean grinder, lamp, other bean grinder, leaky faucet, broken ceiling tile, air conditioning, freezers... you get the idea. But we have a (somewhat) new manager now, and apparently the owners have decided to let him fix things. So. Twice, since the new manager has been hired, I've brought up an issue to one of the owners, and both times I was told to go ahead and take care of it. That is unprecedented. I have actually been able to look up what we need, go to the manager and show it to him, and have him authorize the order. AMAZING!

The first thing was new floor mats. After catching my foot in a hole (yes a hole) in the old mat and subsequently banging the shit out of my knee and hip, we got new mats. And more recently, after one set of blinds fell down (yeah, they were that old) resulting in sunlight streaming into the store, blinding customers, and roasting the barista on bar, I got in touch with a blinds company, and now we have some! Phenomenal! And while I can (and do) take credit for ordering the stuff, the only reason it was approved is because my manager actually gets shit done. Wonderful!

Yeah, blinds and floor mats are small things to get excited about, but let me have my indulgences. I get so few at my job.

I am procrastinating like woah and am going to regret it come this weekend, but gah. Don't want to do projects! Want to play with GIS, but know that projects should get done first. Blech! Also, Emergency Management class? You suck.

Rode my bike to Bethesda today. It was cold out, so I decided to (finally) try out some of that gear I was given. Wow. What a difference. Seriously. Wool base layer, who knew? And apparently I can wear "SmartWool" without too much irritation to my skin, though I believe I'll aim for synthetic for the next one. And hey! No one tried to run me over today! Unlike last week, where a douchebag honked at me for daring to wait for a break in traffic!

Ok. Enough. Must do project. Even if I don't want to.

I bought a book! It is the Chicks with Sticks Guide to Knitting which is a getting-started book for knitting. It takes you through simple projects to more complicated ones (ending with sweaters, omg) but teaches you new techniques with each one. It seems interesting! I still have to finish my friend Chris' Redskins scarf, but then I plan on getting started! Of course, the first project is another scarf, but I'll make this one for me! Thick, chunky yarn in a vibrant color, rock!

I bought a second book! The Urban Biking Handbook which talks about gear and safety for urban biking, but also a bunch of how-to maintenance for your bike. I'd like to be able to tinker with my bike a bit more, so it seemed like a good purchase. And now I want to go bike touring. Not a crazy long trip, but out to the Delaware beaches maybe. (Or maybe just to Sandy Point)

After procrastinating for much of last week, I freaked out and did two papers in two days, including one 10 page paper in 4 hours. Because I'm crazy like that. This week should be a little easier, as I don't have 5 things due on the same day. But I do have to start working on two projects that are due in the next 3 weeks, so that'll be good times. Yup.

Palmer and I were super social this weekend! On Friday we went out to Adams Morgan to celebrate my friend Duante's birthday. I don't really... go clubbing at all, so I was super nervous about going to District, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. There was a big group of his friends there, and everyone was dancing and having a good time, and I ended up dancing for something like 5 hours straight. It was intense! Also, I have discovered that I shouldn't sing when dancing, because if someone snaps a picture of me doing so, I look like an idiot. Sigh. But still, super fun! And then we had Jumbo Slice. I really felt like a DC cliche on Friday, let me tell you.

Saturday after the freak out and the paper writing, we met up with our friends Stuart and Kim for dinner and a movie. Dinner was at Lebanese Taverna, which was delicious. We had drinks at Fire Station, which I don't think any of us will be going back to. It just wasn't that great, and it was super noisy and not in a good way. Then we went and saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which was phenomenal. Palmer wasn't a huge fan, but I loved it. Gary Oldman was amazing, and Benedict Cumberbatch is my favorite, seriously. Colin Firth and Mark Strong were wonderful as always, and good lord Tom Hardy is an attractive and talented man. But yes, quite liked it, and I may have to start reading some Peter le Carre novels. I do love me a spy thriller!

Sunday I did more studying, then we went out to dinner with Palmer's mom and brother. We went to a Greek place out in Rockville, which served the largest portions ever. Like, I ordered a sampler which had a bunch of stuff like moussaka and spanakopita, and each "sample" was like a full sized serving! I did not finish it all, needless to say. I have leftovers that I will enjoy for lunch today! Palmer and I also got to meet his mom's new kitten, Cami. So tiny! So rambunctious!

( Cut for discussion of weight )

That's about it! Going to do some more studying here at the apartment, then snag some lunch, then bike to Bethesda, do some studying there, and collect the car so I can get to work tomorrow. Tonight we're being social again, going out to Quarry House for Taco Tuesday. I am excite!

So, my Christmas cards went out disgracefully late, my apologies. I had them all written out several days before Christmas, but it took me a while to get stamps. So uh, they may arrive next week. Sorry! (I did receive several suggestions that I just wait and send them out next Christmas, but that is too absurd even for me.)

Christmas and the surrounding days were quite fun. Serena and her husband Ed were in town, as was Clarissa. Serena and Ed are expecting twins, due in April (which I've not mentioned here before), and we got to see the sonogram images and make noises over her expanding midsection. Ed kept calling her Godzilla, which she took with good humor.

I got a lot of bike gear for Christmas, shirts and pants and headlights for the bike itself. Just yesterday my dad helped me install the front and rear headlights and a rearview mirror, so hopefully I won't have to twist around to look over my shoulder anymore. Also got a Redskins shirt which I'll wear to the game on Sunday, and Palmer got me some sweet noise cancelling headphones. Considering that I'm taking at least two flights this year, those will come in handy. I also bought myself a Kindle. Over the past month I've saved up both my tips and gifts from customers, and I had over $400. $210 of that went into savings, but I decided that the time had come to buy myself an e-book reader, so I did! It is, of course, taking forever to arrive, but oh well. It should be delivered early next week, and then there will be awesomeness!

This past week has been a bit rough. I opened Sunday through Thursday, and by last night was just freaking exhausted. I apparently fell asleep sitting up, which is when Palmer escorted me to bed. Today has been relaxing, and tonight we're going to our friends' new years party.

So. Goals for the coming year!

-Get in shape. Vague, I know. I have lost some weight over the past six months due to walking and biking into work 4 days a week. My goal for this year is to combine that with restarting the gym and eating more healthy, home-cooked meals. Palmer and I are looking into CSAs and there are several farmer's markets in the area, so hopefully we can also incorporate eating locally into this.
-Pay off my credit card debt. Its not a huge amount, but it is several hundred dollars that I would like to be free of. So, for the next several months I'll work towards paying it off. Once it has been paid off, I'll put that money into savings. I have about $1000 in savings now, I'd like to increase that amount.
-Be more social. I spent alot of time this year holed up in my apartment, studying or sleeping. I'd like to get out a bit more. Not at the expense of my schoolwork or my health, but make an effort to see my friends more often, and go out to concerts or movies or the like. Just be less of a shut in, basically.
-Finish my degree. If I work hard and take classes over the summer, I should be able to complete my Bachelor's by this time next year.

And that's it! Happy New Year to all!