Welcome To Fixing Things

From Work Orders and Running Toilet

                I know I am a day late again, but I have a good reason. I got home really late last night and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. Having plenty of sleep to do work in the morning trumps writing a quick blog post (though I really should work on making them a little longer) any day. So instead I am writing it today while watching Sleepy Hollow. If you haven’t seen the show yet, you should. It’s pretty creepy. If you like things like Supernatural, Buffy, X-files (maybe not to that level) or any of the old school scary shows from my generation (Are You Afraid of the Dark, So Weird, and Goosebumps).

                Anyway, I have been having apartment problems for a few months. Okay, I’ve had apartment problems since I moved in. I have since discovered that the guys who come to repair things are really nice and good at their job. My first problem (that hasn’t been fixed yet, but I live) was that when I moved in, my screen door needed to be replaced. It still has a hole in it, but it’s at least covered. My second problem was the door issue. It still is a little warped, but at least I can open it now without throwing out my bad shoulder. My third (and most annoying problem) was my toilet. All of my other problems I could live with, but running toilets are an enemy worth fighting.

                I didn’t really notice it at first. I thought it was the guy above me being really noisy (more on him/her later possibly).  I can hear what goes on in the apartment above me, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to think that was what the noise was. It also didn’t run all that often. That was until I noticed that something was off and I tried to investigate for myself. The lessons I learned that night were a) running toilets are really really loud and I can’t sleep when they go off every four hours and b) I should not mess with things unless I actually know what I’m doing. I honestly did not sleep that night. It was awful.

                The next day that guy came and fixed my toilet. I watched him do it so that I would know what do to next time, but he noticed that something was a little off about how everything was sitting. He said to call if it was still having problems. The toilet worked and everything was peachy for about a month and a half. Then I noticed that the toilet was running, again. Not as often as four minutes at least, but it was noticeable (that and the guy/girl above me has since moved out so I know it wasn’t him/her). I called in to have it fixed for the second time. The repair guys came while I was at work and called to let me know everything was put into its right place and to call if there are any problems.

                I get home, happy that my toilet is finally completely fixed. I started making dinner and that was when I heard my toilet roar again. That’s really the only way to describe a running toilet; it sort of roars its displeasure at being broken. So I called the emergency “fix it line.” They are very nice and very good at keeping a new tenet calm in the face of a very stressful situation. They sent another person to fix it within the hour. Luckily this time it was just that the weight was too high and simple enough to fix. I truly hope that this is the last of the toilet problems (though the repair guys said that it was a common enough problem here). I’m going to go with it being that the pipes are really old. Heck my pipes in the shower leak. I have no idea how to fix that, but I did report it to the landlady. Now if only they would fix my screen door.

Welcome To New People

          Happy fall equinox everyone! It is officially my favorite season with all my favorite flavors. Pumpkin spice lattes here I come. Now hopefully I don’t go broke after I run out of my Starbucks gift cards. Now for the movie specials to start again, I miss the Disney Channel Original Fall Movies. They were usually a little on the cheesy side, but still better than anything they have been producing in the last five or so years (heck more like ten years). Also pumpkin beer is awesome.

A lot of things happened this week. The guy who lived above me, I mentally called him Mysterious Footstep Man because I could hear him walking around, moved out. I never did get to make him brownies. Maybe I will meet the next person or people who live there. I discovered the show Sleepy Hollow. It looks pretty cool, it has me interested. I also went on a picnic date (major blush).

                The date was awesome, but since this is cyberspace I will not be giving too many details. Anyway, we went to a park not too far away and found a picnic area. All of the food was great and the weather held out (though we were under a covered pavilion). Not too long after we started eating, another couple sat down to picnic at the table next to ours. We started talking and eventually it lead to us sharing food.

                They thought we were sweet and offered for us to try some of their crabs and shrimp. We accepted and offered for them to try our barbeque. For the record we had a ton of barbeque that there was just no way we were going to finish along with several other side dishes, so we offered for them to try some. It was all delicious. We then started comparing notes on the best barbeque and seafood. We all agreed that there is nothing like crabs from Maryland, other states just do not know how to do it.

                They then asked us about how long we had been dating. We told them about a month and they told us the story of how they met. Apparently the husband had had a roommate dating his wife’s sister. He showed up one day to pick up the sister for his roommate and met his future wife. Her initial reaction to him (asking for her sister): “why would you want to talk to her?”  It was pretty funny. They had been living near where I live now and eventually had come back to the area.

                It is interesting how small a world it was for us to meet them. They were fun to talk to. They had been married for twenty six years and had only dated for three months before they tied the knot. That was the only part that was a little awkward. We were both blushing by the end of the conversation. I hope we run into them again.  

Welcome To Your Commute

Traffic Is Your New Frienemy 

           It's been a tough week for me, but I figured out how to make my own soup. It was delicious and I might start posting some of my original recipes.

Welcome To Your New City

It’s Nothing like Your Old City

This weekend, my roommate from college came up to visit it me. We have both decided that it is really weird that we are no longer living together and that we should visit each other more often. She does not live that far away (when there isn’t any traffic), however it is still a bit of a hike to get to me. Since I live in the middle of suburbia, I thought that it would be a better idea to go into the nearest city to me: Baltimore.

She got to my place bright and early (10am) and we left not too long after that (you know you’re an adult when bright and early is waking up at 7am instead of 1pm). She made me drive. Since I am currently driving an SUV instead of my adorable sedan (I’ll explain that in another post) I spent a good part of the five minute drive into the city hoping I did not try to squeeze into anything two sizes two small.

This was not my first time in the city. The first time I had been there since moving was for a rugby interest meeting at a place called Alexander’s Tavern. Apparently it’s a hangout for rugby players (shouts out to my rugby friends!). I didn’t join the team (commute and time commitment was a bit much right now), but I did survive driving in an unfamiliar city at night. Before that adventure, I hadn’t been in the city of Baltimore since I was 15 years old. So I really did not have any idea where I was going. I also don’t own a smart phone or GPS. I have to rely on maps…from the Internet.

My official second adventure into Baltimore was a little bit less stressful. I still had no idea where anything was or where I was, but we did find a parking garage (I think it was in Little Italy) and a map of the Inner Harbor and Fells Point. Both are beautiful. Everything is expensive, but I was expecting that.

As we first entered the city from 295, we noticed all of the police out and about for the baseball game. This helped us plan when to leave the city to beat the baseball traffic. We then passed the convention center and realized that it was the weekend for Comic Con. I have never seen a Con before; just a quick glance was an eye opener. I would like to go to one before I die. I would also like to dress up as Franziska Von Karma from the Phoenix Write Ace Attorney games if I go to one (look her up if you don’t know who she is, trust me she’s awesome and not scantily clad).

It took us a little while to find a parking garage (though it was a little sketchy). We then headed over to the Inner Harbor. It was cool and very similar to how I remember it from when I was 15. I need a pin from the Hard Rock Café for my collection. We went into the Barns and Nobles, which was in an old factory building. I thought it was cool, but worried I might run into something.

After the ten minutes at the Inner Harbor, we walked to Fells Point, which isn’t that bad of a walk. The first place we ate at was a Tapas place that was really expensive. Only eat there if you don’t have a big appetite or if you have lots of cash. It was very yummy, but not worth the cost. We then walked around a bit more and discovered a place called The Daily Grind. We had to go in because at our old college campus, we had a place called The Daily Grind that several of our friends practically lived in (we also lived right next to it at one point). Though it was in an old factory building, the menu could have come straight from out college campus. It was great! It also made us (namely me) at bit homesick for school.

We left not too long after, but got a bit turned around finding my car. Getting out of the city wasn’t hard. The signs for 295 are a lot bigger than the ones for 83 and 95. We also beat the traffic from the game and the Con.

Baltimore is very different from my home city, even though they are very close. Fells Point does look like Old Town Alexandria, though. I find it charming and different, but I will always have a soft spot for home, even if it is one of the most annoying cities in America. I would recommend Baltimore for a visit and I would at some point like to live in the city, but not right now.

Welcome To Your Closet

No Nude Bikinis Here…

With all the hype over the Miley Cyrus at the VMAs, I felt inspired to write this week about my closet. Well actually my cloths. I have two walk in closets, one that is solely filled with boxes and another with cloths shoes and more boxes, a linen closet and a coat closet. Only one of the closets has any cloths in it. I have plenty of room to stash cloths, unlike in college where it was lucky if most of my clothes were not shoved into a laundry bag.

Having cloths for college and high school is very different from having a wardrobe for work and being an adult in general. This does not mean that I have given up all of my T-shirts and bagging pants (my sister has threatened to put me on “What Not To Wear” every year since I have entered high school, thank the lord the show is ending). Instead I have managed to arrange several outfits that I can rotate through. I have discovered that I can go three weeks without needing to do laundry, life is good.

Luckily my work has a (for me) fairly relaxed dress policy. I can wear jeans, but should have a collared shirt or nice blouse on. I prefer the collared shirt. I like to “dress sharp”, as my dad calls it, for work.  This includes polos, button downs and flattering clothes that are not too tight or very revealing. Some people might call it preppy, but the right colors and combinations can make it a little more subtle.

Though I am also just starting out and am no expert, here are a few things I live by:

·         Don’t throw out all your clothes. Donate them or keep them for the weekends. You’ll want comfortable things to work out in or just lay around your new home in.

·         Newly graduates (or soon to be graduates) of both genders should have at least one black or grey suite or dress slacks.

·         Invest in good sensible shoes. Men will always look good in leather (or faux leather for the animal friendly) shoes. Also these shoes should last you a while. Ladies these shoes can have heals, but they need to be comfortable. Having flip-flops in the purse as back up is also smart.

·         Invest in at least one blazer or sports coat. Again this is for both genders. Anything you wear can go from informal to formal by just putting these jackets on. Okay maybe not anything, but many things.

Putting effort into appearance is important. Ladies should start looking into investing in make-up. My mother says to go to a department story or make-up place and walk around until you see someone with a look you like, then ask them for a demonstration and what they recommend. Make-up is used to enhance natural beauty, not make someone look like a clown or that they forgot to sleep for a week.

Hollywood and the tabloids seem to send messages everywhere and to both genders that sex is the only way to dress and be presentable in public. This is all nonsense. The working world is not the place to dress like a movie star on the big screen (or a formal child star trying to shed her “good girl” image). If you want to do that you can hit the big city on the weekends and see what kind of attention you get, again for both genders.

Sorry if I seem to be ragging on the VMAs like everyone else seems to be, but it’s starting to be hard to take a lot of these celebrities seriously. A good wardrobe and clean look goes a long way. People judge other people all the time by how they look. It’s a sad but true fact (one that I have had to face since I can no longer hide behind a giant hoodie and baggy jeans at work like I did in high school). No one would show up to an interview dressed like they just rolled out of bed. So invest in a few good pieces and learn to mix and match. A sharp and polished knife cuts more meat for a butcher than an unclean messy one.