The surprise of my life

Well, I can't believe that I'm actually writing this, but I have been CONSIDERING getting rid of my car. With every week that passes since I moved, I get a little closer to thinking it's a good idea. I'm about 50-50 on it right now ... it seems like such a logical thing to do, but then when my mom told me I could drive it back to Indiana for them to try to sell, I kind of got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach about it. So, maybe I'll just drive myself crazy flip-flopping on the idea for the next couple years, and then it will be paid off. Committing seems too scary. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.

Oh, and speaking of cars. Thanks to the Post's Express for directing me to this video:

I'm a little pissed that he is degrading K.I.T.T.'s memory like this, but it is definitely worth the jaw-dropping three minutes to watch. WOW.

UPDATE: Just reading through this again and realized that I should tell everyone that the surprise turned out to be a big, fat lie hehe. As of July 27, I had sat waiting in the ridiculous line of cars on the street to get my safety inspection and went to the DMV for plates. That only took four hours of my life in total ... ugh. So, the car stays, and yay! Everything that connected me to Illinois is gone. :) The Virginia driver's license is quite ugly, though. Ew.
8.12.06 - 1:04 p.m.

Corey snubs me, I snub Frank Robinson

A lot of people have already heard the Mr. Patterson snub story mentioned in the subject line, so I won't be telling that again. If you haven't heard it and you're interested, message me. It's a pretty unsurprising story anyway.

As for my snub, tonight was the start of "grand re-opening weekend" at RFK Stadium to highlight the stadium "makeover" since the Lerner family bought the Nationals. What does that mean? Apparently, more concession options and lower ticket prices ... beginning with the series AFTER the Cubs and for the rest of the season. Nice of them to still want to cash in on the fact that they know they will have better attendance this weekend than they will for the entire season (and that's not because of the grand re-opening). It still looked like the same crap stadium to me. Here's to hoping that 2008 gets here fast.

Anyway, I get to the gates and just want to get through the ridiculous amount of people crowding around the entrance. I forgot that the team was going to be greeting fans before the game. I wonder, annoyed ... can the free hats be THAT good? I get my ticket scanned, grab my free hat (I had not yet put on my Cubs jersey as I had hurried to get there from work) and feel a hard tap on my shoulder. I turn around, and jabbing his hand out at me is Frank Robinson who says, "Don't you want to shake my hand? I can't believe you were trying to get by without seeing me." I was so stunned that I backed up and almost took out Ryan Zimmerman posing for pictures haha. That was a weird start to the evening. Sorry, Frank.

Then, in usual form, the Cubs lost. Nice. I guess it was good that Josh didn't bother to round up the money for me to be able to go to all of the games hehe.

That's all I have. Later.

A little suspect ...

So, I got an interesting piece of mail today.

A little background: A couple weeks ago, I finally got around to filing a report on some missing/damaged items to the moving company from my move in March. Today, I get a postcard from the company letting me know that someone would be contact with me about the stuff. The problem? Well, it reads like this:

ANGIE SMITH has been assigned to inspect and/or repair your damaged items.

If you do not hear from them by 08/01/2006, please contact them at (my telephone number here) or us at 1-800-747-4100 ext# 205 or 220 for Customer Service Assistance.

Uh, what?? The other weird thing is that they have my name in their computer as Angela Smith according to my address, so I don't know what would make them put Angie Smith. I wonder if I'm getting paid for this "assignment." Haha.

UPDATE: This week I got a check in the mail from Federal Moving and Storage for the full amount I requested. Damn, I should have "estimated" the damages for more ...
7.29.06 - 7:52 p.m.

My apartment

I had some requests for pics of what my apartment looks like, so I finally got around to it, and here they are. And for those of you who might be reading that could care less, I made sure I am in a couple of the pics looking silly, so everyone can enjoy. :)

Living room

Here's the living room, where I showcase the fact that, Nick, I do have the widescreen TV in its proper place now. (Some background: I received a slight amount of crap from Nick while I lived in Springfield because that TV was in my bedroom. Not the most likely place for that type of TV, but that is where it needed to be at the time. Enough said.) The enclosed sunroom doubling as an "office" that I never set foot in is beyond. Computing gets done from my couch. Abby, see the steamer? That doesn't get used much either. I should start calling that room, "The unused crap room." And, yeah ... I won't be leaving my day job to become one of Barker's Beauties anytime soon haha. :)

Bedroom

My bedroom ... the most important aspect of which is that there is a little nook that turned into a perfect home for the Wendy's table. I love my Wendy's table. I don't care what that stupid manager at the Wilson Boulevard Wendy's says.

My view

My apartment looks out onto the complex's courtyard, which is fine, but I would rather not be at ground level if I had my choice. But I guess that is why this larger apartment was priced lower than others based on the location ... and when I say "priced lower," that still means really f***ing expensive when you live alone.

View of D.C.

Here is the view that you can see from one of the two clubrooms that my apartment complex has. This will most likely be the locale that I will watch fireworks from on Tuesday because I have a strong suspicion that I will be too lazy to deal with going into downtown D.C.

All in all, the apartment is great ... as well it better be after I spent days painting the rooms alone ... but there is one problem that I have with the place. And for me, it's a pretty major problem, but I'm trying to overcome my paranoia. The airflow in the bathroom causes the shower curtain to blow in. And I have tried every combination of both doors open, both closed, one closed and one open, fan on, fan off that I can think of ... nothing works. The first shower curtain liner I had was light and flimsy and would pretty much wrap itself all the way around my legs ... it was my own personal horror movie. I spent more time trying to wet the opposite side of the curtain so it might stick to the edges of the tub than I did showering I think. After a couple days of that, I bought one of those thick, heavy-duty types, which is better, but the whole problem is still unacceptable.

My new company is being good to me already

Yesterday, we had a little party with some fruit and dessert to say, "Goodbye," to Knight Ridder. Only being with the company three months, I didn't feel as much connection as some of my co-workers might have. It is a shame, though, that a company that used this great ad at one time has met its maker:

But already, my new company, McClatchy, has won bonus points. We were called in to receive t-shirts this afternoon. Upon hearing that we were getting them, I told some people in my department that the true test would be if there are sizes to choose from. Sure enough, walking into the conference room there indeed were boxes for small, medium, large and extra large. Small even! Wow. Yeah, it doesn't take much to impress me. But I have endured years of companies trying to get me to sign up for something to get their free t-shirt ... their extra large, "everyone can get into this" t-shirt that comes down to my knees. Thanks, but I'll pass.

Well, this is just GREAT ...

I am now getting my first taste of high-rise apartment building fun. The fire alarm has been going off for more than an hour. It freaked poor Perry out so much that when it began going off, he fell off his perch and said, "Ow." For the first 40 min. of the alarm going off, I did leave my apartment (which luckily is very close to the outside courtyard door) to see other people on my floor just looking around, too. We all were trying to figure out if it was real because it is freaking pouring outside. Not many people were out there haha. And I was trying to figure out if I should be getting my pets out of the apartment. Finally we saw some firemen who said that there was no fire. But now, about 35 min. later ... the alarm is still going off. Not cool.

I guess I shouldn't complain though because both ends of my floor are flooding ... down into people's apartments below, too. I'll just be keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't get to the midsection where I'm at ... And yeah, this is now two blogs in one night. I think I'm going to be up for awhile at this rate.

**Tell us what you're reading, viewing, or listening to: Bleep, bleep ... May I have your attention please, may I have your attention please ... There has been a fire emergency reported in the building, please leave the building by the nearest exit or exit stairway ... Do not use the elevators. Bleep, bleep ...

R.I.P. - The Spartan Inn

So, RobG's comment on my page reminded me of the tragic thing that happened to my favorite small-town restaurant June 16. The Spartan Inn in Wingate, Ind., home of the most-wonderful breaded chicken sandwiches*, is no more.

I made sure to stop in at least one time every trip I made back to Indiana to see my family. Actually, I would plan special to be back early or stay a meal longer if it looked like my other plans were going to keep me from being able to have the delicious sandwich. Little did I know that my trip in there in March before I moved to D.C. would be my last. :(

Most recent news says the fire was arson, and the building was not insured. I better work on finding out if I can get the recipe for that breading ...

*When I searched for pics, I happened upon this review on Yahoo. I promise, Nick, that I did not post it: "wonderful food, especially the hand breaded tenderloin and chicken sandwich. wonderful homemade pies." Pat backs up my claim.

UPDATE: I should have updated this much sooner, but the Spartan Inn has reopened!! Yay. I think it opened its doors again May 21 ... just in time for me to be able to have two chicken sandwiches when I was back for my brother's graduation. Thank goodness they weren't lost forever!
6.14.07 - 10:44 p.m.

UPDATE 2: Again, way behind on updating, but it was a sad day in 2008 that the Spartan Inn changed ownership, and I've been told the breaded chicken sandwiches are not the same. I can't bring myself to go in there to find out. :(
6.12.09 - 12:59 a.m.