Power Outage

Ugh. Our power went out last night around 11:30ish. Again. It was just a few weeks ago when our power went out at night for about 5 hours. The power company supposedly caused an intentional power outage in late May to update our lines so that unplanned outages wouldn't occur. Now it's been twice since that happened that not only did we have unplanned outages, but they were lengthy outages. Before that, I don't think we had a single outage the entire 16 months I'd lived here. This time, the power didn't come back on until about 11:30am. So, yes, 12 hours. The weirdest thing is that a few hours after the power went out, they restored partial service. This meant that only one in four of the outlets in my room worked, that our kitchen light worked but our refrigerator had no power. The bathroom light worked but the outlet in there didn't. Our air conditioner didn't work... etc, etc. It was really odd and ridiculously inconvenient. Thankfully, the outlet that operates the fan that I sleep with was the one outlet in my room that stayed on all night so I didn't die from heat exhaustion.

Flowers!

A couple weeks ago, we were having our monthly office birthday party when someone brought flowers into the board room and said the flower delivery was for me! How exciting! I couldn't for the life of me figure out who would have sent me flowers but it was a very pretty arrangement (see below!). Turns out one of the chairpeople I work with regularly as part of my job felt I deserved flowers so she had them sent to me. The card said, "Thanks for all you do!" It was so sweet and unexpected. So I thought I'd share and show everyone a pic of the flowers. And my messy office.

"Top 10 Longest Novels in the English Language"

In other words, here are ten books I will definitely avoid. I hate reading long books. (via)

The Real World comes to DC

Big news in DC is the upcoming filming of the next season of The Real World, MTV's long-running reality show. There have been reports all over DC news sites and blogs on which house is being remodeled for the seven strangers to move into... and I've been following it all with an interested eye. Here's the latest news, with pictures of the reported house at 2000 S St. NW! There are some pictures of the inside of the house here, too.

I haven't watched The Real World in, oh, maybe 5 years or more (probably way more) but anytime a TV show or movie is going to shoot nearby, it catches my eye. And, it really amuses me to read the snarky comments that appear at the end of every speculative blog post about how the kids are going to ruin the city and make going to your favorite hangouts impossible. One neighbor to the new house has even started a blog. Very entertaining.

Library Moms

I just came across this article and enjoyed it as it lists some celebrities and famous people who had moms who were librarians. Morrissey, B.J. Armstrong, Emily from the Indigo Girls... all had librarian moms. Pretty cool. Tim Gunn's mom helped set up the CIA library!! (via)

I Want One: Lighted Tweezers

These Lighted Slant Tweezers by Tweezerman seem pretty sweet. I've always heard good things about Tweezerman slant tweezers but to add a little light to them - cool! Sometimes a little extra light while plucking would be fantastic. They are $25 but I kinda feel like that might be worth it. (via)

H Street Country Club

This H Street Country Club place looks kinda cool. They have an actual miniature golf course inside the bar. Restaurant. Whatever. I guess it just opened today. And it's Mexican food. Yum! I'll have to check it out sometime. (via)

Good Luck Story

This evening after work, I was waiting for the train to come and sitting on a bench and reading. When the train came, I got on, not realizing that I apparently had dropped my Smartrip card - which holds my fare and saved fare of over $250! I rode my two stops and got off the train and tried to find my card that allows me to pay and exit. This was when I realized that my card was nowhere to be found. It wasn't in my pockets; it wasn't in my bag; it wasn't in my book. It was nowhere. I didn't even know how you exit the train station without the card. I mean, you have to swipe it when you enter and swipe it when you leave so what happens if you lose it in the middle of your trip? The train going the other way arrived so I hopped on it, thinking not too much time had passed so maybe if I went back to where I got on, I would find my card lying on the ground or something. So I rode the two stops again, got off, went to where I had been sitting and sure enough there was my card on the ground, untouched! Someone was nearly standing on it but hadn't picked it up. Phew! I retrieved it and rode the train AGAIN and got off at my stop and walked home. What a relief. Thank god no one stole it. I think I had two things working in my favor. One, I didn't get on the train at my regular stop right by work, which is always really busy and crowded. I walked to the library after work and got on at the next stop east, which is always pretty empty. Two, I have an Obama card rather than a regular one (further down that page). Most people have the regular one and aren't even aware that there is an Obama one, so I think some potential thieves could have walked right by it not realizing what it was. Phew!

Post Hunt

Also this weekend, I participated in the Post Hunt. It's like a scavenger hunt (sponsored by the Washington Post) where instead of having to find objects, you try to solve puzzles around the downtown DC area. Puzzles that are set up specifically for the event, I should add. It was tough! And pretty hard to explain. There is lots of info and some videos if you go that link, though. Let's just say that we didn't win. We had a team of six and we were pretty stumped, particularly by the statues puzzle. Although the winners were local, the 2nd place team was from Arizona and the 3rd place team was from Florida. People travel all over the country to do this? Crazy. It was definitely fun but it also made me feel way stupid.

Side note: Dave Barry was there! Does he count as a celebrity? I think so. He's one of the founders of the Hunt.

GI Film Festival

Last Wednesday, I found out I won a free VIP pass to the GI Film Festival! It was an all-access pass to all the movies that were playing, including some VIP movie showings and receptions. Plus, it included a gift pack with some free T-shirts, movies and other swag. Pretty exciting! They promised celebrities at the receptions and well, say no more, if there are going to be celebrities, I'm there!

So the first VIP event was Thursday and it included a showing of Valkyrie as well as a reception afterwards. The movie was actually pretty good (even if we all know how it turns out) and one of the producers was there to answer questions and talk about the filming. It was pretty interesting. As far as "celebrities" go, there was Faizon Love, Karri Turner, and Leann Tweeden (who I'm shocked to learn is only 35 - sorry). No I did not know who they were, other than possibly having heard their names before. Then, at the end of the screening, the organizers announced that Stephen Baldwin was also there! Finally someone I'd recognize on sight. And, indeed, he was there. I saw him myself. Also possibly at the event was the notorious Scooter Libby. I might be wrong but I swear I heard someone being introduced as Scooter Libby and the picture on Wikipedia looks enough like him that I'm just going to go with it. I don't know if I've ever knowingly been in the room with a convicted felon before!

On Friday night, there was another reception and then the showing of Taking Chance, which debuted on HBO recently. It was really enjoyable and supposedly, Kevin Bacon and the movie's director and co-writer were supposed to be in attendance. Uh no. However, the real person who Kevin plays was there and told us his story and answered questions after the movie so that was pretty cool. As far as celebrities go, Stephen Baldwin was there again and so was Jeffrey Ross. Who we talked to!! My friend Elizabeth saw Jeffrey first and decided we should go talk to him and before I could say, "What will we say?" she was already there talking to him!

Here's how our conversation went:

Elizabeth: I was really rooting for you on Dancing with the Stars. It's too bad you got eliminated.

Jeffrey: Thanks! But you should watch on Tuesday! I'll be there to roast the finalists.

Me: Oh yeah, you're a great roastist!

Me: Wait, is that what it's called... someone who roasts?

Jeffrey: Hmm, I think it's "roastmaster?" But roastist... I like that!

Elizabeth: Good luck!

And that was about it. So if he uses the word "roastist" tonight, you can thank me. Because I'm sure a well-paid, professional comedian relies on random strangers to provide him with vocabulary. Anyway, it was exciting and he couldn't have been nicer. A side note: We didn't even try to talk to Stephen Baldwin. However, I should have offered my hand for him to shake. I shook Joan Rivers' hand a few months ago and she went on to win Celebrity Apprentice. He could use my special powers as he heads off to do I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out of Here.

Yes! We have power!!

We got this notice a few days ago that the power company would be turning off our power from 8pm tonight to 6am tomorrow. Which sucks, of course. Who wants to walk around in the dark with only candles and flashlights to get by? And not in the middle of prime time television! Supposedly this "planned" outage will prevent future "unplanned" outages so fine, I mean, I guess it's worth it. But, personally, I think it would make more sense to have it during the day.

Anyway, the kicker of the whole thing was that the letter actually said the planned power outage would be from "8pm on Thursday May 18 to 6am on Friday May 19". A quick look at a calendar will make it obvious that there is no Thursday May 18 this year. So do they mean this Thursday & Friday? Or do they mean the 18th and the 19th? Yeah, how nice of them to be so clear. A couple neighbors & I discussed it and one concluded that it must be the Thursday & Friday that is accurate since there was a makeup date of Thursday May 21st-Friday May 22nd. All right, it makes a certain amount of sense.

So I was out tonight and got back around midnight, fully expecting the power to be out. But nope! It did rain for awhile, so maybe that was problematic and would cause a postponement to the make-up date. Or maybe it will be out on the 18th. Who knows? All I know is that I am glad it's on tonight.

"It's Official: Disney Joins Hulu"

This is the best TV news I've heard in awhile! I was going to post about it a month or so ago when it was just a rumor but this is even better! I watch a lot of TV online and Hulu has, by far, the best platform for watching shows. I rarely have loading problems or picture problems when I'm watching Hulu and I cannot say the same for the ABC/Disney platform. Plus, the ability to queue videos, to set subscriptions so the newest episodes automatically queue, to embed videos or parts of videos (whatever parts you choose!) into your web site or share with others via email.... there are really a zillion things to love about Hulu and since I do watch a ton of ABC or ABC Family shows, it will just be great. The other small benefit here is that while all the platforms show short ads, with Hulu it automatically connects back to the program after the ad. The current Disney platform requires the user to "Click to Continue," which is kind of a pain in the butt. I just hope with all the added programming (and presumably users), there won't suddenly be viewing problems. (via)

Big Sports Weekend

It was over 90 degrees this weekend - way too hot for April - so I spent some of my time indoors watching sports! The NFL draft was on and I eagerly awaited the Browns pick at #5... which they promptly traded away for pick #17. Then, when it was time for pick #17, guess what? They traded that away for #19. And then, when it was time for #19, they traded it away YET again. Finally, at the 21st pick, they picked Alex Mack, a center from California. A center? Bor-ing!

More exciting news was that the Cavs won their playoff series against the Pistons in a four-game sweep. It was pretty much no contest the entire series and now they get at least a week off while the other series battle it out. I tell you, it's so strange to have a team that is the #1 seed, that is dominant over other teams and is basically expected to win. A team from Cleveland doing that? Seems so wrong.

In other weekend news, I went out to dinner on Friday night, saw a movie with a friend on Saturday and ran some errands (including a trip to Wegmans!!) on Sunday. Very exciting stuff. I also have a persistent cough. I hope it's not swine flu.

Work Happy Hour

I organized a work happy hour since we haven't had one in a few months (I think January was the last one) and for awhile had been doing them once a month. Throughout the day, it seemed like more and more people were telling me, "Oh, I can't go now" so I expected a paltry turnout but we ended up with 8 people over the course of a couple hours. Out of 24 employees, I don't think that's too bad. Comparing it to the librarian happy hours we organize, where we also often get 8 people, it's actually fantastic. I mean, the librarian happy hour pool is at least a couple hundred.

I Want One: Zip-It Necklace

How cute are these zipper necklaces? I really like them, but I wonder how much Au$50 translates to in US$? Also, you know how you can catch your skin in zippers and it hurts like hell? Will that happen with this necklace? (via)

Drenched!

I got so wet walking home from work today (well, from the subway stop). I saw the storm coming and was hurrying home to avoid it but I was still about 5 minutes away when it started pouring. Yes, I did have an umbrella, but the puddles formed so quickly that my shoes and the bottom of my pants got soaked. Yuck. At least I was heading home, though, and could change when I got there.

There was a huge package waiting in the lobby for my roommate when I got home. It was long and skinny, maybe 7 feet long. I thought it was skis. Normally, I might bring it up to our apartment so it doesn't get stolen, but there was no way I was going to drag this thing up there. Does that make me a bad roommate? I don't care, though, because I despise my roommate.

Go Cavs!

I'm so excited now that the NBA Playoffs have started. Basketball is my favorite sports and it's especially exciting that the Cavs are pretty much a favorite to head to the Finals, if not win it all. All kinds of accolades are heading their way, including Coach Mike Brown being named NBA Coach of the Year yesterday! Yay! LeBron is considered a shoo-in for the MVP award and here's a great article on why.

Anyway, Game 2 against the Pistons tonight. Go Cavs!

Happy April!

I really don't post much on my blog anymore, do I? Well here's three recent happenings...

#1 - I got my laptop! Yes, in fact, I'm using it right now. It came early, last Tuesday. However, it wasn't without some drama. I checked the tracking info and it said "Item delivered!" Except, no it wasn't delivered. I checked all over the office and it was nowhere. So I called FedEx and the woman seriously said, "It was supposed to go to 4350 and it went to 4250; is that the same place?" Umm, no, no it's not. But luckily the FedEx guy corrected his mistake before the day was over and I walked home with my brand new, shiny, pretty laptop. I've been using it and enjoying it, especially because...

#2 - I've been sick. Yeah, yuck. Just major congestion, making breathing difficult and giving me an awful, awful headache. Allergies are very very common here so everyone asks me if I was sure that it was a cold and not allergies but I'm pretty sure it's just a cold. I mean, I could possibly develop allergies but I've never had them before and here we are like 72 hours after I started feeling sick and I'm already feeling better. I don't think allergies go away that quickly do they? Anyway I did miss two full days of work (in an already short week!) but feel much better as I type here. Thank God for Mucinex D.

#3 - Work has been pretty busy but in a manageable way. They sent me to Chicago last week for two days so it's always fun to get out of the office (although I won't deny that the traveling probably contributed to me getting sick). Even though we really only hung out by O'Hare, a coworker & I stayed an extra night to head downtown. We were going to see Second City but things didn't work out so instead we hit a nice restaurant next door and then walked around Rush Street.

I Bought a Laptop!

Yes, it's very exciting news to me because I've never had a laptop before, even though I've wanted one for years and even though it would have come in really handy when I was in grad school. Instead, I've been stuck to a desk anytime I wanted to use my computer for the last 10 or 12 years, however long I've owned a PC. Right now the plan is to keep the desktop too but since it's from 2002 (or 2003 maybe?), it's quite a few years old and I'm guessing the laptop is going to be so much quicker and faster and exciting and, of course, portable! So it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that I stop using my desktop. Anyway, it seemed like a good deal and I have tax refund money so I finally broke down and bought it. It's supposed to arrive on April 8th. Oh, and you're welcome, economy.

Turned Away

So I'm a big Coke drinker (Coke Zero actually). Anyone who knows me probably already knows this. For work, I've taken to buying 2 liters and keeping them in my office since we have ice readily available and then instead of spending about $1.50 per 12 ounces at the little convenient store in our building, I'm spending about $1.50 for a 2 liter that generally lasts me a week. The problem is that since I don't drive to work anymore, that means I either have to carry the 2 liter on my 10 minute walk to the subway (not very desirable since I'm not kind of a wuss) or I make an occasional trip to work on the weekends and drop off some 2 liters. The latter is what I planned to do today. A grocery store here is selling all its 2 liters for 10 for $10 so I stocked up and thought I would drop like 4 or 5 off at work. Otherwise, they sit in my car. I armed myself with four 2 liters and headed into the building carefully (that's heavy!) and when I got up to our office, I couldn't get in! We have three doors and the door entry code would not work on ANY of the doors. Ugh, I was so frustrated. Usually, the only time we change the door code is when someone leaves and considering I was at work until 6:30pm Friday night, I'm pretty positive no one just up and quit over the weekend. So what's the deal? I'm really annoyed. I came home and checked my work email and there isn't even an answer there. The only thing I can guess is that somehow the daylight savings switch affected it? Who knows? But I do know that all our office bigwigs are out of town until Thursday at a seminar so I can hope that this means we won't be able to come into the office for three days. Maybe?