Catch-up! Watermelon! Kayaking!

I said I'd update you, but I failed to do so. Sorry. I'll update you now.

At the time of our last post, the car was broken down again. Turns out they had just forgotten to tighten a hose or something. They fixed it and we haven't had any car problems since. Life has been so much simpler since all of that stuff.

Heidi and I have been making ice cream lately. It is the best thing ever. So far we've made raspberry sorbet, blueberry sorbet, peppermint ice cream, coconut ice cream, peach/blackberry swirl ice cream, and watermelon sorbet. All were amazing. The coconut was pretty heavy. For the peppermint we had to crush 30 or so of those little peppermint candy things with a hammer. It was about 11 pm at the time (wasn't tired) and I don't think our neighbors appreciated that. The watermelon was best. It actually looked like just squished watermelon, but it tasted incredible. I wish we had taken a picture.

But it looked exactly like this.

We've still been adventuring in D.C. It's been incredibly hot and humid for the Summer, though, so we haven't gotten out as much as we'd like. But last weekend we went kayaking in a little canal right next to the Potomac. The water was perfectly still and there was a pleasant breeze. It was wonderful. Except this fly hitched a ride in my kayak and kept biting my legs for like an hour. It was unkillable. Karma?

Not pictured: Beelzebub

Most importantly, my little brother got married. The wedding was gorgeous. Here are some pictures.

I promise I'll do better with posting more often. Trust me.

Hiding in a ditch on the side of the road

A bit has happened since the last post. I'm not too happy about it.

I left off where we dropped our beloved car off at Gill's Automotive. The next day we called them up to see what the damage was. We were told that the engine was blown, they had no idea how it happened, and they were 100% sure it was not their fault. A new engine would be $5000.

I'm pretty sure that was a lie on their part, but I'll never know. I replied saying that wasn't going to happen, at which point they said their insurance would be calling us.

Long story short, Gill's insurance paid for a new Jasper engine. For insurance purposes they accepted the blame. They had replaced the timing belt, clutch, and a couple other things. It doesn't really matter whose fault it is as long as I've got a new engine.

I drove the fixed car out of the shop last Tuesday, and was so relieved that it felt the same. Then today we drove the car to the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was nice.

In happier times.

On the way back there was a pretty good traffic jam on the freeway due to an accident. It was stop-and-go for about 20 minutes. We passed by the accident (didn't look too bad) and I switched to fifth gear, excited to be cruising again.. But the car wouldn't speed up. In fact, it was slowing down. We lurched a little and my power steering gave out, then the car just stalled. All the lights on my dashboard shined at me with enthusiasm. I rolled to the left shoulder.

GIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!

I didn't actually say that. But I should have. It was more like "GRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

It was able to start again several times, but each time it would stall once I brought it down to idle. So we called AAA again. They said we can only call them one more time this year. Mr. Tow came right after it got dark - only a few minutes after my battery died so all my lights went off. In the dark. On the side of a busy freeway. I tried to light my emergency roadside flares, but we couldn't read the dark-blue-on-red instructions.

We didn't walk home from Gill's this time. We had the tow truck guy drive us over.

We'll see what Gill's says in the morning. Again, I'm not paying for it.

The Orange Car

I never would have thought that a material possession could be so important. But the thought of losing it is hard for me to imagine.

I got the car for my high school graduation in 2003. At the time it was a brand new Mazda Protege Speed. It's always been so... orange. It's a manual. No cruise-control. And the dashboard is wonderfully old-school. No electronics are visible. It's really a very awesome car. Up until now it has never even threatened to break down. It's needed routine maintenance, sure, but nothing more for the last eight years.

Driving the car on that back road to Mivoden has always been one of my favorite things. The car isn't built much for speed, but it can corner like nothing else. It's like it's leaning into the corners before I even start turning. You can feel the road. I had to work very hard to slide the back tires going around the tight corners at 45 mph. But I managed it a couple times. That car can handle any corner at well over twice the speed recommended by those "optional" yellow signs.

On my first date with Heidi I was driving us to Olive Garden with a TV in the backseat (no idea why). I was kind of showing off my driving skills until I hit a corner really hard and the TV blew through my right passenger window. I almost cried on our first date, and I am so glad it happened.

Heidi and I drove off in that car after our wedding.

For our first Summer as a married couple I took some classes at the Rosario Beach Marine Station. For the trip there we crammed every single thing we owned into that car. It rode a little low for the six-hour drive, but didn't seem any worse for the wear. And it handled the drive back to Walla Walla - again loaded with everything - just fine.

Our drive across the country last September to Virginia definitely put some miles on the car. It started making some worrisome noises, so we sent it into the shop a couple weeks ago. Turned out we needed to replace the clutch and a few bearings in the transmission. Then we got the car back today. I was so relieved to be driving it again. We drove two miles to Lowe's to get a flower pot and some screws for our dresser. Then as I started pulling out of the parking lot I felt the clutch jiggling a bit, then this awful screeching sound, then the car died. I tried to start it again but only got more awful sound, so I decided I better not try to start it anymore.

We called AAA to get a tow-truck. The tow-guy tried turning the key and listened to the sound, then sort of braced himself against the seat. In his New York/hillbilly hybrid accent he informed me that the car sounded "real bad" and he wouldn't be surprised if the whole engine was shot to bits. He liked the color though.

But what does he know? He's probably wrong. The car is going to be okay.

He took the car and Heidi and I to the repair shop where the car had just been "fixed" over the last week. Unfortunately the shop was closed for the evening. Heidi and I opted for him to leave us there and we walked home. It was only a mile, I think, but it felt like a long walk. The rain did not lift our spirits.

It's pretty obvious that the folks at the shop broke something, so I'm hoping that they'll fix it and cover the cost. But I'm also worried that the damage is irrepairable. And the implications of that got me thinking.

I never thought that an object could have such an effect on me. Without the car I'll still have my memories, but it's like I wouldn't be connected to them anymore. It would be like none of it actually happened.

We're so far away from most of the people we know and love (aside from those new friends we've made here, who have made our time here so far very pleasant). And we got here - so far away - in that car. It's like our only connection back. Without the car, home won't feel like it was ever really there. That last connection would be severed. Every major event in my life since high school has sort of centered around that car. It's part of my identity.

But we don't know it's dead yet. I'll bike over to the shop tomorrow morning and talk to them about it. I just have to sleep first.

Such a cool car

Sean's First Day of Work

My job is going to be really cool. I had orientation stuff today, but more exciting things are on the way.

The campus is beautiful, and you can see outside from just about everywhere. They have a cafeteria where the food is sold at cost. I had excellent tortellini with primavera sauce for about $3. A few people have mentioned that new employees at Janelia often experience something similar to The Freshman 15. But they have a gym on campus, so hopefully that won't happen. But the cookie(s) was(were) really good.

I can grab any lab coat from the supplies room and wear it until I'm tired of it, then I throw it into the hamper and get a new one! The old dirty coats magically disappear.

Every person I met there was super nice. I suspect that in the long term that may be the best part. I'm working with a team of five others and a leader, and they all seem like great people. We are working on something called the Fly Olympiad. I'll explain more when I understand everything better, but it looks like Olympiad is a pretty good word for it. We send many, many flies through lots and lots of experiments. But in the real Olympics, people aren't killed when they fail. Well. They aren't killed on site anyways. I was a little worried when China hosted the Olympics.

Remember that game you used to play as a kid where you had to get across the room without touching the floor because it was "lava"?

Some homes were more fun than others

One experiment I'll be doing involves putting a whole bunch of flies on a surface in the middle of several concentric rings that increase in size and thickness as you go out. Each ring is actually a sharp trench filled with liquid Fly Killing Stuff (lava). Flies that make it out of all the circles win, and they get to have babies. The cowardly flies who don't try to make it out don't get to make babies. But the ones who try but fall into the rings really don't get to make babies because they are dead.

This effectively sorts out the more active and agile flies. I'm very excited, and you'll hear more details later on.

A Good Day

We've just been hanging around D.C. over this last week, but now we're finally getting somewhere. We had been looking for a house and today we signed a lease for a pleasant little condo in Sterling, Virginia! We're hopefully moving in on Tuesday. Here's a picture I took from the porch while we were checking it out:

The porch features railings so you don't fall and get injured to death

The community is called Dominion Station, and behind that building is the pool! I know, we'll probably never use it. But still. It's a POOL!

The next step is moving all of our stuff here from College Place, Washington. I've been getting quotes from moving companies, and we're looking at around $4500. So that might not work. Our new home might be a little bit... spacious. At least until we figure out how to get our stuff here.

Heidi got a job as a lead teacher at a preschool about three miles from our new home! So that means her commute probably won't be too much more than an hour! Not bad. She starts work this Monday.

I also finally got that job I've been pushing to get for a few months. I'm excited and relieved. The job is going to be perfect. It's at Janelia Farm Research Campus, which is under Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The place itself is gorgeous and modern. Here's a picture:

The whole place looks AT LEAST this cool

I've heard it referred to as "Science Heaven." I'll talk more about the job some other time, but to over-succinctify, I'll be doing Science there. Lots of the people there are my age! That's good. I'm starting work on October 4.

We found out about both our jobs and our new home today. So today was good.

I'm going to have a couple more weeks to do whatever I feel like. I think I may choose to spend most of that time with you, my faithful reader, by blogging four times a day.

Epic Road Trip, Days 7-9, etc.

You didn't miss much! Heidi got an interview in D.C., so we drove over right quick. About 25 hours of driving in three days, in fact. But we enjoyed it. Heidi is interviewing for a tutoring job as we speak, and I'm in the same coffee shop watching her impress the interviewer. A job interview in a coffee shop! How cool is that? My job is still somewhat up in the air, but I'm pretty sure I've got it. The job would be incredibly awesome.

So we're probably moving to D.C.!

Or more like the Ashburn area. It's not too far from D.C.

We don't have a home yet, so we're casually looking for a place to rent. After Heidi's interview, we're touring a little townhouse. Of course, we can't rent until we're sure we've got jobs, but we're right on the verge of being sure.

"You look terrible, Sean." "Quiet, self!" "You're talking to yourself, Sean."

Sorry we haven't taken pictures in a while. The driving was uneventful (fortunately) and now that we're in D.C. we've been PTSD-triggeringly busy. Driving to interviews in D.C. is stressful. Our nerves are about shot what with the intense driving, interviewing, and homelessness (we've found a week-long place to stay for cheap, so we're okay).

Fun? Yes. Terrifying? Yes.

Epic Road Trip, Continued

Day 4: Yellowstone!

After a long drive from Glacier to Yellowstone, we found a campsite at Indian Creek and settled in. The next morning we got up early and toured Yellowstone, including Old Faithful, the Paint Pots, the Mud Volcano, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Falls, and countless steam vents, pools, and geysers.

We ate lunch with Gus the buffalo, who sat and watched us from the nearby woods. Four times during the trip we were close enough to touch buffalo just by driving along the road. We also saw coyote, dear, elk, and maybe a bear. Without binoculars we weren't quite sure.

During our two nights in Yellowstone, the temperature dipped below freezing and frost covered our tent, firewood, and car. The first night and morning we couldn't get a fire started with the wet and cold wood, but the second night we made it work and had grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and corn on the cob. The next morning a sweet couple from Scotland or Ireland (maybe one from each?) had some left over boiling water so we were able to have a hot breakfast!

Day 5: To Grandma's House

We left Yellowstone and drove across Wyoming, including the charming town of Emblem, population: 10. By that evening, we were in my Grandma's house in Hot Springs, SD, enjoying hot homemade food, hot showers, and a real bed.

Day 6: East as far as we can get

This morning we had to leave Grandma and Uncle Carl, sadly, and continue our trek. I got an unexpected phone call inviting me to interview for a teaching job in an inner-city DC charter school. I'd applied months ago, but wasn't hired, until a teacher quit after school had already started. I'm interviewing Tuesday, and if I get the position, starting on Wednesday. Sean also got pleasant news when his top choice for a job contacted him and informed him that they are "very much interested" in him! We're so excited to have things start to work out and are making our way to DC as fast as we can. Nothing's final until it's final, of course, so if we don't get the jobs, we'll just pick up our epic road trip from there and head north to see Boston, New England, and Niagara Falls.