My boss isn’t in till tomorrow, but I’m glad I came in today.
They told me that my computer would be all set up today, and of course it wasn’t. So that took all morning. I had been told to leave behind my PC and laptop for my other team, but then someone else told me today that I should have brought them over. Arggh! Some things never change.
Luckily I was able to at least run over and get my laptop – and not run into anybody, yay! – so that I could at least check email. Turned out I had a whole bunch from my old job. Of course the moment I leave, all these requests come through. But at least I didn’t have to fulfill the requests, just answer some questions.
It definitely feels weird to be in a new spot, a completely different building in fact. I know where the ladies’ room is at least, having had lots of meetings on this floor, but I’m not sure about the kitchen or copy room. I had the impression the cafeteria here was nicer than the other one, but it’s not. While it’s bigger, the selection is far more limited. Plus the register lady was nasty, and not just to me. I may continue to get my food from the other caf, at least in the morning, which isn’t a big deal since I walk past it from my bus anyway.
As for the weekend, it was a nice one. I had Friday off. I slept in, then headed out around noon for the gym (MB had a lunch meeting). It was good workout – four miles. Afterwards we just hung out, took walks, ate dinner. Watched I’m Not There on DVD. It was interesting but a little confusing at first. Cate Blanchette was amazing as one of the Bob Dylans.
Saturday was SG’s baby shower in DC. I decided to go down just for the day since the hotels were sort of expensive. I was taking a 7 AM train, which meant getting up at 5:30. Yikes! And of course having slept in Friday morning, I wasn’t tired till like almost 2 AM.
But I was okay during the day. On the ride down, I expected to sleep, but felt good and energized with my coffee, iPod, and daydreaming out the window. Got into Union Station around 10:45. I thought I’d have time to walk around, but by the time I grabbed a snack and freshened up, it was time to head over to the restaurant.
I’ve never been to a baby shower. I have just one other friend who has a kid, SB, and she’s Jewish, which means no baby shower. So I was picturing a roomful of mommies and moms-to-be ooing and ahing over every burping blanket and teething ring.
But it wasn’t. It was fun. I think it helped that the room was a mixture of marrieds, singles, and those with or without kids. There was lots of laughing and joking around. One of the games was Forbidden Words: there was a select list of words – baby, onesie, carriage, etc. – that we couldn’t say. Each person was given three safety pins, and every time someone heard someone else say one of the forbidden words, they could take a pin, and whoever had the most at the end won.
I wasn’t paying attention, I have to say. At the end when SG was opening gifts, one of which was a Baby Bjorn, for some reason, I said the name aloud: “Baby Bjorn.” Next thing I knew two people were putting their hands to me. SG said the look on my face was, “Wtf?” Needless to say I didn’t win that game.
I did win the baby animal game though. We were given a list of 20 animals and had to fill in what the baby version was called. Like gosling for goose. Some of them were hard! Did you know a baby hare is called a leveret? I had never heard of such a thing. But I still won: eight out of 20. The prize was a very nice L’Occitane set, hand cream and a really good smelling body lotion. I’ve been using it although I have like three others open.
The food was good too. It was high tea so we had little savory sandwiches, as well as trays of desserts. The scones were out of this world, as was the clotted cream, which I thought was butter, just much softer and a little sweet. The shower was scheduled to end at 2:30, but it was four by the time we left.
SG and I hung out for a bit after dropping off her mom, then picked up her other friend, and we all had dinner together. More laughing and talking.
Caught an 8:30 train back. It was quiet and quick – till we got right outside Newark, that is. We were chugging along when I heard a weird noise, like a bump. Suddenly we stopped and just sat there for I don’t even know how long. Thirty, forty minutes before an announcement finally came on that a “rescue train” was coming from New York and we’d all have to walk up to the first car.
We all assumed that the train had simply broken down. But as we walked, I saw policemen on the tracks, as well as cop cars, a firetruck, and an ambulance. Then I started to realize that we hadn’t just broken down, and what that “bump” was. Yikes.
I can’t even remember what time it was when we finally got on the rescue train, but it was definitely after 2 by the time I got home, two hours late. But MB was still up, that night owl, and we hung out for a bit before finally going to sleep at 3.
Slept in immensely on Sunday. MB even woke up before me, which almost never happens.
He had another lunch meeting, but this time we left together. His meeting was in Times Square so I hung out around Bryant Park till he was done, specifically the International Center of Photography. They had a really good exhibit on Japanese photographers.
When we met up, it was raining again. Boo! So we just grabbed something to eat, got this book I needed for class, then took it easy the rest of the day.
This is probably the last day that I’ll be able to blog from work for a good long while. Although my last job sucked, I could really slack a lot. Now I can’t. I’m better off not doing personal stuff at work anyway.
