Almost Time!

I had a quiet weekend, with a trial of the metro system. I went to Dupont Circle near mid-town and checked out some bookshops. Definitely a place to come back to with Lori but unfortunately it was raining harder and harder so decided to head back.

A note for LA: here's a place to try when you're here that's just around the corner: Il Radicchio on Clarendon.

I did manage a workout and a short period at the pool today.

Now I'm just counting the hours until I fly back to Dubai to collect Lori and the kids....

Fones, Flops and Fleas...

Well, it's been awhile between postings. I seem to be spending all my time either chasing up arrangements for our move, chasing up my phone/computer/desk space, looking at houses or trying to come up to speed on what I should be doing at work. It's 3 weeks now I've been waiting for my phone and a desk. I got my computer but it's got an error message that pops up everytime I start it up.

Other than that, things are going along as well as can be expected - in the US. In Dubai it's another story all together. I'll have to enlist Lori to fill in the blanks at a later date but suffice it to say, it's not been even in the same zip code as beer and skittles.

I've been through an estimated 65 houses looking for a decent rental or sale property. Pretty bizarre selections out there, let me tell you. I've been through numerous rentals that are not in any shape for occupation. I've seen properties on the market for sale that leave me with only one thought..."what the...?"

Every home I saw seemed to be just a half a bubble off. Excellent renovations on everything except...the kitchen. Much money spent on some rooms but other rooms completely overlooked. Cables hanging out of walls and lights that don't work during the inspection and lawns left to become a jungle. Not things that make you say, "I really gotta live here".

The main one that didn't take my fancy was the 1970's party pad rental with the deep blue carpet, cat pee scented basement and...wait for it...fleas. Yes, after my inspection of the place, I stepped outside, feeling a prickly feeling on my lower legs (I was wearing shorts). The agent looked down and cried, "you've got fleas!" Sure enough, I had fleas all over my legs beneath the knees. I managed to shake them all off but by the end of the day I couldn't wait to take a nice long shower!

The Digs

The digs here at the Oakwood are pretty nice, thank you. Central to everything including my office and the Local Firehouse #10. The nice alarms go off every time of the evening and night, sometimes 5 times a night and often at 2-4 am. How thoughtful...

House Hunting

Well, I headed out early (6.30 pm) with the agent to look at some prospective domiciles. Based on the internet photos Lori and I were taken with a very nice home in Falls Church with hard wood floors, wood paneling in the living room, 3 levels and cathedral window in the dining room. Sounds great; then I saw the kitchen. Hmmm...Lori's pretty tiny but not THAT tiny!

Jim Evans Squared

Whooo - loridubai.blogspot.com wrote about IASW (it's a small world) moments that we had in Alaska (see August 02 entry) . Well, here's IASW4: my company has a "preferred" real estate agent in Virginia called Avery-Hess. The referred agent was: Jim Evans; his wife's name is Laura. Laura is the one that takes people house hunting so it's interesting when she hands out her cards with a picture of Jim & Laura Evans on it and I introduce myself as Jim. Some folks have assumed we're the agents. Laura has to explain that I'm the prospective buyer. It's actually a pretty good ice breaker.

Monument Marathon

Pretty dramatic title but hey, might keep some of you from nodding off.....zzzzz...what, where was I? Oh yeah, today I did a marathon walk from Rosslyn (Arlington) through the National Cemetary - here's the website, past the Marine Memorial and across the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial and to the Capitol Mall; here's that website.

I walked up past the White House and had my photo taken by about a thousand people even tho I was trying to dodge their shots - it's nearly impossible to walk near there without getting into someone's photo. I'll get my own photos of all these when I have my gorgeous model with me.

Then I walked over to the Smithsonian and checked out the Natural History, American History and Air and Space Museums. The biggest trouble was finding water to refill my bottle. Water costs nearly US$3 a bottle. I finally found a fountain and the Air and Space Museum but the water tasted pretty nasty. Still, it was enough to get me back past the Jefferson and Franklin Roosevelt Memorials and back to the flop.

I gotta say I was pretty happy to be back "home" - my legs were killing me. Oh well, got me some culture and that's what really counts, right?

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

A New Beginning

Well, I've finally got my computer and am able to start my journal. I arrived back in the US at Dulles Airport at 2:30 pm on Monday August 1. After flying halfway around the world from Dubai, with a 5 1/2 hour layover in Amsterdam airport, all I wanted was to get to my apartment and have a shower. Well, after getting my luggage it took a little while to figure out how to get a taxi. Unlike most other airports in the world, you can't just go to the taxi rank, you have to first find the official "taxi approver person" in the official "taxi doorway" which is nowwhere near the freaking arrivals part of the airport.

Anyhow, I found it after about 15 minutes of pushing my luggage trolley around the place and got my little pamphlet with a scribbled "7" on it. I guess that stands for Arlington. I got in the cab and the driver didn't know the apartment until I told him "Arlington" even though he saw the "7" on the my pamphlet...good system, that. Anyway, whilst driving he was (of course) talking on the cell phone. I noticed he was speaking arabic so when he was finished I asked him where he was from - Syria. We then had a little chat about the Middle East and Dubai and that made the trip go a bit faster.

When I arrived at the Oakwood Worldwide apartments I paid the cabbie and took my luggage inside. Then it turns out there wasn't a room for me for the night, they were overbooked. So I called the boss and asked what to do. He said that a room had been booked for me at the Hyatt and I had been notified by email...EMAIL? How do I get email at umpteen (that's metric) thousand feet up in the air??

Anyway, I then walked down the hill (it's only 90F/32C here) to the Hyatt, checked in, got a cab back to the Oakwood, got my luggage, back to the Hyatt then attempted to fit my luggage into the room. I really hope the company got a discount on the room since I couldn't turn around inside! Reminds me of when I stayed at the Duck Inn in Kenai Alaska one time. That room was so small the mice couldn't take deep breaths (badaboom!)

Well, I managed to settle in for the night. Had to eat my dinner on the bed 'cause there wasn't room anywhere else. I took photos of the room to show just how rough the mice had it.

Oh, and just to top it off, the ice machine was just across the hall - I got to hear it dump ice every 15 minutes ALL NIGHT LONG!