Few more Portland pics and moaning about airfares

[thrihyrne]

Today I had another IKEA adventure with my downstairs neighbor. We also stopped by the DMV so I could get a booklet to read and study before I contemplate trying to take the written test to get an Oregon driver's license. I'm glad he was with me; he went inside and got forms and the book, thank goodness, because there was nowhere to park! He said there were probably 150 people there. I think I'll wait until I'm on my regular shift so I can go in mid-day on a Thursday.

We went to Ikea and I ended up buying a bedframe, slats, sheets, and a new, much thicker mattress. I assembled the bed this afternoon and I'm just thrilled. It's so comfortable. WOW. A month after I've moved, and at last I'm no longer sleeping on a thin mattress. This will doubtless do tremendous things for my mental health as doubtless I'll sleep better and quit being so achey all the time!


The first one is of the AAA building where I'll be working. I didn't mention this yesterday, but they have a thing called 'Friday Surprise,' and it turns out that at the end of the day, one by one each of us took a live call, hands shaking, scared out of our minds. But we all survived. It wasn't the suavest, smoothest call in the world (mine), but neither was it a complete travesty. And thanks to that, I've not been obsessing nearly as much as I would have. I've also come to an inner reconciliation about it all: I'll do my best and not worry about speed. I'm there to take care of people with a quality of service, and that's what I'll do. Speed will come, or it won't.

So... here's the building.


And here's my new bed!!


My room, and an interesting bit of metalwork I picked up from the Pier 1 in Harrisonburg last spring but had never hung up anywhere until now:


The house owner here has a daughter, Miranda, aged 9, who's here just about every other weekend and sometimes during the week. She's here this weekend and made a cat home with boxes, a towel, and a cat toy on a stick. Tigey, the cat, loves it.



In craptastic news, I'm doing research into air fares to get to London and back for the conference in October, also seeing veloona and callumjames. Callum, you will be around in mid-October, right??! I'd love to get over to Ireland for a few days as well, but figure I can finagle those logistics closer to time. I'm appalled at the air fares, and can't even think of the spending money since the £ is double the US dollar. Ouch. But $920 from Baltimore to London and back?? WTF?! I'm used to spending $1500 to get to Australia, but I've never spent more than $600 from the east coast to the U.K. Anybody have any suggestions?

Hope you're having a good weekend. I'm off to do some beta'ing. I'd also love to see some pictures/videos of any Olympics diving, but I'm so out of the loop and I don't think that any has happened yet. ♥

Comments

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Isn't Tigey beautiful? The funny thing is that I came home tonight, having worked over an hour of overtime as it was to avoid some traffic, and I was the only human being in the house. This is incredibly rare. There was Billy (Rachel's cat) on the table, looking forlornly at me as though to say, "You're not Rachel!" and Tigey sprawled on the floor. Jim, downstairs neighbor with whom I've had a couple of Portland adventures, is nearly always here. So for me to come home on a Friday evening and it be just me was rather disconcerting, actually.

Work is much less worrisome, though I'm applying for a position at Reed College, just a bus-ride down from where I am, and doing things that I've done in my past and I'd love to do again. I'd switch jobs in a heartbeat, really.

I miss you!! And you're off to Burning Man in not long, yes? I thought of you a week or so ago (in particular, not in general, as you're quite often in my thoughts, lol) as there was a sign in a consignment shop that said, "Get your Burning Man outfit here!" I immediately thought of you, of course. I also got to see snottygrrl's pics from KiwiBurning, the NZ version of burning man. I might do better there; fewer people! ;P

((((huge hugs)))) I'll write you properly soon. You can read it whenever you're back in town for a little while. *g*

[verdenia.livejournal.com]

Hee at Reed College--I remember being in HS and reading about students taking finals up in trees, and thought that was SO cool. ;p

OMG I miss you so! It was so lovely having you here. I'm enjoying my current houseguest kabal42 muchly as well. ;p

Yeah, we leave in a week! Eeeps! Heh. Packing to do, yipes, I say! Yay for b'man outfits -- I betcha some parts of Portland will be a ghost town during b'man. So if there is a hipster coffee house you've been wanting to check out, but it is always busy -- this may well be the time to go! ;P

I've heard of KiwiBurning! Very cool! Yeah, definitely less people at the Regionals, and a way to ease into it. There is a Portland regional every summer, I know, called Soak. :P

*HUGE HUGS* to you!!! ♥ !