It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

P and I began the day by blundering around western Montgomery County looking for White's Ferry before we finally found it; we did find Edwards' Ferry, but since that hadn't been open since 1836 it wasn't much use to us. So we crossed the river on the ferry, which was pretty cool. The last time I'd been on a ferry was during a night movement back when I was on active duty, so I didn't get to enjoy it as much. After crossing into Loudoun County and being unable to agree on what to do for lunch, I dropped P off at the Seastrom Lair and went to check in at my temporary home for the next few days, the Towne Place Suites in Chantilly, which isn't actually as far from my assignment in Newington as one might think. Having dropped off my stuff and eaten a late lunch at the local Chick-fil-A (okay chicken sandwich and waffle fries, but next time I'm ordering the sandwich without the pickles. Yuck.) I hung out and waited for P to call me so we could head up to Frederick, but when she did call it was to tell me that she'd hit her Social Effectiveness Limit for the weekend and was going to stay home and chill.

Well, so. I wound up driving up to see Brian, Brenda (not Dutch's wife, the other one) and some of their neighbors, kids & in-laws by myself, and P missed a pretty nice drive up US 15 to Point of Rocks and on into Frederick. Meat was grilled (including deer which was AWESOME), other foods eaten, much conversation was had and edminster even made an appearance, which I was glad to see since he hasn't posted since disappearing into the fleshpots of Vegas. All too soon it was 10 PM, and I needed to hit the road back to Chantilly by way of the all-night Wal-Mart so I could obtain foodz and more maps, and also by way of the Waffle House so I could stoke the fires and add coffee so I could be sure of arriving in Chantilly instead of decorating a tree en route. This I then did, and got back here about 0100.

Tomorrow I need to get some stuff out of storage, like more work shirts. I also need to call the MN DVS and ask them WTF I should do about my now-expired tabs, and get some other answers about PO boxes and bank accounts. All this, more job hunting, and a few more chapters of McAuslan Entire, which Dutch was kind enough to lend me on Saturday. Insh'allah.

It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

P and I began the day by blundering around western Montgomery County looking for White's Ferry before we finally found it; we did find Edwards' Ferry, but since that hadn't been open since 1836 it wasn't much use to us. So we crossed the river on the ferry, which was pretty cool. The last time I'd been on a ferry was during a night movement back when I was on active duty, so I didn't get to enjoy it as much. After crossing into Loudoun County and being unable to agree on what to do for lunch, I dropped P off at the Seastrom Lair and went to check in at my temporary home for the next few days, the Towne Place Suites in Chantilly, which isn't actually as far from my assignment in Newington as one might think. Having dropped off my stuff and eaten a late lunch at the local Chick-fil-A (okay chicken sandwich and waffle fries, but next time I'm ordering the sandwich without the pickles. Yuck.) I hung out and waited for P to call me so we could head up to Frederick, but when she did call it was to tell me that she'd hit her Social Effectiveness Limit for the weekend and was going to stay home and chill.

Well, so. I wound up driving up to see Brian, Brenda (not Dutch's wife, the other one) and some of their neighbors, kids & in-laws by myself, and P missed a pretty nice drive up US 15 to Point of Rocks and on into Frederick. Meat was grilled (including deer which was AWESOME), other foods eaten, much conversation was had and edminster even made an appearance, which I was glad to see since he hasn't posted since disappearing into the fleshpots of Vegas. All too soon it was 10 PM, and I needed to hit the road back to Chantilly by way of the all-night Wal-Mart so I could obtain foodz and more maps, and also by way of the Waffle House so I could stoke the fires and add coffee so I could be sure of arriving in Chantilly instead of decorating a tree en route. This I then did, and got back here about 0100.

Tomorrow I need to get some stuff out of storage, like more work shirts. I also need to call the MN DVS and ask them WTF I should do about my now-expired tabs, and get some other answers about PO boxes and bank accounts. All this, more job hunting, and a few more chapters of McAuslan Entire, which Dutch was kind enough to lend me on Saturday. Insh'allah.

There's a reason I call that car the "Pious"

Eco-weenies choose the Prius over Honda hybrids because the Hondas look like a normal car. Gee, what a surprise. Guess it wasn't about saving the planet after all but flaunting your devotion to Gaia. Me, I think I'm going to get some price quotes on these, since these selfless souls are out there conserving gas so I can burn it. Y'all still going to Hell. (Rachel)

Song unrelated. Trust me on this.

There's a reason I call that car the "Pious"

Eco-weenies choose the Prius over Honda hybrids because the Hondas look like a normal car. Gee, what a surprise. Guess it wasn't about saving the planet after all but flaunting your devotion to Gaia. Me, I think I'm going to get some price quotes on these, since these selfless souls are out there conserving gas so I can burn it. Y'all still going to Hell. (Rachel)

Song unrelated. Trust me on this.

A good argument for the core curriculum

E.D. Hirsch makes it, and Cobb amplifies it. RTWT.

( I have my own thoughts on this. )

A good argument for the core curriculum

E.D. Hirsch makes it, and Cobb amplifies it. RTWT.

( I have my own thoughts on this. )

things to think about

Housing is more expensive here than it is back in Minneapolis. OTOH, most apartment leases include utilities, and some of them even include basic cable.

Food is pretty much a wash; prices in the local Wal-Mart Supercenter are about the same as they are in the Twin Cities. Gas is cheaper, though; I filled up for $2.59/gallon yesterday at a Sunoco outside of Leesburg. This compares well to the $3.08 I would have been paying at the SuperAmerica near the old apartment in Bloomington.

Dining out is pretty expensive. Even in the fast food places, it doesn't take much to rack up a $10 tab. This is probably a result of the high labor costs out here, which are driven by the housing and apparently not affected much by the noticeable crowds of Latino illegals. God knows how many Irish, Russian, Chinese and other varieties of illegal immigrant are being missed by la migra.

Spent the day applying for federal jobs and adjunct teaching positions at local community colleges. Ironically, I could wind up working for the IRS. Why is this ironic? Because I've had to pay extra to Uncle Sam pretty much every year for the past 5-7 years, that's why. We'll see how it goes.

things to think about

Housing is more expensive here than it is back in Minneapolis. OTOH, most apartment leases include utilities, and some of them even include basic cable.

Food is pretty much a wash; prices in the local Wal-Mart Supercenter are about the same as they are in the Twin Cities. Gas is cheaper, though; I filled up for $2.59/gallon yesterday at a Sunoco outside of Leesburg. This compares well to the $3.08 I would have been paying at the SuperAmerica near the old apartment in Bloomington.

Dining out is pretty expensive. Even in the fast food places, it doesn't take much to rack up a $10 tab. This is probably a result of the high labor costs out here, which are driven by the housing and apparently not affected much by the noticeable crowds of Latino illegals. God knows how many Irish, Russian, Chinese and other varieties of illegal immigrant are being missed by la migra.

Spent the day applying for federal jobs and adjunct teaching positions at local community colleges. Ironically, I could wind up working for the IRS. Why is this ironic? Because I've had to pay extra to Uncle Sam pretty much every year for the past 5-7 years, that's why. We'll see how it goes.