Getting settled

So this blog includes a bit of the past 3 days. I suppose most blogs will include multiple days, because I’m not enough of a loser to update every day. ...Or am I? We shall see.

Anyway, Friday morning I drove to the trailer park to sign the lease and move in. And the landlady wasn’t there. So I wandered around Target and Walmart, looking for a frying pan. I got a baking sheet. And who do I see there? The landlady. Now she’s a nice old southern lady, but I really wish I could figure out her hours. She kinda works on her own time I guess. And she’s obsessed with yardwork. Anyway, as she was shopping, she told me she wouldn’t be home for a few hours.

Next I called Julian and told him I couldn’t move in til the afternoon, and he said he could show me around the sites at SRS. So I drove down there, showed them my shiny new badge, met Julian at the office, got a radio number (13Mike), and we set off. I soon learned the protocol for radioing in every time I changed grid locations. This place is anal like that. We got to the first of 8 patch sites, walked around to each patch, (A,B,C,D, and E, arranged in a set way) and listened for buntings. We did this for the next 4 sites, and I hopefully marked the right dirt road to each one on the SRS map. By then it was about 3 PM, and to give me enough time to move in, we just drove to the other sites, but didn’t get out to look.

So I drove back to the trailer park, found the landlady, gave her all my money, got the keys, and moved all my stuff inside. Meanwhile, Beck (my boyfriend if I haven’t mentioned him yet) called to let me know he made it to the Netherlands. He’s doing genetic/microbiologic research there for 8 months. It’s really hard being away from him, since I got used to practically living with him for the past 8 months. But thanks to the interwebs, I can Skype with him. Yay!

After Beck called, hunger was stronger than the need for organization, so I went to Atlanta Bread Co., as I had no groceries yet. I got a sandwich and signed up to get internet installed in my trailer. It’ll be nice to not have to go to a restaurant for internet, I think the people there might start recognizing me soon. Anywho, next I went grocery shopping and spent over $100. And I got a frying pan.

Then I just had a bad night because I had a headache and felt really lonely and starting crying. I would’ve given anything to be with Beck right then, but I just had to go to sleep instead.

I woke up the next morning still feeling ucky, went back to sleep, woke up again, ate breakfast, and finished unpacking. Then I read some papers for my project, trying to get a better idea of what I’m expected to do but what no one will tell me exactly.

And then Beck called! And I cried a little more, but happy tears this time. I drove to Atlanta Bread Co. (which I will now call ABC) to Skype with him so we could use our webcams. I got a drink and picked a table at the back of the restaurant so I wouldn’t bother anyone. But apparently everyone wanted to be bothered. Out of all the tables in the place, the next 3 groups of people in the restaurant chose to sit at the 3 tables surrounding me. I know at least one was clearly aware that I was talking to Beck, because I saw him in my webcam window, looking over my shoulder. He was creepy. So I moved away from the eavesdroppers, where I could talk more freely. I kept Beck up til about 11 PM on his time, 6 hours ahead of mine. So I let him go to bed, and I left feeling a lot better. I cooked some couscous and veggies, got a call from the parentals, did some random crap and went to bed.

I woke up and felt adventurous! Not really, I just thought (and my parents told me) I should explore Aiken, figure out where stuff is. First stop: Aiken County library. It doesn't open til 2 on Sundays. Next stop: downtown shops. All except a few were closed on Sundays. Next stop: Aiken Mall. Closed on Sundays when I got there (noonish), maybe open later? So, finding my expedition mostly fruitless, I began to drive home. And then Beck called! So I turned around and drove back to ABC to freeload on their interwebs, because I don't get mine installed til Wednesday. Skyping was nice as usual.

Anyway, as I am just an internet parasite, that means I can't say anything about ultimate frisbee tonight until the next time I post. So I'll leave you guessing until then...