Cross-Country Drive, Part II: Seen in Ohio

This evening I'm in Hagerstown, Maryland, a bit more than a hour north of the District of Columbia - tomorrow we drive down and I move in.  A pretty uneventful - if uncomfortable - drive, and alas, I don't have anything quite as funny as yesterday to share in the way of signs.  I did, however, see an advertisement for Schlepp's Family Restaurant, and I sincerely hope that they have an ad which advises potential patrons to "Schlepp on over the Schlepp's" ("schlepp," of course, being the Yiddish for hauling oneself somewhere, usually unwillingly).  Since this was in Ohio, I don't know how well that would fly, but I think it would be hilarious.

It may be early, but I'm off to bed.  We need to get up early to make it into DC with sufficient time to move.  If I manage to get my internet to work (UPS says my modem has been delivered, but I'm only vaguely hopeful that I'll be able to get my internet to actually function) I'll post something tomorrow.  Wish me more luck - it's been working so far!

Cross-Country Drive, Part I: Seen in Indiana

I'm writing from a hotel in Richmond, Indiana, just west of the Ohio border on the highway to Columbus.  It was not a comfortable drive; our van is packed like it's never been packed before.  I spent the second half of the afternoon sitting essentially sideways, since the space where my feet are supposed to be is full of stuff.  Needless to say, we're all suffering in one way or another, but it's that or throw things out, and I've pared down my possessions about as much as I can.  Fortunately, we've only got one full day (tomorrow) and about a third of a day on Friday, and all the paperwork at my apartment complex (which is actually a co-op) has finally been ironed out, so we shouldn't have any nasty surprises once we get to DC.

Although we had a pretty uneventful drive, there's one thing I have to show you that puts me in a curious state of delight and horror.

Here it is:

See that there?  See the guy's name?  You do?  OK, now breathe.  I wouldn't want you to hyperventilate.

Well, this particular businessman has quite a few billboards in this part of Indiana, and apparently does a roaring business in RV's and other related ventures (like homes - just Google his name).  If you'd like another serving of Schadenfreude, here's his website.  My particular favorite - besides this picture - is a billboard which proclaimed "Welcome to Tom Raper Country!" or something like that.  I nearly died laughing, and maybe you will too.  I imagine that the poor man pronounces his name "rah-per" or something like that, but I don't envy him.  Of course, he appears to be a very successful businessman, so maybe he doesn't care.  But there will always be irreverent people like me who snicker at things like this.  I'm rather glad I saw it - it gave me something to think about besides what (who) I'm leaving behind in Chicago and my aching knees.

Our plan tomorrow is to get to Maryland, so we'll be within striking distance of the District.  Hopefully I'll be able to write something there - maybe I'll even have another funny sign to share!

And We're Off!

...well, not quite.  But we're in the final stages, and I need to pack the computer.  I'll try to update on the way - wish me luck!

Countdown: 1 Day, or Reverse Migration

Tomorrow my family and I will load my worldly possessions - well, those that I brought to Chicago, anyway, since I left a lot of books in WI - into the van and begin a journey.  Up until now, the farthest I had moved was here to Chicago, and the only time I've lived outside of the Midwest was four months in Germany (not as different as you might think, though perhaps I say that because I am German - by descent, at least).  Tomorrow I set off for the nation's capital - what an adventure!

What strikes me as particularly interesting - and my mother, the genealogist, has pointed it out repeatedly - is that in a sense I'm retracing steps.  Mom's ancestors on the paternal side were Scottish, and when they came to this country, they settled in Virginia.  Eventually they moved west, through the Cumberland Gap and went to Kentucky, then on to Missouri.  Mom's Dad then moved up to Wisconsin with his wife to teach music at my undergraduate college.  So that cycle - Virginia to Mid-South to Midwest - is being reversed by my move - Midwest through the Mid-South to the District of Columbia, which is practically Virginia (yes, I know that the land that makes up the district used to belong to Maryland, not Virginia). 

In preparation for the move I've been packing, as evidenced in the last few posts, and I've got more to do this afternoon.  I've already unraveled internet (and, it turns out, local phone, which I'll need to operate the remote access on the door, since I don't intend to traipse down three floors every time someone comes to visit like I've had to in Chicago), taken a [tearful] leave of the boy, and packed most of the apartment.  There is, however, more to do, so off I'll go.  In future I'll write posts that are actually interesting, I imagine, but for the time being (since time is short), modest progress updates will have to do.

Countdown: 4 Days, or Caught in the Middle, & More...

Caught in the middle of an impending mess, that is.

I'm taking a few minutes' break to set a few things straight, not least why I'm bothering to write a blog in the first place.  Also, my apartment is hot, and I need to cool down, so I'll multitask- cool off and get some writing done.  Pour out the ice water and crank Sophie Ellis-Bextor, as I have, while I explain what's going on here.

I've been living on the south side of Chicago for just shy of a year now, attending university.  I now have a graduate degree in international relations and, thanks to it, a job in Washington, DC.  So the reason I've been complaining about packing for the past week is my impending move out east next week.  I don't like moving, so I'm not looking forward to it, and I'm not enjoying the packing either.

In any case, while I've been in Chicago I've wanted to keep a blog about my experiences and adventures there.  I attempted, but the university soon quashed my attempts to have any life whatsoever outside of schoolwork, and so the blog was left untended for long periods of time (you can see my efforts here).  But now that I'm moving to Washington for a job - not for school - I anticipate something revolutionary: being able to leave my place of work at a fixed hour, and not have to bring any of the work home with me.  In other words, I anticipate having a life of my own again.  Since I'll be not just in a new city but a new part of the country (I am a Midwesterner born and bred), I intend to explore, and to chronicle my adventures I'll keep this blog.  This is as much for me as for you - it's like keeping a journal that I can read later and remember all the things I saw and did and thought once upon a time.  And if you've come here, you can read them too.

What can you expect of Tales from Federal City?  Essentially, a chronicle of my adventures in DC, my discoveries, and my explorations (incidentally, much like a friend from the university, who is doing the same for his time teaching English in Japan with the JET program).  In keeping with my established tradition from Chicago and Tales from Second City (note the similar blog titles - it's intentional), I'll also write about my experiments in the kitchen (culinary adventures, inspired by a high school and college classmate's own endeavors here), review art/music/culture events I attend, and share what I uncover about the history of the city, its neighborhoods, and so on.  You can also expect some talk of politics as I figure out what's what in the District, and also photos of my discoveries, from restaurants to museums to public monuments and parks.  I may even attempts to form essays (creative non-fiction, I suppose) from some of the things I've learned, much in the style of a talented undergrad classmate, whose eloquent blog about her experiences as a Watson fellow you can read here.

I am not under any illusions that his will become a heavily-trafficked corner of the internet, which is one reason I don't intend to install a hit counter or try to figure out if people are paying any attention me, but I'd rather not have it confirmed that no one reads what I write, so I'll remain in the blissful ignorance which Blogger facilitates by not having a hit counter feature (which is actually pretty lame - WordPress has one).  However, if you do stop by and read something, let me know what you think - leave a comment or a link, and feel free to come back frequently.  I hope to be able to write something about every other day, more or less, though my actual balance of time remains to be determined.  Still, I hope to have fun with this and have something to look back on later, and perhaps I'll even entertain you as well.

Well, time to head back to my boxes and newspaper.  I'm going to start wrapping up my kitchen (ugh).  Wish me luck.

Countdown: 8 Days, or Packing is Exhausting

Having found that the suitcase I packed to take back to Wisconsin was too heavy to lift (thanks to all the books I'm jettisoning at my parents'), I repacked it and packed another bag, in addition to doing my laundry, filing a new vacancy announcement with the university property managers (more difficult that it needed to be), taking out trash and recycling, sorting through all sorts of papers, and cooking dinner for myself and the boy.  I am exhausted and have nothing more to say.

Countdown: 9 Days, or I Hate Packing

It's been official for a while, but now that the number of days before I leave the Windy City has sunk into the single digits, it's time to face facts: I'm moving farther than I have ever moved before, and I haven't even started packing.  Yikes!

I should be clear that this is not a sudden realization.  I had suspected that I would be moving to Washington beginning in February, when I found out I had been named a Presidential Management Fellow finalist (a what?), along with three friends in Chicago and lots of other high-powered newly-minted-holders-of-advanced-degrees from around the country.  Once the job offer finally came through in June (in the middle of the World Cup game between Greece and Argentina, as it so happened), I knew I'd be heading out to the District of Columbia eventually.  Now that start dates, apartments, leases, and all the other major necessities are taken care of, the time has come to actually move.  And I haven't started packing.

Why?  Well, first, because I didn't have boxes, although that's really not the reason - I could have gotten them earlier, couldn't I?  (The answer is "yes.")  I suspect it's because I don't like living somewhere that feels empty, so I've been avoiding the inevitable dismantlement of my little studio because putting things in boxes makes my apartment feel empty - or, at least it always did when moving out of dorms.  Or perhaps I'm afraid of blank walls (I always take down my maps, posters, flags, and postcards last).  Or - and this is the most likely answer - today is the first day in about two weeks that it hasn't been around ninety degrees in my studio (which, of course, is on the top floor of the building, faces south, and doesn't have air conditioning).  Whatever the reason - Mother Nature's fury, or some combination of angst and laziness on my part - I know full well that I have to start packing.  So, this afternoon/evening, I intend to box up my books. 

About half my collection is actually going back up to Wisconsin with me later this week to be deposited in the family home and [perhaps] retrieved piecemeal as I return for holidays (or, more likely, I'll have boxes of books shipped out once I have monies).  The other half - from Edward Said's Orientalism and Bob Pape's Dying to Win to the King James Bible (with woodcuts) and the Decameron - it's all going into boxes.  I have to depopulate my shelves anyway, because the one piece of furniture in this apartment that I actually own won't fit in the car (unless I decide to leave, oh, my clothes behind), so it's going to go earn its keep at my [almost former] boyfriend's apartment as, eventually, will my microwave (but in this case, because my apartment has one already).  If I pack in smaller installments, I'll minimize stress for me and, hopefully, not have to face an empty apartment until the last day or two.  Expect, however, blog posts between now and then - they help me procrastinate.