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I've been out of my house--still am--since about 1145 yesterday, so I figure I'll update from my parents' house.
Around 1130, I checked the directions Liz (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
absolutliz) sent to get to her house (to help her and her husband Tom move), compared to the ADC NoVA map, and found that she was farther than I thought. Ashburn, up in Loudoun county, is just off the main index map to the northwest; it took about an hour to traverse the 40 miles up Fairfax County Parkway and Route 7. (I went without my cell phone, because I couldn't find it in my house--I figured (correctly) that it was at my parents' house, but didn't call to verify before leaving.)
When I got there, though, I knocked to no response. I waited about half an hour, figuring maybe they had a load of stuff at the new apartment, before going across the street to the hospital to use a payphone. I called Liz first, to learn that a) she was still in York, PA, where they'd attended a wedding, because she didn't feel well enough to travel, b) Tom was on his way south as we spoke but was still a ways off, and c) they'd left a message on my cell voice mail. I then called Tom to learn that he was still an hour and a half borth, and home to find that, in deed, my cell was there, with battery detached and beneath the chair where I'd draped my motorcycle gear--we're assuming the kitten got ahold of it.
This left me with time to spare, so I rode up the street in search of food, found a Jerry's Subs & Pizza, and sat there for almost an hour, having a tasty chicken sub and observing the attractive girl at the next table. With more time to spare before Tom arrived, I rode around a bit longer, over some rolling roads and past a park, before returning to meet Tom. We hung out by the old apartment for a while, waiting for his parents and two of his brothers to arrive from Dahlgren, VA (east of Fredericksburg, a couple hours away.) Eventually they did, whereupon we headed over to the new apartment with his dad, leaving my motorcycle in the garage there, and Tom and I headed to Liz's parents' house (and winery!) to fetch a) her parent's truck/trailer, and b) wine. I got to drive Liz's Toyota Matrix--very similar to Nathan's Pontiac Vibe--back, finding it handled and braked well, but lacked in torque. (As an aside, both Tom and his brothers are ridiculously tall, though his parents are about average height.)
The next several hours featured the arrival of Jon Scott (!) (inkyblue2 and Erin (Curtis) Scott (verblgerbl), both TJ '96, and lots of shuttling furniture and boxes from old apartment to new. Old and new are almost identical, except New has a) a garage, b) a smaller master closet, c) no fireplace, and d) is almost a mirror image of Old. It also has rent less than Old's original rent, which went up 25% due to the dicks who took ownership--hence the move right down the street. (I also noticed that both old and new developments were populated by a much higher number of attractive women than I generally expect from an arbitrary are. :D) Moving was followed by grilled burgers and chicken, cheesecake, beer, wine, and other assorted goodness, and eventually family left and it was just Liz, Tom, Jon, Erin, and I; I decided to spend the night rather than riding back at 1am.
Breakfast consisted of Starbucks that Liz fetched, then I made my merry way down to Manassas, donning earplugs along the way, which made wind noise much more bearable. I retreived my phone, grabbed some food, and spent the afternoon there, where I helped my dad a) assemble the new grill mom bought, b) get a new propane cylinder, since the industry has changed to a new, safer standard connector, c) remove the trim from his '51 Chevy in preparation for an upcoming paint job, and d) remove the dented, broken, unsalable pieces from my old motorcycle. (He also paid for a spiffy folding utility knife I'd seen around work and wanted, which despite the price listed at that website, sells for $10 at Lowe's.)
And now I'm at my parents' house still, and later, there will be much grilling for dinner. :)
Around 1130, I checked the directions Liz (
absolutliz) sent to get to her house (to help her and her husband Tom move), compared to the ADC NoVA map, and found that she was farther than I thought. Ashburn, up in Loudoun county, is just off the main index map to the northwest; it took about an hour to traverse the 40 miles up Fairfax County Parkway and Route 7. (I went without my cell phone, because I couldn't find it in my house--I figured (correctly) that it was at my parents' house, but didn't call to verify before leaving.)When I got there, though, I knocked to no response. I waited about half an hour, figuring maybe they had a load of stuff at the new apartment, before going across the street to the hospital to use a payphone. I called Liz first, to learn that a) she was still in York, PA, where they'd attended a wedding, because she didn't feel well enough to travel, b) Tom was on his way south as we spoke but was still a ways off, and c) they'd left a message on my cell voice mail. I then called Tom to learn that he was still an hour and a half borth, and home to find that, in deed, my cell was there, with battery detached and beneath the chair where I'd draped my motorcycle gear--we're assuming the kitten got ahold of it.
This left me with time to spare, so I rode up the street in search of food, found a Jerry's Subs & Pizza, and sat there for almost an hour, having a tasty chicken sub and observing the attractive girl at the next table. With more time to spare before Tom arrived, I rode around a bit longer, over some rolling roads and past a park, before returning to meet Tom. We hung out by the old apartment for a while, waiting for his parents and two of his brothers to arrive from Dahlgren, VA (east of Fredericksburg, a couple hours away.) Eventually they did, whereupon we headed over to the new apartment with his dad, leaving my motorcycle in the garage there, and Tom and I headed to Liz's parents' house (and winery!) to fetch a) her parent's truck/trailer, and b) wine. I got to drive Liz's Toyota Matrix--very similar to Nathan's Pontiac Vibe--back, finding it handled and braked well, but lacked in torque. (As an aside, both Tom and his brothers are ridiculously tall, though his parents are about average height.)
The next several hours featured the arrival of Jon Scott (!) (
inkyblue2 and Erin (Curtis) Scott (verblgerbl), both TJ '96, and lots of shuttling furniture and boxes from old apartment to new. Old and new are almost identical, except New has a) a garage, b) a smaller master closet, c) no fireplace, and d) is almost a mirror image of Old. It also has rent less than Old's original rent, which went up 25% due to the dicks who took ownership--hence the move right down the street. (I also noticed that both old and new developments were populated by a much higher number of attractive women than I generally expect from an arbitrary are. :D) Moving was followed by grilled burgers and chicken, cheesecake, beer, wine, and other assorted goodness, and eventually family left and it was just Liz, Tom, Jon, Erin, and I; I decided to spend the night rather than riding back at 1am.Breakfast consisted of Starbucks that Liz fetched, then I made my merry way down to Manassas, donning earplugs along the way, which made wind noise much more bearable. I retreived my phone, grabbed some food, and spent the afternoon there, where I helped my dad a) assemble the new grill mom bought, b) get a new propane cylinder, since the industry has changed to a new, safer standard connector, c) remove the trim from his '51 Chevy in preparation for an upcoming paint job, and d) remove the dented, broken, unsalable pieces from my old motorcycle. (He also paid for a spiffy folding utility knife I'd seen around work and wanted, which despite the price listed at that website, sells for $10 at Lowe's.)
And now I'm at my parents' house still, and later, there will be much grilling for dinner. :)
