Hey folks,
Last Friday I arrived to the infamous Dulles airport with 3 checked bags and a carry-on. Much to my dismay, Elly wasn't able to procure a car and I got a shuttle to my new place. It was all terribly surreal, and late, and I was pretty hungry and cranky by the time I actually made it here - but Elly had food waiting, and eventually we walked down to U St to get me some late-night Ethiopian food. Yay!
I have to report that I have yet to eat at Ben's Chili Bowl - I think I'm saving that for a rainy...oh wait, it *is* raining here.
So this is my wee bit of luxury time in between work reading to post, since I start work on Monday, spent the better part of my weekend not doing much unpacking (because my stuff hadn't yet arrived), shopping for a first round of groceries, and hanging out at Elly's family's house waiting to borrow her dad's minivan for a bookshelf-purchasing adventure.
USAS should be a good time...we're working on the campaign strategy, I'm getting up to speed and was immediately employed by fixing a variety of netowrking and printing problems with their office. I got them running, and the next day the netowrk collapsed again so it was all undone. It's still amazing to me that I get to learn about organizing and labor and work with student movement folks as a job. Whee!
I'm working from home while the Postal Service and UPS deliver the bulk of my worldly possessions. Home is a nice studio that Elly landed us, a block from the Metro in NW off of Georgia Ave., and apparently the Green Line is where it's happenin' in terms of activist stuff around here.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Saturday, October 09, 2004
how this all came about, the moving to DC part
Hi lovely peoples,
Here's the story. Elly finishes school and moves out to California, claiming to be here for at least a year. In DC, she'd been volunteering with City at Peace, a theater-for-social-change group that works with youth in the DC area. She had been politicized by this group as a young person, and her sister Kate is now a participant. On her way out the door (or off the coast), City at Peace had rumbled about maybe offering her a job, perhaps Assistant Artistic Director. It needed Board approval, etc, etc, so she wasn't all that convinced they could pull it off.
She came out here, and we talked, and argued, and stressed, and got excited, and all that. But mostly we procrastinated making a decision about whether we should stay or go. A month went by, and we were thinking it was not going to be an issue...if City at Peace were to make an offer, it would have to be quick. We relaxed. The phone rang on a Friday in early September: "Hey, we have the money, the position would have to start with the school year...can you let us know by Monday?"
AHHH!
So finally I decided that Elly needed to decide this one for herself. She knew what my thoughts and concerns were, and there it was. She took the job, packed up, and was on a plane by Sept. 15th. I decided I would stay in the Bay Area until December to be able to transition out of my responsabilities here and move with some semblance of sanity; I then promptly told everyone that's waht I was doing.
During the Elly-moving-rush, my pal Molly forwarded a job announcement from United Students Against Sweatshops, for a national organizer position based in DC. I thought, "What the heck?" and worked on the application while Elly packed up things. I sent it out just at deadline, and after I didn't hear anything for three days, figured I was out of the running.
Boy was I wrong. On the last weekend Elly was in town, she and I and Mazzy were hanging out when I got a call from a 202 number and decided to take it. It was USAS, alrighty, and they wanted to interview me that Sunday. Yipes!
The next day Elly and I went to brunch, I panicked frequently, and the interview (a merciful half-hour conference call) ensued. They liked me! But how much? The hiring process was clearly at breakneck speed, they wanted someone ASAP and I was to hear that coming Friday, or so I thought. I hear then on Thursday that their committee wasn't at consensus, and perhaps I would be called for a second round, decision to be made Tuesday. Not sure whether that was a good sign, I decided the best course of action was to swim in anxiety.
Saturday I got the call - they wanted a second interview. Yipes yipes! Very little overlap in interviewers, so I basically got a second take on the job I'd done the first time. Not bad! Now that Elly was in DC, I got my own brunch and nervously waded through familiar questions. I'd hear on Monday, said one of the interviewers - a conflicting report.
Monday rolls around, and I've started mentioning to people that all this interview insanity was going down, so it wouldn't come as too much of a surprise when I announce I may have to leave this beloved Coast. I'm still not convinced I have it, far from it. The day is weird, as one of my co-workers walks out, and I'm faced at work with the proposition of taking over web admin/technical stuff, while knowing that I could be giving notice at any minute. I'm on pins and needles. No calls come in, and I'm torn between relief and disappointment.
Tuesday is here, I'm scrape-me-off-the-ceiling level of anticipation now. I'm thoroughly convinced at this point that I don't have the job, so I can relax about moving and get irritated that I haven't been formally rejected. It's 5:00 Eastern time, still no call, I breathe a big sigh. half an hour later, I'm iChatting with my pal in Ohio about her trying job as a swing state organizer when I get a 202 call. Deep breath, walk outside the office, take the call. Remain calm. Remain calm. Either way, it's good news. OHMYGAWD! They're OFFERING ME THE JOB! Holllleeeee shit! "So, can we fly you to DC this weekend?" Sure!
I walk back in and sufficiently contain myself that nobody knows for 10 minutes or so...I want to talk with Leigh, my immediate boss. I call people together to announce it, which is weird because that's what the walkout co-worker did the day before. Whooo hoo! I spend the rest of my day trying to figure out what needs to happen over the next few weeks. They want me by mid-October, and even that's a stretch.
So that Friday, I'm on a plane to DC (a red-eye with a layover, a 12-hour retreat...I managed to hang in there) and return to work Monday. The next weekend I'm off to Louisville for a wedding I'd planned on attending months ago...my ex-partner's. Off to Louisville! It was a lovely weekend. Now here we are, a week away, my goodbye party this Sunday. My life in cardboard and tape, and I'm still not entirely sure I'll get it all done. Thank the dieties for Elly, her family, her apartment, her willingness to receive my boxes; my friends who help organize it all; Mazzy and her wonderous station wagon Charlie; Leigh who has smoothed things out at my current work.
Off to DC for me!
Here's the story. Elly finishes school and moves out to California, claiming to be here for at least a year. In DC, she'd been volunteering with City at Peace, a theater-for-social-change group that works with youth in the DC area. She had been politicized by this group as a young person, and her sister Kate is now a participant. On her way out the door (or off the coast), City at Peace had rumbled about maybe offering her a job, perhaps Assistant Artistic Director. It needed Board approval, etc, etc, so she wasn't all that convinced they could pull it off.
She came out here, and we talked, and argued, and stressed, and got excited, and all that. But mostly we procrastinated making a decision about whether we should stay or go. A month went by, and we were thinking it was not going to be an issue...if City at Peace were to make an offer, it would have to be quick. We relaxed. The phone rang on a Friday in early September: "Hey, we have the money, the position would have to start with the school year...can you let us know by Monday?"
AHHH!
So finally I decided that Elly needed to decide this one for herself. She knew what my thoughts and concerns were, and there it was. She took the job, packed up, and was on a plane by Sept. 15th. I decided I would stay in the Bay Area until December to be able to transition out of my responsabilities here and move with some semblance of sanity; I then promptly told everyone that's waht I was doing.
During the Elly-moving-rush, my pal Molly forwarded a job announcement from United Students Against Sweatshops, for a national organizer position based in DC. I thought, "What the heck?" and worked on the application while Elly packed up things. I sent it out just at deadline, and after I didn't hear anything for three days, figured I was out of the running.
Boy was I wrong. On the last weekend Elly was in town, she and I and Mazzy were hanging out when I got a call from a 202 number and decided to take it. It was USAS, alrighty, and they wanted to interview me that Sunday. Yipes!
The next day Elly and I went to brunch, I panicked frequently, and the interview (a merciful half-hour conference call) ensued. They liked me! But how much? The hiring process was clearly at breakneck speed, they wanted someone ASAP and I was to hear that coming Friday, or so I thought. I hear then on Thursday that their committee wasn't at consensus, and perhaps I would be called for a second round, decision to be made Tuesday. Not sure whether that was a good sign, I decided the best course of action was to swim in anxiety.
Saturday I got the call - they wanted a second interview. Yipes yipes! Very little overlap in interviewers, so I basically got a second take on the job I'd done the first time. Not bad! Now that Elly was in DC, I got my own brunch and nervously waded through familiar questions. I'd hear on Monday, said one of the interviewers - a conflicting report.
Monday rolls around, and I've started mentioning to people that all this interview insanity was going down, so it wouldn't come as too much of a surprise when I announce I may have to leave this beloved Coast. I'm still not convinced I have it, far from it. The day is weird, as one of my co-workers walks out, and I'm faced at work with the proposition of taking over web admin/technical stuff, while knowing that I could be giving notice at any minute. I'm on pins and needles. No calls come in, and I'm torn between relief and disappointment.
Tuesday is here, I'm scrape-me-off-the-ceiling level of anticipation now. I'm thoroughly convinced at this point that I don't have the job, so I can relax about moving and get irritated that I haven't been formally rejected. It's 5:00 Eastern time, still no call, I breathe a big sigh. half an hour later, I'm iChatting with my pal in Ohio about her trying job as a swing state organizer when I get a 202 call. Deep breath, walk outside the office, take the call. Remain calm. Remain calm. Either way, it's good news. OHMYGAWD! They're OFFERING ME THE JOB! Holllleeeee shit! "So, can we fly you to DC this weekend?" Sure!
I walk back in and sufficiently contain myself that nobody knows for 10 minutes or so...I want to talk with Leigh, my immediate boss. I call people together to announce it, which is weird because that's what the walkout co-worker did the day before. Whooo hoo! I spend the rest of my day trying to figure out what needs to happen over the next few weeks. They want me by mid-October, and even that's a stretch.
So that Friday, I'm on a plane to DC (a red-eye with a layover, a 12-hour retreat...I managed to hang in there) and return to work Monday. The next weekend I'm off to Louisville for a wedding I'd planned on attending months ago...my ex-partner's. Off to Louisville! It was a lovely weekend. Now here we are, a week away, my goodbye party this Sunday. My life in cardboard and tape, and I'm still not entirely sure I'll get it all done. Thank the dieties for Elly, her family, her apartment, her willingness to receive my boxes; my friends who help organize it all; Mazzy and her wonderous station wagon Charlie; Leigh who has smoothed things out at my current work.
Off to DC for me!
The insane move of insanity.
I'm leaving for Washington D.C. In a week. A WEEK! This is a gritty, cinema verité picture of my nostrils as of a second ago, while I test the maiden voyage of my camera-phone-picture-blog fast forward to the newfangled devices of this century.
More to follow.
More to follow.
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