Terradyme: Trials and Tribulations

Saturday, June 29, 2002
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I'm going to take a break. The two of you who look at this page more frequently than biannually will have to look elsewhere.
6/29/2002 01:43:00 AM

Thursday, June 27, 2002
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OK, I don't mean to go on about the weather, but....
Tuesday it hit 96, yesterday it hit 99, and the air conditioning in my office broke. I brought a fan from home during lunch time and I was still sliding out of my chair. I'm going to try to find another office to work in today.
Some possible good news, though; I may be given permission to go up to NYC next month for two days for the MacWorld expo, without having to use vacation time.
6/27/2002 02:45:00 PM

Tuesday, June 25, 2002
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Number one in a list of things I will not miss in Washington DC, in no particular order:
...HEAT ADVISORY TODAY...
.TODAY...MOSTLY SUNNY AND HAZY. HIGHS 92 TO 96. LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS BECOMING SOUTH EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND INCREASING TO 10 MPH.
.TONIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY...WARM AND HUMID. LOWS IN THE UPPER 70S. SOUTH WINDS AROUND 10 MPH.
6/25/2002 02:51:00 PM

Monday, June 24, 2002
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Yet another two-day weekend that was one day too short. Saturday was devoted to posting items on ebay and half.com -- a much more time consuming process than you might believe. Yesterday I slept in late and then met Jen S and her husband for a matinee showing of Minority Report & dinner at TGI Friday's.
The Hoyt's theater was much nicer than last weekend's Fairfax Town Center, and we had great seats as we arrived almost an hour before the movie started. I enjoyed the movie, in spite of the woman near us who decided to take a call she received on her cell phone about half way through.
I have to say, when I pay my six bucks to see a movie, all I'm asking for is to be entertained for 2 hours. I can excuse a couple of plot holes or illogical departures from real life. Folks: it's just a movie!
6/24/2002 05:34:00 PM

Friday, June 21, 2002
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Unfortunately, both England and the US were booted out of the World Cup quarter finals, within hours of each other this morning. I had been following the matches over the last few weeks, particularly as both of them and Ireland had been doing so well. I read that about 30 million Brits, roughly half the population, were watching England's match against Brazil today. And about six million of them called in "sick" during their previous match.
Bring on Wimbledon!
6/21/2002 08:08:00 PM

Thursday, June 20, 2002
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I faxed everything to the Irish embassy Tuesday. My contact there left a voice message yesterday indicating the documentation I provided "will probably be sufficient" and she'll submit everything to Ireland this week. No word on my mother's birth certificate. I guess Thunderbirds are Go.
6/20/2002 09:17:00 PM

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Beth and I saw "Sunday in the Park with George" last night in the Eisenhower Theater. I don't think it was as strong as other Broadway or West End shows I've seen, and it's the first one I've attended where a major snafu occurred: a piece of the scenery fell apart and crashed onto the stage. They recovered well, though. I'll let you read the Washington Post review.
6/20/2002 02:34:00 PM

Monday, June 17, 2002
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I was up at 5 a.m. to ring the UK General Register Office. They only offer a shorter version of my mother's birth certificate. I'm going to wait until 10 to call New Mexico and see what they say.
Update at 10:50 AM: Good news! A "letter of information" with all the required information, is being overnighted to me by state employee Rosalyn in New Mexico. Hoo-ray! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get hold of the Irish Embassy to see about my mom's certificate.
I forgot to mention I met up with Jen S. and her husband Rob yesterday for lunch at Baja, to shoot the shit, and then a movie: The Bourne Identity, starring Matt Damon. It was a good flick but Fairfax Town Center seems so run down compared to Hoyts or Regal Cinemas. I think we have plans to see Minority Report next weekend.
6/17/2002 02:25:00 PM

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Now that I've been given the green light on a modified Macintosh refresh project, I'm swamped with work I've taken over from Katie, who's out on maternity leave. I really need a clone.
I went down to Woodbridge with Jim & Jimmy on Friday night for a visit which was unfortunately marred by a drunken hit & run: some neighbor rammed into Jimmy's two-month-old Chevy truck, Alfie's Jetta, and Jimmy's neighbor's conversion van, before speeding off. Thankfully nobody was in the cars at the time (other than the drunk driver). The police came and canvassed the area and found the guy's car parked in a driveway one street over, and arrested him. He was .24. Fortunately Jim & Jimmy have another car & I got home without incident.
On Saturday I got a letter from the Irish Embassy, indicating they have looked at my paperwork for the first time, and that my birth certificate from New Mexico doesn't have enough information on it to establish my mom is who she says she is. So I'll have to call New Mexico's office of Vital Records tomorrow to see if they offer a "long form" or "vault copy" of my birth certificate. If they don't, I may be out of luck with the citizenship application....
On a brighter note, Beth has kindly invited me to see Sunday in the Park with George at the Kennedy Center this Wednesday. Should be a nice evening out.
6/17/2002 04:43:00 AM

Wednesday, June 12, 2002
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Six months have passed since I sent in my application for registration in Ireland's Foreign Births Registry. The brief, anonymous feedback I received from the Embassy via email in January had indicated that the procedure takes 4-6 months, so I've reached the upper end of that estimate. I called a nice woman at the embassy yesterday and had a chat with her about the status of my application. She's indicated that mine is in the next batch that will be sent to Ireland for processing, and that if all my verifying documents are in order I should hear something in about a month, perhaps a month and a half.
So I'm really close. I could have my citizenship and my subsequent Irish passport in hand as early as August 1. I'm thinking it will be more like September 1, but in any event I have a couple decisions to make shortly.
Either I should plan on moving around Labor Day or shortly thereafter, or I should delay uprooting myself until after the holidays. There are pro's and con's to both.
6/12/2002 04:51:00 AM

Tuesday, June 11, 2002
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Well, if it weren't for repeated problems with the 3rd party comment host, you might be able to look at the pictures I referred to last week.

Some of you know that in an attempt to increase tourism in DC, the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities commissioned 200 painted sculptures, each depicting either a donkey or an elephant (which represent the two major political parties in the US). Have a look at the Party Animals DC website if you'd like to know more about the 200+ sculptures & what will eventually happen to them. (Thanks Nicky, for the link).
6/11/2002 03:51:00 AM

Friday, June 07, 2002
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I just had a half hour chat with Ainsley, fresh and renewed from her week in the mountains. Seems as if the hubby was ill most of the time, unfortunately, but "the cabin was very pretty, and [she] got to feed the farm animals," so she's happy.
It would take a whole lot more than masticating bovines to draw me out of this funk. Steve gets back tomorrow & I'll return the car to him promptly. Not sure if I want to take part in the weekend's festivities, stretched as they are over two days & not having anyone to go with, really. Kind of paraded out, really.
6/07/2002 07:22:00 PM

Thursday, June 06, 2002
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It's been a slow week. Perhaps that's to be expected after the mad-cap pace of the wedding festivities, but I definitely feel as if there's not much going on. I've been busy digitizing more VHS tapes, and will probably post some of them on ebay this weekend. I'm thinking about a trip up to Philly next weekend, too. What I'd like to do is take a week off and sit on a beach with a decent book and a glass of lemonade.
I didn't catch any of the Golden Jubilee events on CNN or BBC America, but have been following it online. It would have been pure chaos to be down on the Mall on Tuesday, but also probably alot of fun.
Work sucks, again.
6/06/2002 07:45:00 PM

Monday, June 03, 2002
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Would you like to know what I accomplished this weekend?
zero
And yet, I still felt as if I needed an extra days' sleep. I met up with a friend of mine from out of town Friday night and again yesterday, and started taking some pictures around town which I'll share presently. Otherwise I watched movies all weekend. Saturday Cathie and I had an afternoon out, for a showing of Hugh Grant's About a Boy at Merrifield. A very funny, well cast movie, and highly recommended.
6/03/2002 08:07:00 PM

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I'll try to finish up the wedding all in one go.

Mom and I had breakfast with about a half dozen wedding guests at out bed & breakfast, then drove over to the Lodge to see what the Boivins were up to. We had most of the morning to kill, as we didn't have to be dressed for photos until 3 o'clock. We kidnapped Cathie, Beth & Sara and had Beth drive up in her Trooper up the mountain, where there was a scenic overlook. We saw some deer and frogs and other wildlife. The day was much cooler than Friday, and slightly overcast, but not raining, at least.

Mom and I both showered and changed after our nature drive, and met up with Dan, Dad, Uncle Dennis & Eric Carson (Dan's other groomsman) at Gobbler's Knob. The pro photographer arrived and we took some outdoor shots of the family. Mom's dress looked super. We caravanned over to the Barn, where the photographer was busy with Ainsley & her family. The wedding started on time at 4:30 (at first, without the bride & bridesmaids) but otherwise was a lovely (but quick!) ceremony. The music provided by Beth & her crew was a perfect balance.

There were family photos taken by the pro photographer after, then we moseyed across the pasture past the farm house to the reception tent. Even more people from Dan & Ainsley's pasts, whom I had met before, showed up for the reception. It was great seeing all of them. I didn't get a chance to eat much, but everyone I talked to enjoyed the food, the free alcohol, the DJ, and the speeches. Lots of fun, over at a relatively early 9:30. I spent the night at my cousins' cabin, talking late into the morning with George, Pat, Jennifer, Christine and Dennis.

Up very early the next morning for a no-host breakfast back at the Lodge. This was really the last time people had a chance to hang out, as most people checked out of their hotels and headed back to the city or for the airports, mom and myself included.
6/03/2002 08:03:00 PM