Travel Update

Wow -- sorry about that. I forgot that I hadn't posted where I'm supposed to be in a while.

May 18-June 6: DC (yes, including weekends. I'm trying to be zen about it.)
June 11-June 12: Chicago

I have to be back in DC for part of June, but I'm not sure yet when.

The company gave me a "new" laptop. "New" is in quotation marks, because the laptop belonged to someone else at the company who recently resigned and turned in his laptop. The reason they did that instead of sending me a new (no quotation marks) laptop is because they don't have any. One of my colleagues has been using a loaner laptop for 2 months. Please explain to me how difficult it is to call Dell's 800 number and order 100 laptops. What is the firm doing with all the cash they're sitting on???

The "new" laptop works great, except for the part where I don't have administrator access, so I can't install new hardware or software. And before you start casting aspersions on my character and make any allegations about the types of things the company suspects of me of wanting to download, this means that I can't add my printer. For some reason, clicking certain links doesn't do anything, either, and again, before you get all suspicious, I had to do some research for work on Fidelity.com, and I couldn't get most of the links to work. REALLY ANNOYING. But at least I have a work computer again, which I guess is the main thing, and the IT guy said he'd give me administrator access this week.

My car is finally working and back in my possession again, just in time for me to go out of town for 3 weeks. AND the dealership had to cover it under warranty because it's totally a drive train issue. It was comical how unhappy they were about it. What's also fabulous is that, in the process of looking for screen protectors for my new phone (yes, I got a new phone -- I couldn't handle that little flip phone any longer), I FOUND THE PAPERWORK FOR MY EXTENDED WARRANTY. According to that paperwork, none of the work I've had done this year should have been paid for out of my bank account. Not sure how or where to start the fight to get my money back, but I'm definitely going to try.

I'm in corporate housing while in DC, and it doesn't suck. It would be a lot better if the carpet weren't so old, but it's clean and has the essentials, including, regrettably, noisy neighbors. I'm not sure about the kitchen, not because it isn't clean, but because it's weird cooking in a foreign kitchen. It probably doesn't matter because I don't think that I'll have a lot of time for actual cooking. I also don't know if it's worth it when I'm going to have to buy dishwashing detergent. I really hope I remember to buy toilet paper.

I also need to go buy some dress pants and a couple of sweater sets. I stupidly did not pack enough "smart business casual" clothing. I don't know what I was thinking. I can't believe I'm this unexcited at the prospect of shopping.