A busy day back in DC

Took the JetBlue BOS-->IAD shuttle this morning and got settled in out in Reston, VA where I'll be staying with some family friends for the next few days. For those of you who read my blog ;-), you know that this is my second trip to DC in as many months. Last trip, I spent a lot of time meeting with people in various careers and trying to figure out where I want my career (ooh, scary) to go (at least until I change it another 7 times, or whatever the statistic is).

After hanging up my suit and nice shirts, I made a lot of phone calls, mostly to people with housing available, but to a few potential employment leads. Last trip gave me a good idea of the path I want to be on; this trip, I need to get a place to live so that we can actually get to work once we're here. The trick will be to convince rentors to look at our credit record and listen to our potential job offers here, and--ignoring the fact that neither of us currently have a job in DC--trust that we'll both have jobs and will be able to pay our rent.

I looked at a few places today--all in the Reston area. One on Lake Shore Crest Drive, another on Moorings Drive, and the third on Castle Rock Square. The first one was nice, in a quiet place, reasonably priced ($1,300 including all utilities except electricity and internet), but nothing too special. At the second, I couldn't quite get over the fact that the linoleum floor was sticky and the place smelled like dog and aquariums (two fish tanks). It had a lot of neat features--close to a lake, with a place to keep a canoe, bbq area, and access to nearby pools and tennis courts--but the older kitchen, third floor, and general appearance left a lot to be desired. The last one was incredible. Tucked away in the back of its newer complex, marble trimmed gas fireplace, large windows, adequate lighting (apparently lots of the older condos had something against ceiling fixtures), some splashes of color, large closets and a big bathroom -- talking with the guy almost made me want to buy it on the spot.

Sent pictures, descriptions, and rough floor plans that MS Paint and I created to Jill for her to look over. Still have a dozen more places to see ... and a job* to get ...

[[* Along these lines, something interesting may be in the works...stay tuned]]

This should prove to be an interesting trip.