Safari, anyone?

DC Day 7, complete with Dinosaurs

Stayed up late last night, watching the Jazz game and then a Burn Notice re-run, so I slept in a little today.

Headed downtown and had about 2 hours before my meeting on the Hill, so I decided to walk around the National Mall and visit the Smithsonian. I wanted to see the American History museum, but it was closed for rennovation. "Next door" is the Museum of Natural History, and it was full of tour groups--mostly elementary school students. I decided to brave the crowds anyway, and wandered the halls in my suit and try to learn a few things while I was at it.

Here are some pictures from my time in the musuem.


I really liked the exhibit of animal photographs. Weird, I know. Could see all the stuffed mammals and dinosaur fossils and such, but the photos were amazing. I wonder how they printed them -- the colors were brilliant, and the pictures stunning. I snapped a few of my own (above).

After that, I went to my appointment on the Hill, and met with a California Congressman. He was great; asked questions about me and my job search, shared his "story," and gave advice. Big thanks to Grandpa for the help getting this appointment!

After that, I took a walk around the House Office Buildings, then sat down by a fountain and enjoyed some sunshine. There was a slight drizzle when I left, and the weather report was for scattered "drizzle," so I had my umbrella with me. However, it was safely in the 70's with scattered clouds. Got some sunshine, and feeling the warmth of a slight sunburn on my forehead and hands.

Commuted back to "base," had a delicious steak dinner, and watched the commentary on the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. Checked the returns: the PA Department of State site, Politico, and Drudge. Senator Clinton is favored to win; the question is the margin. Karl Rove was on Fox discussing the awkward weighting of the congressional districts that the Pennsylvania Democratic Party came up with. Hmmm...

Reviewed the draft lease I received tonight from our future landlord; will review it with Grandpa.

One more day of fun, then back to Boston to get ready for the move!

Big thanks to Jill and Wadda for getting a ton of work done at the apartment.

Stay tuned for more of the Erb Report!

Special Visitor on Deal or No Deal

DC Day 6 (cont'd) -- Almost forgot!

Here are some pics from today. I spent about 20 minutes in the National Gallery of Art since I was early for my lunch meeting. I drove in (and back) right past the Washington Monument.



It was a good day. Although I realized this evening that I thought I sent an email to our potential landlord about my job offer, but realized that I replied to myself, and not to his email address. So I quickly resent the email once I caught that mistake; not sure how often he checks... but he should get it tomorrow, if not this evening. Silly me.

DC Day 6

Although a little dreary in the morning, the day certainly "brightened" up for me after going out to lunch with some friends. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Slept in a little this morning (meaning, I hit snooze a few times and got out of bed at 7:00am), got ready for the day, and packed up my things. Changed "host homes" this afternoon because my Reston hosts were getting ready to head out of town for a graduation.

Repetively checked my email, hoping for something regarding our condo. Got invited to lunch with come campaign buddies, and met them in DC at the Capital Grille. One works at Treasury, the other has been working for DOE (although some GOP leadership are dragging his "services" off to another job very soon). Met one of their friends who works at the White House / Presidential Personnel. Enjoyed the afternoon reminiscing about past campaign events, current events in the lives of our friends, and eating "the best calamari in DC" (according to our server; I'd have to agree. It was very good, and the only calamari I've had in DC, and therefore the bets in my book) and the lobster bisque for starters. I had The Grille's Signature Cheeseburger, which was also excellent.

Had my soft offer "firmed up" some today, which took a big weight off my shoulder. I couldn't wait to get back to our potential landlord and let him know the good news, that in addition to the wonderful credit and rental history that our application shows, he can add soon-to-be-gainfully-employed to it, as well. I'll fill you in once I get this nailed down.

[[Always trying to be prepared, I still have a second soft offer to work with (although this one won't firm up for a little bit b/c of funding issues), and am pursuing 3rd and 4th options.]]

Decided to post some blogs and explore cyberspace. Had been waxing a little nostalgic since my post about the Ranch in Paso Robles, so I put my Google skills to the test and tried to track down old friends. We'll see if any of them decide they remember me...

Also found the press release and the full-text from the dinner I attended Saturday evening.

Ta ta for now