Uggghhhh!

Well, this morning was interesting. I had my appointment to go visit the storage facility at 9am. In order to get myself out to Manassas, VA (about 40 miles away), I had to rent a car. So I chose a lovely blue Prius from Zipcar that lives at one of the last Metro stations on the orange line in Virginia. I loved driving the Prius! If I ever buy another car, I'd want an electric car like the Volt or the Leaf, but I have a feeling foreign countries won't have the infrastructure to make that work. So maybe a Prius...? But I digress...

So I arrived out at the storage facility and they took me to my stuff - three very large crates, which were surprisingly mostly full. They sat me at a table with the inventory that the packers had made and a group of three guys began pulling out items, calling out the number on the box, and I told them whether it stayed in storage or came to the apartment. First, I was surprised at how much of the stuff is coming to the apartment...it sure looks like a lot, but really, I guess it's mostly kitchen stuff and clothes. Second, and most disturbing, my BRAND NEW desk is broken. And I mean, irreparably broken. Grrrrrr! I'm hoping it's just this one thing and I don't have boxes of broken things waiting to further disappoint me when I open them. So, I asked my HR guy what to do and he directed me to the claims department, where I will no doubt be required to fill out paperwork and wait...and hopefully eventually get reimbursed for the things that are damaged. Luckily for me, I have the receipt showing that the desk was purchased about a week before the move, and I have pictures showing its condition, so hopefully there won't be any disputing that they broke it. We'll see....

Tonight I'm having my grocery order delivered for the first time. I'm interested to see how this works out.  For $7, the grocery store brings my stuff to my door for me within a 2 hour window. I got free delivery for my first order, but I'm pretty sure this will be the first of many times I'll use their service. To ride the Metro to and from the store is $3.20, plus the time I spend in the store and the hassle of having to carry everything (and buy only what I can carry). This is great because I ordered huge bags of cat food and litter, cases of soda, etc. which I would never be able to get home without a vehicle.

Oh, and last night I had dinner at a wonderful little Vietnamese restaurant with my friend DaNita, a former NCGA coworker here in DC, followed by some fro-yo. It's always so nice to get to hang out with people outside of my training class! And if you come visit me, I may be taking you to Saigon Bistro, so be prepared...