My Bathroom Ceiling

Ken and I are still moving along with the purchase of a home here in Pittsburgh even though we recently had a HUGE roadblock thrown into our path. The buyers in our condo in Cleveland backed out. That’s right, we made the conscious (stupid?) decision to carry two mortgages and move forward with the upcoming much needed renovations of the 100 year-old home.

As I mentioned, we’ll have to gut most of the house, but now our priorities when it comes to renovating are as follows: make it livable. And that means putting walls and ceilings back up where they belong so we don’t have to live with this kind of gaping hole.

My First Home Inspection

I’ve lived through my first experience with a home inspection. The first place bought was new construction, so I had no real idea of how good, bad, and downright evil these little guys could be.

The good: turns out the general wiring and plumbing are in fine condition.

The bad: seems as though the place has a couple of leaks that involve things like “flashing” and “gutter work”.

The ugly: none of those leaks were mentioned in the seller’s disclosure.

So, I still love the place and know that I’m not willing to walk away from the home. I can’t; I’m emotionally invested now. Ken and I sent a letter over to the sellers anyway, just hoping they’ll want to do right by us and get some of this fixed. We’ll find out today whether or not I’ll have to find their new home and tp it.

The Trials and Tribulations of Home Buying

My life is about to become all about a home.

This past weekend, Ken and I had an offer accepted on a home in Shadyside, which is a very fun, compact little area within the city of Pittsburgh. The home a beautiful, old Victorian, deep red brick, gorgeous architectural detail within the brick laying, and a double gable roof. All of this wonderfulness outside makes up for the inside of the home, which is a total wreck.

And today I’m going to go through the home inspection process. I’m going in prepared with tons of research on what to look for when it comes to wiring, moisture, structure, roofing, etc. I’m nervous, but excited to go through this.

Check back soon to see if I’m still add that “excited” part to any of my sentences.

The New "Me"

I started working at the Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon exactly two weeks ago. The process of reclamation has been both strange and familiar. There people are, for the most part, the same people with whom I worked 4 years ago. So, this is good because most of them are my friends. But some things do change.

Some people here shuffled around jobs and moved up in the ranks. This means new people have been hired. There’s one person who’s fairly new to Heinz who reminds me of someone I used to know.

Oh right, it’s the new “me”.

She hangs out with the old happy hour gang. She knows all good things going on around town. Students love to talk with her. She’s fun, engaging, stylish. She’s genuinely someone to whom everyone else in the school is drawn.

*sigh*

I’m not claiming that I have or had all of her pizzazz and flair that she does. But I am pretty sure she’s the new me in my old group of friends. Damn.

My Other Job

I’m living with my folks right now as I find my way through the transition of moving from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. So far, things have been pretty good. Generally, I don’t see much of anyone in my family, mostly because we’re all busy with our jobs. But I do see my mom more than my brother and dad, As I’ve mentioned before, she loves to cook. More than that, she loves to tell me what to cook for her.

Last night, I cooked what she told me to cook (see previous sentence). The recipe was quite tasty, though, and about as easy as they come, so I thought I’d share. It’s some sort of version of a spaghetti carbonara, but without the (what I think are) nasty, runny egg yolks.

1 lb fresh angel hair pasta
1 box frozen peas
1 cup low fat cream
2 shallots, thinly sliced
4 slices of bacon, cut up into ½ inch pieces
Parmesan

Boil water and cook your angel hair pasta (this should only take, like, a minute, in the boiling water.) In a pan, sauté bacon and then remove from pan. In the bacon fat, sauté the shallots for a couple of minutes. Then add the peas and cream. Bring it to a simmer and then let it thicken for a couple of minutes. Throw the angel hair in with the sauce and toss to coat. Throw the bacon pieces in and toss. Place into pasta bowls and garnish with a little parmesan.

YUM!

Old? New?

This week is my first week with a new job in a familiar place. I moved back to Pittsburgh and started working at Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, which is where I was before moving to Cleveland.

It’s so strange being back here. Good, but still strange. I get the sense that everyone kind of feels as though no real time as passed while I’ve been gone, yet, for me, I feel as though I’ve lived a whole other life. My old friends and colleagues have been great, making me feel completely at ease. But along with that comes the idea I’ve somehow remembered every little detail and nuance about the school, the university, and the personal lives of all who I’ve run across.

This is, in fact, not the case.

I got a 5 minute run down of benefits and payroll. Great! And now I have forms sitting on my desk ready to be sent to an HR office in a location I no longer remember.

I had an hour and a half long meeting with a woman who I actually HIRED into my previous position and, during the entire meeting, I couldn’t focus on anything other than figuring out what her husband’s names is. I thought I remembered correctly yesterday and asked her how Thomas was doing, only I asked with some sort of French accent added onto this pronunciation for no real reason. The accent, of course, was not needed.

This morning I walked down to Starbucks to get some coffee and, when walking back into the building, was asked why I didn’t just get the Starbucks that’s already brewed in the coffee room on the second floor. Huh. My bank account wishes I would have remembered that one a little sooner.

I met up with an old friend last night for dinner and when she casually mentioned she was divorced, I about fell out of my chair. “You didn’t tell me that!” She sure did, about 3 years ago. Via MySpace. GOD.

I’m glad the weekend is nearing. Then I’ll be able to take a prospective student tour without being caught by a colleague.

Efficient Women Workers

A buddy of mine shared with me an article, dated 1943, from Transportation Magazine, “Guide to Hiring Women.” Of the eleven tips on getting more efficiency out of women employees, these were – as I like to say – blog worthy.

*Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.

*General experience indicates that “husky” girls – those who are just a little on the heavy side – are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.

*Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can’t shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman – it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.

And people wonder why it's such a big deal to have Hillary running for U.S. President. She'll be great so long as her people understand that she needs an adequate number of breaks to primp.