When my dad, Hilary, and I walked around Shadyside a few weeks ago, Virg felt sure we'd return with the Chococat lamp she desperately needed from the Hello Kitty store there. We didn't, so it was inevitable that we'd have to go back to Shadyside for her silly lamp, and we used this trip as an excuse to try out lunch at Cappy's, which turned out to have delicious subs and salads.
a lovely tech writer finds illumination
When I checked my email in the evening, I learned that I had finally been assigned an "Andrew ID." Not sure what an Andrew ID is, but apparently it's a prerequisite for doing just about anything at CMU, so having one now is very very good.
Tuesday, July 22
I got a key to my new office, which is pretty dumpy--a windowless little room with broken furniture, broken lights, and broken ceiling tiles. And it's an ergonomic nightmare--a problem I really have to remedy soon.
Wednesday, July 23
I gave in to the power of the dark side--and got a Mac. But I swear I didn't want one. CMU intro CS classes are taught in rooms full of Macs, and I needed to make sure I could handle them. So I stretched my computer budget to include both a desktop PC for my office and a MacBook to use in class. And so it happened that, as a young hotshot computer science professor, I found myself glancing uncomfortably at my new Mac and asking the CS department's computing services manager, "Um, how do I turn it on?"--among other insightful questions. Turns out: the power button.
Then I remembered I'd need a VGA adapter cable in order to connect the Mac to a projector, so I got an insider's look at the long chain of bureaucracy required to spend $17 at CMU's bookstore. A few administrators, forms, and 30-digit account codes later, the computing services guy and I reached the end of the red tape at the bookstore, where they put our newly purchased cable in a bookstore plastic bag. When we attempted to decline the bag, we were told that the store's crazy rules required them to give us the bag even if we didn't want it, but that we could return the bag to a different cashier on the way out of the store. We did, and the employee there sighed, "I don't know why those guys at the computer counter insist on giving everyone bags." Ah, CMU... How many little slips of paper and plastic bags must we exchange just to move a 4-inch cable from one building to another?
By the way, the Mac has proven to be a little quirky, but I'm really liking it.
Dave embraces thinking different.
In the evening, Virg and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary by using a gift certificate at a Thai place in Shadyside called Thai Place, that claims to be one of the top ten Thai places in the country. We think not, but we did enjoy it very much. Then we had a nice walk around Shadyside, and ended the evening by wolfing down some Great Wall Of Chocolate cake in a big pool of delicious raspberry puree at P. F. Chang's at the Waterfront. It was the closest thing we could find to our wedding cake on short notice. We had a really nice evening together.
P. F. Chang's Great Wall Of Chocolate
[as stolen from someone's Internet photo album]
Thursday, July 24
Tried out lunch at Uncle Sam's Gourmet Subs at Forbes and Murray. Turns out they really only have many varieties of a single sub, and it was hardly gourmet. But it was a delicious cheesesteak that I'm looking forward to having again!
Friday, July 25
Back to CMU to get an ID card, so that I can get into the buildings on the weekend. Next month I get a new one which doubles as a bus pass, which, like so many things at CMU, I can't get until the official start date printed in my offer letter: September 1st. Which is stupid, because I start teaching classes in August, and need most of those things before then.
In the evening, Virg's parents came to visit, but of course you know that, because you've already read her blog entry about it.
Saturday, July 26
A month ago, when I learned that one of my new favorite bands, Lights Out Asia, would be releasing their third CD, I set an alarm on my Yahoo calendar so I could buy it the day it was released. So, when my package from the band's record label arrived, I tore it open excitedly, only to find they had shipped the wrong CD. I emailed the record label, and they didn't express any interest in having me send back the CD they'd sent me accidentally. And when the correct CD finally arrived a week later, they accidentally included yet another random CD with it. Not a good business model, but the music is excellent.
Of all the albums not about men dressed as bats,
this one is currently my favorite.
Virg and I spent the night at Pittsburgh's 4.5-star Omni William Penn hotel as part of our anniversary celebration. We had a great time there, even without our Lights Out Asia CD. The hotel treated us like royalty, and the room was really nice--a suite with great views of downtown. We enjoyed some room service for lunch. Then we discovered our room rate included free dinner at the Terrace Room downstairs, which turned out to be quite good.
in the hotel lobby, after dinner
We enjoyed free Sunday brunch there the next morning, and then walked around downtown for a bit before reluctantly heading back to real life at home, where an AP Workshop awaited...
Virg poses by a fountain in front of the hotel where we stayed
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