july plans

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It's hard to believe it's been nearly a year, but June 30 is my last day at Microsoft. At work I'm wrapping up some projects, and working on ways to continue others from 2800 miles away. At home, I'm pricing shipping options for household goods, weeding out the kids' clothes, and trying not to panic about the packing to be done. (No last-minute second thoughts, at least not yet. It feels good to be going back.)

The wrinkle in our relocation plans is that while our lease here ends on June 30, our tenants in Rochester will be in our house until July 31. So for the month of July, we're technically homeless. And because I'm scheduled to speak at MSR's faculty summit in mid-July, we need to stay in the NW area until then.

So here's our plan:

  • June 30-July 13 we'll be aboard Sabbatical, with a few trips into the Seattle area for parties
  • July 13-July 16 is still undetermined. We might stay with friends in the Seattle area, we might spend a few nights at the condos on Crystal Mountain that the boys liked, we might head to Ocean Shores for a few days. Still working that out.
  • July 16-18 we'll be at the Bellevue Hyatt for the faculty summit
  • July 18-31 will be a slooooow trip down I-90, stopping at national parks and roadside attractions along the way. Definitely a few days in Montana--Scoble's photos made me think that we really need to soak up some of that scenery. Yellowstone, Badlands, Mount Rushmore. Possibly a few days in Ann Arbor, staying with my cousin and her family and showing the kids the places I lived when I was a student (if they haven't been condemned and torn down...) What else? Are there must-see spots along 90 that you think we should visit?

Not a bad way to spend a month, I think.

The boys (and I) were a little worried about Internet access during our month of transience, but they don't need to worry any longer--I just received my new Verizon EVDO card, which gives me high-speed internet almost anywhere! (In fact, I'm posting this entry from the bus on my way to work...how cool is that?) I figured I'd take advantage of my 20% MSFT employee discount while I could, and order it this month. I did the one year contract (can't do it for one month, alas), but given that I'll probably be traveling a bit next year, it will be nice to have broadband access without paying airport and Starbucks surcharges. I won't be able to use it with the MacBook Pro, alas, since it's a PC Card and the MBP uses a different card format. I could buy another card in the right format, I suppose. But I have another plan.

I'm also ordering a new Vaio SZ240 laptop--which weights in at under 4 pounds!--as our primary traveling machine, since we won't be able to set up Gerald's desktop in most of the places we're headed. I'll still be getting a 17" MacBook Pro, but I cancelled the order that they kept delaying, and my department will order me one for my return in August. I love my 17" powerbook, but it's a bear to carry around, and I'm looking forward to having a lightweight, fully-featured laptop that I can use when traveling.

So that's how plans are shaping up.

8 Comments

Liz - We're not on I90, but if you get anywhere near Columbus COSI (Center of Science and Industry) just opened their Star Wars exhibit. And I'd love to see you and meet the family!

http://www.starwars.com/community/event/museum/news20060601.html
http://www.cosi.org/home/?&fl=1

For that long road-trip across the country, have the boys explore http://www.roadsideamerica.com "your online guide to offbeat tourist attractions." That's how we discovered the Spam Museum (!!) in Austin MN.

Regarding Ann Arbor - West Hall is still there! But the sign on the door is a little different. :)

Well, I'll date myself by admitting that SI (then SILS) hadn't even moved to West Quad when I was there. I can't remember if it was one or two years later. When I was a MS student, the offices were back behind the Union, and classes were taught in the School of Ed building!

Thanks for doing the dirty work for me =) I'll check your post for the next couple days to see if anyone posts other stuff about the I90 trip.

I'll check out the road side america link as well. Thanks for that, Alice.

Hi Liz,
Teddy is getting excited about seeing Lane again - the pool is open and already in full use. I drove by your house the other day and was admiring your pretty front yard... you have big, fully leafed-out trees to come home to, not to mention your chair on the front porch. See you soon!

THIS COMMENT FROM BRENDYN ALEXANDER GREAT UNCLE JOHN ALEXANDER, RETIRED SENIOR ENGINEERING MANGER FROM IBM.
I HAVE READ YOUR BLOG AND BRENDYN'S AND PLEASE ALLOW ME TO THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HELP YOU HAVE GIVEN BRENDYN OVER THE PAST 4 YEARS AT RIT. GOOD TEACHERS ARE HARD TO FIND AND THE GOOD ONES ARE REMEMBERED AS I CAN SEE YOU ARE.
THE ALEXANDER FAMILY ARE VERY PROUD OF BRENDYN WITH WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED AND I AM ALSO PLEASED THAT SOMEONE IN THE FAMILY IS CARING ON BEING IN THE TECHNOLOGY GAME
I AM NOT SHOUTING I AM DYSLEXIC
JJ ALEXANDER

Kim, thanks for the reminder of how nice it will be to back in our home. The house we're living in here has never felt like home, and the neighborhood isn't 1/10 as friendly or welcoming as we were accustomed to. We're all looking forward to getting back!

And JJ, thanks so much for your comment. Brendyn's a delight. :)

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This page contains a single entry published on June 15, 2006 8:49 AM.

how to ruin a perfectly good saturday afternoon was the previous entry in this blog.

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