Survival Skills intact

So, I've now been in Austin for 10 days... in that time, I survived my first:

  • Week of work at TACC
  • Trip to the UT Campus
  • Ribbing by boss about Longhorn football (blech)
  • TACC staff meeting
  • Step class at the gym
  • Austin knitters meetup

The first week of work was really uneventful, although we did have a pizza party on my first day (not in my honor, alas) -- it was a "retirement" party for one of our supercomputers, which was being removed and will be replaced with a bigger, faster one shortly.

On Monday, I got all settled in a cubicle (ugh, haven't had a cubicle in three years!) and then got moved to another cubicle across the hall... a larger one with a printer in it, in "the library" -- so named because everyone in there is so QUIET! I wrote myself countless notes to remember my headphones, which I finally did on Friday. In the meantime, to escape the silence, I went downtown to the UT campus to get my ID and parking pass. It wasn't too traumatic, except that the map they gave me to find the parking office was so old the parking office wasn't on it! oops. Getting lost wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for the 100 degree heat. :(

At lunch yesterday (Friday), the boss started talking about UT football. He made me agree that while they didn't have to be my *first* favorite team (duh), they should definitely come in second. He even agreed he'd root for USC against Notre Dame. :) heh. I told him I'd root for the Longhorns in ANY other sport... just not necessarily football. [First USC game is on Saturday, Sept 2 -- I will actually be home in time to go to Bailey's for that one! YAY!]

Also, since I joined the gym, I have been looking at different classes to take. It's such a small gym and they told me that the instructors are very conscious of who is new to the classes... so I decided to try a step class. Oy Vey. First off, the instructor was great, but she did tell me they do a lot more complicated stuff in the Saturday class. (uh-oh...) And it turned out to be pretty crowded. But I decided to stay and try it. Why not?! ..... About half-way through I nearly died. I actually had to go sit on the bench in the locker room for about 5 minutes, just to get my heart rate down enough to go back into the room. I am pretty coordinated, but some of the stuff I just couldn't do. And the girl in front of me was doing all kinds of extra steps that the instructor wasn't doing, so I just couldn't look at her. The ladies in the back of the room were enjoying my t-shirt from the Texas Freedom Network ("10 things you can do to piss off the radical right") . :) I may have to go to bed early tonight, I'm wiped out!

And finally, this afternoon (after I recovered from step class), I went to my first meeting of the Austin Knitters meetup. The ladies were mostly my age, and not many had been in Austin more than a few years. In fact, one girl has only been here about three days longer than I have! Everyone was at varying rates of skill and project done-ness... There was one sock-maker, one skirt maker, one scarf, and some gorgeous lace at the other end of the table. This group meets every other Saturday at the Central Market Cafe that's a few blocks from here... I'm definitely going to see them again! :)

Tomorrow I see a (very persistent) realtor about a few places around town. The little houses that are for rent around here are rather run-down and ugly (at least on the outside) but there are some nice ones over on the Hyde Park side. Wish me luck!

Comments

Just Me said…
Good luck! Sounds like a good crew of knitting folks - and even someone to teach you socks!
9:59 PM
Anonymous said…
I expect a pair of frog socks by the time winter rolls around ... I need something to wear around the classroom.
10:16 PM
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