Trees in the City

I had new employee orientation in Cambridge last week. When I missed the shuttle back to Boston, I had a chance to walk over to these terrific changing trees. They were in a wide median on a busy street. They didn't seem to notice all of the cars.

I love that even in the city, there are big trees everywhere.

Settling into my new apartment and autumn

The leaves started to change, at first just a few...


I thought of putting my dresser in this corner, but the floor is really slanted. See how the bottom is against the wall, but the top is so far away from it? The right side of my bed is slightly higher than the left side, but it hasn't affected my sleep. The kitchen is wonky, too. The space between the cabinets and the ceiling is greater on one side of the kitchen than the other, by five inches.

Thanks so much, Cynthia, for the air mattress. It wasn't so bad sleeping on it all summer, but I'm really glad I have a bed now. And even though the bag of screws and such to put the bed together weighed about ten pounds (there are drawers underneath), I put it together all by myself. I didn't even need to call Sunshine or Susan, or either of my dads, for help.
Autumn is upon us.

These are just some of the turning leaves I see on my one-mile walk to work. I'm hoping to go leaf-peeping soon. To leaf-peep, you drive out into the country to see the turning leaves. There are even websites that indicate when the season is at its peak.

Gordon Hall and the Harvard Medical School Quad in the rain.

Provincetown

This is not a photo of Provincetown. This is Boston.

Getting closer to P-Town.

Mike the Bike, on the two-hour ferry.
For those of you unfamiliar with the shape of Massachusetts, it's a rectangle with an arm hanging off the lower right corner. That arm curls back up, and Cape Cod is inside. (Just look at a map, okay?) On the very tip of the arm is Provincetown, Mass. What a cool town. You can drive there, but from Boston, it's a long way and there's traffic if it's a nice weekend. You can fly there, too, or take a ferry. Being out on the water again felt great. I don't wish I were back living on cruise ships, but I often long for the feeling of being on the water.

P-Town is known for its gay population and is a popular destination for gay vacationers. It's a very pretty place, with the ocean or marshes all around and wood shingle houses with flowers in the gardens. Apparently in the summer it has more of a party feel, but in September it was calm.

This beach is, what would you say, 20 feet wide? And there's a lifeguard on duty! Maybe they have rip currents, but there weren't very many people in the water. Perhaps it's a volunteer lifeguard, just keeping an eye on things while he hangs onto his tan for a few more weeks.

I know I regularly request that you click on these photos to see the larger view, but if you do so with this one (above), you'll see herons in the grass, and a lighthouse in the distance.

It's great to get away from the city for a bit. I love Boston, but I also like that you don't have to travel far for a change of pace and scenery.

It's official - I work at Harvard!

I moved to Boston on June 16. I started temping at Harvard Medical School on July 28, and today, September 17, I received my offer letter. I'm now officially a Harvard employee! I have accepted the position of Project Coordinator for the Center for Biomedical Informatics. This has been so much easier than my previous job searches, and so much more fruitful. I'll be making quite a decent salary, I'll have four weeks vacation a year, I work with terrific people, and we have a great benefits plan. I work closely with the project manager and we oversee/organize a team of computer guys. It's different than what I've done before, but I'm enjoying it and learning a lot.

By the numbers, it's harder to get a job at Harvard than it is to be accepted as a student. Harvard posted 2,500 jobs last year, and received 75,000 applications. This gal feels pretty good!

After job-hunting and living in Boston unemployed for a month, my mom (Nancy) suggested I temp, just to get my foot in the door and get me working at all. I met with the placement agency on a Wednesday, and was placed at Harvard that Monday. On my third day on the job, my boss suggested I apply for the open position of Project Coordinator, and here I am. Thanks, Mom. Of course, I've also got to thank my other three parents, Gary, Jan, and Rick (alphabetical order), my brother Josh, my grandparents, and my friends, many of whom I spoke to many times on the phone when I first arrived, giving me a comfortable lifeline back home. You're all wonderful!

My Walk to Work

Look closely (click on the picture to enlarge it) and you'll be able to see all the people who walk down the street, heading in the same direction as I do every morning. There must be 9am classes at the nearby colleges.

Gordon Hall is the Harvard Medical School building I love so much. I guess this squirrel does, too. See him?
There are geese everywhere. Apparently, they cross roads by slowly inching into the street, giving cars enough time to react, but cleary stating their intention to cross. I see that foot paths don't require the same caution.
This is the Public Latin School. Built in 1635 (!), it was the first public school in the country. It's still open as a school.
Fires are a big deal here. Maybe because the buildings are so close together, and most are around four stories high - it's definitely high-density. So when there's a fire, everyone comes out. It's not uncommon to see hordes of fire engines on scene.
Because of so many tall apartment buildings, many of the fire engines have ladders.
Okay, my wrists are tired from so many posts in one evening. My bubble bath awaits. I hope you're all well and happy. Hugs and kisses, Genoa

The New Apartment

There are several things about the apartment that need to be repaired. The previous tenant, for example, painted some of the molding bright red. I don't hate it, and perhaps white windowsills will look boring, but it's not the statement I want to make. Also, the blinds will be replaced. Here's a picture with obvious unpacking still ahead.

This apartment has wide windowsills, too. I now have a nice shower curtain up, but these are early photos.
There's a fire escape outside, which creates a nice ledge for pigeons. Billy has made friends.
Mike the Bike, I'm sorry to say, may stay in the kitchen for awhile. It's just a 20-minute walk to work, and he's so heavy to carry up three flights of twisty stairs. Here's my building. It's brick, but not red brick.

My apartment is a couple blocks from Fenway Park. I now carry the Red Sox schedule in my wallet. When there's a game on, everything is busier. And I can hear the the roar of the crowd. The other night, I heard, "Sweet Caroline - BAMP BA NA!" I heard the Star Spangled Banner tonight.

Moving Out

My summer sublease was up September 1, and with just two weeks to spare, I found a great studio apartment. It's on the fourth floor, so there won't be noisy college kids pounding on the ceiling above me. It's on a quiet, pretty street, just a mile's walk from work. But first, the move. Thankfully for the sake of moving, I don't have much in the way of furniture.

I took Billy on the train to Cynthia's house. She offered to watch him overnight, since I was going to move out on the 31st and spend the night at a friend's house.
Cynthia and Chris have a cat, too. At first, Billy and Catalina were just curious about each other.
Billy, still under a year old, was more curious than Catalina. She just wanted to be left alone, but feisty Billy wouldn't give up. He roused her as much as he could in those 24 hours. He even slept in HER bed! What a rascal.
September 1 is a very popular moving day, since all of the college kids are coming back. There are 60 colleges in the greater Boston area. At the grocery store Tuesday night, I saw many moms with their students, getting them stocked up.
The move was pretty painless. My new work friend and I loaded my stuff into his friend's van Sunday night, then we met Cynthia (with Billy) and another new work friend at the new place on Monday. It was the work of a couple of hours, and then the unpacking began. Billy was a champ, and has adjusted wonderfully.

Breakfast on the front porch of Halip's house. What a guy. I slept in the spare room and we had bagels in the morning.

Halip lives in Wellesley, which we toured a little bit before I could pick up the keys to the new apartment.

That's not a real bike.

The green line train was right behind us - on the same road!