Greg and Kat's blog

I have finally become an adult. I own my own car! I know Greg and I have a car back in Vancouver, but I’ve always thought of that car as Greg’s. Mostly because he bought it and he drives it. But this time, “we” bought the car for me! When I say “we” I mean Greg because I haven’t actually received a pay check yet (I get paid at the end of the month).

Car shopping was an experience. We drove to Raleigh where Greg had already checked out some used car dealers. We went to the one that had 3 Corollas on the lot. 1 was a stick-shift, which Greg didn’t notice the first time, the second one the sales guy said had been in a recent accident, and the third we test drove and took to an independent mechanic for a used car inspection. It’s a 1996 Corolla that is the same color as the Corolla in Vancouver. The inspection came back fairly good, so we went in search of somewhere with an internet connection to get a “carfax” report on the car. Finally found a Radioshack where Greg talked the salesguy into letting him use the computers there to get our carfax report.

The next thing we know, the report says: WARNING! or ALERT! or something equally as ominous. The car has been “rebuilt”. Crap! So we have no clue what this really means. So, we drive back to the mechanic and talk to the woman who said that the engine and all of that stuff was okay and looked like the original. So, they thought it may have just been the body work. Hmmm… what exactly does this mean!!!

So we did the only thing we could think of. We called Greg’s dad. He said he would touch it. But, we thought… the mechanics were amazed that it had been rebuilt and seemed quite sure that the car was fine with only a small amount of maintenance work. Crap!

Then we did the next thing we could think of. We called Oli. I think knowing that Oli changed his own brake pads made me feel a bit better if he said it was probably okay. Plus, we pretty much knew we wanted to just bite the bullet and get the car, so we were looking for someone to confirm what we felt. Since this car only has to last at most 3 years, we figured it would be fine.

Back the the dealer. We talked them down the price of the maintenance repairs. We probably could have gotten $100-200 more, but meh. At this point both of us were exhausted.

We have to go back to Raleigh and pick up the car today because by the time we bought it and the dealer changed the tires (it needed new tires), the state inspection places were closed. Dealers in this state can’t sell a car without it passing the state inspection, so it’s being brought to the inspection place this morning, and then we pick it up.

Next obstacle – me driving it back to Chapel Hill from Raleigh. Call everyone you know in the Chapel Hill-Raleigh area and tell them not to be on the street this afternoon! Too stressful!

Update (Greg, 05/27): Not! More to come.

I’m extremely jealous of Greg getting to go home. I’m actually extremely jealous that Greg gets to pack up our place (you all should know about my love of putting things into boxes and containers by now!). I’m sure Greg isn’t thrilled about packing, though. Kinda funny how that works out. Too bad I can’t somehow catch birds here and still go home in June. For anyone that ends up helping Greg pack, make sure he doesn’t toss any of my stuff!!!! If the banister rails were still there, then yes, he could have tossed those, but luckily I got rid of those already! Now I’m down to the stuff I really want, so nothing goes!

I’m on the road to start catching birds. Tonight I’m going to try to find natural colored rope (as opposed to the fluorescent blue stuff we have now). Then tomorrow I’m going to come in early, set my traps, and cross my fingers! Anyone know if a squirrel can fit into a Potter trap? That’s my one fear now – squirrels getting into my trap and eating my birds. However, Dana said that the only squirrel that got in to one of their traps came in through the top. So, I have to make sure that’s totally secure. I think their heads are too big to fit into the funnel parts. I think!

We’re also attempting to buy a car. It’s just another process that is slowly driving Greg insane. All of the cars are either bought by the time we call (which is usually on the same day the ads were posted) or bought before we’ve had time to see the car. So, Greg is slowly developing an anurism while I’m worrying that I’ll be left here alone and stranded without a vehicle. I guess I still have my bike, but I’ve got a couple of late nights in the next couple of weeks (HPLC optimization) so I’d rather drive home than try to bike home if it’s starting to get dark. So, cross you fingers and do a little car dance for us!

Almost forgot. Saw my first NC roach today. Had to wake up at 5:30 to get to school to set up traps (it was already light by the time I got to school, but I was on the first bus in!). Was brushing my teeth when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. There it was, in the bathtub. A large cockroach. I figured I’d try to fling it into the toilet and flush it. Got a piece of cardboard and leaned in the scoop it up, and it scuttled out of the way with the speed of a hummingbird! Crap! Now what! I could squish it! I grabbed the heaviest thing I could find, a CLR bottle from under the sink. I hit it with what I thought was a lot of force. Nope, still alive looking like nothing happened. Dammit! It was now getting late and I had to catch my bus. So, what did I do? I left it in the bathtub and left a note for Greg that it was in there so he wouldn’t inadvertently join it in the tub! Apparently he was able to squish it with the CLR bottle. Bug spray is being added to the shopping list.

So this weekend was chock full of “stuff to do since we have a car.”

Friday night we set out on an expedition to Super Walmart. Greg was pysched for his “American Experience” – he brought the camera. Sure enough, it was huge. (there should be pics up on the gallery) We started off the “experience” with dinner at McD. Yes, Greg ate meat! Had to get the full experience you see. Anyways, after gorging and feeling not quite right afterwards, we started shopping. Holy crap this place was huge! The experience ended with a slow, cashier. I wanted to pay with traveller’s cheques (to get rid of them) but I thought that might be too much for the poor woman, so we charged instead. Also didn’t want Greg to have an anuerism.

Saturday morning we rolled out of bed out into the Farmer’s Market. Felt like home except there was no chocolatier! The weather in Chapel Hill is probable not so good for selling chocolates. We bought some cheese, strawberries and pound cake and some tarts (one sweet potato and one pecan) from a woman who Greg already described in his blog. She was great! Can’t wait to see her again this Saturday!

Then it was off to Costco in Durham. Also stopped off at World Market (think Pier 1) and bought 3 bottles of wine (gotta love the states where you can buy wine and beer everywhere!). Also went to Bed Bath and Beyond. Was one of the first times it felt like home. Not in the “Chapel Hill is home” sense. More like, this looks like home in Vancouver sense. I think it’ll take a while for this to be like home. It has it’s charms, but it’s not familiar enough yet. Maybe in a few weeks… Anyways, went to Costco (also a homey feeling as all Costco’s look the same!).

Sunday morning we went shopping for a futon. The old tenants left us their futon, but I’m going to use that as my sofa. So, at the end of the summer I’ll need a bed (we’re borrowing the tenant’s bed for the summer). Figured a futon is the way to go (cheap!). Got one on sale (yea!) and it’s set up in the office where we needed a place to sit (to watch stuff on the computer) anyways!

At a loss for something else to do, we went to see a movie. The nearest large movie theater is in Durham. Saw “Thank you for Smoking.” Really funny – go see it!

And that was our last weekend with the rental car.

So I won’t recount the moving experience as Greg has already done a very good job decribing the Target trips. We finally went to bed around 1:00 Tuesday morning from sheer exhaustion.

On Tuesday, I stayed home from work to help clean some more. We have a dishwasher, so we were washing up a storm. Unfortunately we think the dishwasher is making the kitchen smell a little funky. Any ideas on how to make this not happen? Neither of us has ever actually used a dishwasher, so we have no idea!

Took a break in the middle of the day to have lunch at Weaver St. Market which Greg already described. They have a little cafe not unlike the one at Capers on W. 4th where you can get hot and cold prepared food. Then went in to school for the annual ice cream social. A retired biologist who used to work on insects (I think) endowed $$ for a 40-year annual ice cream social. She’s brilliant! It’s actually the 43rd year – the department/faculty have contributed to make the social continue. I’m so doing this in the future!

Then went back to the supermarket where I thought Greg was going to die. He literally looked as though he was going to pass out in the middle of the store. Luckily we made it home and got some soup into him, got him on the internet, and he was fine.

Just a few quick things:

Greg changed my comments section so that I now accept comments from users that do not have blogger accounts. Didn’t know you had to specify that! Sorry!

Saw a Pileated Woodpecker and a Blue Jay just outside Keith’s sunroom window this afternoon, and a Barred Owl in the trees in Keith’s backyard. Oli, you DEFINITELY have to visit, and we can go birding (i.e., you can ID all of the birds, and I can say “yeah, that’s was definitely a …”

We made it to Chapel Hill!

Day 1:

Started out as most of my trips to the airport do… early! Woke up at 4:30 (after finishing packing at 2:00) and got ready to leave. It was sad to leave because that was the last time I’ll see the place on Pender since we’re moving sometime in June. Oli graciously woke up early and drove us to the airport, where we weren’t charged for the 2 bags that were overweight! Woo-hoo! The flights to Toronto and then to Raleigh-Durham were uneventful, and I slept most of the way. Too tired from packing and stressing about the not 1, but 2 impending moves.

Keith picked us up from the airport and drove us back to his place where we waited for Sabrina to get home. Had take-out Indian food in their screened-in porch. Food was pretty good. Not as good as Bombay Bhel, but good enough! Were serenaded by Barred Owls, so that was pretty cool.

Another high point, Greg found out he could pick up a wireless signal, so all is well (thank goodness!). So, he’s happy. I, on the other hand, can pick up the signal, but can’t do anything with it. Keith has the same problem. Weird. At least he has internet. I think if he didn’t, he would have killed me by now out of sheer boredom.

Day 2:

Woke up at around 9:00 Chapel Hill time – that’s 6:00 Vancouver time, so really, I woke up early! Picked up the rental car, a nice little Kia Rio, and headed over to school to meet Keith. On the way we got a bank account, and interacted with our first southern Asian guy. Had the whole southern accent and everything! Hee! Hee! He was super helpful, and so now we have a bank account. Task 1 completed.

Met Keith in his office and got a tour of the lab and got paperwork to fill out so I can get paid and have health insurance. Was introduced to the 25 starlings that are currently in the lab aviary. Will post pictures sometime next week documenting the disgustingness of the aviary, and my attempt to bring them inside. I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this! I avoided working with starlings for almost 8 years, and now not only am I working with them, I’m bringing them inside!!! I think I’ve finally lost it! I’ll be sure to take “before” pictures of the room and “during” and “after” pictures. Luckily we have a part-time tech who will be helping with cleaning. To give you an idea of how gross they are, there is a flat-edged shovel leaning in the aviary to scoop the poop into a large and stinky garbage can! A shovel!!! I can’t wait until they’re gone and all that are left are my finches!

Anyways, the plan is to move the starlings inside on Monday, while also attempting to trap House Finches in potter traps. Depending on how well these work, I may or may not have to build the other traps. Greg is on the lookout for large tin cans though, just in case.

After the long lab tour, we headed out to a mall (yea!) to get us a cell phone. Ended up with a nice camera phone. Task 2 completed. We then headed towards Durham to find the Best Buy, Walmart and Target that Greg looked up on-line while I was touring the bird facilities (he conveniently didn’t go with me for that part of the tour!). Anyways, scoped out prices for TV, which is extremely important if I want to watch Gilmore Girls on Tuesday! Headed towards home after price comparing and had pretty good Mexican food at La Hacienda on the way back to Keith’s place. Lots of Mexican restaurants here.

Went to buy groceries so that we’d have breakfast food, and not have to sponge off of Keith and Sabrina. Went to the local Whole Foods. Holy granola! This place only sells organic natural stuff, and everything was pretty expensive. Think Capers. I thought Greg was going to lose it when they didn’t sell any cereal that looked like cereal from Save-On. He ended up with something with a penguin on the box that vaguely resembles is beloved mini-wheats. Will find a more appropriate store for general stuff soon, I hope!

Filled out the post-doc paperwork and finally went to bed around 1:00. I think we’re not totally adjusted to the time just yet. Either that or we’re totally adjusted, and just wanted to go to bed late. Can’t really tell…

Day 3:

Woke up around 9:00 again today and tried looking for my Teva’s for the longest time. Kept thinking I may not have packed them, or they were pushed under the bed back in Burnaby when I was packing because they were nowhere to be found. Finally got all of the paperwork done, and missed my bus (they come every 20 minutes from Keith’s place) at 10:45. Turned out sometimes they only run every 40 minutes, and this was one of those times. So, had to wait until 11:25 to catch the next bus. On the way out to catch the bus I saw some sort of lizard, various birds including Cardinals and Robins, and a chipmunk! By the time I walked to the lab from the bus stop it was almost noon, and my feet were killing me. Apparently my cute new mint green shoes kinda stick to my toes when it’s a bit humid, and so I now have small blisters on the tops of my “ring” and “pinky” toes on both feet. I REALLY needed to find my Teva’s! Turned in my paperwork, but I couldn’t do anything else (get e-mail account, do online animal care training) because I couldn’t get my PID number (not sure what PID stands for). So, I called Greg and had him pick me up, and we drove out to Carrboro, where our new place for the summer is. Drove by the apartment, which looks great (less than a block away from the weekly Farmers’ Market and across the stress from a gym) and then had lunch and drove back to Keith’s place to try to find my Teva’s. Still no sandals.

Proceded to drive back to Target to get supplies (shampoo, bandaids, contact solution, and comfy sandals – my Teva’s are dead to me now). Yea! Shopping. Then drove to the Best Buy and bought a flat screen TV that also works as an external monitor and a DVD recorder/player. Yippee!!!!! Task 3 completed!

Went back to Keith’s to drop off the purchases and rested for a little while. I then decided that I would unpack all of the bags just in case my Teva’s were just shy and hiding from me. After I looked through 3 out of the 4 bags, we had to go find some dinner. So we went for a drive aroudn town, and found a bunch of restaurants on my main street that runs in front of the university, and also leads towards our new apartment. Ended up in a small pizza place that was diner-esque. Pretty good pizza! (Yes, the first could of days is turning into Eatfest 2 – 2006, with Eatfest 1 – 2006 being Suyoko’s recent visit to Vancouver).

Back at Keith’s place, I decided that now I HAD to go through the last bag. And, finally, there they were, at the bottom of the bag, wedged in the middle of the two handle poles… my Teva’s!!!! YEA!!!! No more sore toes!

So, the last couple of days have been pretty eventful. Tomorrow we actually get to see the inside of our new place, see the Farmers’ Market, tour campus on foot, and maybe visit another local mall. Then on Sunday it’s Carrboro Day (I have no idea what that means, but we’re going!), and probably a trip to Costco. Then Monday is move-in day and starling moving day.

Sorry this is so long. I promise the next ones will be shorter. Must blog now while my life is exciting!