Earthquake Spam

It's true that when something happens to the East Coast, that's all the rest of the country gets to hear about on the news.  It's because we (I mostly mean the East Coast-based news media) are all pretty self-involved and a bit over-dramatic.  We had an earthquake this week and thanks to all the facebook spam from your friends on the East Coast, you know.  So, while Peru just had a 7.0-magnitude earthquake which blows ours out of the water, I'd like to obsess about our 5.8er this week.

I was in my cube on the 4th floor of our 7-story building on Tuesday (prime earthquake flattening location now that I think about it), when things started to shake.  I'd asked someone when we moved if we ever got earthquakes here.  They said no, so my my train of thought went something like this:

Whoa.
Are we in an earthquake?  No. They don't have those here.
Oh crap, I'm in DC, probably a bomb.
Well, I'm still alive, so that's good news.
I'm sure they would have bombed the National Mall, but Nathan's at MLK - he's probably OK.
Um.  What the hell? This thing is still going?  Holy sh*t this is getting bad.
Holy sh*t what do I do in an earthquake?  Doorway!  Wait, get out of here?
I never learned where the stairwells were in this building.  That was stupid.
No time to move if this thing is going to collapse it'll do it before I leave.
Doorframe, get to the DOORFRAME.  Could this building collapse?
HOLY CRAP IS THIS THING GOING TO COLLAPSE, I NEED TO LEA - phew, it stopped.

We evacuated.  (What I should have known to do right away.) 

Our street during the evacuation.

No phones worked, no internet.  It was pretty hard to get information.  Having never been in an earthquake, I guessed it would be about a 4.0 based on the fact that everything was still standing.  When I found out it was closer to 6.0, I felt kind of proud that I'd been through that.  It was thrilling, in retrospect.

Luckily, in a city ill-equipped for earthquakes, not much damage was reported except to the National Cathedral and Washington Monument, a structure Nathan says he won't go back into unless they give him an option to buy more life insurance.  Lovely.  A few things fell off the shelves in our house and pictures were skewed, but luckily Alison and Grandma went right outside and Alison really enjoyed seeing everyone in the building in one place.

Photo Credit: Nathan King

It took me two hours to get home.  In order to inspect the entire Metro railway system, trains moved at 15 mph for the rest of the day.  I stood on the crowded platform at Farragut West and watched three over-crowded trains go by before I decided to go the opposite direction, then get on at a less-crowded stop.  That worked.  Just as I thought my commute couldn't get any worse, however, there I was, stuck in a super-crowded railcar going 1/4 of its normal speed when I saw it.  The largest spider I'd seen since Kansas crawling up the girl's skirt next to me.  I couldn't move away - too many people.  This might be very close to my worst nightmare, but it wasn't the scariest thing that happened that day.

So, today, as Hurricane Irene creeps up from the South, I'm creating an emergency/evacuation kit.  I guess you can never be too careful.  It's also my opinion that you can never have too much SPAM.

A New Leaf

It's Saturday and I finally know what it feels like to be disappointed that it's the weekend.  OK, that's not entirely true.  I am REALLY excited to spend the entire day with Alison, but two weeks into the new job at National Geographic and I can safely ask myself: why did I wait so long?!  I am now a Project Manager on a team that updates the http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ website.  If you haven't visited lately, bookmark it.  It is forever packed with amazing information.  Don't worry, we're working on getting that flyout to settle down.

I have two reflection topics to share about my first two weeks:

1. My commute rocks.  It takes me 45-60 minutes one way, walking, then riding a bus and train.  That sounds horrible doesn't it?  I know!  So why do I find myself looking forward to it every day?  Probably because I get to catch-up on the news first thing in the morning via the free commuter newspaper, The Express.  I also get to walk around downtown, through Farragut Square, and basically feel like I'm back in Sevilla again enjoying an exotic land.  Maybe the fun of it will wear off, but this sure beats driving.
2. National Geographic rocks.  You know what they do and no one does it better, but did you know their culture permeates through to how they do business every day?  Their buildings are LEED Gold, there's a compost bin on each floor and they recycle just about everything.  There's a photo gallery at the street level of my building (that anyone can walk in and see for free).  If you look up, there are the stars, situated in the exact same configuration that the founders would have seen on the day Nat Geo was founded in 1888.  There is a constant stream of National Geographic-funded explorers giving talks and presentations (that are also usually open to the public, I should add) and they just added a bee hive to the roof.  If all that doesn't make you happy then maybe you're not me!

Life is good.

Mount Vernon

Since it's not run by the National Park Service, I suspected Mount Vernon, George Washington's Estate on the Potomac, would be either lame or over-commercialized.  It was only slightly over-commercialized, but it is a great day trip if you've been all over downtown DC already.

 Washington's Mansion

The cost is $15, but you get to tour Washington's mansion, see his tomb, view several gardens, enjoy a brand-new state-of-the-art museum, and be oriented by Pat Sajak in colonial dress.  They also have a farm with animals and a distillery where Washington made a ton from his homegrown whiskey, but we didn't make it that far.  Instead, we were thoroughly schooled in the awesomeness that was our first President.  Nathan was right when he pointed out that the museum was "not exactly balanced".  For instance, an entire room was devoted to Washington's dentures, with no mention that his teeth came from slaves (they were not wooden).  They did talk a lot about the slaves he kept, but continually reminded you that they were freed upon his death.

 View from Mount Vernon

That tree (near the middle) existed during Washington's time.

Lower Gardens - Stocked with heritage plants set-up the way they were in the late 1700s

Upper Garden & Greenhouse - Washington had lemons and oranges year-round

I don't think there is much you can complain about when it came to the personal and political life of George Washington (his wife burned all but three of their love letters to avoid them becoming public in the future).  He was a pretty good guy with hundreds of towns, schools, and monuments named for him.  His true brilliance really came in stepping down voluntarily after two terms.  He could've been King, but decided to set a precedence that only FDR ignored.

Rest in peace Washington, you have a very nice estate, although crowded during tourist season, on which to spend eternity.

Practice Run

OK, I'll admit it.  Being nervous that I would have no clue what I was doing during rush hour in the Metro Transit System, I did a practice run of my commute on Thursday.  As I suspected, there was really no need for this because DC has the BEST public transportation system ever and I easily got from home to work in 45 minutes and 1/4 of a book later.

The trip really only served to convince me of how awesome my new commute really is.  The bus is clean and quiet, trains come every five minutes, I walk through a park (which had people in full business dress with no shoes doing yoga before work), and I pass no less than four places willing to sell me a hot breakfast for under $4.  Not only that, but my commute ends at National Geographic headquarters!

This is where I report on Monday.

This is a view of the building next to mine, the National Geographic Museum:

Yay!

Shenandoah

I have nearly two weeks of freedom before starting the new job.  This week, we took a family vacation and camped in Shenandoah National Park.  Shenandoah is only two hours from us, so it's a convenient place to escape into the wilderness.  It's not the world's best wildlife or scenic park, but I do enjoy the view of the mountains through the haze.

There is a lot of hiking to be done, including pieces of the Appalachian Trail.  We chose to do a shorter hike to Dark Hollow Falls, which, with the kid carrier, turned into an amazing workout for me.

 Dark Hollow Falls

My favorite part of the trip occurred in two doses.  Each morning, we were treated to a half-dozen hummingbirds feverishly sucking down nectar from the blooming milkweed plants next to our campsite.

 Photo Credit: Nathan King

We didn't see any bears, but that doesn't matter.  The real mission was accomplished: introducing Alison to an amazing park and adding to the world another happy camper.

Photo Credit: Nathan King

And Now For Something Completely Different

Monday I'll go to work, answer some questions, sametime a few friends, have a couple of meetings, then shut down my laptop and end my career at IBM.  On August 8th I will become the newest Project Manager for the Digital Media division of National Geographic.

Photo of the Day: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

I suppose it's tradition to pick apart my career at IBM and explain why I chose to leave, but I don't want to.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without my IBM experiences, both good an bad.  Instead, as I pack up to leave, I can't help but think about a few important things I learned at IBM.

The highlight of my career was my Corporate Service Corps experience in Tanzania.  You can read about my team here (Tanzania 1).  No one knew this at the time, but this was such a dangerous program to send me on.  Here, I got a taste of what it would be like if I were doing something I loved and making a difference in the world.  I got to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro with Nathan, and watch the wildebeests move in unison across the Serengeti plains.  Yes, my love of travel, culture, language, and environmental change all swirled around and met in one place.  I wish I could have found a similar opportunity within IBM when I returned, but such amazing jobs probably don't exist.  I will be forever grateful for this experience because from it I was able to hone my life goals and begin forging a career path that would make me truly happy. 

I don't think Nathan would be a Park Ranger today (his undeniably perfect career path) if it weren't for IBM's flexibility.  They allowed me to work remotely from several parks, to take days off and work weekends, to basically do whatever I wanted as long as I got my work done.  Surprisingly, with that kind of flexibility, most IBMers end up working all the time and it took me years to figure out how to create my own balance.  That is a priceless skill and one that I'll be using for a long time.  Thanks, IBM!

Finally, I had some fantastic customers and some that made me glad they were located in another state.  I've worked on highly successful projects and disastrous ones (let's just say that I know how to keep my cool when a Vice President is yelling at me).  In spite of some real trials, our team was always able to pull off the impossible.  Of everything I gained in the past six years, the most important thing was confidence.  The confidence to trust my gut, the confidence to push past daily issues, and finally the confidence to do something when I realized IBM wasn't the right spot for me anymore.

It's been an awesome six years.  I'll miss IBM a lot, but instead of "Building a Smarter Planet", I'll be "inspiring people to care about the [amazing] planet" they already have.

4th of July on the National Mall

Everyone warned me not to go to the National Mall for Independence Day. The crowds will be overwhelming, they said. You won't get home until after midnight. That baby will hate it. This is where being stubborn really pays off because they were wrong on all accounts.

I wasn't about to miss my chance to see our capital celebrate its birthday. Alison and I arrived downtown at 11:30am, just in time to snag a sweet parade-watching spot from the National Museum of Art's Sculpture Garden lawn.

 7-4-11 - National Archives

OK, so we couldn't see everything from there, but the view of the balloons, floats, and tops of the bands' heads was worth it to have some space for Alison to run around, taste leaves, and meet some other babies.  There actually seemed to be just as many foreigners downtown as US citizens.  Probably because we throw a good party.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was underway, celebrating Colombia, Rhythm & Blues, and the Peace Corps this year.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but the festival turned out to be a real DC gem.  There were three stages with world music complete with dance floors (have I mentioned yet that Alison dances?), a bunch of tents describing worldwide culture, crafts, music, you name it, and also delicious foods.  We sat in the Home Cooking tent for a long time, hoping to get a taste of the fish stew a Malian was teaching us to make.  I had to leave right at the end because Alison got angry.  Maybe she doesn't like fish.

 7-4-11 - Kenyan women basket-weaving

At 6pm we were admitted to the NPS VIP fireworks area.  That's right, it appears we are now true Washington Insiders since only those on the list can watch the fireworks from within a special fenced area next to the Park Ranger National Mall Offices!  The view was great, actually, except that I didn't get my coveted shot of fireworks over the Lincoln Memorial.  Trees were blocking our view of the monuments.  We could have easily snagged a spot closer to the middle of the mall and next year, I think we will.  From where we were at, however, we could clearly hear the stage and the special announcement from "Park Ranger Nathan King", as he was introduced.  Nathan was the 4th of July Public Information Officer, so he got to address thousands in the crowd and MC a skit about American freedoms (or lack thereof) throughout our history.

 7-4-11 - National Mall not super-crowded.  I can still see grass.

The fireworks display was, well, worthy of a nation that can still (for a couple more years anyway) say it's the strongest nation in the world.  Nathan was told by the director of the National Mall fireworks display that the finale would include roughly 45 fireworks shot off every second.  Check it out:

 

People cleared out quickly.  We waited to leave until 10pm and were home by 11pm.  Alison stayed awake in awe through the fireworks, then fell asleep on the way home.  We're going back next year.  Would you like to come?