More condo news and some blogging...

I had the home inspection today and it went really well. There were a few really minor things that need to get taken care of, but other than that things are look good. Of course, there is still a lot of things to get done on the legal and finacial side of things. Sometimes it amazes me that people ever buy anything, let alone something as complicated as a condo.

In other news, I finished my first week of work. It was an interesting week. There was, of course, the usual orientation aspects with forms to fill out and policies to learn. Of course, the difference was that I did it all remotely. While I am going to be sitting in the Cambridge office, I am primarily going to be reporting to the Manassas office. This means for HR purposes, I'm virtually a Manassas employee. Depending on who you ask, I'm either a guinea pig or a pioneer.

We also had our monthly Ops review, so I got to see the different projects that are going on in the company, as well as the forecast for the coming year, finacial plans etc. It was a very educational experience, since in my previous work such things were very far removed from my daily efforts.

Finally there was the Open House. The Cambridge office hasn't been open for very long. The actually office space that we are using has been around for only a few months. So there was an open house to invite people in the community (predominately community in the sense of scientific community, students, professors etc) to see the facility and fill them in on what we are doing. It was interesting to see a few of my old professors coming to the open house. I also saw a girl I met at a conference three years ago, and one of my fraternity brothers (he was pledging as I was finished my Master's degree). Most didn't recognize me at first, must be the shaved head.

After work today, I went to the Cambridge Galleria. It's been quite a few years since I've been there, so it has changed, especially the anchor stores. Lechmere is now a Best Buy (at least as memory serves the Best Buy is located where Lechmere used to be). It also seemed a bit smaller and darker, although that could be because of the rain.

Oddly enough, the last time I remember being at the Galleria, must have been the same time of year. As I was walking around, I found it very odd how many people were near my height, and in a few cases taller. It wasn't until I saw a group of such individuals that I remembered the article I had seen, briefly on the subway, that the Head of the Charles Regatta is this weekend. I remember having the same revelation a number of years ago, probably my last fall in Boston. It seems that when people come to town to row, they need to check out the local mall.

Actually, that reminds me of another thought that occured to me. Boston is an incredibly cosmopolitan city. Walking around I hear all sorts of accents and people talking in other languages. San Francisco was much the same, except it seemed to be in pockets with different groups sticking to themselves. There don't entirely blend together in Boston, but there is much more intermingling, at least it seems to me.