Stacks and stacks of paperwork

So after a very long wait for the shuttle to training, Nick finally made it there. He has his very own room, which even has a TV! He only has computer access from labs that are setup, and he hasn't found one yet. So if you've emailed him, it might take him a bit to return it.

On his bus ride, he met a girl from New Orleans who had apparently had the same whirlwind experience that Nick had. She was also notified on Thursday of her appointment and had to rush to DC. She will be working in the DC office as well, at the same position that he is.

His first meal as a government employee was what he called "military sweet and sour chicken". I'm not sure what that means, but you can take from it what you may. After speaking with him today, he also experienced "eggs that tasted like grits, and grits that tasted like grits", and "what they called salisbury steak, but was actually meat pucks in gravy". I'm sure more witty food descriptions are to come.

I'm suspicious that they have done something spectacular to Nick, because he has a group of friends already! (I won't mention that all but one are female...) Today they started attending "classes" which apparently consisted of their showing up to a classroom at 7:45 in order to fill out a LOT of paperwork. When he called me today, he needed to ask questions about what health insurance and life insurance plans he should go with. This is when I know he misses me :)

In the meantime, I'm getting help from friends, and friends of friends, trying to figure out where to live. There are so many communities, towns, and suburbs in the DC area, it's a bit overwhelming. I think that I have decided that we need to live in Maryland, though. It seems to be more cost effective. And I'm really excited about the opportunities to ride a much better public transit system than we have here in Atlanta.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Stay tuned for the next installment...