I love the NIH. I want to sell my soul to the government and work for them.

I visited the campus for the first time and met my boss, Pat. He's really cool. He took me and dad around the lab, the different offices, showed us stuff on the computer, took us to the scanners, i got to see the fMRI machine being used (way cool), talked with the other IRTA, Brenna, about stuff, then me, Pat, and dad talked over some coffee....really neat conversation, etc. Good visit. I love the campus, love the building, the people are really nice, there's a lot of support for us IRTAs (socials and help for the future), i get to go to conferences, flexible schedule, pay's not too bad (it's about double my stipend from UCI) but it is crap, hehe, but next year i get a mad promotion and maybe i can move into the city. Brenna lives in Dupont Circle (jealous!!!)

Me, i have a place secured in Grosvenor, just one metro stop north of the NIH and 25-35 mins on the metro from the city (it took about that long to get to Farragut North to meet up with Sean). it's 2 rooms in a townhouse, my own bathroom, 633/mo plus utilities/cable/dsl. unfurnished. i figure i can get cheap funiture at ikea or target.

i'm not as scared as i was before. =) but i still am. a little.