Adium is an outstanding application. Unfortunately it is currently Mac only. However, for you Mac users, if you haven’t downloaded Adium you need to right now. It is the only chat application to support multiple chat protocols including AIM, MobileMe, Google Talk, IRQ, IRC, Twitter, Facebook, and a number of others. At any one moment I am logged in to 6 different chat protocols and am able to communicate with my contacts on each of them from a single client. The user interface for Adium is very efficient and user friendly, allowing for quick chatting with multiple contacts. Adium is also extensible with plugins, emoticon packs, and scripts. In my opinion Adium is the casual users perfect client and the power users dream. Check it out here.
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I was welcomed to DC by my good friend Michael Thompson with a greeting that has stuck with me. He said: “Welcome to the Capitol of the Free World, my friend!” I like that. Now, on a lighter note, what I have learned in the first week of living here:
- When walking, never watch where you are going. The sites are far too interesting, and besides, nobody really cares if you walk right into them or weave back and forth across the path/hall/sidewalk.
- Never for any reason pass up the opportunity to take a picture. As soon as you can see the monument/building/cool photo opportunity, stop in the middle of the path/hall/sidewalk and take the picture. Again, no one cares if you inconvenience them.
- At some point, rent a bike. Bike’s are incredibly useful in DC, especially in large crowds of people who are walking. There is nothing more fun than dodging and weaving in and out of groups of people.
- Mumble consistently and concisely. Never speak clearly, politely or in full sentences. When ordering a sandwich don’t say: “I would like a Tuna sandwich, on wheat bread, please.” Instead say: “Gimmeatuna.” When asked what you said, slow it down only a little, DO NOT stop mumbling: “Giimmeeaattuunnaa.” Slowly make the person taking your order guess what you really want. That’s a fun game for all involved, especially those standing behind you in line – they LOVE IT!
- Learn to honk. If you don’t use your horn every 5 minutes or less, you will stick out as an out-of-towner. Even if you don’t drive that day, make sure to set off your car alarm to help contribute to the noise of the city. Remember, everyone must do his or her part.
- Sing to yourself while walking. Don’t worry, no one will think you are crazy because there is a much crazier looking/sounding/acting person less than a block away (regardless of time of day or location within DC)
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Culture shock. That’s all I have to say. We went to the National Cherry Blossom Parade today which was as fun as a parade can be. I’ve decided that parades should only be an hour, cause that’s about how much I can stand before I become bored, tired of standing, and grumpy. After the parade we moved with the huge mass of people over to the Tidal Basin to look at the blossoms (this is an event I do not understand – cherry trees blossom all the same – once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all). Unfortunately, we quickly got fed up with all the people and jumped on the metro and went to H&M so that Kendra could shop. Again, we struck out and didn’t find anything that either of us wanted to purchase.
Once we were fed up with shopping, we tried to get back on the metro to go home and ended up experiencing the nastiness of getting on the metro with a thousand other people. Pushing, shoving, yelling, and a few choice words from people pretty much had Kendra and I disgusted with humanity and by the time we made it home we were quite tired. Oh but wait, I forgot to talk about grocery shopping. Prior to getting home we went to Harris Teeter (a Market of Choice like store). What joy! I never realized how incredibly fun packing your groceries 15 blocks can be. I’ve been missing out all of these years while I used my car. You ought to try it sometime, I highly recommend it. By the time you get home you are so overjoyed to be there that you’ve completely forgotten about your disgust with humanity and your hope that you never have to ride the metro again. Instead your right arm is about 4 inches longer than your left and your shoulders feel like a bum made a fire on them to keep warm. Give it a try, I’m certain it will lighten your mood.
All in all though, the day has been good. Hopefully we’ll adjust quickly and more importantly our stuff will show up this week. Otherwise I may be taking a couple of friends up on their offer to go strong arm the moving company. We’ll see…
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- Last.fm Goes Paid-Only for International Users, Kills Unofficial Mobile Apps [Streaming Music] – Bummer. Good thing I live in the US
- Boxee Adds Pandora, PBS, New API (and Fixes Hulu) [Downloads] –
- How Do I Setup a One-Way File Sync Backup? [Ask Lifehacker] –
- DoJ supports RIAA in Sony v. Tenenbaum three-ring circus –
- See, Nigerian Scammers CAN Be Friendly! –
- Locavore Lists the In-Season Food Near You [Downloads] –
- Interview: Meebo CEO on iPhone chat app, Push Notifications –
- Sentencing commission ponders extra jail time for proxy users – Another behavior vs. technology issue.
- Fugly Friday: The World’s Worst Website? –
- Web Developers: help rid the world of IE6 with a simple script –
- Start BitTorrent Downloads at Home from Any Computer with Dropbox [BitTorrent] –
- Safari hacked in a flash at Pwn2Own 2009, Firefox and IE8 follow – Ouch, that hurts a little doesn't it Apple?
- 85M Motor Yacht – Oh, I wish, I wish, I wish…
- Internet Explorer 8 Officially Released at Noon EST [Internet Explorer] –
- The Sun Also Sets? IBM Reportedly Looking to Buy Sun – Will IBM support open-source development? That's my biggest concern with an acquisition like this.
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I am currently returning home from Washington, DC. The flight is long as usual, but I have some outstanding news. I have taken a job with HouseCall IT. The process has been incredibly swift and exciting and now I am slated to start work in 3 weeks. My guess is the next 3 weeks is going to be a whirlwind of activity as we pack our belongings and move to DC. I am incredibly excited and certain that many people are going to ask how it all happened, so here it is:
Kendra has always had the dream of living in a large city. After her trip to the Inauguration that dream was revitalized and she begged me to consider moving to DC. I had been in the process of finding a full time position doing IT work for a good six months. As I’m sure everyone knows the economy is in a bit of a funk right now and jobs are few and far between. At the point when Kendra asked if we could move to DC, I had been rejected for a couple of jobs and was fed up with the way things in Eugene were looking. So I agreed and we set out a goal – we wanted to be living in DC with one of us fully employed by the end of September 2009. That was a pretty conservative goal and would give us plenty of time to save money and prepare for a 3,000 mile move. However, our plans rapidly changed.
Anna Sohriakoff was one of Kendra’s college roommates. She currently works for Senator Bunning as a scheduler. Through her time in DC she became acquainted with some of the HouseCall IT staff and, when we mentioned to her that we were looking forward jobs, forwarded my resume on to them. Unbelievably we were having our first conference call about 2 weeks later. During that call they said that my qualifications were perfect for an entry level position and they were very impressed by my blog (which you must be too, since you are still here reading). We had another interview about a week later at which time we made plans to have me fly out to DC so that I could see the business, meet the people, and they could get to know me better. That week long trial run/interview was this past week and I enjoyed every minute of it. The work is fast paced, the people are outstanding, and unlike my current job they do not micromanage what-so-ever. For those of you who have been micromanaged, I’m sure you know how freeing it is to finally get out from under the thumb of your boss. All of a sudden you feel trusted and it makes you that much happier with your life (at least that’s how it is working for me).
The basics of my new job are pretty amazing. I will be assigned a number of Congressional offices and will be responsible for helping them with all technology issues ranging from basic computer use to Blackberry support to regular server and backup maintenance. It will be my responsibility to ensure that each of these offices needs are being met daily. At the same time I will not be alone as I will be a part of a team of about 14 people who perform almost exactly the same function. If I need help, I can readily gain access to it and I will be able to add my knowledge and expertise into the mix.
I’m extremely excited about this opportunity and am looking forward to our move to DC. That being said, if my blog posts become fewer and longer between, please be patient I will be back as soon as I will pick back up as soon as I am able.
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Tim Seymour lives in Washington, DC. He works as a Systems Administrator for 
