Sunday, July 7, 2024
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Thoughts from the week: 1.) birthday punches are kind of a crazy tradition if you think about it, 2.) jump a fence, and it’ll sometimes jump you back, and 3.) if you’re planning a barbecue, you should probably be sure to check the grill’s propane sometime earlier than the hour before.
Monday I elected to work from home, where I got meager levels of stuff done. I really need to start doing laundry on Sundays so I can go into the office Monday and actually get things done. It seems my LinkedIn network is finally paying off though, because my middle school soccer coach connected with me and reached out to say he wanted to connect me with his daughter who works at NASA Goddard. She seems great and we plan on chatting sometime in the coming weeks about how best to go about getting noticed by NASA. Post work, I played spikeball on the mall with the other interns. Everyone’s getting really good, but I still think we need more diving. I’ll have to figure out a way for us to play on sand…maybe I’ll commandeer and occupy the volleyball pits by the tidal basin. Brynn, Kaden, and I also figured out a way onto the roof of our dorm, so we (intelligently) climbed a service ladder to a railing-less area to get some good views.
The next day I worked from ACP, where I made good progress on my first round of analysis on the VANDELS data. At lunch there was a Lunch and Learn about the History of Science, which was a nice reprieve from debugging my own poorly written code. Later, I played a few games of bananagrams with Charles and Charlotte before heading to a bad first date while everyone else went off to another trivia night.
Wednesday was a calm day, so I’ll be succinct: work from ACP and pool with Jenna and Charlotte. This was a tactical play to conserve energy.
Why conserve energy you may ask? Because Thursday was, of course, the 4th of July; the Super Bowl of holidays in the District. I woke and prepped with the sound of Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner blaring (for anyone who struggles to rouse strong patriotism, this song worked like a shot of high cholesterol, back to back WW champs, and crisp blue jeans). After barely resolving a propane disaster (crazy that 4 different gas stations didn’t have any), the interns and I enjoyed a fun barbecue at my fraternity house with some other DC interns. Right as the rain started, we dispersed; myself bound for a friend’s party, the interns for the mall to get a spot for fireworks. The party was great, as it gave me the chance to catch up with people from school I hadn’t seen all summer, though it also gave me insane apartment envy. With the rain abating and the party winding down, I embarked on a dire quest to find the interns at the mall before the fireworks blew their lid. This proved difficult. Obstacles included: throngs of tourists, sharp security fences (did you know that fences can be sharp?), and an ensuing conversation with some of DC’s finest. But through it all, I endured, and I finally made it right before fireworks with naught but a torn up leg and a stern warning. The night wound down nicely with various time spent with Jenna, Muji, Brynn, and Amanda.
Friday was slow, but I was able to update my code a little while doing work with Jenna. I’m finally starting to feel more confident with my analysis of the VANDELS survey data (though I’m still not sure what a Trussler line is). I later went to the pool with Brynn and Evan (Amanda’s friend, not intern Evan), before celebrating Independence weekend out with a group of the interns later that night.
Saturday was important. Not cause it was a Saturday (at this point the weekend felt like it was dragging on and I could’ve done without a Saturday to be honest), but because it was July 6th. July 6th is my brother’s birthday, and if you see him (though I hope you don’t, that would be weird if you did), please give him 19 birthday punches from me. I had a nice walk by the Georgetown waterfront and spoke with him and my parents for a while. Bored, I later binged the entire third season of The Bear (I will for sure appreciate food more going forward, will never work as a chef, and also maybe I wish I was from Chicago?).
The end of the week brought another afternoon by the pool, followed by a welcome party for Collins, who was supposed to join the intern cohort at the start of the summer, but has been having visa troubles. Charles thoughtfully ordered some pizzas, and we played card games for a while, before a few of us split to my room to watch The Dark Knight. I’ve seen it a bunch, but I’d forgotten how violent the movie was. I now fear that Charlotte and Collins may have nightmares.
In short, another week in paradise. Except that paradise was way too hot and way too full of tourists this week.
Jaden Sicotte