Oh Crap! It's Friday, August 1st

Not that I didn't see this day coming, but wow, we're here. The crate will be delivered tomorrow, but we still have a boatload of packing to accomplish. Luckily though, we decided that it wouldn't be a great idea to leave a crate full of our stuff (even if it does have a padlock) sitting just blocks from 18th Street on a Saturday night. Drunk people + dark street + abandoned crate = bad news for Erin & Jesse. So, we'll be busy bees on Saturday packing and setting up for the big move on Sunday.

On the work front, I still have a ton to do, but I keep plugging away and hopefully will make lots of progress today. This morning, I am driving our intern around to take the last few photos that we need for the building inventory and draft report. Given that there are about 40 buildings and I have only allotted a 3-hour time frame, I don't think we will finish. So, we'll focus on some of the scarier areas of the city and next week, after I'm gone, he can finish up with public transportation.

However, my biggest challenge today is not the report, or the packing, but living with the 80 billion mosquito bites on the lower half of my legs. We went out to dinner with a friend on Wednesday night and apparently I sent out the "raw meat" signal and was eaten alive. Seriously, it's almost comical how many there are (and that's just the front of my legs...the backs probably have twice as many).

Benadryl and other hydrocortisone gels have not even begun to relieve the itching welts. This morning I woke up in a fit because I couldn't think about anything but removing my skin, so I got up and consulted "the Google." And? The white stuff? It's toothpaste, which worked until the peppermint wore off and I was right back to itching. Then I tried vinegar, rubbing pennies, and even a cut onion. Out of sheer desperation, I tried one final remedy. Windex. Why? Because it feels good and the internet told me to do it. I know (gasp) it's probably toxic (but not more so than the water we drink in D.C.) I'm not sure how, but the ammonia works magic on the stinging and itching. I wonder if it would be inappropriate to take pit stops on our morning driving trip and ask the intern to Windex my calves?