The Shuttle Lady at the CDC hates me.

Today was my third day going to the CDC, and I've managed to substantially irk the woman that drives visitors to the building they need to go to. It's not really my fault, though. The entire campus is undergoing huge renovations-- a new building is born practically every week! Apparently, everyone is really confused and I certainly don't know what the heck is going on so I tend to make assumptions. For instance, on my first day, I assumed the shuttle driver would know that I needed to return to "Building 19" at the end of the day to get my car from the visitor lot. Nope. She drove me to the OLD visitor center ["Building 11"], and then said that she was going to "wring my neck" after I peeped out the correction. Of course she was the shuttle driver I got on my second day, and again today. She seems to be softening up, although she groans when she sees me standing ever-so-coyly at the "shuttle stop" signs.

Dr. "Big Russ" Regnery, my new mentor and friend, is wonderful. Imagine if Santa Claus loved the mountains, dogs, and smallpox and you'll be imagining Russ. He's very soft spoken, but when he talks about the CIA funding the program's purchase of a pyrosequencer or how he REALLY believes that recombination events and NOT clonal selection are responsible for the genetic diversity seen in vaccinia virus stocks, he talks louder and faster. I can't wait for my security clearance to go through so that I can start a project, and also so that I can actually walk to my building instead of taking the Cranky Shuttle.

Today is also the second day I've rejected a hot cocoa offer. Partially because hot cocoa makes slightly nauseous and awkward flirting also makes me slightly nauseous. I'm not good at "smooth" and I'm even worse at reacting to "smooth." Besides, what's with the cocoa thing? Shouldn't he like tea? Clearly, if there's one thing this developing saga has taught me, it's that I'm more picky and snobby than a British man. We'll see what ye olde weekend brings... Probably Swiss Miss.

Also on the Today List:

I made chicken soup

I ran out of Ambien

The leaking in my bathroom was fixed, once and for all

I woke up and it was raining, I'm going to bed and it's raining, and it's REALLY humid here.