amanda_lodden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amanda_lodden) wrote2007-11-02 10:39 pm
amanda_lodden) wrote2007-11-02 10:39 pm
Entry tags:
Who would've believed it?
10 years. It doesn't feel like it.
I've already told the story of the wedding, so let's rewind a little and recap how John and I met and started dating. It gets a little fuzzy when a couple meets because they have friends in common, because you spend a lot of time going "It was at so-and-so's birthday party!" "No, that was 1993, and I remember seeing you at the Christmas party in 1992 where so-and-so got blasted." "So-and-so got blasted in 1994, not 1992." "Are you sure? I could swear it was the same year that something-else-happened, and that was 1992."
But we're both pretty sure that the very first time we encountered each other, it was in the workstation room in the basement of Kresge Library at Oakland University. Jeff had embarked on a project to teach the local ACM* club how to run a Unix server by giving us a Unix server of our own to run. One fine day, he gathered a bunch of us ACM'ers and a few of his friends around to show us how to do... something. Give me a break, it was 15 years ago. Dave ended up being the one sitting at the keyboard. The command Jeff told us to use was fairly complex and involved spelling a file name correctly, and Dave kept mis-typing it (possibly because he was nervous; one of Jeff's friends was a guy who had a habit of hiring new employees out of the pool of ACM members, and Dave was looking for a job). I piped up, "why don't you just hit tab to complete the filename?". A few more missteps later, and a few more "helpful" suggestions from me, and Dave finally turned around and snapped, "Do you want to do it?" Frustrated, I replied, "As a matter of fact, I would" and made him give up the seat in front of the keyboard. And then proceeded to type the entire command flawlessly. It helped that it was a command I had discovered a few months before and I'd played around with a lot of the options trying to figure out how to make it work right. Honestly, I didn't think much of it, except that Jeff's lesson went a lot faster, and Dave was cranky at me for a week.
I certainly didn't think that I'd made any positive impressions on any of the people in the room that I didn't know. But that friend of Jeff's who liked to hire people from ACM, he took notice, both of the typing skills and of the "for God's sake, let's do this and move on already" attitude. And he didn't hold a grudge, because when Dave applied for a job he got it. (And did quite well at it.)
There was an ACM Halloween party. I don't remember much about it-- I had torn up my ankle really badly the night before so I was on pain-killers and anti-inflammatory drugs for that, plus I was on progesterone to straighten out my hormones, plus I had a sinus infection so I had a decongestant and antibiotics (and cough drops for the resulting sore throat). Some drugs were every four hours, some were with food, some were on an empty stomach, and some were "as needed", so I was constantly getting up to go take some pill or another. My traveling drugstore was in the pocket of my coat, which was on the bed of the guy who hosted the party, which just happened to be the guy who liked to hire ACM members. I do recall that after multiple trips into his bedroom, I started having interesting fantasies about his bed and what could be done on it. I chalked it up to being drug-addled, since I was actively chasing Jeff and the host was clearly interested in another woman present. Plus, I barely knew the guy. I hadn't even remembered him from the Unix lesson in the library. (That was one of those "We met at the Halloween party!" "No..." conversations I talked about earlier.)
The next spring, I was bored stiff. My schedule had changed, other people got real jobs and had less time, and I had nothing to do. Dave mentioned that he and his ACM-hiring boss often went to his boss's apartment for lunch and watched the boss's tapes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I wasn't a huge Star Trek fan, but TNG didn't suck and I had nothing better to do. Besides, if everyone else was going to go and get real jobs, maybe I should think about investigating a job with the guy who liked to hire ACMers. So I started meeting them for lunch and watching Star Trek episodes. It was fun. Geeky, but fun. That was the year that ST:TNG went off the air, so we made plans to watch the final episode at the same apartment.
Right after the end of the final episode, Dave bolted, saying he had plans with his girlfriend. This was in May, mind you, at around 8pm, so it was still light outside. Dave's boss (have you figured out by now who it is?) and I looked at each other and said "So, what do you want to do now?". Smalltalk and awkward conversation led to the revelation that he had never seen Disney's _Aladdin_, which I considered to be the best Disney film ever**. Well, I just happened to own Aladdin on VHS, as well as its sequel _Return of Jafar_ (which is not nearly as good, but doesn't totally suck like the third one does). We drove back to my house, picked up the tapes, and went back to the apartment to watch them.
We did watch the entirety of Aladdin, but by the end of it we were cuddled together on the couch. When it ended, we started up Return of Jafar, and neither of us remember a single thing past the opening credits.
The biggest irony of the evening? On the way to my house to pick up the tapes, I joked that I should pick up my resume too and give it to John. He gave me a big thumbs up and told me that would be a very good idea. Then a few hours later I ruined any chance I had of getting a job from him by getting.... other things from him.
The biggest irony of our marriage so far? Five years ago John started his own business and turned out to be kinda bad at the paperwork part of it, so I started doing it-- effectively, getting a job from him.
*ACM: Association for Computing Machinery, in case you're not a full fledged-geek. Basically, the campus computer club.
**I still consider Aladdin to be the best Disney film, but now it's for sentimental reasons instead. The Lion King is better animation and a better story.
I've already told the story of the wedding, so let's rewind a little and recap how John and I met and started dating. It gets a little fuzzy when a couple meets because they have friends in common, because you spend a lot of time going "It was at so-and-so's birthday party!" "No, that was 1993, and I remember seeing you at the Christmas party in 1992 where so-and-so got blasted." "So-and-so got blasted in 1994, not 1992." "Are you sure? I could swear it was the same year that something-else-happened, and that was 1992."
But we're both pretty sure that the very first time we encountered each other, it was in the workstation room in the basement of Kresge Library at Oakland University. Jeff had embarked on a project to teach the local ACM* club how to run a Unix server by giving us a Unix server of our own to run. One fine day, he gathered a bunch of us ACM'ers and a few of his friends around to show us how to do... something. Give me a break, it was 15 years ago. Dave ended up being the one sitting at the keyboard. The command Jeff told us to use was fairly complex and involved spelling a file name correctly, and Dave kept mis-typing it (possibly because he was nervous; one of Jeff's friends was a guy who had a habit of hiring new employees out of the pool of ACM members, and Dave was looking for a job). I piped up, "why don't you just hit tab to complete the filename?". A few more missteps later, and a few more "helpful" suggestions from me, and Dave finally turned around and snapped, "Do you want to do it?" Frustrated, I replied, "As a matter of fact, I would" and made him give up the seat in front of the keyboard. And then proceeded to type the entire command flawlessly. It helped that it was a command I had discovered a few months before and I'd played around with a lot of the options trying to figure out how to make it work right. Honestly, I didn't think much of it, except that Jeff's lesson went a lot faster, and Dave was cranky at me for a week.
I certainly didn't think that I'd made any positive impressions on any of the people in the room that I didn't know. But that friend of Jeff's who liked to hire people from ACM, he took notice, both of the typing skills and of the "for God's sake, let's do this and move on already" attitude. And he didn't hold a grudge, because when Dave applied for a job he got it. (And did quite well at it.)
There was an ACM Halloween party. I don't remember much about it-- I had torn up my ankle really badly the night before so I was on pain-killers and anti-inflammatory drugs for that, plus I was on progesterone to straighten out my hormones, plus I had a sinus infection so I had a decongestant and antibiotics (and cough drops for the resulting sore throat). Some drugs were every four hours, some were with food, some were on an empty stomach, and some were "as needed", so I was constantly getting up to go take some pill or another. My traveling drugstore was in the pocket of my coat, which was on the bed of the guy who hosted the party, which just happened to be the guy who liked to hire ACM members. I do recall that after multiple trips into his bedroom, I started having interesting fantasies about his bed and what could be done on it. I chalked it up to being drug-addled, since I was actively chasing Jeff and the host was clearly interested in another woman present. Plus, I barely knew the guy. I hadn't even remembered him from the Unix lesson in the library. (That was one of those "We met at the Halloween party!" "No..." conversations I talked about earlier.)
The next spring, I was bored stiff. My schedule had changed, other people got real jobs and had less time, and I had nothing to do. Dave mentioned that he and his ACM-hiring boss often went to his boss's apartment for lunch and watched the boss's tapes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I wasn't a huge Star Trek fan, but TNG didn't suck and I had nothing better to do. Besides, if everyone else was going to go and get real jobs, maybe I should think about investigating a job with the guy who liked to hire ACMers. So I started meeting them for lunch and watching Star Trek episodes. It was fun. Geeky, but fun. That was the year that ST:TNG went off the air, so we made plans to watch the final episode at the same apartment.
Right after the end of the final episode, Dave bolted, saying he had plans with his girlfriend. This was in May, mind you, at around 8pm, so it was still light outside. Dave's boss (have you figured out by now who it is?) and I looked at each other and said "So, what do you want to do now?". Smalltalk and awkward conversation led to the revelation that he had never seen Disney's _Aladdin_, which I considered to be the best Disney film ever**. Well, I just happened to own Aladdin on VHS, as well as its sequel _Return of Jafar_ (which is not nearly as good, but doesn't totally suck like the third one does). We drove back to my house, picked up the tapes, and went back to the apartment to watch them.
We did watch the entirety of Aladdin, but by the end of it we were cuddled together on the couch. When it ended, we started up Return of Jafar, and neither of us remember a single thing past the opening credits.
The biggest irony of the evening? On the way to my house to pick up the tapes, I joked that I should pick up my resume too and give it to John. He gave me a big thumbs up and told me that would be a very good idea. Then a few hours later I ruined any chance I had of getting a job from him by getting.... other things from him.
The biggest irony of our marriage so far? Five years ago John started his own business and turned out to be kinda bad at the paperwork part of it, so I started doing it-- effectively, getting a job from him.
*ACM: Association for Computing Machinery, in case you're not a full fledged-geek. Basically, the campus computer club.
**I still consider Aladdin to be the best Disney film, but now it's for sentimental reasons instead. The Lion King is better animation and a better story.
no subject
I think that you guys make such a good couple. :)
Hope that you guys have many more Happy Anniversaries together!
no subject
It's anniversary month!
no subject