Memory Day: 20 Years Ago Today

Twenty years ago today, on May 3, 2003, I made my final trip home from Tallahassee, detached forever from the potential academic composition career I might have pursued. The 900 mile trip took about 13 hours total, and I was sharing the road with my parents who came down with the big truck for my largest items of furniture (mostly a massive CRT monitor that weighed fifty pounds). After an overnight stay in a cheap motel, Booty and I did the last six hours of the trip in my 2001 Honda Accord. I let her out of the cat carrier because worrying that she might squeeze under the brake pedal and cause an accident was less of a concern than having to listen to her caterwauling the entire length of I-95. (She just explored the car then fell asleep in the back window).

Moving back to Virginia was a big deal -- it was time for me to stop dicking around with trite MIDI compositions and start earning real money as a software engineer (my starting salary after 3 summers of positive intern experiences was $62,000 per year). I immediately started looking for apartments along the Route 28 corridor to be closer to work. After learning that my college roommate, Anna, was also interested in moving, we combined forces and looked at three or four different places in Centreville.

The most expensive 2 bedroom apartment we saw was in a gated community and cost a whopping $1200 per month. Nowadays that might get you a shared studio apartment in Warrenton. We ultimately picked The Elms at Centreville because it had an average price, no parking permits, and was right at the intersection of 28 and 66 for easy access to all the places I might want to go to (but never went to). Next, I re-acquired a Virginia driver's license and bought all new furniture. I still have the dining room table and sofa today!

We only lived at the Elms for 8 months before I moved permanently to Sterling in February 2004 but it was a pleasant enough spot apart from the tempestuous arguing couple that lived below us. Pictured below are Booty and Kitty enjoying the cool hearthstone during the hot summer, and various Ahlbin/Spellerberg siblings in the days before craft beer was a thing.