Kappos Farewell Ceremony

Kappos Farewell Ceremony
At 1:00 PM on Thursday, 31Jan13, there was a farewell ceremony for the Director of the USPTO, David Kappos.  He served the Office for about 3.5 years.  Overall everyone from the unions to attorneys on the outside think Kappos did a wonderful job.  He guided the USPTO out the "ditch" from other administrations and through the implementation of the American Invests Act, which has sweeping changes to the patent law including the oath or declaration.  The USPTO went from being a "No Patent for You Office!" to "Patents are possible Office".  There is still large backlog of patent applications, but it is predicted to decrease in the next few years because of the foundation laid by Kappos.  You can read about Kappos and his work at the USPTO more in depth here.

After the remarks by the union leaders and Kappos himself, I waited in line to shake the man's hand, which was used to make all of the positive changes at the USPTO.  I was fortunate to get a picture with him.  It was really exciting!  He will be missed.  I wish him nothing, but the best.  While I was waiting in line, I met Teresea Rea who will be the acting Director of the USPTO until a new director is confirmed by the Senate.  She is the mother of two my friends at the USTPO.  I did not realize that until today even though they all have the same last name.
 

The Director of the USPTO, David Kappos and myself

Me talking to the Director

The Awards given to Kappos at the ceremony

Snow, Cleaning, and Meal of the Week

SNOW!
It finally snowed this week on Wednesday and Thursday.  The light dusting of snow was only 3/4".  The grass was still visible.  However the people here are not used to snow and it shows.  People worked from home because they did not want to drive on the roads and there were announcements that government offices were open for service as if there was doubt they would be open.

Cleaning
Jon and I cleaned the townhouse for the guest that will be coming to visit me and to keep the townhouse looking clean.  We primarily worked in the kitchen and living area.  In the kitchen we reorganized all of the cupboards and cleaned all surfaces including the floor.  In the living area we dusted, vacuumed the couch, swept the floor, and reorganized everything.  There was a large amount of trash in both areas.  It felt good to be done to see the place looking good for my people.

Then I went upstairs to clean my room, which included dusting, vacuuming, reorganizing, and throwing things away.  I could not believe the amount of dust in my room.

Meal of the Week
This weekend I did not make a meal, but Jon did.  He made chicken and wild rice in the crock pot with steam vegetables on the side.  He used one of my crock pot recipes for the chicken and wild rice.  It was really good!  Sorry for the pictures not being too good.  At night, there is not enough light for a good picture and the camera on my phone uses the flash.  The flash is usually too bright and results in pictures seen below.  Take my word for it.  It look and tasted great!

Inauguration

Inauguration

I went to the Inauguration of President Obama on Monday January 21st.  The Inauguration is supposed to be on the 20th of January due to the 20th Amendment, but it fell on a Sunday.  So they moved it to Monday.  Even though I do not have the most favorable view of Mr. Obama, I went because I may never have another opportunity to go to an Inauguration in my life.  I did not get one of the tickets to be in the area where I would have a view of Obama.  The tickets needed to be ordered well in advance and I think it would not have been more trouble than its worth because it would have taken longer to exit.  I arrived at the National Mall at 9:00 am for the 11:30 pm ceremony.  Between the metro and the Mall, there were people selling souviners for the event.  Almost anything you could think of was for sale with Obama or Inauguration on it.  There were big screens set up in the Mall to show what was going on at the podium because non of the people in the mall could see what would be happening on stage.  Before the ceremony, the most powerful people in government past and present were introduced such as the supreme court (e.g. John Roberts), leadership in both chambers of congress (e.g. Boehner and Reid), former Democratic presidents (Clinton and Carter), former leadership in Congress (e.g. Newt Gingrich), and top people of Obama's cabinent (e.g. Eric Holder).  My phone died before the event started, so I was not able to get as many pictures as I would have liked.  However my camera was not able to take pictures of the screen that was showing the happenings on stage.  So there not any pictures I could have taken to show my experience.

It was an absolute zoo to get out of DC.  There were some many people and obstacles to contend with before even getting onto a metro train.  The time to leave was longer than when I went to the Nationals game in August.

Overall I am glad I went and experienced this event!

The Hobbit, Snow?, Day of Service, and Meal of the Week

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
On Sunday January 13th, I went to the Potomac Yard Theater to see "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" with a small group Bible Study group from Bethany Lutheran Church.  Soon I will be an official member of Bethany Lutheran Church.  I was able use one of the movie passes I bought at work to gain admittance.  The  previews at this movie theater are very long, but there were some movies that interested me including Oblivion with Tom Cruise.  The movie ran for a little under 3 hours.  Overall, I thought it was a good movie!

SNOW?
Three to five inches of snow were supposed to accumulate on Thursday (17Jan13), but it did not happen.  There was only rain because the temperature was not low enough.

Volunteer on Day of Service
On Saturday, I volunteered at the Christ's House Food Pantry.  No, I did not do it because Saturday was the Day of Service.  I did it because I wanted to volunteer to help others.  In Mathew 25:35-40, it is written:


35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

There also many other Bible verses that talk about giving of yourself to help others in need.

The volunteers and I filled boxes with 40 lbs of food, made bags to hand out to homeless people with enough food for 1 day, and organized and restocked shelves.  Also someone tried to vacuum the pantry, but there was no bag attached to the vacuum.  So instead of vacuuming all of the dust, he just put all of the dust on the ground into the air. Haha.

Below is a map of the Arlington Diocese showing how food is distributed by Christ House on Wheels.  The green cylinder is the food pantry where I volunteer.  It is the central hub of the entire operation.  The food I put in the boxes is distributed to parishes and food pantries in every county in the diocese except for 2.

Meal of the Week
The meal of the week this week was Machaca Beef Dip Sandwich.  This recipe did not come from my usual recipe book of "101 More Things to Cook in a Crock Pot".  It came from a magazine article with crock pot recipes sent from my Grandma.  Boneless beef chuck roast was cooked in a sauce made with chopped onion, beef broth, beef gravy, chili peppers in adobo sauce, cumin, paprika, chili powder, and salt.  After the meat was tender, the meat was shredded and added back to the crock pot for the sauce to be incorporated fully and evenly in all of the beef.  It was a little spicy because I have to improvise on the seasoning, but overall it was a quality, filling meal.  When I come home, I may to cook a meal for my Mom to show her what I can do in the kitchen!

VA Driver's License and Meal of the Week

VA Driver's License
On Friday, I went to the DMV in Alexandria to get a VA driver's license and voter's registration card for VA.  In order to get to the DMV, I had to take the metro and walk a far distance.  I arrived at 7:40 am, which was 20 minutes before the doors opened.  After I started waiting at the door, people got out of their cars parked in the parking lot to join me waiting at the door.

Due to arriving first, I was the first customer to be served.  The process was quick because I brought all of the proper documents and filled out the form properly.  I did not get a chance to look at my picture, but I am sure I would not like it because I was not able to show my teeth while smiling. When I do not show my teeth while smiling, I do not look good.  If I do not look good, I do not like the picture.  I am really glad I was the first customer because when I left the seats were 40% full, a long line of people to check in, and people were not being processed quickly.  I will not get my new VA license for another 7-10 business days.  So in the mean time, I have my Iowa licenses with word "VOID" cut out in about 1% of the area of the license and a paper temporary driving permit.


Meal of the Week
Bacon Potato Soup

This meal took more preparation and preparation time than the last meal by far.  I had to peel and cut potatoes, wash and cut carrots and celery, and cook the bacon.  It was well worth it!  I am making soups now while it is still winter here.  However winter here is not as brutal as the Midwest.  It is more temperate and there has no accumulation of snow.  Actually it has only snowed once for about an hour.

New Years (2013), Back in the Swing of Things, and Meal of the Week

New Years
My roommates and I had a gathering at our townhouse for New Year's Eve.  Ryan's girlfriend and Jon's friend came over to celebrate the coming new year.  After spending some quality time together, we went down to the waterfront on the Potomac River in Alexandria to watch fireworks.  They were pretty good for not being 4th of July fireworks.  While we were walking up King Street our group sang songs including the Redskin's Fight Song: "Hail to the Redskins" and "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey.

Fireworks on the Potomac River in Alexandria

Fireworks on the Potomac River in Alexandria

Back Into the Swing of Things

Now that the holidays are over, some of my event will be back to there regular schedules.  My Living Water at Bethany on Sunday evenings and my volunteering at Christ's House food pantry will resume.

This week I started studying for the USPTO Registration Exam (aka Patent Bar).  This is the exam one has to take and pass to prosecute a patent before the USPTO.  It is a lifelong credential that does not need further education, training, or fees.  If I ever prosecute patents, I will have completed a necessary step that most people in the field would not complete until their first summer of law school.  Additionally, this will show law schools I committed to going and have the legal aptitude for law.  Hopefully this will help me with law school admittance and financial aid.  Finally, passing this test will allow me to opt out of taking a exam needed for a promotion as a Patent Examiner at the USPTO (my current position) in the future.  I plan on taking the test on 29 March 2012 at the Prometric Testing Center in Washington DC.  This is not official.  I still need to turn in the paperwork, wait for the paperwork to be verified, and register for the exam at the time and location I desire.

 

On the bus to church, the bus driver kicked a guy off the bus for drinking a beer on the bus.  The situation was not as tense as it could have been because the person drinking the beer was very out of it.

People Visiting Me

Listed below are the tentative dates for people who are coming to visit me in DC:

Mom: February

Aunt Mary and Gail: March

Grandma and Grandpa: After planting is completed

Meal of the Week
Chicken Tortilla Soup