Gotta love stupid people

I copied this out of an e-mail from my uncle. We've gotten to the point that when we talk on the phone, we count the number of times we talk/complain about stupid people. It's running rampant I tell you! Anyway, enjoy!

In Honor of Stupid People . . . .
In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods.

On a Sears hairdryer -- Do not use while sleeping.
(That's the only time I have to work on my hair.)

On a bag of Fritos -- You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.
(the shoplifter special?)

On a bar of Dial soap -- "Directions: Use like regular soap."
(and that would be???....)

On some Swanson frozen dinners -- "Serving suggestion: Defrost."
(but, it's just a suggestion.)

On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom) -- "Do not turn upside down."
(well...duh, a bit late, huh!)

On Marks &Spencer Bread Pudding -- "Product will be hot after heating."
(.and you thought????...)

On packaging for a Rowenta iron -- "Do not iron clothes on body."
(but wouldn't this save me time?)

On Boot's Children Cough Medicine -- "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication."
(We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5 year-olds with head-colds off those bulldozers.)

On Nytol Sleep Aid -- "Warning: May cause drowsiness."
(.I'm taking this because???....)

On most brands of Christmas lights -- "For indoor or outdoor use only."
(as opposed to what?)

On a Japanese food processor -- "Not to be used for the other use."
(now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a bit curious.)

On Sainsbury's peanuts -- "Warning: contains nuts."
(talk about a news flash)

On an American Airlines packet of nuts -- "Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts."
(Step 3: say what?)

On a child's Superman costume -- "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly."
(I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)

On a Swedish chainsaw -- "Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals."
(Oh my God... was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)

****Blessed are the cracked:
For it is they who let in the light*****

A busy and boring week

I realized I was missing my online interaction because I hadn't posted in almost a week. It's been an uneventful, but full week.

Sunday at church they were talking about the new small group bible study they want to start in October. I really felt called to agree to open up my small space to congregate once a week to further study His word. I'm rather nervous about the whole thing, as I've never done anything like this. I still have to clear it with my roommates, as it will be in our common area. I think it will be a neat experience, though.

My wonderful day off was spent catching up on all the work I hadn't done all weekend because I knew that I had Monday to do it. Oy, one of these days I'm going to break that stupid procrastination trait.

The newest member of our psychology staff is now on campus. No teaching, just counseling. My current psychology professor/advisor encouraged me to speak with him: "Everyone who wants to go into counseling should go through counseling or continually be in counseling. You can't help other people with their problems when you've got your own. And we ALL have problems." So I went to talk to him, explained a bit of my past and this past summer. Turns out I've got a lot more pent up anger and hurt with my father. So we're going to work on that more. That man will run my life no more. He had his 15 years and continued his reign unwelcomed. It's time for that to end and for me to move on.

Starting Saturday I'll starting running a psychology experiment. Actually, I'll just be running someone else's project, but it's good experience and it will be nice to put on my grad applications...which I need to work on. Oy!

Anyway, just wanted to give everyone a Tina update. My head is pounding as it has been. Hurricane Ophelia isn't helping things, playing with the atmospheric pressure around here. At least it looks like she's not looking to make landfall. I'm going to relax as my weekend begins and try to get some reading accomplished. Hope all is well with everyone else. I promise I've been lurking, but time has not allowed me to comment. I love you, all!!

Beaver's Post

I was hesistant to post this for all the world to see. I'm not quite that selfconfident yet. But, what do I care, I'm not claiming to have mastered the language. So, here you go, Beaver!

Mi comadre Mati anda rumbo a China Town: qué solitario y silencioso está el despacho!
Ella es la "100 x 100" como la bautizó el niño Gus por su éxito con el género masculino (aunque es mujer de un solo hombre); llegó en enero y desde entonces ha sido mi amiga, vecina, compañera de risas y lágrimas, de viajes y aventuras de lo más kafkianas... da gusto oírla hablar de su tierra (Murcia) con tanta pasión y amor por ella! Ahora está de vacaciones y cuando regrese sólo nos quedarán 10 días juntas...
Entre vosotr@s y yo, es la persona a la que más voy a echar de menos cuando me marche...

My godmother (often used figuratively to mimic a family relation for a close friend), Mati, walks in the direction of China town: how solitary and quiet this spot is! She is the “100 x 100” (not sure what this means, could be 100%, but I’m not sure) like the baptism of the boy Gus for her success with the masculine gender (even though she is a woman of only one man) (I don’t really understand this sentence either, I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t know the background information, the dialectical word choices, or references she’s making); She arrived in January and since then has been my friend, neighbor, companion of laughs and tears, of trips and adventures the best kafkianas (I’m assuming this is a city or some sort of destination they visited together)…it gives me pleasure to hear her talk about her land (Murcia) with such passion and love for it! Now she is on vacation and when she returns we’ll only have 10 days together…

Between you (plural) and me, she is the person I’m going to miss most when I go…

Okay, I did my best. Her choice of words is different from my schooling, so my translation might be a bit choppier. I hope this helps! It was fun doing it! Let me know if I can ever be of service in the future!!

Always,

Cricket

My Hurricane Katrina Post

I'm going to start off with a bit of copy-catness: Beaver has provided links to sites that did a beautiful job of commenting on the storm's aftermath. I'm going to go back to a temper tantrum that I started on Liquid Plastic earlier today.

This country has seen a lot of disasters, both natural and "human" made (I used that term loosely). What I cannot understand is while we have some pretty good methods of prediction, we do not have effective pre-disaster plans and aftermath help. I'm honestly not really sure what I'm asking for. There's got to be a better way to get and keep people safe. Right now, at least in FL, the only way to get out of the line of a hurricane is to hop in your car and hit the gridlock on the highway. They are kind enough to suspend the tolls on the FL turnpike system, but that's little consolation. Sure there are shelters. The shelters are generally schools that are limitedly prepared. Classrooms get emptied and you're allowed to sleep on your own bedding on the floor. I guess it's better than nothing...but again, you'd better have a car to get there. There are some special (medical) needs shelters that are better equipped, and I think they even have cots or something. There might be free transportation based on inability to get there yourself, but that's a definite might. Then there's always the airline option. If you're capable, you can pay the gouging prices for a last minute flight out of the area. I, myself, have found myself in a predicament of needing to get out of the area (we get kicked out of the dorms) and having no means of travel. In the end I used my doe eyes and some quick phone calls to find someone heading my way that had an empty seat in their personal vehicles. The school is nice enough to offer us free transportation to the nearest shelter, should we need it. Luckily, the camaraderie here has allowed that not a single student from this campus has been forced to endure a hurricane trapped in a shelter. But seriously, I don't know what other people would do if they couldn't leave. Sure, there's a mandatory evac notice, but are you going to provide transportation to get us out? So many people die in the hurricanes from being trapped in their own homes.

A classic example of this happened when I was still a child. Hurricane Andrew swept through Homestead, FL destroying the limited possessions the people had. Although the numbers are not yet in from Katrina, Andrew held the position of being the most costly natural disaster the States has ever faced. The people were ridiculed for not leaving, looking back I thought they were stupid as well. Now I know, there was no option for these people. Say what you want about the people...they're human just like you and I and that makes them no less worthy. It seems that storm which brought about new building codes and heightened awareness did nothing for getting people out in future storms. Then there's Hurricane Charlie, last year. Poor Punta Gorda. To this day, you can see the unending FEMA trailer parks from the interstate for the people who lost EVERYTHING and have no where to live now. That's one of the poorest areas in our state. Those people had no where to go, and no way to get out. For heaven sake, they didn't even have a shelter that would hold up in the storm; it collapsed at the beginning of the storm. When Ivan began threatening the gulf coast again, there was talking of public transportation to Orlando to seek refuge since there was no shelter for them to hide in. But there was only talk.

There were days of notice that Miss Catastrophic Katrina was heading for our favorite party town, located 60 feet below sea level. Sure, evac notices went up, but why wasn't there help to get all those people out. No shit the place was going to flood. That's what happens when the pumps are off and storm surges pummel the coast.

I don't know much about the restoration phase. It's always something that happens slowly and has little direct effect on me. For example, after having two hurricanes make landfall less than an hour north of my school in September 2004, we still did not have the full amount of traffic lights at each intersection in May 2005. By the time I returned in August, it appeared that they were all back in place. What I don't understand, is why can't we get the people who "we" left in their homes to suffer the storm out of their shambles, now?? It's not like that particular section of the States has never seen flooding situations. Although the specific details escape me, I know I've seen people sitting on their roof-tops in Mississippi more than once on my television screen. Why can't we figure out a way to help them? Perhaps I'm asking questions that are logically negated. I'm admitting that I don't know a thing about this particular aspect. But, I don't understand.

Okay, I'm done, for now. I will continue to pray, as it's the only resource I have. I ask anyone reading to do the same.

mi nuevo español

Hable con mi profesora de español por mucho tiempo, hoy. Ella estaba mi profesora por un clase al menos una vez de cada año y ahora es mi consejera de tesis. Así que, ella conoce a mí MUY bien. Ella está muy impresionada a mi español, por escrito y conversacional. El año pasado, hablamos en su oficina en ingles y en la sala en español. Estabamos en su oficina por más de una hora hoy y puedo contar en un mano cuantas palabras estuvieron en ingles. Hablamos de mi horario, mi tesis y mi experiencia en La República. Fue increíble hablar con ella sin vacilación. Yo sé que mi español no es perfecto todavía, pero uso el subjuntivo más y puedo expresarme por lo menos. Ella me dijo que ahora no uso la “s” como cualquier caribeño (con una gran sonrisa). ¡Soy tan orgullosa de mi misma!

I spoke with my Spanish professor for a long while, today. She has been my professor at least one a year and now is my thesis advisor. So, she knows me VERY well. She is very impressed with my Spanish both written and spoken. Last year, we spoke English in her office and Spanish in the classroom. I was in her office for over an hour today and I can count on one hand how many words were in English. We talked about my schedule, my thesis, and my experience in the Dominican. It was incredible to speak with her without hesitation. I know that my Spanish is still not perfect, but I'm using the subjunctive form more and I can express myself. She told me that now I don't use the letter "s" like any good Caribbean speaker (with a big smile). I'm so proud of myself!

Friends

This one goes out to the Beav'ster! While I'm not sure what your religious views are, this song always helped me get through moves and leaving loved ones behind.

Friends

Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
Can't believe the hopes he's granted
Means a chapter in your life is through
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "Never"
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

With the faith and love God's given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you'll live in
Is the strength that now you show
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "Never"
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long
To live as friends

~Michael W. Smith

Antics in Babysitting Continue

I figured today would run a bit smoother as I had a heart to heart with the child this morning and she apologized this afternoon for her behavior on Monday. Well, we get home and she's playing with her doll house. I can't even pretend to try to play dolls. I'm such a boring playmate when it comes to anything creative. As she's playing, she toots. Now, one couldn't really be sure of what they heard and I usually just ignore situations like that, ESPECIALLY with small children. If she hadn't jerked her head around to look at me and giggle, the whole thing could have passed innocently enough. Well about a minute later she jumps up and runs to the bathroom (mind you we haven't been home 15 minutes and she went as soon as we got there). So, I was a bit concerned: "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm just pooping," was the response she hollered across the house. Good to know, I don't think deductive reasoning would have provided that information. A few minutes later she's calling my name...oh lord. She wants me to wipe her. Excuse me?? I've changed diapers, wiped toddler's behinds, but a 7 year old second grader wants me to wipe her? I was a bit confused by this and told her no. "But it's really messy. You don't understand!" Oh, I get it, it's messy so I should get your poo all over me instead of you taking care of things. Well, I wasn't about to give in on this one. Her teachers don't wipe her, why should I have to.

Then it was back to play as normal until dinner time. She says she wants chicken nuggets, three. So I finally find the unmarked baggie amidst her mother's liquor in the freezer and pop the three requested into the microwave for a few seconds. They were plenty cooked and just fine. Well, this was an unacceptable form of preparation. They are SUPPOSED to be cooked in the toaster oven, I was informed. Well, excuse me. Then she proceeds to request that I feed her. Excuse me?? Again, 7 year old second grader. I don't think so. She fought for a few seconds before I walked away to utilize the facilities (I made sure to lock the door, you never know with this kid). By the time I returned, she was happily eating her wrongly cooked chicken on her own accord. However, she was eating with her mouth wide open, smacking at every bite. I was so disgusted and finally got her to chew with her mouth closed, repeating the words of my mother, again.

Her mom laughed so hard when she got home. I can't really remember how the conversation went, but it started somewhere around me not hand feeding her daughter. Then the girl decided to bust out with, "I went poopy!" Her mom just laughed at her and said okay. Then I told her that I had also refused to wipe her. Both being on the precedent that I felt she was certainly old enough to accomplish both. He mom, again, laughed and said that she'd gotten some babysitters to do both but that I didn't have to do either. She was still laughing when she walked me to the door and said under her breath, "this ought to be good birth control for you."

Seriously, I have babysat for years now. I've come across some interesting kids with some pretty odd quirks, but this child takes the cake. My mother is highly amused with my daily updates on the latest random behavior I've had to combat. Oy! I don't know if I'll make it all year with this child!

un corazón tan triste

Hablé con Mami, hoy. Le extraño tanto. Ella quiere que yo regresar a visitar a ella. Dijo muchas cosa de me y como soy. Dijo que todo en la familia, incluyendo a Papi, habla de mí todo el tiempo. Estaba llorando cuando tuve que cerrar la llamada. Extraño mi Mami, mi hermana, mi hermanito y, de verdad, un poco de Papi también. Mi familia anfitriona fue increíble y todavía son extraordinarios. Quieren que yo regrese pronto. Quiero como nada más. Quiero comer mi arroz y habichuelas. Quiero sentar en el balcón y hablar por horas y horas. No entiendo como puedo tener emociones tan fuertes después de solo seis semanas. Me dijo que yo y solo la mujer que estaba allí para empezar el programa, cambiamos el corazón de Mami tanto. Ella tiene familia en Tampa y en Ohio. Me dijo que no puedo regresar, quizás, podemos reunir en Tampa o más probable para ella, en Ohio.

No puedo escribir todo que está en mi corazón. Al primer, pensé fue porque no puedo hablar con tanto facilidad en español. Pero, no es el caso. No puedo describir mis emociones en ingles, tampoco. Soy tan deprimida hoy. Pero, ya sé que voy a ver a ella de nuevo en algún día.

I’ve translated what I originally wrote in Spanish. Sadly, the translation is a little rough. Even for me, translating my own thoughts from one language to another is difficult sometimes (the spelling was terrible after writing in Spanish…thank goodness for spell check).

I spoke with Mami today. I miss her so much. She wants me to return to visit her. She said many things about me and how I am. She said that everyone in the family, including Papi, talks about me all the time. I was crying when I had to hang up. I miss my Mami, my sister, my little brother, and in truth, a little of Papi as well. My host family was incredible and they still are extraordinary. I want to return soon. I want it like nothing else. I want to eat my rice and beans. I want to sit on the balcony and talk for hours and hours. I don’t understand how I can have such strong emotions after only six weeks. She told me that only I and the woman who was there to start the program changed her heart so much. She has family in Tampa and in Ohio. She told me that if I couldn’t return, perhaps we can meet in Tampa or more likely for her, in Ohio.

I can’t write all that’s in my heart. At first I thought it was because I can’t speak as easily in Spanish. But that’s not the case. I can’t describe my emotions in English, either. I’m so depressed today. But, I already know that I will see her again some day.

It's Official....I've turned into my Mother!!

Well, today, much to my babysitting charge's dismay, I discovered that I have indeed turned into my mother!!

It all started when her FAVORITE cartoon was coming on right at dinner time. However, they are ALL her FAVORITES. So being the cunning little child she is, she attempted to convince me that dinner in front of the TV, atop the pristine and expensive couch, over the white carpet, on the glass coffee table was not only allowable, but endorsed by her mother. Finding this hard to believe, I enacted my standard rule for situations where my rules and the child's rules differ: we'll do it my way today, ask Mom tonight, and do it Mom's way tomorrow. This was NOT agreeable to her plight. But, being the Type A personality I was, I stood firm to the no eating in front of the TV. However, I did concede to leave the TV on while she ate. I should have known this was a bad idea. Three bites into the pasta (plain with a dab of butter--this will be discussed later) I'd made her, she decided that she was done and informed me of such and tried to plop herself in front of the boob tube once more. I, of course, was not buying this. I told her to take three more bites and drink the rest of her milk. While I had, admittedly, made more pasta than she would be expected to eat, she had not eaten a sufficient amount of it. Well, that was NOT acceptable either!! So, I decided that the television really didn't need to be on until she'd complied with my requests. After some fighting on her part and some firm ground laying of MY rules, she finally conceded to do as I'd requested. Then she IMMEDIATELY wanted desert. I don't think so. I told her she could wait until her mom got home and then her mom could decide when she ate it. She didn't fight too hard since she knew I was putting my foot down and she'd already lost so many battles. She went back to watching TV and effectively ignoring me until her mom came home.

When Mom came home I asked her if dinner was allowed to be served in front of the television. I got a laughing "of course not" as my response. The protests from the living room were pathetic and quickly quieted by Mom. Then I asked her if I should have been serving her daughter any fruits and veggies or protein or something with her dinner. She's allowed to ask for whatever she wants for dinner and always wants pasta or spaghetti-o’s or something equally un-nutritional. Her mom's response was that whatever she wants is fine. If she wants chicken nuggets and french fries, they're in the freezer and that's fine. If she wants canned peas or canned corn or canned potatoes, that's fine as well. I'm sorry, I come from the school that peas, corn, and potatoes are starches holding very little to no nutritional value. I was ASTOUNDED that this mother didn’t ask me to provide ANYTHING to her daughter to help her growth and development other than whole milk.

I called my mother to tell her the story when I was on my way home, laughing the whole way. I really have turned into my mother. I accept that in this notion. Perhaps when I grow up and actually start cooking for myself, I'll be more inclined to prepare well rounded meals. Oy!

Book for a rainy day

I just finished reading Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. The book was written in 1888. It proposed to write a futuristic tale of the nation/world in the year 2000. Perhaps a better summary of it's actual affects is to describe the deplorable state the world was in that year. The utopia in which the protagonist finds himself is just that. However, in the year 2005, we have fallen wholly short of this proposed utopia. Rather, our land is ravaged by the same problems, if not worsened by time, as it was that pathetic day Bellamy sat down to write. Funny how someone condemning society over a century ago can effectively condemn our own.

I'd highly recommend this book to just about anyone. It's a relatively quick read, and unless you're buying it in the school bookstore, relatively inexpensive as well. Happy Reading!

FREEDOM!!!

Ah! The glorious appeal of blue skies, stifeling heat, and crippling humidity! With the storm well out of the area, we were finally able to get out of the building and cure a bit of the cabin fever that was rapidly spreading through the dorms last night. While I simply complained about being bored and watched one of my favorite movies, others had more creative ways to occupy their time. My poor RA friend had to deal with the insanity as noise levels grew to deafening levels around midnight. She had to quiet an alcohol party in one suite (luckily they were all of age), people faking extremely loud orgasms in another suite, and someone playing a one stringed violin rather loudly in another suite. Like I said, we were bored.

The storm huffed and puffed and eventually made land fall over an hour south of us. We got some wind and rain but nothing really. Over 1 million FL residents lost power, which sucks for them. Luckily, VERY luckily, the dorms maintained power (I could only imagine, our windows don't open, at all). OH! And we got our water back yesterday afternoon. We had to run every faucet and shower for 5+ minutes, but at least it's back to potable!!

Today I woke up to glorious blue skies. I decided I'd looked at my bedroom walls long enough and set out to find some trouble. I met up with a friend and we spent FOREVER at the Christian bookstore (she takes SO long to make a decision about anything). Then we went for a late lunch at Taco Bell (yes, no protein bar for lunch). After "lunch" (at 3:30 pm) we sat and talked about our summers and life and stuff. It was so nice just to be out of here for a few. I can't believe it's Friday, though. It really feels like Saturday.

Time to get busy on some homework. I've got a ton of reading to do and a stack of grad school applications to fill out!! Everyone, take care! Joe, you know I'm praying. Beaver, I'm praying for you, too, good luck!! And Amias, if you're reading...get back to work!!

BORED!!!!

Okay, it's official; I'm BORED out of my mind!!! They've canceled classes for the rest of today and tomorrow. They expect to be back up and running on Saturday. This really doesn't affect me since I don't have any classes after 12:30 on Thursdays until Monday morning. They decided not to kick us out for this barely a cat 1 hurricane. The only catch is, we can't leave 'cause there's nothing open and since the campus is technically closed, we can't have guests. So, we're all just chillin' inside being bored. We've all admitted that we do have homework we could be doing, but there's a hurricane outside (tee hee); we can't be expected to do homework. I don't think I could possibly stay awake long enough to read anything anyway. I've officially checked all my fave blogs about a million times...no nothing's changed in the last few hours, despite how much I wish it would. I'd love for one of those really long, intricate Voice posts right about now. You know, the ones that take you forever to read and even longer to check all the interesting links. Or perhaps a new Liquidplastic poem. One that I don't really get so I have to read it a billion times and think about it forever. Then realize the true beauty of it and read it a billion more times because I finally get it. Or maybe a good Beaver link post, similar to her recent test post. Too bad I did all those tests the other day when I wasn't doing my Spanish lit homework. Oy! But then I remember that the rest of the world goes on while FL remains in this surreal time warp. I forgot about that through all of them last year, too. Talking to my friends in CO, "What do you mean you went driving around the mountains and ran errands today?!?! Oh right, no hurricanes out there, my bad."

We're going to watch "In the Time of the Butterflies" later tonight. That should be interesting. I've seen it several times and read the book in English. I have to admit that I've yet to take the time to read it in Spanish. I don't feel all that bad, though. Although it's written by a Dominican author and about the Dominican Republic, it was originally written in English. Anyway, for those of you who aren't familiar with the story...the movie/book/story takes place in the 1960's in the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo reign (a horrific dictator who ruled for 30+ years). Started before and inspired by the Cuban revolution, one young girl began an underground movement to become the Dominican Revolution. This girl was given the code name "Mariposa" or "butterfly." Later two of her sisters became involved in the movement and shared the code name. After several years, a few run-ins with the "president," and much underground activity, the girls were brutally murdered by the government. They day they were murdered, November 25, has become the International Non-violence against Women Day. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Last I checked it was in the DVD bargain bin at Wal-mart, $5.50. I recommend reading the book more, by Julia Alvarez. Both are superb.

Still nothing happening outside my window. The trees aren't really even swaying much anymore. It doesn't appear to be raining at the moment, but hurricane rain is so fine that sometimes you can't tell when it is. The sky doesn't even get black. I guess I'd be more impressed if this was actually a real hurricane. This barely qualifies. According to the national hurricane center, a system has to have sustained winds of 74-95 mph in order to be deemed a cat 1 hurricane. Our "all powerful" Katrina ranks in with 75 mph winds. OOOOO I'm shaking. Maybe I'm being too cynical. This is the fourth hurricane I've been through this year (the first three were in the Dominican Republic) and who knows how many in my life time. Good thunder storms are scarier than tropical storms, to me. But then, I'm not going to do anything stupid because I think this is a lesser storm. No surfing with crazy undertows, no flying kites with keys attached (although there's really never any lightening in these kinds of systems), no running around outside naked (but that is a thought to cure the boredom).

Okay, I'm done rambling. At least I managed to keep myself occupied for a bit while writing this. I'm going to try to get my philosophy reading done (oh how I despise philosophy). We'll see how that goes. Hope everyone is out there staying dry while pointing fingers and laughing at us...again!

Check it out if you get bored!

I'm in Jupiter

Starting the semester out right

Well, last fall was destroyed by two hurricanes back to back. Guess we're starting early this year.

DOOM!!

For those of you who aren't as familiar with FL geography, I'm currently on the East coast just above the big blue dot. Should this thing decided to wreck havoc on our semester, I'll be residing on the little hangy thing on the West coast about mid-state.

Don't drink the water

So I went to the bathroom yesterday afternoon, washed my hands, and walked to my room to get my stuff ready to leave. I hadn't made it as far as my room when there was a hurried banging on our suite door. I answered it, thinking it was odd that anyone would knock, and in such a manner at that. Turns out it was an RA (residential assistant--they're required to knock before entering) spreading the word not to even think about water. Our campus water supply had been contaminated by the constant construction. They'd accidentally mixed our potable supply with our sewage. Don't drink, shower, wash hands, brush teeth...basically unless it involves flushing, don't use a drop of water. Of course I found this disturbing since I'd just washed my hands. I dug out the hand sanitizer I was so fond of when I worked in the after school care program. I was off to dinner with a friend I hadn't seen in three months, so I wasn't all that worried about things (although I did make sure to wash my hands again before I even thought about eating, or drinking for that matter). I figured this would be a quick fix and things would be back to normal by the time I got home. Well, 5 hours later brought no change so we dug out bottled water to brush our teeth and went to bed dirty.

Walking around campus this morning was interesting. All the girls have their hair up, can't imagine why. There are signs all over campus and all conversations are revolving around the uncleanliness of our bodies. There's no estimate as to when we'll have our safe water supply back. The woman I'm working for (basically a nanny gig) told me I was more than welcome to use her shower. I think I'll be popping over there before I have to pick up her daughter from school. Greasy hair, sticky skin, and furry legs....hmmmm yum!

Just DO YOUR JOB

Okay, here's a rampage that I've been on more than once and the fact that I'm on it AGAIN is more than aggravating. I'm lucky enough to have been hand selected for a very prestigious and generous scholarship. Although my expenses are supposed to be taken care of by the school with little to no effort by me, in actuality it's a CONSTANT battle. Throughout this I'll be speaking of two people Dianne who is in charge of the scholarship and transferring the scholarship money to the FAU foundation, and Stacey who is in charge of financial aid and making sure money in the foundation is transferred to their earmarked accounts. While Dianne is generally on top of things, Stacey I've found to be about as intelligent as my cat (which borders on insulting my cat). The process goes that I register for classes, Dianne checks out account balances, transfers that much money from the scholarship fund to the foundation with our names on it. From there, someone, presumably Stacey has to apply the money to our accounts. Because of all the problems with the process, we are now supposed to go tell Stacey how much money will be transferred in our names. I find this ridiculous since the amount and our names are intertwined in the system. We have an online account system that lets us access our student accounts, i.e. class schedules, account balances, holds. The system also lets us see when money has been transferred to the foundation in our names, but not applied to out accounts yet.

Well, this summer I had about $700 worth of credits to be paid for. I contacted the appropriate people and figured everything was underway. Now I come to find that my classes, indeed, were not paid for although the money was transferred in my name. Because of this I have holds on my account...including a registration hold. This is not good as I have one last class I need to register for. Stacey is insisting that the money has been paid and I don't have any holds. Which is clearly not the case. Instead of investigating what I'm saying and fixing the f*ing problem, she decides it's just best to argue with me. She's pissed because after nothing got done following a round of e-mails I called Dianne to find out what was going on. Dianne in turn called Stacey and probably wasn't too nice since Dianne transferred the money back in June. GRRR so now I'm the bad guy who still doesn't have her money!

Honestly, how hard could this all possibly be?

Stress

Okay, its official, the stress just oozes out of the walls here. I'm sitting here, with very little to do. I'm bordering on bored, really. Yet, I'm gittery and can't sit still and feel like I should be doing something. My boxes have long been unpacked, my walls are now covered. This is ridiculous!!

ah the joys of being back at school!!!!

Sadness

::tear:: I just said good-bye to my mommy.

I'm back at school, getting settled in. You know, after four years of setting up very similarly structured/equipped rooms, it gets remarkably quicker. This year I had all the boxes empty and was basically done about two hours after the last bit of stuff made it into my room. The walls are still blank, but as for the bed and the nick knacks and clothes and such...all is in it's place. The new flat panel monitor my mom snagged from her work's charity sale makes life SO much better. My mom drove over with me (and a car load of my stuff). After lots of moving, unpacking, and two nights in a hotel, she's back on the road heading home. I'm so sad. It's so hard saying good-bye, especially knowing how much quieter the house will be for her, alone. But, life goes on and as soon as I start freaking out about my work load tomorrow morning, I'll be just fine. I'm just exhausted from being so excited that I couldn't sleep the days leading up to the move, then working so hard for two days (packing then unpacking) in the FL heat.

Classes, thesis, grad school applications.....oy!! Here we go again!! Good luck to all those getting back to the grind stone!!

Maturity Running Rampant

I was flipping through my grandparent's pictures of my uncle's May wedding (yes, May 2005). I found this one and thought it perfectly counteracted the pic I have in my profile. I can't remember the circumstances, yet I'm not surprised to find this. Just 'cause I'm old enough to act mature doesn't mean I have to, right??

Previous Comment

I followed my own trail of commenting back a few months in pursuit of a particular piece of information. I found my own comment to a post The Voice wrote back in June. As it relates to a few previous posts and provides a bit more back ground information about me, I figured I'd add it here.

There comes a point in life when we begin to question things, particularly those that define us as different from the norm. I was about 8 or so when it occurred to me that I was the only child I knew with my father as my legal guardian (as opposed to my living mother). To explain this, he thought it was best to march me down to the court house and let me read all the divorce documents myself. The battle between my mother and father was vicious to say the least. When I was done processing all that I could handle, I sat in the fetal position with tears running down my face. My father looked at me with cold eyes that cut me to the bone: "You were born to save a dying marriage. When that didn't work, we had to figure out what to do with you." That was supposed to excuse away the years of abuse and pardon the years to come. I tried my best to put it out of my mind, but that's not something easily displaced. He reaffirmed his disgust for me when I was 15 and blatantly demanded that he and his wife stop searching my room. Through clenched teeth, with those cold metallic eyes he hissed, "I hate your G-d damned guts!"

I've never been one for the expression "forgive and forget." There are a lot of things in my life I've been able to forgive, but there are things that one will never be able to forget. It's those unforgettable things, for better or worse, that have made me who I am today and for that I am grateful. For all my lack of self-confidence, I do consider myself a rather successful person. I've done so much and had so many opportunities open to me because of my persistence to not accept the "norm." I want more out of life than I was given. I think I've done a fairly good job at achieving that so far. My father never thought I'd be successful without his help. In spite of him, and to spite him, I think I've turned out fairly well.

Blame God Instead

I'm at a mental road-block. All this packing, and reminiscing has put me in a rather melancholy mood. The following is a song by a group that has morphed quite a bit in the past year. At one time the lead guitarist was a friend of mine. I have no idea if this song will be on the soon-promised album. I've always liked this song, but never put anyone in my life with it until Tracy. Walking around Orlando last weekend, I kept doing double takes, fully knowing that he'd have no reason to stray so far from his CO home. I'm pretty much over his antics, but every so often he creeps back into my mind.

I do a dub-a-double take a thousand times a day
No matter where I go I always think I just saw your face
And every time I realize I'm wrong
A part of me still can't believe you're gone

With everybody in my life I'm obligated to explain
Who I am, what I said, what I meant, why I feel this way
But you knew more about me than I knew myself
I'll never find the same in anyone else

When you left me, you never even said good-bye
Since you left me, all I can do is wonder why
I'd feel so much better off with you dead
Then I'd still believe in you and I'd blame God instead

Remember how the days and nights started to feel the same
Time had a way of stopping when I cried out your name
But the voice I just heard made my blood run cold
In the blink of an eye your heart just turned to stone

When you left me, you never even said good-bye
Since you left me, all I can do is wonder why
I'd feel so much better off with you dead
Then I'd still believe in you and I'd blame God instead

When you left all my friends told me that I should move on
That I deserved better than you
Sometimes I wish you'd died
Then I could greive in peace
And everyone would understand the pain I'm going through

When you left me, you never even said good-bye
Since you left me, all I can do is wonder why

No, no, no, no, no
When you left me, you never even said good-bye
Since you left me, all I can do is wonder why
I'd feel so much better off with you dead
Then I'd still believe in you and I'd blame God instead

When you left me, you never even said good-bye
Since you left me, all I can do is wonder why
I'd feel so much better off with you dead
Then I'd still believe in you and I'd blame God instead

I do a dub-a-double take a thousand times a day
No matter where I go I always think I just saw your face

~Alex Bach