Good Causes

Last night, my husband and I spent the night sleeping in a tent for a good cause. Student Government, Phi Theta Kappa, and the GSA all participated in Tent City, an event to raise awareness for homelessness in the Toledo area. We also collected donations for Sparrow's Nest, an emergency shelter for women in Toledo.

We had a lot of fun, but I'm definitely not the roughing it type! I was up until well after 2:00 Am laughing with Barb and Nick. Heath, one of my bosses from an older job on campus, stopped by and decided to hang out with us. We had a really good time.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of people there last night that I didn't know. Those people, as people are wont to do, thought they were much wittier and more amusing than they actually were. Nick and I were also pretty sure that two of the young men, who disappeared for quite some time, ended up getting high when they ran off to Giant Eagle to pick up a cookie-cake for no good reason at all. The only reason I went to bed when I did was that I was tiring of their banter.

You know the scene in the movie Role Models where Paul Rudd's character says something to the effect of, "I hate camping! There's always some douche bag with a guitar who doesn't quite know how to play it..."?? I lived that last night. One of the guys who was cookie-cake high brought his two guitars. Bad enough to have one guitar out in a group full of people around a make-shift fire pit, but two? Why in the hell do you need two?

The fortunate thing is that I did have some fun. Better still is that I'm done with it now. Best is knowing that, even though we just sat around and laughed, it did help to bring homelessness to the front of the minds of the people who watched the evening, late, or morning news. At least that is worth my spending a night freezing my butt off and sleeping on the lumpy ground. I can feel good about that.

I decided that, as my husband intently watches Spartacus: Blood and Sand (which I occasionally watch with him because of the sex and full frontal nudity--I can admit that! But, in my defense, the women are watched just as intently as the men!), it was time for me to once again hit the keyboard. It's been a busy week, making it far too long since I've last blogged. All this, of course, while I enjoy some Greek yogurt--my obsession as of late.

These are some of the highlights (or lowlights, depending) of my week:

• a women's empowerment workshop called That Takes Ovaries!, run by Student Government, which included the women of Second Chance, a local organization that helps former and current prostitutes and sex slaves to turn their lives around
• a talk on sex trafficking which also included the directors of Second Chance
• a thrown-together thesis proposal about the ethical and philosophical relevance of Poison's "Nothing But a Good Time" (an embarrassment indeed)
• a special movie-viewing with the French club at the University of Toledo for the GSA; the movie was Amnesia: The James Brighton Enigma and it was an excellent movie
• reading for the induction of new Phi Theta Kappa members at Alpha Omega Pi's chapter induction ceremony
• game night with Amie and James at their house

Basically, things are busy, but well. I still feel like I never get enough sleep or have enough time to do things. I did have less sleep this week than usual, but things aren't that out of sorts. I'm still ridiculously behind in philosophy class. I didn't have enough time to complete all my chapter reviews for psychology this week, so I missed a few more questions on this test than I normally would have.

This car accident really messed up my study schedules. I'm far behind in Philosophy. I have two tests, two quizzes, and one assignment to make up. I'm really behind in my reading for Multicultural Diversity--which, I might add, I was already behind in before the accident. Now it's worse! I'm also behind in World Religions, but I think I might be able to swing that because I just have to write some journals. The only classes I'm doing alright in are Psychology and History of Western Art. Ugh! I really do need to get to studying, rather than playing around here.

Right now, I just want cake and sleep, and not necessarily in that order. Where can a bitch get those?!

Swinging at the End of My Rope

I'm pretty sure that today is evil. I was running late this morning. My exam in ART 105, while I feel good about it, was still an exam. I got into a stupid debate about health care with a friend who basically tried to make me feel like an insincere Republican for not being thrilled about it. I've forgotten all my tampons at home so, at some point, I'll be bleeding all over myself.

I just want to collect my salad of field greens, turkey, home-made croutons and Greek dressing with extra virgin olive oil and real chunks of feta cheese and go home. (I would also bring my Greek yogurt. Even if it is Yoplait, which I had to buy instead of Chobani because Kroger was out.) I want to curl up in a little ball on my bed, heating pad strapped to my lower abdomen, toss in Steel Magnolias, and bawl until I feel better. I hate being menstrual. HATE.

I really need someone to hug me and make me laugh right now. And, a little less drama couldn't hurt either. Though, in this case, I can't help feeling that my level of hormones isn't the arbiter of some of this drama.

I just keep thinking, "Please don't freak out or cry today. Please don't freak out or cry today. Please don't freak out or cry today." Maybe making it a mantra will help...

One Day Wasted

On the upside, I emerge from yesterday a much more well-rested woman. On the downside, I have wasted yet another day's pursuit of study-catch-up. The other, slightly more positive spin to that loss is that I'll be able to accomplish more and think clearly having been rested. So, you know, six of one, half a dozen of another, really.

JJ and I basically spent the morning and afternoon post-meeting in bed. I slept until 1 PM, but then a pee dream woke me up. Have you ever had a pee dream? I'm pretty sure it was my subconscious's way of telling me that I had to go. I kept dreaming that I was trying to find a bathroom and that I finally gave up and peed in a trash can. This, of course, is something that I wouldn't be caught dead doing. Odds are more in favor of me peeing myself.

Anyways, when I did finally wake up at 1 PM, it was because my dreams were finally getting to me, and I really did have to go. In fact, I had to go so badly that my bladder actually hurt. And, of course, my twin was in town so he was in the shower. I had to wait. And I couldn't use another bathroom because, as previously mentioned, it's that special time of the month for me that inspires women to kill their men and, of course, all of my "feminine hygiene products" were in that bathroom. This makes me ponder a need for spreading a few sundry tampons around to the other locations in our house.

At any rate, I'm pretty sure that John's new girlfriend didn't love seeing my pace-the-hallway version of the potty dance while listening to the shower running. Or, maybe she's a woman after my own heart and she did enjoy watching me suffer. Either way, we had a pretty good time sitting and chatting before dinner and a little bit after dinner too.

After waiting out the bathroom, I was pretty much awake so I surfed the web and did yesterday's blog. That evening, I went to bed at something like 5:30 or 6:00ish. I don't lead an exciting life. Mostly, I'm just lucky if I roll out of bed on time before the crazy day begins.

On the upside, JJ and I created a mess last night after we both spent a few hours awake at the same time. More details than that, you may not want. (Composing my sentences like Yoda, I certainly am.) It was pretty nice though. This morning started late--as they all should--and we got Panera for lunch. French onion soup for the win!

Strangely, as opposed to yesterday's over-active bladder, today I'm feeling strangely dehydrated. I've had two bottles of water in the last hour and I'm about to have another. This is pretty strange considering a bottle of water usually lasts me more than a day. Hopefully, a little more water and a little more sleep will leave me feeling even better tomorrow.

Best Laid Plans...

I had some really great plan for a really witty post here, but due to my over-tired brain and the fact that I've forgotten what my plan even was, it's fallen by the wayside, as my plans are typically wont to do. I'm running on day 7 of my work week, with another 7 to go before I have a day off--and, no, I am not exaggerating. I'm actually pretty mad about it.

The reason that I was unable to use my typical Saturday for a day of much needed rest was due to a meeting. A meeting that had to be held at the unreasonable hour of 8 AM. Really? We could find no better time than 8 AM? That's total crap. I mean, don't get me wrong here, I'm sure that a better time wasn't really sought either.

I feel like the whole "Customer Service" meeting was a total sham. It was a revisiting of the most basic, rudimentary topics from speech classes or public speaking. I mean, at least 80% of the presentation was pretty much verbatim from what our class discussed in Interpersonal Communications. Welcome to SPE 102, bitches. Also, I've been in customer service for over seven years, dudes. I think I've figured it out by this point.

More than that, our bosses promised us that when other student workers were not doing their jobs, they would discuss these matters with those people directly. This was supposed to be an alternative to sending out ambiguous e-mails or making blanket announcements at token meetings. Since our main problem lately has been a lack of responsibility for paperwork, I had mistakenly assumed that these problems would be discussed. It was discussed, as I should have expected, in a blanket announcement about people taking personal responsibility for their work.

This is so frustrating to me. I guess I really believed that, first, this would be a whole new work experience when we got new bosses. Second, I thought that, at the very least, these people should be living up to their promises to us. I find it completely ridiculous that they expect us to be more "personally invested" in our work. I am invested, so much so that even my bosses have commented about my propensity to go above and beyond for them. So what is this unbearable crap all of the sudden?

I'm 99.99% sure that the main reason I'm so angry about all of this is my total lack of sleep. I haven't slept more than 4 hours at a time in 6 days. I'm reaching the end of my rope. After some decent rest and reflection, I'm sure I'll get over this. It's just disheartening and frustrating, and sometimes I really do feel like they don't have my back on stuff. (I left that meeting today thinking, "Great, guys. Way to pull a Lynda!"--our old boss who was a HUGE fan of inadvertent disciplining. By that I mean, memos aimed at one person but sent to all, meetings targeted at one person but required for all, etc.)

What really makes me mad is that I should have been able to sleep in today. Except, we had to have this stupid meeting...and the whole thing comes full circle. Odds are that all of this PMS doesn't help either.

Seems Like I'm Headed for a Disaster

I'm going to be annoyingly vague here. I'm headed for a disaster in a big way because I'm not sure what I'm thinking. At any rate, I'm pretty sure it's going to end badly for me. And, for the record, fuck you, Nick, for being right...I hate you.

Eight Hours of Boredom (And a Little Bit of Reflection)

So, in an effort to make easier the lives of community college students in the Northwest Ohio area, Owens has decided to be open for four days during Spring break. I am scheduled for shifts during three of these days, today being one of them. I think it's great we're finally doing this for our students, and I'm glad to have the hours to make the break a little less detrimental to my pocketbook. The drawback, however, is that it's basically dead in here.

I'm not sure that as many students really knew that we would be open. Thus, we have had few students take advantage. Good for me and my general love of laziness. Bad for me and my general love of being entertained.

As a result, I have been good friends with the Internet today. I have tweeted excessively. I have returned e-mails. I have updated Facebook status messages and posted links. I have commented, commented, commented on other people's thoughts, links, statuses, etc. I checked out the new Post Secret updates. I checked out Failblog. I caught up on the blogs that I follow. I watched an episode of Community on NBC's website. (Of course, just as I was putting my headphones away from watching it is when the boss comes out of her office to take a peek at how many students are in the room. And, of course, I end up looking like the cat who ate the canary because I'm caught in the act of putting my headphones away! I realize we weren't busy and she may not have cared, but I hate looking guilty. I only had one headphone in and we had no students! I was paying attention!)

Of course, all of this gives me a new appreciation for modern technology. What would I have done if not for my laptop? I'd have been bored off my rocker! I'd have had to resort to doodling or scribbling a stupid story or something. I mean, odds are fair that I would have been prepared and had a book or something, but the point is that the potential for even more boredom was on my mind. I can hardly imagine what people used to do before a few seconds and clicks unlocked the world at their fingertips.

Think back. Do you remember when studying relied on actual books, and you had to use the card system at the library? I do. I wonder what it will be like when I have to explain that, once upon a time, not everything was available on a computer to my children. Will they understand that? Will the concept of paper books and calling cards and the Dewey decimal system be as obscure a set of concepts to them as the idea of records are to some members of my generation? Will sending a letter in the post be as foreign to them as lacking air conditioning or heating is to me? (Truly, I cannot imagine a life without heating in the winter. I mean, air condition I've lived with out, but heat?! What did people do?!--and don't say they lit fires thinking you're witty. I can at least form that thought all by my lonesome.)

I realize that many other bloggers have probably already thrown out this old song and dance, but it's a concept that still amazes me. We're such a digital world these days. I'm 24 and sometimes it's difficult for me to keep up with technology when you consider the speed with which it is updated or released these days. I can't imagine how out of the loop I'll feel in 20 years, 30 years, 40 years. You know, most of my generation finds it annoying to be asked to set the clock on Grandma's out-of-date VCR, but I sort of get why people are resistant to that kind of change. After a while, I think you just get burned out. It's so much work to keep up with all of that stuff!! At some point, I think you have to decide that you've had enough of trying to keep up with it all and just live with what you have.

I'm pretty sure that, someday, I'll be the grandmother asking her poor, sighing grandchild to show her how to use that new-fangled computer/cell phone/fax/printer/copier/PDA/kitchen sink. And, when that happens, I'll explain to that grandchild that, once upon a time, I was a trendy blogger with a cool phone and a sweet new laptop--even though I'm sure they won't believe me. Worse, I'm sure that blogging will be passe and laptops a thing of the past. My current coolness will be uncool in its obscurity. It's enough to make me want to quit keeping up right now! Too bad I know that I can't be competitive in the job market if I don't know what I'm doing on the technological front.

At least I had cool stuff once...

Productive? Well, That's Semantics...

I had a mildly productive day today. I was able to take out the last stitch on my hand--and believe me, it feels much better with that last one gone! JJ and I sorted through the twisted wreckage that used to be our school books and the contents of our Volvo's trunk area. I filed my federal taxes online. All in all, a semi-productive day!

I was surprised that some of my books did manage to make it out of the mess okay. Of course, it was only the books that were in the rolling backpack that totally mangled. Some of them made it out in a decent condition, so I'll be able to give back the editions that were loaned to me by those who care about me. Yay! It's weird to think about having to do that though. I can't imagine what it's like to lose a great amount of your belongings. It was hard work to just sort through the few things that I had lost. It gives me a new respect for people who live through natural disasters and fires. It's got to be so hard to look at the twisted remains of a home and face the knowledge that you have lost everything.

The best part of my day, however, happened to be when I caught up on my missed episodes of Community--that's right, I'm lightening the mood right now. I loved the naked pool episode, but I'm pretty sure that Jeff was waaaaay too non-reactive when the naked coach kissed him! (Am I seriously over analyzing a comedy on NBC? Awesome...) Thank God for DVR and OnDemand, otherwise I'd never get to see Community, House, or Big Love. Oh, schedule, why are you so cruel to me?! Will I never rest!?

It was just a nice, low-key kind of day. It's pretty depressing to think that I work straight through until March 20th, though. Damn you, Spring Break, and your tendency to lull me into a false sense of restfulness! Damn you again, schedule, for screwing me over big time! At any rate, I have a full week and a full paycheck to look forward to. Yay, money!

P.S. My new laptop rocks!

Back in the State of Ohio

Well, we have returned from our brief trip to Indiana. It was nice to have had a break from the routines of our life and our responsibilities. We had plenty of fun with JJ's family and my family. Returning, however, makes me sad!

Indiana and I have a love-hate relationship. Just when I think I'm basically over the idea of living there, we have a really great trip and I change my mind. Really, I think what it is is that I'm just not a huge fan of not having the comforts of home with me. If I had my bed and all my stuff, I'd probably be alright. Plus, I think I really miss my friends. It was nice to reconnect with a bunch of them.

At any rate, we are recovering well from our accident. I had some CRAZY bruises that didn't surface until days afterward, though. My left arm looked like my husband decided to punch me repeatedly. Poor guy is going to have a lot of dirty looks flung his way, that's for sure. One good thing did come of my injuries: a free sample of lemon pound cake at Starbucks from a young man who scoped my stitches and decided to improve my day. Kudos to you, Starbucks guy at Erskine Village! Mission accomplished.

Ordinarily, I would write more, but it's getting late. My main point here: I have a sweet new laptop! Yay for pink Dell Studio 15s!

Crash!

Let me preface this post by saying the following: We're fine!

On Saturday night, when my husband, our friend Amanda, and myself were on our way to a GSA movie night, we were involved in a car accident. We were in the process of turning left onto Waverly from Dorr Street. I had moved slightly forward in order to commit to the turn. I was waiting for traffic to clear from the opposing side of the road when we were rear-ended.

We were perfectly fine one moment and then there was pain and glass all around the next. My hands were bleeding, and I couldn't find my cell phone. Luckily, other people were on the scene calling the accident in. I had started to call from Amanda's phone, but Paul's roommate Drea was there and she took the phone from me to complete the call, something that I greatly appreciated.

Before long, ambulances started to arrive along with firetrucks. I had waited in the car, figuring it was safer than standing in the street. My husband got out of the car, but Amanda also stayed in the car. The paramedics tended to my husband and Amanda, and made me stay seated, though I told them that there was glass digging into and cutting my lower back. In fact, the idiot paramedic that was assigned to me was of extremely little use. It wasn't until I said, "Hey, by the way, I'm bleeding here. Care do to something about that?!" as angrily as possible that she bothered to bandage my hand at all.

We were all taken to the hospital on back boards with neck braces strapped securely around our necks. I never saw the other driver, but I am told that she was a younger black woman. I have no idea whether she was hurt or not, but I am told that she was also taken to the hospital. Amanda was taken to Mercy Hospital, while my husband, myself, and the nameless driver were taken to Toledo Hospital.

I was treated very well there. The ER doctor checked my back manually, then opted to take a few x-rays of my lower back. She pulled several pieces of glass from my eyes. I was then moved to another room. After having been x-rayed, I was permitted to sit up. A physician's assistant then visited me to assess my wounds. She told me that my left hand would require stitches, but the rest would be fine.

While I waited for my stitches, an officer came to take my account of the accident. It went a little something like this:

Officer: How do you feel?
Me: Like shit! How about you!?
O: Well, I saw your car. Frankly, you should be feeling...well, like shit.

He asked me what happened and I summed it up for him. He told me that the only skid marks at the scene were from our car. He also told me that he was certain that she, the other driver, hadn't bothered to try to stop. We were informed that it had taken two tow-trucks to pull our cars apart in order to tow them--but in a twist of random hilarity, the Volvo was still running! (Smashed to bits, but still usable! Volvo for the win!) He told me he was pretty sure that we'd be needing to get a new car. The officer was incredibly nice to me. He told me that he hoped I'd get well soon because he had been in my shoes before.

Tons of our stuff was destroyed too. Our car was a goner, basically. All my school books were in the back, and most of them are far beyond salvation. My husband's laptop--read: his technological pride and joy--was trashed as well. He had a Nook (a Barnes & Noble electronic reader) in his bag that has a smashed screen now. Worst, he lost his glucometer to the crash, which is kind of vital to a Diabetic.

Here's an idea of how hard this lady hit us. Our Volvo is a station wagon with a hatchback. The back hatch is now touching the roof and back seat of the car. Our radio flew out of the dashboard because of the force behind the impact. Our seats flew back into the reclining position with so much force that they are now broken. Our instrument panel loosened from the dashboard and is now half-hanging from the dash. This wasn't just a teeny tiny tap, people. It was a serious hit.

Needless to say, it wasn't my idea of a great Saturday night. Sunday was spent sleeping. Monday, too, was spent mostly sleeping. Tuesday, I returned to school, but I couldn't make it the whole night. What has been most surprising about this is how tired I become after little activity. My whole body is sore. My hand with the stitches is fairly swollen, and it feels strange to move it. I have bruises all over and tiny cuts as well. My back aches, my neck won't really move all that well, and my arms are just killing me.

I am, however, trying to see the positives here. This is what I have come up with so far:

-New (to us) car
-New school books
-New laptop for my husband
-New Nook, glucometer, etc.
-My tetanus shots are up to date
-I will have a cool new scar to lie about ("Oh, this? I got into a knife fight with a Canadian prostitute. She may have stabbed me in the hand, but I cut her so bad she wishes I hadn't cut her so bad!" or better "Oh, this? I got this during my tenure in the army while fighting in the War of Northern Aggression.")
-It wasn't our fault! At all!
-Free rental car!
-We don't have to pay our own medical bills (FOR ONCE!!!)
-It's a good story to tell
-Four words: pain and suffering compensation
-Everyone turned out to be alright

These last few days have been all bruises, grimaces, and stiffness, but I'm hoping they'll pay off.