I was originally planning on going to the formal ball with just OM. We got similarly themed dresses (I’m a woodland sprite and she’s a water sprite) and everything was lovely. Then I found someone to go with, so I felt obligated to find a date for OM, too, so it’s not all third wheel-y and awkward (and the tickets are cheaper, which is always a plus). So I went to dance class today with the intention of finding OM a date. I had danced with this one guy last class who I thought would be a suitable dance partner for my beloved OM. After class I went up to him, while they were making announcements about the formal and the following conversation ensued.
“Are you going to the formal?” say I.
“I’m not sure yet,” replies the poor boy I am about to brutally humiliate.
“You should go with my friend?”
“Why your friend?”
“Well, I already have a date.”
“Ok well give me your number, I’ll check my schedule and get back to you”
“Are you leaning towards yes or no?”
“Yes”
Now as I’m saying fantastic, one of the committee members I was talking to earlier calls me over saying he found a date for my friend. So I walk over to this guy, introduce myself and he says that he would love to go with my friend, he just wants to meet her first. See now, so far, this isn’t so bad, but this is the turning point at which I become a horrible person. I turn around and say to this poor soul…
“Sorry, you’re cut.”
Loudly…with a hand gesture…in front of his friends and what remained of our dance class.
Then, in an attempt to make it better I say “She’s a hot commodity, you should’ve snatched her up while you had the chance.” ‘Cause I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut. It was honestly an attempt to lighten the situation, but really? That’s all I could come up with.
They should just shoot people like me and put the world out of it’s misery.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sodie Pop
Work has gotten a lot more interesting now that I have the program and can start working with the GIS data. Due to the increased interest on my part, I have also become a lot more efficient in my work schedule.
There was a wine and cheese festival this weekend in Franshoek, which I went to with OM and another girl from work. It was fantastic. I got to try wines from a couple vineyards I’ve been hoping to visit and was able to weed out the ones I actually will go visit later on.
On Sunday and Monday, I went with OM to Cape Town. We went to Robbins Island, which was incredibly interesting. It helped that I am reading Long Walk to Freedom because I was able to pick out different political prisoners that were held there and how they were related. Also, all the tour guides on the island are former prisoners. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for them. Imagine having to give tours and tell your story over and over again in the place you were held prisoner and beaten for years based on your political beliefs. They are braver men than I.
The next day we hiked up Table Mountain. Something I’ve wanted to do since the age of 11 when I discovered its existence. It was absolutely beautiful although the hike up was practically vertical…worth every minute :)
Also, I’ve finally gotten my dance shoes, which I love in every way. I thought my feet would get sore after dancing in them for an hour, but they feel like I’ve been wearing them for years.
There was a wine and cheese festival this weekend in Franshoek, which I went to with OM and another girl from work. It was fantastic. I got to try wines from a couple vineyards I’ve been hoping to visit and was able to weed out the ones I actually will go visit later on.
On Sunday and Monday, I went with OM to Cape Town. We went to Robbins Island, which was incredibly interesting. It helped that I am reading Long Walk to Freedom because I was able to pick out different political prisoners that were held there and how they were related. Also, all the tour guides on the island are former prisoners. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for them. Imagine having to give tours and tell your story over and over again in the place you were held prisoner and beaten for years based on your political beliefs. They are braver men than I.
The next day we hiked up Table Mountain. Something I’ve wanted to do since the age of 11 when I discovered its existence. It was absolutely beautiful although the hike up was practically vertical…worth every minute :)
Also, I’ve finally gotten my dance shoes, which I love in every way. I thought my feet would get sore after dancing in them for an hour, but they feel like I’ve been wearing them for years.
Monday, April 20, 2009
I flooded my bathroom
You see, it takes a little time for the water to go down the drain for whatever reason. Usually this isn’t a problem because by the time the water has reached almost overflowing levels, I’m done my shower. Yesterday, however, I decided to take a bit longer in the shower as it was really cold out and I didn’t want to leave. Consequently, my bathroom floor is covered in a good 5 millimeters of water.
Now I’m just letting it air dry, which is probably a bad idea due to mold and other such microorganisms, but if I use my towel to dry it up I’ll have to wash my towel and I’m not due to do laundry for another week or so.
Now I’m just letting it air dry, which is probably a bad idea due to mold and other such microorganisms, but if I use my towel to dry it up I’ll have to wash my towel and I’m not due to do laundry for another week or so.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Road Trippin'
So there you’ve sat for 6 long days. Body a quiver. Breath bated. Waiting to see if I survived the long and arduous road trip...of doom. Well let me put your mind at ease, still your body, let you take that next breath. I have. Obviously. Or I wouldn’t be writing this. Although I must say, it didn’t begin as well as it ended. We got the car (named Lily because all my cars must have flower names as of...now) on Thursday afternoon and after taking Lily for a few spins around the parking lot, I decided I was ready to drive to our pre-Easter dinner. Who would have thought that at the beginning of a long weekend there would be police road blocks leaving the city? Not me, that’s for sure. Due to the whole inability to drive stick thing, it was light out when we left but 5kms and about 30 minutes later it was dark out. The thing about driving in the light versus driving in the dark is that when you’re driving in the dark, it’s dark...so you need your lights on. Or so the lovely South African police that stopped us told me...after showing us how to turn the lights on (honestly though, who puts the lights on some tiny switch in between the steering wheel and car door). He then proceeded to give us a R300 ticket and notify me, the day before our 4 day road trip, that my driver’s license isn’t valid in South Africa because it only says Class 5 on it and I could be showing him my pilot’s license for all he knows. At this point I’m thinking why did I correct him when he spelled my name wrong and give him my real address. Honesty is overrated.
So now, I can’t legally drive without an international driver’s permit and OM just has a photocopy of her license. And the road trip begins...
Day 1
The trip starts off well enough. I drive in the morning when there’s less traffic. I almost ran into the curb while trying to part too fast in Coledon, but other than that it goes pretty well driving-wise. We stop in a cute little town called Swellendam for lunch and eat sandwiches by the road side. A little girl came and sat beside us while we ate, but didn’t say anything until we got up to leave and then mumbled something about 1 rand. It was really sweet and incredibly sad at the same time, so we gave her some of our food.
Our next stop was the wonderfully sandy beaches of Wilderness. It was one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen, so I had to jump in the water. The huge waves knocked me over and I ended up being covered in sand for the rest of the day. I think I was still finding sand in my hair and ears for the rest of the weekend. We had to go to the bathroom at this point, so we stopped by this expensive looking coffee shop and had to order something in order to use the bathroom as there was nothing else around. Best idea, it was the best coffee I’ve had in SA yet.
Finally we got to our evening’s destination, Knysna, and found our way to the cute little backpacker’s where we were to spend the night, where we ran into some forestry friends and people that helped me out with trivia one night...small country. We went to the waterfront area for dinner and when we got back OM realized that she had left her credit card at the bank. This resulted in a lot of driving around and trying to call Belgium to get the card cancelled. An eventful evening to an otherwise vacation-y day.
Day 2
We wake the next morning only to find out that the car parked beside ours was broken into in the middle of the night. All the cars had hand smears on them where someone had looked in to see if there was anything valuable enough to steal. Thankfully we had taken everything with us into the hostel, except some food that was hidden away in the trunk. The poor people had to smash away what remained of their window, but it didn’t seem like too much had been stolen.
After rechecking the bank again for the missing credit card we drove to Tsitsikamma National Park to go on a short hike. We did the 20min. walk to the suspension bridge, the first suspension bridge OM had ever been on and not much compared to Capilano. Then decided that this wasn’t enough hiking for us and decided to take the waterfall trail recommended to us by my boss’s son. This turned out to be less of a hike and more like boulder hopping (ie. more fantastic), but the waterfall was more like a trickle of water off a very big cliff than it was a waterfall and the plunge pool was unfortunately too cold to sleep in. And by sleep I mean swim...and sleep. On our way back we took a less than voluntary detour up a million and one steps and back down them again.
At this point of the road trip OM’s toe, which hurt when we started out, has become infected and is oozing pus, no thanks to our hike. I swear, she is the unluckiest person I have ever met. So we decide to stop in the next town, Humansdorp, to try and find a doctor or medical clinic. The first turn we take leads us to a privet hospital. Jackpot! But apparently there were no doctors there to look at her foot nor would the nurse give us disinfectant for it. So off we drive...next stop: Addo Elephant Park, our final destination. Easier said than done. We decide to skip going through Port Elizabeth due to rumours of it being sketchy and confusing and take a “shortcut” through Uitenhage. As is the case with most first attempts at shortcuts, we got lost and couldn’t find the turn off for Addo. We went to the information center, but it was closed due to it being 6pm on a Saturday. Next door there was a restaurant run by a potentially Scottish couple. They were incredible sweet and instead of just giving us directions or drawing us a map, the lady of said couple drove us to the road we were supposed to be on. Thus, reinstating any faith I had lost in people.
At this point it’s getting dark, but finally we arrive at the park, 20 minutes before the gates are closed for the night. Starving at this point, we go to the park restaurant for dinner. I had a kudu steak for dinner, which tastes kind of like deer or moose, but different in a way I can’t put my finger on. OM had ostrich, which I didn’t like as much due to the weird texture and the fact that it’s a bird whose meat looks like tenderized beef. The cottage we had rented was super cute and one of the ritziest places I’ve stayed in on my own.
Day 3
The idea was to wake up early to go into the park and see all the animals because animals are smarter than people and hide when it’s too sunny out. However, as with all plans, that didn’t pan out too well. Although we missed the lions that were at the watering hole in the morning, we saw lost of animals throughout the park, like elephants, warthogs, kudu (both a delicious and adorable animal), an eland, a leopard tortoise, many dung beetles, ostriches, blue cranes and redknobbed coots. We spent most of the time droving around the park dodging elephant poo and dung beetles (which are much larger than I ever anticipated). When we got back to the Main Camp there was a little boy with only one shoe on and he was cute.
Next we drove to a game ranch nearby the village of Addo where they raise lions and crocodiles. There we got the chance to play with baby lions. It was so adorable. They would kind of bat at you with their claws out and I’d just think to myself “Aww, but no. You’re still a lion”
When we arrived at Tsitsikamma for the night and were just getting ready to go to dinner, I heard a little girl outside talking about tadpoles she found. I ran outside to see the tadpoles too and the kids (the girl and a little boy) asked me if I wanted to go on an adventure to see their “secret place”. Seeing as I love adventures, I asked OM’s permission to have a later dinner and joined the little explorers. We went through a secret tunnel and then hung out catching frogs on the other side. Then we went up a cliff to see a waterfall and up an even steeper cliff to see where it leads to. At this point the little boy and I were worried that are respective parents and OM would yell at us for taking so long, so we finally convinced the little girl to leave and walked home. Walking home involved jumping between slippery creek rocks and when I jumped on a slanted one, I slowly slid into the water, futilely grasping at twigs on my way down. This resulted in me having to walk home with one leg of my pants soaked in creek water serenaded by the mocking laughter of my fellow explorers. When we finally got back, the girl’s mom seemed creeped out by me and gave me a dirty look. However, the little boy’s dad seemed a combination of amused by me and jealous that I got to see the secret place, but they wouldn’t tell him about it. Dinner was delicious though.
Day 4
Today’s plan was to drive to Knysna again and ride forest elephants through the, well, forest for two hours. What with it being Easter Monday or “Family Day” and all, the elephant ride place was closed. A pity, but at least we get home earlier than anticipated. We stopped in Knysna for coffee and to check on the whole credit card situation; to no avail. Then Swellendam again for lunch and drove pretty much the whole way home without incident. When we got to Sir Lowry Pass, there was the biggest traffic jam I have ever visibly been in. The entire mountain road was full of cars until you reached the bottom where it barely seemed to spread out before becoming another traffic jam. We proceeded to put the car in neutral and braked every two seconds on our way down the mountain. After a couple hours of this we left the highway and made it home safe and sound, with Lily all in one piece!
Story time is over.
So now, I can’t legally drive without an international driver’s permit and OM just has a photocopy of her license. And the road trip begins...
Day 1
The trip starts off well enough. I drive in the morning when there’s less traffic. I almost ran into the curb while trying to part too fast in Coledon, but other than that it goes pretty well driving-wise. We stop in a cute little town called Swellendam for lunch and eat sandwiches by the road side. A little girl came and sat beside us while we ate, but didn’t say anything until we got up to leave and then mumbled something about 1 rand. It was really sweet and incredibly sad at the same time, so we gave her some of our food.
Our next stop was the wonderfully sandy beaches of Wilderness. It was one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen, so I had to jump in the water. The huge waves knocked me over and I ended up being covered in sand for the rest of the day. I think I was still finding sand in my hair and ears for the rest of the weekend. We had to go to the bathroom at this point, so we stopped by this expensive looking coffee shop and had to order something in order to use the bathroom as there was nothing else around. Best idea, it was the best coffee I’ve had in SA yet.
Finally we got to our evening’s destination, Knysna, and found our way to the cute little backpacker’s where we were to spend the night, where we ran into some forestry friends and people that helped me out with trivia one night...small country. We went to the waterfront area for dinner and when we got back OM realized that she had left her credit card at the bank. This resulted in a lot of driving around and trying to call Belgium to get the card cancelled. An eventful evening to an otherwise vacation-y day.
Day 2
We wake the next morning only to find out that the car parked beside ours was broken into in the middle of the night. All the cars had hand smears on them where someone had looked in to see if there was anything valuable enough to steal. Thankfully we had taken everything with us into the hostel, except some food that was hidden away in the trunk. The poor people had to smash away what remained of their window, but it didn’t seem like too much had been stolen.
After rechecking the bank again for the missing credit card we drove to Tsitsikamma National Park to go on a short hike. We did the 20min. walk to the suspension bridge, the first suspension bridge OM had ever been on and not much compared to Capilano. Then decided that this wasn’t enough hiking for us and decided to take the waterfall trail recommended to us by my boss’s son. This turned out to be less of a hike and more like boulder hopping (ie. more fantastic), but the waterfall was more like a trickle of water off a very big cliff than it was a waterfall and the plunge pool was unfortunately too cold to sleep in. And by sleep I mean swim...and sleep. On our way back we took a less than voluntary detour up a million and one steps and back down them again.
At this point of the road trip OM’s toe, which hurt when we started out, has become infected and is oozing pus, no thanks to our hike. I swear, she is the unluckiest person I have ever met. So we decide to stop in the next town, Humansdorp, to try and find a doctor or medical clinic. The first turn we take leads us to a privet hospital. Jackpot! But apparently there were no doctors there to look at her foot nor would the nurse give us disinfectant for it. So off we drive...next stop: Addo Elephant Park, our final destination. Easier said than done. We decide to skip going through Port Elizabeth due to rumours of it being sketchy and confusing and take a “shortcut” through Uitenhage. As is the case with most first attempts at shortcuts, we got lost and couldn’t find the turn off for Addo. We went to the information center, but it was closed due to it being 6pm on a Saturday. Next door there was a restaurant run by a potentially Scottish couple. They were incredible sweet and instead of just giving us directions or drawing us a map, the lady of said couple drove us to the road we were supposed to be on. Thus, reinstating any faith I had lost in people.
At this point it’s getting dark, but finally we arrive at the park, 20 minutes before the gates are closed for the night. Starving at this point, we go to the park restaurant for dinner. I had a kudu steak for dinner, which tastes kind of like deer or moose, but different in a way I can’t put my finger on. OM had ostrich, which I didn’t like as much due to the weird texture and the fact that it’s a bird whose meat looks like tenderized beef. The cottage we had rented was super cute and one of the ritziest places I’ve stayed in on my own.
Day 3
The idea was to wake up early to go into the park and see all the animals because animals are smarter than people and hide when it’s too sunny out. However, as with all plans, that didn’t pan out too well. Although we missed the lions that were at the watering hole in the morning, we saw lost of animals throughout the park, like elephants, warthogs, kudu (both a delicious and adorable animal), an eland, a leopard tortoise, many dung beetles, ostriches, blue cranes and redknobbed coots. We spent most of the time droving around the park dodging elephant poo and dung beetles (which are much larger than I ever anticipated). When we got back to the Main Camp there was a little boy with only one shoe on and he was cute.
Next we drove to a game ranch nearby the village of Addo where they raise lions and crocodiles. There we got the chance to play with baby lions. It was so adorable. They would kind of bat at you with their claws out and I’d just think to myself “Aww, but no. You’re still a lion”
When we arrived at Tsitsikamma for the night and were just getting ready to go to dinner, I heard a little girl outside talking about tadpoles she found. I ran outside to see the tadpoles too and the kids (the girl and a little boy) asked me if I wanted to go on an adventure to see their “secret place”. Seeing as I love adventures, I asked OM’s permission to have a later dinner and joined the little explorers. We went through a secret tunnel and then hung out catching frogs on the other side. Then we went up a cliff to see a waterfall and up an even steeper cliff to see where it leads to. At this point the little boy and I were worried that are respective parents and OM would yell at us for taking so long, so we finally convinced the little girl to leave and walked home. Walking home involved jumping between slippery creek rocks and when I jumped on a slanted one, I slowly slid into the water, futilely grasping at twigs on my way down. This resulted in me having to walk home with one leg of my pants soaked in creek water serenaded by the mocking laughter of my fellow explorers. When we finally got back, the girl’s mom seemed creeped out by me and gave me a dirty look. However, the little boy’s dad seemed a combination of amused by me and jealous that I got to see the secret place, but they wouldn’t tell him about it. Dinner was delicious though.
Day 4
Today’s plan was to drive to Knysna again and ride forest elephants through the, well, forest for two hours. What with it being Easter Monday or “Family Day” and all, the elephant ride place was closed. A pity, but at least we get home earlier than anticipated. We stopped in Knysna for coffee and to check on the whole credit card situation; to no avail. Then Swellendam again for lunch and drove pretty much the whole way home without incident. When we got to Sir Lowry Pass, there was the biggest traffic jam I have ever visibly been in. The entire mountain road was full of cars until you reached the bottom where it barely seemed to spread out before becoming another traffic jam. We proceeded to put the car in neutral and braked every two seconds on our way down the mountain. After a couple hours of this we left the highway and made it home safe and sound, with Lily all in one piece!
Story time is over.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Adventures in Land Transport
Last night was supposed to be my evening of dancing, dinner and a movie. The perfect little date for myself. However, I went to dance class and the door was shut with no one to be seen, although apparently it may have just been in a different room... Dinner was fun, OM made me something along the lines of spaghetti carbanara, but not in the same way I make it. And painstakingly cut all the bacon up and off the bone because she couldn’t find real bacon at the grocery store. It was delicious! For the movie, I went with another friend to see Monsters vs. Aliens; a classic film that I would recommend to all ages. Apparently Hugh Laurie was in it, to me delight, which really just made the whole experience more fantastic.
Today OM tried driving in preparation for our road trip. She seemed nervous when she came back, so I organized an impromptu lesson with a coworker's boyfriend. So, in event of an emergency I would be able to drive however badly it was. And...
I did it! I drove standard. I got in the car, made it move and got it to reach a destination without invoking horrific cries from my co-pilot. Really what more could you ask for in a transportation experience?
Today OM tried driving in preparation for our road trip. She seemed nervous when she came back, so I organized an impromptu lesson with a coworker's boyfriend. So, in event of an emergency I would be able to drive however badly it was. And...
I did it! I drove standard. I got in the car, made it move and got it to reach a destination without invoking horrific cries from my co-pilot. Really what more could you ask for in a transportation experience?
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Life is a highway
Everybody left Saturday morning ‘cause the students have a week long break here, so it’s disturbingly quiet. When I came home from unexciting shopping Saturday afternoon my only roommate that’s still around asks me what I’m doing that night. I tell him I’m hosting a satellite Bloodhound Gang concert (since they’re playing a show in California that I would’ve gone to if I wasn’t here) and he says that sounds cool, what is it? To which I reply that it consists of my listening to Bloodhound Gang and dancing around my room with a couple friends, but he’s welcome to join us if he wants. “Oh,” he says, “interesting.” Then goes on to explain that he’s doing something similar and I’m welcome to join him if my posse and I so choose.
Flash forward to a couple minutes later. I’m in my room checking to see if I’m missing in Bloodhound Gang songs and all of a sudden my roommate turns his music on and it begins reverberating off the world. He is on the other side of the building from me and it sounded like it was coming from just outside my window. Those are some acoustics! Needless to say there is no way my little laptop speakers can compete with the thunder, the ubiquitous power that is whatever kind of electronics he has in his room. Well, when you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! So I spent the time until my friends got there outside with his friends: listening to music, learning and promptly forgetting people’s names, talking about the differences in our various countries and other slightly less cliché things.
I’m a little disappointed I never had my satellite concert, but my roommate was nice enough to play a couple of their songs for me, and I really do mean me as no one else liked or cared about them...so underappreciated *sigh*
Sunday brought a much more relaxing time as I spent the whole day doing chores and reading in my room. Later that night I went to a friend from work’s house for a braai and a dip in her hot tub. A very relaxing and wonderful end to the weekend. And I learned more about South African Idol than I had ever hoped to know, which is...interesting.
Yesterday I found out my supervisor isn’t going to be here for most of the week, so I have a stack of things to do and am struggling trying to find the motivation to do them all before he gets back. I also found out that this weekend is a four-day long weekend and not just a paltry three-day one. This means that instead of going to Cape Town for the weekend, OM and I have decided to rent a car and do part of the garden route, making for a very hectic day of planning and trying to find places to stay on late notice, on a long weekend, while all the university students are out of school for a week. Always fun...
But it’s all organized now, so the only issue is that I have to learn to drive standard in the couple hours we have Thursday night before we leave Friday morning. I’ll let you know how that goes...
Flash forward to a couple minutes later. I’m in my room checking to see if I’m missing in Bloodhound Gang songs and all of a sudden my roommate turns his music on and it begins reverberating off the world. He is on the other side of the building from me and it sounded like it was coming from just outside my window. Those are some acoustics! Needless to say there is no way my little laptop speakers can compete with the thunder, the ubiquitous power that is whatever kind of electronics he has in his room. Well, when you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! So I spent the time until my friends got there outside with his friends: listening to music, learning and promptly forgetting people’s names, talking about the differences in our various countries and other slightly less cliché things.
I’m a little disappointed I never had my satellite concert, but my roommate was nice enough to play a couple of their songs for me, and I really do mean me as no one else liked or cared about them...so underappreciated *sigh*
Sunday brought a much more relaxing time as I spent the whole day doing chores and reading in my room. Later that night I went to a friend from work’s house for a braai and a dip in her hot tub. A very relaxing and wonderful end to the weekend. And I learned more about South African Idol than I had ever hoped to know, which is...interesting.
Yesterday I found out my supervisor isn’t going to be here for most of the week, so I have a stack of things to do and am struggling trying to find the motivation to do them all before he gets back. I also found out that this weekend is a four-day long weekend and not just a paltry three-day one. This means that instead of going to Cape Town for the weekend, OM and I have decided to rent a car and do part of the garden route, making for a very hectic day of planning and trying to find places to stay on late notice, on a long weekend, while all the university students are out of school for a week. Always fun...
But it’s all organized now, so the only issue is that I have to learn to drive standard in the couple hours we have Thursday night before we leave Friday morning. I’ll let you know how that goes...
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Much too early adventures
Last night was absolutely horrible. It was so hot out I spent most of the night drenched in sweat and having dreams about drowning. I thought it was supposed to be almost fall. What the hell is this?
Today I was lending my bike to OM because a) someone should use it, and b) she had to go far and bring back a lot of groceries. So I leave my door open ‘cause I’m only going to be gone for a second and really what would they steal. My laptops on its last legs and it’s not like I’m into high end fashion, although I have a couple library books that I want to finish...maybe next time I’ll lock the door. So my door’s wide open, but so is my window. Then the wind came. It was really more of a breeze, but the pressure change caused my door to slam, locking me out. See this sucks, but it isn’t that big of an issue. I just knock on the door and get my roommate to open. Wait, she’s gone for a week. Ok, so I go to the office and get them to use the master key. That’s weird, why won’t the door to the office open? Oh right. It’s Saturday and the office is closed on weekends. That’s ok they have a number I can call if I need something. But my phone’s in my house. Ok so I wait for someone to walk past and ask to use their phone. Ha! Fat chance finding someone awake at 10 on a Saturday morning at the beginning of Easter week break in a university residence. Hmm think think. Go to the store and ask if you can use their phone. They say ‘sure, but why don’t you just go and ask security’. So I do and they tell me to go to the maintenance guy’s house on the other side of the complex. I make the trudge all the way there just to find out that he isn’t home and trudge back. Then security calls the campus security people for me and they come to cut my lock off. So now I have to leave my room unlocked and go buy a new one and when my roommate comes home from her trip she’s going to be locked out.
As my American roommates say FML
Today I was lending my bike to OM because a) someone should use it, and b) she had to go far and bring back a lot of groceries. So I leave my door open ‘cause I’m only going to be gone for a second and really what would they steal. My laptops on its last legs and it’s not like I’m into high end fashion, although I have a couple library books that I want to finish...maybe next time I’ll lock the door. So my door’s wide open, but so is my window. Then the wind came. It was really more of a breeze, but the pressure change caused my door to slam, locking me out. See this sucks, but it isn’t that big of an issue. I just knock on the door and get my roommate to open. Wait, she’s gone for a week. Ok, so I go to the office and get them to use the master key. That’s weird, why won’t the door to the office open? Oh right. It’s Saturday and the office is closed on weekends. That’s ok they have a number I can call if I need something. But my phone’s in my house. Ok so I wait for someone to walk past and ask to use their phone. Ha! Fat chance finding someone awake at 10 on a Saturday morning at the beginning of Easter week break in a university residence. Hmm think think. Go to the store and ask if you can use their phone. They say ‘sure, but why don’t you just go and ask security’. So I do and they tell me to go to the maintenance guy’s house on the other side of the complex. I make the trudge all the way there just to find out that he isn’t home and trudge back. Then security calls the campus security people for me and they come to cut my lock off. So now I have to leave my room unlocked and go buy a new one and when my roommate comes home from her trip she’s going to be locked out.
As my American roommates say FML
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The End of the Rice Era
I finished all the rice up last night, which in itself was a feat of brilliance on my part. I decided that I would just make pudding with the last of it and if it tasted horrible, well I was going to throw it out anyway. Despite the fact that it had lentils in it, it tasted pretty good. Maybe less good this morning for breakfast, but it’s done! Forever! I’m not eating rice for a month.
Last night I went to my second trivia night of the week. My mind must have temporarily left my body when I agreed because I went with the trivia master, a guy from one of the best and smallest teams, and a professor hand-picked by the trivia master himself. And then there’s me, the only one still doing my undergrad and the youngest by a long shot. I’m just going to blame that…I’ve just had less time in my short little life to learn random facts. Right…We won despite my best efforts by one point. I like to think I had something to do with that due to my contribution of knowing the gangs from West Side Story and what you put on waffles if they’re ‘a la mode’. I was surprised to learn that everyone doesn’t know what ‘a la mode’ means…mmmm ice cream. Shocking revelation.
I think the most embarrassing part of the night was when we tied with another team and I had to go up and answer questions (we were taking turns). My poor component and I must have been up there for 10 minutes. Just neither of us could get the questions right. I finally got one and then the next one would be the only one he’d know, too. I’m just glad he was as random fact illiterate as me. There’s something about being up there that just makes all logic go out the door. Example: What famous prison was the movie ‘The Rock’ about? Even if you didn’t know, there are very few famous prisons in the world, but none of them came into my head. Stupid Alcatraz.
To end on a happy note: Yay rice!
Last night I went to my second trivia night of the week. My mind must have temporarily left my body when I agreed because I went with the trivia master, a guy from one of the best and smallest teams, and a professor hand-picked by the trivia master himself. And then there’s me, the only one still doing my undergrad and the youngest by a long shot. I’m just going to blame that…I’ve just had less time in my short little life to learn random facts. Right…We won despite my best efforts by one point. I like to think I had something to do with that due to my contribution of knowing the gangs from West Side Story and what you put on waffles if they’re ‘a la mode’. I was surprised to learn that everyone doesn’t know what ‘a la mode’ means…mmmm ice cream. Shocking revelation.
I think the most embarrassing part of the night was when we tied with another team and I had to go up and answer questions (we were taking turns). My poor component and I must have been up there for 10 minutes. Just neither of us could get the questions right. I finally got one and then the next one would be the only one he’d know, too. I’m just glad he was as random fact illiterate as me. There’s something about being up there that just makes all logic go out the door. Example: What famous prison was the movie ‘The Rock’ about? Even if you didn’t know, there are very few famous prisons in the world, but none of them came into my head. Stupid Alcatraz.
To end on a happy note: Yay rice!
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