Fuck 3rd person today. I don�t have the energy or the mindset to turn everything into a story. I woke up today for my 10:20 class at 9:30 as I had only the one class and figured I�d shower when I got back. Well, I looked down on the couch, surprised to not see RP, the Roommate, snoozing away. Well as I was about to climb down the ladder, I heard the sounds of the shower running and then a few seconds later, the curtain open.
Meaning�.whoever was in there had just gotten in the shower.
I didn�t start to panic just yet as I only had to brush my teeth, wash my face, get dressed and leave by 9:50 (fuckin class is all the way across campus). So I climbed down the ladder and sat down at my computer for my daily dose of Uncle Bob and his chronicles of his worthless brother-in-law and his new house.
Well, I waited, and waited, and waited and whomever it was in the shower just wasn�t getting clean fast enough to satisfy my clockwork schedule. I happened to notice that one of my suitemates was online so I IMed her.
�Who the fuck is in the shower?�
Well, alas, she answered and proved that it was not her, but after a few more minutes, her roommate got out of the shower and vacated the bathroom just in time for me to rush through my morning routine.
I got dressed as quickly as possible, threw on my rollerblades, and skated out the door in which I bumped into�
�Weird Scott (screw making up a new name)�.
�Hi, how are you?� he asked in his usual, slightly annoying voice.
�Alright, how are you?�
�Ok, I�m going to take a test.�
�Oh that sucks,� I said praying that the elevator would arrive faster.
�What class are you going to?�
�Principles of Opto-electronics and Fiber Optics,� I replied, somewhat bored.
�Oh�.that must be�..that must be�.boring�.� he stammered out.
You know what�.I�m so sick of people asking me what my classes are and then replying with, �Oh that sucks.�
Just because you don�t understand what my classes are does not mean that they �suck hardcore� or must inevitably be boring. I�m sorry that you don�t broaden your horizons and open your eyes to the wonderful world of technology. When I hear that someone is going to �community psychology� or �accounting�, I don�t automatically assume that the class is automatically boring or it sucks, even if I don�t have a damn clue what it�s about.
I raced to class and started talking with some friends about the homework. It turned out that the homework that I scammed had some errors on it that I noticed while I was copying. Hopefully I corrected the errors, but I�m sure I�ll get what I deserve regarding that homework set.
After that I raced off to the registrar�s office to get my guest application to attend Oakland University during the summer approved. I was under the impression that they took the application from you and even mailed it, but alas, I was wrong.
I mean, since they, the Institution, have the information of every other University as well as the ability to mass mail these applications and I, the student, would have to search around to find the correct mailing address and phone number, you�d think they�d be so kind.
Uh uh�don�t think so.
I also noticed that on my application she marked that I have a total of 90 credits and after this semester (since I dropped chemistry) I�ll have another 10, totaling up to 100 credits. Now if you assume that I have taken all of those credits here (which I have not) at the current tuition rate that I pay (which I also have not) $189 per credit hour. That means that I�ve spent almost $19,000 on tuition alone here.
Has it been worth it?
I�m not sure. I rarely feel like I�m learning anything, but let�s look at it from a logical point of view:
Since I�m an electrical engineering major, I was able to acquire my internship at Autoliv instead of working at Meijer. I�ve worked there for two full years now and I�ll work there again this summer (providing the economy either improves or stays where it is). That first summer I made a little over $7,000, last summer I made $9,000 and I�ll make the same, if not more this summer. So that�s a total of $25,000 that I�ll have had in my hands simply because I was an EE major.
So I guess that makes up for it, not including the salary I�ll have when I do graduate, heh.
After the registrar�s office, I came back to my room to (big gasp) find RP settling down on the couch for a nap.
Oh great.
She said to me, �I went to class� and went to go lie down again.
I rifled through the Lansing State Journal that I got for free with a bored look on my face.
�Are you going to sleep?� I asked noticing an article about a teacher accused of sexual assault who is still getting paid for some odd reason.
�No, I�m just going to rest my eyes; I have a headache.�
�Then can you do it in your bed and not on the couch please?� I said, somewhat irate at the past few days of her sleeping on the couch. She relented and climbed the ladder and I stared at my computer screen in silence for a few moments before deciding to go to the IM to work out.
The IM experience was an overall positive one, as it usually is. I didn�t have to wait very long for the elliptical machine and I ran into the little sister of one of the guys I used to know back in high school. Before leaving, I said a silent prayer that RP would be up and gone to class by the time I got back.
Wanna take a guess folks?
That�s right, the ladder was still down and guess what�.she was in bed. Yep, she skipped class again. Yep, she totally does not respect me. Yep, I�m pissed off.
Again, I emphasize that we pay $189 per credit hour to go here. Now, I�m no saint about going to class, but she has missed at least a class a day since the beginning of the week and this is AFTER a week�s break mind you.
It�s ridiculous.
Now, does this seem fair to you? I go to class (usually) when I�m supposed to, giving her almost an entire afternoon to nap away on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. So, my point is, she�s getting the time alone that she�s supposed to be getting by my attendance in my classes. However, when it comes to the one or two days a week that I get to spend lazing around the room during the early afternoon, she is usually up in that bed (or more recently, to my annoyance, on the couch). We, as students, pay a lot of money to go here and the WHOLE reason we attend college is to get an education which is usually correlated to going to class.
Plus I just want the damn time that I�m entitled to.
So now, it�s going on 2:20 and she�s still up there�that�s right, she�s slept through the entire length of the class.
And now, with no further adieu�.Day Three.
Secret awoke, curled up against P, the Conqueror, somewhat sad that they had to leave. She hardly wanted to return to the hectic life of school or the boring life of The Heights. Chicago had been the happy medium that she had been craving so badly. She went to take a shower, smiling as she picked up the Bath and Body Works soap that the hotel had provided. She and P had repeatedly asked for more to take home with them.
After they both had finished with their showers and again found themselves smelling as sweet as a juniper breeze, they were off to Denny�s (again) for breakfast before heading off to downtown.
It was at Denny�s that Secret tried eggs again for the first time in about fifteen years. With vegetables and sausage in them, almost like an omelet, they weren�t half bad.
After finishing the filling, yet cheap, meal P climbed into the driver�s seat while Secret readied herself to be navigator in the passenger seat. They said goodbye to Schaumburg and got on I-90 to visit downtown with directions from the she-male at Denny�s on how to find Michigan Avenue and the Magnificent Mile.
�an hour later�.they found it after driving around for what had seemed like an eternity. Noticing the extreme prices on parking, they drove along Michigan Avenue in search of this mysterious mile and the Nike store that P wanted to see. After dealing with grueling traffic and annoying pedestrians, Secret finally saw Niketown and they decided to not even bother trying to find inexpensive parking. They left the car at an attended lot, which somewhat freaked out Secret. After all, her laptop, P�s laptop, their video cameras, most of her cash, their CD�s, and many other electronic marvels were at the mercy of the man that they left their car with.
P tried to distract her from the worries as they battled the icy winds to get back to Michigan Avenue. However, Prominence happened to notice an Express store across the street and started shrieking with joy.
They visited the three floors of Niketown, the Sony Store (Secret�s eyes were big staring at all the gadgets), the Disney store, and P had to pull a clawing Prominence out of Express because of the extreme cold (and her lack of money). They decided to leave downtown, noticing how late it was starting to get. So Secret navigated them back to the expressway and they were on their way back to oh-so-wonderful Michigan.
After an hour or so of falling in an out of light sleep, P started to whine about being hungry again. Secret kept an eye open for a Steak n Shake as P was very particular about the foods that he would eat when he was starving.
By luck, and Secret�s intuition, they happened to find a Steak n Shake and P happily skipped in to eat. P seemed to order everything in sight and Secret wondered again how he managed to lose weight with such an appetite.
After enjoying their large, delicious, inexpensive meal, Secret decided to try her hand at driving as her sore knee was starting to feel better.
What a mistake.
It seemed like she was only on the road for less than a half an hour when the gusty wind started. The gusty wind lead to hail and snow being blown in her path, and eventually the wind was shaking the car so badly that Secret�s knuckles were white from nervousness. The gusty winds started blowing mad snow in her field of vision to the point where Secret was on the verge of tears. She got off on the next exit and told P that she was not going to be responsible for getting into an accident in his car.
He reluctantly agreed to drive again.
That�s when the hellstorm picked up. The snow blew so hard and with such intensity that they couldn�t even see fifteen feet in front of them. They passed car after car in ditches, police and rescue vehicles were everywhere ominously warning everyone to get off the expressways. Secret eyed the speedometer which P kept at a consistent 20 mph. A car in front of them braked and P started to brake slowly, resulting in them almost spinning into a police car. The car behind them was not as fortunate.
�Fuck this,� he said and got off on the nearest exit in Kalamazoo.
�I guess we could go see a movie,� Secret suggested as an alternative to automatically finding a hotel room for the night again.
Secret soon realized that she hated Kalamazoo. Even with GPS, it took them over an hour to find a movie theater as the roads in Kalamazoo did not seem to go straight�at all.
Strangely enough, luck was working with Secret, because the new Guy Pearce movie, �The Time Machine� was playing conveniently ten minutes after they arrived. Secret clasped P�s hand as the lights dimmed and rested her head on his shoulder.
The movie, unhappily a disappointment, was nothing compared to Guy Pearce�s other performances in The Count of Monte Cristo, L.A. Confidential, and Memento, but it an enjoyable FX movie.
Noticing that the weather was even worse than when they had arrived at the theater, Secret and P finally relented in searching for a hotel room. However, they were not expecting such a quest as most motorists had decided to exit the expressways and stay in Kalamazoo�s hotels.
Close to 1 am, Secret was ready to give up. The only hotels open were the nicer hotels that cost $80 a night and P finally just got them a room in the Clarion that had a pool and hot tub.
Too bad they wouldn�t have time to use it.
It was obviously closed when Secret and P checked in at 1:30 am. Secret tiredly carried her things to the elevator, exasperated at Kalamazoo�s road system. P wandered the halls, exploring the hotel for awhile before finally coming back to the room to settle in.
After a couple hours of watching television and playing computer games, Secret curled up in P�s arms and fell into a quick dreamless sleep, happy to be spending another night with him.
�To be continued with Day 4�
