I realize that this has taken me, comparatively, 50 years to update. It�s just not easy to work up the motivation to come online when you have the face the horrors of dial up connections. My internet surfing has become completely stagnant. I barely even check my email anymore. Anyway, I�ve managed to accrue quite a bit of stories in the past couple of weeks or so, so I suppose I should get back on track, huh?
Let�s start with��Thursday before move-out/graduation�
I was smart this year; I started packing early so that move out wouldn�t be the stressful, tearful experience that it usually was. I took a series of trips back home, filling my car to the brim every time. I was a smart packer; I even put inventories on every box of what was inside, although the end did become a frantic �toss everything in the box� attitude. Anyway, I went home on Wednesday night to drop off the last bit of things before my mother came on Friday. I ended up spending the night so that the drive didn�t seem so pointless. I came back to the apartment on Thursday morning, shortly before noon and realized exactly how much of a mess it truly was.
It was utterly ridiculous. I started picking up things and just tossing them in the various rooms that they belonged. My bed became a resting place for wine glasses, food, magazines, and much more. The problem, however, was not my few random things that were scattered all over the apartment. The problem lied in my roommate�s complete lack of foresight. It was literally impossible to vacuum the apartment even because of all of her stuff that was in the way. Sure, I could have tossed it all in her room (and I did), but was that really fair to me to have to do that? We lived there together, why should it be up to me to clean up everything because she decided that being clean in her living space wasn�t important to her? It still pisses me off to think about all the things that were just scattered everywhere carelessly. Supposedly, she was supposed to have moved out that day. She worked on Friday, she graduated on Saturday, and we had to be out early Sunday.
At around 2 pm, I was at the end of my rope and I called her. I didn�t want to be cleaning all night. I had planned on going up to the bar to see a friend off before he left for London. I called, no answer. She called me back.
�Uh, when, exactly, do you plan on showing up?�
�Oh, I dunno, soon. I�m helping S (her boyfriend) with his homework.�
You have got to be goddamn kidding me. She knew she had responsibilities. She knew that she was supposed to get this crap done. She knew that her boyfriend was old enough to do his own homework. I told her that he was a big boy and he could do it himself; she needed to get back and clean up her mess.
She came, eventually, noticing that I�d thrown out all of the food in the pantry. I noticed that she was pissed off, but quite frankly, I didn�t care. I had warned her weeks prior that this would happen. I don�t have time to wonder if she plans on keeping food or not. I wanted my security deposit back. As I was out buying more garbage bags, I managed to run into one of the office staff who told me that they don�t really care if we clean up the apartment. They were only worried about damage inside the apartment.
RP cleaned up the bathroom and went on her merry way. I finished packing, but I was still uneasy about forgetting something, so I spent quite a few hours making sure that I�d gotten everything, thus not making it to the bar.
Friday
Like I thought, moving went off without a hitch. We were done in less than an hour, and I still had time to check over the apartment a few times with my mother. As I was leaving, I noticed that RP�s room was still covered in about four inches of crap. She was still packing when I left, and my mother assumed that she wasn�t going to be making it to work later on that day.
However, that wasn�t my problem. I turned in the cable modem, emptied my bank account, and left. I was done with MSU, basically forever.
I went home to unpack and then went over to my dad�s to hang out with him and my aunt who had flown in from California. We hung out at his house for awhile (he had inconveniently picked that weekend to have his kitchen completely redone). The carpenter came over to mess around with the counter for awhile, and strangely enough, we left him alone in the house while the rest of us went out to dinner.
My aunt and uncle from Pennsylvania showed up around midnight and then I went home to call it a night.
Saturday
Saturday was the day of my big party. My mom even decided to make an appearance at my father�s. It went pretty well and it was small like I preferred it. Unfortunately, most of my friends couldn�t make it, being as that most of them graduated on Saturday and a few were out of the country. I still had a good time, but I literally ate too much.
I was a little glutton and literally ate so much that I threw up. I was close to bursting. I went home pretty early and passed out on the couch.
Sunday
Sunday was the big day. I woke up, got ready, and got on the road.
However, it seemed that fate didn�t want me to attend graduation. It turned out that 696 had closed around Dequindre, so I had to get off the freeway. By the time I had reached 696, I was running right on schedule, so you can imagine how pleased I was to get off the freeway and lose time. I got back on the freeway, started doing 90, and was making good time until I hit even more traffic and construction.
Is the state flower of Michigan the orange construction cone or something?
I was swearing up a storm, but there was nothing I could do. I managed to grit my teeth and get through the knot, but I was way behind schedule. I tried to make it up, but I knew that I would be ten minutes late (which didn�t seem like a big deal). I was flying down Hagadorn and then I saw that the train on Mt. Hope had been stopped.
What the hell?
Apparently, there was some kind of massive train accident�train vs. car. I didn�t have time to figure out what the hell was going on, I just turned around and followed all the cars through the farm roads.
Now I was 20 minutes late�still no big deal.
Then came the best part of all�parking.
There were absolutely no spots near Breslin. I decided not to waste time and parked in the stadium and just ran. I got there in time to stand in the sweltering heat of the staging area with everyone else. Everyone was shouting and screaming and basically having a great time.
Our graduation was strictly engineering. There are so many people graduating from MSU that they needed to divide us up into colleges so that the ceremony wouldn�t be eight hours long. They further divided us into majors so that we would be sitting near each other, since they wouldn�t be having us walk in alphabetical order. I jokingly said that we should take the pole and the sign that said �electrical engineering� with us. The pole, however, wouldn�t move.
When we started to walk out, I noticed that the sign came off the pole rather easily. I was tempted to take it, but I wasn�t sure what they would do to us if I did. The guy behind me said that he didn�t care, and decided to take it.
So for about the first half hour of the ceremony, the group that I was sitting with took turns waving the sign around (until it was taken away).
I swear, though, electrical engineers can be rowdy rowdy people. I can�t possibly describe how loud we were and how much fun it was. I have a theory that our major was so��involved in camaraderie because we worked so hard to graduate. Anyway, it was especially funny when we got in line to walk and the guy in front of me told me something.
�I don�t even go here.�
�What?�
�I went to U of M (University of Michigan�major MSU rivals) and graduated last week.�
�What?� I was pretty confused.
�I just bought this cap and gown and wrote my name down.�
That was hilarious. That guy was infiltrating our graduation and was even going to get pictures of himself graduating from MSU. It was very very hilarious as he walked across the stage.
I hope that I get the video.
After the ceremony, we drove home to get some dinner. My dad decided to take us all to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, but we didn�t realize that it was the day before Cinqo de Mayo (or however it�s spelled, I don�t speak Spanish) and there was going to be major celebrations in the streets.
We got into the restaurant within ten minutes and while we were enjoying our carafes of margaritas, this guy at another table bought me another carafe because he noticed that I had my cap on. Apparently, he had a few family members who went to MSU.
It was some good times.
The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, except for a possible job prospect, but I�ve already written enough for today.
[sigh] It has certainly been a whirlwind of events.
