College Darwinism

I'm beginning to re-adapt to the college life. Today, I went to take a nap at 5:45pm, and woke up at 9pm. Now, had I a massive paper to write, a killer exam for which to study, or a boring book "of literary merit" to finish, I could probably stay up all night and accomplish such a task. Then I could go to my classes, and then sleep tomorrow at the socially appropriate time (night time). Clearly, I am the fittest, and shall survive :)

Poo

Good News: Dad & Papa got the belts changed on my car

Bad News: AC belt broke because the air compressor locked up

Worse News: now I need a new air compressor

Joy.

I'm never driving again

My Very Broken Down Car :(

I seem to have nothing but bad luck when I combine cars, long trips, and oh yeah...me.

Take, for instance, yesterday's little incident. I left my house at 8am to go to Huntsville for church. Huntsville is well on the way to DFW, and I had made a joke about just keeping on going north...boy am I glad I didn't! I left at about 1pm to go home, and 20 minutes into my trip...

...something on the passenger side started squealing, and at first I thought it was something weird with my music. However, it continued once I turned off the music, eliminating that possibility. It got really loud, but instead of completely freaking out (the default Adriane option) I calmly switched lanes & maneuvered to the shoulder. This took a total of about 7 seconds. By that time, I smelled smoke, and by the time I got the car turned off a couple of seconds later (yes, I was in super-high-speed-fix-it-mode) I could see the smoke billowing from under the hood. This is what we call not a good thing.

So in tears I called Dad, who said he was on his way. So he ended up skipping church. It was about 96* in the shade (where I moved after about 30 minutes), and Dad got there a little over an hour after the initial problem. It turns out my AC belt broke. Dad is changing that and the Something Else belt today, and I should be good as new. We called AAA and a tow truck brought it back to my house.

But! I being the fantastic photo weirdo that I am, just had to get a picture of the ordeal...for future humor's sake. So I climbed over the guard rail (yes, in my skirt & church shoes...I'm Wonder Woman ya know) and waded around in the bug-infested grass. It was just grasshoppers, I told myself, and though I don't like grasshoppers, this must be part of the breaking-down experience. When I came back to Dad & the tow truck man, Dad asked if I had gotten into fire ants. Of course I said no...THAT's when they started biting. My feet were covered in the things. And they bit me. A lot. Not nice.

As crappy as the day became, and the fact that it took me 4 hours to get home when it should have taken just 1, it could have been so much worse. Dad says these are things that just happen every once in a while, and that I couldn't really have done anything to prevent it. Basically, this would have happened at this approximate time regardless of what I was doing.

BUT! I wasn't on my way to Dallas/Ft Worth as I'd originally planned. If I were, I'd have been in Centerville then, and my rescue would have been longer coming. And I'd have had to turn around.

AND! It didn't happen the night before, when Juliane & I were on our way back from Teen Bible Study in the dark. That would have been closer to home, but more dangerous. I don't really need to drag my sister into a stranded situation.

PLUS! There are lots of places along I-45 whose shoulder width is about zero. I happened to break down in a place where the shoulder was the width of an entire lane, and there was grass next to it.

So given the fact that this was going to happen, I think a lot of things "just happened" to work out well. In other words, I was protected even though I wasn't necessarily happy about the situation. It's funny how little things can give you just a little more faith when you least expect it.

I'm still up.

This is what we call "bad time management" folks. I blame only myself.

But! On the other hand, I spent the last hour and a half productively typing up directions to church, copying maps (at various stages of zoom-in-ness of course) into a document, bolding the sections of text that were bolded by googlemaps (street names, cardinal directions, etc), and coloring pink the few lines of information that I deemed most important. This shall not only (hopefully) prevent me from getting lost, but also provides a reason for me to say, "Wow, I am actually organized, despite the state of not-yet-unpacked-from-May-ness of my room right now. Identity crisis obliterated." Really, it's not quite that dramatic, but it's 3:23 in the morning, so I'm cutting myself some slack. And I'm going to sleep. Goodnight!

" time for an updateeee. <33 "

Zahra says it's time for an update. Actually, Zahra said it's time for an update 4 days ago. So here 'tis. :)

~ Mom came home Friday! It was a day later than originally planned, but we're very pleased. Thanks to everyone for all of your continued prayers. She still has a long way to go in resuming normal life, but she's well on her way!

~ I'm quitting Barnes & Noble, effective tomorrow at midnight. That's right...if we're late closing, I'm walking out at midnight. Just kidding.

~ I'll be going back to Ben & Jerry's full-time starting Monday until I go back to school.

~ Moving in exactly 5 weeks! (Actually 4 weeks & 6 days, cause I guess it's past midnight on Tuesday already :-/)

~ I don't like working with people who are hung over. If you're hung over, don't come to work. And if you do come to work, don't tell me that you're hung over. And whether you're hung over or not, do not touch me. Do not poke my back. Do not grab my shoulder. Do not slap my hand in an oh-so-playful manner. I don't know you. I don't want to randomly flirt with you. Especially when you tell me about your theories on living with someone instead of getting married, just so you can switch partners when you tire of today's project. Do not tell me I can't judge actions. I'm going to judge actions. In fact, I'm going to be so bold as to judge your actions. I shall, however, not judge you. There's a difference. Judging actions is what the entire legal system is based upon, not to mention ethics. Get some. Find yours or borrow some from a willing donor. I'm sure that if you explain to them the urgency of your situation, they will understand. That's all I have to say about that.

~ Josh & I are going to practice the Vivaldi once more, and then play in Huntsville for special music on August 5th. Whee! It's coming along quite nicely :)

~ Going back to DFW on the 22nd...probably staying until the 25th. I don't know...now that I'm not going to be working Thursday thru at least Sunday, I could just take off a couple of days after that & make the trip this weekend. That would allow me to go to my cousin's baby shower :) However, I'm gonna want a break in a week, so maybe I should wait. Argh...decisions decisions...

~ Tonight I worked 4-close (midnight). I hate that shift. I feel like I'm being really taken advantage of because I'm closing so stinking much. That's a big reason I'm quitting so soon. Tonight I had a caramel frapp but I added 2 shots of espresso :) It was the grossest thing ever (because the espresso separated from the frapp, so I was drinking melted java juice) but it did the trick lol. I even skipped my last break, because I was on such a roll.

~ Tomorrow I'm working 4-close. Thursday I was scheduled to close. And twice next week. Anyone seeing how much this stinks? So yeah. I'm closing tomorrow. Then byebye. When I first started considering not giving 2 weeks notice, I felt really bad & irresponsible. Then I realized that on the day I got hired, my schedule was the following:
9-9:30 interview & hired
9:30-10 rush to Target to get collared shirts
10-4 work at Ben & Jerry's
4-12am training/work at Barnes & Noble
In short, I was working on the day I was interviewed. This means replacements are relatively easy to find.

Goodnight to all! Zahra, please let me know whether your phone has stopped being racist, as we need to discuss Julie's birthday. Let me know, por favor, if you're available this coming Sunday/Monday evenings (16 & 17) and whether you're available the following Sunday/Monday evenings (23 & 24). I'll be calling Julie too. We need to plan our JAZ Date!!! Since I now won't be working this weekend, I'm a little more flexible on which weekend to come up (provided Jessica is ok with it, as I've worked out to stay with her on the 22nd weekend). Wow...I need to shut up. It's 1:14 in the morning...I should not be this awake.

Funny Facebook

Here's a clip from a Facebook message from Ian:
You know what I've realized? I talk to you everyday on facebook and you live within a stone throw away. Ok, that's bad.

Let's all hope that Adriane feels better in the morning, and can thus go to work. :)

Fired, strike 2

I think I'm about to get fired from Barnes & Noble. I've never been fired from a job, and the thought of it makes me very sad because such would imply that I wasn't doing a good job. And of course, I take pride in always doing an extraordinary job at whatever I'm doing.

Strike one (though they haven't called it such, and haven't even brough up me losing my job) was when I couldn't close on a Friday night (aka work til midnight). The only stipulations I put on my schedule was no working Friday sunset to Saturday sunset for the Sabbath. The rest was left open to work mostly nights which I hate, but apparently no one else wants. Of course, this Friday night issue was mysteriously resolved when they had to redo my entire week's schedule (the real strike 1) because they misscheduled my oral surgery. Though it's not technically my "fault," I did have to bring it up, reflecting badly on myself.

Strike two took place today, as I called in sick because I'm still in pain & can't go anywhere much less drive in the rain when I'm on pain pills that put me to sleep. Mom told me that I sounded like I wouldn't do well working tonight, and basically told me not to go. So I called in 7 hrs before my shift, and I still think the manager is upset, despite the situation. She "really needs" me to be there tomorrow (which I totally intend to be, but Mom said not to if I'm still feeling crummy). Mom said if I get fired, it doesn't mean I was doing a bad job or anything. I don't know why I'm still ranting...I guess I'm just trying to make myself feel ok about not being there tonight. Even though I know it doesn't need justification. Argh, why am I such a people pleaser?!

Today I had to start "irrigating" my "lower sockets"...sounds pretty, I know. Believe me, it's even more fun than it sounds :P

Relapse

Though I was still feeling crummy this morning, I got ready for church, and was looking forward to going. I took my antibiotic, and packed my pain pills just in case. (Of course, I wasn't driving.) But before we got out of the neighborhood, I was so nauseous that there was no way I'd make it through church without passing out or something. I have that nausea prescription, but I don't want to take it...I've never taken anything for nausea...it's one of those things I can live with. Anyway, here's to feeling better tomorrow so I can go to work!

Mom's coming home for the day tomorrow!!!