The Bob is back in town

All that drama over my poor car for nothing. The Bob is back, and running just fine (for the moment). Still scary as hell to drive though. Maybe if I work my ass off over break I can scrounge up enough for a down payment for a newish-used car from Mayberry.

*Primal Scream*

30 November: take home exam due
1 December: presentation on Santeria

4 December: Biology exam and paper on Santeria due
5 December: exam on Nigerian and Iranian politics
7 December: presentation, write-up and possible exam
8 December: final exams in Western Civ, contemp. Latin America and Biology

Someone shoot me now.

I Miss The Bob

The Bob is my car. Was my car, I should say. When he first came into my life, five years ago, I was not yet past the point when I still found it necessary to name everything I owned. Stuffed animals, computers, rubber bouncy balls... Anyway, my car became the Bob. Totally unoriginal, I know, but the Bob has become an institution. Back home, and up here. Many memorable things happened/were said in the Bob. Road trips across the state (and beyond), dozens of Waffle House runs, a few beer runs (B-double E-double R-U-N-- BEER RUN!), and a couple heart-to-heart chats. Even if I get a new car and name it the Bob, it just won't be the same.

And what hurts the most was the manner of the Bob's betrayal. If he would have broken down on the side of a safe, two lane road, I would be more ok with this. However, the Bob chose to break down as I was driving up a very dangerous stretch of interstate, straight up a mountain. No exit ramps, no medians. All I could do was wait on the granny next to me (going the same speed I was, and at that point I think I was going 20 mph in a 55) to realize that my hazards were on for a REASON, pull over to the slow lane for trucks, hope that I wouldn't get hit in the process, and wait for the cement barrier to end so I could pull into the grass.

We sat on the side of the road for an hour, waiting on tow truck guy to show. I had to deal with my parents freaking out and telling me that they were on the way (thanks mom, but you can't help me now!), friends calling only to say that they were really sorry, but no, they couldn't come pick us up, and my traveling companions trying to cheer me up. All I could do was sit in the drivers' seat, watching all the cars pass by, and think "Wow, G-d must really hate me today."

Finally tow truck guy showed up. And of course the minute that the Bob was on the truck, a cop pulled over and asked if we needed anything. The ride over to the body shop was not fun. There wasn't enough room for all of us in the cab, so S had to sit on my lap. We eventually made it back to school, safe and sound.

Now, all I have to do is figure out how I'm going to get to intro class and services this week. Having a car isn't everything, but it makes things so much easier.

Nightmare on 34th Street

Black Friday is not the best day to go back to work after being gone for three months. Especially when Place of Employment was bought out by the biggest department store chain in the country. New Place of Employment is not nearly as cool. I can't use their coupons because I'm an employee, and HR can't keep me on the payroll when I'm at school, so I'll have to reapply for my job every holiday season and summer. However, they gave me a magnetic name badge. No more screwing up my shirts with clips and pins. That counts for something, right?

Though my shift actually started at five-thirty, the store didn't open until six. But it could have been much, much worse. I still had to deal with my fair share of crazies. Angry women that thought it was my fault, and had no problems letting me know so, that Place of Employment does not accept combined coupons. Or that we do not have coupons at the register to scan for every single person that asks. Hello, it's company policy... do not yell at me at 7:15 in the morning! Later on I had a kid get severely PO'ed at me because I can't speak Spanish (other than "Hola, como estas?". And the sheer numbers of people that wanted to use gift receipts as coupons...

To explain the title of this post: we were giving away copies of Miracle on 34th Street to our big spenders. I could not, for the life of me, remember the name of that movie, so I kept calling it Miracle on Elm Street and Nightmare on 34th Street. At one point I said to a customer "Wouldn't it be hilarious if Santa disguised himself as Krueger?" Luckily, she thought it was as funny as I did.

Gobble?

So I'm home again. Awaiting the arrival of the family. Am actually excited about it. Our version of "Dirty Uncle Sal" might not even show up. Hooray, I will be spared the embarassment of him asking me if "those things" (my boobs) are real after he's had a couple beers. I will also be spared the task of having to knock out his one remaining tooth if he asks. Sound extreme? Well, I'm sick of it, and no one else in the fam ever says or does anything about it, so I'm taking the matter into my own hands. However, I am going to have a good time. My mom cooked enough food to feed an army, and I plan on eating a lot of it. Bring on the turkey! Bring on the cranberry salad! Bring on the deviled eggs! Bring on the ham! Nah, screw the ham. But do bring on the pumpkin pie!

Why? Why, Why, WHY???????????

Getting sick or injured on holidays is something that comes naturally to me. Last Christmas I had the flu. Thanksgiving two years ago I had an upper respiratory tract infection. Spring break when I was seventeen I don't even know what I had, but I know I ran a temperature of 106. My mom physically carried me to the tub, dumped me in and threw ice cubes and cold water on me. Thanks mom.. Last 4th of July my contact broke (while I was wearing it), and I had to miss out on overtime $$ at Macy's so I could go to the ER and have one of their *fine* young doctors scratch my cornea. And then there was that time when all the neighborhood kids got head lice. On fucking New Years Eve! Currently, I have some kind of stomach bug. Am delighted to report that it is not food poisoning, which hey, after eating in the cafeteria, is nothing short of a miracle.

However, my attitude towards my roommate: not so good. When we came to our unspoken agreement that we would share certain things, I was thinking food, laundry money, alcohol. Anything but infectious diseases. And now she's at her house, resting up where mama can take care of her, and I'm here in my dorm room, sad and lonely with a badly drawn biohazard symbol on my door. I want someone to pour Sprite down my throat and bring me crackers. I want not to feel like typhoid Mary. Up until 11 pm last night, I thought that I had food poisoning, so I went about my business. Saw a play, went to intro class, went to my sorority meeting, spread my germs around... I really hope that no one gets sick because of me.

Sheer and Utter Boredom

I have, sitting in front of me, five movies. I intend to watch all of them tonight, or at the very latest before time to go to intro class tomorrow. Gawd, I cannot wait until Tuesday.