Sweet Catastrophe

Right, I’m moving the computer upstairs. I’m sitting here and there’s a party going on at Parkview. Every time the door opens (to the vestibule) I pause what I’m watching. 1) So they don’t notice I’m here and try to come visit and 2) So they don’t hear what I’m watching ’cause Sex and the City has become a bit of a guilty pleasure.

I know there will be cons to the new setup, but it’s not like I can’t move it back downstairs.

I need the change.

I went outside last night to bring in Smokey’s bowl but he was still out there.

He’d found a bug–something that looked to me like a huge fly, only it would make these clicking noises when it moved around.

For a while he wasn’t hurting it–he’d just swat it around when it’d stop making the noise. Then he’d pick it up in his mouth and change locations for…who knows what reason. Finally he grabbed it up and brought it over to me where he rubbed up against my legs for a while before dropping it at my feet. Thanks but no thanks, Smokey! He got the idea that I was doing nothing with it and finally decided he’d eat it for himself. Really? You’ve got a bowl of Special Kitty no more than 3ft away from you and you’re gonna eat the bug? Alrighty then….

For Ryan, I mean. I forgot to update that he did find one when they went looking while I was gone!

Already having ups and downs though. They kept it to fix the air conditioner and speedometer, along with other random maintenance things to take it back to the condition it was in when they got it.

Before he even left town the check engine light was back on. He talked to someone and figured that out. It’s a sensor issue and they had changed one, but apparently his has two so that needs to be fixed. In the meantime it’s screwing with his gas mileage (don’t ask me to explain how…that part wasn’t in English for me ) Not long after leaving Valdosta his battery light came on. He called me to look quickly online and find out what that means–assuming it meant low battery was just too obvious–good thing I looked too. It actually means that the alternator isn’t charging the battery, so you’ve got anywhere from half an hour to a day, just depending on how much charge the battery had. It also had a list of things to check yourself if you can’t immediately get to a mechanic so I listed those for him as well. It was 3am before he could look for himself but he called to fill me in and there was NO BELT on the alternator. The belts were on the list of things they changed out, so they either left it too loose or tightened it too much, either way, having a belt snap off like that on the interstate could have potentially wrecked him. He’s lucky that the belt obviously worked its way out–normally they snap and take out surrounding belts with them. I haven’t talked to him yet, but the plan was to call and bitch out the dealership. You just can’t be careless with stuff like that and they’re absolutely going to have to reimburse him for towing and whatever has to be done to get it back going.

Otherwise it’s been smooth sailing. He’s already replaced the cd player since the one that was in it sounded horrible with his Zune. He’s not gonna do much else to it though. It’s nice enough as it =) Of course, it means the new memory for my computer is gonna have to wait a little longer, but I can accept that if it means he has a reliable ride that I don’t have to worry about!

Oy. Brittany and BJ are getting married in November. Kristi’s engaged and well, she’s not getting married right away, but that’s coming!

For my brother’s wedding I found a dress I was comfortable in, until I saw the pictures and realized just how thick I looked! It’s not even so much that I looked fat, I just didn’t look like me anymore.

I’d really like to look into some serious diet pill reviews and see if I can’t find something that could work for me.

The diet changes I’m able to make don’t seem to be doing anything and neither, really, does the exercise. I’m just not sure what else to try, but I’m just flat out not comfortable in my own skin anymore. How I feel I look in what I’m wearing affects my mood way too much these days. Depressing? You bet. It’s seeping into every aspect of my life and I’m sick of it. I want to be back at my old weight.

…and by that I mean that I just can’t make up my mind. Not long after Will moved in, I decided I didn’t want another roommate after him. Not that I have any problem with Will at all, it just felt right when it was just me and Ryan here—though it was really only a short week. Having someone else move in just feels…like we’re a hotel or something. It’s our place, Will’s just staying here. I guess that’s a good way to put it.

I’m so back and forth though. Not having a roommate would add $150 to my monthly bills.

With a roommate, I’m constantly pausing whatever I’m watching when he walks into the room. I have NO idea why.

The apartment is so quiet when Ryan is gone. Sometimes I like that, and sometimes it just feels really lonely. I’m not sure which I lean more towards, and even still, Will and I don’t really have the kind of friendship that makes much of a difference.

And then again, with a roommate I’m subjected to more unwanted visitors. I never know who I might find here….on my couch or even in my shower….

On that same note, without a roommate I’d probably be dangerously close to being considered a recluse.

With no one here, I could light some candles, and take a hot bath with the door open. I used to love doing that…I like having the door open so I can have light on somewhere close by so there’s just enough filtering in. It’d be perfect here. Our bedroom door is across from the bathroom door so if I had the closet light on, it’d be the perfect mate for candlelight.

I don’t know. I mean, of course it isn’t anything I have to decide right now, but it’s certainly my decision. Ryan doesn’t care either way. With a roommate he pays $150 less a month, without a roommate, he could have an office in the other bedroom. He’s happy with either setup. As far as I know, Will isn’t going anywhere any time soon, but that’s really not a definite. That greatly depends on his job situation, so I’d like to figure out how I feel on the matter, ya know?

I really thought I knew, but these past two nights with Ryan and Will both gone, it’s almost uncomfortably quiet. Not sure how I feel about that.

I’ve accepted that a few strays would be dipping into Smokey’s food–especially when I got lazy and stopped bringing in the bowl at night. I heard shuffling last night that was definitely louder than Smokey, so I decided to take a peek at what was out there.

I could only get funny-angled shots through the window since I knew it’d run–and run it did as soon as I put a single finger on the doorknob. It was nowhere in sight!

Attention Valdostonians! Know how you always see a single shoe around town–generally in the middle of the road?

Tonight while driving to the Post Office I actually spotted a PAIR of shoes in the middle of the road! That’s right! Not a lonely sole–a pair! Just lying in the middle of Bemiss. Put that one in the books ’cause it’ll never happen again.

Are there constant random shoes in most towns, or is it just a Valdosta thing?

Finding myself telling so many people about this, I’m realizing that it just isn’t common knowledge that tons of United States Postal Service locations offer a 24-hour kiosk!

Since I don’t know how setup varies by location, I’ll just tell you about ours.

Right next to the mailboxes is a little computer station. It’s a touch screen setup and you get, from what I’ve looked through, all the same options you get when you speak with a teller. There’s even a place next to the computer that weighs your package for you to determine postage.

For me, I generally stop by to mail letters at night. In the digital age, I don’t mail things off very often, so it’s just not cost effective for me to buy stamps since the price is always changing.

There’s a minimum of $1, so the computer will prompt you and ask if you’d like to purchase 3 stamps, or go back and choose different options. When it’s all said and done, you swipe your debit/credit card and your stamps, or postage for a package pops out!

It’s a very easy process with clear, simple, yes or no questions. Due to popular demand, ours in town has even been fitted with headphones for the older group around town who have trouble reading the screens, sort of like a reverse closed captioning thing.

I was a bit intimidated at first, worried that I might choose incorrectly and end up with an $8 stamp for a 13 ounce envelope, but once I stepped up to the computer I saw that it was fairly close to idiot-proof. Since then I haven’t stood in a Post Office line. I just stop by after hours when it’s eerily quiet and get in and out!

You can check for a 24-hour kiosk near you by clicking here and choosing Automated Postal Centers from the first drop-down menu. I’m sure once you’ve given it a shot, you won’t stand in anymore teller lines either!

About 95% of the time, I do my grocery shopping at night. I hate having to run errands right before work. I don’t know why, I just do. So it’s always easier to just swing by Wal Mart after work and pick up everything I need. Well, I think Wal Mart needs to invest in a little market research and realize that in these college towns, I’m not the only one shopping at night.

No, it’s not as busy as it is during the day, but there’s still a significant amount of business going on. Regardless, they’ll have two registers open and even shut down the self-checkout lanes. This actually isn’t my biggest complaint. Restocking is what pisses me off. I understand that after 10pm is the most convenient time to restock, but damn! You can only unpack one box at a time so why does an entire aisle need to be so full of boxes that I absolutely can’t get to the items I need? What bothers me even more is how along the little freezers that line the walkways between the normal aisles and the walls of meats and stuff, they’ll block off every little section where you normally walk through—so you have to walk the entire length of the grocery section to walk around and get to what you need!! Forget it if you overlooked something and need to go back! It’s just too annoying to maneuver between all the stock sitting out and the other college students and people with rough schedules trying to fit through an area barely wide enough for a single cart.

Really….it makes me want to scream.

So Tuesday I got a late start. Really late. My alarm failed me, so I woke up about two hours after I should’ve been on the road so instead of going to Katie’s, I drove straight to Best Buy in Alpharetta.

The drive was pretty uneventful. I didn’t miss any turns or anything and made really good time with one stop for gas. If it hadn’t been so damn hot I wouldn’t have needed to stop for gas, but my air conditioner had to go full blast since there’s a little issue with that.

We had no problem at Best Buy walking down and aisle to make it front row. You can read a quick bit about the show here.

We left there to go to Ruby Tuesday for the worst service, but the best food. They had it way too dark with the blinds drawn and the lights way too low. If I hadn’t been so hungry I could’ve slept. Our waitress pretty much forgot all about us after she brought our appetizer so we stopped her and pointed out that we’d been there for like 15 minutes since she’d brought out the appetizer and she hadn’t taken our order yet. From then on she tried to make us feel guilty and instead just made herself look like a bitch who shouldn’t be in food service. Come to think of it, I really shouldn’t have left a tip and I don’t know why I did….I don’t care what the situation is, you should never make your guests feel guilty….She even came back and said something about not wanting to make us feel guilty and when we said we didn’t she said something along the lines of, “well I just feel like you guys are being all nice now,” REALLY? Sorry we were assholes before for asking you to take our order when we’d already been in the restaurant for almost 30 minutes…

Tangent, sorry! Anyway after that Kristi rode with me back to Katie’s and we got stuck in a parking lot forever when we missed a turn and tried to turn around…it was pretty crazy. We got all settled and sat around talking for a while and promptly passed out ’cause we were all pretty tired.

And I need to play some Super Paper Mario right now so the rest of my oh-so-exciting trip will come later