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As is becoming the norm, when I wanted to update my site over the weekend, the internet was down. I'm still not going to pay for it! I've been pigging out since this weekend. I need to start working out again. I saw The Shining Friday night at midnight at an independent theater in Manhattan with a group of friends. It was long but fun. Saturday Patrick and I hung out around the neighborhood. I actually can't remember what we did other than go out to eat. I think I have Alzheimer's. Sunday we had a picnic in Prospect Park and read for a bit. Then we went shopping and had some margaritas and sangria at a Mexican restaurant on the way home. However, we had an alcohol-induced fight after that which wasn't resolved until the next morning. Monday morning we had crappy brunch in Carroll Gardens and walked to and halfway over the Brooklyn Bridge. We turned around when I spotted an art installation called the Telectroscope near the East River in Brooklyn where we had just left. Basically it looks like a humongous old timey telescope breaking through the pier; if you look through it you can supposedly see all the way to London. In actuality, there's a giant circular LCD screen towards the back which shows people in London looking through the same thing over there in real time. There weren't many people in London looking back at us since it was raining there. We just waved at the few people that were there and gave each other thumbs up and peace signs. You can also write messages to each other, but I couldn't think of anything to write except "'allo Guvna!" I'd like to try it again before they take it down next month. We also waited in line for about 45 minutes to get ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Later than night I had dinner with Melissa in her neighborhood, then took the train over the Manhattan Bridge to see the Brooklyn Bridge lit up with its 125th birthday lights for the final night. It was really pretty. I'm taking an Anatomy class at Borough of Manhattan Community College this summer which I have to register for Thursday. I'm also taking Statistics at Medgar Evers College the second summer session. There's about three more classes I have to take after that in order to get into the nursing program I want. That would suck if I didn't get in! My coworker Latoya is trying to do the program with me, so we're at least taking Statistics together this summer. My birthday is next week! I think I'm just gonna have to write this birthday off. I have to work that day and then I have class until 9:15 at night. Not to mention everyone got off of work next week except me, so I'll probably be stressed out. I also have a wedding to go to the Saturday after my birthday, so there's no chance to have a little get together. But I am seeing M.I.A. with Melissa the day after my birthday at McCarren Park Pool. And perhaps the wedding will be fun? I suppose I'm just feeling sorry for myself. Meh. 05*18*08 The internet connections I "borrow" had all disappeared the middle of last week. Prior to that I was preoccupied with thoughts of going back to school, so updating this site was the last thing on my mind. So of course when I was ready to do so I couldn't. Anyway, I'm going to take some classes at some city schools in order to get into an accelerated nursing program to get a 2nd bachelor's degree at SUNY Downstate next summer (2009). It's all very spur of the moment and I have a bit of time to figure out how exactly I'm going to manage going to school full-time for 15 months without working or only working part-time. It would entail scrimping from now until then to save up some money, but even if I could manage to save up $1000 a month, I still wouldn't have enough to survive off of for 15 months. Anyway, the whole thing is a big headache, but one that's necessary since I can't imagine working at the eye bank too much longer and I don't think the forensic science field really has anything that interests me. Of course I don't even know if I'll like nursing so much, but one of the biggest appeals of it is going to school to get my master's degree in nursing while I'm working and possibly having a hospital pay for it. The money I'd make from that degree would be great as would the plethora of possibilities I could do with it. Plus I'd always have a job and could live where ever the hell I wanted! Although I pretty much already live where I want. Perhaps Paris needs some nurses? My disillusionment with my job was further solidified this morning when I was called in toward the end of my shift for a donor, thus requiring me to work two hours past my on-call shift. I've racked up about 5 hours in overtime in just the past few weeks. I suppose it wouldn't be such a huge deal if they actually gave us comp time, but they don't! It really infuriates me. We were told the the money we're reimbursed per recovery includes whatever overtime we incur. But this is something they made up after I'd worked there for over a year. I feel that's a very convenient rule for them, but hugely inconvenient for the rest of us. It further boils my blood when there are times when we have absolutely nothing to do toward the end of the day and that instead of giving us said comp time, they fish for busy work for us to do. I don't know, maybe some of my co-workers have the right idea by coming to work very late everyday. As far as I know they never get severely punished for it, and at least I'd feel a little better about the whole situation. Food for thought. Anyway, the donor ordeal this morning left me feeling tired and very moody, so I did nothing but read after I napped for a few hours when I got back in the afternoon. When I'm a nurse I'll only have to work three days a week! Granted it would be twelve hour shifts, but I still like the sound of that better. 05*04*08 I've been somewhat staying away from my laptop like it was the plague ever since I got back from vacation. I bought a mystery novel at the Seattle airport on my way home and finished it in a day. It was by no means a great book, but I enjoyed the quick read and got three more books by the same author at the library. I devoured them all by Saturday. That's pretty much what I've been doing since I got back. Anyway, the trip was okay. I think I took on a bit more than I realized in terms of driving and the amount of cities we visited in 11 days. I felt crabby and tired a lot, which led to Patrick and I fighting more than usual. We had nice weather when we arrived in San Diego, but it was too chilly to lay out on the beach. It's a pretty laid back city, which I suppose isn't really my thing. It was great seeing Rory in L.A. I haven't seen him in two years. I had thought San Francisco would be the best part of the trip, but I guess I put too much weight on that and ended up being dissapointed. We took the coastal route from San Francisco to Eureka which was really gorgeous. I think I enjoyed that part of the trip the most. It made me wish I had done the same from L.A. to San Francisco. In Portland I had a fun night with Katrina and Joe, an old friend from high school whom I haven't seen in a while. I didn't really see a lot of Portland since we left the next afternoon. The weather was pretty shitty from the time we left San Francisco up until the last few days in Seattle, which was a bummer. We stayed with Patrick's friend Joe in Seattle and he showed us all around the city. Seattle was okay, but I think we enjoyed Joe's company most. He's a fun guy. Patrick and I were disappointed we had both bought new bathing suits and hadn't had a chance to use them, so we made sure the hotel we stayed at in Eureka had both a hot tub and a heated pool. We got in a half hour of swimming before the pool area closed at night, and went swimming first thing in the morning before we headed to Portland. We also took advantage of their free limo service to head to dinner when we arrived. That was my first time in a stretch limo! On the way to Portland I almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. I practically had a heart attack, but we made it to a gas station at the last minute and were saved. Aside from that, the pictures pretty much paint the rest of the picture. I took some not too exciting videos as well which I'll eventually post. I went to my friend's wedding shower today. I haven't seen her in a while; we went to college together. The only other wedding I've been to in my adult life is Alex's a few years ago and today she told me what is expected of the guests in terms of monetary gifts. I had no idea you're expected to give what it basically cost the couple a head to have you there. That's a lot of dough! I feel like a jerk now for giving what I gave Alex at her wedding. In my defense, I gave what I could after going through a very costly move! Meh. I need another vacation from my vacation.
This girl is a nerd, get me outta here |