All About G

I’m having an issue with my current living situation. No, it’s not my room mates or any kind of drama of that sort. I simply can’t afford to live in a Garden apartment, without a meal plan, and having to pay weekly grocery bills.

Here’s an example; I owe one of my room mates, Sam, $15, I owe another room mate, Leah, $32 (though I swear I already paid her back but wtf ever, I don’t even care anymore. And technically I only “owe her” $27 because of the $5 she owes me for the cleaning shit I bought). I have a phone bill to pay, $85, and once that’s all said and done, I will have gone from having $150 to having less than $50 in my checking account. I once had $500 to spare, and with it I’ve bought only things I needed, i.e. food, and some personal items for myself like a couple of pairs of much needed jeans and khakis, books, and rain-boots. I only used not even $75 of what I had for what I wanted, basically the piercings I got last week, a set of ear phones so I could listen to my Ipod, the mid-size $15 purse, and an eyebrow waxing. Everything else, and I mean everything else, has gone to food and paying back my room mates for the weekly groceries. I can’t get the other ear piercings I want, I can’t go out to the movies and really enjoy myself, I can’t buy the green dress I found and wanted to wear for my birthday this year (my 21st nonetheless). As it is, that road trip to DC I promised my sister isn’t happening, and this trip to Rochester with sister and Nat in tow I may be able to pull off via the skin on my teeth.

I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t afford these grocery bills and pay-backs, and it’s funny because I actually try to avoid eating the groceries for fear of eating more than my fair share. Mind you, I haven’t actually sat down with my room-mates and talked to them about this, and I probably won’t until I know it’s for certain, but I think I’m going to move out and back into a single room in a dorm, with a meal plan, so my income won’t disappear like it’s been. If I was living in the single I was in last year, I’d still have something like $300-400 left in my bank account. And NO I wouldn’t lose my mind over it. I had a plan for the things I absolutely want; that I’d spread out the spending over months instead of weeks. But I can’t exactly spread out paying my room mates back, now can I?

So I emailed Housing, and hopefully they’ll get back to me soon. Once I get a definite, I’ll talk to the roomies. In the meantime, I’m just going to try and avoid letting this stress kill me going into midterms. I’ve already come to the conclusion that I’m probably not gonna do a really good job on my tests this week. Awesome. This fucking sucks.

Comments (1) Oct 10 2010

I’m a right shoe. My brother is the left. Many people say that we’re good shoes, but for a long time, we believed that we were a very bad pair. When we were in the store, nobody wanted to buy us.

Every day, many people passed by us, and some stopped and admired us, but in the end, they continued on. They would always say things like “These shoes are too expensive!”

We thought that we were worthless. We didn’t know why nobody tried to buy us. Moreover, we knew that we weren’t allowed to remain on the shelf forever. When the season changed, if we weren’t bought, we would be taken away. No one knows what happens to the shoes that aren’t bought, but it’s been said that they’re never seen again. We were very afraid that we would suffer the same fate.

Towards the end of our season, we were given a final hope: a clearance sale, but instead of being happy, we were sadder because the sale was necessary for us. Was it true that nobody wanted us? Why?

On the final day, we thought that this was the end and we had no hope. In that moment, a young man stopped in front of us. And he picked us up. He had a huge grin and he said “You seem really good. I’m in luck!” And so, he bought us and we could finally call ourselves owned.

As time went by, we learned the daily life of our new owner, who was named Mikal. He was a student at the nearby university, and shared his apartment with his three friends. There were many parties. Eventually, we got used to it. We were very happy with our new lives. We had a family and a home.

One day, Mikal and a friend were arguing. Mikal left the apartment very quickly. He was furious. His friend, Raul, took us and left the house. We were afraid because we didn’t know what Raul was going to do. Raul walked to the park, set us underneath a bush, and left us there. He didn’t return for us. The day changed to night, and we were still alone. The dark was very scary and it was very cold. We were very scared, and we wished that Mikal would find us. But, as the hours passed, nobody arrived looking for us. Another day passed and still nobody came. We thought that Mikal wasn’t looking for us and we didn’t feel wanted. We felt lonely.

That night it was even colder. We began to abandon hope that anyone was looking for us and that there was someone that wanted us. Suddenly, there were voices that were getting louder and louder. Then there was a very bright light. We heard a very familiar voice that said…

“Idiot!” Someone picked us up with gentle hands, “These are my favorite shoes! Don’t take them!”

Immediately, we recognized the voice. It was Mikal. He had come to find us!

“I already said that I’m sorry!” The second voice was Raul, but that wasn’t important to us. Our Mikal was with us; he loved us after all. We realized that in reality, we were very important, and nobody bought us at first because we had more worth than most everyone else. Mikal found us the two times we needed him, and we will always be grateful to Mikal.

***

Yea I know the sentences seem a bit elementary. But that’s what happens when your original composition is in Spanish. Yes, this is the paper I wrote (in Spanish) for my Spanish composition project. We had to write in the past tense about something that wasn’t human. I have some editing to do (in Spanish), but overall I think it came out very well. Hope you like it!

(PS – the title is “The Shoes That Didn’t Love Themselves”)

Comments (4) Oct 07 2010

So this past week was quite the adventure, a.k.a. the worst experience of my entire life.

It started out innocently enough. Sunday evening, I had a nagging pain in my coccyx. For those of you non-health-affiliates, the coccyx is the tailbone. Anyway, I had a nagging pain in my coccyx. I didn’t think much of it, because the pain felt like the pain I get when I sometimes plop hard on it, at least enough to bruise it. So I brushed it off.

Monday came and went, and it was around Tuesday that I noticed something was wrong. The pain wasn’t getting better. In fact, it was getting worse… much worse. In the shower, I decided to do my usual awesome assessment. I discovered a lump (omg TUMOR?!?!) and hurt like hell with even the lightest of touches. I began to wonder if I didn’t just bruise it and instead shattered it.

I tried a lot of different things throughout Wednesday. I couldn’t walk without a limp. Just moving hurt. Just standing there hurt. And I had no idea what it was that was causing me so much increasing pain. I tried looking in the mirror. I even tried to take a pic. Yea. Totally failed.

Wednesday night I finally decided that I needed to get it looked at because chances were that I would be in too much pain to move if I waited an extra day. And that’s how I found myself lying on my side and cursing the fact that even that hurt, in a room, in the ER.

I spent the following 20-ish minutes (at least) listening to the kid next to me and his grandmother and father. The kid wanted to go walk around and stuff, and the adults were trying to nicely convince him that he would be better off staying in bed. I wondered to myself if they were that nice to him behind closed doors.

Anyway after waiting for what felt like an eternity (with friend, Drew, who came to keep me company and whom I’m very pissed at for the time being), the doctor, Debra, came in. She asked me some questions, I answered them, and then she took a look. She hadn’t even been poking around for two seconds when she said “Yep. You have a cyst.”

So I asked her “Well, can you take it out?”

And she explained to me that she needed to drain it and that it’d be painful. I didn’t give two fucks, so I then asked “Can you take care of it?”

And so she did. (She moved me into a private room for this, btw)

My advice to you? Don’t ever get a cyst.

So, she had me strip the bottom half of my being and lie prone on the bed. There were some absorbing pads beneath me. And she was nice enough to give me a heated blanket. It was SO WARM! I want one for Christmas.

So what felt like another 30 minutes later, which was spent listening to the surgical tables being rolled over to right on the other side of the curtain, and wondering if I was going to regret what I was getting myself into (Drew, by this point, had been sent off to the waiting room by the doctor). And then, she came in with the table, with all sorts of tools and whatnot.

At that point, I was thinking to myself “… oh shit.”

So she was explaining what she was going to do, and it reassured me somewhat. It didn’t sound that bad… right?

WRONG.

I learned the cold, harsh truth when she stuck the long ass needle in (to inject some “numbing agents” underneath the cyst). And I’m assuming it wouldn’t be that painful if it wasn’t infected. I’ve given blood with longer, thicker needles, and that didn’t hurt ANYWHERE as bad. I started half-yelling (though with my face stuffed in the pillow that they so graciously gave me, it sound more like I was death-moaning), and half-assed bit down. But, I’m proud to say, my eyes didn’t water at all. Hell yea, I’m not as wimpy as I thought I was.

So according to Debra, I “have good timing” apparently. Originally, she was worried that the cyst wasn’t “fluctuant” if that word even exists… basically ready to drain. She discovered REAL fast that it was ready to drain, when, as she stuck the needle in, pus and other generally disgusting crap spurted out. I didn’t see it, but I sure as hell FELT it when it ran down my leg. IT WAS GROSS!

And that wasn’t even the worst of it. Debra then grabbed a scalpel, since the “numbing agent” was in effect, and cut a slit into the cyst. That wasn’t too painful. But when she took the “numbing agent” and stuck it INTO THE CYST, that felt amazing let me tell you.

After that, she began to squeeze the cyst to push as much of the crap as she could out. And after that, she packed the cyst with gauze. That also hurt more than anything. And I thought I couldn’t walk before? Ha! I was perfectly mobile before I got the damn thing drained.

Anyway, she gave me a shit ton of drugs to nuke my body with. Two different kinds of antibiotics (3x and 4x a day, respectively), and a painkiller (that makes me nauseous as hell). And they sent me on my way.

Since then, I’ve been getting repacked daily at the Health Center. It’s never a pleasant experience, but I noticed as the day go by, the pain is lessening. Which is good. I don’t want to have to deal with this anymore than necessary. And the folks taking care of me have been telling me that I’ve been healing really well too, which is good.

And if I get a relapse, someone shoot me.

Comments (0) Sep 19 2010

It definitely went way too fast. But that probably had more to do with my job than anything.

To sum it up, summer felt like it was fast, but I did a lot more stuff than I usually did. There were ups and downs, and I suppose that’s normal with any period of time. I didn’t draw a graph this time around, but I think I can remember everything I did, ups and downs alike. Just don’t expect me to get the order of it right.

As soon as I was done with school last May, I went up to Waterloo (my little sister accompanied me as well). I worked there as medical staff at the AAU basketball tournament there. I learned there that Canadians are freakin’ awesome, and that as an athletic trainer, you really do have to expect anything. Case in point; a man walked up to me and asked me if I had butterfly stitches. He had “a cut” and he wanted it taken care of. Upon lifting up his shirt, I discovered not a cut but a knife wound. My supplies were limited, and I did what I could to cover it. I told the guy “Go to the ER!” The funny thing is, 30 seconds after he walked away, I went to go look for him and he had completely disappeared.

A few days later, I got in the car with Mom, originally intending to drive down to Poughkeepsie and drop her off at the train station. In the end, I decided to take her down to Rye Brook, to the Hilton where the Democratic State Committee’s meeting was taking place. While there, we had lunch. The chicken quesadillas were the best I’ve ever had, and the guacamole was pure heaven!

At the end of May, I was in my first major car accident. I already told the story in an earlier blog post, so I’m not going to repeat myself. One thing’s for sure; I hope to God it never happens again.

An almost major up: a friend had told me that he might pay me $700 to drive his daughter’s car down to New Mexico! I was looking forward to it; I planned out the route, and even took a week off from work to go. But in the end, I didn’t. The daughter found a friend up in NY who would take the car down for her. So I took a week off for nothing, and didn’t get to go to New Mexico. It was probably to biggest letdown for me this summer.

Neither U.S. nor Brazil won the World Cup. Against all heavenly odds, Spain did. Thinking about it ticks me off. I swear, their run should’ve ended at their loss to Portugal…

This year’s DCDC dinner was superb. I became a sushi lover because of that dinner. And the resort that we had the event at was amazing. Looking forward to it next year. And everyone was apparently blown away by my rendition of the National Anthem. It seems no one actually knew I could sing…

Towards the end of summer, I got to work as medical staff at the Empire State Games. I met a LOT of really cool peers, and made a bunch of friends. Although I originally intended to, I never did get to go clubbing. Hopefully, I’ll have another opportunity to. I don’t want to have spent $60 on clubbing dresses for nothing.

I got my hair dyed; you can see the pic on my Facebook. It came out nice, though originally it was supposed to be more blonde, like a golden brown. Unfortunately, the ends didn’t take — as you went towards the root, the color grew more obvious. The stylist in the end bleached it, and as a result my hair pulled red. It’s very irritating. I’m going to try one more thing next time I get my hair dyed, and if that doesn’t work, I’m just going to give up trying to get my dream color. In the meantime, I’ve been experimenting with John Frieda to see if the color enhancing technology really works. It does look cool though; the ends are darker than the roots, so it kind of looks like a fade to black kind of thing.

Just this past weekend, me and the Fam went over to Hershey Park. I didn’t get to go on a couple of rides I wished I could’ve gone on but that’s okay. I feel like next time we have an outing, we ought to do something that everyone will enjoy, since Mom and David aren’t too fond of roller coasters. But since this was probably the last time that the entire family will be collectively spending time together, I doubt this will ever happen again.

I officially hate my job. I’m convinced that the manager hates my guts and wants me to quit. At least, I REALLY wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, because of all the shit she’s been pulling. The only reason why she hasn’t fired me is because she can’t; I’m a good worker. So instead, she seems to have resorted to trying to piss me off enough to make me quit. And trust me, if I had another job, I definitely would. And when I get a better job, I will. I don’t want to be there anymore than she wants me to be there.

And so, now I’m back here. Classes start tomorrow, for me in particular — 9am. I moved in yesterday. Already I want to go back home. I’ll have to admit though, this Garden apartment is really nice. This will probably be the best living quarter I’ll have lived in my entire career here. I’ll take pictures once we’re definitely unpacked and cleaned up — provide to you a virtual tour of my “crib.” For now, I’m more focused on my lack of eating capabilities, at least at the dining hall. Since the Financial Aid folks screwed me over yet again, I can’t get a meal plan until I pay them 20 grand. You know, you’d think I’d grow to expect this at the beginning of every year, considering this shit has happened every year since freshman year. In any event, I’m looking forward to my Fall break in a month and a half.

To all my freshman friends; good luck! Steal tons of fruit from the dining hall. It helps!

Comments (0) Aug 24 2010

And so, I will give it to you.

I’m feeling a bit better since that emo episode not too long ago. Mom, bless her soul, gave me some valuable insight. I swear, I think SHE should be my psychiatrist. But I have a lot of work to do, basically. But enough of that, let’s move on with some cooler shit.

So I just got done almost packing (I’m going to pack this laptop of mine and my flatiron tomorrow morning) for my trip tomorrow to Buffalo. And I’m pretty sure no one really knows what I’m talking about so I’ll abridge it for you.

Basically, From the 20th to the 25th, I’ll be working as volunteer medical staff (love being an AT student) at the Empire State Games, up in Buffalo. I’m going to definitely take the opportunity to do some REAL clubbing, and perhaps I’ll even be able to check out the Falls before I go back. But I’m really looking forward to this trip. And I’ll be going to bed shortly after I finish this post though I doubt I’m gonna get any sleep…

One thing I’m going to try and do is record the almost-week-long trip with my phone and post it on Youtube. That way, it’ll be almost as if you were right there with me! Yea, not really, I know… yes it was really cheesy sounding. But what better way to talk about my trip than to show it? Besides that, it’s an experiment with my phone to see just how good the quality of the video is. My old EnV 3 had really good pics, but the video quality was *horrible*. I’m crossing my fingers with my new EnV Touch.

Anyway, I really should get going to bed. I have a long day ahead of me, and it’ll only get dangerous if I fall asleep behind the wheel. I’ll try and tell you how it goes as it goes!

Comments (0) Jul 19 2010