Thursday, August 28, 2008

Who's Gonna Save My Soul?

Me? I is exhausted. Yesterday was not a happy day for me. I made it into work at 7, that part was semi-okay. Had my co-worker Russell give me a ride in. Then I left for BART at about 8:15 from another co-worker, Paula. Got to campus pretty early and had the worst white mocha possibly known to man. I think they burned the espresso or something. I drank it anyways, don't get me wrong.... but it was in no way as delicious as I would have hoped. Must be all new people working at the coffee place on campus now. Hopefully it'll be better next time, cuz I needs me the coffee to make it through class! So, class was from 10:10-11:00. Boring. But, since I've taken the class before (at CSUH, from my least fave teacher), I'd expect no better than boring. That's a good sign, really. We'll just see how I do otherwise. After class, I was walking to the elevator and my freakin' arch-nemesis was standing there. I just kept on walking. What I really wanted to do was stop and scream in her face and then keep walking, but I thought better of myself, as the hall was pretty crowded with people. So I took the stairs instead. Barf. Not the best way to start my semester, let me tell you. So I went outside for a smoke and called the boy to calm my nerves from seeing her, mostly so I wouldn't start hysterically crying. He didn't answer, but he did call me back later. Thank goodness. I didn't want to keep that pent up rage/anger/misery inside for too long and all of my good school friends weren't on campus (since they're not re-taking that class like I am). Anyways, hopped on BART and made it back to Oakland at noon where I really didn't want to walk to work. Called another co-worker, Memo, to see if he was going out for lunch and if he could swoop me up when he did so. Met him at Subway and made it back to work a little before 1. Searched for work to do.... which was a little disconcerting since I came all the way back from school to work and I really had nothing to do. Got another co-worker, Richard, to give me a ride back to BART at 3:30. Had GRE Prep class at 5:10. Kinda interesting. Short lecture on Laboratory Techniques: standard deviation vs. uncertainty, graphing Bell's curve and log-log and semi-log plots... etc. Was outta there at about 6. Waited for my friend Aariel to show up on campus to say hi. It's nice to know someone outside of the physics department! After she was off to class, I got in line for the shuttle back to BART. And I waited. And I waited. And I waited. I'm pretty sure there was only the one shuttle bus. So I waited for about an hour. All I wanted to do at this point (about 7 now) was go home and curl up into a ball and pass the eff out. But no. Instead, I waited. For so long. I could have walked it faster than that. If you could walk on the freeway, of course. Anyways, finally got to BART at 8 and was on a train back to the CV within 5 minutes. The ride is about another hour, in which my phone was about to die. I was trying to hold onto it's life for as long as possible so I could get picked up from CV BART when I got there. Luckily, my roommate was there waiting when I pulled in about 9. Got home, charged my phone. Ryan was so worried about me because he called and called while my phone was off/dead. He came over and gave me hugs and kisses galore and held me until I fell asleep. I fall asleep so much faster when he is with me. Maybe my brain doesn't go a mile a minute when he's there. Either way, I was out by 11.
Never again.
I am officially taking Wednesdays off of work and staying on campus the whole day. Which means I'll be working on Saturdays which I am less than thrilled about, but what can you do? I can't commute back and forth like that. It was just too damn much.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Leaving On A Jetplane

I'm gonna need a jetplane for this school schedule I got this semester. Starting tomorrow. Woot. I can't even contain my excitement. Here it is. Laugh at me, please. So's I won't cry.

Monday/Friday:
Work 7-8:15 am
BART/Bus to campus 8:20-9:45
Undergrad Electromagnetism II 10:10-11:00
Bus/BART to Oakland 11:30-12:30
Work 12:30-5

Tuesday/Thursday:
Work 7-3:30
BART/Bus to campus 3:30-4:45
Grad Statistical Mechanics 5-6:30
Bus/BART to Castro Valley/Oakland

Wednesday:
Work 7-8:15 am
BART/Bus to campus 8:20-9:45
Undergrad Electromagnetism II 10:10-11:00
Bus/BART to Oakland 11:30-12:30
Work 12:30-3:30
BART/Bus to campus 3:30-4:45
Physics GRE Prep Course 5:00-???
Bus/BART to Castro Valley/Oakland (wherever my non-existent car is)

Somewhere in there is homework and independent study in General Relativity...

Shoot me now.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Butterflies and Hurricanes

And just when I thought that things couldn't get any better... Ryan took me away for the weekend. I'm pretty sure he's officially the best boyfriend ever. I've decided to nickname him bbe for short. Not as cute as his for me... he calls me Sarah Star or his Shiny Star. I wanted to call him the Ry-meister because he love love loves Jagermeister, but he said that makes him sound too much like an alcoholic. He's probably right.
Anyways, the weekend... awesome!!! He called me when I was on my way home from work on Friday afternoon to see if I wanted to go away with him and I said a hundred times yes! I start school on Wednesday and didn't really do too much all summer, so I figured what the hell. Who needs to go car shopping when there is fun to be had? He wanted to go home and take a nap before heading out (so as to also miss traffic times), said he'd call me. He did call me... at 1 in the morning. He also loves to sleep, I may have failed to mention that. I was pretty mad. I canceled all my other fun plans for Friday night (poker night with the peeps) since I had no car and wound up doing nothing on Friday night until Ry came over. I hate being mad at him. It's too hard! Especially when he comes over to make things better. I want to just be like, "whatever, it doesn't matter anymore." But then it keeps on happening! This was not the first time that he's basically kept me waiting all night because he wanted to take an 8 hour "nap" after work. I don't want to be pessimistic and just always assume he will flake on me, but at the same time, I don't want to sit at home alone on a Friday night on my last free weekend before school starts!
Needless to say, he did come over and made things right with me when he did wake up. And we were on our way to Tahoe on Saturday morning. Yay for weekends with boys! We had so much fun! On our way up, we stopped and had the best burger ever at a place called Moo-Moo's. Yum-o! When we got there, we went to a few casinos to see how much a room would be. The first place said $450. Yep, you read that right. $450. Holy shiat. And no, thank you. The next place said $299, and they were at 107%, so we moved on. To the parking lot. Where we went online to Orbitz to book a room from his phone. Got a room, semi-close-by, for $150. Showered and changed. Then to the gambling. Where we both lost kind of a lot of money on Blackjack, Roulette, and Hold 'Em. But we had fun losing it! And got slightly drunk off of free drinks in the interim. Dinner was sushi. Hecka yummy sushi, mind you. On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped for some beer and Jager and snacks. And the rest of the night I will leave to your imagination. But it was fun. In case you were wondering.
Sunday, we woke up, checked out of the hotel, and had some breakfast. Gambled a little bit more. Just enough for me to lose my money and for Ry to almost make up for what I lost. Then he took me to Emerald Bay. It was so beautiful. I had never actually been to Tahoe in the summertime, and it was amazing. It was hot, which seemed a little weird to me... like 85-90 degrees outside and shit. But we hiked down the 1 mile slope to the beach below. There's some weird Viking house there. The water was pretty cold, but felt really good on the footsies after hiking in the sun. We wandered around a bit down there before hiking back up in the sun. And then we headed back for home. Stopped for dinner at Chevy's. Grabbed a couple movies from Blockbuster. Passed out pretty early, after watching The Bank Job.
So yeah! BBE! Best Boyfriend Ever. I finally found a guy who can take care of me. And wants to. I can hang out with him as a friend and be intimate with him when we are alone. And either way, he makes me happy. And stress-free. Until Wednesday. Today, he's picking me up from work to go and look at cars when he is off work. Hopefully we find something good. I'm already sick of looking for rides and it's only been one day.
Happy Monday!
*S*

Friday, August 22, 2008

Won't You Smile Awhile For Me...

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't updated the status with the boy in a good while... so why not now, before I start school and go back into hibernation:
Status: EXCELLENT!
I couldn't be happier right now, to be perfectly honest. I can't say it hasn't been the smoothest ride up until this point, but I feel like I can be patient, when the need arises. Maybe because my feelings for him are so strong. Maybe because I am growing as a person. Who knows... either way, as of today I am completely content. I'm not worried. I don't doubt his feelings for me. I feel great, really.
He scared me for a little while. I'm not sure why he doubted my feelings for him... something to work on, I guess. Maybe after it was all said and done, he realized that he doesn't need to doubt me. I hope so. Something in my gut told me to believe him, to trust him, and now everything is better. Insert big smiley face here.
He's been terrific to me through all my car drama. So supportive. I'm not sure he knows how much it's meant to me the last week that he's been here for me. With me. Taking care of me, really. I try so hard to be a strong, independent woman, but sometimes it's just nice to have an even stronger shoulder to cry on and lament to. And he's provided that. He makes me goo. I melt still every time I see him. Little puddles of Sarah goo. I know Sierra knows what I'm talking about. It's so nice that we both can be goo simultaneously! That never happens! And Becky is goo too. She's engaged, even. My little sissy, all growed up. Tear.
So, question: Should the one year mark be the day we met, or the day we were official? How do you guys determine it?
Really, it doesn't matter. I am trying to live each day new. At least for now. It's kinda nice, really. Especially when I get to wake up in his arms. I almost forgot that feeling. Safe. Happy.
And just in time for school, when all these feelings of contentment will become stripped of me. Yay. :( Let the stress begin.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Honking Antelopes

Well, it's pretty much official. The Kia is dead. I can't say it wasn't my fault, it probably was. Here's what happened:
Last Thursday, on my way home from work on 880, my car randomly turned off. Thankfully, there was a bit of traffic (880 + rush hour = poop), so I managed to coast across the 3 lanes to the off ramp shoulder. Did I pee my pant anyways? Just about. It was stop and go, so as I was about to go, there was nothing. My radio was still on, but no car power otherwise. WTF?!?!?!? I looked down and the car was dead. Tried to restart to no avail. Turned on my hazards and my blinker and was able to coast safely to the side of the freeway. I called my dad, shaking... then called AAA for a tow. Told them I would tow it to the Kia dealership, since that was the closest place I could think of to take it from my location on Marina Blvd. So, I called Kia to let them know I was coming when the Freeway Patrol Service stopped by to see if I needed help: gas, a jump start, etc. They were able to tow me off the freeway to a drop location, which turned out to be almost as far as the dealership, but in the opposite direction. Whatever. My dad picked my up from the dealership which at this point was closed.
On Saturday, while I was at my company picnic, they called and left me a voicemail to say that my timing belt had stripped, causing my engine to seize. :( Now here's the zinger: this is still covered under my warranty if I could show receipts that I got the 60,000 and 90,000 mile check ups, proving that my timing belt had been checked out as a preventative measure. Which I didn't do. So, it was probably my fault the whole thing happened! Stupid me!!! I had my stupid clutch replaced at 70,000 miles, you would think that might count for something.... we'll see if it does. I haven't called them back yet. But really? I am not putting any more money into that stupid car. I'd rather spend the money on a car that can get me through the next year of school, at least. Then I can get the car that I really want, after I finally start my career.
I hate being so dependent on cars. Now I don't know what to do. I start school next Tuesday, so that doesn't leave me much time to get my shit together. Today I will go by the dealership and see exactly how much it would cost to fix and if its more than $1000, which it will be, I guess I'll get a new car. Actually, my dad took me down Auto Row yesterday to look at some options, and there was a nice looking Nissan for $3000 that was a stick. I want to get a diagnostic on it before anything else, but I'm not sure how that works. "Hey, car salesman, can I borrow this car for a few hours to get a diagnostic?" Will they let me?
And then there's still the problem with the Kia being at the dealership. I'm sure they're going to make me take it away. Where the hell do I take it? What am I supposed to do with a car that doesn't have a working engine?
Argh! What the hell did I do to Karma to deserve this one? Have I been too happy lately or something???
Le sigh.