You need one of these!

Alas that I need it, but seriously folks, I need it, and this is the ONE day of the entire semester that does not have a) lab b) new concepts c) something mandatory in EITHER class. We're covering *drum roll please* The Metric System.

**headdesk**

I got half a night of sleep last night, which is better than the quarter of a night's sleep that I have been getting. In addition, I had gotten up briefly, went back to bed, and then promptly overslept to catch the bus on time. I have GOT to get even a semi-reliable car. *sigh*

My plans for the day are to go to the bank, do some more banking at a different bank, get to Volde-Mart and purchase the rest of the school supplies I need, hit the library to pick up the books that have been on hold for a week, do some dishes, and spend time with DH. After he gets back from class.

So.

Thank you to everyone who helped with thoughts, stern talkings to, energy.

The good news was the HEAD of financial aid got the feds to budge. They blinked, and she got my paperwork changed. *boggle*

I have in my hot hand a check for the rest of it, minus about $50. That should be printed up next week.

I got on the bus to work about an hour and a half late. No problem, right? WRONG. I-90 traffic combined with EVERYONE wanting to be on the bus at the same time. The only benefit was there was a massive delay at the transit center, and they were having a street fair, so I picked up 5 antique keys for $5. Nice.

Then it was off to downtown Seattle. Where I boarded the 36 in heavy traffic. Only to discover that the 36 was carrying about 30 5th graders on a field trip. Plus every retiree from the International District. Then some teenagers rammed themselves onboard. And if that wasn't bad enough, some guy got on the bus on his scooter. All 450+ lbs on his massively oversized ride. He threw a fit till people got off to let him on. He was so heavy the bus actually sagged.

Two stops later, and another 12 or so elderly folks got on. And one of them had a DURAIN. I was stuck cheek and jowel with a little old Russian guy who had obviously had too much vodka, had peed himself, and kept picking his nose and consuming the delights he found there. Not to mention he coughed like he had consumption. I'm surprised he didn't grab my hoodie and wipe his face on it. Brrrr.

You know, there were probably 150 people on one of the non-bendy Metro busses. Most of them young children, screaming, hollering, and being pests. 3 young boys in the seat in front of where I was standing were having a Larry-Moe-Curly slapfest out of the direct line of sight of their sponsors.

Sigh. I shouldn't complain. Seattle's bus system really is nice, but today, I balanced out the financial aid dragon slaying with some seriously sucky bus luck.

So it goes?

OMG, has this been an exercise in 'Don't Panic'. I got to school on Monday. No Financial Aid check. Had to wait till yesterday. Got check. Promised about $4000. Got about $500. WTF?

Took award letter and check to financial aid. Got yelled at by small, ancient Russian woman. Told to come back later, when her supervisor was in, as I'd screwed up the paperwork because I used my legal name instead of the one that one department of the federal government still has on record and refuses to change because they've got no form to change it.

Panic ensues. The money left over wasn't enough to get my books and required supplies.

Then I log into the online system. Oh joy. They DON'T have me in one of the online classes, and I'm in the wrong session of the other. *headdesk* No one seems to know HOW to fix this. It's never happened before!

Finally talked to supervisor in Financial Aid. She's concerned, because she's never had the feds pull this shit before either, with plenty of people who have changed their legal name. She gets on phone. Then she asks why it was only $500, should have been at least $1200. Oh, see, financial aid botched up and took my tuition out twice, essentially. Once from worker retraining and once from my financial aid. This is a HUGE screw up and Should Not Have Happened. She was livid and promised to get it fixed ASAP. So she helps me apply for an emergency book grant. That's sweet, but I might not get the money till Friday. I need the book this morning. Oi. Along with a scientific calculator, a bound notebook, a 3 ring binder, goggles, and a lab coat that has a specific sort of sleeve and length.

Yargh. Blegh. Ugh. My stress level is very very very very high. You can probably imagine! :/

Technology is never quite what they promise. At least this little netbook isn't bad.

Professor isn't here yet. Classroom is locked. Online learning website (apparently w/o warning, all of LWTC's courses are hybrid courses) has me down for the wrong session of Intro to Chemistry and not in my Cellular Biology class at all. Still waiting for financial aid. Might get it this afternoon.

Ride on the bus was hellish...had to go to a different P&R, and bus was PACKED! Yargh!

Anyhoo.

Just in case anyone was wondering how school is going. It's...standing still. Better waiting through technology!

Had to be on the bus @ 5:27 this morning. Woke up at 4:15.

I have one class today: Biology. But I have to navigate the getting of the financial aid check, the book, the gym, et al. Just waiting for the computer to finish recharging, and we're at like 95%.

Wish me luck, guys.

Here I go again!

Okay, so it FINALLY came through! I got my 'you got a free semester' letter from the guys at Worker Retraining. Woohoo! THat means the financial aid for this semester only ahs to go towards books...and maybe a car, whatever's possible. Oh, that is SUCH a huge relief.

For everyone who has been suffering through reading these, and tossing me a bit of energy? Thank you. So very much! It means the world. It really does.

Jim

Okay, so...sometimes I click on an opinion piece, curious.

Sometimes, I want to find the one who did it, and just give them a kick in the ass.

This guy, for example.

Should Judge Sotomayor's Diabetes Preclude Her from the U.S. Supreme Court?

Really, it's not THAT WTF until you get to the very last sentence or two. Oy vey.

Apparently someone pissed in my Cheerios this morning. Or something. Honestly. I was fine at 6am when I got up. Knit all morning, had a great relaxing day. At noon, that all changed. I started hating the world.

Man. I took some hate-a-mins or something. I am not safe for public consumption. I have no reason for this mood, and it's not a bad one, but I'm irritable beyond words. Even my clothes are rubbing me the wrong way. Which is sad, because Dave wants to take me to dinner, and I'm too damn crabby to want to go because I'm just in a piss poor mood and fear offending/being bad company. I love him too much to inflict that on him.

Also the Universe apparently wants me to buy a spinning wheel.

Ugh.

I swear, the more things seem like they're going right, the more new things crop up.

Honestly. The red tape involved in all of this is enough to make me want to KILL something. Kill it dead.

So. I finally get the confirmation of my unemployment stuff. Get ready to fax the proof to the college, and discover that there's yet ANOTHER fucking snafu with financial aid. Oh, and they want proof of my GED that I had to get because Washington state didn't accept my high school credits as 'graduated from high school because it's an equivalency in Texas, not a high school degree'. Son of a deleted for sheer profanity against several gods and livestock.

*sigh*

So now I have to find some way to make North Seattle cough up proof of my GED, because somewhere in the many moves I have misplaced the folder that contains that stupid certificate. North Seattle doesn't give that information out over the phone or on the internet. You have to go in and GET it, and it can take them 6-8 weeks to have it ready for you. WHAT THE FUCKING HELL is this?

Why do I need yet another stress test, really? This is fucking ridiculous. I swear, I'm ready to go both barrels on the next person/thing/entity to get in my way, and really, it's not pretty and it probably won't be that being's fault. It's just gotten so damned frustrating.

Add to the fact that I have the same crud that David does, but I have to function in the real world too at the moment, and it's NOT adding up to be a very good day at all. My anxiety's through the roof, I feel like shit (literally), and I haven't done more than rent my meals for the past 48 hours. I have a goddamned fever, I have a nasty 2nd degree burn on my hand, typing fucking hurts, and none of this is fair. I'm trying, very hard, to keep my chin up and not be a total assbastard about the whole thing, but this has finally reached stupid. Just fucking stupid.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Put hot water on to boil for tea.
Found cats molesting a small box that fell out of garbage can.
Picked up box to throw it away, discovered OMGUGHUGE! fucking and pissed off spider.
Threw entire box in yard, will deal with it tomorrow.
Poured hot water for tea from now whistling kettle.
Went to tell David of spider.
Sat down.
Few moments later, David asks: "Is something burning?"
"No," I think to myself. I don't think so.
What's that smell?
"Is something BURNING?" David asks from the living room as I sprint into the kitchen.
Oh yes. Somehow, a plastic water bottle has fallen off the counter, onto the stove, and rolled against the burner. It is on fire.
"Where is the fire extinguisher?" I ask calmly.
"We don't have one," David replies. Also calm.
"Oh," says I, as David blows out the last of the small, melty fire.
I stand in the kitchen for a few moments, as the adrenaline wears off.
That's when I notice my finger is hurting.
That's because at some point in the fuss, I had somehow TOUCHED the melted plastic.
I now have a nice 2nd degree burn on the inner side of my bottom knuckle of my index finger.
"Ow," says I as I pour hot water over it.

This is a burn to match the electrical burn from a few months ago. There are tiny plastic pellets all in my skin. And an inch long, half inch wide, inch tall blister.

I am now hunting and pecking, and wondering how I will knit with this owie.

Stupid spider.

Painkillers are your friend.

That is all.

No, really. I should be. I'm 5.75 rounds away from finishing a shawl, and I'm not. I'm just sitting here, on the intartoobz at 4am.

Why? I woke up at 1:45 having had a horrific nightmare the likes of which I pray I NEVER have again.

Why? Because /I/ was the monster. *shudder* There are images from that dream that will likely stay with me the rest of my living days. Ugh.

Really, I guess that's all. I have tomorrow off. I might try to tackle the yard. I might try and get the sweetie to go out and see the horse. There are lots of things I might do. The world is full of possibilities at 4am.

What I will not be doing is going back to bed :/ Canna sleep. I might do something ELSE horrible in my dreams.

And I have some good(ish) news. Finally talked to the evaluator at Unemployment today. Unless Genoa (who has been dragging their feet this entire time, says she) comes up with some damning and reasonable evidence that there was a reason to let me go, she's going to side with me and send me on my way. She was pretty irritated with the way they've fought her tooth and nail over what should have been a very simple case.

So. That's looking good. My job's become an amusing routine, which is also good, and today the Boss peered over my cubicle and said, "I'm so glad you're here. You're like a breath of fresh air around here. And vylotte seems a lot more relaxed with some support behind her." So. There you have it. I'm not a horrible employee. I'm a good one. That makes him chuckle. Even if I have to ask stupid questions at least twice a day because I'm not a lawyer and I've never even played one on TV.

So. I've tied a knot in my rope and I'm hanging on for dear life. :)

And kudos to my sweetie, for putting up with my wildly swinging moods the last month and some days. You are amazing, my love. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Can you give yourself whiplash stepping in a hole? I think I did. I stepped in a hole the other day, going at a good clip. Didn't sprain my ankle, but did 'jerk' my neck strangely. Today I can barely look over my left shoulder, it hurt to sleep last night, and daggumit, it's just a general pain. Lesigh.

That's all.

3 am showing?

Ya'll are nuts.

That is all.

...I'd call my mom. I've said that for years. Once upon a time, it was terribly true. Now it's more a joke of sorts, if a grim one. See, my mom suffered from PMS/PMDD/Bi Polar so badly that for years, she was hardly a mom at all. :/ Then she had her hysterectomy (I wish I was joking as I typed this) and she became ... well ... human.

It's gotten better over the last few years. She actually called looking for me the other day, and talked to David when I wasn't home. We knew when she stopped hating him because she stopped sending him fruit cake for Christmas (I was disappointed only because I like fruit cake).

I knew it was too good to last. Talked to her yesterday to tell her the good news about the school...and she said with all of her sledge hammer honesty, "Well, I was really hoping that if you worked at that law firm for a while you'd change your mind about being a funeral director and become a lawyer. Lawyers make good money, like doctors." *FACEPALM* See, mom had a plan for her kids. I was gonna be the doctor (and support them in their old age). My brother was going to be a sports star and play professionally, and my sister was going to be a model and an actress (at least she was tall enough to do that!).

Yeah. No.

The more things change...

When some guy named Shulpa wrote down the laws of his father, Ur-Nammu.

Yeah. Well. After spending a gloomy, lonely, solitary-confinement like day of sorting through divorce papers (and other such items), watching so called adults act like 5 year olds fighting over a tickle me Elmo....with nothing to distract me but the constantly falling rain...you might forgive me for being all emo for a few moments.

Yeah.

Okay, so I slept like shit last night, had nightmares, woke up late, found I had no rubber bands for my hair, that my electric razor was uncharged, couldn't find the charger, AND we had no disposable razors. I had to drop off some checks into my account, try and find some breakfast (that didn't happen) and spent the rest of the day munching gorp (which was actually tasty).

So today, over all, was a draw. I think I could use some sun or something.