Posted by Rebecca
Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:56:00 GMT
Holy Cow.
I’ve been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay stressed out about my finances this month because moving was expensive, plus we’ve sunk a ton of money into pest control and cleaning products. Our utility deposits will come due in May and that’s going to be really expensive, plus I’m in a wedding at the end of May and I have a lot of expenses for that as well. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to make it all work.
Then I realized that I wasn’t going to make it all work.
Then I asked G-d to make it all work, because I always think of that second instead of first.
Lots of things happened that were going to help - I got a raise and I sold my guitar that I never play to someone who can pick up just about any musical instrument and make it walk and talk.
That was going to bring me closer to what I needed but wasn’t going to get me there. The economic stimulus was going to help too, but I used the IRS calculator on their website and it looked like I was only going to get the minimum.
That was going to work to meet my needs, if I was extremely careful and more frugal than usual.
I got my economic stimulus payment today via direct deposit - a full week earlier that I was expecting.
It was also the full amount.
My jaw literally dropped when I saw it in my account. The timing was perfect, the blessing was more than I expected.
Once again, G-d stayed true to his word. He is amazing.
Posted in Along the Way | Tags provided | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:30:00 GMT
I just met a man who is living here on a special visa that he obtained through a lottery. It is special because he is from Iran and American visas are very difficult for Iranians to get because our countries hate each other.
He is one of the nicest prospective students I’ve ever met and I was glad to be able to direct him to the professors who research in his area of interest. In fact, helping people out like that is probably my favorite part of this job.
Anyway, I wasn’t thinking when he came into my office and I stood up to show respect and greeted him with a smile and a handshake.
I then went through my schpiel about our program and introduced him to the graduate advisor so that he could learn about applying and what’s expected and what degree options we offer.
After he left a thought suddenly flew into my head that went something like this:
“Crap. I shook his hand. Crap.”
Underneath that verbal thought was a string of composite thoughts that if verbalized would read like this:
Oh my goodness he’s probably muslim and I’m not so he thinks I’m unclean because I’m a woman and my head is uncovered and my face is showing and oh my gosh so are my forearms and he touched me when he shook my hand probably to be polite and culturally sensitive because this is America and women have power and now he’s sinned and he’s not going to have a shot at 70 virgins and he gonna hate me for it forever.
Then a split second later I realized that all this was stupid.
I don’t know this man. Maybe he’s part of the 2% of the Iranian population that isn’t muslim or maybe he’s not an extremist and so he’s ok shaking my hand and I’m just being silly because Iran and America hate each other and Iran doesn’t like Israel either and so in theory I should hate all Iranians but I just can’t bring myself to do it because leaders don’t always reflect the beliefs of their countrymen and individuals should always have a chance to be just that - individuals.
After all, there’s bound to be intelligent people hanging out in Iran who are cringing at their government as much as people over here are. Not everyone assumes their leaders are inerrant.
Posted in Various and Sundry | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:25:00 GMT
There is a certain gymnasium for a certain sport involving ropes and special shoes and rock faces and people trying to reach certain goals.
This certain gymnasium is located in a particular northerly location in the city of Austin.
This gym shall remain nameless, even though it has me severely pissed off.
It has severely pissed me off because of the following incident.
On March 10 I put in a membership cancellation request via email as required by the gym.
On March 14 I received an email stating that my request had been received and that I would also receive a cancellation confirmation at the beginning of April.
Fine.
April rolled around and I received no confirmation. In fact, I have yet to receive any confirmation and it’s the twenty-first of April.
On top of that, my account was automatically debited for the membership fee this month, the month in which my membership was supposed to be canceled and no fee was to be charged.
I’ve left about five voice messages with the president of said gymnasium, one message with an actual human being, and I’ve sent two additional email messages addressing this issue.
I haven’t even received a phone call or an email response to any of them, and most of these messages were sent three weeks ago.
If I have to go down there in person, all hell will break loose. The president, who by the way is the only person trained on the accounts, and who by the way is only in the gym three hours a day, needs to do every aspect of job, not just the fun parts.
I’m considering having my attorney call this place, not that it would do any good, but maybe it would get the attention of some people and this matter would be taken care of.
If I end up with another charge debited from account in May, I may blow a gasket.
My recommendation to you is to not join aid gymnasium, because if you ever have to move or need to cancel your membership for any other reason, you may find out that it is impossible.
Posted in Pissed Off | Tags gymnasium | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:31:00 GMT
I have a headache.
Maybe it’s the weather. Or maybe it’s the donut I had after lunch.
I’m sure it isn’t the writer’s block or Friday heartache. It could never be anything like that.
Although I do find it funny that when I have a desperate need to write lately, that’s when I have the least to say.
It used to be the other way around.
In the past, when I needed to write and my fingers connected with a pen or a keyboard, somehow the mighty mississippi broke through the levees in my heart, resulting in a deluge of wordy emotional muck all over the paper or screen.
I’m wondering if my heart went off and got smart. Maybe it pitched the sandbags and went with steel mixed with concrete. I’m not sure.
Today my heart is swollen and feels water-logged, but it is contained.
I’m not certain I’m completely comfortable with not being able to harness my emotional energy for the sake of creativity. Even though I’m overfull, I feel very empty.
Maybe that *is* why I have a headache. The river can’t get through my dammed heart, so I have water on the brain.
Or maybe it’s because this post is really terrible so my brain is knocking itself repeatedly against the interior of my skull.
Either way, there’s a lot of pain going on today. I wish it would stop.
Posted in Feeeeeeeelings, nothing more than feeeeeeelings! | 1 comment
Posted by Rebecca
Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:20:00 GMT
I got into the classes I wanted!
Summer: 20th Century Short Story
Fall: Senior Seminar - Jane Austen
BOOYA!
Posted in Various and Sundry | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:06:00 GMT
In light of recent petty thefts that have been rampant in my building, I asked our head of administration what kind of emergency plans we have in place.
Apparently there are none. Or if there are, none of them have been communicated to the staff.
I don’t know what to do if there is a fire. Run to the nearest stairwell? What if it is blocked? Go to the other one? If I don’t know what to do and I’m the staff person for my area, I can bet you no one else in my area knows what to do.
What if there is a tornado? It’s a rare occurrence in Austin, I know, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I’m on the 8th floor. I doubt I can get to the basement in time to take cover. Does that mean I herd everyone into the interior of the building on my floor? You know, the room where all the labs with glassware and dangerous chemicals is located?
Somehow, I don’t think so.
What if there is a shooting? Will I even know if there is an attacker on another floor or my building? Will I just hear gunshots and not know where they are coming from? What am I supposed to do in that kind of situation?
As a result of me thinking that hey, any of these could happen and we’d be screwed, the head of administration appointed me to come up with the plans.
Gulp.
I plan to contact the UT fire chief and UTPD for advice. After a strategy has been developed for each of these situations, I will then “train” the rest of the staff on them, and those staff will then communicate these plans to the students and faculty whom they serve.
It’s funny, the timing of all this, because when I watched the news last night, this was the first story that aired.
Maybe this guy was up to no good, or maybe he’s just a stupid kid. Stupid kids are often found in abundance on university campuses.
However, the point is that it really could happen here, and we should be prepared.
I certainly plan to be.
Posted in Various and Sundry | Tags emergency | 1 comment
Posted by Rebecca
Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:05:00 GMT
Tonight, Becky found the second dead baby cockroach on the kitchen floor near the pantry.
The last one she found on Saturday near the stove.
It’s working.
Now we know that even if we can’t locate all the eggs, we can at least kill the innocent, newborn, still gray-in-color baby roaches.
There is something so satisfying in that.
UPDATE: This morning I found two more dead baby roaches on the floor. One looked like it had been squished, but the other was in tact, on its back with its six icky little legs folded neatly across its abdomen in perfect mortuary fashion.
MAKES ME SO HAPPY!
Posted in Morbidly Strange | Tags bugs | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:14:00 GMT
In the kitchen:
The pantry was emptied. Food that was not thrown away was placed in plastic bags after their packages were disinfected. Bagged food was placed on table away from kitchen.
The counters were cleaned again and disinfected.
The floor was swept.
Boric acid was spread along all baseboards.
Baits were placed.
Egg stoppers were activated and placed.
In the Bathroom:
Every crevice, crack and pipe was caulked.
As soon as I can, I will re-clean the bathroom, spread boric acid, place baits and place an egg stopper.
For now we wait.
WE WAIT FOR THEIR DOOM!
Posted in Pissed Off | Tags bugs | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:10:00 GMT
Becky discovered where they are aggregating.
Hooah!
They are SO. GONNA. DIE.
Posted in Pissed Off | Tags bugs | no comments
Posted by Rebecca
Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:06:00 GMT
A living picture of what God’s protection is like.
Thanks for sharing it, Marci.
Posted in Along the Way | 1 comment
