just realized it's been over a month since i last posted. the last time i went so long between posts was... well, i don't recall when, but i'm sure i was pretty busy at the time. now? i'm the exact opposite of busy, and that's a good GREAT thing.
earlier this week, i got an e-mail from my friend's husband. (this is the friend i was living with when i started this blog and became friends with when we were at Spelman.) well, it was from her e-mail account, but written by him. it turns out her father was killed last Friday. the e-mail didn't detail what happened, but i looked online and found the story. it turns out he went to visit a friend at an apartment. somehow he got into an argument with the friend's neighbor, and the neighbor took a piece of railing and beat him in the head, which led to the blunt force trauma that ended his life. i called and e-mailed my friend, but haven't talked to her yet. i know what it's like to lose a parent suddenly, but not to an act of violence. actually, this is the second friend who's lost parents due to violence. the last time was back in 2008, and i knew my friend's parents well, spent the night at their house, etc. i don't know my friend's father that well, but can't seem to shake the thought of what's happened. the services are tomorrow, so i'm praying my friend and her mom make it through the day ok. there's something about the lack of preparation for their death that just... *sigh*
was supposed to take my comp exam this month for my program. uhm, guess who hasn't even met with her advisor so he can sign the paper so she can request to take the exam. *raises hand* I'm really a mess because my advisor is very accessible, and there's no reason i haven't arranged a time to meet with him. *shrug* the thing is, taking your comp isn't a big deal in our department. people take it and don't hear for months whether or not they passed. one guy just graduated with his doctorate and said he never heard about whether he passed. (o_O) that being said, i do need to get on that.
this cartoon reminds me of this situation i'm i was going through with the job i had with the university during the spring semester. the job required me to drive out to schools, and the university/state reimburses for travel. (they only reimburse .50/mile which is next to nothing, but at least we receive something.) all of our paperwork (to get reimbursed) was due on May 4. i submitted everything on time, and i JUST got an e-mail today saying the funds would be deposited into my account in a few days. (-_-)... uhm, what took so long?! i'd racked up over 400 miles going out to the schools, so that money was needed. smh..
contemplating whether or not i should take advantage of the $40 one-way fare from Austin to Oklahoma City. OKC is about an hour and 45 minutes from Tulsa, so i'd still have to drive a while, but that's nothing compared to driving 8 hours. see, i'm trying to go home more often, but refuse to a) put any additional miles on my car making that 8 hour drive and/or b) drive for 8 hours period. I just don't have it in me anymore. i can't believe i used to drive 12 hours straight from Atlanta to Tulsa. i mean, who does that? oh, yeah, someone who doesn't have enough money to fly.
speaking of my car, i had a little run-in with the service advisor at Fire.stone. i went in the other day for a routine oil change. long story short, the advisor recommended a service (tune-up) that i actually had done a few months ago. i told him this, and he said ok. when i was checking out, he then told me i needed a fuel system cleaning. i explained i'd had that done the last time as well. he said, "no, those were the spark.plugs" and explained what the fuel system cleaning was. i told him i knew what it was and had it done already. he said ok, handed me my keys, and thanked me for coming in. the whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth. i mean, how do you not see that i've already had two moderately expensive services performed at your location? i've been taking my car to Firestone for 4 years, and have never felt like they were trying to take advantage of me. any work they have recommended has actually been needed. so, while Firestone isn't the cheapest, i continued to go because they were reasonable and i trusted them. so, when i got home i tweeted about my irritation. i didn't @ Firestone, but they replied to my Tweet and gave me an e-mail address to explain what happened. i sent the e-mail, and this morning the man i had the problem with (who was also the manager) called me and left a message on my phone, apologizing profusely, asked that i call him back, and left his office, cell, and home numbers. instead of calling him back, i went up to the store to speak with him in person. when i got there, he apologized again, explained why he made the error, and said he valued me as a customer, yada, yada, yada. so, it ended ok. i don't hold a grudge against him and was impressed with his prompt response.
uhm, is there anyone left in my age group who isn't married, about to getting married, having babies, or pregnant? well, i'll be 30 next year, so it's inevitable. it's just... strange. one of my 3 best friends from high school and her husband had their 3rd child a few months ago. we always knew she would be the first out of our group (of four) to get married and have kids, but it's weird to see it actually unfolding. i don't feel pressured to get married or have kids, but there is a part of me that wonders if i should be thinking about it. *shrug*
JE and i marked 2 years of being together. he calls it our "anniversary," but idk i think that term's more appropriate for marriage. regardless, it still surprises me at times that we're still together, given everything we've been through. it hasn't been all bad, of course. just more challenging than i thought it would be. and i guess that's to be expected, especially given how quickly everything moved.
so... i have a friend who's married and before she and her husband married, she was against having kids. well, lo and behold, she wound up pregnant. (side note: you gotta be diligent about taking that pill.) she takes care of him, but idk, i get the feeling she's not happy about being a mother. the other day we were texting about Essence Fest and she mentioned that she wanted to go in 2014. i told her that was a loooong time away and that if you go with a group, it's reasonable. she says the problem is her child, not the money. ok, so i don't have children, but i mean, i can't see myself referring to my 1 year old as a "problem."
