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so its been awhile since i've got around to updating this thing, like a really long time. it's been pretty straightforward since the last update.
-finished the spring semester with 4 A's and 1 B (in stupid ass econ), bringing my GPA up to a 3.6 and earned my first deans list letter. this makes my highest grades since elementary school. the adderall has done wonders for my school work-ethic.
-in the middle of a ridiculous 1st session summer semester taking accounting and an online chemistry lecture/lab. the workload is crazy, spending sometimes 6 hours a night on homework for both of these classes. i don't have much time to do anything except eat, sleep, and homework.
-trying to get into asu's honors college. it seems to be pretty selective and i'll probably need at least a 3.7 to be even considered. i'll also need to get some volunteer work done. once i'm in i'll have a lot more work to do including a thesis my senior year, but it'll be worth it for the law school application. plus there seems to be a bunch of little perks like special advising and grants.
-lauren has been living with me since around april. shes taking two online classes through SCC while holding a full time job so shes as busy as i am.
-two cats now. lauren got a kitten we named gizmo and he gets into everything but keeps our other cat busy. with barely any time to see friends, the cats keep us company.
thats really just about everything going on. because of deployment, i didn't have to do the mandatory two week summer deal for the marines so i've had the past month and a half off with another month to go. i think the UA thing has been resolved but who knows.
time to go eat dinner--my choices are hot pockets, frozen burritos, or hamburger helper if i'm feeling adventurous. ahh college.
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Saturday, March 6th, 2010
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so its 2:30 am on a friday (saturday now) and unlike most people my age at this time of night, i'm not inebriated or coming back from the bars/party. i'm awake at 2:30 so i can fulfill the terms of my contract with the us governement. you see, i was under the impression i didn't have to come back for a month. i'd added a sgt that works in the admin office at the unit on facebook. tonight she asked me via facebook chat if i was going to drill tomorrow. "drill?" i said, "i don't have to go back until next month i thought?".
"no," she told me, "you were supposed to be at last months drill. they marked you UA."
UA is military terminology for unauthorized absence, used to be known as AWOL. more or less it just says i'm not where i'm supposed to be. its actually a violation of military law and i can get rank taken away. i immediately called her and found out the details. the platoon sgt (my boss) marked me on the attendance roster (that they turn into the admin office so we can get paid)as demobilized (in my grace period between deployment and return to drilling status). i also saw the email they had sent out where this also was reflected by my name on the roster. she told him that he had to find which date i was due back. well hey, turns out i was supposed to come back last drill but nobody told me. they had the platoon sgt try to contact me, but apparently came back moments later saying he tried and couldn't and they marked me UA. the sgt i talked to in admin said she could tell he didn't even try.
i called that sgt and told him i was going away for the weekend and i was in no way prepared to go to drill the next day. he told me that i needed to at least come to talk to the 1st sgt (senior enlisted man, big boss) to figure this out and see if i can make up this drill. he had the nerve to tell me to show up in my alphas (dress uniform) for an alpha inspection the company was doing and also to bring pt after to do a physical fitness test. i told him my alphas were packed away and i could try to find them but they weren't wearable and that i still wasn't cleared to PT after my iraq injuries.
to sum it up i have to drive across town in an hour to probably get an ass chewing and maybe even more. on the bright side i can talk to the medical staff about my ADHD and PTSD and back problems and etc etc to see about getting out. i can't imagine them letting me stay on a prescribed narcotic while in uniform but i'm pretty much worthless without the adderall.
by the way adderall is still having its miracle effects. the problem now is when i'm off of it i can't do a damn thing. i sit around thinking about a million things having all kinds of mood swings. i've been having to ration it out lately seeing as no pharmacy in town had enough to fill my prescription. i finally found one that could do a partial fill. it makes all nighters a breeze like tonight plus i'm actually in a good mood when anyone else in my position would be hating life.
oh yeah i totally love lauren. we still hang out every night and watch my netflix movies. i've never found someone that keeps my interest the way she does. so far we've made it through
-deliver us from evil
- everest season 2
- wall-e
-eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
-capturing the freidmans
-brokeback mountain (ugh)
-californication season 1
-louis ck chewed up
-dexter season 1 and 2
-shawshank redemption
-big leboswki
-dear zachary
-top gear season 10
-weeds season 1 and 2
awesome stuff.
i got a cat too! i miss my dog and wanted another one but i can't possibly afford one by myself or dedicate enough time to it. i settled on a cat. i enlisted lauren to scout some cats out online and we ended up going to the az spca shelter and decided on a little black 7 month old kitten/cat named chipotle. not sure if i like the name but doesn't matter cuz i still call her cat. shes awesome and loves running around getting into trouble. she likes to sit in between the curtain and shower liner while i'm in the shower and swat at me. totally invested in one of those automatic litter boxes too. can't stand scooping cat litter.
in other news, i took the ACT and got a 34 in english, 22 in math, 31 in reading, and 26 in science for a composite score of 28, high enough to get into the business school!!!! the english 105 class last year really bumped my english score but unfortunately the calculus i'm doing now had no impact on the trig questions that kicked my ass.
time to go defend your freedom.......
not
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Thursday, February 18th, 2010
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so its been pretty busy around these parts. school has been going well, going for straight A's this semester. the last two weeks has been a total nightmare dealing with ASU's financial aid and student accounts. they apparently just received notice that i was going to be getting veterans benefits. on top of my monthly allowance, the gi bill sends them a check for $1600 for tuition every semester. i only had a balance of $900 on my account, but instead of ASU cutting my a refund check for the difference, they actually adjusted the amount of my tuition waiver (the discount i get bc my dad works there) to allow them to take the entire $1600. i've spent almost every day of the past week in the student services building trying to get this resolved. every time i'd come there, the same thing would happen. they'd take my id, make some wtf face after looking at my account on the computer screen, and disappear into the back for 10-20 minutes, then come out saying whoever handles this isn't in the office or is "working on it". i was told that when all was said and done, there'd be no balance on my account. well i got an email saying that they finished working on it but there was a "small balance" of $160 left on my account because financial aid adjusted my pell grant and i needed to talk to them. so sick of this.
met with my advisor yesterday to get the fall advising hold off. if i make use of the summer/winter sessions, i can graduate in as little as two years which is a lot shorter then i imagined. i also need to take the ACT residual next week so i can get into the WP carey business school. for this summer, i'm signed up for astronomy, accounting, and an online class on the beatles. also i'm still on track for law school :).
i have a new girlfriend now too. kinda weird story how we met. she found my email address through some military pen pal thing that they had us sign up for like four years ago. we sent friendly emails back and forth for awhile. she lived in new york city, originally from california, had family in arizona. well she ended up losing her job in ny and decided to move in with her grandma in arizona, more specifically 2 miles away from me. shes pretty much exactly like a female version of me. we have the same outlook and sense of humor. shes applying to ASU and just got a job at safeway (scarily the same one my mom works at). we've been hanging out every day since she came here and not even close to being bored of each other.
the adderal is doing wonders for school and in other areas too. i clean my apartment practically every day which is something that crazy ADHD me could never do. i've also managed to be able to be on time for everything and wake up in the mornings. plus i've been keeping a steady workout schedule for the past 3 weeks which is probably longer then i've ever been able to keep one.
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Thursday, January 21st, 2010
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well lots of changes for the positive have been made. i followed through with my plan to focus on school this year and managed to create a budget with the help of money from the deployment, student loans, and veterans benefits that allows me to live at my own place and go to school without having to work. i'm writing this right now from my new place actually.
at school i'm taking 15 credits, formerly 18. i signed up for an internship at the last minute that was supposed to consist of tutoring kids at the south mountain salvation army twice a week. i later learned that on top of the tutoring hours, there was a fairly strenuous "study" component, consisting of multiple papers and reading (including an all-out annotated research paper at the end). after sitting through a three hour orientation that turned out to be a three hour diversity lecture/politically correct cheesefest, i dropped the class. i signed up originally because i needed to start developing a community service portfolio for law school, and teaching kids was always something i wanted to do. it also fulfilled the cultural learning requirement. with five classes already, my plate is pretty much full. i may consider signing up next semester.
my other classes consist of small group com, brief calc, sociology, micro-econ, and psychology. not the most exciting course load but on the bright side it doesn't seem like there's going to be a lot of homework, just studying. my dad luckily was issued an extra parking pass downtown and its good for parking in lot 59e. unfortunately its a 20 minute walk to class, but its better then parking at cornerstone and stressing about if my car was going to be there when i got back.
i went to see a psychiatrist after my deployment and she confirmed for my long-standing suspicion that i had ADHD. it explains a lot of the problems i've had since i was little in school and then all the troubles i've had at work. she prescribed me adderol, which is more or less meth. so far i've seen a lot of improvements. i'm motivated to stay on track a lot more and everything isn't such a mental chore as is used to be. i noticed in class i used to sit there and watch the time and be restless out of my mind, but now i can sit there and be perfectly fine with sitting through an entire class and focusing on the subject matter.
one major issue is that, from what i know, the military doesn't allow someone to be on ADHD medication. its a small loophole that may finally set me free from my contract on a medical discharge, which is just as good as a honorable. in a combat situation, without my medication, there is no doubt in my mind that i would have trouble focusing on the task at hand, putting myself and others in danger. i'm going to bring it up to the corpsman at my unit to see what my options are.
and if anybody is wondering about where i stand with the marines right now, i'm on a 60 day post deployment leave and i technically don't have to start showing up once a month again until march. needless to say, my hair is ridiculously long.
tessa and i agreed to break up a few weeks back. the spark wasn't there for me any more and it sounds like tessa may have had the same problem. i'm talking to one girl that i know from back east. she's flying out here next week to see her grandma and hang out. we'll see where that goes. i found out today that my dad announced to his big lecture classes consisting of female nursing students that his son is single. damnit.
time for bed. going to see AFI next weekend! any one want to go with me?
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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
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back in the good ol USA! news cameras and a bunch of people were at the gate when we showed up except my parents, who went to a jet concert at tempe marketplace instead lol. i spent two weeks on active duty spending most of it either standing around doing nothing or acting as a worker bee sorting toys in the toys for tos warehouse. so instead of staying on till next june and making a paycheck, i opted to forego the torture and go back to ASU next semester. so military wise...i'm free until february when i have to start going to drill again.
ive split the last few free days between laying around playing video games and sending paperwork over to ASU and the banks. i really want to move out but it all depends on what financial aid wants to give me. scholarships are an option if i can bring myself to write a paper.
i've been irritable lately with the smallest things bringing it on. people talking to me for long periods of time have been getting on my nerves. hopefully time will cause it to pass.
back to life...
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Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
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with the last days of the deployment approaching, there is a lot of time to sit around and think. i've undergone somewhat of a mental transformation. at this point it feels as if my mind is looking at itself in the mirror and doesn't understand what it sees. its an everyday struggle to understand why the way i am; why i make the decisions that i do. i'm aware of my faults but i haven't the slightest clue on how to resolve them. i've always considered myself an intellectual, but it feels as if my mind has deteriorated. i notice i have trouble conversing with others. what used to be quick witty responses have turned into a nonsensical sentence or phrase. its an endless cycle of frustration, what one might describe as a catch 22.
i'm not quite sure how i'm going to cope when i come home. what was once excitement about returning to normal life has transformed into an excitement purely based on experiencing a change in environment. looking back, i've only been gone four months or so but its alarming what that relatively short amount of time can do to someone. i'll be reintroduced to the idea of independence and making significant choices on my own. i fully intend to look into some counseling to help me sort out this entire conundrum and hopefully bring some normalcy to my mental state.
i've spent some time out here reading national geographic travel and adventure magazines, part to take my mind off where i'm at and part because traveling is something i've always wanted to do. i was reading an article on the 50 greatest american adventures and before i got past the title i decided that i was going to accomplish whatever was the first on the list. the number one spot belonged to cycling the great divide, the line that runs from canada to mexico seperating the west and the east. after looking more into it, i became committed. to the average person this sounds like an insane idea but i think its something that could benefit me a lot. the route will start in montana (or possibly the canadian rockies depending on my budget) and take me through beautiful mountain ranges and national parks with slim to no civilization around. i'll cover trails going through idaho, wyoming, colorado and eventually ending at the bottom of new mexico. the trip should take me a little over two months and cover about 2700 miles. i plan to mostly camp with the occasional motel stay. as it stands i'll be doing it alone since finding someone with a free two months off, a grand, and the desire to do something like this would be near-impossible but if someone does want to be come along then the more the merrier. the target date to leave right now is late may to early june. in the meantime i'll purchase a decent bike and practice riding the arizona trails to get accustomed to the lifestyle.
on a last note, i'm told max's cancer is beginning to get the best of him. my mom asked if they should medicate him till i get home so i could say goodbye but i told her that the last thing i want to do is see him miserable and for them to do what they need to do. he's the best dog i could have ever had. i'll miss him a lot.
off to finish the rest of this deployment.
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Thursday, October 29th, 2009
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well i'm back in one piece, barely. i ended up wrecking my truck into a construction vehicle three miles from the end of the convoy. the asshole was taking up the entire road and had his brights on, blinding the shit out of me, so i ended up not getting over enough and trashing the left corner of my truck and cracking the axle. we both received tickets from the MPs and i may still be in a bit of trouble but so far they haven't taken any action on me. as far as on a platoon level, i'm deep in the doghouse. we've turned in all of our trucks so we have absolutely nothing to do, which means they have time to play stupid bs games. i just have to endure a few more weeks and this whole ordeal will be over and i'll be home. the longest few weeks of my entire life.
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Sunday, October 25th, 2009
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things have gotten slightly better. getting through the days has become less of a struggle, but still are physically and mentally taxing. its pretty solid that we are leaving iraq in a few weeks and closing up shop and most likely going home from their. depending on obama's upcoming decision regarding troop strength in afghanistan, we could be rerouted a few days before we leave. i appreciate the fact that he is putting a lot of thought into making this call and not making a hasty decision. if i end up going over there, i'll find a way to cope. i have no qualms about that environment but, as i stated before, i have a problem coexisting with the rest of the population. i am still planning on coming home and it is the only thing at this point that keeps me getting up every day. its hard to imagine at this point not having to be at work every day and being able to dress in civilian clothes.
last convoy of the deployment tomorrow out to a air force base on the other side of the country. i will be passing through baghdad and fallujah, a couple of the remaining terrorist hot spots. if for some reason this is my last journal entry, i want to let it be known that i'm happy with the life i've lived and the things i've experienced. i'm thankful to my parents that did an amazing job raising me. i'm grateful for the people i've come to know and love and i wish them all the best. cliche, but the truth.
till next time
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Sunday, October 11th, 2009
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things are pretty terrible here. i'm having major intra-personal communication issues and clashing with my higher ups. to list my issues off
-i'm having a problem with the fact i'm in a combat zone and its being ran like a stateside base with the stupid little rules and regulations.
-the majority of corporals and sergeants are incompetent. the marine corps promotion system is seriously flawed
-i've lost pretty much all motivation in regards to my military career and respect for the marine corps.
-gossip and politics are the de facto way of life around here
-we are not kept informed. none of us have absolutely any idea what is going on.
it seems as if our battalion commander forced us out into iraq when in reality they didn't need us out here. through rumors and gossip, it seems that all operations off base end in a few days and a large part of the base is closing down. immediately following our trucks are being retrograded to ship to afghanistan. this leaves us with nothing left to accomplish at the end of the month in a deployment that is supposed to last another five months. in other words i may either be at home with my family for thanksgiving or in afghanistan.
of course the higher ups are trying to avoid "complacency" and lying to our faces that the mission continues out here, even though our motor pool is being disassembled in front of us. a select few high ranking individuals are passing down these tidbits of information in private to certain underlings.
i'm miserable to the point if they give me the option to finish out my active duty contract and make an extra 10-15k i'll turn it down. i have no problem with where i'm at, just who i'm with. i can't stand the majority of people in this company and don't have the luxury of avoiding them like i would as a civilian. i have a small ring of friends that i talk to and thats pretty much it. work here is usually 10-12 hours on/12 off and there are no days off.
the free time i do have i spend on the internet or playing guitar. in good news, i've been rearranging my finances and setup an IRA and investing account. i decided to use the majority of my deployment money to pay off my car, saving/investing some, and the rest for travelling.
i know this entry is a bit of an incoherent rant but my mind is pretty much incoherent right now. one more month
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
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i'm typing my first journal entry ever from somewhere other then the usa right now, more specifically al taqqadum iraq. so far i've only been here for less than a month and its already pretty unbeearable. its not so much where i'm at but the unit i'm with runs around like chickens with their heads cut off. our leadership is all politics and lack any real ability to lead people in the first place. we work a minimum of 12 hours a day and there are no days off whatsoever. none for the next six months.
i've been on two convoys off base so far and haven't seen much action. they're all done in the middle of the night with not many iraqis out. it feels like the convoys are the only time i ger some time to myself since theres no one to really breathe down your neck, just you and the road (and my ipod).
its 4 am here now and i have to get some sleep to get ready to load up for another convoy, hopefully ill get some time to update in further detail.
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i'm sitting outside the little px by my barracks right now, the only place i can get a decent internet signal. i'm shipping out in two weeks from now to iraq. i wish i could just get it over with, i hate sitting around in the horrible north carolina humidity. we haven't done a whole lot while we've been here other then a lot of paperwork, classes, and vaccines. i bought a cheap guitar to fool around with when theres nothing to do. i've been getting in trouble lately with the platoon leadership for talking back. i've never been very good at taking orders, its a wonder how i made it this far.
went out a couple weeks ago down to hilton head south carolina to hang out with some family that was vacationing there. stayed with a bunch of marines at myrtle beach again on the way down. i'm slowly realizing that i'm not a very good fit for the whole club scene. i'm not anti-social or anything but i just feel really uncomfortable while i'm there.
the good news is that in iraq it sounds like the place i'll be staying is actually nicer then here. only two to a room, air conditioning that works (hopefully), and internet in the room (albeit costing an arm and a leg).
i've been debating what i'm going to do with the money i've saved up when i get back. the realistic and logical choice is to live off it while i go to school, but i'd also like to finish getting my pilots license, travel a bit, get a new place, among other things.
i've also been evaluating my career choices. i'm actually considering working on a career in politics. i've always admired the lifestyle and the responsibilities a politician has and i think i'd do well as one. i've always been an independent voter and looked down on the two party system, but to be successful obviously you have to align with one of them. as it stands i am leaning democratic, as i can identify a lot more with them then most republicans. right now its something i'll work towards and if it happens it happens.
my plan at the moment is to get back and continue pursuing the cis degree while being active in some of the political clubs and doing some campaign internships. assuming i keep my grades up like they are now, i stand a good chance of getting into a decent law school. so whichever way it goes i have some sort of well-to-do job to fall back on.
thats enough rambling for now, time to go get the weekly haircut.
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okay so i really wanted to update this but i haven't had computer access in months and couldn't remember my password. problem solved.
so i am now on active duty getting ready to deploy to iraq in september. right now i'm back in az for my last 10 days before i leave. last few months have been crazy. i've been flying all over the country for all different kinds of training. washington dc, quantico virginia, north carolina, mojave desert in ca, hell i was even in new york city last night. i wish i had a frequent flyer miles card. for the most part i really like the group i'm going with. almost all of them reside in the midwest (wisconsin, indiana, illinois).
i completed the mojave viper training exercise in 29 palms california. it was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere set up to be like iraq. i logged probably 300 miles of desert driving, resupplying infantry units. hot water and private bathrooms and showers are a luxury to me now. saw a lot of stuff get blown up. also got my pre-deployment vaccines, which included the nasty smallpox shot. i have a quarter sized scab on my arm right now because of it.
i also partied in myrtle beach, south carolina over the 4th of july weekend. i went with a big group and it was pretty ridiculous. i'm still sobering up.
i'm gonna spend the ten days loading up my computer with movies and music for iraq. tessa is coming my last weekend and i wanna take her to go see harry potter and bruno.
i think i'm going to go watch tv, for the first time in two months.
i'll update more often if possible.
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finally got around to an update.
after going back and forth, it looks like my deployment is finally set in stone. i leave next week to virginia for two weeks of field training, back here for a week, then off to the big sand box.
i'm excited for the experience, getting to travel and see outside the continent. when i get back i'll have legit veteran status so that comes with a ton of benefits, along with the $17-18k that I'll bring back tax free.
school has kept me busy, i think i have a b average in every class. i have to reschedule all my finals because of the deployment, so i have finals week next week. not too happy about that.
i don't spend much time in my dorm anymore. i moved to the store up by my parents house and they are giving me a ton of hours. the job is cake.
those are the main things going on, off to get ready for work.
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Saturday, February 28th, 2009
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things are going well enough right now.
i got my first college credit the other day when I finished the one credit class i was taking with an A. i'm kind of pissed about a six page paper i turned in for history. the TA that graded it gave me the equivalent of a D. apparently she was really hard on everybody. the worst part was that she didn't even write any comments on it. the professor had so many complaints that he had to curve everybody up a letter grade and get them resubmitted to the TA for feedback. i guess he's also going to tell her to lighten up. i'm convinced it was at least a B paper so depending on the feedback i get, i'll probably take up the issue.
had a really hard religions exam the other day as well and barely passed with a 72/100. average score was a D. apparently its a common occurrence for professors to give exams and tests with failing averages and not look at as a big deal. i figure if everyone is doing that bad, you need to rethink your teaching style. nevertheless, i have a B- in both those classes after the grades.
i did ace my cis quiz at least, i'd be pissed at myself if i didn't.
in english, i have the most eccentric teacher ever. completely quirky but very dedicated to what he does. after getting my first paper proof-read by at least 10 other people, i sent it to him and he sent me back a 15 minute mp3 critique, complete with an estimated grade. i made the changes he wanted and i should get an A on it.
thats enough about school. i'm dating tessa now. new mexico was fun and i'm flying out there next week for my spring break, then we're flying back together and going to vegas. after that she'll stay with me until her spring breaks over. for once i have a girlfriend that games harder then i do. plus she works at gamestop so she understands the stuff i bitch about from work and vice versa.
military stuff, nothing new. marine corps headquarters called me to read my official deployment orders to me. they told me i was going to virginia at the end of the month but later found out that was a mistake. i have drill next week, first weekend of spring break. shitty.
work is going okay, i only work once or twice a week. pretty much the same as i remembered it. super laid back. never really stressed out at all when i come home.
i overhauled my game collection, trading in most of my games and a ds to get forza, gears of war 2, rock band 2, mass effect, bioshock, metal gear solid 4, and little big planet. i came home to try out a new game and got the red ring of death on my xbox. sent it out the next day and apparently its already in the mail back.
back to the weekend!
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Monday, February 9th, 2009
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things are still pretty good. getting by right now with not too many problems.
the other weekend i was at work and texted my roommate to heat me up some chicken so i could pick it up on my way back from delivering some stuff to another dorm for work. well while i was walking down the street to drop this thing off, i see tons of fire trucks outside my dorm and everybody standing outside. i got a text just then saying "chickens on the stove, left to get a haircut". my dorm room has horrible ventilation when we cook and gets really smokey. to sum it up, he pretty much turned the stove off but the smoke set the fire alarm off. the only problem with this is that there were a couple empty beer cans on the desk, and this is a dry dorm. the building manager chewed out my roommate and wanted a written explanation of the beer cans by one of us or else all of us would be held accountable. in reality, my friends were over the other night and drank a couple of beers and i forgot to throw them away. i told this to the building manager, except throwing in the fact that i was getting food while they were drinking. so far, no repercussions. i think they just threw this one under the rug.
i don't like one of my roommates. he's an over-sized dumb ex-football player jock who has a temper. hopefully i can tolerate him for the rest of the semester.
class is going okay. i think i'm going to drop my math class, as i know i can test out of it and its useless. i'll take the w.
had drill last weekend, went out to florence again. skated out of the gas chamber and some other stuff by staying in the back of a truck and sorting machine gun ammo. still a shitty drill. looks like iraq is definitely a go for may 27th.
going this weekend to new mexico to see tessa, excited to finally get a break.
that pretty much sums up everything. time for sleep!
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Friday, January 30th, 2009
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things are going pretty good nowadays.
-living in the dorms, get along with my roommates well enough.
-on a pretty strict workout/eating schedule as well to get in shape for iraq and i feel pretty good.
-i'm just getting by on money, not having to spend much. finished my taxes and my tuition credit saved me from owing a grand.
-doing really well so far in classes, really like all but one, which is a dumb math class.
-my job is just like it used to be, super easy and fun.
-i got my first set of glasses and they don't look too bad on me.
-things going well with tessa, driving out to new mexico in a couple weeks.
-decided to go pre-law, probably gonna change my major to justice studies. can you see me as a lawyer?
-left my car at my parents, getting by on public transportation.
-went to the suns vs. spurs game for my dads bday. how the great have fallen!
-being from pittsburgh and living in az, this super bowl i'm a bit conflicted, but you know what. i'm gonna go with the cards on this one.
i'll update again soon!
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Friday, January 16th, 2009
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so the new year has began and my month and a half vacation is almost up. not too much going on, tessa just left after hangin out for a week or so after disneyland. disneyland was pretty fun, i switched our schedule around and left at 4am the first day just so we could make it there because the haunted mansion would have been closed the days we wanted to go. i was so tired that we didn't make it to space mountain or big thunder mountain railroad. we pretty much did everything at california adventure, which i had never been to before. she took me out to espnzone for my birthday then to a bar, so that was pretty cool. spent the last day going to hollywood and venice beach then headed home, which is cory's house at the moment.
i picked up a part time job for while i'm in school. my friend/manager at gamecrazy that hired me at the original location now runs the tempe location which is walking distance from my dorm. i get paid to sit around and play video games and listen to my own music so it doesn't get much better.
i am totally broke. i made my severance last me until my scheduled student loan disbursement but some reason the check hasn't shown up yet! i'm pissed and am still trying to track it down.
i went to drill last weekend out in the field. before i left i stopped in the training office to ask about that so called jan deployment and they didn't know anything about it. i looked at the board where they keep the list of people getting deployed and found that my name was one of three scheduled for a may deployment! the sgt there pulled up an email sent from the higher ups saying in may i will be going to camp lejune, north carolina for a month, then back out to 29 palms california for training. at that point i go out to iraq then don't return till april 2010. luckily the deployment date is 10 days after the end of the spring semester.
so thats pretty much everything, time to go run some errands.
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Friday, December 26th, 2008
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a weird thing happened to me the other day. i woke up on the 24th and had no idea it was christmas eve until i saw the date on an email that came in. in the past i would have been counting down the days until then, but it just caught me by surprise. its unfortunate how christmas doesn't have the same meaning as it used to be for me. i think it has something to do with all the changes that i've been going through. years ago it was what cool new gadget my parents were going to get me, now its am i going to have enough money to pay for my car registration. growing up sucks!
in terms of my xmas, my mom decided to have a super budget xmas and buy me socks, shirts, boxers, and a license plate cover for xmas/birthday. thats what sucks about having your bday so close to xmas, you get "xmas/birthday".
tessa came from new mexico and we had a lot of fun for a couple days. i decided to take her out on an actual "date", first one i've gone on in awhile. we went to this fancy restaraunt at the hyatt in north scottsdale, then got on one of the gondolas and had some italian guy rowing us around the lake serenading us in italian. we went mini golfing after that then came back to my place and drank. she'll be back next week when we go to disneyland for my birthday.
i've been dealing with a virus that totally fucked my computer up. i think i got rid of most of it but there might be some traces left.
in surprising news, my douche bag roommates decided that they would rather pay an extra $100 each and have me out on the 1st then let me pay up until the 17th when i move into the dorms. this means i have 6 days to get my shit moved out. until the 17th i'll be staying with cory at his place in tempe. i think its a good time to leave, the location and the actual place is great but the people i live with are dicks. i overheard them complaining about me last night about how i'm too tight with my money and that i bitch at them to clean up their shit too much. guilty as charged!
i've been spending the past few days in super lazy unemployed mode. i wake up around 2 or 3 and watch some of the heroes season 1 dvd (the new show i'm watching), or playing madden or some other game.
21 in 10 days!
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Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
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great news for once! i was getting so sick of careerbuilder i knew i probably didn't have more then a week before i was gone. i was talking to a friend about quitting when they called a meeting for everyone. we went downstairs as usual where we were informed there were two separate meetings. i got sent to the upstairs meeting where i was told, along with about 20 others, that i was being laid off! i think i was the only one there with a smile on my face. what that means is i'm getting a severance package and i'm eligible for unemployment. i essentially got enough to do absolutely nothing for the next month, buy xmas presents, and go to disneyland for my birthday. this worked out great in the end.
funny note- east valley trib called me up and wrote a story on the careerbuilder thing. i am the quoted "unnamed former scottsdale employee".
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/132050
in other news, i'm getting geared up to go to asu. everything is falling into place and i've registered for my classes. i have a good schedule, no classes on fridays. i still have to tell my roommates i'm leaving.
went to drill and found out that iraq deployment is pretty concrete for january. i have no faith in my chain of command so i am proceeding as normal.
gotta get back into running again or my fat ass isn't going anywhere.
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Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
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survived another month! work is still dragging along, doing just enough work to get by without getting in trouble, might even have a sale tomorrow. talked to my manager about where i'm at, she keeps telling me if i try then i'll do great there but i told her its hard to believe that when you have people quitting all around you and barely anyone making their quota, you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. i told her i'll try harder, but i'm really just waiting to get the asu stuff finalized so i can bounce.
speaking of asu, got officially readmitted and signing up for classes next week. i put my dorm application in and shouldn't hear back in too long. only issue right now is with financial aid. i didn't qualify for veteran status so i had to file for my fafsa as a dependent. because of my parents income, my expected family contribution is significantly high which means my aid should be pretty low. tuition should be practically free with the tuition waiver and the gi bill, i just need to pay for the dorms.
my birthday is coming up soon and i'm stoked to be going to disneyland with tessa. not a typical 21st birthday but i party already enough and admission is free!
drill this weekend, i already need another day off.
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itdontcomeeasy's journal