What the hell happened in here yesterday? I'm not even sure. I do know that it felt a lot better to get all that out. Day Three has been a dramatic improvement. The stiff neck is all but gone, the headaches are a thing of the past, the dorm room is mostly clean and organized, and I have no responsibilities until Wednesday morning at 9:00. It's like a neverending summer camp here, although the 'counselors' have gotten a little liberal in their descriptions of activities they're hosting. Tonight's 'Block' 'Party' consisted of people milling about in cliques and listening to CDs, which is exactly what happened last night and the night before. Thus, tonight's 'festivities' qualify as a party in name only. Oh, and I figured out the hot water in the showers. Yay, me!
Classes don't start until Wednesday, but I'm already learning. And what lesson did I learn today? Never shop for groceries on an empty stomach. You've heard it said, but it's easier in theory than in practice. We had to go to Wal-Mart for an ethernet card. What's a dorm room, after all, without access to the magical Internet?
Also, we needed milk. Somehow, we'd managed to accumulate cereal, bowls, and spoons, but the milk had been forgotten. Damn Wal-Mart for so craftily organizing the grocery section. There was a display of potato chips just to the left of the milk, and I noticed that Lays Chicago Style Baked Potato flavored were two for $4. And these weren't the pissy little grocery store-sized bags. These were the real deal, 11 1/2 oz. big boys. I once again had to be physically dragged toward a register before letting loose on the tortilla chips and salsa aisle, and that's when it was decided that a trip to a discount grocery store was in order.
After I completed the necessary paperwork on my new food discount club card, I strolled through the aisles and comparison-shopped my ass off. We got the aforementioned tortilla chips and salsa, cheaper milk (you go, discount card!), a 5 lb. bag of sugar, and ten packages of off-brand Kool-Ade (a steal at a dime each). Total price: $7.78. Now let's just add this to the amount of debt I'm already in: $11,000,000,007.78. You can see where I don't really need to be spending any money. Granted, we're not going to eat all this food tonight ("all this food"? When did I become old and responsible about my food intake? ["Prolly around the time you started paying your own bills." - Dr. S.]), but we don't even have a pitcher or a stirring spoon with which to make the Kool-Ade. And we'd have to use fountain water. I wonder if I can still get a refund on this stuff.
We never would've bought it in the first place if I hadn't been so damn hungry. And why was I hungry? I, as I previously mentioned, am poor, which, I know, was an entirely predictable outcome of my enrollment in college. In a move of frugal genius, I signed up for the 'five meals per week' plan. It works out, really. I don't get up early enough for breakfast. I'll be at or on my way to a class during lunch. The only meal I can really eat anyway is dinner (is that still what we're calling it?), and it's not like I don't have cereal, Ramen, and oatmeal cookies to keep me company in between. Anyway, tonight was my first dinner, and I hadn't eaten anything all day leading up to it. The 3:30 shopping excursion this afternoon and the inaudible taunts of the food products were encouraged by my rumbling tummy.
Rest assured, though, that when the dinner hour finally did roll around, I ate like a pig. And it was pot roast night! Mmm. There were potatoes with those cute little green speck things on them. There were green beans. There was corn. And if that wasn't enough, they have a gazillion different beverage selections at my beck and call. Still not sold? What if I told you about the self-serve ice cream? The cafeteria, though, has one quality that makes up for all the Ramen, all the gastrointestinal grumblings, and all the poorness. They're the four magic words: All You Can Eat.
Reading: Finally got to xy40. It's excellent as always. I'm looking forward to the new spinoff photo mag coming soon. Watching: A&E's Biography of Jane Pauley. Listening to: Jerry Jeff Walker. Who the hell is Brad? I don't know, but it makes me giggle to no end.
