Where'd the time go?

I can't believe I just started my third year of college. While I was waiting for my first class to start, I wasn't ready for it. I remember during Freshman Convocation, our then-president said that he respected the freshmen for starting the school year with the freshest eyes, the most enthusiasm. No longer am I that fresh-eyed enthusiastic freshman... but I still enjoy going to college and will hold onto my remaining time while it lasts. Best part of all? No homework so far. Phew!

ahhhhHHHHH freak out!

I have spent the past 90 minutes in panic why-must-everything-be-so-upsetting mode. When I first moved in, I had a really tough time opening my dorm room. Yesterday, the key got stuck for five minutes. Today, it got stuck really badly. I had to call the front desk three times. After the second call, two people came up. They were able to get my key out and they left. I thought that was that.

It wasn't. My door knob wouldn't budge. So if I closed the door, I'd be locked in. If I left my room, I'd be locked out. So then I called the front desk again (I never got the same person twice, so they all had various levels of helpfulness), and they told me I had to place a work order myself. The lady who took my order over the phone, thankfully, was really nice about it, and she had the lock shop get in touch with me. The lock shop called me back, and I had to explain my situation again. Finally finally finally somebody from custodial services came to fix the door lock. Apparently it was really "gummed up." Gross. I had Josh Groban playing and my browser at joshgroban.com when he was spraying the lock, and he said that Josh Grow-bon had a really good voice. Ah, now I can open my door w/o playing tug of war, now I can calm down, and now I can listen to a little Grow-bon in peace.

Monday, Monday

I haven't decided if it's so good to me yet. Too early to decide such things.

I moved in yesterday with help from Mom and Dad. The DAWG volunteers weren't around, so we had to haul things up ourselves. In the end, it all worked out because Mom stuck around the front desk to get a cart. I still have some of my stuff in boxes... not quite sure where to put things. Can't find things when I want them. But I plan to keep my space nice and neat. We'll see about that. :)

My roommate is pretty nice. We watched "American Dreams" together as well as the movie, Head of State. Then I turned on MSN Messenger and im'ed with Brittany and Erin. And thennn, a couple of my clustermates came to our room (the door was open) and we discussed the musicals Rent and Chicago and the movies Goonies (yeah, it's The Goonies, but who calls it that?), Harry Potter 3, and Chicago. Fun times.

My bed is okay. It's a little high for me. The mattress makes up for that minor complaint. I had a fairly good night's sleep, except for the fact that I got a charlie horse in my right calf in the middle of the night. That hasn't happened in a long time. Ouch. There's really nothing you can do but wait for the muscle to stop tightening. You try to relax and stretch it, but it doesn't work. Anywho, sorry if this is making people squeamish or whatnot. I have empathy pains when I hear about these things, so I'll stop writing.

Am starting my new work schedule: noon to 4:15 today. Have to go buy my textbooks and a few supplies. There are always things I forget/neglect to take with me when I move. I guess you could call today "Mundane Mundane."

Two-buck Chuck

After work today I decided to spend some of my hard-earned money. ;D

First, I bought Mean Girls widescreen edition on DVD. I haven't opened it up yet, but it comes with a Burn Book. Heh heh. Can't wait to watch the movie again.

Then I stopped by Trader Joe's to fulfill the one thing I said I would definitely do when I turned 21: buy two-buck Chuck. Well, it's $2.99 these days but still! That's so cheap! Hehehe. The cashier carded me and noticed, "Oh, you just turned 21." So I explained to her what I wanted to do, and she was like, "Right on." :) The elderly lady who stood behind me in line had grabbed a bottle without hesitation and asked the cashier, "How much is it and is it any good?" The cashier said, "Oh yes, you'll be back for more."

I'm no wine aficionado. I know that wine tasters swirl, swish, and spit. I wasn't quite sure which one to buy either. Alexa? Suggestions? Let's see, from what I remember they had chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon (pardon moi if I misspell), merlot, shariz, etc. I ended up buying merlot.

A pair of slippers: $1. Touristy New York T-shirts: 6 for $10. Cashmere scarf: $10. Unexpectedly finding Josh's billboard while walking the 7th Ave. Street Fair: priceless. 

There were a lot of cool lookin' apples around the city, similar to the cows a few years ago. Seattle copied NY (I think) and did the pigs a couple years ago, too. This one's too cute. You'll notice that I'm covering up Squidward though. Oh well. :) 

Pier 17 at South Street Seaport.  

The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all

My first time gambling on slot machines was both a failure and a success. :) Mom, Dad, and I went to Muckleshoot Casino last night. We rode the shuttle that gives you $5 for free if you spend $5. Well, I tried the Party Pooper (or whatever it's called) slot machine because Mom and Dad both like it. I watched them both play, and then Mom gave up her machine. Though the actual seat was warm, the machine was co-o-o-old. I lost $10 in a matter of minutes. So I definitely pooped out, but I purchased a $10 ticket and played another slot machine. I have no idea what it was called. I won and lost but earned a whopping three cents. Trust me, I was very happy about it, so I returned to the Party and watched Mom play again. Trying to figure out which machine I should play next, I turned around to scan the other players on other machines when lo and behold, someone was waving. At me.

It was Auntie Crystal! :) So I went over to say hello and told her I'd just turned 21. Hehehe (btw, I was carded at the door and exactly as I thought, the security guy assumed it was fake and asked to see a "hard license"... argh for lame temp licenses! Luckily I had my expired license in my wallet and the security guy happily approved).

The slot machine next to Auntie Crystal was unoccupied. It was called Penny Pigout, and she said it was a really good game. Then, she handed me one of her tickets and let me play; we'd split the winnings. Oh my gosh, the pressure was ON. She told me to shake things up a bit and bet 200 credits or 300 credits. Heh heh. At first, we won. Then while I was still playing Penny Pigout, I saved her chair so she could get more tickets for her game. I was on fire while she was away, more than doubling her money. When she returned, she told me to win big.

Unfortunately, it was a downhill slide from there. And (*blush*) I lost all her money. How embarrassing! I knew I should have stopped, but of course we get to say that in hindsight. The house won. I inserted my $10.03 from earlier and pretty much lost all that too.

Then, Uncle Albert came over to get Auntie Crystal so they could leave. They congratulated me on turning 21 and left. But then they came back to give me more money to play on, which was really nice considering my bad luck! Turns out they rubbed off some good luck! My biggest win was $30, and I walked home with $50.90. I pressed my luck a little bit after the big win, but I told myself I'd stop at $50.

Long story short, I still managed to get $5 for free. :) Thanks to Uncle Albert and Auntie Crystal!

It's true: The house wins, and gambling makes you thirsty. Fun times.

Woohoo!

We're gonna party like it's my birthday... 'cause it is! :) Janice asked me if I felt different, and this morning I answered, "I feel happy." And a few hours later, I still feel happy. Nope, I don't have alcohol in my system just yet. Muahahaha.

Oh! Thanks Jason for reminding me that I can gamble! I TOTALLY forgot about that aspect of turning 21. YAY! Hmmmm... where to gamble...

Right now my driver's license is a boring piece of paper. I renewed it yesterday not knowing that I would only be issued a temp card. Oh well. It still says: Age 21 on 9/16/2004. :))

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and presents!

We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral the day we arrived in New York City. I don't recall ever taking a picture inside, but I could be mistaken. So beautiful. 

Mmmm... there's the cake that Janice baked for me. It was soooo good! Yellow with chocolate frosting. Thanks again, Janice! 

Give my regards to Broadway

I'm home now. Wow, what a vacation. I had an amazing time in New York City. Hmm... that is such an understatement. I can't get enough of Broadway musicals. And that's the truth. Wicked was incredible. I'd see it over and over again. I loved watching Fiddler on the Roof. Mom told me it was the first Broadway musical she ever saw. Avenue Q is freakin' hilarious. I love the show. I had a smile on my face practically the entire time. Or, when appropriate, the music tugged at my heart. Really, whoever said "get people laughing and you can tell them anything" is right on the money. Use puppets and you can get away with so much more. I don't want to give away too much in case you see it, so just go see it! Non-puppet related: Christmas Eve's wedding dress is a riot! :) Oh, and I saw Rent. The energy of the cast was unreal. I got major goosebumps watching the show.

Kristin Chenoweth was spectacular at Carnegie Hall. She is really funny and is such a versatile singer. Gotta love that she did three encores. The first one was popular ("Glitter and Be Gay"), the second was emotional (a song for her dad), and the third was a wind-down, happy ending, hum-on-your-way-home tune ('Till There Was You). Ooh, and Kristin sang "Popular" from Wicked. Rosie O'Donnell was in the audience. Concert highlights: "Bill" from the Jerome Kern medley, "Popular," "Taylor (the latte boy)," polaroid pictures (that's how we knew Rosie was in the audience), getting to sing along for one song, and all the jokes I can't remember.

Got to see Broadway on Broadway, the free concert in Times Square. Wow, that was yesterday. Sixteen musicals performed one song each. NBC recorded it, so Wayne Brady and Avenue Q had to sing their numbers twice due to sound problems. Not that I minded! :) Highlights: Sutton Foster, "What You Own" sung by Jeremy Kushnier and Drew Lachey, "It Sucks to Be Me," Jennifer Laura Thompson & Idina Menzel.... and Eden Espinoza. Everyone watch out for her in Brooklyn. I'd never heard her sing (and that probably goes for the majority of the 50,000 people in Times Square), and she was incredible. I had heard that she brings down the house at Wicked when Idina Menzel doesn't perform as Elphaba. It's cool that she's in a new musical. Loved that the people around me sang along to "What You Own" because then I could too without looking foolish. :) We got showered with confetti during the finale.

Got to meet up with friends and family. Toured Radio City Music Hall and saw Usher and Dave Navarro rehearse from the private viewing booth. Got drenched in Wednesday's downpour on the way to Live With Regis and Kelly. Attended that taping as well as the taping of Tony Danza's new show. Ate at Gray's Papaya. Went to South Street Seaport and Chinatown. Ate soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. Visited Ground Zero, saw part of the tribute on TV, saw the tribute in lights in the night sky and cried inexplicable tears...

More stories to be told in the form of select pictures... I need to upload all of them first. Nearly 150 or so.

Greetings from Syracuse!

Okay, so I said, "Would you like to hold?" but this isn't a telephone conversation. :) Plus, Janice has a cool computer where I can go online and watch TV at the same time. :) Yes, that's right, I have the TV in the top right corner as I type my entry.

Janice called me "hom bow girl" as we hugged hello. I was eating one in the car when we arrived at her apartment complex. The hom bow was kinda gross, so I'll stick to hom bow from Mon Hei Bakery in Seattle's Chinatown.

Anyway, Janice's apartment is spacious! I like it. Syracuse felt hot and muggy today. We went grocery shopping at Price Chopper. I took a picture. Hehehe.

We also went to the New York State Fair. What makes it better than the Puyallup? Free french fries, free Spam sandwiches and an excellent parking system. What makes the Puyallup Fair better than the NYSF? Free milk, availability of scones, availability of Cow Chips and the room to walk around freely (there were a LOT of people at the NYSF).

The red-eye flight has worn me out. I kept taking naps in the car, and I fell asleep on the floor in the living room. Heh heh. Sleepiness aside, it's been a fun day.

OOH, Janice celebrated my birthday! Yay! She baked me a delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Mmmmm. She sang "Happy Birthday" to me, too. Thanks, Jan!!

Would you like to hold?

Well, I've done it. I spruced up my phone etiquette at work today. :) Mom and I had this conversation about answering phones at work. St. Francis showed employees a video, which instructed them to identify themselves (I say the caller should do that first, after all, they called!) as well as told them to ask the caller if they'd like to be placed on hold. Bunch o' weirdness, if you ask me. So because I don't agree (or maybe it's not so much disagreeing but thinking it's a little over the top where I happen to work), I still refuse to say "Atmospheric Sciences, this is Allison." Just can't do it. BUT, I asked a professor from the U. of Michigan, "Could you please hold?" and he happily replied, "Sure, take as long as you need to." I needed to look up a phone number.

All that just to segue into this: Would you like to hold? I'm going on vacation, so no new blog entries 'til I get back. Until then, enjoy your Cinnabons, enjoy your dreams about Cinnabons, and enjoy the places where you buy Cinnabons while they still remain open for business.

Buh-bye!

Carded and Discarded

Wow, I had to sit here for five minutes to think of something to write. September has been pretty uneventful, so let's turn back to August for my story about (almost) getting carded... yes, carded for ginger ale.

I've been craving Canada Dry ginger ale for a while now, but I was too impatient to wait for Saturday night's flight. Whoever said it (on a message board) was right, why must we wait until an airplane flight before enjoying ginger ale? So Mom dropped me off outside a grocery (which I will not disclose but perhaps you can guess which one). I picked up a box of 12 cans and went to the express checkout. When the cashier scanned the box, she asked for my ID. Without thinking too much of it, I said, "Sure!" Then I thought, "Wait, the ID doesn't matter because I'm buying GINGER ALE." So then I said aloud, "Sure, you can see my ID, but it's non-alcoholic." I never got around to whipping out my driver's license, which clearly expresses that I'm not 21, although really, I would have gladly shown it. Don't ask me why! :)

The cashier kind of apologized, but I was amused that we both were caught off guard for a few seconds. The guy behind me overheard our conversation. He joked, "The box *does* say ale." Even I'll admit that Canada Dry's box looks like it could contain alcohol.

Well, the ID thing won't be a problem in a couple weeks. Heh! Argh, that reminds me that I still have to go renew my license.

Hmm... this all reminds me of one of my classes. Yikes, I can't remember which one, but somebody was drinking an energy drink in a really tall can, and the instructor asked if the student was drinking beer. LOL! At 9:30 in the morning in a classroom?

In case you were wondering, "Carded and Discarded" is one of my favorite Freaks & Geeks episodes.