ice ice baby

Had a pretty meh weekend. On Friday I had a mini freak-out moment when I realized that the restaurant for our applicant dinner was not within walking distance at all (I had confused it with another French restaurant that’s down the street from me). This meant I was expected to drive people around, which is problematic without a car. I emailed the class to see if anyone would be willing to take my place, two hours before we had to meet the applicants. No one replied (since when do people have plans on Friday night!?), but B reluctantly agreed to do it, if I came along, since he didn’t know any of the other students going. I didn’t want to ruin the dinner plans, so I agreed to come and cover the cost if we went over our budget with the extra person. This turned out not to be a problem, since one of the applicants wasn’t joining us for dinner, so B just took his place. However, we still went over our budget, because the restaurant we went to was ridiculously over priced. All 8 of us went with the 3 course meal for $40 option. We also got a $25 bottle of wine for the table, and 4 people got Cokes. The bill (with tax and tip) came out to $500. WTF?!? Those Cokes must have been 10 bucks a pop. I understand they were the Mexican kind, served in classic glass bottles with real sugar, but holy crap, what a f*cking rip off!  And don’t get me started on the food. I don’t expect American-sized portions when I go to a fancy French restaurant, but you have to draw the line somewhere; two tiny pieces (think fish-stick sized) of duck with a side of 3 asparagus stems do not a main course make in any European country! The most filling part of the whole meal was the rich chocolate concoction served for dessert. Definitely sticking with the place down the street for French food.   

So that was Friday. Saturday was spent in bed, sleeping and watching massive amounts of "TV" on my laptop. The owner of the car I was supposed to see never got back to me with his address, so I had no reason to even leave my apartment. I was not in a good mood (thank you time-of-the-month hormones?). Things are starting to pile up again. I was supposed to have a car by the end of the month – clearly not happening now. The EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System) people sent me a letter stating that the quarterly payment I made last week did not go through for unknown reasons. Motherf*cker. This was my first time paying online, and I have no idea what went wrong. All I know is this is not an issue of insufficient funds. Guess I’ll be calling them tomorrow (I hate hate hate sorting things like this out). Exams are suddenly right around the corner. Dishes in the sink. I’ve gained 7 lbs in the past 2 months (yes there was holiday food, but 7 lbs seems excessive). Of course it’s all gone straight to my midsection, and half my outfits now make me look chunky. Grumpy grumpy.

Sunday was a bit better – at least I managed to leave the apartment. It was a beautiful day, too. I should have taken advantage and walked to the grocery store, but with exams looming, I opted to go to school instead. I proceeded to be horribly unproductive for the next 5 or so hours. I did however, have a heart to heart with D. It was about N, a fellow classmate whom I absolutely can’t stand (because she’s kind of a sociopath). She pursued D romantically last year, but got side-tracked when some other guy came along. It looks like she’s at it again – Friday night she sent him 4 text and left 2 voicemail at 2 in morning. Which he may have found flattering if he didn’t also think she was a bit of sociopath! It feels SO good to have someone see her in the same light as I do. That is, to acknowledge just how selfish, manipulative, vengeful, calculating, and sometimes downright childish she can be. No wonder she can’t keep a group of friends, or a boyfriend. That sounds harsh, but her lack of regard for others’ feelings combined with her ability hide it so well at times, truly horrifies me sometimes. I honestly believe that had she not been raised in a normal loving home, she would have grown up to be a criminal. Like I said – a sociopath, but without any of the violent tendencies. I like D a lot (as a friend), and it would have driven me nuts, had he started dating this girl. It’s bad enough she keeps coming by our carrels to not-so-subtly flirt with him. At least now we all get a good laugh out of it once she leaves the room.

Today I woke up to half a dozen emails about the Winter Storm that was supposed to strike the city this afternoon. The university decided to close all schools at 3pm today – all, except the school of medicine of course. I wasn’t in class anyway, but it sucked for the 3rd and 4th years. Despite the school remaining open, our Tuesday classes were effectively rescheduled for Thursday, so we get a day off tomorrow after all. I’m curious to see if this storm will live up to the hype; in addition to all the emails, I received 2 texts and a call from the university’s emergency notification system. Icy roads people, we get it!! Geez. I suppose the concern over ice is a real one. It rained all day, and even though my cell phone read only 30 degrees as I walked home tonight, the tree branches and street signs already shone a brilliant silver, even in the dark. Maybe tomorrow will be a photos in the park kind of day.