I am a total... mush. I don't know what to call it so I put "mush." It means I'm mushy-feely. I've always known this but I just had an overwhelming "omg, I'm a mush" moment that I just had to proclaim it. I'm a mush. A total mush. Let me share my mush moment. So I've been using adblock plus on my firefox for the longest time but recently it's been causing some issues with youtube videos. So I turned it off. So for the first time in forever I got an advertisement on youtube. It was a google chrome advertisement. For those of you who watch a lot of youtube (ads) you probably know what's coming. The Dear Sophie ad. Oh DEAR god the Dear Sophie ad.
At first I'm like, "why the hell would anyone make their e-mail address 'dear.sophie.lee'?" Isn't that something you put in the subject or some shit? Then I'm like, okay this is probably one of those silly romantic google ads like the one about meeting a girl in Paris. Then... I watch the rest. As I watch I get weird cold tingly feelings on my arms. My heart melts a little and the bridge of my nose stings as tears start to form around my eyes. At the end of it I'm sitting open mouthed going "oh... my... god..." then I get startled the fuck out as the intro to YogsCast starts playing after the ad.
If you haven't seen it and want to know what I'm talking about, here it is. Yep. That's what I almost cried to. I'm a mush.
I think I get really mushy about things regarding parents because I have a very strange relationship with mine. I love them, they love me. We both know it. After having left for university we end each call with "I love you, bye." So it's not like we're really lacking, per se. But this is a rather recent thing. As I've grown up and my parents didn't see the need to really be that rigid authority figure anymore they eased up. Also my issues with depression and having my mother attend counseling with me really helped us to bond a bit more and understand each other.
My childhood was a different story though. I grew up thinking that my parents only wanted results from me and didn't really care for me, myself. "I love you"s were near non-existent, hugs were very rare. Socializing with my parents hardly ever happened. Most of my interactions with them were when they were telling me off for being on the computer too much, or staying up too late, or not doing well enough in school. Sure, my relationship with them could have been worse and there are kids out there who go through shit I couldn't even imagine my parents doing every single day of their lives. I'm appreciative of that fact. However, knowing that doesn't stop me from wishing I had had more; wishing that my parents would have put more effort into letting me know what I meant to them; wishing they would have spent more time with me; wishing that I wasn't literally conditioned into tensing up and becoming stressed when my mom or dad approached me because it usually meant they had something negative to say to me; wishing that they'd have shown me that I had value to them as a person and not just what results I could get. Of course, in hind sight I know what their words and actions meant. I can interpret those from a different point of view now. But it won't erase the experience of going through it thinking those things.
So, yeah... I'm a mush.
....Teemo.
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Friday, 9 September 2011
Moving In to Residence
I want to record what my move-in day was like so here I go.
Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011
The flight from Vancouver to Toronto was really scary. When we got to Toronto the plane was descending to prepare for landing. While we were going down there was a lot of turbulence – to the point of it getting really scary. Then the plane suddenly pulled sharply up and we were ascending again, this time with even more turbulence. The engines were making really weird and loud noises too. At this point I was scared the airplane was going to crash and thought I just might die there. The turbulence was THAT bad. We flew like that until we broke above the clouds and flew away from Toronto and over Lake Ontario. We flew in circles over Lake Ontario for an hour before turning around and landing in Toronto. Then it took about 30 minutes to land, get to the terminal, and disembark. At this point I thought for sure I had missed the flight to Kingston. Nevertheless I ran out of the airplane, weaving in and out of people to the nearest flight information board... and was immensely relieved to see that the flight to Kingston had been delayed an hour. The flight to Kingston was completely event-less and safe.
On the taxi ride to the hotel, I got talking with the taxi driver and asked him if his company did oversize luggages because I had to buy a fridge the next day. He not only informed me that they did provide that service but that if I wanted a fridge I'd better get to WalMart first thing the next morning. He had just been there that day to pick up a fridge for his kid. When we arrived I gave him a good tip for giving me the information about the fridge (total cost $20... yeah it was a long trip).
At the hotel I got a little nervous because the people in front of me had to show their credit card in order to check in. The sign also said that I must have a credit card to check in. So I got really anxious while waiting, worried that I wouldn't be able to get my room since I don't actually have a credit card. Fortunately they accepted my drivers license and a deposit of $25 (which I got back on check out) instead of a credit card. What was bad about the hotel was that the room I had was intended for people with cars to park their car right outside their room. So it was far away from the front desk. Tired and weary from the flight I had to drag my two suitcases (together weighing 34 kg aka ~75 lb) all the way to the room.
Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011
Next morning I woke up at 6:30 am, got ready, and called a taxi to my residence ($15). I checked in, got my keys, and quickly dropped off my suitcases in my room before heading out again. Taxi again to WalMart ($18). Once there I located the fridge but could see no way for me to get it to the front counter. I asked someone to help me and he called someone on his walkie-talkie and told me to go and wait at the fridges and someone would come. I waited and waited but no one came. So I went and asked someone else. This woman called the front to ask for someone to help me. They said they had one up front that I could just buy there but I declined because that one didn't have a freezer section. I had found the one I wanted and I wanted THAT one. The lady informed me that it was too early in the morning so the people whose job it is to help me weren't there yet. By this point I was pretty angry and decided I'd just do it myself. First I picked up 4 cases of water, detergent, and other stuff I needed, then I got another cart and went to the fridges again but it was quickly obvious that I would never be able to put that thing in the cart by myself. So I just dragged it. I didn't care how ridiculous I looked walking backwards while dragging a fridge across the floor of WalMart. I wanted that fridge and if the people at Walmart were so incompetent I'll do it myself. Then at the counter the cashier asked me how in the world I was going to drag that out of Walmart. I said, "well I had to DRAG it here, I guess I'll drag it out too. I asked TWICE for someone to come help me and they told me that no one was available." So he called someone to bring a cart over (which took 5 minutes)... the kind that just has a base and wheels. He loaded it on and wheeled it out for me as well. He also apologized on behalf of Walmart. So I guess in the end it all comes down to WHO you ask. Funny thing is, he looked young. Maybe around my age. The other people I asked were much older. You'd think the young ones would shirk work–that's the stereotype anyways.
So I call Amey's Taxi and requested a van. The woman was really condescending and arrogant. She asked me in a really annoyed tone, "what do you need a VAN for?" After the walmart ordeal I wasn't in the mood to take any more shit from stupid workers so I replied, "I need to move a FUCKING FRIDGE." She simply said "okay" and hung up. The taxi took a long time but it did come. While I was waiting, the taxi driver who had advised me drove by. He stopped to say, "so I see you got your fridge!" at which point I thanked him again for the advice. The oversize luggage cost extra so the trip back to res was $25. So I spent a total of $78 on taxis that trip. I think I'm going to switch taxi company to Modern Taxi Service in the future instead of Amey's. This wasn't the first time I got a really disrespectful dispatcher from Amey's.
I got one of the residence Dons to watch my fridge while I took the 4 packs of water and other things up to my room. Unfortunately, for the sake of less clutter, they were not allowing people to ride the elevators down. You could only ride the elevators that day if you had luggage to carry up. So I had to run down 7 flights of stairs (twice that day since I went down it before when dropping off the suit cases) to get my fridge. Luckily they had good carts for me to load the fridge on. So I get it to my room, unpack it, move my desk over to make room, and put the fridge in its place. Unfortunately, there's something wrong with this fridge. One of the legs is missing. It's supposed to have two supporting legs in the front so it's even all around, but it's missing one on the right side. At this point, to be completely honest, I don't care. After all that hassle to get this fridge, I am not about to go and exchange the damn thing. So now I have a handicap fridge but it works great so I'm happy. Maybe with the warranty I can get Danby (the fridge company) to send me a leg part. All I know is, I'm not going to move that fridge again for a long time. I was exhausted after all that.
At around 6:30 I tried to go to dinner. I walked all the way to Leonard Cafeteria only to remember that the cafeterias are always closed for Sunday dinners. So from there I walk to burger king. There they gave my Tendergrill burger away to a drive through customer. The new one they made for me was burnt. The fries tasted like cardboard. While I was walking back to res, I passed by Metro (grocery store) so I decided to go in. I bought milk, cereal, and granola bars. The walk home from then on was very tiring. Not only was I carrying a 2L carton of milk, I was already tired from an early morning, suitcase dragging, water pack lifting (4 packs, moved 6 times), dragging a fridge, unpacking a fridge, and moving desk and fridge. So the walk home seemed like an eternity. Then I realized that I forgot my front door key. Meaning I had no way of getting back inside the building. Thankfully, unlike my first year here, my res building has a front desk that always has someone there. I knocked on the door and explained that I forgot my key. I was so glad to get back to my room and just lie down.
I didn't unpack at all that day. I was much too tired.
Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011
The flight from Vancouver to Toronto was really scary. When we got to Toronto the plane was descending to prepare for landing. While we were going down there was a lot of turbulence – to the point of it getting really scary. Then the plane suddenly pulled sharply up and we were ascending again, this time with even more turbulence. The engines were making really weird and loud noises too. At this point I was scared the airplane was going to crash and thought I just might die there. The turbulence was THAT bad. We flew like that until we broke above the clouds and flew away from Toronto and over Lake Ontario. We flew in circles over Lake Ontario for an hour before turning around and landing in Toronto. Then it took about 30 minutes to land, get to the terminal, and disembark. At this point I thought for sure I had missed the flight to Kingston. Nevertheless I ran out of the airplane, weaving in and out of people to the nearest flight information board... and was immensely relieved to see that the flight to Kingston had been delayed an hour. The flight to Kingston was completely event-less and safe.
On the taxi ride to the hotel, I got talking with the taxi driver and asked him if his company did oversize luggages because I had to buy a fridge the next day. He not only informed me that they did provide that service but that if I wanted a fridge I'd better get to WalMart first thing the next morning. He had just been there that day to pick up a fridge for his kid. When we arrived I gave him a good tip for giving me the information about the fridge (total cost $20... yeah it was a long trip).
At the hotel I got a little nervous because the people in front of me had to show their credit card in order to check in. The sign also said that I must have a credit card to check in. So I got really anxious while waiting, worried that I wouldn't be able to get my room since I don't actually have a credit card. Fortunately they accepted my drivers license and a deposit of $25 (which I got back on check out) instead of a credit card. What was bad about the hotel was that the room I had was intended for people with cars to park their car right outside their room. So it was far away from the front desk. Tired and weary from the flight I had to drag my two suitcases (together weighing 34 kg aka ~75 lb) all the way to the room.
Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011
Next morning I woke up at 6:30 am, got ready, and called a taxi to my residence ($15). I checked in, got my keys, and quickly dropped off my suitcases in my room before heading out again. Taxi again to WalMart ($18). Once there I located the fridge but could see no way for me to get it to the front counter. I asked someone to help me and he called someone on his walkie-talkie and told me to go and wait at the fridges and someone would come. I waited and waited but no one came. So I went and asked someone else. This woman called the front to ask for someone to help me. They said they had one up front that I could just buy there but I declined because that one didn't have a freezer section. I had found the one I wanted and I wanted THAT one. The lady informed me that it was too early in the morning so the people whose job it is to help me weren't there yet. By this point I was pretty angry and decided I'd just do it myself. First I picked up 4 cases of water, detergent, and other stuff I needed, then I got another cart and went to the fridges again but it was quickly obvious that I would never be able to put that thing in the cart by myself. So I just dragged it. I didn't care how ridiculous I looked walking backwards while dragging a fridge across the floor of WalMart. I wanted that fridge and if the people at Walmart were so incompetent I'll do it myself. Then at the counter the cashier asked me how in the world I was going to drag that out of Walmart. I said, "well I had to DRAG it here, I guess I'll drag it out too. I asked TWICE for someone to come help me and they told me that no one was available." So he called someone to bring a cart over (which took 5 minutes)... the kind that just has a base and wheels. He loaded it on and wheeled it out for me as well. He also apologized on behalf of Walmart. So I guess in the end it all comes down to WHO you ask. Funny thing is, he looked young. Maybe around my age. The other people I asked were much older. You'd think the young ones would shirk work–that's the stereotype anyways.
So I call Amey's Taxi and requested a van. The woman was really condescending and arrogant. She asked me in a really annoyed tone, "what do you need a VAN for?" After the walmart ordeal I wasn't in the mood to take any more shit from stupid workers so I replied, "I need to move a FUCKING FRIDGE." She simply said "okay" and hung up. The taxi took a long time but it did come. While I was waiting, the taxi driver who had advised me drove by. He stopped to say, "so I see you got your fridge!" at which point I thanked him again for the advice. The oversize luggage cost extra so the trip back to res was $25. So I spent a total of $78 on taxis that trip. I think I'm going to switch taxi company to Modern Taxi Service in the future instead of Amey's. This wasn't the first time I got a really disrespectful dispatcher from Amey's.
I got one of the residence Dons to watch my fridge while I took the 4 packs of water and other things up to my room. Unfortunately, for the sake of less clutter, they were not allowing people to ride the elevators down. You could only ride the elevators that day if you had luggage to carry up. So I had to run down 7 flights of stairs (twice that day since I went down it before when dropping off the suit cases) to get my fridge. Luckily they had good carts for me to load the fridge on. So I get it to my room, unpack it, move my desk over to make room, and put the fridge in its place. Unfortunately, there's something wrong with this fridge. One of the legs is missing. It's supposed to have two supporting legs in the front so it's even all around, but it's missing one on the right side. At this point, to be completely honest, I don't care. After all that hassle to get this fridge, I am not about to go and exchange the damn thing. So now I have a handicap fridge but it works great so I'm happy. Maybe with the warranty I can get Danby (the fridge company) to send me a leg part. All I know is, I'm not going to move that fridge again for a long time. I was exhausted after all that.
At around 6:30 I tried to go to dinner. I walked all the way to Leonard Cafeteria only to remember that the cafeterias are always closed for Sunday dinners. So from there I walk to burger king. There they gave my Tendergrill burger away to a drive through customer. The new one they made for me was burnt. The fries tasted like cardboard. While I was walking back to res, I passed by Metro (grocery store) so I decided to go in. I bought milk, cereal, and granola bars. The walk home from then on was very tiring. Not only was I carrying a 2L carton of milk, I was already tired from an early morning, suitcase dragging, water pack lifting (4 packs, moved 6 times), dragging a fridge, unpacking a fridge, and moving desk and fridge. So the walk home seemed like an eternity. Then I realized that I forgot my front door key. Meaning I had no way of getting back inside the building. Thankfully, unlike my first year here, my res building has a front desk that always has someone there. I knocked on the door and explained that I forgot my key. I was so glad to get back to my room and just lie down.
I didn't unpack at all that day. I was much too tired.
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