Wednesday, January 19, 2000
Today I got my first look at two more of my classes, math and english. Math is going to be pretty straightforward as far as I can tell, but english may prove to be a bit more interesting. You see, it's called college composition, but it's mostly about reading drama and poetry. Drama I can handle, but poetry and I just cannot stand. I don't know what it is about poetry, but something just irritates me when I try to read it. I don't have anything against poets, but it's just something I do not like one bit.
Naturally, half the class is revolving around poetry. Actually, the first part of the class is drama, which is something that I should be able to manage fairly well. Last year in high school, I did fairly well with drama and a couple of the plays that we'll be reading are plays that I'm already familiar with and should be no problem whatsoever. I'm not going to like the midterm, I'm sure, but I should be able to handle it.
The second part of the class is a term paper. A 6 to 8 page term paper to be precise. Before any of us could start panicking, my professor immediately said that it could be on a broad array of topics so that we don't get stuck. We'll have a ton of time to do it and it shouldn't be all that bad in reality. If writing is really a strong point of mine, then I should have no problem at all with this. If I get past the research part. Even that should be pretty simple.
The third part of the class is poetry, which my professor says will be easy, but poetry has never been easy for me. Maybe it's that I don't understand the way it's written. I just cannot grasp poetry the way some people can. I hate all the terms used to describe styles and form and all that junk. I get them so mixed up and end up getting so confused that it hurts. Really bad at times too. I just don't think it was meant for me to understand poets and their poetry. But who knows. Maybe this time I'll understand what the hell the poet's talking about.
Fallout from the visit from our district manager became evident today. Aaron, who incensed us all with his stupidity and complete lack of any work ethic, is being written up for dress code violations and for wasting our time. I also reminded Lenny of Aaron's little prank while the DM was in the back office. In case you don't know, Aaron got onto line one on our phone and dialed line four, then pretended to be someone who was looking for a price on Viagra. It seems like a pretty silly thing, and it is. However, our DM does not tolerate those things. If he had chosen to answer the phone at that time, Aaron would almost certainly be fired on the spot.
Aaron's also in trouble for not really getting anything done last night either. With a cigarette inventory to finish, there was no way we could afford him just standing around. Yet that's all he did all night. When he did work on it, he screwed it up. I finally ended up taking it from him and finishing it myself. Although today I found out that it was a good thing that I didn't enter the counts into the computer because the screen was different from what actually printed. On the price change, it went carton-pack. In the computer, it went pack-carton. It would have been a huge mess.
I do have to say that I'm relieved that there were no shortages in the registers last night either. If there had been, I would have throttled Aaron. Then again, I might just do so anyway. The main result of his actions are that he's not going to go back out on the floor again. It's not worth it because nothing gets done. Hell, if I have to deal with Aaron again, I might go nuts.
I finally received my vision benefits yesterday. Considering I didn't even know that I had vision benefits, this comes as a pleasant surprise since I do need to get a better pair of glasses than the ones I have right now. My vision isn't the best and it has shown at times, especially at school. So I'm going to have an appointment set up in the next week or so to get my eyes checked and to get a new pair of glasses.
God knows I'll need them in math. My teacher not only writes small on a blackboard that's far away, but she writes lightly as well. I'm going to need all the help I can get.
Someone's making a fortune on books right now. With the cost of books for school, publishers have to be millionaires right now. Used books are expensive enough, so I don't even want to look at the price of a new book. I thought I could get away with using the same math book I had last year, but someone decided to be cute and change them or something. It's either that or my teacher doesn't use the same book as everyone else. Either way, I may have to get the right book.
I'm also going to need a history book and three books for english. Shit, if tuition doesn't put you in debt, the books will. It's amazing how much colleges charge for you to get an education in this world. It's probably not going to get much better anytime soon either. I just love having to think about student loans. Need debt? Go to school. It's guaranteed nowadays.
The search for a house continues. This time the house in question is up in Cleveland near where my aunt lives. It's a three story house with a basement and an upper floor that's more like a small apartment than an actual room. This has my mom excited because she thinks she can throw me up there since the room has a stove, a fridge, and a few other things in there as well. Hell, it has its own bathroom. Even though we haven't gotten the house yet, my mom was already talking of how it could be arranged to have a private landing go up to the upper floor to make it seem like my own place. Of course I'll be paying rent too.
However, I must caution that we can't get too optimistic about this place. The woman who owns it is asking for $69,900 for it while my mom's loan is good up to $60,000. The chances of us getting it are not good since my mom conceded that it's probably worth the asking price. The house has many things in it that are new, including a relatively new furnace, water heater, carpeting, and a brand new stove in the kitchen. The house also has air-conditioning, which would be a plus and is well-heated.
I'll admit that I was thinking ahead too, but we haven't actually bought it yet. It's very doubtful that we will, especially if she decides to put it on the market, where someone will surely pay her the asking price, if not more. We're hoping as much as possible. I really liked the way the house sounded and wouldn't mind living in it. I just hope that we get the break we deserve. If not, then we'll just have to keep looking.
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