(no subject)
There's something to be said about living in East Tennessee... too many damn ignorant republicans. *sigh* I don't know how many times I took for granted the social and political atmosphere in the North West, boy do I miss it. :(
Anyway, enough of that for now... with the panic surrounding hurricane Ike, and the news about several refineries in Texas closed in preparation for the storm, gas rose from $3.78 last Thursday up to $4.59 Friday... some gas stations in small towns were charging as much as $5.99 a gallon. Stations were out of gas for several days this past weekend... and some nefarious pump owners closed them down in hopes of gouging people on the price (sadly this worked). I filled up today for $3.99/gallon for unleaded (because everywhere was out of premium...needless to say I was pretty pissed off that I had to put regular in the tank). Sooooo ridiculous! All anyone could talk about on Friday and Saturday was the 'gas crisis', I heard all sorts of things like "we'll be out of gas for weeks!" and "I know somebody who hauls gasoline out of Knoxville and they said their reserve there is empty!"...dear god, word spreads fast in these small towns. It's unreal how quickly gossip turns to rumor, and then to truth. I've never experienced such a thing.
School is going well, just into the fourth week and I've got a couple tests. Anthropology is wonderful mostly because my professor is a hippie, and she more or less understands my mini-'culture shock' in coming here. My English prof. is the same way (she's a die hard Obama fan (yay!!!!)). I'm also taking a math, cultural geography, and history of Tennessee classes. My history teacher is such a blowhard, he's one of those guys who tries really hard to be likable, but also tries to be a smart ass. Needless to say, he doesn't impress me much, he's also recently finished his doctorates (I presume), because he likes to be addressed as "Dr. Lee". *barf*
Golly, that's one heck of a wall of text. Onward then to more!
For those of you who don't know, Daniel's mother is a DVM, so I work at her veterinary hospital as a receptionist. It's educational to say the least... I went from working at a preschool where you always try to find the good in things (I mean, it's a really inspirational type job) to one where you often have to question motives and such. On top of frequently wondering if someone will have the money to pay for whatever they need done for their animal, you have to try to get them to tell you the truth about the symptoms. It's tiring.. Oh well, I enjoy it thus far, and I now know waaaaaaaay too much about cats and dogs. (Is that a good thing?)
Anyway, how are you guys who made it through my ramblings? I try to keep up with what's posted, but I've been known to miss some things... Have classes started for those of you still in school? If you're not in school, how's work? (You don't really have to answer, but I did ask because I'm curious... not just because I'm trying to be courteous.)
Anyway, enough of that for now... with the panic surrounding hurricane Ike, and the news about several refineries in Texas closed in preparation for the storm, gas rose from $3.78 last Thursday up to $4.59 Friday... some gas stations in small towns were charging as much as $5.99 a gallon. Stations were out of gas for several days this past weekend... and some nefarious pump owners closed them down in hopes of gouging people on the price (sadly this worked). I filled up today for $3.99/gallon for unleaded (because everywhere was out of premium...needless to say I was pretty pissed off that I had to put regular in the tank). Sooooo ridiculous! All anyone could talk about on Friday and Saturday was the 'gas crisis', I heard all sorts of things like "we'll be out of gas for weeks!" and "I know somebody who hauls gasoline out of Knoxville and they said their reserve there is empty!"...dear god, word spreads fast in these small towns. It's unreal how quickly gossip turns to rumor, and then to truth. I've never experienced such a thing.
School is going well, just into the fourth week and I've got a couple tests. Anthropology is wonderful mostly because my professor is a hippie, and she more or less understands my mini-'culture shock' in coming here. My English prof. is the same way (she's a die hard Obama fan (yay!!!!)). I'm also taking a math, cultural geography, and history of Tennessee classes. My history teacher is such a blowhard, he's one of those guys who tries really hard to be likable, but also tries to be a smart ass. Needless to say, he doesn't impress me much, he's also recently finished his doctorates (I presume), because he likes to be addressed as "Dr. Lee". *barf*
Golly, that's one heck of a wall of text. Onward then to more!
For those of you who don't know, Daniel's mother is a DVM, so I work at her veterinary hospital as a receptionist. It's educational to say the least... I went from working at a preschool where you always try to find the good in things (I mean, it's a really inspirational type job) to one where you often have to question motives and such. On top of frequently wondering if someone will have the money to pay for whatever they need done for their animal, you have to try to get them to tell you the truth about the symptoms. It's tiring.. Oh well, I enjoy it thus far, and I now know waaaaaaaay too much about cats and dogs. (Is that a good thing?)
Anyway, how are you guys who made it through my ramblings? I try to keep up with what's posted, but I've been known to miss some things... Have classes started for those of you still in school? If you're not in school, how's work? (You don't really have to answer, but I did ask because I'm curious... not just because I'm trying to be courteous.)