The last night...
Well, tonight is the last night I will ever be on duty as an RA at UML. It's also the last night I'll ever have to fight for the washers and dryers with Lowell Spinners. I wouldn't mind it if I didn't have to fight for space, but oh well. Everything has made it to the dryer now, so I'm in good shape. The room is pretty much packed up and ready to go. I only have a few loose items left to organize to complete the move on Tuesday. Out of Donahue (again), down to South (again). Concordia isn't the ideal, hell its the bottom of the barrell, but when you aren't paying for something - you don't have much bargaining power. I still have an office that will be bigger than my residence. I've been told to just put a cot in there... a tempting idea!
Oh well... transition is all a part of life I've found. And I can definitely attest to much transition in my life. St. C's to North was perhaps the toughest transition I ever made in my life, but one I am definitely a stronger person for. And in light of the friendships made during that time that have endured, I could never wish that life went differently at that time. The transition from school to work was kind of tough, but necessity has a way of pushing you through a transitory time without being able to worry about it so much. It was much tougher to decide and ultimately make steps toward and complete going back to school. All these transitions in such a short life. Now it's transitioning out of certain roles here at UMass Lowell, and into new ones. Ultimately I think I have more responsibilities now, and I guess having school as well as room and board paid for is good - but somehow the tangible room demotion feels like a slight. Maybe it's my pride, I don't know. One thing is for sure, no plumbing in my room means I won't have to deal with a lake forming in my room like I have now. You'd think that a week of asking for something to be taken care of that can cause mold and other issues would get more attention, but alas the answer from Res Life has been to wet vac it once, and leave the problem to grow some more. Nothing like the bandaid approach - why fix the actual problem if you can hide the symptoms? Oh yeah - the symptoms come back. Oh well, only 3 more days of that issue, regardless.
So it's been a couple days... I should look back and comment/reflect.
Friday was supposed to be that day I worked for an hour and took time off. It turned into that day I worked for 4 hours, then came back and did some more. I can see how the first few weeks of the semester are really going to be longer hours than I am supposed to keep, but I really can't see this job requiring more than 10 hours per week once things are settled. I figure it will all settle out so I'm square with the hours I put in and what they pay me. A side job would still be nice... and extra money could be useful if I need to get a new car or have other large expenditures to make in the next year. I am not sure if the added cash will be worth the loss of my time further though. I do need to figure it out soon though, if I just wait then I will just watch my decision fly out the window for lack of action.
So once I did get away from work Friday, I managed to run to the store for some things I needed, get home, and was just stepping out of the shower when Coll got here. I felt bad b/c it took me a minute to throw clothes on while she waited at the outer doors (stupid dorms). Oh well... we got dinner at the Dubliner (an Irish pub here in Lowell) then hit Boardinghouse Park for the Gaelic Storm show. The show was a lot of fun, the wedding that preceded it was an odd event (we just can't get away from weddings it seems!) and the band had some technical difficulties, but the show was fun anyway. It wasn't quite the same as their usual shows because usually they're drinking on stage and with the crowd. This was a "family friendly" event outdoors, so they had bottled water instead. Not quite the same effect as alcohol, but what can you do. Coll was able to stick around for a little while after the show, but it sucked when she had to go. It's expected for people to have other committments and places to be, but it doesn't make it any less unpleasant to watch people leave when you want them to stay. I guess that's just another part of life.
Haha - So things could apparently be worse - sounds like North campus has a power outage and people can't get into their buildings, much less ramble into an online journal. I guess Lake Donahue here isn't so bad. But it is kind of. Just another reminder there are people in the world better off than you, and those that are worse off. I'll count my blessings... right now I have a big one to count. Along with that counting I'll continue to count the hours until she can get back here to visit. ;-) And now I listen to an old prom theme... we were both there, but not with each other. That was my fault... I think I'm making up for it now. I'm glad past mistakes can be atoned for!
Oh well... transition is all a part of life I've found. And I can definitely attest to much transition in my life. St. C's to North was perhaps the toughest transition I ever made in my life, but one I am definitely a stronger person for. And in light of the friendships made during that time that have endured, I could never wish that life went differently at that time. The transition from school to work was kind of tough, but necessity has a way of pushing you through a transitory time without being able to worry about it so much. It was much tougher to decide and ultimately make steps toward and complete going back to school. All these transitions in such a short life. Now it's transitioning out of certain roles here at UMass Lowell, and into new ones. Ultimately I think I have more responsibilities now, and I guess having school as well as room and board paid for is good - but somehow the tangible room demotion feels like a slight. Maybe it's my pride, I don't know. One thing is for sure, no plumbing in my room means I won't have to deal with a lake forming in my room like I have now. You'd think that a week of asking for something to be taken care of that can cause mold and other issues would get more attention, but alas the answer from Res Life has been to wet vac it once, and leave the problem to grow some more. Nothing like the bandaid approach - why fix the actual problem if you can hide the symptoms? Oh yeah - the symptoms come back. Oh well, only 3 more days of that issue, regardless.
So it's been a couple days... I should look back and comment/reflect.
Friday was supposed to be that day I worked for an hour and took time off. It turned into that day I worked for 4 hours, then came back and did some more. I can see how the first few weeks of the semester are really going to be longer hours than I am supposed to keep, but I really can't see this job requiring more than 10 hours per week once things are settled. I figure it will all settle out so I'm square with the hours I put in and what they pay me. A side job would still be nice... and extra money could be useful if I need to get a new car or have other large expenditures to make in the next year. I am not sure if the added cash will be worth the loss of my time further though. I do need to figure it out soon though, if I just wait then I will just watch my decision fly out the window for lack of action.
So once I did get away from work Friday, I managed to run to the store for some things I needed, get home, and was just stepping out of the shower when Coll got here. I felt bad b/c it took me a minute to throw clothes on while she waited at the outer doors (stupid dorms). Oh well... we got dinner at the Dubliner (an Irish pub here in Lowell) then hit Boardinghouse Park for the Gaelic Storm show. The show was a lot of fun, the wedding that preceded it was an odd event (we just can't get away from weddings it seems!) and the band had some technical difficulties, but the show was fun anyway. It wasn't quite the same as their usual shows because usually they're drinking on stage and with the crowd. This was a "family friendly" event outdoors, so they had bottled water instead. Not quite the same effect as alcohol, but what can you do. Coll was able to stick around for a little while after the show, but it sucked when she had to go. It's expected for people to have other committments and places to be, but it doesn't make it any less unpleasant to watch people leave when you want them to stay. I guess that's just another part of life.
Haha - So things could apparently be worse - sounds like North campus has a power outage and people can't get into their buildings, much less ramble into an online journal. I guess Lake Donahue here isn't so bad. But it is kind of. Just another reminder there are people in the world better off than you, and those that are worse off. I'll count my blessings... right now I have a big one to count. Along with that counting I'll continue to count the hours until she can get back here to visit. ;-) And now I listen to an old prom theme... we were both there, but not with each other. That was my fault... I think I'm making up for it now. I'm glad past mistakes can be atoned for!