The experiences and exploits of a college grad trying to make it in the "real world:" leaving school and friends in New England, moving south, and living with her boyfriend. Watch as I pretend to be an adult.
Well, it's been an interesting one, that's for sure.
I spent a good portion of Thursday night and Friday morning trying to figure out a way to get down to Raleigh before midnight. You see, Katie still had my car, Caroline didn't want to let me borrow hers, and taking the truck or suburban would have meant a huge gas bill (over $100) for the trip- so that was out. After much bickering, it was decided Katie would hurry back from her last class and bring my car back to me. Which meant I didn't set off for Raleigh until 6:30, but oh well. I got into Raleigh around 11 that night, and crashed until the next morning. Elija and I got up and spent a few hours apartment hunting, and then came back to do work. Later that night we went out for Indian and one of the most horribly decorated restaurants I've ever seen- it was truly garish. Three or four different shades of red competed for attention on the floor, tables, and walls, while old unlit christmass lights snaked over the walls and ceiling. It was super special. Fortunately the food was much better than the decor, and we had a very nice meal. Sunday we slept late and then both headed over to studio so Elija could work and I could finish putting up the Western Outlet. I still wasn't ready to leave Monday morning, so I stayed at the apartment and did some work while Elija went to class. We had a nice dinner after he got back, and then I packed up and headed back to Virginia. Or so I thought. About 30 miles out of Raleigh I stopped at a discount gas place to fill up my car. No sooner had I pulled out of the parking lot than my "check engine" light came on. Since I still had another 200 miles to go, there was no way I was going to drive 3 and a half hours in the dark with an iffy car, so I called my dad and told him what was going on, and said I'd head back to Raleigh and get the car checked out the next day. I got back into the city around 9, and went over to studio, where I knew Elija was working on a project. Unfortunately, he was in a different part of the building (I didn't know where at the time) so I decided to wait for him at his desk- since his stuff was still there, I figured he'd be back sooner or later. I was spending the time happily enough, listening to my ipod and reading- first my owners manuel, and then this great book by a guy who climbed Everest, but after about half an hour, one of Elija's classmates must have taken pity on me and came over to introduce himself. We talked for a few minutes, and he said Elija was probably in the shop or in another studio on the other side of the building, and then offered to walk me over. I declined at first, figuring Elija would be back pretty soon, but after another twenty minutes went by and Ryan offered again, I gave in. I walked into the other room and saw Elija working on his project with this incredibly sketchy guy named Frank. Fank is around 40, an undergraduate, has roots, and is altogether the sort of sweaty, swarmy guy I like to stay far, far away from. It turned out that the two of them had a lot more to do (thanks to Frank who hadn't been around to help Elija with it all weekend), and Elija couldn't leave any time soon. He gave me his key, and I went back to his place and talked online til I got sleepy and went to bed. Poor Elija didn't get home until 5 in the morning, but it turns out all that work was worth it- they won first prize in the little class building competition they were buiding the model for. Anyway, I spent Tuesday night in Raleigh after determining that my car wasn't going to blow up if I drove it back to Va, and left this morning. Maybe it was a case of Hump Day idiocy, maybe a few too many people were celebrating 4/20, but the roads were TERRIBLE around DC. Worse than usual. Traffic, road work, and general stupidity added an extra 40 minutes onto my drive. Stupid bastards. Oh well, at least I'm home now. My next order of business is to pull out my summer clothes from the basement. Yay for warm weather!
What I'm listening to: Sublime, Two Joints
After 22 posted at 2:43 PM
