Off on Vacation

Another hectic week with neglect to my blog. This is going to happen for about another week as I disappear for a while to visit my friend Erin. I look forward to catching up on what everyone else's stories when I get back as well as sharing my own adventures including (but not limited to) my trip and how I (nearly) got scammed.

See you guys when I return.

Uhhh.... Oops?

I've been really bad for not only commenting lately but I've also been posting blog posts late. I've been busy, stupidly busy. There have been days where I just get home and then I fall asleep because I'm that tired.

Job interview, convocation, lots of potential (and work) for 2 projects of mine, preparations for visiting Erin, and then the daily nonsense that we put up with. It's been hectic but I hope it all pays off.

I'm hoping to have a proper update before I disappear at the end of this week, but I don't expect to be posting too much in Vancouver.

Instead, I hope to be eating a lot of sushi.

Convocation

It's hard to believe it. But I'm finally convocating. Well, not right now but pretty soon. Beginning of June pretty soon. After all these years, the course mishaps and delays, the sleepless nights, the stupid debt, and unhealthy stress, its come down to this moment. This was what it was all for.

A piece of paper that says I have achieved an undergraduate degree Specializing in Psychology.

Go me?

I've made a few mistakes already. For example, I didn't realize that there was a deadline for renting a gown and cap. I fired off an email to see what could be done. And turns out I was able to get it at the bookstore on Campus with barely any a hassle on my end.

I also grabbed the convocation package which has information, my parchment, name tag, and guest tickets. I get 2 tickets so obviously my parents get one each. I get to keep the little hat, but the gown and hood gets returned.

These rental people must make a ton of money. Seriously, $40 per person with over 6000 people is over $24000 in just 2 weeks is ridiculous. Plus, they just re-use the gowns next year.

Close enough.

So convocation morning finally arrives. It's pouring rain. Everyone else got nice sunny days but I get pouring rain. I'm actually ok with this, I hate the sun, it burns my skin. Plus, the people who convocated in the afternoon got heavy rain storms.

So I sat, in my seat for about 2 and a half hours, listening to speeches, waiting for every one of the graduates to get their hand shaken by some people, more speeches, fairly boring.

And then my fellow Psych graduate shares an interesting story with me. Flashback, about 2 years ago. I'm struggling to try and apply to an internship program but didn't get in due to being over the credit limit.

The following year, my Psych friend goes through the same routine. Failed to get in the previous year, tried to get in again, gets approval from the dean, other coordinators, etc. etc..

 And the stupid cow let him in. He got an internship.

I need to flip something in my rage.

So, I guess this petty coordinator just didn't like me and directly tried to screw me over. I'm pretty disgruntled right now. I'm not going to let this stand, I'm hoping I can find some indirect way to get back at this woman.

Not happy with her actions at all.

Still! I convocated, the reception afterwards had some decent food. I'm fairly happy (asides from learning about the treacherous coordinator) and I should be proud.

Now let's hope I can get a good job.

More Medical Tests

Well, it's about time I started getting the medical tests done. I've been putting them off for way too long. It's been over two months since I've gone and seen the specialist so maybe it's about time I do something.

I would have done it sooner, but I've been busy and lazy.

My computer has a vice-like grip on me.

First on the list was the blood tests. I don't mind needles too much, except when the people sticking them in me are terrible at their jobs. I have massive veins, they have been described as "you could drive a truck through them". So if you can't get the needle in on the first try, you probably should get a new job.

This applies to the terrible nurses I had when I had surgery in the hospital, and some technician at some other clinic drawing blood for some tests.

Luckily I got someone good and after drawing 7 tubes worth of blood from me I was allowed to waddle off to the bathroom to urinate in a cup. Yep, turns out I needed a urine test too.

Yay.

An x-ray clinic was above the clinic where I got a blood test and I have some time left over so I took the elevator up to get my x-rays too. I laid down on a hard, cold metal bed which was exceptionally uncomfortable because I'm way too thin. My hip bones kept me balanced at the price of bruises.

I understood why they needed to take different photos of my lungs, but I'm not sure why they needed spinal x-rays too. Luckily it didn't take too long and I was off on my way.

But that leaves one last thing, the genetic test questionnaire. Started off good, just personal information, nothing I can't answer.

And then the questionnaire needed me to start gathering information about my family members and extended family members.

I barely know anything about my Dad's side of the family.

Some of you will wonder why this is an issue for me. How hard is it to ask your parents for some information? Any of my regular readers will recall that my parents have no idea that I've been visiting the doctors and getting these tests for over a year now.

To approach them with this genetic test questions would finally reveal all of this. And again, some of you will wonder why this is a problem. Simply put, my parents would start worrying nonstop. There's no proof that I have any of these medical issues but there's no point in having them worry unnecessarily while I wait for the results.

Also, as I've gotten older, I've begun to hate the "interrogations" that I get from my parents. They might mean well, but I they're not helpful to me or them. When I got the call from Recruiter B the other week my Mother began questioning me nonstop, asking why I would be even interested in a "marketing" job, would be as "lowly" as my other marketing job, how much did it pay, didn't I want to be a psychiatrist at one point, why didn't they contact you sooner, etc. etc..

This is exactly why I don't share details of my life with my parents anymore. If something bad happens, they won't know about it. If something good happens, they can't really bombard me or question my decisions.

You might care a lot, but the way you're showing it isn't the greatest.

So I need to find a clever way of either getting information or completely forgoing the genetic test. The chances of me having Marfan's is pretty slim already so maybe I can just ignore this.

I've also booked another appointment with a sleep clinic. I'm going to get another sleep study done sometime in July after my little trip to Vancouver. I want something more conclusive as to how bad my sleep apnea is.

Happy Birthday to me

It's my birthday. Yay. At the ripe age of 23 I am slowly working my way to being a full-fledged adult. Whatever that means. I expect it to be a quiet affair. Nothing fancy or loud. I know some people like going to a club, and inviting everyone they know, and the laugh and drink and post all the photos of it on Facebook.

Not for me.

 I'd rather sit at home with alcohol that isn't overpriced and judge you.

My family got me a few gifts, I might get one or two things from a few friends and that's about it. I don't have a girlfriend anymore so I don't expect anyone to make a big deal about it. Few people will remember and even fewer people will be able to remind them.

Facebook has a feature that announces your birthday to the world which I have handily disabled. However, this doesn't stop people from saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" all over your wall. So I've taken the liberty of disabling my wall for the entire 24 hour affair.

I just find the entire process incredibly insincere. You haven't said a word to me in months, maybe years, and suddenly here you are telling my to have a happy birthday and that we should be meet up (which we will never do).

I don't even know what I have you as a friend anymore.

So anyone who wants to wish me a happy birthday will have to find a different medium to do so. And I'm fine with that. It's nice to know who is actually a close friend and who is just a mere acquaintance.

I'm keeping this post short because it's my birthday. I'll see you guys later.

Projects Update

Current debt: $11,500

Last month was a bit disappointing. Despite all the additional time I had I wasn't able to make as large of a dent as I would have liked in all my projects. I guess I'm also trying to balance work, meeting up with people, and job hunting at the same time.

Still, some progress was made. Again, it's not as much as I would have liked but I guess I can't complain. I've also managed to earn enough from my projects and job in the last month to reduce my debt by $1000. Slowly but surely.

Chipping away at it.

Project Pitch:

Guess what? I finally got feedback on the thing I submitted. After sitting in second level editorial for 5 months someone actually looked at it! And the feedback I received was....

Not interesting enough.

Ugh, fine. So I reworked it, and resubmitted it. In the meantime, I whipped up two more things. One of those has been ignored while the other got rejected for the same reason as my old submission. And then I'm told again that my resubmission still isn't interesting enough.

Not giving up though, I'm taking the feedback I've gotten and I'm about 75% ready to submit this thing for the 4th time.

Project Derp:

I hammered away at this, and got around 4000 words written last month. Things are picking up slowly but again, not as fast as I'd like. If this still hasn't garnered a fair bit of momentum after another 5000 words I've probably done something wrong at the beginning. Maybe I didn't do enough prior planning, maybe there was a way I could have been more efficient.

We'll have to see. Again, it shows glimmers of the final product, but I'm beginning to think that I could have done something better or more efficiently. Or maybe I should have powered through and just wrote more sooner.

Project Vegas:

May not need Project Derp to advance this frozen project. But I need a bit more research first.

Project Cold:

The marketing is going well. It's helping pay off my debt, especially when I'm usually able to make anywhere from triple if not quintuple minimum wage in a single evening. I just wish there were ways to do this more often and in longer stretches but people tend to be home during the evenings and weekends and that's what I have to limit myself to.

I mentioned that there was a phase 2 but perhaps it was only viable with my other manager. I'll wait a little longer, see if things develop and if not, it'll still make for a decent post.

Project Copy:

Starting to have a bit more motivation to continue this one. Especially since it may be job relevant in the near future.

Project Koi:

Not much on the dating front here. I managed to get one date with a girl but I think she only accepted because we knew one another from High School. The date was ok, she said she would be into a second date but that never happened.

I've sent messages to maybe another half a dozen people, about half of them responded, and only one woman is still frequently talking to me. I don't think I'll have much success with this but I'll still keep periodically checking just in case.

Also, Cheryl just messaged me again with "i miss uuuu" after a month of silence.

I am not responding.

Run.

Project Pandering:

I finally got all the necessary software, now it's just sitting down to re-learn things via Youtube tutorials. I'm kind of excited for this.

If anyone knows any good audio recording software or how to reduce static from a headset microphone that would be much appreciated.

Project Raven:

Two hold ups have occurred with this project. 1. They haven't released documents for the new term/year/semester/etc.. 2. If I get a job, I am probably disqualified.

So if I get any of the jobs I mentioned, I'll release details on Project Raven and some of you can try it yourself.


And that concludes last month's project progress. I'm really not sure how much work I'll get done on everything, especially considering how I'll be gone at the end of the month for a week and a half to visit Erin. I just booked the ticket so it's confirmed.

I am also ~$400 poorer.