random rambling

Well, another day. I went to the library this morning to work on one of my reading assignments. It took me about 90 minutes to get through 15 pages. Sheesh. Okay, well, the font was really small, too. Anyway, it was about Christopher Columbus and a bunch of other Spaniards and some Europeans going into the Bahamas and other places over here and the written language and some other stuff that wasn't very exciting. Then the next part I started was about creation stories of the Native Americans. Yeah, I got about a page into that this afternoon before I put it down so I could take a 30-minute nap before work.

It snowed again today. Big, wet flakes that didn't last an incredibly long time, but they stuck to my face and I had to keep wiping them off. The wind was harsh; I wished I would have taken something to keep my ears warm -- my coat doesn't have a hood. Too cold.

I made chai tea at breakfast. I just pulled hot water from the coffee pots and steeped it while I ate my blueberry bagel with peanut butter. I should have put a plate over the top of the cup; it wasn't too hot by the time I pulled the tea bag out, and I didn't heat the milk up in the microwave so it was lukewarm when I drank it. I plugged in my microwave here, but I'm afraid to use it because I just know I'll blow a fuse unless I unplug my fridge from my wall first.

Work was good. I stayed busy during cleaning at we were done around 7:15. Since it is Friday, only three lines were open so it was busy. 634 people came through C/D where I checked, I think. We ran out of spoons. Then we ran out of forks. Then some international student came through the line wanting to pay cash ($7 for dinner) with a $50 bill. I had the change (barely) but I had to give him $9 in quarters and all my ones and fives and a twenty. Oops. The manager came by later and I told him what happened and he said he could have gotten me more change if I had found him and told him. Next time. The thing is, when you're checking, it's not easy to leave and go hunt down a manager when you need one, like when a huge group of Asian guys comes through and only half of their cards work. You know what they should do? They should put a button or two up there for me to push when I need someone. Maybe a green light in the office and somewhere else near the lines so a supervisor or manager can see when I need something like more silverware or something...and a red one when I need a manager because someone lost their card or I need cash or something urgent. They could have a big board of lights (probably like they have at nurses' stations at hospitals) so the management could see which line is calling and what level of urgency it is. They should also have a camera pointing at the bottom of the stairs and a little TV at the checker's stand or by the lines so that we can see how long the line is. Also, new Omni machines. Sure, they're holding in there, but they're old. Also, get some that accept credit cards and pop up the student ID picture on the screen because you know I don't look at everyone's card when I'm swiping and they could be using a stolen one. And they should put up a big yellow sign with the menu on it (maybe a digital one so we don't have to mess with chalk) because the chalkboard just isn't doing it. Out of 634 people, I probably had 200 of them say, "Is it the same in both lines?" Yes! It's the same in both lines except for Monday-Wednesday when C line is Chef's Table. And no, Willie Wok is only at lunch.

And they should get rid of those big clunky chairs at the round tables because they're so huge that we never put them up on the tables. And I don't know a single student who takes enough time to sweep under them. It probably gets pretty gross under there.

Anyway, enough about the Derb. I'm on an intramural basketball team -- yay! A Derb team. Oh yeah, that's all I was going to say about that. Anyway, it should be fun. I'm way out of shape when it comes to running. I think I can make most of my shots (at least when my legs aren't dead). I feel kind of bad because there's another girl I talked to about getting a team together and she said she doesn't think I'm allowed to be on two teams. And well, I told her I promised some of my coworkers I'd play with them. Anyway, I'm excited because it's always a good time. It'll be sad not having Erin around (and definitely not as funny) though.

I went to my Geography of the United States (GEOG500) class today for 20 minutes. It was crazy -- that class was like 80% guys. All of my classes in the last six semesters have been 80% girls. Anyway, our professor is a guy who wears jeans and a ball cap and says "hell" and "crap" and says it should be an easy class. Yay for easy 500-level classes. He made us all (probably 120 of us) fill out index cards with our info. and a random fact:

Alyssa Reeves
Junior
English major
Burlington
No, I've never taken a geography class before.
Random fact: I'm a triplet.

I ate lunch with Caleb today. I don't really know him except I saw him at the Derb last semester all the time and one Saturday morning he was one of the last guys to come through the line and I made him an omelet. He asked me if I went to Navs and then we introduced ourselves. He knows Jessica (my roommate) so when I got my lunch and was looking for a place to sit, he was the first person I saw whom I recognized. He asked me how my break was and I said it was kind of boring but I went to Missouri twice to see my sister. "She goes to..." "Southwest Baptist." "Springfield?" "Bolivar. She plays basketball." I told him they beat Emporia State. "How old is she?" "My age."

My triplet-conversation usually goes that way. I mention my sister and they ask how old she is. "My age." "Oh, twin?" "No, triplet. I have a brother." I kind of feel like I'm cheating using this fact when I meet people. It's not really something I've brought about myself; I was born that way. Like I feel I should have done something incredible enough in my life to talk about, you know? That might sound like bragging. "Oh yeah, when I was twelve I was the best tenor sax player in the state." (NOT true -- and who wants to hear that?) Everyone I've run into seems interested in my siblings.

Oh, Friday night. How I cannot wait until I am grown enough to not be expected to go out on Friday night. It's only 9pm and I just want to go to bed. I need to do laundry sooner than later, but no way am I walking through that lobby with a laundry basket. Idiot. People are out there playing Taboo. Sigh. I don't know what's up with these past few days but all I want to do is sleep. And that's basically all I have done. I've probably slept more of my free time than I've been awaken during it. I feel like I'm a horrible roommate. I hate that it's so hard for me to talk to people.

This is getting incredibly long; I'm kind of trying to make up for the days lately that I haven't written. I know I've got some loyal readers out there (why?) so here you go. A nice long one to last you the weekend. Three-day weekend, as a matter of fact. Monday morning I'm going to the zoo with my Bible study. It's going to be freezing. I'd rather spend $6 on three big cups of Radina's hot chocolate, but whatever. :-) Speaking of Radina's, I'm going next Wednesday to chat with my Japanese friend, Reiko. She's sweet. She went back to Japan over Christmas so I'm sure she can tell me all about it.

Wednesday is also my first Intro. to Shakespeare night class (7:05-9:55pm). I heard some guy behind me in Development of English Language say he was taking that class at night. I turned around to see he's a guy who took Intro. to Creative NF with me last semester. So, I kind of know him. I've read his writing, and that's kind of the same as knowing someone, right? Whoever reads this probably knows more of my thoughts and habits than anyone else. Anyway, there's someone I know in every one of my classes this semester except for Intro. to Personal and Family Finance (well, maybe there is but the room was packed when I got there and I sat down near the front and didn't turn around to survey the crowd).

I didn't think I'd have much homework after two days of classes. I actually got one assignment done today, but the rest of my classes are "read Chapter 1." "Read Chapter 1." "Read Chapters 1 and 2." "Read these pages..." So added up, it's a lot of reading and note-taking. I think the class I won't like is American Survey I because 10% of our grade is participation. I sucked at participating in Dean Hall's class last spring when there were only five of us. Now I'm packed in a room with 30 other people and he expects me to find a breath of air to get a word in? Sheesh. He starts off every class opening the floor to questions, so I'm counting on that to be my chance. It's easier to get participation by asking questions than hearing others' questions and trying to offer my own ideas on the subject.

I was almost late to that class yesterday. I went to E/CS (English/Counseling Services) instead of EH (Eisenhower). I had it written down wrong on my calendar. I was supposed to go to room 016. I've never been to a basement class before, but there were a ton of people standing in the hall. The room numbers went: 14, 15, 17, 18, 19... and I stood near everyone for about five minutes until they began shuffling into room 17. Some lady was sitting in her office with the door open and I asked her if she knew where room 16 was. She said she had no idea. I told her it was an English class, 381 actually, and she got on her computer and saw I was supposed to be in Eisenhower Hall. 11:28. Eisenhower, fortunately, is not on the other side of campus. It's really close and I sped-walked there until I found room 16 (weird, because there wasn't a window in the door) and the class was packed, of course. I knew my friend Natalie was in the same course, and it just worked out that I walked in and headed straight toward the back, saw her, and yay -- there was an empty desk right next to her. Sarah Beck is also in my class which is awesome.

All right, I'm rambling. Good night. Have a great weekend.