(no subject)
Friday was so much fun! XD It had a bit of a rough start since I, uh, kind of sort of, um. Slept right through my first class... e_e; I didn't even hear my alarm go off, which I distinctly recall setting for 6 AM... After I have an alarm clock for too long, (in this case, my cell phone,) I tend to just turn it off without being jarred awake. Especially if I'm in the middle of a dream. AND THERE'S A LOT OF KEY STROKES INVOLVED IN TURNING IT OFF! I don't know how I managed to do it! Anyway, if I'm ever rendered a comatose vegetable and my family's thinking of pulling the plug, just do me a favor and set off one of my old alarm clocks next to me. I probably wouldn't wake up, but the complex activity of turning it off might give my parents second thoughts and buy me some time. XD
Anyway! On to the fun parts!
Horsies!! I got to ride a horse named Nash. His coat is so soft! It feels just like puppy fur! =O Since his skin's really sensitive, I groomed him with just my hands and a soft brush. He was so stubborn! Riding horses isn't easy when they don't want to be ridden.
On the way to the stables, this girl, Bitsy, who works there and drives the van to and from the campus, mentioned that she was having a conflict with covering another girl's shift at the stable (due to a family emergency) and plans she'd made for later that night. She had made plans to play in a concert at a place that she hadn't been to in a long time and was feeling really beaten up over the prospect of canceling since it was less than likely that she'd get another chance to play there and she didn't want to disappoint the people that were expecting her. She was trying to be a good sport and suck it up, but she was visibly upset, so I was like, "I'll cover the shift for you! =D" despite having minimal knowledge of horsie care. I'd always wanted to try that kind of work and Bitsy's a cool chick so I figured it'd be a positive experience.
She seemed excited, yet guilty for asking me to help, but I eventually convinced her to let me do it. She wasn't sure if her boss would let me work because she was in a bad mood or something. We exchanged numbers just in case and went about own respective business once class began. (I think I'm getting worse at riding. xD Or maybe Nash was just being a tremendous brat.) Our professor drove us back to the campus so I didn't get a chance to talk to Bitsy again until after the class after ours was done, about four hours later.
In the meanwhile, I did some half-assed lab time and sought out a good climbing tree along a stream that runs along the Eastern edge of campus. (I haven't found a good one yet... But I'll find one eventually. <3 And it'll be the mother of all climbing trees! And lesser climbing trees will tremble and bow before it... o_o;) I may not have found a climbing tree, but I DID find a relatively clean disused shed that I might claim as my own if I should decide to be homeless during nice weather. XD
Bitsy called me at a perfect moment while I was straddled between two stepping stones in the middle of the stream. XD We made arrangements to rendezvous at the East Gym as she was letting the the second group of students off there and drive back to the stables together. It was convenient because another girl, Barbara had stayed to help too and she had a car. So that meant I had a ride home. <3
Bitsy turned out to be a lot more interesting than the sweet girl I'd initially taken her for. We talked on the drive back, and she was telling me that she'd come from a family that wasn't quite Amish, but almost. She'd been home schooled and very sheltered and isolated from birth and basically had no human contact outside of her family. Girls in her family weren't allowed to wear pants or jewelry or make-up and they were always accompanied everywhere with a parent. Now she lives alone with her many cats in a trailer adjacent to the stables and frequently wears pants. And it seems as if she doesn't have much contact with her family anymore. She said that with the tremendous changes in her life, she hopes that she's become more normal than she was. I told her that she seemed "like a well-rounded person, whatever that is," which made her smile.
The next couple of hours were spent running around like a maniac, chasing horses and bringing them from the pastures to their stalls, hauling buckets of water this way and that, sweeping up and petting the various cats and dogs (and horses, obviously) that were around the stable. One of Bitsy's cats (a female black cat, whose name I can't seem to recall) was being very silly by walking into the stable, meowing for attention, then running away as soon as we approached. She did this many times and each time, either me or Bitsy or both of us would chase after her with the intent to pet. Eventually, the cat just came right up to me and nuzzled. XD Skittish little thing... So cute. Oh, and there was this GIGANTIC doberman. He was rock-solid muscle and looked like he must have weighed at least 150 pounds. He was a sweetie too. He kinda just chose convenient places to stand where people would have no choice to notice him and pet him. <3 There were two other dogs, too. A medium-sized black dog and a little Ein-doggie. (corgi? I don't know how to spell the breed... help, Kiera or Sempai.)
We were mostly finished filling the horses' water buckets when Bitsy had to leave to get ready to go. The sun was lower in the sky a that point. I gave her a hug good bye and she said to come back or call any time since I have her number. And then she ran (more of a trot, actually) off in the direction of her trailer, and as she went, various cats emerged from the bushes and ran after her in a line. xD It was like something out of a Miyazaki film. I guess she made it on time. I'll call her and ask how it went sometime this week.
Oh, yeah. By the way. MY ENTIRE BODY HURTS NOW! xD I'm not used to work! But at the same time, it feels really good. I'll probably be sore for a few more days, but that's okay so long as I'm better again by Friday so I can start the process all over again! There's something satisfying about getting all smelly and dirty and sweaty and performing hard labor that can't be had by sitting at a desk. (Maybe the endorphins... xD) Anyway, totally worth it.
CAR DRAMA GALORE!! Battery was stone-cold-dead again. Cheuk jumped it after a considerable share of bitching. (Dear GOD, that guy can bitch)
Example:
Cheuk: "I want my steering wheel lock back." (He lent it to me back in Uniondale)
Me: (jokingly) "How about we trade? You can have it if you jump my battery =D"
Cheuk: -Stares dumbfounded for about five seconds with a sneer on his face (god, that face pisses me off...)- "It belongs to me. Why should I?"
So anyway, he finally did it with an attitude like I pulling out his teeth or something, and I let the engine run for a little bit so the alternator could charge the battery. I turned off the engine, then started it again to see if it would work. It did. Splendid.
I decided to give Kyoko-san (that's what I named my car) a good washing and she came out all gleaming and sparkly-clean. After that, I intended to take her for a drive to charge the battery some more. So I adjusted my seat, put the key in the ignition, stepped on the clutch and turned the key... The starter made a faint garbled whirring sound, followed by some rapid clicking... And completely failed to start the engine. Successive attempts were decreasingly successful. So the battery at that point was almost-dead... But not dead enough to keep the alarm from going off every time I closed the door, but too dead to turn it off again. xD The only way to turn off the alarm was to unlock the door with the key and open it... But if I closed it, the shock would trigger the alarm to go off again! Oh my, fun times.
Since I was stuck until I could get someone to jump the battery AGAIN, I decided to call my dad and ask for advise. I popped the hood and he told me a few things to look for, like corrosion on the battery terminals and whether the belt that ran from the engine to the alternator looked loose. The battery didn't have a single speck of corrosion and the belt was as snug as an emo kid's pants. My guess is that the combination of the cold weather and not driving has sapped the battery. I'll probably end up getting a new one when I get the state inspection done. (Which I've been putting off, ha-haa...xD)
SO! Cheuk ended up coming back with one of his friends he's teaching to drive. Probably more for demonstration purposes than for my sake, but whatever. He jumped the battery, they chatted in Cantonese for a while and then they left. Soon after, I went on a little adventure. >w< I drove all by myself for the first time! And despite my anxiety, driving stick really is just like riding a bike. I thought I'd end up panicking, but driving immediately felt really natural again. With no precise destination in mind, I went off past the campus and got lost somewhere in the sticks. XD Thanks to my awesome sense of direction, I found the main road after not-too-long. I made a few mistakes, like over-shooting on a particularly steep hill and screeching the tires, stalling two or three times and mis-shifting into 2nd instead of 4th, which was kind of scary. But I put an extra 40 miles on the odometer and for me, I did pretty good. (although any experienced driver would tell you otherwise.)
Cheuk was back before I was, so I asked him to help me park (parking in our driveway involves this awkward half-circle maneuver and then driving down the hill backwards while avoiding the first-floor-guy's truck, which I just don't get...), but he was being a wise-ass and said with sarcasm that he might grind my first gear if he tried (WHICH HE HAS FUCKING DONE NUMEROUS TIMES! I mentioned it to him a couple times and asked him to please be more careful, but he's incapable of admitting that it's at all conceivable for him to do anything wrong, so it's instantly my fault in his defense. And that is BAD for the transmission. Fuckhead.). I said to just be careful and that he'd mainly be using Reverse anyway. He retorted, "well, First and Reverse are the same,[which isn't true] so I might grind Reverse instead. [which just doesn't make sense]" He just wanted to torture me because in his mind it was just ludicrous and plain wrong of me to cause him insult by calling him on a potentially costly error he persistently made and that it in no way reflected on him, so I was just being an idiot or something. (-seethes-) He stood there watching my unsuccessful attempts until finally, he tapped on the window and said he'd do it. Instead of giving me tips, like he would for his friend, he deliberately did it too fast for me to follow, parked and proceeded to make sure I felt sufficiently inadequate. I guess that was revenge or something. I have no fucking clue. I mean, sure, he won't always be able to help me, but COME ON, it was my first attempt.
When he stood up and got out, I noticed there were little bits of leaves on the seat and asked if his pants were dirty or something. That made him mad and he attempted to lecture me on the fact that he doesn't sit on the ground (because he isn't filthy and barbaric like me -rolls eyes-), but I'd had enough and admonished him, saying "You get so angry over things of little consequence. The world is big; find something more important to get upset about." He took a breath as if to say something and then changed to subject to the fact that I hadn't taken the keys out of the ignition yet. I cut him off, saying that I wasn't ready to and he walked away. He and his friend left to somewhere and I sat and listened to Initial D music and watched the clouds through the windshield and sun-roof. I reflected on my little drive and it felt good.
And just for your amusement, another idiotic moment in the life of Cheuk:
Cheuk: "Did you finish the potato chips last night?"
Me: "Yeah."
Cheuk: "Okay."
Me: "Hmm?"
Cheuk: "Well, I didn't really get the chance to have ANY." (Those chips had been there for weeks. Ya snooze, ya lose, pal...)
Me: "Oh. I'll buy some more tomorrow and if you get hungry, you're welcome to some."
Cheuk: "Unlike you, I don't eat potato chips when I'm hungry..." (famous I'm-better-than-you sneer)
Me: "You eat when you're -not- hungry?"
Cheuk: "I only eat chips sometimes when I'm watching a movie. Not for a meal." (Still looking generally disgusted and proudly displaying his bag of fried chicken)
Me: "Okay....... So then... You're welcome to some when you want to watch a movie, then....?"
Cheuk: "Sigh, forget it..."
Me: "Really, I don't mind sharing..."
Cheuk: "Nevermind..."
I'm not really sure what that was about, but I think he was getting a superiority complex over the fact that he went out and bought fast food and I'd made (damn good) nachos for dinner. Personally, I'd have difficulty keeping a straight face while raising some of the arguments he's completely serious about. I've gotten pretty good at guessing what his point is and avoiding it, which makes him even angrier. xD It also probably leads him to believe that I'm retarded or something, but he plays into it so easily. And the more frustrated he gets, the more he shuts up. Everyone wins!... Or something. I don't know. Alls I knows is I'm going to look into moving out. People who frequently throw tantrums aren't worth the effort.
Good night, minna-san! (it's 4:30 AM! XD When did that happen?)