Month: February 2016

Quite The Adventure…

Posted on by sennajandy

Jesus christ, squadlings, do I have a story for you…

Yesterday, my dad and I were heading up north to visit some friends. I was going to be staying with my friend Hannah at her university, where I plan on transferring once I leave community college, and my dad was going to be staying with his friend Pete. We had been planning this for weeks.

Yeah, well, things change.

After driving about an hour and a half, guess what. The oil light on our car went on. According to my dad, you should never drive if your oil light is on.

So, my dad pulls over to the side of the damn interstate, and we get out to check the oil. Our car had low oil. Amazing. 

Seeing as the nearest gas station was about two miles behind us, my dad and I were in for a walk.

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Oh yes. This is actually a picture of my father walking alongside the interstate.

Have you ever walked next to a semi headed in your direction at 70 miles an hour? It’s not fun.

So, long story short, my dad and I get to the gas station after making our way through overgrown grass, piles of trash, and decomposing carcasses of roadkill long forgotten. Then, we buy some oil and head back outside.

We decided to try and hitch a ride back. Many people drove past us. I almost threw rocks at many cars. Finally, a nice lady in a Chevy Silverado pulled over and drove us back to our car. Bless her.

So here are my dad and I on the side of I-94, pouring oil through a paper funnel into our Chevy Tahoe. We pour the oil, and I turn the key. The car starts normally, and the oil light is off.

Huzzah, right? Wrong.

My dad and I get back on the road for about 20 seconds before the damn oil light goes off again. Then, the oil pressure light goes on.

Now, I have absolutely no understanding of anything related to cars. Ask my brother, he could tell you what that means. I have no clue. But according to my dad, IT’S VERY BAD.

My dad pulls over and says the dreaded words: “We’re going to have to call a tow truck.”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

So, we called roadside assistance and waited. Every single time a semi truck drove by (which was quite often), the car would shake. It’s not fun sitting in a dead stop while cars are swoopin’ past you at 70 miles an hour.

After waiting for a solid HOUR AND A HALF, a nice man named Alan rolled up in his giant tow truck to save us from the hell that is sitting on the shoulder of the interstate.

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*cries violently*

Alan The Tow Truck Man drives us to the auto repair shop, and guess what? THEY’RE CLOSED ON WEEKENDS.

Alan The Tow Truck Man drives us to another auto repair shop across town. They tell us they’re “too busy to help us, and the repair wouldn’t be started for three weeks.” HOW HELPFUL, THANK YOU. My dad says that was the first time he was ever rejected for an auto repair. By this point, my grandma had come to town to pick us up and drive us to our destination, which happens to be where she lives.

As friendly as he was, Alan The Tow Truck Man drives us TO ANOTHER TOWN TWENTY MINUTES AWAY to get us to another auto repair shop. Luckily, this rinky-dink town in the middle of nowhere took our dormant Chevy Tahoe under its wing, and will begin working on our repair, whatever it may be, on Monday.

 

Yes, we DID eventually reach our destination, about six hours after we thought we would. It was a good time, though. One of the shops my friend took me to had a dog in it.

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CRIES

So yes, our weekend was wild. Good times, my friends, good times.

Best Friend’s Birthday Surprise!

Posted on by sennajandy

Greetings, squadlings!

This past weekend was my best friend Erin’s 18th birthday. Whaddya know, Erin is also my cousin. That’s not the point, though.

Erin was in a play for her high school on her birthday. Little did she know, I’ve known about the date of her play for months. I’ve also had this plan for months.

Erin and I have a friend named Ari, who lives about an hour and a half way. Weeeeelll, we both knew Erin’s play was on her birthday, so we came up with a plan. On Erin’s 18th birthday, which happened to be on a Friday, Ari was going to come to town and surprise Erin at the show. 

And that’s exactly what happened.

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Yes, Erin had no idea that Ari and I were actually at her show, chillin’ in the back row watching her kill it on stage.

The fact that Ari and I made this plan months ago and didn’t slip up was pretty impressive. Erin’s boyfriend also knew, and didn’t say a word. Apparently, most of Erin’s friends also knew. Hell, our grandma knew. Which, of course, meant Ari and I looked a little something like this:

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So when the time came and the show was over, Ari and I made our way over to where we told her boyfriend we’d meet, and waited.

ERIN’S FACE WHEN SHE SAW ARI WAS  P R I C E L E S S.

Yes, there are pictures, but I don’t have them. Bummer. I can say though, it looked a bit like this:

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Yep. We done good.

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From left to right: Ari, Erin, Erin’s boyfriend, me

 

UPDATE: My aunt sent me the pictures of Erin’s reaction. They’re a bit blurry because I cropped them out of a collage, but you get the point. Enjoy.

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Nailed it.

*violently rips hair out*

Posted on by sennajandy

Holy lack of posts. Apologies, squadlings!

Since going back to college after winter break, I’ve had approximately 0.763 seconds of free time. Between working, going to school, homework, and attempting to have some semblance of a social life, I’m surprised I don’t suffer from daily migraines.

Don’t believe me? Tonight, I actually had time to go on Netflix, and completely forgot the entire storyline of Parks and Recreation because I haven’t watched it in so long. I’m on season six.

As for work, I actually like my job. The people I work with are really funny and I basically get paid to hang out with my friends while occasionally walking people to tables and answering phones, and maybe bussing a table every so often. I’m still in the newbie stage, so I still screw stuff up from time to time.

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Me at work, daily.

School is a lot harder this semester than it was last semester, and I have no idea why, but it’s driving me insane. I’m keeping up with my homework, which is basically a godsend. tumblr_inline_my13sbydq31rz60rk

The attempt of having a social life is failing pretty hard. I see my friends at school, and that’s pretty much it. That’s fine, I guess, because it gives me more time to focus on school.

Shall we see if I can keep my GPA above a 3.0 this semester, folks? Only time will tell.

 

Ok, I promise I have interesting posts coming within the next few weeks. Believe it or not, I actually have plans BESIDES DOING HOMEWORK. IT’S A MIRACLE.

The Time Has Come…

Posted on by sennajandy

Oh. Dear. God.

Greetings squadlings, and apologies for the lack of posts this past week. I’ve been working and getting crap done for school.

Well, friends, the time has come: The application for Spring semester 2017 at my -hopefully- future college has gone live. It’s happening, folks: I’m officially applying to transfer out of my community college.

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That’s right people. I’m adulting.

College apps are a lot easier than I thought. Maybe because the University of Wisconsin system application has all my information saved from when I attempted to apply for an actual university before I decided on community college, so I really don’t have to do much. Also, to whom it may concern, no, I did not send in an application anywhere but the school I currently attend. I’m lazy.

Thankfully, though, a friend of my cousin’s goes to the school I’m planning on attending, and she’s letting me come up and crash in her dorm for a night later this month to get a feel of the school. HELL YEAH FRIENDSHIP.

Wish me luck, squadlings!

Why I Want to Go-And Why I Haven’t Left Yet

Posted on by sennajandy

One of the questions people ask me when they find out I go to a community college down the street from where I grew up is, “Why?” Another question they ask is “Don’t you want to see something else?”

I was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. I’ve been living in the same red brick house with a green roof since the day I popped out the womb. My bedroom has been the same color since I was fourteen. I can point to any house on my block and tell you who lives in it.

Living in Madison, my friends and I grew up hearing about just how great “the UW” is. I grew up on University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus. If someone says “UW”, they’re talking about Madison. For eighteen years, everyone has been telling me how it’s a “world-renowned university.” And when I was six, I wanted to go there.

I’m eighteen now. I have no desire whatsoever to go to Madison. Loads of people from my high school chose to go to Madison. Hell, my brother is going to Madison next year once he transfers out of the same community college I’m at. That’s great, good for them! That’s not what I want to do.

Now, I’m assuming if you’re related to me and reading this, you’re going to say, “Oh, but it’s such a great school!” That may be true. However, it’s not a great school for me.

For someone with anxiety, and for someone who can’t stay away from home for very long, you may be questioning why I’m choosing to leave my boring ol’ hometown for a “small” town up north when the time comes for me to transfer out of my community college. The answer is, simply, I’m sick of this town.

I’ve done everything there is to do in Madison a thousand times over. Going to Vitense gets boring after a while. Staring up at the Capitol rotunda is fun for about five seconds. State Street bores the hell out of me. Camp Randall is cool, I guess. I need to see something else.

Now, you’re probably reading this thinking “Well, if it’s so boring in Madison, why haven’t you left yet?” I’m getting to that.

I chose community college. I could have left town, split to go to some university in the middle of God-Knows-Where, Wisconsin, but I stayed. I stayed because, having turned 18 just a month before I graduated high school, I wanted to go, but I wasn’t ready.

I wasn’t in a place where I felt comfortable leaving home straight after high school. I didn’t want to have to throw myself into living three and a half hours away in a town where, as of now, the only person I know is my grandma. I wasn’t ready to leave home yet.

I also have no fricken idea what I want to do with my life. I wasn’t about to go to some university, stay a year, figure out what I want to do, and then realize that the school I had chosen didn’t have my major, and I’d have to transfer. I wasn’t going to blow through $20,000 a year to do something I could do for $2,000. And no, I still don’t know what I’m doing. Stop asking.

There are a thousand reasons why I want to go, and there are a thousand reasons why I stayed. I don’t have to leave yet-I’m only 18, why do I need to up and leave right now? I don’t have to transfer until the end of next year if I don’t want to. When the time comes, I’ll make the move up to Eau Claire. Until then, I’m going to be laying in my mom’s bed, watching Netflix and cuddling with my dogs.

Peace out, squadlings.

 

****This post is not meant to slam UW-Madison. I know it’s a great school, but it’s not for me. Shout out to the Badgers, though.****

I Bet You All Forgot I Have a Blog

Posted on by sennajandy

Greetings, squadlings. Do you remember me?

Many apologies for the lack of posts, I’ve been working and getting used to my second semester of college for the past week. Which is probably going to make you ask, “Then why are you posting at 10:00 on a Sunday?”

I go to school from 10:00AM to 3:45PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My work schedule varies, but as of now it’s been Monday, Friday, and Sunday from anywhere from 9:30AM-3PM or 10:30/11:00AM-4PM.

My job is good! I like it a lot better than my last one. I’ve made quite a few friends and seen a few familiar faces at my new workplace. It’s a lot easier to adapt to a setting where you’re not the only person under the age of 25.

Being employed while going to school is a pain sometimes, but overall, I enjoy my job and still find time to squeeze schoolwork in there somehow.

My classes this semester are fine. Online math is easy enough, and the only class so far that makes me want to rip my hair from my skull is Marriage and Family, simply because it’s just not an interesting topic to me (I took it solely because it transfers to the university I’m looking to attend).

I’ll try to post as life gets more interesting.

Until we meet again, squadlings.