Parking angst

Today I came to campus with a list of things to do. Usually on a Saturday afternoon, especially one as beautiful as this, it is easy to find a parking spot in the huge commuter lot down the hill. But this weekend is "Mom's Weekend" and apparently the university thought it would be a good idea to issue temporary parking permits for all of the out of town moms to park in the commuter lots.

So here I am, a grad student on campus to actually do some work and I had to park way the fuck down in the corner of the Ping parking lot to then trudge up to Gordy Hall. I am irritated. I am vexed, even.

I ask myself on a daily basis WHY this stupid university doesn't build a freaking parking garage where that commuter lot is. It would solve a lot of the general parking problems on this campus, as well as the special weekends where tons of people descend on campus and end up taking the commuting students' parking spaces.

This university really chaps my ass, sometimes. Bizarro calls me "his little crusader" because I'm always up in arms about something or other. There's just so much to pissed off about here! Case in point: yesterday was supposed to be pay day for those of us TAs and GAs with direct deposit. But the payroll office fucked up and direct deposit didn't happen. Now, for me, personally, it wasn't such a big deal if the money went into my account a day or two later (I have a student loan buffer). But to a lot of students it WAS a big deal, and anyway it shouldn't have happened at all.

I can enumerate a plethora of administrative fuck-ups I've been subjected to upon entering this university and it ain't a pretty picture. Yet tuition continues to go up, fees continue to be added, and the level of incompetence seems to get more and more dire.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE MORONS????

As our friend Carl would say, "I put two and two together and decided you're pissin' me off!

In other news...
Last night I got an email from the dude who is hiring and coordinating the English teachers going to China this summer. It's the visa application with all the directions of what to do, and he says he needs it by registered mail on his desk by MAY 5. Um... nothing like last minute timing. Based upon my experience in Korea, and the way things are working with this guy, I'm going to assume that China operates similar to Korea: things are often done quickly and last minute. It means keeping on one's toes. And often it means doing more work than is necessary because a rush-job usually sucks. Just my opinion.

So I had my passport-sized photos taken at the EVIL EMPIRE Wal-Mart (cause I don't know of any place else to do that in this frickin' pint-sized town) and will get the rest of the crap ready to go.

Despite my negativity, I'm really in a good mood. This is just my venting mechanism. Yeah... that's it.

Yesterday I got tons of stuff done, including opening a savings account and refinancing my car. Yay! I'm still a little worried about money this summer, going to China and whatnot. I'm just gonna trust that everything will fall into place.

And on that note, I have to work on my Socioling project. yay.

Oh, one more thing... I've been dreaming of that friend from Boston that I wrote about a few days ago. She's really on my mind lately. I wonder if there's something going on there (my Atheist friends would say it's just my conscience and that I miss her, nothing more). But I wonder....