Poor Environmentalists!

I mean...literally poor!

I was checking out some job postings for my field and oh my goodness, the salary range is from $23k to $30k a year. And the $30k is for those with a MS Degree. I don't have that...yet! So I am thinking, should I go back to school again and get a MS Degree because (heck!) of the salary raise?

I already imagined the expenses...rent...car loan...food...taxes...tithes...and no shopping. Absolutely none or extremely minimal. On the other hand, actuaries (like Calvin...=.=") are entitled to a starting salary of about $40k a year. That is twice what I get paid with the same level of qualifications! Gah!!

Now I know why they choose what they do for the money. For the money dammit! I should've been "smart" to work for money instead for passion. Hmm....maybe not.

But ugh, don't you think I should get paid a little more? Like $30k a year at least? There should be some perks at least for trying to save the world right?

Pissing Blockheads

The thing I don't get about toilets and men is that a large percentage of them do not know or learn how to put up the toilet seat when they pee. Also, they do not flush after they finish their business.

There is this bathroom across from the front desk where I work and the desk workers use the bathroom when necessary. This morning, I went into above said bathroom after 2 football players used the facility, I was greeted with a toilet bowl full of foamy, yellow pee and pee all over the toilet seat.

As you can bet, expletives came out of my mouth. I mean, how stupid are you? You just peed and you can't even flush? Even after peeing all over the toilet seat? All I can say is @$$hole! If I ever catch them in the act and if I'm bold enough, I would throw whatever I'm wearing on my feet at them.

It's bad enough that they're loud and obnoxious, they have to be inconsiderate as well and have extremely questionable hygiene issues.

Stuck

I was looking forward to a quiet summer, being able to work, earn some money but above that, to have my own room to live in. I was wrong...very wrong. Because of insufficient planning and housing, I am now stuck in a small one bedroom apartment that I have to share with another girl. I know the girl but I don't know her well enough so I don't know how that will work out. I would hate to live with someone who may get on my nerves. I tried to work things out with the housing people but they gave a whole bunch of excuses and in some way, it is unfair because we were promised otherwise.

But it's only for about 2 months and I hope I'll be able to survive the time living there. I think I'm going to need a lot of grace as well as patience to deal with it. As such, I'm going to try and move in as best as I can, with a whole bunch of my stuff into the apartment. I'll move most of my stuff tomorrow and hopefully, that works out. My fingers are crossed!

$

How come is it that when summer comes along, I find myself working hard and earning more than I usually do but finding myself still kinda broke.

I mean, it's not like I'm near the poverty line (to some it might seem so...) but it seems like I just make enough to cover my expenses with little or none left over. So I checked my expenses to see what in the world I spent my money on. There were a few shopping expenses but a single bill never exceeded $30 and my clothes were always less than $10 per item. The rest of my money went to pay for food.

Now I am wondering on how to cut down on my expenses but so far, I deem most of the stuff I get as neccessary. I needed some clothes for the summer and I bought some on sale. Food is neccessary (of course!). So what in the world do I cut down on? Living?

I guess its just annoying when you have to keep worrying about how much you spend when you don't really spend that much. Plus, I do not want to ask my parents for money, haven't done that in a year. It also sucks when you find yourself slaving away at your job...working up to 55 hrs a week with nothing to show for the time being.

Wtf.

Why Now?

For the past two days, the internet service at Ross crapped out because they were conducting some repairs. The timing was off because I had a final paper to finish for my history class and I had to download the questions and send the finished paper via email to my professor. It was a good thing I helped my friend move in early into GK because I had to camp out at his room to use the internet. I usually am able to use the internet while working the desk but I wasn't scheduled to work that day. I realized how dependent I am on the Internet. I shop online, interact socially with my friends, communicate with my class and entertain myself. Hmm...I think I should read a book instead tonight.

Anyways, tonight will be my last night working that particular shift in GK; the 8pm to 12am shift. I used to hate that shift because it meant having to do rounds at 11pm and over the summer when there were few people living there, it was creepy. Recently, I had a change of heart; it's my favorite shift of the day and I've been enjoying myself working that shift. It helped that certain events over the past week managed to change my perceptions of that shift.

Recently, I've been getting aquainted...sort of...with one of the football coaches. It helps that he's only about 25 or so, good looking, dark haired and not married (I think). Every night when I do my rounds, he will also be on his rounds to check up on the players and we usually see each other in the hall. He stopped by the desk once to chit chat for a little while and ever since, we acknowledge each other when we see the other. The last two shifts I had at the desk, he came by to wish me a good night before heading off to sleep and the front desk is a little out of the way from where the footballers live so I'd like to think he does it on purpose. Last night, along with the usual goodnight, he asked for my name and introduced himself as Marco.

I was in a terrible mood last night because some of the football and soccer players were throwing their weight around with me and I had no patience for that sort of behaviour. To make matters worse, I had a double shift from 8pm to 4am and it didn't help knowning that I will be stuck at the desk for 8 hours. My mood did improve over the course of the night for obvious reasons but the sad thing is that today will be my last night working that shift and tomorrow will be my last day working. Because of that, my friend is egging me on to try and get him to give me his number...and vice versa but I don't know if it will work. As such, special measures have to be taken into account and implemented tonight at work. I wonder how things will turn out...only tonight will tell.

More Half Naked Men!

I really should keep a tab on how many half naked guys I encounter daily at work. In addition to "towel boy" the other day, I can now add another 2 to the list. All of them got themselves locked out of the room unintentionally (? *wink wink*) while half dressed and it was my privilege to let them in. The first one today was one of the RAs and he managed to lock himself out while only wearing a pair of shorts. Pretty confident guy I might add since he strutted around topless like it was no big deal. I'm sure he works out...I can tell. The other guy was another football player and like the other one, he was in his towel but still dripping wet. Haha! However, this was one nervous fellow. He kept fidgeting as I was walking with him back to his room. I guess it would be unpleasant to be walking around with someone of the opposite sex while only clad in a towel! XD

More Drama

To think that things would mellow down since summer is over is such a mistake. So here I was, working the front desk again. This time it was the 12am to 4am shift; the dead shift and they do call it that for a reason.

I thought I might have problems staying awake so when Josiah came by, I asked him if I could borrow one of his dvd's. He lent me "The Three Musketeers" and I settled down for a quiet night with a movie by myself.

Halfway through the movie, I hear this noise by the doors and from where I'm at, I can't see what is going on outside without having to get up from my chair and poke my head out the door. Security does check on the desk workers from time to time so I decided to get up and see who it was.

There was a guy in the hallway, apparently in his pyjamas (shirt and boxers) trying unsuccessfully to open the door by pushing it outwards when clearly to open the door, you have to pull it towards you. I watched him for 10 seconds and realized that the guy was not himself. He obviously had no motor coordination. He was drunk!

I freaked out almost immediately and called Drake Security. It seemed like an eternity for them to arrive but in fact, it probably took them less than 5 minutes to come. While waiting for them, I was praying that the guy wouldn't see me (he was now sprawled across the floor) and that he wouldn't be able to run away. Man, I was so freaked because like come on, I'm just a girl...working the desk and he's a guy - probably an athlete and hell, he was bigger than me. Worst case scenario, I would just scream my head off and Josiah might come running out of his apartment to my rescue (he lives across from the front desk).

I was so relieved when security came but then, I had to wake my boss up. I felt really bad about it but security wanted me to. Security kept on questioning the kid but he was as they said, unresponsive. They didn't know if he was drunk or stoned. When questioned, he said his name was Derek Moore. Immediately I was dispatched to check the roster to see if he was one of the student athletes at GK. He wasn't! I think we spent about half an hour trying to identify him when in the end, we realized that he didn't live here.

The worse part was that he had a bruise on his head and then while security was checking the parameter, they found his clothes outside. =.=" Apparently he stripped himself down and decided to come in. I've no idea how he got in and that's what scares me because all the doors are locked and can only be opened from the inside or with a key.

The paramedics had to come and see if he was alright because he had a bruise on his head; red and blue lights flashing outside GK. Not a pleasant sight to see or experience. My boss had to call Ross' Hall Director to see if he was one of the residents at Ross. He wasn't living here at all in the summer but apparently, he was a Drake student. So we did finally identify him but what was he doing here half naked and drunk/stoned is still a mystery. They finally took him to the hospital.

The drama is finally over, it's 2.45am and I think I should resume my movie. The adrenaline is still rushing through my system and I hope I'll be able to sleep tonight once my shift is over.

Oops?

After yesterday's shock of my probable and imminent homelessness, I had an interesting day at work today. Good news is that I don't have to move out on the 11th. I can move out whenever its convenient for me, latest by the 18th though but my hall will be open by then so it won't be a hassle. That is incredibly amazing news to my ears.

So I went to work today. The thing is right now, GK is full of athletes; footballers and volleyballers (girls). I was working front desk today and this guy comes up to the desk and tells me he locked himself out of his room. He was my former classmate last semester and it was nice to see him out of crutches. He walked me to his room and I keyed him in. After letting him in, I went back downstairs to the front desk and there it was, some guy decided help himself behind the desk. It is a rather serious violation of privacy and not to mention rules because there is a sign posted on the door saying that no one except for desk workers are allowed through the door. The problem was that he was only clad in a towel...

I didn't know whether I should laugh or to yell at him to get out. I decided to be nice and tell him calmly that he shouldn't be behind the desk because hey, how can one be mad with a guy clad only with a towel around his waist? It was probably mortifying enough to be walking around in public in a towel. Before I could say anything else, he stammered out that he got locked out of his room while he was taking a shower. >_< I keyed him in. He was staying on the far side of the hall so I had to walk all the way with him in his towel. He was very apologetic about the whole affair. Despite the periods of awkward silences, the view from the rear wasn't so bad after all. XD

Part Of The Job

I was checking in a bunch of people the other day when I noticed that they weren't your regular kind of people. Eventually, it struck me that they were from a Rainbow Union, from some college. For those who don't know what Rainbow Unions are...send me a message and I'll let you know. Anyhow, they were here in Des Moines for Gay Pride Month and decided to stay at Drake U. Before I actually realized that, this guy came up to the desk to check in and oh my goodness...was he gorgeous. Too bad I found out that he way gay. But to be honest with you, they were generally friendlier and nicer than regular people; both girls and guys. I had a triple shift that day which lasted from 4pm to 4am the next day. I was about to fall asleep at about 2am in the morning when one of them, Mike came back and started talking to me at the front desk. That was a pleasant surprise and it certainly helped me stay awake for a while.

Then there are days when I have absolutely nothing much to do like today since no camps are checking out or checking in. So I have approximately 8 hours to bum around at the front desk doing whatever I want. So, I spent about 4 hours already downloading new music, watching Youtube videos, blogging, reading other people's blogs, Facebook-ing, Friendster-ing, chatting and buying textbooks online. And I'm still bored...with 4 hours left to go. I think it's time to watch movies online.

Lunch will be a bagel sandwich with cheese and bologne with yoghurt on the side. I have a bunch of kids/high schoolers at soccer camp that I have to keep an eye on right now...

RCA

Yeah, so I finally started my job. My first shift is going on right now, about to end I suppose. The timing is kinda weird, 12am-4am. All shifts are 4 hours long and tomorrow, I'm being assigned to a triple shift in a row. Bleh! I'm so not looking forward to that for the time being. But the thing about being an RCA is that I get paid to do nothing most of the time. I can sit behind the front desk with a book or my laptop. Inevitably...ending with me playing RO or watching a movie or surfing.

Also, I found out a little feature available at Drake. I live a while away from where I work so I can actually get Drake security personnnel to escort me back to where I live if I happen to work the dead shift. Which is really good in case some weirdo decides to follow me. The work hours so far are not fixed weekly so I think I'm getting a pretty good deal here. I work on average 24 hours a week. However, most of my money is being spend on food. Sigh~ I have expensive tastes which need to be catered to.

I think this will be the start of many interesting posts this summer. On Thursday, I had to check in freshmen who came for an overnight orientation at Drake. That was fun, to see "fresh meat". More to come in the summer! Looking forward to that...