Weekend Review {4/13}

FRIDAY

Started off the day with a run with Teh Bestie and Teh Running Advisor, then I pounded out some work.  From lunch after, it was work fuck off time on zoom meetings with coworkers, from our office and later from the entire company.

My new shoes arrived!

After all the conference calls and making sure my documentation that I wrote during the week was sufficient, I headed to the couch to be lazy AF for the rest of the day.  I ended up falling asleep on the couch and Teh German woke me up for dinner.  After dinner, we spent the evening watching The Witcher.  It makes my renn faire loving heart so happy.

SATURDAY

Saturday morning I was no longer willing to fight my Bojangles craving, so I went out to fetch breakfast for us.  I was pleased with my life choice until I saw they'd skimped on the Boberry icing.  Siiiigh..

After breakfast, I headed to the office to get started on school things.. annnnnddddd spilled coffee all over my laptop.  I cleaned it up immediately, much to the startlement of the dogs, but after I cleaned it up, my keyboard started spazzing out and buttons that weren't being pressed were making actions happen.. and rather than just frying my entire motherboard, I shut everything off and poured rice on the keyboard and sat my laptop out in the sun (per Teh Chief Smartass's recommendation).

I left my laptop outside most of the day and brought it inside in the evening but left it powered off.  Siiiiiigh.  Not the crisis I wanted to deal with 3 weeks prior to graduation, mkay?  I immediately started making Best Buy calls since I have the Geek Squad protection on it (because I'm me and I figured something like this would eventually happen).  Since Geek Squad isn't currently open right now, the call center has waits that average 45 minutes to an hour. Soooo good times on that.  The first agent I spoke with was a fucking moron who told me to call the store to get authorization to send in my computer and even offered to give me the number to my local store, like I hadn't started the call with, "I called my local store and no one answered."  Sooo that was fucking fantastic.

I did get off the phone with the agent and tried to call the store over and over and got no one.  I called a different local store and someone did finally pick up, which was helpful that I spoke with a human who confirmed that no one had been working the Geek Squad desk for the last 3 weeks and the agent I spoke with was a moron.  Great.  Sooooooo.. I called the 1800 line back. 

The next agent was knowledgeable and intelligent.  She did manage to get a Geek Squad repair authorized and the packaging stuff sent out to me so I can mail my computer in.  Le siigh.  Such a hoopla to go through.

During all that shit, Teh PT Husband delivered a smoked butt to us (yay!) and I let my research team know what happened.  I did knock out some German homework and made the decision NOT to do some of it because it was too much effort.  I did all my homework when I was sick and throughout the semester until this point, so I'm taking advantage of my early hardwork to slack off now.  #YOLO

After computer things were accomplished, I put on my Clawz and headed out to scoop poop.  It's the first time I've scooped poop in months that it hadn't just rained.  It was delightful since all the poops were hard and easy to scoop rather than mushy.  You're welcome for that visual.

Teh German had went out on a ride for the afternoon, so when he came back, we ate dinner then sat down at the island to play online games with some friends over Zoom/with our phones.

If you're me, you've seen it WAY more than 2x since Teh Sister watched it....
over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over..
and that was only the first VHS, not the second one.

After games, we headed to bed.

SUNDAY

Sunday started with the goal of a run, which turned into a walk with Teh PT Wife.  We ran the first mile and a half, and then we started walking and neither of us said anything about starting to run again and we finished off a 10k with a walk and I wasn't sad about it.  When I got home, it was shower time, then FaceTime with Papa G.

After that, it became acceptance day.  I considered trying to make research things work on my work laptop, but I wasn't ready yet.  I did power up my laptop and confirmed that it does still work!  YAYYYY!!  The keys are kinda stiff/sticky (as expected), but it works, sooo Easter miracle!  That said, I'm very dark cloud about it all and expecting it to crash at any moment, so I'm not letting my hopes get up that it's ok.  The laptop still needs to go to Geek Squad anyways since the screen is messed up (a-fucking-gain).

In the afternoon, Teh NY Chef delivered stuffed shells for Easter dinner, which we brought over to Teh PT House to have "Easter dinner" with them.  We sat outside for a while afterward socializing and finally headed home after doggy dinner time.

After feeding the beasts, we plopped down in front of the TV and watched 3 episodes of The Witcher.  Teh German said he really likes the show, so that was a good affirmation that he's not being tortured.

Super late, we finally went to bed.

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It was a weekend.  I didn't get much accomplished (like I really should have/needed to), but whatever.  The end is near and I'll save my stress until the very end like every good graduating senior should do.

We woke up this morning to some crazy storms and even tornadoes touching down in nearby areas.  A coworker said his neighbor no longer has a house, so that was pretty harrowing.  This week looks like more "stay at home".  The only place I might go is to the office to pick up my keyboard since I'm using my work laptop primarily again.  If I go to the office, I'll also swing by the Chiro and I'll probably also time to when Park Circle Creamery is open to go pick up some ice cream, because that's this week's craving.  #YOLO(again).

In addition to all that, all the miles over the last few weeks are really adding up and my hip has been screaming.. Oooorrr it could be these storms that have been rolling through like Charleston summer is wont to do.  Either way, I'm sore.

The new shoes were a win, so I'm pumped about my life choices.  I still need to do a run in the green ones to see how I like them, butttt that was not in the books for today with this morning's storms rolling through so ferociously.  Tomorrow is supposed to be books day, I think, but since mid-March I've barely read anything because I just haven't, ok?  Gosh.  Where I was 3 books ahead of schedule when we rolled into March, I'm now one book behind and I'm blaming it on the fact that I'm trodding through books that I'm not overly committed to/interested in/tolerating.  I know better, but here we are.

Let's hope April keeps trucking along... much faster than March.

Five on Friday #231

EINS - Random Shit

I told Teh German that I wish I could NOT do my homework.  There's so much of it that it's overwhelming me, but I know that I can't NOT do it.  And that makes me mad at me, and then I'm mad that I'm mad at me.  It's a fucking disaster.  I just need school to be over with because this online shit where we get double the work that we were getting if we had been going to class is fucking garbage and I cannot handle my life like this.

Truthfully, I do wonder what would happen if I didn't do any homework for the rest of the semester and only completed tests/quizzes/the final exam.  Would it tank my grade so badly I wouldn't get my 3.5 GPA that I want to graduate with?

Additionally, that 3.5 GPA doesn't really matter anymore since there won't be a commencement ceremony where I wear my veteran/honors rope anyways.  Siiiiiiiiigh.

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I need to gather the stuff for my database final project and turn it in.  It's done, I just have to package it together and send it.

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PITA Professor saying that we could send him an envelope with postage and our address on it so he could mail us back our tests with his comments/our grade on it almost set me over the edge.  I almost told him that he could come to my house and and use my fancy ass printer/scanner/machine thingy and scan all of them..  Apparently, he only has a flatbed scanner.  What is this 1985?  Jebus.

I'm trying to come up with an alternative but other than "can you take a photo with your phone and just email it to me" I got nothing... and there's no way he would do that for the entire class.

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The hardest part about teleworking is that I'm not in my environment where I do the tasks.  So at school, I get school things done at school.  At work, I get work things done at work.  At home, I fuck off and do homework things and sometimes work things.. But now everything is at home and I can't stay focused on a single task to complete anything to move on to the next task and it's absolutely debilitating me.

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After years of email chaos and not receiving race emails, I finally created a new email account for run things.  Granted, all of my emails filter into my main personal account for my convenience, now I can give out my run email for run things and it keeps it straight.

Obviously, this is me acting out and needing to control things in my life.

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I finally went through my Feedly.  IDK why but the unread blogs were giving me anxiety.  I knew I wanted to read them, so I set a work stop time and then clicked over and went through and read and commented as I felt.

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In a true Megan situation... I am almost out of my hot flashes birth control.. and this is a situation beccccaaaauuuusssseeeee....
-My OBGYN won't authorize the refill because I need to come in for an annual visit.
-I am trying to migrate all my health/medical stuff to the VA.  It's free, why shouldn't I use this resource?
-I had a lady bits appointment in February, but my appointment was scheduled for a day they didn't even do lady bit appointments... that was that VA visit where I had a breakdown in the clinic weight-taking area when the nurse told me this fact.
-I wasn't sure if the OBGYN office had forwarded my records to the VA.

BUT!
-Since the medication is for hot flashes and not reproductive things, I was hoping that an exception would be made.
-It was confirmed that the OBGYN did sent my records to the VA.  #SmallVictories

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In my dealing with the medication situation, I had several good interactions with VA persons and it is always so surprising when that happens.  The first lady took my info to have someone from my clinic call.  The 2nd lady listened to my situation saga and made all the notes and THEN she was like, would you like this prescription mailed to you?

Me: HELL YES I DO!

You see, part of the reason I'm in this situation is because I had 3 month supply of the medication, as to minimize my trips to the pharmacy.  I realized and forgot when I had one month left.  Now we're 2 weeks out and with CV, this is now an almost emergency.

Youuuu seeeee... I'm finally going good about taking my medications on their schedule (anxiety meds at night, hot flashes med in the AM) and I'm stable.  Like my hormones are as stable as they are going to get and I like where I'm at.  Not having the birth control would change the hormones and cause instability and with all this anxiety over CV and not leaving my house.. unstable hormones would probably be one of the worst things that could happen in this hizz-ous.

Latergram: They sent me the wrong medication, but called to tell me they sent the wrong medication.  Unfortunately, the medication I'm requesting is not fulfilled by the VA so I still have to go get it AND pay for it.  Booooooooo.

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Things I accomplished this last week:

• NOT doing a homework assignment to watch a FULL MOVIE and then answer some stupid fucking questions on it.  Yes, I could have BS-ed my way through those questions and skipped through the movie, but I just didn't have it in me.  I made a choice to do the other assignments that were due for that class instead.
• Skipping my PITA Professor's class because I just couldn't deal with him.  Straight up.  I was home, I could have made the time, but I had other shit to do that didn't include listening to him berate the class about whatever we needed to be berated about that day.
• Getting my office back together.  All the stuff is hung on the walls again.  Now I just need to clear out this tub of stuff for my Navy shadow/I love me box and figure out a solution for these conch shells from GTMO.  I just do not need 10 conch shells.  Anyone want a conch shell?
• Enduring going to the vet during these Corona times of social distancing and not touching another human being.
• Wearing jeans!

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If you are preaching social distancing but still making me sign something with the pen you've handed 50 other people today, you're a fucking moron.

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Social distancing vet visit was as trying as any other vet visit.  I really hate when I make an appointment and I have to wait for half my life to be seen.  I made an appointment so my time isn't wasted, let's focus on that.  LE SIGH.

I delivered poop!

Waiting in the car to be called into the office.

I did enjoy waiting in my car instead of in the waiting area.  Meri is extremely friendly and then acts like she's being eaten if someone approaches her and Pax is a small dog eater.. so waiting areas are high stress areas for me.  Also, as someone with 2 big dogs, many people are afraid of them because they are so big.

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Things I accomplished THIS week:

• Setting up a run with conference call.  We all run at the same time, whatever distance, and we huff and puff in each other's ears.  It's exactly as awesome as it sounds!
• Acquiring my hot flashes medication.  It involved the script being mailed to me and then me having to take it in to the pharmacy to be filled and Teh German picking it up on his way home (so I didn't have to wait for it to be filled).
• LOTS of miles.  I've probably run more this week than I have in any week of 2020.

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I finally broke down and decided to buy new running shoes.  /sob.  I know, I know, I just bought running shoes and they are super awesome!  Except for the part where they give my little piggies (toes) blisters.  I was hoping that breaking them in would help, but it has not.  And I'm a moron and didn't assess this situation prior to the 90 day mark, NOR do I still have my receipt, so I can't return them.  Oh well.

I bought the blue/pink shoes in a size up to test and see if that will work, since it's the same make/model of my current running shoes.  If it works out, I'll probably purchase the plaid shoe in the bigger size and either use my current running shoes as non-running workout shoes or as walking shoes or donate them, but probably the first 2 options since I really love those shoes.

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Chase has a COVID-19 announcement that takes up a significant portion of the screen.  When you go to close it out, if you click the X more than once, you get signed out, because THAT button is underneath the announcement X.  /facepalm.

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Me: Uses dog poop bag to pump my gas.
Also Me: Uses non-covered hand to make gas selection on pump.

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One of my coworkers is a HUGE Bernie Bro, but not in an obnoxious way... Recently, he lost his father.  I was more concerned about him when Bernie quit his campaign than when his dad died since he was prepared for his dad to die since he was sick.  I told him exactly this and he laughed.  I appreciate down to earth coworkers who get me and not interpret the things I say as being an asshole.

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Meri and Pax this week:

Mr. Moose has been very demanding of attentions lately.
I don't mind at all.

This ho stealin' my seat when I decided it was break time.
Rude ass.  Good think she's cute.

Pax supervising as Roux takes his daily stroll.

Monkey kisses.

Morning walks after I go on my runs always seem to settle them for the day.
And then sometimes, we still do an afternoon walk.
#CoronaLife

Meri supervising Roux's walk the following day.

#NeighborhoodWatch

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Running Things this week:

Ran with Teh PT Wife on Sunday to achieve my German CV medal!

Teh Bestie and I ran "together" on Monday afternoon and it was quickly determined that we should make those AM runs instead since Charleston outside is trying to kill me with the >85°F.

When I got home, my Skidway Half medal had arrived, making my half marathon last Thursday legit!

When you run "with" friends you represent your relationships in your outfit.
Teh Running Advisor since we worked together at NC State and Teh Bestie since she loves Minnie Mouse.

Completed my Corona 19k with some extra KMs.
YAY for motivation to run since I ran all these races "with" others!

ZWEI - Money Shit

-Virtual run medals
-Zaxby's
-Bojangles for breakfast, because I needed it, ok, I NEEDED IT
-Groceries/house stuff
-Payment for the paint loan (it was 0% financing for a year, so we figured, why not?)
-$30 charge for non-payment because of the credit card fiasco from the beginning of the month.
-Bagheera taxes
-SWEET TEA.  The McDonalds is RIGHT BESIDE the Neighborhood Market that I go to for my prescriptions.  How could I not?
-Properly fitting shoes?
-Teh German's "graduation" present (a new exhaust for Lars-Ludwig).
-FIVE POUNDS OF CADBURY EGGS.  AND I AM NOT SORRY.
-Bully sticks for the dogs.. and by the dogs I mean mostly Pax since Meri has stopped eating hers and Pax usually gets her after she drops it and we don't pick it up.
-Gas.  $1.99 for premium.  $1.65 for regular.  WUUUUTTTT.
-Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom for the year.  Post-graduation plans are about to fucking GO DOWN.
-Drink local shirt for Teh German since it was for a good cause.
-Face wash
-Groceries

DREI - From My Phone Shit

Stay-at-home coping mechanism.

This is how I learned that I, in fact, do NOT like salted caramel.
I want my caramel so sweet my teeth hurt.  Don't put no beach in that shiz.

Bison and sausage meatloaf with shrooms and mashed potatoes.
#NotSorry

Dem <10 min splits!
I had to slow it down to be able to manage a half, but still.

My Amaryllis bloomed... and then Thursday's crazy winds blew it over and now I'm sure it's going to die and I'm sad since it had only been completely open for a few days.  #RUDE.

Work Virtual Tea Time theme was "sport you miss the most".
I legitimately ran upstairs so I could fetch my jersey since any excuse is a good excuse to show off your Canes jersey!

Green Twins eating our green doughnuts at the same time!
Teh PT Kid is one awesome dude.

Papa G sent me this and I was like, THAT IS MY LIFE!

Sitting on the porch for lunch because I needed some time away from my computer screen.

When you forget to thaw the buns for meatball subs, you have spaghetti instead!

VIER - From the Internet Shit

When you make memes to send to your techs to request certificates from them so you can request access for them.

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. Friday afternoon being filled with virtual camaraderie meetings which meant approved work fuck-off-ary time.
2. Virtual run medals.
3. Running with others.
4. Having work to do and being able to do work remotely.
5. TWO FUCKING WEEKS of school left.
6. Skating through the rest of the semester.
7. Sitting through Zoom meetings with my work laptop in front of my personal laptop gettin' shit done.
8. Being the person on the conference call who says to the govt lead of the entire project "Are you serious???" and the team messaging you right away to say, "WE LOVE YOU."
9. Learning new things to make a job I hate easier.
10. Uploading a pic of me with blue hair for my virtual commencement photo.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.

Weekend Review {4/6}

I could have made time on Friday to post, but I didn't.  #SorryNotSorry

FRIDAY

I got up with Teh German so I could get some shit accomplished in the AM.  Teh PT Wife and I headed to Sam's so we'd be there when they opened.  I finally managed to acquire some chicken, we had none, but there was a limit of 1 pack.. so at least I have 3 meals worth from the 1 pack since these chicken breasts came from Godzilla chickens.

We got in line at 5 minutes till opening time...
You can't even see the door from this point.
As soon as they opened, all social distancing went to shit.

After Sam's we made a pit stop at Krispy Kreme, because obviously that is a necessity.

Then we headed back home.  I did some work things and enjoyed socializing with my coworkers for Friday Beer Lunch on Zoom.  After the meeting ended, I headed over to Teh PT House for socializing since I felt like I was in the way since the cleaner was at the house.

Fun fact, if you ever wonder why nothing grows but weeds in our yard, please see the below photo for reasons why:

Exhibit A: RED CLAY FOR DAYS.

This photo is of a future pool, but I felt like it validated so many things about why I hate gardening.  Maybe if I could get shit to actually grow I wouldn't hate it so much, buttttttttt this is what I'm contending with.  Anddd if you click on that photo, you'll see that there is no "good" dirt at the top for growing things.. Just red clay.  Know what doesn't stimulate growth of anything?  Red fucking clay.  End rant.

Anyways, the rest of the afternoon/evening was spent enjoying outside and enjoying adult beverages.  It had been planned to get Chinese for dinner, but ALL of the Chinese places are closed.  After calling 5 places and getting no answer, we gave up and finally succumbed to Mexican for dinner, which Teh PT Husband picked up.

After Teh German got off work, he came over for socializing... and then he was called back into work for an emergency, which succcckkkeed.  We went over to Roux's House to check out the new screened-in porch for a while and to spread our Rona to the neighbors. 

Eventually, we headed home which coincided with Teh German's arrival back home, conveniently.  Shortly after, it was bedtime since Saturday was productive day.

SATURDAY

We had a semi-slow start on Saturday, but it had been decided that we would 100% hang the rest of the shit on Saturday so that way the house was completely put back together.  You see, this was a real commitment because 1- it involved Teh German and I working together on something (always a struggle), 2- neither of us really wanted to do it (even though we both wanted it done).

For the most part, I managed to mitigate Teh German and I actually working on the same thing at the same time.  I had him do separate hanging things while I cleaned off all the frames for the living room (the other frames had already been cleaned, but I hadn't hung them yet) and then started work on the living room gallery wall.

Teh German managed the kitchen/dining room hanging and then when I'd ask for opinions on where to put frames, he'd give me his opinion.  I started out trying to replicate the gallery wall that we had before, but it didn't workout and it's fine.  It was giving me anxiety trying to replicate it, so I finally just overcame that problem and had Teh German help me with placement... and with handing me things.  I was up and down the step-stool a millionty time and I hope I reached my step goal.  Considering I did a half marathon on Thursday afternoon, my legs were sore and going up/down made me want to die on the inside, sooo if my goal wasn't met, I still consider it met, kthx.

Final positioning of the bedroom frames
andddd some mishaps (broken frame because cheap and a scuff on the wall, of fucking course).

Our neighborhood finally joined the cool kids and we had 2 food trucks serving dinner on Saturday evening.  Johnny Poppers (burgers) and Holy Roller (ice cream), count me in!  Apparently, towards the end, the cops were called because of a "gathering", which seems kinda shitty, but not surprising with the people in our neighborhood.  Most everyone was maintaining their social distancing, but whatever.
 

After dinner, Teh German headed out to go socialize and I stayed home to finish hanging the last few things.  After I was done, I headed to the computer for some online Cards Against Humanity with Teh Bestie and some others.  Unfortunately, my computer and I weren't on speaking terms, literally, as my mic wasn't being picked up and no sound was coming from my laptop, despite everything having tested perfectly on Wednesday AND my conference call on Friday afternoon working at 100%.  Siiiigh.  I spent an hour troubleshooting that, ended up installing a Windows update and deleting all of my sound devices and restarting so it would reinstall them automatically.  After frustrated tears, everything finally worked, even though I was an hour late to the game, despite having been ready 30 minutes prior to start time.  Le siiiiiigh.

Teh German came home while we were still playing, so we pulled him into the game and we sat on the couches on our laptops and played CAH with friends and listened to some jams.  Overall, it was a productive day, despite the frustrations.

SUNDAY

Sunday runday.  Teh PT Wife and I headed out at 8 to get some miles in.  I suggested only a 10k so I could get my German Corona medal and she was game.  I ended up doing over 7 miles total with my run and a dog walk.  I also wasn't dealing with Meri's shit, so I walked back down the boring way so I didn't have to endure her duck/goose hunting as we walked down the street.  I'm sure she'll eventually figure out she can duck hunt from this direction too, but I'm going to enjoy my arm not being pulled out of it's socket until then.

While all that was happening, Teh German and Teh PT Husband started a digging project that involved renting equipment and lots of manual labor.  After breakfast and a shower, I headed to the computer to accomplish some homework things.  After 2 hours of no-success on my research project, I finally just went back to the stone age and used Excel to do some analysis of my data, like a cavewoman.  Siiiigh. 

I caught Teh German and Teh PT Husband right before they took the rental equipment back and suggested we do Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, since I had called and confirmed they were open, and they agreed.  They picked up the order on the way back home and I had ZERO regrets.

After dinner, I hung out with Teh PT Kid and Teh PT Wife, assisting with homework things and watching Max and Marcy be goofy.  Eventually, I headed back home and knocked out some German homework.  Teh German eventually came home and showered and had some, well-deserved, screentime.  I was surprised that he didn't go to bed early, but he's an adult and can make his own choices.

After finishing my hw, I started the laundry and brushed my teeth and headed to bed for some screentime.  Teh German came upstairs soon after I was in bed.  We chatted for a little bit, but I could tell he was tired, so I let him fall asleep.  After I ran out of lives on my Disney Emoji Blitz game, it was sleepytime for me too.

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Overall, a very, VERY needed weekend.  It was a good mix of productive and relaxing.  Last week was such a rage-induced shitshow that Friday I mostly skated through work because I didn't want anyone to set me off.  The house is finally back to it's pre-painted state, which makes my brain sigh in relief.  There are several holes and paint touch ups that need to happen, but honestly, I'm not super worried about it until everything comes off the walls again... unless Teh German says something, then fine, I'll take care of it.

Since I don't really have a set school schedule anymore, I don't display it on my Google Calendar anymore and it looks like I have ALL THE FREE TIME!  I don't, but it gives me hope.  22 more days until classes end.  I still have the 3 finals, but no one has mentioned when those will be taking place, so I'm just going to endure those as they come.

There is going to be a virtual commencement ceremony, but I'm not planning on watching/attending that.  I'm sad I won't get my scroll photo with the ring, but I guess that's the trade off for all the gas I saved not having to go to campus every day for 2 months.  I already told Teh German that HIS graduation present from ME for dealing with me for the last 3 years his the new exhaust for Lars-Ludwig.  He said something about ordering it over it the weekend, but he didn't ask for my credit card (which I told him to do so I could pay for it), so I'm not sure if it happened.

Our Greyhound picnic was officially cancelled and so now my Current Happenings folder in my email is completely empty, le sigh.

We're already 6 days into April and it still feels like the March that never ends, I guess that gives March madness a whole new definition!