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I was thinking this morning about how I used to have this really annoying problem: I was always out of clean socks. Somehow, I just went through them all and would end up having to do laundry before I would have otherwise. However, as I was doing laundry this morning, I realized I don’t have that problem anymore. I solved it in two ways:

1. I bought six more pairs of socks, bringing my sock drawer to maximum capacity.
2. I started wearing sandals on a daily basis.

So now, instead of having to do laundry superoften just to get clean socks, I have a drawer stuffed full of socks I never wear (except to exercise). I’m not really sure if that counts as a step forward. More of a lateral move, really.

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I had a doctor’s appointment this morning to check on my eardrum. For those that don’t remember or are simply new to the fan club, I blew out my left eardrum swimming last summer. Since my hearing never fully returned in that ear, I was worried the ear hadn’t fully healed, and since I was hoping to go swimming tonight/tomorrow with the family/friends at the KOA, I thought I should consult a doctor and have my ear consoled.

The good: Even though my eardrum ~looks~ like it still has a bit o’ hole in it, it responds well to the pressure test (don’t remember what it’s called… I mentally referred to it as the earoblowoscopy), meaning there’s probably a thin flap o’ drum protecting my brain from the elements. Meaning, I can swim.

The bad: My hearing is still… well, my hearing. It sucks. The doctor actually referred to it as “really shitty”. I like forthright doctors. :) He also suggested I get earplugs for swimming (just in case) and I’m not to be diving (why tempt the aquagods?). He also strongly recommends I set up an appointment with an ear/nose/throat specialist in August, when my new insurance kicks in.

The ugly: He’s referring me to a specialist because my hearing is, apparently, really bad. Like, worse than regular-type bad. The doc said that I couldn’t hear him rubbing his fingers together from three inches away with my eyes closed. Personally, I’m not sure how often that particular skill would come in handy, but whatever. :) He also said I should probably look into getting hearing augmentation (aka hearing aids) since, you know, I’m having a hard time hearing human voices these days. On the plus side, I’m getting better at reading lips. He also said I still have cool scars in my ears from whatever was done to them when I was younger.

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Remember Cute Office Girl from post previous? Of course you do! Well, she eventually left (they always do), putting a damper on the rest of my afternoon. Then I got on the bus to go home, and she was there. Yay. I sat next to her, and after about five minutes, even worked up the courage to speak. We had a nice conversation. Turns out she’s older than me, though an undergrad. She’s a triple!major* in philosophy, sociology, and visual communication. She says she just wants to write novels. I said I was an English major, and that I didn’t plan to write novels, but instead hoped to do something with visual communication. It was fun conversation all around. I got off the bus and only then realized I forgot to check her left hand for a ring. Stupid Robbie. She was in the office again yesterday, but she kept her right side to me and I didn’t get a chance to talk to her before I left for a looong lunch with SocBuddy Nick (I had a yummy lamb stew at the African restaurant on Lincoln (Oleka Te, I think) followed by happy, hoppy refreshments at Bali Satay).

I’ll be leaving this afternoon, Lisa in tow, for the KOA, where I hope to drink, laugh, and be tanning. I wish you a good weekend. You should wish the thunderclouds away from me.

* Exclamatory!Conjunction borrowed from Monica. I love the form.

So I did go to the Rec all by myself on Friday. I decided I could at least practice my racquetball serve, even though playing racquetball by myself seemed like a pretty lonely and loserly thing to do. Didn’t happen, though. I got to the Rec to discover there were approximately 1,000 extra people in the building. Admittedly, it’s a big huge building that holds lots of people, but 1,000 is a very large number and they were ~ALL~ in front of the racquetball courts. Turns out there was some big wrestling thing that weekend and they decided to hold registration in front of the racquetball courts. Playing racquetball by myself in front of a thousand people stronger than me didn’t sound too appealing, but I decided to try anyway. I couldn’t even push my way through the crowd to get to the courts. I gave up and went upstairs. I tried jogging for a while, and didn’t get very far, mostly because I don’t seem to have an intermediate “jog” setting. I have a moderate walk, a fast walk, and a run. I’m not very good at walking slowly or jogging. After that, I rowed for a while, because rowing is nice and fun. Except, after jogging, it seems rowing makes me slightly nauseous. I got home and in front of the air conditioner before losing my lunch in front of a bunch of people with disproportionately large upper bodies.

I went out Friday night with my roomies to a bar on Main Street called Sporty’s. I had a pretty good time, and even got hit on by a cute girl named Erin. I then wandered away from Erin to hang out with my roommates and watch them play shuffleboard. About five minutes later, I realized this was a Very Stupid Move. I gotta work on this whole flirting thing.

I didn’t do much this weekend besides homework, webwork, and Summer Things (which includes, but is not limited to, tanning on my roof). I didn’t even see my dad on Father’s Day because I am a Bad Son. I figure I’ll see him Friday, though. My little brother will be turning 19 on that day and I assume there will be some sort of a party at my parent’s house, as they seem to hold them until you forget to attend your own, as I did on my 21st (and I didn’t even get to drink (well, much) because I had a final the next morning). I’m right about the party, right, mom?

Yesterday I went to the Rec with Lisa. Turns out she doesn’t like racquetball, so after a short while we got bored of that and rowed for a while instead. I have no idea how far I went, though, because my machine’s display wasn’t working right and Lisa managed to mess up hers. I rowed at what I thought to be my usual pace for what I thought to be around 17 minutes, though, so that should put me at a little over two miles. I’m not sore this morning, though, so I think I should push myself a little harder next time.

Speaking of pushing myself harder, I’m supposed to play a guy named Doug in racquetball sometime this week. I’m nervous, as I’m pretty sure he will hurt me. He was complaining Saturday night that the last time he played, he and his partner broke three balls ~before~ the writing wore off (which happens after a couple hours), and that isn’t supposed to happen until after several hours of play. I’ve never broken a ball. Not playing Lorenzo, or Katie, or Debs, or Quinn, or Lisa. Not even playing Bob, and he’s been playing regularly for longer than I’ve been alive. I’m hoping Doug is willing to teach me a few things instead of just killing me. Should be educational, regardless.

In happy news, I’m planning to stop by Triplett after work, sign my lease, and put down the deposit. I’ll take possession on the 22nd and start moving in heavy stuff on the 23rd. My roommates also informed me that they’re planning to have a party that weekend to celebrate Sammie’s 21st birthday, so it should be an interesting time.

There’s been a cute girl in the office most the afternoon, which was a nice change of pace. I stupidly assumed she was a grad student getting lots of help. I just recently realized she’s probably the daughter of one of my coworkers, judging from snippets of conversation I’ve overheard. Sumvagun. I really know how to pick em.

Today’s been a pretty decent day thus far. I woke up around 8am, had a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal (I’ve been trying the “breakfast” thing this week), downloaded some MP3s of questionable legality, and then went out to the roof to tan for an hour and a half or so. I don’t know that I got much darker than I was, but it means I’ll still be darker than Lisa, and really, isn’t that what matters?

After tanning, I took a quick shower and headed to work. I spent my first 45 minutes at work generally frustrated because my boss asked me to update a form, and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’ve noticed that’s one of the biggest annoyances in taking over an administrative-ish job such as mine: you’ve no idea how the previous person organized things. I finally found the form, saved as an uneditable PDF, on someone else’s website. Turns out my boss had forgotten to mention that part. :) She put in a call to the people who originally created it to see if I could get my grubby lil palms on an editable version.

Despite that little setback, I’ve been generally productive here today. Did quite a bit with the website behind the scenes. A lot of my work is like that. If I’m doing my job well, you won’t notice. I also made three new signs for my cubicle, as it was looking rather impersonal and bare. Now it’s probably too personal, but I’ll wait to see if anyone complains before I take anything down. Sign One is of this picture, which cracked me up the first time I saw it and still has good snicker-enducing qualities. It was also my desktop background at home until last night, when I decided to see how much I could make my desktop look like a Mac. I get bored. Sign Two is of this unicorn, which made me laugh aloud at work, which made me figure it’d be a good way to ensure I’m in a decent mood when I come in, so I posted it where it’d be the first thing I saw when I walked into my cubicle. Sign Three is of Stabby McKnife, of Threadless fame. That one’s probably the most controversial, so I hid it around the corner a bit. You have to be leaning over my cubicle wall or sitting in my chair to see it.

I’m hoping to find something fun to do this evening, but I’ve no leads so far. I’ve gotten myself mostly talked into going to the Rec by myself after work, but that’ll only eat up so much time. After that, I’ve nada. I think Lisa’s got a date tonight, and my roommates pretty much ignore me these days, so that means I’m stuck finding my own entertainment. I hate having to do, you know, things. For myself. Argh.

I’m proud of myself: I went to the Rec yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks (or at least a week, I don’t remember) and got myself a rather good workout. I spent the first hour or so teaching Lisa the basics of racquetball. We’d tried to play racquetball once before, and though I don’t remember any specifics, I do remember thinking we probably wouldn’t play again. *grin* She was better this time, due mostly to a change in enthusiasm. It’s no fun to wear yourself out chasing a little blue ball unless your opponent is also willing to move and swing. She ran as much as me, tried for tough (even physically impossible and therefore hilarious) shots, and really seemed to want to learn. Made it fun, even if I didn’t get quite as much of a workout as I would have if I were playing someone who could kick my ass without trying too hard. I hit her with the ball once (softly, but still made me laugh) and hit myself once pretty hard (off the back wall from too close). It was fun in general.

After racquetball, we went upstairs and I introduced her to the joy that is the rowing machine. I love rowing machines for whatever reason. The repetitive, regular motion is really soothing, and hey—I get a workout at the same time. I was a little nervous, as I hadn’t had a chance to get on the rowing machine for probably five months. I was proud of myself in the end, though, as I made it 3100 virtual meters (almost two virtual miles) in 15 real minutes at one of the harder settings, which is better than I thought I’d do. I figured I’d be sore as hell today, but other than a slight tightness in my shoulders, I’m fine. I’m definitely going to be making the rowing machine a regular part of my summer, unless someone were willing to donate something rowable to my cause. And a lot of water, because Ames isn’t exactly known for its large bodies of water. I don’t even have a wading pool. But anyway, the rowing machines at the Rec rock. If I were to take my MP3 player with me, I might even be able to go ~alone~, which I’ve never been able to convince myself to do before. Of course, rowing would only take from 15-30 minutes. What else am I supposed to do while I’m there? Half an hour seems too little a span of time, and I’m worried I’m still too self-conscious to jog alone. I really gotta work on that.

I’ve been thinking a lot about joining the Peace Corps the last couple of days. I’m thinking it’s probably just the hippie English grad student equivalent of the running away and joining the circus fantasy. Of course, I had a hippie-ish English grad student friend drop out of school and join a traveling carnival, so I suppose both are viable options for someone with as auspicious training as we. Now she’s teaching English in rural Japan, if I remember correctly. Regardless, I keep thinking the Peace Corps might be fun for a couple of years. It’s probably just a faze.

It’s Justin’s 24th birthday today. Happy birthday, Tiny! The file photo to the right isn’t exactly current, but it’s close enough. As a matter of fact, it’s probably almost exactly a year old. If I remember correctly, Debs took that picture (or I took it with her camera), which pretty well restricts it to the month of June, assuming my memory isn’t entirely shot. We may have even been celebrating his birthday, but I don’t think so. I think we were just celebrating a weekend. I really like still being at an age wherein it’s somewhat acceptable to celebrate such a mundane occurrence as “Friday.”

I still haven’t bought Tiny a present, mostly because I have an idea as to what I want to get him, but it’s been quite difficult to get a hold of. I found a shirt which seems very appropriate, but the largest size it comes in is XL. Tiny, as his name suggests, is around 6′3″ with broad shoulders and a barrel-esque chest. Also, he likes baggy clothing. I have an email floating around out in the æther that is cyberspace awaiting a response from the creator (not Creator) to see if I can get the shirt special made in a larger size. If that falls through, I’ll have to come up with something else. Luckily, 1) Tiny is in Seattle, and probably doesn’t expect a present to arrive on time (especially from me), and 2) if other years are any indication, he probably doesn’t remember it’s his birthday, unless his mum has called to remind him. He’s kooky that way.

In un-Tiny related news, VeryCuteGirl (represented as such to protect her (and me, if her husband happens to be of the large and vicious variety)) has a 15-month old child in addition to a husband. Which suggests some sort of permanence there, eh? I actually got the chance to talk to her for a bit today, and was proud of myself for not being either pointlessly awkward or pointlessly flirty. I was instead pointlessly myself, which is all I could really hope for. She seems very nice, but I was happy to notice that, during the class-induced conversation, I was able, without any sort of difficulty, to think of her as Classmate as opposed to Crush. It’s important for me to be able to make that distinction.

The class has already taught me a lot. For instance, it taught me that I suck at remembering the various parts of grammar (i.e. lexical categories), dividing words into their appropriate morphemes, and thinking of words phonetically (despite the fact I’m a big fan of word-sounds as opposed to word-meanings). Thus, the class is doing an excellent job in pointing out all the ways in which I am deficient as an English graduate student. Dr. Burnett always said it was important to know your weaknesses as well as your strengths, but I’m still not completely comfortable with the idea that all of my weaknesses are represented in a single branch of study so closely related to my own.

I want to learn Spanish, as I think it would be very beneficial in this region of the United States (and by the time I’m middle aged will be even more beneficial). I also watched Lola Rennt yesterday, and now want to learn German. Lisa’s a big fan of that idea, as she speaks German, but usually simply to insult me these days, which is ironically why I originally wanted to learn Spanish. Debs used to call me several things in Spanish which probably weren’t nice. Her favorite was Bendejo, which is funny, as I’m usually also called the English equivalent. :) I also discovered, after being distracted by (and subsequently from) my Linguistics homework last night that I am a big fan of Tok Pisin, which is one of the languages of Papua New Guinea. Seeing as how it’s largely English-derived, it makes a lot of immediate intuitive sense to me, and I like the sound of it. Now, if only I weren’t atrocious at learning languages.

Am I allowed to talk about people in class who piss me off? I’m always afraid someone will stumble upon it and be offended. Of course, they offended me ~first~, so I don’t know why it bugs me so. I’m too nice a guy. Well, here goes… it really annoys me when people contradict the professor in the middle of lecture, and hold a debate in which they don’t really offer any substantial evidence. Please please please, if your best evidence is “I think” or “I can do it,” then defer to the guy with the degree and empirical studies backing up his argument. For the sake of my sanity. And also, do NOT (thank you) use my class time to show off. I don’t care if you speak Spanish really well. When the vast majority of the class does not, there’s no reason to show it off, and it doesn’t count as supportive evidence anyway, seeing as how nobody has any idea what you just said and couldn’t tell an American Spanish accent from a South American one regardless. Also, the guy sitting behind you speaks five languages (including Swahili), and you don’t hear him showing off, do you? I’d legitimately rather learn how much I suck at linguistics than how much you rock at Spanish.

Notice how it went from general and third person to specific and second person? Weird. Felt kinda nice, though. Hope I didn’t piss anyone off, including you, Dear Reader.