Here we are...summer

Summer arrived with a bang, as temperatures jumped 20 degrees (and 40 degrees from 10 days ago) to 90-95F. Memorial Day weekend was nice and relaxing, as I spent it all with Kelley and sayed at her G-parents. Her brother graduated high school this weekend...wow 5 years has gone by so fast. I met a couple old friends J and A who I had not talked to in four years...we are all doing the grad school thing, and when it's all done I think both of them will be doctors (like me...well I'm a juris doctor but whatever). Since the last time I wrote, lots of stuff happened. I did well in my first semester of law school, well good enough fro how slacker I've played this year. Second semester was good, classes were not as good but we made it through. I'm going to miss Section 1 and the crazy times, but it's on to 2L classes and IP classes next year. My schedule for next year is probably going to be Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Business Associations, Appellate Advocacy (AKA legal writing 2), Civil Procedure II, State Constitutional Law Seminar, Accounting for Lawyers, Evidence, and Federal Income Taxation. Woo-ya! Anyways, I have no Friday classes all year and start at 2 PM every day fall semester...should sync up nicely with Kelley's work schedule of afternoons and evenings teaching piano lessons. Still waiting on 4 out of 5 grades from this semester, but Legislation was a 94 A which is awesome considering that was our small section class (and 5 of the 10 Moritz full-tuition plus scholars out of a total class of 210 are in that class of 35). I want the other grades to come out now so I can move on and forget about it. Journal writing competition sucked...oh you're done with finals, here's a 10 page paper to do in a week with 250 pages of thick reading to do before you even start outlining. Blech. Take home exams are shitty too (although LEgislation was one of the two and I did OK there, but Foley's Constitutional Law test took me 21 of the given 24 hours and was brutal). I'd rather have a typing contest (which disadvantages my hunt a peck method) than a 24 hour screwball. Anyways...
I write this not to reminice on the first year of law school which was tough yet very doable. I write this to explain how bad my day was today. So I have the second of hopefully 4 truckloads of boxes I am moving out of my mother's house since she is getting married in August and moving out of her apartment...this is in my truck with the new bed cover locked down with the side handles, which means you cannot get into the bed unless you open the tailgate and release the handles. This is only the second time I have locked the cover down, and go figure when I get back to Columbus this morning something would go wrong. I go to open the tailgate which opens kind of funny and I break the handle off on one side. I spend the next 30 minutes with needlenose pliers trying with all my might to open the damn door, but to no avail. I have to go turn in my timesheet, so I go to Moritz and have Ebony (the secretary for the PRofessor I am working for, professor Shipman) sign it. She then tells me he cancelled his class and my appointment with him today. He does not cancel on a whim...for instance last weekend (not Memorial Day weekend) he had a heart attack on Friday morning, but was back teaching his summer class on Monday afternoon. So he must be really sick or something...and this I fear because if he goes and has to leave the school for health reasons, that means no summer job anymore (nice cushy 40 hour research job), no TA position next spring semester, and no letter of recommendation if he dies. I mean I might be blowing this out of proportion, but the guy is ancient and I fear for my job security. At least that freed up the afternoon to go to the Ford dealership. I go to get gas and I get there right as they are upping prices around town 30 cents. $2.58 gas was nice while it lasted...back to $2.80-$3.00. I do not understand how they can raise prices 30 cents in a minute...but let's just say I pumped away at 2.58 and when I hung the nozzle up, the rates changed to 2.89. This would be the end of the good news.
So I drop off my last batch of mechanical engineering papers for the year and then go home to unsuccessfully try to open my tailgate again. I decide to throw in the towel, so I get some food and watch a half-hour of GSN while looking up repair shops. I go to one Ford dealership...they say they cannot get me in till tomorrow. Eff that. I go to a second one in town and they have time for me, so I decide to wait. Once they figured out how to open the tailgate (it took some doing), they replaced the handle for a grand total of $165. Add on the transmission service I needed badly and up we go past $250. Yay. But at least my stuff was freed from the truck bed and I can use my truck again. And the new handle works a lot better than the old one ever did (it was no surprise when it broke really). I finished off my day by buying groceries, making spagetti, doing laundry (all the while reading and researching to get money before I lose my job if it happens), washing my truck and cleaning the inside thoroughly (it needed it badly after 2 months and a winter of neglect), changing my windshield wipers for the first time, and fixing my interior light with a new light bulb which works correctly again (it has not worked for the 3 years I've owned the truck...go figure all it needed was a bulb). So my truck is OK for now, although it does need a few things (oil change in 300 miles, coolant flush sometime this summer, long term I need to fix the loose idler gear in the engine making a lot of noise and also would like to fix the broken spring on my driver side back wheel because my truck sits kinda lopsided and looks funny)...some of it will have to wait until after the wedding, as I get repayed for the extra investment I made in the honeymoon (I fronted an extra $800 my family is helping cover, of which I only have $300 from Mom). I am also owed $500 from my beloved but I doubt I'll ever see it again since we are getting married and her lack of funds becomes my lack of funds (besides, it was part of my rainy day funds and that's for both of us), and $500 from Jon which I better see by the end of the year because I'm getting pissed about this year-old debt he has. I'm living directly off whatever job I have this summer, so hopefully the first two paychecks are big since they have to cover bills for June and July, honeymoon fun money, last minute wedding details (hotel room, bridal gift, and groomsmen gifts which all told comes to a lot of money), and anything else I do over the next 2 months. Good thing I'm skipping Origins as I really could not afford the long weekend. I'll get a litte cash from selling Magic cards starting hopefully this week or next, but I hope to save that up as my fun money. I'll also get a big refund from the rebates on our cell phones as I finally got to send that in ($360!). I'll make it happen financially.
Oh and one more thing in case my day couldn't get any worse. I come home and my foot (my toe) has been aching worse and worse for the past 3 days since I wore my old black shoes on Sunday. Kelley told me I had an ingrown toenail when I told her it was bleeding tonight, and I did some online research and she was right. I've never had one and I hear these things can get pretty bad. I soaked in hot salt water and applied hydrogen peroxide, follwed by forcing cotton under the toenail edge and covering that with a band-aid. We'll re-do this a few more times over the next couple days to see if I can get this damn thing to grow not into my toe...and hopefully the pain won't get any worse as it already hurts to walk. Nothing but sandals and fresh air for that toe except for in the evenings, when I have it wrapped up to protect it from catching on the sheets. Just another thing to worry about (of course I look it up and minor surgery is apparently somewhat common if these remedies I started tonight do not solve the problem...yikes). I'm so totally never wearing those shoes ever again. Ever. And I will never cut my toenails short again, as this just invites stupid crap like this. Just like Andy Roddick (drop out of the first round today at French open), I doubt I'll be seeing a tennis court anytime soon. This is depressing, especially conisdering I need t lose weight to fit into my tux for the wedding (they can always last minute alteration, but that's embarrassing and while I am confortable with my body...there's no harm in taking my law school 40 off...yeah 40).
Enough for now. Maybe more updates this summer as I have tons more time. Hopefully next time I wirte I still have a job and a boss and maybe even a toe that doesn't feel as bad (but who knows). Have a good one!