The Un-Patient Side

(Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's IMpatient, but deal with it).

Waiting is a bitch. I hate it. It requires patience, of which I definitely lack. Usually this waiting game requires input from other people, whether that be waiting for someone to meet up, or waiting for an answer to a question, or waiting for a phone call. The main point here is that I am waiting for schools to let me know "YAY" or "nay" on interviews. I don't know when I'll hear back, but it's safe to say that if I don't hear back by the time interview weekends are over, I'm not getting in. Fine, dandy, but can you just tell me so I don't have to keep playing this waiting game, and you don't have to string me along and pretend you like me. Win-Win...

Waiting point number 2: I'm sick. Stupid cold. Now I'm waiting for my immune system to kick into gear so I can stop drinking loads and loads of tea just to have to blow it out of my nose and into kleenex. I finally found some legit decongestant (not the stuff in the aisle, the stuff you have to scan your ID for and promise you won't make meth from it so the Pharmacist can to give you from their own meth stash in the back), so hopefully this snot-rag thing won't be necessary for too much longer.

On the upside, tomorrow is Friday, but that also means that I have to wait through a work day just to wait to get over this cold so I can wait some more for people to contact me. Maybe changing the verb "wait" to something else might help..."pause"... "linger"...still weak sounding...

HolyMotherOfGodIt'sBeenForever!

So I haven't quite forgot about this blog, it's just that it hasn't quite been on my list of things to do, or update, or pay attention to, in the last (what I thought were just a few) months. It has slightly less bearing on my weekly activities as (unfortunately) my fantasy football team. Turns out it's been nearly TWO YEARS since my last post!?!?! Epic fail, this girl.

Update in a nutshell: I'm applying for graduate school. Yes, graduate school, more specifically a PhD in Cell Biology, or some variation thereof. This idiot, party of one, has decided to go back to school and forgo the paycheck and lifestyle of a true adult, and thinks it's time to pretend that I still have room in this noggin for some more learnin'. Clearly, fail part two.

In all of this shenanigans that is the graduate school application process, I have gained the lovely gift of writer's block. This "gift" of sorts is oh-so-helpful when it comes to writing a personal statement. I wish I could just write "I'm not overly-awkward or crazy socially retarded, and I will function in your lab, accept me you bitch." Strange that an admissions committee would look down on that. Maybe if I calmly refer to them as fragrant douche-nozzles they would be more kind...maybe...

Really, I do not have anything against the people that read through the hundreds of applications deciding on the future of the individuals who have slaved for hours over the meaningless prompts like they are squishing ants on a countertop during the summer. It's really the overall process that sucks more than the life from your soul. Studying for stupid standardized exams, writing about how amazing my work is, or just plain filling out my SSN for the 7th time, the overall act of placing your future in someone else's hands is not something I have ever been good with. Giving up control has never been one of my specialties.

So here I am, giving up control, and letting someone as far as 3000 miles away tell me whether I seem smart enough on paper to fly that distance and talk to them, just to have the committee of interviewers realize I'm just barely smarter than that turd they avoided on the sidewalk this morning. First application hopefully will be submitted by the middle of the week. Last one to be submitted by December 15th. Here's to the insanity of the application process!

The Un-Relaxed Side

Two pretty cool things:

1) I looked at my calendar, and I only have one more full 5-day workweek before the end of the year...SWEET!

2) I have every weekend planned out from now, until mid January...SWEET! Now granted I'm just counting X-mas and New Years as weekends that something is going on, and I don't have every single moment of every weekend planned out, but there is something important going on during each weekend from now, through mid January.

So I have realized that with all the weekends planned out, and usually every weekday planned out, I am running around like a chicken with my head cut-off...or more like it was never attached in the first place. This leads me to become totally and utterly exhausted one of the days, and then I end up canceling plans, which is no fun. So as the holidays are coming, the weekday stuff begins to close up, and I think that I'm going to have some time during the week, post work hours, to chill, and catch my breath...wrong!

Example: Monday softball is over until the spring season starts, this should mean relaxing Monday nights right...? Nope, instead I meet up with some friends for drinks before they leave town again. Softball usually meant I was back at my apt by around 9:30pm or so, drinks night: 12:30am...not so much relaxation. Which lead me to Tuesday, feeling like crap, and canceling on going out for Taco Tuesday, one of my fav things to do during the week! Major Bummage.

All this aside, basically I need to learn either better time management, and find time to relax, or just woman-up, and get with the program, that if I want to see people, I'm going to have to sacrifice something...and right now, that looks to be simple sanity...

Party on Wayne! Party on Garth!

The Un-Thought-Out Side

I'm rather unable to disguise my distaste for stupid people. They waste time and resources pretending to be on par with the rest of the people in their field, or life, when really, they just can't compete. Now I'm not saying I don't have my stupid moments, I am blond, and everyone has them, but there is a big difference between have a dumb moment, and just plain not thinking things through...

Example: I just had to buy a new toilet brush. If you want to know the reason, I like my toilet clean, and toilet brushes get dirty rather quickly. If you want to know the science behind it, perform your own experiment. Anyways, I go to Target to find one of the cheapest brushes, thinking it can't be that expensive. Wrong! This was my stupid moment thinking that plastic bristles at the end of a sturdy plastic wand, along with the container to put the brush in (because toilet brushes are gross) would be more than $2.49. The cheapest one I found was close to $5, still not that bad, but the most expensive one was nearly $20!!

Ok, now apparently I'm out of the loop of toilet cleaning technology not to understand why I, let alone anyone in their right mind, would pay upwards of $20 for something to clean crap out of a toilet. But apparently, there are people that go for style and shiny plastic when it comes to cleaning their commode. I pour my mind over the options in front of me and finally select a modest brush and container combo at around $6.50.

When I get the brush, along with my other Target purchases, I notice something on the overly designed packaging for the toilet brush: New Space-Saving Corner Design!

Last time I checked, toilet brushes weren't the size of a desk. Even the $20 ones I saw at Target weren't that big of a space hog. Were they bigger than the one that I got? Sure, but not so much that they would be taking up too much space in the sole bathroom of my 1 bedroom apartment. But you know someone in Toilet-Brush Inc. thought that having it be a "space-saving design" would help sales, along with the blue cardboard packaging with all of the little details about the brush. Toilet-Brush Inc people need to remind themselves of one little detail: You make a product to clean poop out of a porcelain bowl. Not rocket science.

Now I'm not saying that the people who work with toilet brushes are dumb, I'm sure they are quite brilliant, But did anyone proof read the packaging before printing out hundreds of thousands of them for sale? The comments that they decided would help Joe-Schmo or Lady Liberty pick out a commode scrubber are rather idiotic. What's even more amazing is that the people who think of these slogans probably get paid more than double what I do. Next time I look for a job: Advertising.

The same lack of proof-reading is evident, unfortunately, in nearly 15% of the news articles that are posted online and printed in daily newspapers. Now I am pulling that percentage out of thin air, but I find at least 1 article a day when I read the news in the morning that has either a typo or a major lack of sentence structure. Now if your job is to give people the news in a coherent fashion, you better be able to read, spell, and compile a sentence. Common sense would be nice, being able to think is a good idea too...

Happy Reading, and Cleaning...

An Un-Ique Beginning

I've come to the conclusion recently that I'm one of the few people I know that doesn't have a blog, so I decided to create one.

Subway's newest slogan is advertising the "$5 Footlong." This started at the beginning of the downwind of the economy, making eating out seem more financially savvy. Combined with Jared Fogle, the guy who lost 245lbs eating only Subway sandwiches to loose weight, Subway has a great campaign going - a healthy, affordable alternative to eating fast food.

Enter KFC. Trying to stay ahead of the game, they recently advertised the Variety Big Box Meal. This box contains "a drumstick, a Crispy Strip, an individual box of Popcorn Chicken, two Homestyle sides, a biscuit and a 32-oz drink." (Taken directly from the KFC website, I might add) KFC is advertising this Big Box Meal for just $5, bringing back some affordability to their menu. Their slogan: "Taste the Un-sub side of KFC."

This got me thinking, how often are we trying to be un-blank something, or to fit something into an un-blank category. It could be good things: unfettered, unaltered, unrestrained. Bad things: unappreciated, unacknowledged, unloved. The prefix of "un" gives the idea that something is different, whether it's in a good way, or bad way, it's different.

This brings me to the word "unique." Synonyms are sole, unequal, unusual...more un-blank words, that all mean "different." Which makes me think, is there an "Ique" and why are we trying to be Un-Ique? While it may not seem like it to some, I'm always trying to make my life different than others, not fit into a mold. A favorite quote of mine is "You were born an original, don't die a copy."

What is your un-blank category? What does that look like, or what is it un-like..?