May 29, 2008 - Thursday
Lessons of a Fried Pork Chop
Current mood: bitchy
Okay so this was a seperate blog that I had to break into another piece because there was too much to digest in just one section. Yesterday while looking at the apartment that I'm considering in South East, I took a bus and a train over to the Anacostia station and ended up (finally) at the corner of 17th and Minnesota Ave. where 1411 Ridge Place is located. Getting there, I saw that the house needed some work but I could view the potential there as it had a nice little front garden, though I have yet to see the inside. That could make or break the deal for me. We'll see. Granted it is in the hood no doubt, but for a beginning house, it's not that bad. I could definitely see the potential there. And if she's truly asking for 665 for it, then that's a powerful initiative. Anyway, after viewing the house, I left there and because I was starving, I ended up at Good Hope Takeout, which serves as many places in the area of the same origin do, as a multi-hypenated resturant function. A Chinese/Soul/American/Seafood place. So I bought a fried pork chop dinner with a box of chicken wings off to the side. Since this was the kind of place that didn't have a dining area (hence "Takeout") and since I didn't want to be chowing on chicken via bus, I decided to just chill there in the parking lot and eat some of it. I got through the chicken wings (which were banging) and I finished off the tea when I was going to eat the pork chop and the rice, but I didn't feel hungry anymore after that point. So I just decided to bag up the remains and take it home.
While waiting for the bus to come, I ran into a man who was standing on the corner and after talking to him for a bit, I asked if he lived in the area. He said he was homeless, and so I was like, "Oh I get it. That's too bad." And he was mumbling about going down to the metro station to beg for some food. I was sitting there complating the entire incident when I thought about it and I wondered what it would be like if I were begging for food, and my conscious got the best of me. I offered him my plate of pork chop and rice and he took it, placing it in his backpack to eat later. However things got weirder when he asked if he could use my phone. I said yes and he called a friend of his and told him that he was going to pay him some money that he owed the next day. To me, this didn't make any sense. After he hung up, I asked him about it. I mean how can you say you're gonna pay someone some money when you supposedly can't afford to buy dinner for the night? He said that his aunt was sending him some money and it wasn't a big deal but I suddenly started feeling like I was getting played. And it was then I started thinking about the lessons of a fried pork chop.
Living here in this city, you see homeless people. A lot. And though it may sound cold to say so, all you can really do most of the time, is just pass them by and keep it moving. Granted, I'm a just graduated college student living by the skin of my teeth in this crazy city, and I can't afford to be giving you all my belongings, because I don't have much! But that's not the thing that makes me mad. I've seen people who are probably better off than me, begging on the street corner because they're bored or need something to do. Or at least those are some of the stories I hear from the paramedics and others. She told me one night they stopped to help a man who was homeless and on the way to the hospital, he asked if he could stop at an ATM and when he did he printed a bank statement stating he had over 10 million in the bank. His homeless act was truly that. Trying to get his kids to leave him alone when they thought he had money. And further still, there are others who just play the game because they don't know what it feels like and want to experience something new. This is complete and utter bullshit to me. Andrew (a totally cute new intern here) and I spent the day together going to the Career Fair and while we were out, we ran into a couple, and I was looking at them closely. One man who asked us for change was sitting in a fairly nice suit with an expensive watch on his arm begging for money. And I didn't understand that. Then when we went to Five Guys, there was a black woman who was missing a leg, who decided to stop and park her wheelchair right in front of the parking meter as people were coming in for lunch. She had her purse slung around her neck looking fairly well to do, and put the mocha latte she was sipping on from Starbucks on the ground behind her chair and she sat there not saying a word, with a cup hanging out in front of her. When a man did stop to give her something, he presented her with what looked like 40.00. She reached in her cup when he turned around, and pocketed the change ringing the cup stating it was empty. It was really annoying to see. And then a college girl chilling on her apartment decided to start shaking her cup at us when we were passing by. I wanted to cuss her out right there on the street. Just because we went to school and got degrees and you chose not to pursue a further education and sit bored on the street all damn day doesn't mean that you have the right to leach off other charity. As a person with a disability, I fight all the time against that stigma that we're worthless in the society that we don't contribute.
It just made me angry. And I'll think about that pork chop every time I see someone begging from now on.
Thursday 29 May 2008
Precursor to a Much Deserved Break
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Friday 23 May 2008
OK Breathe.
May 23, 2008 - Friday
OK. Breathe.
Current mood: working
Alright so it's the end of week two and things have gotten progressively better and progressively worse in both respects. Let's see where to begin:
Forget what I said about Willie in that last blog because she completely flipped the script on me shortly after I wrote that. Come to find out, she was very upset that she was doing all those things for me (even though I thought she was okay with it, apparently I was wrong), and she was mainly just pissed that she had to keep picking me up all the time. So I decided on Sunday that I would find out another way to get work everyday without having to ask her to do shit. And my answer appeared in the form of the U8 line, which is two blocks from the house. It comes in the mornings (though I have yet offiically to figure out exactly what time, he just kinda shows up when he feels like it) and it can take me to the Minnesota Station, where I can catch the Metro no problem and get to work. Same in the evenings though that's much harder because once I get to the intersection of 42nd and Benning Road (which is where the house is) I have to roll uphill for those two blocks and that's tough as shit. So that's that.
Secondly, I'm super happy that my friend Julia is finally here in DC with me, (she was with me last summer when we worked at NASA together) and she's here again this summer for seven months, so we'll have plenty of time to hang out together. Now if only Andrew would show up again.... But yeah I met her last week and we went for chicken at Cluck U, which I keep finding disturbing things out about. Like a lot of places closing down, due to poor maintenence, and stuff like that. But yeah I'm grateful she's here so at least I have one person to chill with over the weekend. But I'm working on that net which brings me to my next point.
Men. I've met one already and I'm supposedly talking to two other ones off to the side. I met Juan the same time I was with Julia but we had already been talking for about two weeks prior online so when I got here, we just met up and stuff like that. He's really nice, short, but nice. And he has a really nice apartment somewhere around the Waterfront Metro station. However, he also happens to be positive, which is something that I haven't figured out quite what to do about. We were scheduled to hang out this week and when I wanted to bring some food to cook and suprise him with, it ended up busting because he told me he had other plans. Way to go, Juan. Nice move. So yeah I haven't heard from him since and if he wants to hang out, then he knows my number. He can text or call. I'm tired of being the one to initiate shit. There's Mark, whom I met yesterday. I'm supposed to be meeting him tomorrow, and we'll see how that goes. And there's someone else who's name I don't know yet but we'll see. We've been talking for a few days now, so I'll see where it goes as well.
Finally, there's the bank. It's been annoying as shit and I'm completely and utterley broke at the moment. It's kinda sad actually. Negatives in both banks on both sides due to some stupid ass mistakes from their part and from me. However that will be shortly changed, since I'm expecting over 2,000 dollars next week when that paycheck and SSI hit. That will be a GREAT relief, and I can get back to living again!!!! Lord I hate not having money. It sucks! Till later.
OK. Breathe.
Current mood: working
Alright so it's the end of week two and things have gotten progressively better and progressively worse in both respects. Let's see where to begin:
Forget what I said about Willie in that last blog because she completely flipped the script on me shortly after I wrote that. Come to find out, she was very upset that she was doing all those things for me (even though I thought she was okay with it, apparently I was wrong), and she was mainly just pissed that she had to keep picking me up all the time. So I decided on Sunday that I would find out another way to get work everyday without having to ask her to do shit. And my answer appeared in the form of the U8 line, which is two blocks from the house. It comes in the mornings (though I have yet offiically to figure out exactly what time, he just kinda shows up when he feels like it) and it can take me to the Minnesota Station, where I can catch the Metro no problem and get to work. Same in the evenings though that's much harder because once I get to the intersection of 42nd and Benning Road (which is where the house is) I have to roll uphill for those two blocks and that's tough as shit. So that's that.
Secondly, I'm super happy that my friend Julia is finally here in DC with me, (she was with me last summer when we worked at NASA together) and she's here again this summer for seven months, so we'll have plenty of time to hang out together. Now if only Andrew would show up again.... But yeah I met her last week and we went for chicken at Cluck U, which I keep finding disturbing things out about. Like a lot of places closing down, due to poor maintenence, and stuff like that. But yeah I'm grateful she's here so at least I have one person to chill with over the weekend. But I'm working on that net which brings me to my next point.
Men. I've met one already and I'm supposedly talking to two other ones off to the side. I met Juan the same time I was with Julia but we had already been talking for about two weeks prior online so when I got here, we just met up and stuff like that. He's really nice, short, but nice. And he has a really nice apartment somewhere around the Waterfront Metro station. However, he also happens to be positive, which is something that I haven't figured out quite what to do about. We were scheduled to hang out this week and when I wanted to bring some food to cook and suprise him with, it ended up busting because he told me he had other plans. Way to go, Juan. Nice move. So yeah I haven't heard from him since and if he wants to hang out, then he knows my number. He can text or call. I'm tired of being the one to initiate shit. There's Mark, whom I met yesterday. I'm supposed to be meeting him tomorrow, and we'll see how that goes. And there's someone else who's name I don't know yet but we'll see. We've been talking for a few days now, so I'll see where it goes as well.
Finally, there's the bank. It's been annoying as shit and I'm completely and utterley broke at the moment. It's kinda sad actually. Negatives in both banks on both sides due to some stupid ass mistakes from their part and from me. However that will be shortly changed, since I'm expecting over 2,000 dollars next week when that paycheck and SSI hit. That will be a GREAT relief, and I can get back to living again!!!! Lord I hate not having money. It sucks! Till later.
Thursday 15 May 2008
Thoughts on DC
Okay so then. Here's a somewhat skewed update. Haven't really been able to get online recently, so I have to do that at work sparingly when I get the time to do so. Basically this is what has been happening.
I left NC last Saturday and headed for DC in a twist of plans because my parents decided they couldn't come up due to other circumstances, so instead they made me buy a train ticket and come up myself, which I did. After that, I got here and the weather was just turning bad. Supposedly it had been nice but when I arrived, everything starting getting cold and dreary. I should've seen the signs coming then. I met up with Didi and she proceeded to take me to the house that I'm staying at right now.
The house is nice but old. And that's an understatement. It's like the house that my grandfather on my mom's side would've had. It's old and smells as such but the area itself is pretty nice. It's got a nice kitchen two bathrooms, two floors with three bedrooms turned into two bedrooms and a bonus room where I'm sleeping at the moment. The whole scheme of the place looks kinda sketch, but it's a nice place considering. However, the area itself is not. Located in a rather seedy part of town, there are commonly drug deals, illegal activities and scarsely any cops around. Put it this way. Pizza Hut doesn't deliver to my house. As a matter of fact, NOBODY does! I called the first night I was there because I didn't want to leave the house unattended and found out the hard way.
So after that, I left on Sunday after Willie (Didi's friend) decided to drop me off at the Deanwood Metro station and went to find the place I'd be working at. Turns out the DOL office is right in the center of downtown and it takes a cute minute to get there via two different metro lines. But it's not that bad really. You start out taking the orange line towards Vienna, get off at Metro Center switch to Glenmont and get off at Jucidiary Square (or as I prefer to think of it, the Resident Evil stop because the place where the elevator comes out at looks like the center of the S.T.A.R.S. office). Once from there, you go down a block and go over to your left, go up past all the vendors and the Jucidiary building on the right, cross over two streets in front, go down to your left to the corner, cross over another street at the light and go up half a block to the DOL building that's on the left. I've been doing this almost a week now and I think I'm starting to get the hang of the situation.
But it's been far from peaches and cream. On Sunday when I went out to find the place, I had just located DOL when suddenly out of nowhere the rain started. It was a light sprinkling not bad, and so I kept looking around for a place to figure out where I was supposed to go since I was looking for a mall (having left my power cord and AV cables for the 360 at home). I abandoned the idea as the rain continued coming down harder and harder, so I left that place and went to get a jacket from Macy's spending something I shouldn't have to get it and some other things, and went to Greenbelt in an attempt to have dinner at Cluck U. Unforetunately though I called for a cab five times, nothing ever arrived, and by then the rain had come full force, bringing torrential downpours of ice water and stinging winds with it. It was like a mini hurricane standing at that bus stop waiting for the cab. When he didn't show for an hour, I left and decided to head back home where Willie picked me up and took me back. When I did get back home, the rain and cold took over and I started having a rather severe asthma attack. Having all my medicine in NC, and no doctor here I called 911 for the first time and they came I learned about how the paramedics commonly pimp out patients before they reach the hospital to the other guys from a female paramedic that was highly disgruntal but nice. So then.
About Willie. She's a nice enough lady. She seems really laid back and tries not to let things get to her. Her exact opposite is Didi, who revels in being loud and is easily angered by small things. But Willie is just calm and colllected and she truly is very helpful. She's paid for my dinner three times now just because I was so tired from work that I didn't feel like cooking in the least bit so she would go and buy me dinner. Last night was good though because I got home by seven and was able to cook some hamburger helper and watch three episodes of Dexter before I decided to call it a night at 10:30. May sound stupid going to bed like that when I'm used to not getting up until 9 am and going to bed at 2 and 3 in morning but when you have to wake up at 6 to be at work by 8 and work till 5, your sleeping schedule gets altered pretty drastically.
Work is...interesting. I like the work because it's varied and interesting and I met a lot of cool people that last few days. Everyone that I've met has a disability with the exception of a few of the big heads and my supervisor Maggie.
Patrick: this cool ass black dude who I believe has a degree of blindness with his tied back dreads always secretly talking of a revolution at his desk.
Andrea: who apparently has something wrong with the nerves in her left hand and her right leg but who's been my kind of mentor throughout this process. She seems a bit high strung at times but she's witty and very intelligent, and a complete Republican.
Randy: a blind guy who works in the back who's name I can never seem to remember and who's also kinda hot in that Chris Evans (mmmmmm) kinda way.
Pam: the office computer girl who I think either has a crush on me or wants to hook me up with someone else....(shudder)
Jill: the totally typical black woman who ends all her sentences with ummhmmm and a proverbial head snap
Chuck: who appears to have just stepped in off the set of Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood
Charlie who having been in his wheelchair for 40 years due to a gunwound back in Vietnam looks like he secretly harbors hatred for the very government he works for
Sandra: the hispanic office clerk who tries desperately hard to please everyone
Carol (the short one): A firecracker of a woman who doesn't care what anyone thinks of her.
Carol (the tall one): A quiet soft-spoken lady that looks like she's got more going on behind her eyes than she cares to admit.
Erica: The office secretary to the mother of all bigwigs, Neil Romano who looks like she secretly harbors dissent towards having to work for the Man directly.
Mr. Romano: The Assistant Secretary to Disability Affairs appointed directly by George Bush, he looks and sounds incredibly formidable but is really just a loveable kinda guy.
Loretta: A grandmotherly-looking kind of woman who looks loveable but completely isn't. She's a carbon-copy of James from Nip/Tuck without the prosititution.
Betsy: She's one of my supervisors but doesn't act like it or want to be called that. She's probably the chillest supervisor I've ever had, without losing her edge to do business. She reminds of a Greek Signorney Weaver (in the nicest sense) with the face, hair and hands to match. Add to the mix that's she bi-polar talks like she's always stoned on her lithium medicine and that makes for an interesting boss to have, right?
and finally,
Gary: Probably the youngest of all the employees that work here, Gary and I formed a friendship really quickly relatively soon due to our ages. He's witty, funny, sharply dressed, cute, and knows how to get business done and to boot, he's a Democrat. Works for me. Personally he's the only one in the office I actually have a crush on, but he doesn't need to know that.....haha.
So yeah these are a few of the co-workers that I work with and they are all pretty good. But now I probably should get back to do what I'm getting paid to. So then, later! Oh and for all of you who want to reach me at work, (meaning don't call my cell phone) the number is 202-693-7932 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 202-693-7932 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
I left NC last Saturday and headed for DC in a twist of plans because my parents decided they couldn't come up due to other circumstances, so instead they made me buy a train ticket and come up myself, which I did. After that, I got here and the weather was just turning bad. Supposedly it had been nice but when I arrived, everything starting getting cold and dreary. I should've seen the signs coming then. I met up with Didi and she proceeded to take me to the house that I'm staying at right now.
The house is nice but old. And that's an understatement. It's like the house that my grandfather on my mom's side would've had. It's old and smells as such but the area itself is pretty nice. It's got a nice kitchen two bathrooms, two floors with three bedrooms turned into two bedrooms and a bonus room where I'm sleeping at the moment. The whole scheme of the place looks kinda sketch, but it's a nice place considering. However, the area itself is not. Located in a rather seedy part of town, there are commonly drug deals, illegal activities and scarsely any cops around. Put it this way. Pizza Hut doesn't deliver to my house. As a matter of fact, NOBODY does! I called the first night I was there because I didn't want to leave the house unattended and found out the hard way.
So after that, I left on Sunday after Willie (Didi's friend) decided to drop me off at the Deanwood Metro station and went to find the place I'd be working at. Turns out the DOL office is right in the center of downtown and it takes a cute minute to get there via two different metro lines. But it's not that bad really. You start out taking the orange line towards Vienna, get off at Metro Center switch to Glenmont and get off at Jucidiary Square (or as I prefer to think of it, the Resident Evil stop because the place where the elevator comes out at looks like the center of the S.T.A.R.S. office). Once from there, you go down a block and go over to your left, go up past all the vendors and the Jucidiary building on the right, cross over two streets in front, go down to your left to the corner, cross over another street at the light and go up half a block to the DOL building that's on the left. I've been doing this almost a week now and I think I'm starting to get the hang of the situation.
But it's been far from peaches and cream. On Sunday when I went out to find the place, I had just located DOL when suddenly out of nowhere the rain started. It was a light sprinkling not bad, and so I kept looking around for a place to figure out where I was supposed to go since I was looking for a mall (having left my power cord and AV cables for the 360 at home). I abandoned the idea as the rain continued coming down harder and harder, so I left that place and went to get a jacket from Macy's spending something I shouldn't have to get it and some other things, and went to Greenbelt in an attempt to have dinner at Cluck U. Unforetunately though I called for a cab five times, nothing ever arrived, and by then the rain had come full force, bringing torrential downpours of ice water and stinging winds with it. It was like a mini hurricane standing at that bus stop waiting for the cab. When he didn't show for an hour, I left and decided to head back home where Willie picked me up and took me back. When I did get back home, the rain and cold took over and I started having a rather severe asthma attack. Having all my medicine in NC, and no doctor here I called 911 for the first time and they came I learned about how the paramedics commonly pimp out patients before they reach the hospital to the other guys from a female paramedic that was highly disgruntal but nice. So then.
About Willie. She's a nice enough lady. She seems really laid back and tries not to let things get to her. Her exact opposite is Didi, who revels in being loud and is easily angered by small things. But Willie is just calm and colllected and she truly is very helpful. She's paid for my dinner three times now just because I was so tired from work that I didn't feel like cooking in the least bit so she would go and buy me dinner. Last night was good though because I got home by seven and was able to cook some hamburger helper and watch three episodes of Dexter before I decided to call it a night at 10:30. May sound stupid going to bed like that when I'm used to not getting up until 9 am and going to bed at 2 and 3 in morning but when you have to wake up at 6 to be at work by 8 and work till 5, your sleeping schedule gets altered pretty drastically.
Work is...interesting. I like the work because it's varied and interesting and I met a lot of cool people that last few days. Everyone that I've met has a disability with the exception of a few of the big heads and my supervisor Maggie.
Patrick: this cool ass black dude who I believe has a degree of blindness with his tied back dreads always secretly talking of a revolution at his desk.
Andrea: who apparently has something wrong with the nerves in her left hand and her right leg but who's been my kind of mentor throughout this process. She seems a bit high strung at times but she's witty and very intelligent, and a complete Republican.
Randy: a blind guy who works in the back who's name I can never seem to remember and who's also kinda hot in that Chris Evans (mmmmmm) kinda way.
Pam: the office computer girl who I think either has a crush on me or wants to hook me up with someone else....(shudder)
Jill: the totally typical black woman who ends all her sentences with ummhmmm and a proverbial head snap
Chuck: who appears to have just stepped in off the set of Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood
Charlie who having been in his wheelchair for 40 years due to a gunwound back in Vietnam looks like he secretly harbors hatred for the very government he works for
Sandra: the hispanic office clerk who tries desperately hard to please everyone
Carol (the short one): A firecracker of a woman who doesn't care what anyone thinks of her.
Carol (the tall one): A quiet soft-spoken lady that looks like she's got more going on behind her eyes than she cares to admit.
Erica: The office secretary to the mother of all bigwigs, Neil Romano who looks like she secretly harbors dissent towards having to work for the Man directly.
Mr. Romano: The Assistant Secretary to Disability Affairs appointed directly by George Bush, he looks and sounds incredibly formidable but is really just a loveable kinda guy.
Loretta: A grandmotherly-looking kind of woman who looks loveable but completely isn't. She's a carbon-copy of James from Nip/Tuck without the prosititution.
Betsy: She's one of my supervisors but doesn't act like it or want to be called that. She's probably the chillest supervisor I've ever had, without losing her edge to do business. She reminds of a Greek Signorney Weaver (in the nicest sense) with the face, hair and hands to match. Add to the mix that's she bi-polar talks like she's always stoned on her lithium medicine and that makes for an interesting boss to have, right?
and finally,
Gary: Probably the youngest of all the employees that work here, Gary and I formed a friendship really quickly relatively soon due to our ages. He's witty, funny, sharply dressed, cute, and knows how to get business done and to boot, he's a Democrat. Works for me. Personally he's the only one in the office I actually have a crush on, but he doesn't need to know that.....haha.
So yeah these are a few of the co-workers that I work with and they are all pretty good. But now I probably should get back to do what I'm getting paid to. So then, later! Oh and for all of you who want to reach me at work, (meaning don't call my cell phone) the number is 202-693-7932 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 202-693-7932 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
Monday 5 May 2008
I Should Graduate Everyday!!!!
So it's over. I've officially graduated from college. It's all over. The road was totally long but it was really worth it. I love Pembroke and I'm gonna miss being in that tiny little city and being surrounded by slow and equally slow people who didn't know everything that was going on. But graduation was pretty perfect. I had a totally hot suit that was completely goregous and my family totally loved it. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, suny weather and a breeze (actually a continuous gust) kept blowing through. Everyone was there and afterwards we took a billion pictures and everyone was happy and smiling. We went to Zeno's after and I stuffed myself for the last time on grilled chicken alfredo as I opened my graduation presents.
That was pretty cool. I actually got a LOT of stuff for graduation. Let's see here:
*A personalized mug reading "dangerously overeducated" from Aunt Diane
*A briefcase/satchel combo from my grandparents
*A mini calcuator desk from my mom
*A personalized mini business card case and notepad from Mom
*A silver bracelet from my Dad
*$400.00 from my Aunt Constancia
*"Hard Candy" the Madonna cd and $20.00 from Shon
*$40.00 from my Aunt Michelle
*$50.00 from my cousin Ben and his beautiful wife Keyshia
*A limo ride to Adventure Landing paid for courtesy of my parents
and to top it all off....
*A brand new electric scooter from my parents as well!!!!
I came back to the house after graduation and we chilled out. I went down to Lubrano's in my new chair and had some tiramasu and some mushrooms. I came back and watched The Mist (finally!) and it was totally crucial!!!! At the party yesterday, I was so happy all of my guys came over to party. Efrain, Frankie, Matt, Calvin, Qasim, Abdullah, and Ben and Keyshia were there. We were eating hot dogs and whatnot when the limo came and we all piled in to go over to Raleigh to Adventure Landing where we played Lazer Tag and a few rounds of mini-golf. Afterwards we came back and chowed on a totally delicious strawberry cheesecake. It was a perfect party following a perfect graduation. Mmmm...now I have even more to look forward to since Friday is coming up fast!!! DC HERE I COME!!!!
Thursday 1 May 2008
So This Is It. 2 DAYS LEFT....
Here it is. The last day of classes. The last time I'm gonna hear a teacher lecture me about something I may or may not want to hear. This is the last time I'm required to sit in a classroom and take a test to pass for some grade. This is finally the end. I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. And yet tomorrow will be worse for the anticipation of Saturday.
As a side note, GTA IV is fucking amazing. Perfect 10. That's all I'll say about that.
As a side note, GTA IV is fucking amazing. Perfect 10. That's all I'll say about that.
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