Another busy day

May 31, 2005 by

Today, despite Duck’s interruptions, I managed to get some reading done. Okay, so it was just a magazine. I went over to campus and found Cindy. It’s important to get your Cindy hug as soon as possible.

One of the problems with Houghton this year is that they’re getting a SuperWalmart. I don’t really like Walmart, but options aren’t very wide up in these parts. The problem with the forthcoming SuperWalmart is that they are still greatly in construction mode. The parking lot is a mess, and the store is worse. Even the employees can’t figure out where things are. And some departments are spread around in three different places. I never did find some of the stuff I was looking for. I finally decided that there was no price the EconoFoods store would charge for an air freshener that would be so high that I would spend another moment in Wal*Mart.

EconoFoods is a little mixed up too, but it’s boatloads easier than Wal*Mart. I’m still befuddled on some of the items they do or do not stock. Like canned fruit in juice–good luck. It’s all in syrup. Oh well, they have romaine lettuce and fresh fruit. That will have to do.

When I got back, the “Deluxe Suite” was blazing hot. I was totally confused. I had left fans on and windows open. I didn’t have time to investigate though because there was DSL to deal with. See arranging for DSL in advance here apparently just means that someone takes your money and puts it in some (presumably interest-bearing) account of their own. After multiple phone calls and e-mails, I was assured on May 5th that DSL would be hooked up and ready when I arrived on the 29th. I got here to find nothing but a phone. No DSL.

So I shot off another e-mail and late this afternoon got a response that said, “oh, you have to come to EERC B24 and pick up the equipment.” They closed in 20 minutes, and I had no idea where I was going. I ran and rushed, and ultimately, pantingly, managed to get there minutes before they closed. They handed me a DSL modem, told me to sign something, and said, “She still has to turn it on but she’ll do it before she goes.” So much for the “on or before May 29th” that they promised.

When I returned, it was still blazing in the “Deluxe Suite.” The thermometer read 87. I decided to try to put a fan actually in the window—ah, there’s the problem. This morning there was a great deal of annoying loud mowing. I’ve never known it to take so long to mow such a small amount of grass. Well, they closed the windows when they were out there, presumably for access. I must have been in the shower, because I never heard them. The M in MTU may sometimes stand for Monkeys. I finally had to close the windows and blast the window A/C again. And I stripped and took a very cold shower. I think it was that or heat stroke. After things cooled off, I opened the windows again.

I still had to figure out how to make the DSL work. They provide no cables and no instructions. Where are the instructions? Oh, they’re online. Sort of a chicken and egg setup. You can’t get online to get the instructions because you need the instructions to get online. So using my own cables and a modem connection to find the instructions, I finally got things set up. They have a strange system where you can’t use a wireless setup, which is not making me very happy; but I’m online for now and it’s no longer dial-up.

Duck did ask me to post his pictures from yesterday. Well, actually only one of the pictures. There is another that he’s trying to bribe me to lose. I’m stubborn though. That picture will eventually go online, my little Duckie.

I also posted a new ReadWriteThink lesson: Naming in a Digital World: Creating a Safe Persona on the Internet. Still a lot of work that I need to do. I’m behind on e-mail and other things; but I’m tired and going to bed. Breakfast tomorrow morning is at 7:30, and I’m so not a morning person.


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